Monthly Archives: October 2016

Election 2016: Transits

While transits give us much information, it can be challenging to forecast outcomes with them. But with transits, timing is everything. Do Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s transits give us insight into the presidential election?

Donald Trump has transiting Jupiter in his 2nd house over 2-1/2 degrees past a sextile to Pluto on Election Day, November 8, 2016. While nice, it has already passed its peak, and Jupiter transits don’t last that long.

Uranus conjunct his 9^th house of wide reception will be only 22’ from a trine to his Moon in the 4^th, which is another matter. Uranus stations in late December and will trine his Moon again on February 6, framing the Election and Inauguration dates. But while Uranus is really shaking up his Moon with new experiences, the 4^th house more particularly relates to his home and family, not a position.

Saturn transits Donald’s 4^th house and sextiles Jupiter in late November, a stabilizing aspect. Once again, though, it’s over 2 degrees away on Election Day – this time a little too late. Saturn’s more significant aspects, opposite Uranus, conjunct the Moon and opposite the Sun, are in December and January, when the election is past. Opposition aspects are, to me, more separative than anything else. He’s entering a new phase of life, but it probably won’t be exactly as he had hoped.

In late January and February 2017, Uranus trines Donald’s Moon, Jupiter trines his Sun and Saturn trines his Mars. If these were all operating on Election Day, it’d be terrific. But they’re not. However some significant opportunities should turn up for Donald Trump by February.

Hillary Clinton has transiting Jupiter in her 11^th house, approaching a sextile to Mars in the 9^th, peaking just a week after the election. This is better timing and nice for popularity and getting out the vote. But a more significant transit is Saturn in her 1^st house trine Pluto in the 9^th (exact 11/5), a powerhouse combination, especially since these planets are conjunct in her birth chart. Her hard work should reap larger rewards and her past experiences help her leverage the vote.

Transiting Uranus in the 5^th will also approach (by only ¼ degree) a trine to Hillary’s Saturn in the 9^th house. Uranus and the 5^th show a gamble that can pay off in a big way, and it’s certainly a lucky transit as well as one of release. I do feel that Hillary’s transits are stronger on Election Day and that she’ll be the winner, especially in light of all of the other astrological techniques pointing in the same direction.

When transiting Jupiter conjoined Donald Trump’s natal Neptune in the 2^nd, his “boys’ talk” video was revealed. Jupiter to Neptune can expand publicity, but there’s no telling how. Since Hillary and Donald are close to the same age, she also has Jupiter conjoining her Neptune – exact on November 1^st – a week before Election Day. This seems to correlate with the FBI’s revisiting the e-mail issue. But it’s also at the same time that Hillary continues her popularity and gains help from key Democrats. In her 11^th house of the “Good Daemon,” Jupiter should work in her favor.

Hillary’s Birth Time?

Last Friday, The Washington Post covered data researcher Marc Penfield’s support of a 2:18 am birth time for Hillary Clinton. (See Source notes at Astrodatabank.), saying that “he retracted his claim.”

Ray Merriman of ISAR had written on October 2, stating that Penfield wrote about this time, provided by Hillary’s cousin, as early as 2007. Another astrologer, Zayin Cohen, confirmed the time and says he saw the actual birth record at the City Clerk’s office.

The lack of a definitive birth time for Hillary has been getting some play in the media – a plus for astrologers. Here’s the Wall Street Journal’s 9/29/16 take on the situation.

I’ve been using an 8:02 AM time for Clinton, one of the most common that she and her mother have provided over the years. I’m not clear why astrologers hadn’t adopted the 2:18 AM time if it’s based on documentation.

Birth times for public figures are often questionable. While a number of my conclusions about the election are drawn from astrological techniques utilizing the Midheaven, Ascendant and Moon, which would change with a different birth time, I still think that Hillary Clinton will win the presidential election. The beauty of utilizing so many astrological techniques to arrive at a judgment is that we end up relying less on any one particular element of the analysis. I’m betting on it!

Election 2016: Spouses II

Last time I analyzed Melania Trump’s chances of becoming First Lady in November and January. Let’s see what Bill Clinton’s astrological situation is. We have a consistent birth time for Clinton that was used by astrologers throughout his presidential term.

His progressed Sun in Scorpio is only a little over a degree from trining his Midheaven, lighting up his career sector. His progressed Venus in Sagittarius is less than half a degree past trining natal Saturn in the 10^th, reiterating the themes of status and position. It’s also is less than a degree from conjoining his progressed Ascendant, echoing his natal characteristics (with Venus in Libra in the first) and showcasing his genial personality and the importance of relationships in his life. The progressed Ascendant approaches a sextile to the natal Ascendant.

Bill’s progressed Moon is also in Sagittarius and close to conjoining his South Node on Election Day. It will also quincunx his natal Moon and oppose natal Uranus in early 2017. These aspects are not great, but they do seem to suggest a change. And for a Leo who’s been president, the Moon conjoining the South Node appears appropriate for taking a back seat and emphasizing altruism and supportive activities.

With transiting Saturn at the same place in 1987, Clinton, as Governor of Arkansas and Chair of the National Governor’s Association, announced that he would not be running for president that year. Saturn was (and is) moving downwards in his chart, what Grant Lewi called an “obscure period,” that once again I believe would be in keeping with a secondary role at the White House.

Most significant, however, is the fact that Bill Clinton is in the midst of his progressed Moon conjoining transiting Saturn – known as “Saturn chasing the Moon.” Because the progressed Moon and transit cycles of Saturn are so close, the conjunction began for him around 2009 and will last through at least 2019. This can represent an extended period of hard work, obligations, few rewards, frustration and even hardship and depressed feelings. For Bill, it’s coincided with milestones involving the women in his life – Hillary’s appointment as Secretary of State and her bid for the White House, and Chelsea’s marriage and the birth of her kids. Yet it also included the attacks on the Benghazi Consulate, and Hillary’s concussion. His own significant life events during this time have been work with the Clinton Foundation; an appointment as UN Special Envoy to Haiti and criticism of his role; a heart incident, stent surgery and switching to a vegan diet; publication of a book on the economy called Back to Work; receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama and public reminders of his past infidelities.

This pattern is difficult to evaluate as it’s inconsistent in length but often lasts a long time. I suspect it’s easier to address at a mature age, when we have more experience of life, though Bill Clinton has obviously not enjoyed the same prominence during this cycle as in his years as Governor and President. But his natal Moon, exalted in Taurus, and Saturn in his 10^th house, are both very strong, which are a plus. Though the reality of returning to the White House as the spouse of the president will probably be quite different than he once imagined.

Transiting Saturn will sextile Bill’s Jupiter in January and trine his Sun in February, perhaps easing up some of the negatives. It’s interesting that Tim Kaine has a significant Saturn cycle as well. These are all in keeping with taking on responsibilities. I do once again feel that Bill Clinton’s forecast is more in keeping with beginning a new position than Melania’s.

Election 2016: Spouses

An additional way to consider the outcome of the election is to take a look at the horoscopes of the candidates’ spouses, who will certainly have important life changes if a partner is elected president. What do the charts of Melania Trump and Bill Clinton tell us?

Unfortunately, we don’t have a birth time for Melania Trump, born on April 26, 1970 in Sevnica, Slovenia. She is a very grounded person, with the Sun in Taurus, Moon in Capricorn, and a total of six planets in earth signs.

Melania’s progressed Venus is less than a degree from sextiling natal Pluto, an aspect that should help her address the public while still maintaining some privacy. Progressed Mercury is less than half a degree from conjoining natal Venus, which helps her dialogue with the public in a nice way. Progressed Mars is about half a degree past sextiling her Sun, showing increased activity, ambitions and status. The progressed Moon is in Virgo, forming a grand trine with her Moon, Sun and other Taurus planets, but without a birth time we don’t know how close any of these aspects may be.

I find that transits are almost always active at times of significant life developments. Transiting Jupiter conjoined Melania’s Uranus exactly on 10/5/16, a few days before her husband’s “locker room talk” audio was revealed. But Jupiter moves quickly, and by Election Day it will be out of orb of Uranus – the excitement it generates having worn off.

Transiting Neptune exactly conjoins Melania Trump’s North Node in January, the time of the Inauguration, and will sextile natal Saturn in February. These seem like wonderful aspects for her image and personal satisfaction, but are not really in keeping with taking on a major public role.

Transiting Saturn on Election Day will be at the same place as the fall of 1987 when Melania was first accepted at a fashion course for models. She was only 17 at the time and pursuing a goal, but didn’t come before the outside world in a position at that time.

While Melania Trump has many nice aspects, they don’t seem powerful enough to add up to becoming First Lady. Next time I’ll look at Bill Clinton’s forecast astrologically.

Election 2016: Vice Presidents

One of the Vice Presidential candidates will have a major life change as a result of the November 8, 2016 Presidential election. Which of their birth charts indicates who will more likely be in office next year?

Indiana Governor Mike Pence was born on June 7, 1959 in Columbus, Indiana. We are limited in that no birth time is available for him. Like his running mate Donald Trump, he has the Sun and Mercury in Gemini and Mars in Leo.

Pence’s Sun and Mercury have progressed into attention-loving Leo, with both conjoining his natal Uranus. This shows his sudden elevation to candidacy and a national platform. Progressed Venus in Virgo is beginning to leave a square to his Sun (nearly a degree past).

Mike also has some very good transits on Election Day. Transiting Uranus will nearly exactly sextile natal Mercury, echoing the progressed aspects. This could indicate a new administrative position. Transiting Jupiter conjoins his North Node and will soon trine his Sun. However transiting Saturn will oppose his Sun exactly just a little over a week after the election. This is not great for career. While Jupiter facilitates the Sun’s development this fall, Saturn limits it. To my mind, Saturn is stronger as it’s slower-moving.

Virginia Senator Tim Kaine was born on February 26, 1958 at 7:59 AM, in St. Paul, Minnesota according to his birth certificate and Astrodatabank. His Sun and Mercury in Pisces are the same sign as Hillary Clinton’s Moon.

Kaine’s secondary progressed Sun in Taurus is less than 2 degrees from sextiling his natal Sun, but is over 2 degrees from sextiling natal Mercury in Pisces. This sets up a midpoint situation with the sextile (very similar to Pence’s progressed Sun and Mercury to natal Uranus). Kaine’s progressed Mars is less than a degree and a half from opposing natal Pluto.

Tim’s progressed Midheaven at 0 Pisces 24 is just a hair over one degree of trining natal Jupiter – showing success with the public since Jupiter is in his 7^th house. His progressed Ascendant at 28 Gemini 16 is past opposing his natal Saturn and approaches a trine to natal Jupiter and a sextile to Pluto (close to trining the PMC as well). The early (PMC) and late (P Asc) degrees are sign-changers, in keeping with important life developments.

Without Pence’s birth time, however, we can’t compare progressions of the Midheaven and Ascendant. The remaining progressed aspects are certainly no better or worse for either candidate.

Tim Kaine’s transits, though, are quite striking. He has Mars exalted in the sign of Capricorn in his 10^th house of career in his birth chart, one of his most elevated planets. Mars also rules his Aries Ascendant. This gives him a steady drive towards status and recognition throughout his life. Capricorn relates to time and is appropriate for reaching a high office at a mature age. While natal Mars doesn’t have close major aspects, it has flowing quintiles to Kaine’s Neptune in the 7^th house of the public.

Transiting Pluto has been conjoining Tim Kaine’s Mars throughout 2016 and will be within a degree of Mars on Election Day (similar to the energies of Progressed Mars opposing natal Pluto). This shows a slow and steady transformation in his career. He is leaving his past behind somehow and moving into new territory.

Perhaps even more importantly, Tim Kaine will experience his second Saturn return in January 2017, when he would take office. The Saturn return often represents the next step in career development, building on past experience, or moving into a new phase of life. All would be appropriate for the Vice Presidential office.

These quick assessments confirm that Clinton and Kaine will win the election. But since Saturn figures strongly in both candidate’s transits, let’s look back and see what they were doing in 1987 – when Saturn was also at 15 Sagittarius, as it will be at the time of the election.

Mike Pence graduated from law school in 1986 and went into private practice. In late 1987, he decided to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and won the Republication Nomination the following year (his father had died shortly before that). Pence lost the subsequent election against his Democratic competitor. He was very young and inexperienced in politics, but the repeat of Saturn’s cycle suggests that his Vice Presidential candidacy in 2016 may be premature.

Tim Kaine was a young civil rights lawyer in 1987. He represented a convicted murderer on death row who was brain damaged and borderline retarded, and attempted to keep him from the electric chair. The man was executed on July 12, 1987. However that year Kaine also became a director of a law firm and began teaching legal ethics part-time at the University of Richmond.

We can see that he began new positions, as his running mate Hillary Clinton did at her previous Saturn cycle as well. The Saturn cycle confirms once again that the Democrats will win the 2016 election.

Election 2016: Saturn Transits

Saturn is such a reliable indicator of career developments that we should consider it as an important part of assessing the presidential race. Saturn’s cycle of approximately 28-29 years also correlates nicely with our lifespan. Looking back to previous cycles can be very helpful in forecasting.

This technique worked extremely well with Bernie Sanders and the Democratic nomination, since he had actually run for office in both of his previous cycles and lost.

On Election Day, November 8, 2016, Saturn will be at about 15 Sagittarius. It stationed at that point from July to September of 1987. What was happening for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton at that point in time?

Trump, already a billionaire at age 41, had paid for a full-page New York Times ad (costing nearly $100,000) in August, critiquing U.S. foreign policy (Ronald Reagan was then in office). This was followed by a Newsweek cover story on September 28, 1987, where he stated, “I’m not running for president… but if I did… I’d win.”

At that time, Trump had numerous conflicts with NYC Mayor Ed Koch, reminiscent of his difficulties with some Republican authority figures today.

In October of 1987, Donald attracted a large audience at a Rotary Club meeting in Hampton, New Hampshire. His speech was recently characterized by Politico.com as his “First Campaign Speech.” It was isolationist in tone, and he received an extremely enthusiastic response.

It’s fascinating that he’s doing very much the same thing on a much larger scale in 2016. Yet he hadn’t run for office and wasn’t appointed to any office.

In 1987, Hillary Clinton had recently helped her husband to win another term as Governor of Arkansas. In September, he announced that he wouldn’t be running for president in the coming election.

That year, Hillary was elected Chair of the Children’s Defense Fund and New World Foundation. She and Bill Clinton received the National Humanitarian Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews. In addition, she became Chair of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women. (Unfortunately, the sources don’t report exactly when these events occurred.)

However, Hillary was involved with her husband’s career in 1987 and he continues to be involved with hers. She was in public life and won notable elections or appointments at her previous Saturn cycle. Is this enough of a parallel to the presidential election today? I think so. The cycle suggests she’ll win again when Saturn returns to the same place in November.

Election 2016 – Progressions IV

Hillary Clinton’s progressions to the U.S. progressed chart more specifically suggest connecting with the public and attaining higher office than Trump’s.

The U.S. progressed Saturn falls at 3 Scorpio in the 10^th house of leadership and position, less than a degree from Hillary’s natal Sun. This aspect will be in effect for many years. For example, in January of 2020, it has turned retrograde and is actually closer to conjoining Hillary’s Sun, an argument that she’ll not only win this election but perhaps also stay in office for two terms.

Clinton’s progressed Moon is in Libra in the U.S. progressed 9^th house, approaching a conjunction with the U.S. Progressed Mars. It also closely squares the U.S. progressed Jupiter in Cancer in the 7^th house on election day. These confirm both her popularity as well as her lack of wholehearted acceptance with voters . (Her progressed Moon will travel through the U.S. progressed 10^th and 11^th houses over the next four years.)

Clinton’s progressed Sun, Mercury and Ascendant all fall into the U.S. progressed 1^st house, showing a joining of interests. The U.S. P. Ascendant falls in her natal 2^nd house, with the U.S. P. Midheaven in her 11^th. Both reflect fixed influences, and the U.S. MC in her 11^th suggests a joining of interests to me. To my mind, these are both more prominent than the country’s current connection to Trump’s natal 3^rd and 5^th.

Most important is that Hillary’s progressed Midheaven is in the U.S. progressed 11^th house (doubling the influence of the U.S. P. MC also in her 11^th). This indicates shared goals and a shared interest in the community at this point in time. In addition, Hillary’s progressed MC is about 20 minutes from trining the U.S. progressed Jupiter in the 7^th house. This is very significant, showing her career direction as connecting with a position before the public in a big way.

While Hillary Clinton may have fewer progressed connections with the U.S. progressed chart than Donald Trump, I feel that hers are more descriptive of a win in November. I’m already feeling that she will win the election. Of the techniques we’ve looked at so far – Solar Returns, Progressed Declination, Solar Arcs, Progressions, and Progressed to U.S. Progressed, Trump has only come out ahead in Progressed Declination, which to my mind indicates publicity rather than definitive success.

If we look at the tri-wheel of the progressed charts of the U.S., Clinton and Trump, it’s interesting to see the influences piling up in air signs in 2016. The U.S., Trump and Clinton all have progressed planets in Libra in the U.S. progressed 9^th house. The two candidates’ progressed Uranus and Neptunes are in Gemini and Libra, with the progressed U.S. Uranus is also in Gemini. (In December the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction moves into Aquarius – mutating into air signs.)

But to further complicate things, Raymond Merriman has recently announced that Marc Penfield has a new documented birth time for Hillary Clinton, which he’ll discuss at the ISAR International Symposium on October 16. Since so many of these calculations are tied to her birth time, it could make a big difference.

I’ll look at Transits for both of the candidates next.

Karen Christino

Astrologer and Writer