Astrology of the 2016 presidential election

The astrology of the 2016 presidential election in the recent election cycle of this year (2015-2016) played out as one of the strangest and most chaotic dramas in American history. The primaries began with tough fights for both candidates. The Republicans chose a candidate completely outside of the political system, an outsider who had never served in any official capacity as either governor or congressman or any other political office. He had little experience in government, even less than President  Obama when he became president in 2009.

On the other hand, the Democratic candidate offered the voters decades of experience. She had served as Senator and  Secretary of State; and she was familiar with all the players at the highest levels of power. It was expected that she would capture the presidency with ease. Yet she was challenged with a hard fight in the primaries, and that fight continued well into the nominating convention, and it grew virulent after the release of the Wikileaks emails that described the inner workings of the DNC.

So what was happening here?

What was happening here was that there was a close transit of Pluto opposing the Sun of the US chart (Sibley version), and at the same time squaring the US natal Saturn. And a synod of two outer planets, Uranus (the planetary ruler of upsets in elections) and Eris (21°,22°, 23° Aries), imparted a wacky, revolutionary and crazily changing energy to the contest.

Pluto Opposing the Sun of a Nation’s Chart

When Pluto opposes the natal Sun of a nation’s chart or the natal Sun of a national leader, the structures of power can blow apart.

Pluto in the Past

Pluto for the first time in its history conjoined America’s natal Sun on August 2, 1923. When the transit of Pluto at 11⁰ Cancer 26’ was less than two degrees away from the conjunction of the USA Sun (13° Cancer 13′, Sibley chart), Warren G. Harding, the President of the United States, died. He was succeeded by Calvin Coolidge, who would, since he was born July 4^th, would have Pluto conjunct his natal Sun, off and on, for several years. For Coolidge this transit meant an ascent in power.

When Pluto opposed President Wilson’s natal sun, he suffered a stroke. It so incapacitated him that he was unable to carry out his official duties. His wife, Edith Wilson (oddly, a descendant of Pocahontas) would rule as de-facto president for the next two years.

Pluto conjunctions and oppositions seem to work their strongest effects on tyrannies. A Pluto opposition to the 10^th House planets of the chart of the Nazi party wreaked terrible destructions, leaving German cities in rubble, and its people starving.

As I watched it move towards the opposition to America’s natal Sun, it seemed curious to me that nothing much seemed to be happening. Yes, when it opposed the US natal Venus, it caused a huge melt-down in the stock market, bursting the housing bubble (Pluto opposed US Venus located at 3° Cancer  06′, Sibley Chart), precipitating the USA into what was called the Great Recession. That took place in March 2009.

A little over four years later, on April 15, 2013, the Boston Marathon Massacre occurred. And at that time Pluto was a little over one and a half degrees out of opposition to the US Sun, and, yes, it was stationary, making it a powerful influence. But this transit, it seemed, was no Woodrow Wilson falling from power or episode after episode of German cities being bombed into rubble. And those terrorists were quickly hunted down and killed with all of the Achilles type rage that Americans are capable of when they confront radical human evil, also a Plutonian manifestation.

Yet it seemed so quiet after the Boston terrorists were dealt with. I know now that what was going on was taking place behind the mask of Pluto.

Astrology of the 2016 Presidential Election: What Happened November 8^th?

The power elite in America melted down. This melt-down is similar to what happens in a nuclear reactor, when the balance of powerful energy in the reactor is disrupted, possibly by loss of coolant, or by a tsunami as happened in Japan, or by a fire, but generally by the loss of balance of power, and the whole reactor melts down into slag.

In American politics this process was much slower. It began in 2010, when in a mid-term election (Nov. 2, 2010), the Republicans regained the House of Representatives by picking up 63 seats. That election ended the Democrats holding and ruling all three branches of government.

In 2012, the president won his re-election. His party picked up two seats in the Senate to hold their majority. It appeared as if nothing was happening.

In the 2014 Mid-Term elections the Republicans gained both houses; governorships shifted to the Republicans, and also many state legislatures moved from left to right.

In 2015, the opposition of Pluto to the US natal Sun was exact for many months. Even with new majorities in both houses all new legislation stopped. Everything gridlocked. And everything did stop, but the power of the elite was also blocked. The “gridlock” of the Congress was blocking the changes that the people did not want. A Supreme Court justice died. The president immediately appointed a new justice, which appointment the Senate had to approve. That is Constitutional law. The Senate approved nothing. Gridlock continued: It was Plutonian blocking. Effectively, the power of the elite was bleeding out daily. It was becoming very weak. But, still, it was hard for people to grasp.

Numerous Americans felt that the new laws passed by elites over the years were shoved down their throats. They did not like or want these laws. Polls showed that many Americans (70%) were afraid of their government. This new class of bureaucrats and politicians and lobbyists and crony capitalists and corporate media began to be called elites. Washington DC was the most prosperous city in America. A new class warfare was forming: the People against the Elites. This was a true class warfare. It would be fought in the national media, against newspapers and corporate news media. The battle was waged on Facebook and on Twitter and on You Tube. It flared up in family meetings. And it was fought in the presidential contest. Millions  watched its intense drama every day.

Ultimately, it was fought at the voting booth.

The vote resulted in a total meltdown of the Democratic Party, possibly the worst in its history.

What happened?

Seventeen states voted for the Democratic candidate.

Thirty three states voted for the Republican candidate.

But that vote was just for president.

In all public offices, the power of the elites melted away.

Of the 99 legislatures in the USA 69 are now in Republican hands. There are now 33 (out of 50) Republican governors. And 30 attorney generals are Republican.

The House and the Senate retained their majorities.

This is a Plutonian transformation of government in America of vast proportions.

Elements of the Meltdown

Pluto rules war. The world was on fire, and the elites in power seemed unable to do anything about it. They even denied that there was a problem. So they lost.

Pluto rules terrorism. Terrorists in America had been murdering and maiming Americans for several years. Up till the the election they had never stopped. The Boston Marathon killings were just part of this process.  Further, all over Europe the terrorist war raged. 99% of these killings were performed by radical Islamic fanatics. Elites refused to acknowledge that Islamic terrorism was a major problem.  This was fundamentally dishonest. A Plutonian opposition will always blast away obfuscation.

Pluto is economics and taxation. During the election the elites informed the American people that it would be necessary to raise their taxes again. Already taxes were very high, but never mind, they had to go up again.

Pluto is power. The government takeover of American health care, followed by all its broken promises, was a power grab. Americans grew to hate it. The Affordable Health Care Act was not affordable for millions: It was so expensive that it often cost more than their mortgage payments. And if this unwanted insurance was not purchased, the citizen was accessed with a huge new tax penalty. State socialism was turning into a nightmare. People were growing afraid of their government.

Yet sovereignty rests with “We the People”. It rests in their vote. When they exercised that right, they threw out the elites in every level of government.

The Three Determining Factors

To recapitulate: There were two major astrological factors in the November 8, 2016 election.

1. Pluto by transit opposed and squared America’s natal Sun and Saturn. Even though Pluto had passed its opposition to the US natal Sun by a little over a degree, its square to Saturn of the US chart was exact, thus making the opposition still in effect.
2. An Eris/Uranus synod exerted an even more powerful influence, not only in the USA but in the entire world. It was the Eris/Uranus synod that activated Brexit, the British pull-out from the European Union. The synod will probably break up the entire EU, as many member nations are already seriously considering withdrawal. In the American presidential election, the ER/UR synod (at 21°,22°, 23° Aries) brought about sudden changes almost every day in this electoral drama. The Erisian influence, ruling things that last a long time, means that these changes will be very long lasting.
3. On Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, 2017, Saturn, the planet of political timing, would be exactly opposing the natal Sun of one of the candidates.

Why Did Hillary Lose?

A few observations on Hillary’s chart. One of her closest natal aspects is a partile Mars/Pluto conjunction in Leo, which is in a loose conjunction to her natal Saturn in Leo. In fact she was born under a Saturn/Pluto synod. This grouping is square her Venus in Scorpio. This configuration describes her power center, how she exerts power in the world.

The outlet for this power is her Sun, Venus, and Mercury in Scorpio. Her Sun is exactly quintile natal Saturn, which indicates a talent for building structures of power. Her exact Saturn square Mercury, which is five minutes off partile, demonstrates communication gifts in building power structures. (It may demonstrate a fear of speaking the truth, unless that problem was worked out, in which case, she will have a firm commitment to honesty in all situations.) That her Saturn and Mercury are both connected to her natal Moon, and that her Moon has more aspects than her natal Sun, demonstrates that she will build organizations mostly with women.

Pluto often exerts fated actions that are beyond the power of the conscious ego mind to resist. On November 8, 2016, Pluto by transit was located at 15°Capricorn 22’. It inconjuncted her natal Mars/Pluto exactly. That process lasted mostly for the year she was running for office. It drained her energy. The Pluto aspect threw her off balance and possibly caused serious health problems. At the worst time it lay open the secrets of her organization.

Then the public learned of two investigations by the FBI (ruled by Pluto). And the Director of the FBI inserted himself into the election at several odd times. The cloud of scandal settled on her organization. More Pluto.

On Nov. 8, the planet Uranus by transit 21° Aries 35’ was exactly inconjunct her natal Mercury; it was trine her natal Saturn. Further, that Uranus was conjunct Eris (23° Aries 34’): This was a synodic conjunction: It influenced her entire effort. It also had been active for many months. The inconjunct to her Mercury in Scorpio from the Uranus/Eris synod in Aries is what opened her secrets to the view of the world. The hacked emails, the Wiki Leaks materials, were released at the Democratic convention. These releases never ended until the election was over: They constituted an unceasing poisonous drip.

The Clintons built a  political organization, actually, the most powerful in America. It still did not win the presidency. The Plutonian and Uranus/Eris influence drained her energy, revealed too many secrets. People watched this, and, in their millions they turned away from her, either by voting for her opponent, or by simply not voting.

Why Did Donald Trump Win?

The first thing I look at, when trying to determine the outcome of a presidential contest, is the position of the planet Saturn, either at the time of the election or the time of swearing-in. Saturn, in historical astrology, is the law, and it defines the structure of government. In the chart of the nation or of the individual statesman, it rules both the fall from power and the ascent to power: It acts as the time keeper measuring out these events. It works most powerfully in the opposition or conjunction. Franklin Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower both ascended to power when Saturn conjoined their natal Suns by transit. It conjoined Roosevelt’s natal Sun the day of his inauguration. It crossed Eisenhower’s natal Sun the day he won the election.

To understand how Saturn functions in the opposition let us examine its workings in George Washington’s life. On June 15, 1775, Washington, in Philadelphia, attended the 2^nd Continental Congress. This Congress appointed him  commanding general of the Continental Army. On that day, transiting Saturn at 3° Libra opposed his natal Saturn, which is at 3° Aries. He would hold that commission for the next 8 1/2 years.

Washington created and structured an army that would fight and win the American Revolution. Many of his contemporaries tell us that he was unique to the situation, that no one else could have made this war work against the British, then the most powerful army in the world. The Saturn opposition impelled him to build something new, a military that would defeat the British.  No one else really had the slightest idea how to make it happen. Disasters occurred.  Yet he held the army together, and by doing so he held the union together and made America happen.

On Donald Trump’s Chart

Donald Trump was born on a Full Moon. Uranus (17° Gemini) and Mercury (8° Cancer) framed his natal Sun (22° Gemini). The chief partile natal aspect is the Jupiter trine Uranus, both within a few minutes of each other at 17° Gemini and 17° Libra. He has worked with full Moon energy all of his life, that is, with self and others, as a communicator.

On Jan. 20, 2017, when the President-Elect took the oath of office, Saturn transited at 23° Sagittarius 26’. This is an almost exact opposition to his natal 22° Gemini Sun. This opposition is an ascent to power aspect. Jupiter that day, as part of the closing sextile of the JU/SA synod, made a partile trine to his natal Sun. That transiting Jupiter was exactly trine his natal Sun at Inauguration implies an enormous amount of protection for his presidency. The ER/UR synod sextiled his Sun and trined his Moon.

Hillary Clinton, as such, on that day,  had no Saturn aspect, either by conjunction or opposition to either her natal Saturn or natal Sun.