The 2020 Election

We’re just four weeks from the election, and I don’t need to tell you that things are getting tense. Trump started off saying the election is going to be rigged, then launched into an all-out assault on how mail-in voting is dangerous (except in Florida, where it will help him), and now refuses to say that he’ll allow a peaceful transfer of power.

Add onto that the head of the USPS sabotaging the Post Office’s ability to process mail, how the actual vote might not be known for days, and Russia pushing disinformation on us to cause as much division and disruption as possible, and we’re heading for a very dramatic election.

So how will all this turn out? Well, in astrology there’s three things you can look into with elections. And we’ll start with what will be affecting Trump and Biden for the next few months, to see what their own personal weather forecasts are.

Trump Transits: Grumpy

Here’s how I put it back in my 2020 Update, on the first day of the year.

Now let’s get to the question on everyone’s mind. Who will win the election?

I was scared to look into this, because in the summer of 2016, when Trump was polling really low, I was startled to see that his transits showed he’d have a very good chance to win.

This time, though, there’s little going on in Trump’s chart during the days around the election. He has his Sun square Pluto on November 1st, showing he’ll be ranting away, just as you’d expect. But not much for the 3rd or the days after.

One clue is how his progressed Moon will be square to Uranus for October, which means he’ll be riled up and not like how things are going.

Also, in January 2021, when Trump may be handing power over, he’ll have his progressed Moon square his Moon, showing he’ll be more-than-usually grouchy.

If we look at the rest of November, Trump has Venus square his Saturn on the 15th, which means he’ll likely be depressed.

The Sun is square his Mars on November 17th to 18th, showing anger, and Mercury is square his Pluto at the same time, showing arguments.

His Mars has been in the Eighth House for mid-June to mid-August, and will be again for mid-October till mid-December, showing him being antagonistic and ruthless with power. Using secret, underhanded tricks would align with that as well, so expect the worst in that regard.

For his outer planets, Jupiter is opposite his Saturn for mid-October to mid-November, meaning his expansion will be greatly limited, and it’s often a time of feeling held back.

The only good transit he has is Jupiter trine his Midheaven at the same time, which would help his public standing.

Saturn has been opposite his Venus since January and this will run through October, showing depression and lack of funds.

And finally, we go back to Pluto and our 2017 forecast.

Trump’s most important transit is Pluto opposite his Saturn, from 2018 through 2020. Pluto likes to tear things down to rebuild, and Saturn rules authority and corporations and structure. And so this tense opposition, which comes just once a lifetime, will be very important to someone holding the highest authority in the land.

How it will play out remains to be seen, but I’d imagine it would be threats to his authority, where others are trying to take him down, or legal issues. He won’t come out of it the same, that’s for sure.

So overall, he has virtually none of the dynamic transits he had last time.

Biden's Transits: Jupiter Boost

Now, for Biden, he has the Sun conjunct his Mars on Election Day and the next morning, making him more energetic.

He then has the Sun conjunct his Sun on the 18th, which is like a day of recharging and starting off a new cycle for the year. Or to put it more simply, it’s his birthday.

For outer planets, he has Jupiter sextile his Mercury for October, helping with communications, and Jupiter opposite his Jupiter for November, which is a great time of confidence and success. He also has Jupiter trine his Midheaven for February, July, and October this year, boosting his public standing.

Jupiter takes 12 years to go around a chart, and so he had those same transits from Jupiter during the election in 2008, when he became Vice President.

Plus, he has Saturn sextile his Sun for mid-October to mid-November, which is a time of working well and getting recognition.

So overall, Biden has a great collection of transits for November.

Nation’s Transits: Not As Bad As You'd Think

Okay, now we check out the chart for the United States and see what it has going on around Election Day.

Mercury is square the nation’s Pluto on October 29th, then again on November 7th. Since Mercury is communications and Pluto is power and secrets, this could suggest hidden powers affecting the vote, secrets being revealed, or simply a lot of anger being expressed.

For the 4th, though, the nation has the Sun trine its Sun, which is excellent and suggests things working well.

Venus is conjunct the nation's Saturn on November 8th, which means everyone's feeling a bit depressed.

And finally, the Sun is square our Moon on the 18th, showing slight discord, and Venus is square our Pluto on the 18th-19th, which shows jealousy and resentment.

So Trump, Biden, and the nation all have transits pointing to the 18th as the day when things may be decided, or a similar event.

Debates

The debates will take place over the next month, starting tonight, and I checked the candidates’ transits for those days. A lot plays into these things, including the news of the day and what they had for dinner, but here’s what their transits will be contributing.

For the first debate, September 29th, Biden will have plenty of energy and come across as likeable. Trump will be riled up from 10-11 pm, with his Moon square Uranus. Which is exactly the same progressed transit he has for all of October - impulsive and rebellious, with emotional outbursts. Then, for the next five days after the debate, he’ll feel frustrated, especially with authority.

For the second debate, October 15th, Biden is in the clear, and Trump will be feeling frustrated for that night and the next day.

And for the third debate, Biden may feel at odds between his intellect and emotions, but still be likeable. And Trump will have his best night, with a likeable transit plus Mars giving him a boost of energy for that night and the next three days.

Inauguration

When I was checking on Biden’s transits at the start of the year, to see who would be nominated, I looked at Inauguration Day 2021 and found Biden has a huge collection of powerhouse transits.

First, both Jupiter and Saturn will be opposite his Pluto for that month. That’s because Jupiter and Saturn will be conjunct in the sky, as they are every twenty years, and which in ancient days was a sign of power changing hands. And here they are, both opposite Biden’s Pluto, the planet of power.

He also has Jupiter trine his Saturn that month, Uranus and Mars both square his Pluto, and Pluto itself opposite his Jupiter.

And the Moon, which takes a month to go around a chart, is exactly conjunct his own Moon that very hour, showing he’s emotionally fit for the position.

Taken together, these are very potent transits. As if the power of the country will be conferred upon him.

If a friend had all these transits at once, I’d tell him to take on a huge restoration project, like tearing down a barn and building a new one. Not only to put all that Plutonian transformative energy to good use, but to give a good outlet for all that energy.

Summary

So, taken together, all of this points strongly to Biden winning the Election. If that win will include the Electoral College, or if it will be contested, I can't say, but I don't see any signs of conflict for November other than Jupiter conjunct the nation's Pluto, which I covered in the previous post.

2020: The Year of Pluto

Watching the events of 2020, I’m sure you’ve been asking the same question that’s on everyone’s mind - “What the hell is going on?”

We’ve gone from Impeachment trials and a deadly virus shutting down the country to the cities burning with protests and the President fanning the flames even as the West Coast is on fire. And now we could be headed toward a Constitutional crisis.

Every nation goes through cycles of growth and chaos, and if you look at our nation's chart, you can see why this year is deep in division and chaos.

Conjunction Junction

2020 began with Saturn and Pluto together in the sky. This happens only every 32 to 38 years, and what’s unique about it this time around is Jupiter is right there with them as well.

Jupiter is conjunct Pluto for March, June, and mid-October to mid-November this year, and then Jupiter and Saturn will be conjunct in the sky from mid-November through December.

This Jupiter-Saturn conjunction happens only once every 20 years. And since Jupiter rules kings, and Saturn rules time, in ancient days this conjunction was called The Great Chronocrater (time keeper), and seen as marking the change of kings.

(These Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions cycle through the signs every 800 years, and while this isn’t one of those changes, one hopes that, as Kepler wrote of them, this particular conjunction might "burn up and destroy the dregs and dirty-doings of Rome.")

Now, how often do we get this triple whammy of Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto all right together in the same year? I checked with my software, and I had to go all the way back to 1284. Yeah, it’s that rare.

And Now The Kicker

The reason the US is feeling the effects of this super-potent conjunction more than other nations is it’s happening directly over our nation’s Pluto.

So this year Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto are all conjunct our nation's Pluto. Meaning Pluto is returning for the first time ever to the very place it was when our nation was formed. Because Pluto moves so slowly, this transit is in effect for all of 2020 through 2023.

To put it another way, picture a clock in which the second hand takes 12 years to go around once, the minute hand takes 29 years, and the hour hand takes a whopping 248 years. You start the clock running with them all pointing in different directions, and now, all these years later, when the hour hand comes back to where it began, all three hands are exactly together, pointing at that spot.

And it all comes together in the very month of the crucial 2020 election.

Digging Deeper

So what does this triple conjunction mean? Let’s start with Saturn conjunct our Pluto, which happens about every 29 years. It’s been in effect since February, right before the lockdowns and protests, and will run through November.

Saturn is about structure, including authority and corporations and actual buildings, and Pluto is about death, transformation, and rebirth, as in forest fires, which clear out the dead wood and allow new growth to begin. It’s also about power and the test of how it is used. So when you put those together, the structures of Saturn are challenged by Pluto, and since Saturn resists change, this often doesn’t go well.
 
Here’s what Robert Hand’s Planets in Transit says about this transit that we’ve been feeling since February, at the very start of the virus.

Structure in your life will change significantly, but not suddenly or without warning... During this transit some things will come to an end or an old order of life will cease...

This process involves getting rid of old structures. On a material level, this transit often causes financial problems or other kinds of shortages. Sometimes government or other officials will impose heavy burdens that greatly restrict your freedom of movement. It is also possible that some incident or accident may affect your health and thereby restrict your freedom of movement.

One danger of this transit is that Pluto can signify tremendous evolutionary energies, which Saturn restricts. This can lead to an apparent suppression of the Pluto force. When the suppressed force erupts, it may be dangerous, explosive and quite violent... Build new structures to correct the problems you face now, and concentrate all your energy on bringing about necessary evolution in your life.

And this is just how we’ve seen it play out, with resistance to the states’ and government’s restrictions. And at the same time, protests over racial injustice called for change, and many of the nation’s authorities refused to accept that change is needed and so clamped down even further.

Pluto's Return

And now we get to the heavy hitter, Pluto returning home.

To give an idea of Pluto's effects, when it crossed our nation's Ascendant (the start of the First House and our home base) for the first time in 2001, it brought home Pluto's themes of destruction, death, and grief to the nation through the tragedy of 9/11.

Then in 2002-2005 it came into opposition with our Mars, fueling the push to war, and we invaded Iraq. Pluto had made similar transits to our Mars just three times before - when we invaded Canada in the War of 1812 and ended up with the British burning the White House, when we put Pluto's destructive force to good use in blasting open the Panama Canal, and when we again turned to war and invaded Vietnam. With two of them we endured our greatest defeats. The invasion of Iraq repeated the cycle, where we had to pull out without gaining anything but what Pluto teaches about the abuse of power.

Now, with Pluto coming up to conjunct our nation's Pluto, here’s how I put it in my earlier reports.

from January 2017, before Trump became President

The most striking transit of all is this last one – Pluto conjunct our Pluto from 2020 through 2023. Pluto takes 248 years to make a full transit around one’s chart, and so this is the first time it’s ever happened for our nation. It means coming back to where it all began, the deep sources of our founding. Getting realigned and starting again.

Or, on the other hand, it could mean things turning to abuse of power and fundamentally changing the foundation of our country. Fortunately, I don’t see that happening, in either our politics or transits. What I see is a rebirth of our nation’s ideals and values.

But Pluto rules volcanoes, and just as with the Revolution, those in power don’t give it up easily, but bring about great unrest and destruction. Meaning it won’t be easy to get our country back, but the time is definitely right to burn out the dead wood and all those who stand in the way of progress.

from June 2019

Now Pluto is coming back to where it began, and we’ll need patience, courage, and insight on the best paths to take. There will be much anger and rage, and a sense of betrayal felt by many, but the ground will slowly shift.

With Pluto in our second house, and Pluto transiting there as well, issues of possessions, the economy, and our values will be at the forefront.

At its best, the next four years will bring about universal health care and a dismantling of the system of serving the interests of the wealthiest. At its worst, it will mean a dismantling of democracy and shifting to a totalitarian government. Things point closer to the first, but with Neptune fogging things through 2022, there’s going to be a lot of confusion, delusion, and deceit.

So yeah, we all knew that 2020 was going to be a very important time in getting our country back on track, but this says it’s going to be even more important than we’d thought.

Talking ‘bout a Revolution

With Pluto returning to its natal position for the first time, many issues around the Revolution are coming back to be sorted out and tested.

The founding of our nation is cloaked in myths, and we don't remind ourselves that many leaders of the Revolution wanted the British out simply to put themselves into positions of power. To actually be like dukes, lording over everyone. They didn't even want all Americans to have a vote, but limited it in some states to only white male Protestants who owned property. And one of the main reasons we went to war was because we wanted to expand into the west and seize the lands of the Native Americans, which the British had protected with the Royal Proclamation of 1763.

As Washington wrote to a friend after three years of war, “Speculation, peculation and an insatiable thirst for riches seem to have got the better of every other consideration, and almost of every order of men.”

That’s what you get with a nation founded with Pluto (power and abuse of power) in Capricorn (the sign of big business and corporate profits) in the Second House (which rules our possessions and values).

So has Pluto returned to transform our society of economic inequality, or will it reinforce the way things were at the start, with unscrupulous characters using behind-the-scenes power plays to claim everything for their own?

The way I see it, the GOP have been doing all they can to transform the nation into a corporate-ruled authoritarian state, but all they've been doing is exposing the faults that need to be reformed.

Pluto's in the House

I mentioned the Second House, and it's important to note that Pluto not only started in our nation's Second House, but at the start of 2016 it moved back into it and will be there until 2039.

Again, the Second House is about both our resources and values. And all this year we've had Pluto challenge both our economy and our sense of who we are. Where one of the overriding questions of the year has been, "What's more important - the economy or the people?"

With so many struggling to get by, it's not a simple question, but the whole point is to wrestle with it and find what's true for you.

During the next several years your values will undergo a complete metamorphosis, which will affect both your personal possessions and your sense of values.

The process may include major changes in your financial picture over the next several years. The most upsetting aspect of this change is that quite frequently it begins with a breakdown phase, in which you have to get along with much less in the way of resources. In a business, for example, circumstances beyond your control might lessen your volume of business. You might have to change the source of your income, resulting in less income during the changeover.

This is a temporary phase that will pass soon as the breakdown phase of this transit is finished. If you try to hold on to the possessions or sources of income you are used to, you will only slow down the process and delay the beginning of the new phase.

- Robert Hand, Planets in Transit

That sounds a lot like opening the states back up too soon. Also, don't worry about the 2039 part - with Pluto aspecting itself in this house, the strongest effects of this transit will come before 2023, and the rest will be building a new way ahead.

From the Shadows

An important part of Pluto’s role is to bring up what’s hidden to be exposed and cleansed. And this year Pluto turned over a huge rock and revealed the racist hatred still festering in our nation. And along with it, all the abuses of power by the police and government.

Because of this, we’ve seen the extraordinary destruction (Pluto) of the statues of authority figures (Saturn) that celebrate the oppressions of the past. Within just a few weeks, military bases and NASCAR banned the display of the Confederate flag, and both Confederate and Christopher Columbus statues were hauled down by angry crowds or quietly removed in the middle of the night.

The arrival of transiting Pluto in contact with its own natal position signals the advent of particularly intense times of self-scrutiny in which truths are confronted, old blockages recognized, and new, more energetic perspectives on life are generated and put decisively into action. It also warns of the risks of brooding cynicism and cruel or self-destructive reenactments of old, still-unconscious wounds.
- Steven Forrest, The Book of Pluto, 1994

In this way, one might say that God actually did want Trump to be President. Not to lift him or his views up to be praised, but to bring to the surface the worst in America for us to face. For Trump alone could bring out so much of the foulest in American society and get it to proudly parade itself for everyone to see.

Jupiter's Turn

Now let’s go back to the start of this post, with that conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto. We covered what Saturn and Pluto mean, and now we get to Jupiter.

Jupiter was conjunct Pluto in the sky in March and June, and has one more pass from mid-October to mid-November. And then, right after that, Jupiter will be conjunct our nation’s Pluto for November to mid-December.

Jupiter is usually a beneficial planet, simply boosting whatever it touches and bringing opportunity, but with Pluto, the planet of power, one can take things too far. People can become too ambitious and headstrong, and if you get caught up in self-righteous morality, you can become a ruthless extremist, which only brings a backlash from the law. This works the same with authority figures as well, for as Robert Hand writes, "If your ambition becomes the irresistible force against an immoveable society, you will probably be the loser."

Looking back to March, we had excessive use of force with the Breonna Taylor tragedy, and when Jupiter came back for its second pass to Pluto, it started with the death of George Floyd and then the shooting of Rayshard Brooks. All of that set off major protests, including protests that went too far with property destruction and ended with lots of conflict, with both sides claiming they were on the righteous side.

So now, from mid-October to mid-December, we’ll have the same issues play out, including not only a Supreme Court nominee being forced through, but a possible power struggle about the results of the election.

A Change of Seasons

The last important transit for 2020 is the one we started this report with, the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on December 21st. This is that Great Chronocrater one that comes every 20 years, which will be in effect for mid-November and all of December, and in ancient times marked the change of kings.

What’s unique about it this time around is the conjunction will not only happen on the Winter Solstice, but both planets will move into Aquarius just a few days before, shifting the conjunction from earth signs to air signs for the first time in 200 years. And it’ll stay that way for the next 200 years.

This theme plays out with Pluto as well. Since 2008 it's been in Capricorn, the sign of big business and authority, and at the end of 2023 it will move into Aquarius. Which is like going from having a stern corporate lawyer for a landlord to a Peace Corps web designer who can play guitar like Jimi Hendrix.

What's more, for the United States, after two years in Capricorn, our progressed Moon moves into Aquarius on October 29th, right before Election Day. (The last two times it's been in this sign have been mid-1993 to mid-1995, and 1966-67, during the height of the countercultural movement.)

These are all signs that we’re on the cusp of a change from a corporate, conservative focus to a more revolutionary, humanitarian view.

Summing Up

We have just five weeks leading up to the election, where the country has to decide which path to take – authoritarianism or democracy, isolationism or allies, evangelicalism or religious liberty, and corporate interests or the interests of the people.

Here’s how I summed it up in 2018:

The next few years are going to be an even rougher ride than the last few. There’s going to be battles, and with Neptune in the mix, the fog of war will be thicker than ever, with the most vicious often the most deluded. And of course Russia will capitalize on this, sowing discord and pushing for violence, and then sit back and watch us burn.

From a historical perspective, none of this is new. The years leading up to the Revolution were full of firebrands and crackdowns and angry mobs. The question is, when Pluto returns to where it was during the Revolution, which way will things go?

Whatever the outcome, 2020 to 2023 will set the course for the nation, both in actions and ideology, for decades to come.

Now that we're nine months into this journey, we've already seen deep changes at a fundamental level with all these conjunctions to our Pluto this year.

Our Pluto Return goes all the way through to the end of 2023, but the next few years won't have Jupiter and Saturn adding to the tension. There will be reforms and backlash, and it won't be easy to make our way forward. There will be angry mobs and tragedies, just as during the Revolution. But if everyone does their part to resist abuses of power, we'll have a new administration setting in place the changes that need to be made to root out corruption, bring equality to all, and protect our democracy.

 

 

An Introduction to These Posts

I’ve probably never mentioned this, but one of my hobbies is astrology. It started twenty years ago, when my sister-in-law gave me a reading for my birthday. I didn’t know anything about it besides the stuff on bumper stickers, and what I discovered was a very cool study that combined my interests in astronomy, history, and philosophy.

I soon got into doing my own studies, testing things out, and ever since then I’ve kept it up. And while I’m still wary about how we always read into things what we want to see, and how mathematical probabilities play into it a bit too well with aspects in birth charts, I do believe there is merit in it.

If nothing else, it’s an interesting study that looks for a pattern of meaning to how events come about, and what’s more interesting than the current state of politics?

So I thought I’d post my findings of late, as I have every few years to friends, and if you’re new to my reports, welcome.

With these forecasts I try to give as accurate a view as I can for how we got here and what will happen next. I wish I could shorten them to a tight paragraph, but as with the stock market, it’s never as simple as that, but a big symphonic stew of many factors all going on at once.

For those cautious about if astrology is okay with their religion, not only did Renaissance popes have court astrologers, and St. Thomas Aquinas study it and say, “The celestial bodies are the cause of all that takes place in the sublunar world,” but the official standing of the Church for fifty years is astrology is fine as long as you don’t rule out free will. Plus, Kepler was deeply devout and sought to discover the laws of planetary motion to better understand the workings of God. And yet he was a working astrologer as well, giving advice to generals and the nobility.

For those ready to mock astrology on scientific grounds, I’d ask if you’ve ever studied it. Otherwise you’re like those who openly laughed at Faraday when he suggested that electromagnetic forces could extend beyond the conductor. Or like Einstein, when he didn’t want to believe in quantum entanglement, called it spooky action at a distance. We never had to know how gravity works to benefit from it, or for Galileo to use it to calculate accurate artillery.

At times I’m skeptical myself, especially with the more esoteric techniques of astrology, but from all my studies, I’ve found it’s just like the weather forecast - not always perfect, but definitely accurate enough to be useful. And one of the reasons I do these reports is to see just how accurate it can be.

Everything I write here is from my own research, including the history. If astrology is a science, then dozens of astrologers should be able to run the same data and get the same results. So I don't read other reports until I've finished, to see if I've missed anything.

To be honest, there’s not many good interpretations out there, which is why I write these reports. If I could find one that was clear and accurate, I’d simply send the link to friends. But either they go deep into Jungian archetypes, which is valid but not exactly an easy read, or they extrapolate way too much, stretching to explain why an event happened or to prove a conclusion they’ve already made. To be sure, there’s lots of subtle influences, but if they’re not backing up solid transits, they won’t have much of an effect.

And finally, to those who’ll say Pluto isn’t even a planet, there’s no rule that planets (or dwarf planets) are the only ones that matter. Just like astronomy, astrology expanded to include the asteroids with their discovery in the 1800s, and today every astrology program charts a dozen asteroids, from Ceres to Vesta. Plus, it doesn’t matter whether you call a whale a fish or a mammal - you’re still going to feel it when it rocks your boat.

A Quick Intro to Transits

In case you’re unfamiliar with them, transits are just what it sounds like – planets transiting around one’s chart. The Sun does this once every year, Jupiter every twelve years, and so on.

While transits from the inner planets last for just a day, transits from the outer planets, like Uranus and Neptune, are much rarer, have stronger effects, and can last for years.

As planets transit, they make aspects with points on your chart. You already know how conjunctions are when two planets are right together, and oppositions are when they're on opposite sites of a chart. The other major aspects are a square (90 degrees), which puts things at cross purposes and creates conflict, and a trine (120 degrees), where they work together well.

And finally, whatever chart you were born with or transits you're going through, they’re just like genetics and weather patterns in that while they may well affect your life, what you do with them is up to you.