Category Archives: horoscope interpretation

Election 2016 – Progressions

Progressions are a significant part of astrological forecasting. For the Presidential election, I’ll look at the closest progressed aspects within a degree of natal planets and points on Election Day. Do they suggest victory or a new position? What is their nature and strength?

As we saw in the Solar Arc Directions, Donald Trump’s progressed Sun conjoins his Ascendant, which is powerful testimony to his ability to promote himself. The Sun is also quintile Uranus in his 10^th house of status. This is his most important aspect suggesting success or a new direction for his career. However it’s 21’ past exact. While aspects theoretically should be exact for significant life events, we all know that reality is more flexible.

Trump’s progressed Ascendant in Libra is in his 3^rd house, very close to sextiling his natal Mars conjunct his 1^st. This reiterates the themes of self-development, self-promotion and communications, especially as Mars rules his 9^th house.

Perhaps one of Donald’s strongest progressions is his Moon in its own sign of Cancer, just under a degree of conjoining natal Saturn in his 11^th house (exact on 12/2/16). This combination certainly suggests a leadership position and responsiveness from the public, especially since his Saturn rules his 6^th and 7^th houses. But Saturn is in its detriment in Cancer. I’m therefore not sure if it suggests a win. The Moon, however, also sextiles the Midheaven on 12/16, though it’s about a degree and a half from exact on Election Day.

Progressed Mars in Libra in his 2^nd house squares Mercury in his 11^th. Trump has been focused on talking about his values, with a lot of verbal sparring. This combination also shows his engagement with the community (11th). Once again, though, it’s past exactitude – by about 19’ (it was exact in May of 2016).

Progressed Jupiter square Saturn is a much closer aspect, (8’ past), but since Jupiter is a slower-moving planet it’s progressions are extremely slow. Trump’s Jupiter in transit moved about 10’ a day, so the progression was closer to exact about a year ago. More importantly, however, this progression accentuates his natal Jupiter square Saturn and is also activated by the progressed Moon.

Donald Trump’s progressed MC conjoins his 12^th house cusp with no aspects. He is tending toward behind-the-scenes situations, as political positions do, but with no engagement with the rest of his chart, it’s symbolism isn’t more specific.

Trump has a number of close progressions, though some of the most significant are either not especially close or are past exactitude. Self-development is reiterated, but I don’t know if this suggests success. The progressed Moon is one of the most important, but gives a somewhat mixed message as it conjoins Saturn.

(I’ve been very exacting with the progressed degrees. But note that the fastest progressions – the Ascendant and Midheaven in particular, and also the Moon – may not be exact due to inexact birth times or calculation issues. )

I’ll look at Hillary Clinton’s progressions next time so we can see whose are more significant.

Election 2016 – Solar Arcs

Let’s look at the Solar Arc directed planets for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to see who has more powerful directions on Election Day, November 8, 2016. (I use these simply as a kind of progression and not with midpoint pictures.)

Donald Trump’s directed MC, relating to career and status, is conjunct his 12^th house, with no major aspects to planets in his birth chart. His directed Ascendant is in his 3^rd house, just past conjoining directed Mars (a high point for assertive communications). It approaches a trine to his Mercury in the 11^th, but it’s a little over a degree and a half away.

Trump’s directed Sun opposite Moon, as well as his Nodes, straddle his Ascendant-Descendant axis. This is strong testimony of coming before the public and gaining much attention, and is very consistent with his campaign. Yet the South Node conjoining his 7^th house cusp, which relates to the public, suggests a lack of support for a major position in the material world.

Directed Mercury from the 1^st approaches a square to Uranus in his natal 10^th house. The issues of communication and career excitement are brought up. But this aspect, too, is over a degree and a half from exact on election day. I’m not sure whether the more radical changes in his career that are indicated by Uranus will occur from mid to late 2017 or earlier. These are the closest aspects.

Hillary Clinton’s directions are stronger. However we must remember that her birth time is not certain, which makes aspects involving the Ascendant and Midheaven questionable. (I use her 8:02 AM chart.)

Hillary’s natal Moon square Uranus directs to angular houses, making it more prominent. Directed Uranus is less than half of a degree from conjoining her MC, and her directed Moon is in her 7^th house. This combination shows both her support from women, as well as the fact that she’s breaking new ground as the first female presidential candidate from a major party. To my mind, this is a very important direction.

Hillary’s directed MC falls in her 12^th house, only about 7 degrees from conjoining her Ascendant. Given the orb I use, I feel that it’s already activating her Ascendant, which is significant. It’s also just a degree from conjoining her Venus, showing the possibility of much support from behind the scenes. (Venus also rules her 6^th house of service, her 7^th of the public and partnerships and the 11^th relating to the community.)

Solar Arc Neptune is nearly exactly trine her natal Saturn in the 9^th, allowing her to reach a wide audience with her message. Similarly, her directed Jupiter in her 3^rd house is within a degree of trining her Neptune in the 11^th house, giving her a strong resonance with the community (11^th) for her ideas (the 3^rd house and Jupiter). (Directed Mercury, also in her 3^rd, has passed a sextile to her natal Jupiter, but is less than a degree away, also supporting her message.)

Hillary has more close Solar Arc directions for election day than Donald. She wins this round of astrological consideration. So far we have Solar returns going to Clinton, the progressed Moon in declination to Trump and now Solar Arcs to Hillary.

I’ll look at secondary progressions for each candidate next.

Election 2016 – Solar Returns

The Presidential election this fall is a major contest and the outcome can be determined astrologically. To do it, we need to consider a wide variety of techniques. In this post I’ll look at the Solar Returns for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

The contest has changed recently, since Trump has a new Solar Return that began on his birthday in June. Trump was in NYC for a campaign rally on June 13, 2016 (the exact time of the return may fall on the day before the calendar birth date), and I’ll assume he was also in NY that morning, when his Sun returned to its natal place. At this writing, many reporters suggest that he’s become more controversial in recent months.

Trump has won support by being a political outsider, but as the Republican presidential candidate, he has alienated party leaders. A Latino judge who Trump criticized recently ruled that the fraud suit against Trump University would go to trial. These events show issues with authority figures, and Trump has Uranus conjunct the Midheaven this year. It forms a stressful yod with the Sun conjunct Venus in the 11^th house and Mars in Scorpio in the 4^th, a combative pattern.

The T-square of Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune is very close in Trump’s Solar Return, indicating his controversies involving minorities and immigrants (afflicted Jupiter).

Hillary Clinton is closer to the end of her Solar Return year, which also fell a day before her birthday, when she attended a private event in NYC. Questions of Clinton’s trustworthiness continue to dog her, her e-mail scandal seems to have a life of its own, and she has flip-flopped on a number of issues. Her Solar features Neptune conjunct the Midheaven, showing a questionable reputation. While Neptune squares Saturn in the Return, it also has some excellent aspects, forming a grand trine with the Cancer Ascendant and the Sun in Scorpio in the 5^th house. Neptune also sextiles Pluto in her 7^th, which might ease the public’s skepticism of her somewhat.

Hillary’s 10^th house of status and position ends up being more favorable than Donald’s.

The Ascendant is a significant point as well, representing the candidate. Trump has the Moon in the 3^rd closely sextiling his Solar Ascendant in Leo (the same sign rising in his birth chart). Hillary also has favorable quintile aspects between the Ascendant and the benefics Venus and Jupiter in her 4^th house, in addition to the grand trine involving her Solar Ascendant. While the Ascendant is also inconjunct Saturn, highlighting her emotional reserve and keeping many from warming up to her, the flowing aspects add more weight. Hillary’s Ascendant also ends up being more favorable than Trump’s.

Angularity adds power to planets and both candidates have angular planets in their Solar Returns: Trump has Uranus conjoining the Midheaven and Mars in the 4^th house; Clinton has Venus, Mars and Jupiter conjunct in her Solar 4^th house, Neptune on the Midheaven and Pluto in the 7^th. Hillary’s Solar Return is more powerful with more angular planets.

I always like to consider essential dignity as well. In his Return, Trump has Mercury in Gemini and Mars in Scorpio, strong in their ruling signs, but Mercury opposes Mars and Mars is also the focal point of the yod. While Clinton has Venus in its fall in Virgo, it forms a mutual reception with Mercury in Libra (each other’s ruling signs), and disposes of the rest of the planets. Mercury, though, is part of a T-square with the Moon, Uranus and Pluto. Neither candidate appears much stronger through essential dignity.

But Hillary Clinton’s Solar Return ends up being more favorable overall, with a better aspected Midheaven and Ascendant and more angular planets. There’s much more we could say about the Solar Returns, and this is only one part of the analysis we need to do to forecast the outcome of the election.

Note: I use relocated SR charts in the Tropical zodiac and do not correct for precession.

Drawing Up Horoscopes by Hand

Like most astrologers my age, I originally learned to draw up horoscopes by hand. Computers quickly changed all that and made it much quicker and easier to calculate charts. But I could never let go of hand writing the aspects.

I didn’t like how they looked on the print-outs, no matter how many different wheel styles I tried. And more importantly, they never made much sense to me that way.

So I’ve always used a computer to print out charts, but still keep my colored pencils to draw in the aspects myself. I figure them out the old-fashioned way, Sun-Moon, Sun-Mercury, Sun-Venus, etc. As I work through them, I familiarize myself with the chart and discover many connections and patterns that I might have otherwise missed. When I’m finished, I feel like I have a good impression of the person’s horoscope, its highlights and issues.

Technology facilitates many things for us these days, but may also take away some levels of our experience. My gut feeling on this was recently confirmed by a NY Times article reviewing studies of handwriting vs. keyboarding. It appears that more brain circuits are activated with manual writing, increasing mental activity and ideas. And, as I somehow suspected, handwriting may also help us process new information better.

Justin Timberlake and Neptune

Justin Timberlake’s new song, “Can’t Stop the Feeling,” hit the top of the charts over Memorial Day weekend, and is being touted as the song of the summer. This infectious pop tune reflects Timberlake’s exact Moon conjunct Neptune in Sagittarius.

“Can’t Stop the Feeling” captures a sense of love, joy and happiness, and the video shows people in everyday life expressing it. Since Justin not only performs the song, but was also a writer and co-producer, it strongly reflects his personality. His Moon and Neptune closely trine his Leo Ascendant from the cusp of the 5th house, giving him the ability to creatively dramatize a special moment in time. The singer-songwriter seems able to effortlessly capture an evanescent feeling.

Sagittarius showcases optimism and expansiveness, but it’s also the combination with Neptune that transcends the material plane and blends it into a sense of higher consciousness. Neptune is certainly at home with music and dance. And look how many joyful Sagittarius-Neptune phrases we can find in the song’s lyrics:

“I fly so high, no ceiling, when I’m in my zone”
“Got that good soul in my feet”
“moving so phenomenally”
“Just imagine”
“Nothing I can see but you when you dance, dance, dance”
“It’s something magical”

Director Mark Romanek (born September 18, 1959) perfectly captures the essence of the song in the music video. His Uranus at 19 Leo conjoins Justin’s Ascendant while trining his Moon-Neptune conjunction in Sagittarius. Transiting Uranus will station in the third fire sign, Aries, in Timberlake’s 9th house this summer, creating a once-in-a-lifetime grand trine. So the hype about “Can’t Stop the Feeling” being the summer’s song is probably correct!

Justin Timberlake was born on January 31, 1981 at 6:30 PM in Memphis, Tennessee, according to his birth certificate on Astrodatabank.

When Was Hillary Born?

Now that Hillary Clinton is the de facto Democratic nominee, we have a problem: when was she born? We can’t make a good forecast for the outcome of the presidential election without it.

Several different times of birth have been published for Hillary, including rectified times. Lois Rodden based her rating system on documentary evidence, never astrological opinion. Yet in this case, there is no published birth certificate and most reports are hearsay. The times with more definitive sources are shortly after 8:00 AM or 8:00 PM.

The two horoscopes are quite different. The 8 PM chart has Uranus in Gemini conjunct the Ascendant and the Moon at 29 Pisces in the 10th house. This is the only angularity. Uranus on the Ascendant squaring the Moon, both in mutable signs, shows a lack of focus. The energy could potentially be brilliant, but it’s also quite restless and even manic. The Moon in the 10th is also an indicator of movement: the career is changeable. Neither of these indicators point toward a woman who appears centered in the most challenging of circumstances. I also find it hard to believe that Clinton, who has consistently enjoyed high-profile positions, has a mutable, Void of Course Moon in her 10th house of status.

I find the 8:02 AM time to be a much better fit. The Sun in the behind-the-scenes 12th house is a placement shared by other high-level politicians (George W. Bush, Senator John Edwards, Jimmy Carter, U.S. Grant and Abe Lincoln). Scorpio rises, with Venus and Mercury in Scorpio conjoining the first house cusp, and Jupiter is also placed in the first in its ruling sign of Sagittarius, a powerful combination for a strong speaker and personality. We see her as both guarded and controlled (Scorpio) yet energetic (Jupiter and Sagittarius).

Taurus on her 7th house points toward her husband. The ruler, Venus, is conjunct the Ascendant from the 12th and placed in its detriment in Scorpio – a nice description of their complicated relationship. But with her fixed signs, the partnership has endured.

A triple conjunction of Mars, Saturn and Pluto falls in Hillary’s 9th house in the 8:02 AM chart, variously squaring her first house planets. This accounts for the strong negative gut reactions many people have toward her. There’s more going on than we know. The focus on the 9th exemplifies her experience as a lawyer, representative and diplomat, and higher office in general. It’s also a good indicator of the legal problems that continue to plague her.

I will use the 8:02 AM birth time for Hillary in the future. But we can never be completely sure until she shares her birth certificate with us (and of course even then there may be errors).

Hillary Clinton was born on October 26, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois

Tough Guys and Mars

Men typically die five years sooner than women, on average, and physical differences can’t explain it. Researchers at Rutgers University found that men who saw themselves as tough, brave and self-reliant – typical characteristics of Mars – tended to choose male doctors and shared fewer symptoms with them.

The higher they scored on a “masculinity scale,” the greater their Martian attributes. This increased their tendency to ignore medical problems and to delay addressing them. They also avoided showing weakness to other men, which caused them to down-play their symptoms with male doctors. Women with strong Martian characteristics had similar outcomes as well, though it’s worse for men (perhaps because they are all Mars).

Astrologically, Venusians are sensitive, crave comfort and seek balance. Martian types are more headstrong, rash, and willing to take risks. And unfortunately, these characteristics don’t help them in the longevity department.

Trump and Uranus

With transiting Jupiter continuing through his 1st house, Donald Trump enjoys unrestrained self-expression and is getting more media coverage than ever. But Jupiter in Virgo squares his natal Uranus this week, which may both broaden his appeal but also invite controversy. He’s already being criticized by the Republican establishment, who see his lack of political experience and outspoken manner as a danger to winning the presidential election this fall.

Uranus can behave like a wild card – it may be unpredictable and disruptive. The noise from Jupiter’s short-term square to Uranus will blow over. The more significant influence of transiting Uranus then trines Trump’s Moon in April and sextiles his Sun from the 9th house in May, aiding his efforts and perhaps also bringing some surprises.

Uranus will go on to square Trump’s Saturn and oppose his Jupiter in June, which represents unexpected developments and a possible upset. This aspect repeats in July as he heads toward the convention. It’s not hard to predict that Trump is sure to stay in the news.

I won’t yet hazard a guess as to the outcome of the election in November as I’m following my own rule and waiting for the official slate of candidates.

Forecasting Political Elections
Candidate Trump

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Scalia and Saturn

Justice Antonin Scalia served on the Supreme Court for 29 years – the magic Saturn cycle number. So Saturn must have played a significant part in his experience. And he was a very Saturn character.

Saturn is known for its conservatism, and Scalia presented the conservative viewpoint in his decisions as well as in his life. He remained a staunch opponent of both abortion and gay marriage, and solidified individuals’ rights to own guns. Saturn typically protects the status quo and is not an innovator. Scalia took a historical view of what the Constitution meant when it was written, rather than seeing it as a living document, since Saturn rules both history and endurance.

And talk about job security – something every Saturn person wants. How many jobs have a lifetime guarantee? Scalia found one.

When we look at Justice Scalia’s horoscope, it’s no surprise to see he was born with Saturn conjunct his Sun. He respected authority and became an authority himself. (Of course there was much more to the man and his horoscope, though Saturn is a strong factor.)

Scalia was appointed by Ronald Regan and affirmed by the Senate on September 17, 1986. Saturn was at 5 Sagittarius and had recently stationed in trine to his Leo Midheaven, while Uranus, also in Sagittarius, was near the midpoint of a square to his Sun conjunct Saturn. When he died on February 13, 2016, just a month shy of his 80th birthday, transiting Saturn was again in Sagittarius and squared his Saturn.

Justice Antonin Scalia was born on March 11, 1936 at 8:55 pm in Trenton, New Jersey, according to his birth certificate and Astrodatabank.

Karen Christino

Astrologer and Writer