Category Archives: forecasting

Andrew Ross Sorkin on Evangeline Adams

Andrew Ross Sorkin, author of the bestselling book Too Big to Fail, takes on the great stock market crash in 1929.  But in his thumbnail sketches of Evangeline Adams and astrology, his research skills completely fail him.

In his introduction, Sorkin claims “more than eight years reporting and thousands of hours of research.”  He’s been writing for the New York Times since high school, has a show on CNBC and edits a financial news service.  But when it comes to Adams and astrology, all he can do is regurgitate questionable bits from a nearly 50-year-old book.  You can’t track down every fact, but the rumors and innuendos are perpetuated.

Astrology is the colorful, sexy subject that many want to laugh at.  Adams is mentioned in over a half dozen online reviews of Sorkin’s book, yet she only plays a tiny role in it.  She was probably included in the press release as a fascinating part of the history.  Sorkin himself compares horoscopes to fortune cookies in an interview, seemingly only aware of Sun sign astrology.

Of course, Andrew Ross Sorkin is an over-achiever who probably had assistants compile much of the information in 1929.  The few short parts on Adams are all directly from The Day the Bubble Burst, a 1979 book about the crash.  In order to look like they did more research on Adams, Sorkin also cites Maury Klein’s 2003 book The Crash of 1929.  But academic Klein also swiped the same skewed anecdotes directly from Bubble Burst.

In both, Evangeline Adams is a regular at the Plaza Hotel dining room, where she “had her own reserved table… surrounded by several star struck young men.”  On September 2, 1929, she predicted on a radio show that “the Dow Jones could climb to heaven,” which it obligingly did.

On Black Thursday, October 24, 1929, Adams held a group session in her office for worried clients, telling them that things were looking up.  She then supposedly contacted her broker, who said she’d lost $100,000 on the market, and told them to sell it all ASAP.

I could verify none of these stories, and much sounded bogus to me.  (Evangeline said she ate lunch at her desk; she was a workaholic with the Moon in the 6th house.)  The original authors gave no specific source notes and were clearly biased against Adams from the start.  Sorkin repeats the same prejudice.  Evangeline made a great forecast, but cared nothing for her clients as long as she could profit from their loss.  The astrologer as charlatan and fraudster is such a tired trope.  How would anyone know how much she had or when she sold?  I don’t even think she owned stocks; she always said her chart was unlucky for speculation (with Cancer on the 5th house and the Moon in the 6th opposite the Sun).

I shouldn’t complain.  Of the 100+ people on Sorkin’s cast of characters list, Evangeline Adams, “astrologist known as the stock market’s seer” (another attribution I could never confirm), is the only woman portrayed in 1929’s exclusive men’s club.

Sorkin, interestingly enough, has the Sun and Moon in Pisces and Mercury and Mars in Aquarius, signs he shares with Adams.  They helped him create a varied and comprehensive story.  His T-square of Mercury conjunct Mars opposite Saturn in Leo and square Uranus in Scorpio has clearly made market crashes a preoccupation.

Yet with a grand trine of Venus, Saturn and Neptune, Andrew Ross Sorkin will likely continue on his merrily ignorant way.  Until, of course, the calamitous day there’s a sudden major reversal he can’t explain, leaving him crushed and in need of direction, and ignorant of what astrology could do to help.

Astrologers won’t find anything enlightening on Evangeline Adams or astrology in 1929.  The many other character profiles might help understand their individual horoscopes.  Reviewers compliment the writing, but I personally wonder how such a seemingly intelligent man can be so oblivious to a subject that has become standard in market forecasting.  In this astrologer’s opinion, 1929 is a missed opportunity.

Sorkin’s birth information is from Wikipedia.  We have no time of birth.

For the real story on Evangeline Adams, read my books, Foreseeing the Future and What Evangeline Adams Knew.

Astro Speculation on Wall St.

Evangeline Adams’ 1927 autobiography revealed her personal association with financiers like J. Pierpont Morgan and Thomas W. Lawson. She said she could forecast the swings of the market and advise when individuals should invest. In “Astrological Speculation on Wall Street,” Carrie Tirado Bramen explains how Adams shared similar messages with the financial forecasters of her day. Prediction involved both a logical analysis as well as metaphysical hunches or astrological insight.

Bramen presents a fascinating history. The word speculation was first used by Scottish economist Adam Smith in 1791, and like the word consider, “was originally about contemplating celestial matters.” Financial advice literature in Adams’ day sought to separate speculation from gambling by emphasizing rationality, analysis and calculations. They even used charts.

Aquarian Evangeline also tried to normalize her practice, stressing her knowledge, authority and skill. She, too, had great expertise, analyzed data, and presented it in chart form. And yet neither could escape the fact that both also relied on something beyond ordinary rationality: the intuition or impressions.

Bramen asks the question “Who has the authority to predict the future?” Adams agreed with a well-known literary magazine that the clergy, realtors, and stock and bond traders could do so with impunity, but not astrologers. With market forecasting unregulated and in its infancy, and the first female member of the New York Stock Exchange decades away, financiers benefited from Adams’ astrological advice and she from their patronage.

Carrie Tirado Bramen’s academically-written piece reflects a clear understanding of the literature and attitudes of the times, and is full of intriguing connections and historical facts. It’s thought-provoking reading for those interested in the history of astrology in the U.S., especially financial astrology.

“Astrological Speculation on Wall Street” from the Journal of Cultural Economy. (May present a pay-wall.)

More on my biography of Evangeline Adams, Foreseeing the Future.
And my book on Adams’ astrological techniques, What Evangeline Adams Knew.

Jeane Dixon

Jeane Dixon was often called an astrologer but was primarily a psychic.  She wrote a daily horoscope column for years, though she used her crystal ball (literally) to get impressions for each sign.

Some of Dixon’s predictions were legendary.  In 1956 she forecast a Democratic presidential win in 1960, but that the president “will be assassinated or die in office” (possibly referencing the 20-year Jupiter-Saturn pattern of deaths in office).  She’d forecast a win for Harry Truman in 1948, when most commentators expected him to lose.

Dixon foresaw a wiretapping scandal for Richard Nixon, though she thought it would “help his image.” Twenty years before Bill Clinton’s impeachment, she could see a president “implicated in misconduct, or worse.”

Jeane Dixon wasn’t always right, but she had some remarkable hits.  She read for Ronald and Nancy Reagan when he was governor of California, and was invited to the White House to meet with Franklin Roosevelt and Nixon.

Dixon’s focus on world leaders is shown by her dignified Saturn in Aquarius conjunct her MC; it disposits much of her chart.  Her Gemini Ascendant closely trined Saturn: an immediate connection.  Her reputation was for her unusual Aquarian metaphysical skills, and she was one of the best known psychics in her time with an extremely stable career.

Her Gemini writing ability also popularized her work.  She wrote seven books, including an autobiography, a book on dog horoscopes and an astrological cookbook.  She had a Dial-a-Horoscope service in the mid-1980s, and wrote a quarterly celebrity forecast column for the gossipy supermarket tabloid The Star for over twenty years.

Mercury in Aquarius in the 9th house ruling the Ascendant gave Dixon a wide readership.  Mercury sextiles Venus in Sagittarius in the 6th house, and she seemed to love her work and its divinatory aspects.  Mercury was also inconjunct Neptune in the 2nd and she wrote from inspiration.  She was also a religious Roman Catholic who attended mass every day and felt her talents were divinely inspired.  Dixon believed that all events were foreshadowed and that she was only a messenger.

There’s a wide yod in Jeane Dixon’s chart with Neptune at the apex, and quincunxes to the Mercury-Venus sextile, connecting her Neptunian values with work and her ideals about sharing her message with a wide audience.

Jeane must have enjoyed the spotlight with her Moon in Leo in the 4th house.  She came from a family of ten children, which must have been lively with the Moon’s opposition to Mars, but never had children of her own.  She and her husband partnered in a real estate firm, with the Moon’s ruler, the Sun in Capricorn, placed in the 8th, and associated with business earnings through commissions.

But many of Dixon’s placements also relate to psychic sensitivity.  The Moon’s opposition to Mars would have given her strong impressions, and some of her predictions were spontaneous.  Pluto in her 1st house in Gemini closely trined Mars in Aquarius in her 10th house and sextiled the Moon, giving her deep perceptions that obviously went well beyond what most observed.  A Pluto in Gemini transformation in her life related to her name change from Lydia Pinckert.

The Sun in the 8th is also connected with the metaphysical world.  It sextiles Jupiter in Pisces in the 11th house, making her popular and adding an oracular touch, but Jupiter in this sign also placed Dixon within a religious and spiritual community.

Jeane Dixon died on January 25, 1997 at the age of 93 of a heart attack, in keeping with the Moon in Leo.  A museum dedicated to her life and work opened in 2002, but only lasted about six years.

Jeane’s bio on Wikipedia.   Astrodatabank rates her birth data AA.

About the Jeane Dixon Museum

Dixon’s autobiography, My Life and Prophecies.

 

Genesis of a Scoop

On March 11, 2025, Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of The Atlantic magazine, a left-leaning publication, received an invitation to a Signal group chat from U.S. national security advisor Mike Waltz.  On March 13, on the verge of a total lunar eclipse, he was added to the group.  Surprised it wasn’t a hoax, Goldberg read text discussions by top national security officials about a planned attack on Houthis in Yemen.  To his surprise, he found it was real on March 15, when the attacks were carried out on schedule.

How was the journalist privy to the news?  Of course Mercury was about to turn retrograde.  And the eclipse at 24 Virgo was right on Goldberg’s Sun and Mercury.  But there are many other astrological correlations.

Jeffrey Goldberg was born on September 22, 1965 according to Google, in a tumultuous year featuring Saturn in Pisces opposite the Uranus-Pluto conjunction in Virgo.  People born in 1965 may be faced with instability and even upheavals in their lives from time to time.  And Saturn is a singleton the editor’s chart, making its influence more important in timing and events.

Goldberg’s Sun and Mercury in Virgo are classic placements for a reporter, writer and editor who needs to communicate the facts.  (We don’t have a time of birth, but the Sun is in Virgo all day.)  Jupiter in Cancer, the sign of its exaltation, is also an excellent placement for publishing, helping him assertively reach out for news as it squares his Sun.  Venus, Mars and Neptune are all in Scorpio, known for research and ferreting out the truth.  Mars conjunct Neptune sextiles the Virgo planets, and Venus trines Saturn.  So there is some interference with the major oppositions, with outlets for the opposition energies.  Goldberg’s Moon is in Leo, giving him a sense of pride and more leadership ability than all the Virgo placements might suggest.  In interviews, he gives a low-key, matter-of-fact Virgo report with a dignified Leo presentation.

The events that unfolded are a good example of hard aspects activating events.  We wouldn’t have necessarily thought they were “lucky,” but they proved to be so for the journalist.  Goldberg was added to the chat group on March 13 at 4:28 p.m. according to USA Today’s timeline.  Aside from the eclipse, the transiting Ascendant squared his Mars and conjoined his Moon, allowing him entry.  Jupiter in Gemini squared his natal Saturn-Uranus-Pluto oppositions, creating a big story.

Transiting Saturn had recently trined the editor’s Mars and opposed his Mercury and Sun; certainly his experience and long time in the industry were responsible for his phone number being on Mike Walz’s list in the first place (nearly 60, Goldberg recently experienced his second Saturn return).  Neptune also nearly exactly opposed his Sun (3 minutes approaching), and this certainly represented an error but also a revelation.  (Natal Neptune has mainly flowing aspects.)

But as a startling and unexpected story, we have to look to Uranus.  Transiting Uranus was close to trining Goldberg’s dignified Mercury, with a boost from Mars in Cancer, which trined his Scorpio planets and sextiled his Uranus and Pluto in Virgo.

It’s nice that so many tried-and-true astrological themes are present in this story.  But it’s even more interesting to see how Goldberg’s natal planets were activated by hard aspects, perfectly in keeping with appropriate astrological motifs, but in a way that perhaps we wouldn’t have exactly forecast.  Then again, Uranus isn’t called unpredictable for nothing!

Morrison on Pluto in Aquarius

In June, 1991, Al H. Morrison’s article, “Two Centuries of Pluto in Signs” appeared in The Mountain Astrologer magazine.  He began with a backward look at Pluto in Gemini through Scorpio, then added a forecast of what he considered likely with Pluto in Sagittarius through Aries (ending in 2097).  Here’s his take, over 30 years before the fact: 

Pluto will enter Aquarius on November 21, 2024. Traditionally, Aquarius is ruled by Saturn. In modern times we assign it to Uranus, the most reactionary of all planets. The action of Saturn is to hold everything as it is or was, in stable order. The situation/structure is a return to a vacuum, an empty space with perhaps some clutter of shattered bits and pieces of what has been.

The action of Pluto is revolution, mutation of individuals, and changes of consensus caused by such mutation. Aquarius has been thought to rule science, individual intellectual freedom, logic, fixed systems of rules, and independence (for individuals as well as groups or nations). It follows that Pluto arriving in Aquarian territory will upset our entire culture and change the way people think (or permit computers to manage everything). Aquarius is a very dry sign, not a very propitious environment for projects based on emotional or sentimental concerns.

We may have a planetary totalitarian regime during this tour of Pluto in Aquarius, perhaps required to cope with climatic changes, global nuclear and chemical pollution and other environmental problems. The most serious problem has not been addressed in the west in this latter part of the 20th century: what to do about overpopulation. First raised by Malthus early in the 19th century, it was countered by religious dedication to maximum birthrates. The mandate is yet to bring forth children “to fill the earth” in most religious groups.  The basic question comes to such crisis as to force world action while Pluto tours Aquarius…

It is even probable that scientists will discover while Pluto is in Aquarius that time itself is not constant or uniform, but merely another confusing variable.

(Pluto enters Pisces on March 1, 2043.)

The article above is an excerpt from The Best of Al H. Morrison.

Buy on Amazon.com.

Forecasting Elections

Another U.S. presidential election is past, and many astrologers, including myself, were wrong about the country’s choice.  Why?  Astrology, by its nature, is not good at predicting outcomes.

Nevertheless, my perception is that most experienced forecasting astrologers have a pretty good track record on these things – greater than chance and often better.  I’ve been correct for seven out of nine elections – about 78% of the time.  Not a fabulous grade, but I always remember Bob Zoller saying, “If you’re getting 75%, you’re doing really well.”  Although we have a 50-50 chance of getting it correct each time, there’s only about a 7% chance of calling heads correctly in seven out of nine coin tosses, the reason that casinos are generally rather profitable for the house.  It’s also why there’s such an interest in financial astrology:  if astrologers can give clients even a slight edge, they’re ahead of the game.

Still, most of us call elections outcomes only once every four years, so we’re not the most experienced.  We may imagine that we can figure out one specific technique that will solve the puzzle once and for all.  But even history professor Allan Lichtman who developed his “13 Keys to the White House” has been right only eight times out of ten (80%).  The pollsters and commentators certainly don’t have better records.

I did forecasting for clients for over 20 years and was quickly convinced of the foolishness of trying to predict certain outcomes.  Clients are often very eager for outcomes!  You can “guesstimate,” but I always found it better to describe the general astrological weather rather than suggest a definitive answer.  A specific horary can get you a little closer.  But we often just don’t know.

Astrology provides a window on reality that mainstream culture and experts lack, a glimpse into the Mind of God, if you will.  But it’s still only a glimpse, and there are as many different viewpoints as there are techniques.  And there may be no definitive reality in this heavy sublunary world.  (I doubt that an AI program written by top astrologers could call outcomes correctly 100% of the time.  Weather forecasting is supposed to be only 70% accurate for a week ahead.)

Astrology does better in describing the quality of a situation instead of quantitative analyses.  Symbols give wonderful insight, but by their very nature, they rarely provide hard and fast, definitive answers.  It’s not math or even science.  And there are many variable interpretations possible in keeping with a particular influence.  We do very well with birth chart delineations.  But another layer of complexity is added with any forecasting technique, and timing is often not as exact as we hope it will be (all reasons why rectification is so challenging).

We work through inference and judgment.  For a presidential election, I consider who has more success-oriented aspects and also which candidate has a more compelling interaction with the U.S. chart.  I usually use both longitude (regular chart placements) and declination, transits and progressions, because I feel that together they give a fuller view.

As you cannot separate the dancer from the dance, you also cannot separate the astrologer from their use of a technique.  It’s never the technique alone.  Of course, no one can escape a certain amount of bias, politically or astrologically.  But that doesn’t really explain why 64% of astrologers who Mark Cullen surveyed in 2024 thought that Kamala Harris would win and 53.5% of astrologers in 2020 forecast a Trump win (presuming that the astrologer pool hadn’t shifted dramatically in 4 years).

There seemed to be a number who were correct in their forecasts of a 2024 Trump win because he had Jupiter transiting his 10th house.  But Jupiter is not a panacea, as most experienced astrologers know.  We can’t conclude that Jupiter through the 10th house wins every time, and its influence doesn’t last long.  If it were that simple no one would get it wrong.

House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries had transiting Jupiter trining his Jupiter at the time of the election, and his position remains unchanged.  Instead of winning, his book for young people about democracy was published at that time.  Publication is an important Jupiter theme, so we’d have to look elsewhere to explain why he didn’t advance in the House (though we lack a birth time for him).  Jupiter will sextile his Sun and Mars in Leo right after the inauguration.  This could facilitate a number of things but probably won’t make him speaker.

I lost a high paying magazine column when Jupiter trined my Moon.  Zoller would have said, “You’ve been released” and been correct, but it was still a disappointment.  Perhaps Kamala Harris feels the same with her progressed Moon exactly conjunct U.S. progressed Jupiter, with transiting Jupiter on her Ascendant and trine her Sun in May.  But as Evangeline Adams said, “Jupiter does not move the world alone.”  Adams also had a good election record, but got it wrong sometimes, too.  Astrology elevates no one to god-like prophetic status.

So why do we keep trying if we can’t be assured of success?  I personally believe that we can stretch ourselves and improve our skills by doing it.  It’s the future, after all.  Will we convince non-believers of the validity of astrology if more of us consistently “get it right”?  Hardly.  And when pollsters and political commentators can’t do better, why not try?

My own history with election forecasting (written in 2021).

My previous October and November 2024 posts show what I analyzed and my thinking.

Kamala Harris 2024

Kamala Harris has some compelling astrological influences that should help her win the 2024 presidential election.  Her progressed Moon is Out-of-Bounds, her progressed Sun conjoins her Descendant, and her progressed Sun is also parallel transiting Saturn in declination, all influences that have helped others achieve the presidency in the past.

The progressed Moon’s cycle Out-of-Bounds in declination usually marks a significant turning point in life, with the ability to find a notable public response.  Former president Trump was at the top of this cycle in 2016, and Hillary Clinton had it in 2008-9.  While she didn’t get the presidential nomination, she was appointed Secretary of State, the highest achievement of her career.  Harris is also at the top of this cycle, currently reflected in the millions she has raised for her campaign, nearly twice as much as her competitor.

Harris’ progressed Sun in late Sagittarius conjoins her Descendent this year, showing her rapport with the  public and how she’s benefited from notable partnerships like Joe Biden and the Democratic party.  (Trump’s progressed Sun was conjunct his Ascendant when he was elected.  Now, still in his 1st house, it only indirectly aspects his 10th house through rulership).  Harris’ Sun was near an exact conjunction with her Descendant when she was elected Vice President in 2020, but closely sextiles her natal Saturn (5’) at the time of the election, and will go on to sextile her MC over the next 4 years.

Her powerful Saturn, dignified in Aquarius and her most elevated planet, specifically relates to her career since it conjoins her MC.  Her natal Sun and Mercury are trine Saturn and the Midheaven, showing her steady path to success.  As the presidency is the next upward step, and her progressed Sun activates the natal, it signifies advancement.

Charles Jayne determined the outcome of presidential elections by comparing transiting Saturn’s declination to the candidates’ natal Sun, and Ann E. Parker analyzed this technique for all previous presidential elections in the Summer 2001 NCGR SIG newsletter The Other Dimension.  She confirmed that 69% of winners had transiting Saturn approaching a parallel or contraparallel with the birth Sun.  Transiting Saturn will actually station within less than 2 degrees in an approach to parallel Harris’ Sun in November of 2024, closer than many of the presidents Parker studied.  (Trump also had this combination in 2016.)

In addition to the above, I believe that the 2020 Jupiter-Saturn conjunction and Pluto’s transition into Aquarius help her since Harris represents a new generation.  See my earlier post for more.

Harris’ numerous close progressions to her own chart and the U.S. are also more favorable than Trump’s (outlined here).  Very close aspects include her progressed Moon in Cancer parallel her Ascendant and North Node, her Ascendant parallel Jupiter, and Mars parallel Venus, classic patterns we associate with success.  Progressed Uranus moves extremely slowly, but on November 5 it will be stationing within 2’ of her natal Moon, signifying new experiences.

Similarly, Harris’ progressed Sun contraparallels the U.S. progressed Jupiter and the natal U.S. Ascendant, Venus and Mars, while paralleling the U.S. Pluto, extending their rapport.  Her progressed Mercury is exactly parallel the U.S. progressed South Node, linking her destiny with the country, as Mercury rules her 1st house (herself).

In longitude, the candidate’s progressed Moon in Cancer is very helpful in its own sign.  It closely activates her natal Venus-Uranus-Pluto sextile Neptune pattern with a trine and sextiles, while also closely conjoining U.S. progressed Jupiter, and trining the U.S. progressed Sun and Moon in Pisces.  This is about as good as it gets!  The Moon functions more tellingly for her as she has been campaigning on women’s reproductive issues.  Her progressed Moon will even trine the Inaugural Venus and Saturn as it sextiles her own progressed Jupiter conjoining the Inaugural Ascendant and opposes Mercury – creating a sextile-bowl pattern.

In addition to Charles Jayne’s transiting Saturn to natal Sun technique outlined above, Harris’ progressed Midheaven (career) conjoins U.S. progressed Venus in Taurus, solidifying her advancement, while closely opposing U.S. progressed Saturn (11’).  Donald Trump’s progressed Ascendant closely conjoins U.S. progressed Saturn, which I judged as blocking him personally.  For Kamala, with a strong and helpful Saturn in her birth chart, as well as years of experience in public service, I believe this shows assuming more responsibility.

Kamala Harris has an advantage, to my mind, in that her Ascendant closely aligns with Evangeline Adams’ Gemini rising U.S. Ascendant and Mars.  Transiting Jupiter’s station in late October conjoins her Ascendant and North Node, and  give her a boost.  While Jupiter won’t exactly trine her natal Sun and Saturn until April-May of 2025, its station is within 4 degrees of her Ascendant on election day.  Jupiter exactly sextiles her Mars throughout October (and conjoins U.S. Mars, which closely sextiles Harris’ Mars), channeling abundant energy into her efforts.

Transiting Saturn is also angular through Kamala Harris’ birth chart  (her 10th house).  She experienced the end of her second Saturn return while in office in early 2023.  Both show a period of time when one can capitalize on experience and move into a new phase in life.

The rest of Harris’ transits have a Uranian flavor which can be difficult to predict.  Kamala’s 10th house ruler Jupiter in Taurus forms the corner of a T-square with 3rd house Mars and Saturn conjunct her Midheaven. Transiting Uranus exactly conjoined her 12th house Jupiter in late April, leading up to Trump’s negative court judgments in May and Biden’s withdrawal from the race in July.  These surprising events and reversals were very much in keeping with Uranus’ energies.  As Uranus approached a square to her natal Saturn at the beginning of September, many of her polls had risen from their levels with Biden.

Similarly, transiting Saturn stations as it opposes natal Uranus from October to December; transiting Uranus will conjoin Harris’ Jupiter again in December, disruptive aspects that bring change.   But which way?  Adams described Uranus conjunct natal Jupiter as “an extremely powerful aspect which only occurs once in a lifetime, and which can work out advantageously or just the reverse.  If you confine yourself to your legitimate business, then you will do the right thing, for you are more likely to be in harmony with yourself and the constructive forces of the Universe than you have been in many years.”

While Harris may be promising the public more than she can realistically deliver, she seems to be following long held precedent.  She has been on an upward trajectory, but much could develop in the coming weeks.  The Uranian aspects might relate to the historic nature of a woman of color being elected U.S. president for the first time.

Due to the strength of Kamala Harris’ birth chart and her many significant progressions, I think she will win the 2024 election.  Though there may be some Uranian twists and turns before she gets to the White House.

Trump in 2024?

Despite a loyal following, Donald Trump’s chances for re-election in 2024 are slimmer than they were when he was elected U.S. president in 2016.  At that time, his progressed Moon was Out-of-Bounds in declination, promising a great public response.  His progressed Sun conjoined his Ascendant, strengthening his capabilities and achievements.  In addition, Trump’s progressed Sun paralleled transiting Saturn, an aspect that Charles Jayne believed coincided with election to the presidency.  Trump enjoys none of these combinations now.

With a dynamic and favorable birth chart, Donald Trump often gets what he wants.  His closest aspect is Jupiter trine his Uranus in the 10th house of career and success.  Evangeline Adams described this pairing as “one of the most powerful aspects known… if you have political leanings this vibration is an extremely favorable one.”  To prove her point, both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, also born in the summer of 1946 like Trump, have the same aspect, though not quite as close.  While a charismatic combination, Uranus’ influence can also create unexpected emergencies or controversy as well.

Trump’s Mars in Leo conjunct his Ascendant gives him great vitality and a strong desire to prove himself a winner in contests.  Mars’ sextile to his Sun in the 10th house and trine to his opposite Moon in Sagittarius lend the ability to achieve his goals with a combination of showmanship and force.

But the former president is in the midst of some challenging aspects that continue well after the election.  With Uranus nearly exactly conjunct his Midheaven at the end of May, he was found guilty of 34 felonies in the New York City “hush money” trial.  In the 2+ weeks before Uranus exactly squared his 1st house Mars in July, he survived an assassination attempt and accepted the Republican nomination for president, but also suffered a reversal as Kamala Harris entered the race.  As the square repeats in October and April (2025), Trump continues to face volatile circumstances.  Transiting Pluto in late Capricorn, and Neptune in late Pisces also form a stressful yod to his Ascendant, lowering his vitality and making his actions less focused.

While Saturn through the 7th house can be a helpful influence for solidifying a relationship or career path, Saturn’s square to Trump’s natal Uranus in May found him liable to writer E. Jean Carroll in her sexual assault case against him.  As Saturn stationed and also approached a square to his Sun, Moon and Nodes at the end of June, his debate with Joe Biden revealed Biden’s weaknesses, but he soon stepped down in favor of Kamala Harris.  Saturn’s station in mid-November and exact squares to Trump’s Sun-Moon and Uranus in early 2025 seem unlikely to help him.

But it’s the progressions that tell the underlying story.  I like to look at both progressions in declination and the zodiac, as well as the candidate’s progressed aspects to the U.S. and its progressed chart to see how the relationship continues.  Trump’s progressed Mars conjoins the U.S. progressed Mars at the same time as the U.S. natal Saturn, as I described in a 2022 post.  Due to the strength of the U.S. Saturn, exalted in Libra, I ultimately feel that the country blocks his advances, since progressed Mars is also in its detriment in Libra.

Mars in Trump’s birth chart rules his 4th house of real estate and 9th house of the courts, both of which have had much to do with his success.  But the 4th house also rules the end of the matter metaphorically.   And at 78, things will eventually come to a close as he now nears the last chapter of life.

On the plus side, Trump has his progressed Mercury (co-ruler of his 10th) applying to a parallel to his Mars (himself), while his progressed Mars parallels natal Jupiter, both adding to his ability to fight for a position and get his message out.  But his progressed Midheaven (position) departs from a parallel to his natal MC.  His progressed Ascendant departs from a contraparallel to his natal Ascendant, and progressed Venus (ruler of the career 10th) departs from a contraparallel to his Ascendant, putting some career issues in the past.  I personally put less emphasis on his natal Mercury and Venus as they lack essential dignity.  And since progressed Mercury is also less than 2 degrees from conjoining natal Mars, it’s also near a square to his MC and accentuates the erratic pattern created by transiting Uranus to his MC and Mars.

Trump’s progressed Ascendant at 3 Scorpio also closely approaches a square to his progressed Saturn in Leo (in detriment, like his natal Saturn in Cancer), another combination suggesting frustration and weakness and ironically, coming up against an insurmountable wall.  His advances are blocked.  This aspect is reflected and augmented in his progressed Ascendant conjunct U.S. progressed Saturn (15’ past).  His progressed Ascendant also nearly exactly conjoins Adams’ Gemini rising U.S. MC, suggesting a close connection, but in my judgment, Saturn blocks him, especially as his birth Saturn is debilitated and the U.S. Saturn exalted.

Similarly, Trump’s progressed MC approaches a conjunction with his natal Pluto – a little wide at 2-1/2 degrees, but in his 12th house seems to me more like grappling with injustices done to him rather than success.

Trump’s progressed Venus and Jupiter are in a close conjunction in Libra, strengthening Venus in its dignity.  But they also both square his natal Venus and Saturn, as well as the U.S. progressed Nodes, looking more like a financial transaction, negotiation or settlement than a smooth connection with the destiny of the country as its leader.  In a like manner, the U.S. progressed Sun and Moon also square Trump’s natal Nodes and Uranus, while the midpoint of his progressed Moon and Ascendant square the U.S. natal Nodes (19’).  These are essential progressions as well as disruptive influences that point toward discord and shifting circumstances.

Despite any fame or fortune indicated in a horoscope, we all go through periods of success and failure, and times when certain achievements may not be possible  Donald Trump’s notable progressions with Saturn and the Nodes, as well as other patterns, suggest a loss to me.  And Trump lacks the three important aspects that surprisingly brought him to the presidency in 2016.  There are many ways to win, but Kamala Harris has virtually all three of those indicators in 2024.

I plan to post my forecast for Kamala Harris and the 2024 election in the next week or so.

Here’s my earlier overview of the 2024 election, based on the 2020 Jupiter-Saturn conjunction.

In my book, Tecumseh’s Curse, I analyze the history of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions in the U.S. and their link to the deaths of presidents, look at the Indigenous history connected with them, and analyze presidents’ and inaugural horoscopes.

2024 Election Overview

The 2020 Jupiter-Saturn conjunction cycle heralds a notable generational change, as it initiates a new 800-year phase of conjunctions in air signs.  In Aquarius, it’s combined with Pluto’s final entry into that sign, after the presidential election in November 2024.  These markers may help us consider the results of the election.

Many American voters weren’t pleased to see either Trump or Biden on the ballot again, reflecting the natural cyclic need for change.  Candidate Joe Biden was also beginning to remind me of the weakened father figure on the Maya Temple of the Cross at Palenque, which commemorated the hand-off of power from one generation to the next at another Jupiter-Saturn conjunction.

Kamala Harris’ entry into the race seems to signify the younger person who’d be the new leader as the Jupiter-Saturn metaphor suggests.

Pluto will return to the sign of Capricorn for the final time from September to late November and will be in Aquarius for the 2025 inauguration.  Pluto at 0 Aquarius conjoins the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of 2020 and accentuates the new and different phase for the country.  Some of the current political slogans amplify and reiterate the Jupiter-Saturn themes.  Harris supporters repeat “We’re not going back” echoing forward-looking Jupiter, while Trump’s followers continue to repeat “Make America great again,” which harkens toward a Saturnian look back.

As we might expect from the astrological symbolism, polls and statistics show a changing electorate.  Pew Research in April 2024 noted that well over 50% of voters age 18-39 affiliate with Democrats, while over 50% of voters aged 60-80+ lean toward Republicans.  Gen-Z voters are more socially and politically conscious than previous generations, and 47% of them are people of color.  (In the south and west, a majority of newly-eligible voters are people of color.)  And for the last 60 years, more female voters have turned out for presidential elections.  All may give Kamala Harris an edge in the race.

Donald Trump’s legal challenges can’t help but lower his chances with a portion of voters.  His difficult progressions with the U.S. chart continue through around 2027 (see my 2022 post on this topic).  The erratic nature of his 10th house Sun-North Node-Uranus conjunction shows his attention-grabbing newsmaker abilities, but also the ups and downs of his career.  I also felt that his assassination attempt in July didn’t especially augur a win in November.

In strong contrast, Kamala Harris’ Ascendant and North Node in Gemini trine her Saturn near her Midheaven, showing someone who slowly and surely moves forward in her career.  We can see her progress from D.A. to State Attorney General to Senator to Vice President.  President would be the next step forward.  (I covered her chart in 2020 when she was a Vice Presidential candidate.)

Both candidates have some challenging aspects coming up and we’d need to look further for the outcome of their 2024 contest.

Planetary cycles and generational change take years to play out, especially when indicated by the Jupiter-Saturn Great Mutation and Pluto moving into Aquarius.  But these shifts are major astrological indicators that will reverberate for many years to come.  In exactly what election will the change definitively manifest?  Kamala Harris clearly represents a newer generation of political leaders.  But we need to analyze the birth charts to confirm if she’ll actually be elected president in 2024, which I’ll be doing in the coming weeks.

Biden’s Saturn Cycle

I expected Joe Biden to be a one-term president.  If we look at the Saturn cycles of past presidencies (of which Biden is the most recent), the astrological limitations imposed on him are obvious.

Biden’s 2021 Inauguration horoscope has a close (3 degree) Sun-Saturn conjunction, so I reviewed charts for previous administrations with the Sun conjunct Saturn.  This is important because they reiterate the close Sun-Saturn square in the U.S. horoscope.

Zachary Taylor was inaugurated on March, 5, 1849, almost a decade before the Civil War, and he faced contentious issues between the north and south over slavery.  With the Sun conjunct Saturn (in Pisces) he overate cherries and milk at a 4th of July party, suffered stomach pains for almost a week, and died after only a little more than a year in office.

Rutherford B. Hayes also had the Sun conjunct Saturn in Pisces in 1877.  He came to office in a disputed election decided by Congress in the Reconstruction period.  He pledged to serve only one term and did so.

John F. Kennedy’s 1961 Jupiter-Saturn inauguration had Saturn in Capricorn conjunct the Sun in Aquarius (about 8 degrees apart).  He served during the post-World War II Cold War and the beginning of military involvement in South Vietnam.  Civil rights issues and Martin Luther King’s rise to prominence again showed issues of racial justice coming to the forefront during this time.  He was assassinated in November of 1963.

Civil rights and racial justice continued to be important during Joe Biden’s administration, common themes in all these Sun-Saturn election charts.  He pointedly selected Black women for Vice President and Supreme Court Justice.

But the Sun-Saturn pattern also showed two presidents who died before completing their 4-years in office, and a third who chose to serve only one term.  I didn’t know exactly what would happen this time, but concluded in my 2020 book Tecumseh’s Curse that “An inaugural Sun and Saturn has correlated with…  administrations that were limited in time and by circumstances.”  I had also noticed in 2020 that “Pluto in Aquarius will also square his Moon throughout 2024. Joe Biden had suggested he will not run again, and this transit coincides with a move or departure after four years. “

At my writing in 2020, there was that suggestion, which was supported by the astrological patterns, though the candidate later changed his mind.  The inaugural Sun-Saturn conjunction symbolized the entire term and did not change.  Of course we know that Biden stepped aside on July 21, 2024 in favor of his Vice President Kamala Harris.