Autopsy of an Election

In their attempt to find a winner, astrologers use a myriad of very different techniques to reach their conclusions; when they get it right they naturally see it as a vindication of their techniques. With a presidential election getting it right could simply be luck, so it’s the argumentation that’s important, and the precision of detail. For example in the 2000 election one astrologer predicted it would be on a knife edge, with confusion for weeks afterwards… which was pretty accurate.One astrologer who got it right this time was Lee Lehmann (Note 1), who predicted a win, based on statistical methods, in The Mountain Astrologer. She writes “The fact is, attempting to call the election based on transits, progressions and other such techniques to the natal chart is very subjective – and being subjective, is unfortunately subject to one’s own personal biases…” So true.

Democratically inclined astrologers console themselves in many different ways. Some point out that Bush did not win, just like he did not win in 2000. Exit polls, which are normally extremely accurate (in Europe at least) showed Kerry winning but those damned new electronic voting machines came up with different figures. (Note 2) Another astrologer points out that Bush had to be re-elected to fulfill Tecumseh’s Curse. (Note 3)

I do think that there is no foolproof system for predicting election outcomes, but in retrospect it is tempting to look at some simple indicators. The actual election chart does in fact give a good indication. When judging elections there are a number of traditional rules – they are good indicators, but not terribly reliable. The incumbent is said to be the Ascendant ruler, whilst the challenger is the Descendant ruler. The movement of the Moon away from the incumbent’s ruler and applying to the challenger’s ruler is said to favor the challenger. This actually happened in the 2000 election, when Bush beat Gore.

See chart : 7.11.2000 6.00 Washington AS 7 SC

Here Bush as the challenger would be represented by Venus, and the Moon does in fact leave a trine to the Sun in Scorpio in the 1st house, which could represent Gore, and move to square Venus… favoring Bush. In fact the Moon changes sign during the course of the day, which is also an indication of a new epoch. Note here Mercury stationary at 29.59 Libra, where it remained for three days (and squaring Neptune ) – this was the election on a knife edge. It is also interesting to note that Venus disposes of Mars, the ruler of Gore, and Bush was ultimately able to eliminate a weak Gore via the Supreme Court.

The chart for election start in 2004 again shows Scorpio rising with the Sun – ruler of the Midheaven – in the 1st house. This will always be the case for October elections that start at 6.00 in the USA , and this in itself is a very powerful horary indicator of success for the incumbent.

See chart : 2.11.2004 6.00 Washington AS 2 SC

In this case the Ascendant ruler is Mars, weak in Libra and the 12th house – representing Bush. The Descendant ruler, Venus in Libra representing Kerry, is strong, and disposes of Mars. According to traditional rules, the challenger is in a much stronger position. So here the rule is useless – unless voting really began earlier. (I have heard that there is a tradition for the first vote to be cast after midnight in some obscure Ohio town, but I am not sure.) However, the Moon does separate from a square to Venus, and apply to a square to Mars, which favors Bush according to traditional rules.

However, looking at the election chart in a less technical manner, other patterns emerge. Firstly the Moon is in Cancer, very close to the US Sun and Bush’s Sun, so the mood of the country is to stick to what is safe and known – Bush’s strongest card. The Moon ends up on the morning of the 3rd conjoining Saturn, so in retrospect it seems inconceivable that the country would vote for change. (Still, Kerry – with his Sun conjoining Saturn was rather the Saturn type).

Another issue is that there was a Venus/Jupiter conjunction in Libra during the election. And what a beautiful sight it will have been, rising on the Eastern horizon as early voters came out! No wonder the election was said to have been about values. The USA horoscope has a Venus/Jupiter conjunction in early Cancer – in fact election Venus is exactly square US Venus at 5 degrees, so the election conjunction resonated strongly with the US chart. The Venus/Jupiter conjunction in Cancer is all about traditional values connected with religion and the family – another indication that Bush was favored. However, the Venus/Jupiter conjunction on Election Day was right on Kerry’s Midheaven, which was very favorable – but perhaps it is unwise to rely on the accuracy of candidates’ birth times.

Generally this election horoscope resonates really well with Bush, who has Sun in Cancer and Moon in Libra, whilst it hardly resonates at all with John Kerry’s chart.

Without wanting to be negative about the election, it is interesting to see that Mercury is in Scorpio, and makes an exact trine to Saturn at 27 degrees Cancer during the day. This resonates with the US Pluto at 27 Capricorn and suggests a lot of secret information tightly controlled by traditional powers, and benefiting them. There have subsequently been bitter claims by Democratic groups that electronic voting machines were rigged with predefined percentages weighted against Democrats. This could be the usual conspiracy theory, but the conjunction of the South Node in Scorpio with the election Ascendant trining Uranus could indicate innovations used for secret purposes.

It is an extraordinary thing, but the election period witnessed a highly unusual planetary grouping – a grand quintile – that was exact (with the Sun and Moon) during the month of October. There has not been a grand quintile since 1941, and the next one will be in 2024. This pattern linked Uranus, Saturn, Pluto and Jupiter – some real heavyweights – all quintile to each other on election day.

As the slowest planets, Uranus and Pluto set the tone for the quintile, relating back to the early conjunction of these planets in the mid-sixties, and the transformations that took place at that time – from Vietnam to the computer generation. This also relates to terror, as the World Trade Centre, commenced under an exact Uranus/Pluto conjunction, was destroyed as the quintile began to form. With Saturn and Jupiter in the picture, the explosive transformations of Uranus/Pluto are grounded into government institutions and society. This strongly favored the candidate who made the institutional fight against terror the main plank of the election – as this resonates with the dominant world theme of the time.

Now Bush has been reelected, how will he fare during the next four years? One way of checking this out is to look at the horoscope for the presidential inauguration on January 20th. Looking back at the previous inauguration, there was a very violent pattern, with Mars in Scorpio on the Descendant exactly square Mercury/Uranus in Aquarius, presaging the possibility of a deadly enemy attack from a fanatic group.

See chart : 20.01.2001 12.00 Washington

This chart also has a Moon, Pluto and Chiron conjunction in the 8th house, squaring horoscope ruler Venus, indicating a very traumatic wound inflicted on the American people. The chart for Bush’s second term has a completely different feel, but it is ominous all the same.

Joan Quigley – Nancy Reagan’s astrologer, timed the second Reagan inauguration to the second, to make the most of favorable influences at the time, but in actual fact, there are just a few minutes leeway. The ascendant will always be approximately 10 degrees Taurus, and the IC 23 Cancer. But if I were Bush, I would strive to delay acceptance for as many minutes as possible, because the position of Saturn exactly conjoining the IC is most unfavorable. This Saturn is exactly quincunx Pluto, which conjoins Mars in the 8th house and of course still quintiles Uranus. It looks like the enemies of the President are going to be as active, and as dangerous, as ever.

Adrian Ross Duncan 19.11.2004

1. Lee is a director on the faculty of Kepler College of Astrological Arts and Sciences (see www.kepler.edu )

2. The Diebold electronic voting machine was used extensively in Florida and Ohio . It leaves no paper trail. Apparently significant discrepancies were found where these machines were used. Republican companies control and manufacture these machines. Se for example www.votergate.com which claims that new computer voting systems allow a few powerful corporations to record votes in secret.

3. John Cook in ISAR newsletter. This is the curse that says that no President elected in a zero year (e.g. 1960, 1980, 2000) will survive office. It has been true for 200 years, with the exception of Reagan, who survived an assassination attempt.