More on the Presidential Contenders
Zip Dobyns
The picture is much modified since our last issue went to press. Five of the contenders have dropped out of the race: Cranston, Hollings, Askew, Mc Govern, and Glenn. Still there, striving for the Democratic nomination, are Mondale, Hart, and Jackson.
The mystery of Gary Hart’s birth data continues to produce a large measure of uncertainty in any effort to predict the winner in the campaign for the U.S. Presidency. The only accurate detail in the chart published in the Sagittarius 1983 issue of The Mutable Dilemma was Hart’s place of birth. The January date was my goof. I had copied a chart, I think from Juliann Ryan in Kansas City, Missouri, when I did a workshop there in the spring of 1983. When I ran the chart on the computer after returning home, I looked at the original copy in haste, and misread the progressed date as the birth date. After the journal was out, several readers wrote or phoned that Hart was born on Nov. 28, and I discovered that was the original date I had been given.
The next development in the saga was the discovery by a Washington newspaper that he was born in 1936 rather than 1937, the date he had been using. There is actually a possibility that he might not be allowed to vote in Colorado this fall since he was registered with the wrong birth date.
Marion March, a Los Angeles astrologer, next obtained the birth time said to be on Hart’s birth certificate, from a friend in Washington, DC. The reported time is 2:25 P.M.
The next chapter in the mystery, just as we thought maybe everything was straightened out and solid, occurred at the ISAR conference in mid-March in Los Angeles. One of the women attending the conference reported that a friend of hers knew Hart’s aunt, a nurse. It was also stated that the aunt was present at Hart’s birth and that he was born in the early morning! ?? This new information is being pursued but I have nothing more to report at this time. If the nurse confirms a morning birth, we might want to reconsider the 6 A.M. time I was given last year. According to Juliann, that date and time was given to her by Hart in person.
But more confusion was yet to come. A few days ago, a friend in Houston, Texas called to tell me that the Houston paper carried a story which originated in a Boston paper. Reportedly, the Boston newspaper had a full page ad placed by Hart himself, stating that to clear up the confusion over his birth date, he was publishing the information. His birth date was given as November 17, 1936!!!
The mystery compounds. What is going on? Your guess is as good as mine. We know from Denver astrologers that he knows about astrology. Maybe he is making sure the astrologers won’t be able to make firm predictions? Stay tuned, and we’ll keep you posted on the continued story. In the meantime, we will publish the date and time which are supposed to be on his birth certificate, though I am still tempted by that 6 A.M. time which puts Neptune on his MC in Washington, DC. Nixon was the last president we had with Neptune on his Washington MC. The afternoon birth time, using Nov. 28, 1936, puts Hart’s progressed Sun on the Washington MC. The last president elected with that pattern was John Kennedy. It is interesting that Hart is deliberately imitating Kennedy in language and mannerisms.
One of the astrological techniques from antiquity involves the so-called fixed stars. Nothing in the universe stands still, but the stars move very slowly in comparison to the planets. I have never taken the time to work with the stars in depth, and have always planned to get to them “someday.” Rob Hand’s lectures at recent conferences and his article in Essays on Astrology have rekindled my curiosity about the stars. If Hart’s afternoon time and November 28 date are accurate, he has some impressive contacts with the so- called “royal” stars.
In the ancient world, four bright stars which formed a wide grand cross in the sky were called the royal watchers, and were said to be prominent in the charts of individuals destined to be leaders. Rob mentioned that of the charts he had observed, only Winston Churchill had three of these royal stars on “personal” points, a phrase from Uranian astrology or from Cosmobiology which refers to Sun, Moon, MC and Ascendant. In the afternoon data is accurate, Hart’s Moon is conjunct Aldebaran to the minute! His Sun is more widely conjunct Antares which closely opposes Aldebaran. His secondary progressed Moon at the election on November 6, 1984 will be conjunct Fomalhaut within one degree, and his harmonic-directed Sun will be conjunct Regulus within one degree. To have natal or current Sun and Moon on all four of the royal stars must be incredibly rare.
Since Hart’s birth date remains highly uncertain, I am unwilling to bank too much on the preceding patterns, but will certainly be watching the election year with intense interest. Coincidentally, the 6 A.M. chart for the same birth date gives 29 Leo on the MC which is conjunct Regulus within one degree. But in the morning chart, both natal and progressed Moon would be too wide to count as an aspect to the stars. For the readers who have joined us recently, I should explain that harmonic directions have been described in early issues. The technique needs a computer, and I have not worked with it enough to have confidence in it, so consider it still pretty speculative.
The procedure involves multiplying all the natal planets by the solar arc, the distance the secondary progressed Sun has moved at the time of interest. As in all work with harmonics, multiples of 360 are subtracted from the results until a number is achieved which is less than 360. This number is then converted back to a zodiacal degree. Again, as in all work with harmonics, the planets’ movements will vary enormously, depending on their location in the zodiac. Those at the beginning and end, in early Aries and late Pisces, will seem to move very slowly. The Pisces planets will actually be leaping around the zodiac, making almost a full circle for each added degree of solar arc, but the new positions will not vary much from the ones the year before. The natal planets in late Virgo and early Libra will show the greatest actual movement from year to year.
While on the topic of less-used techniques, while working with the charts of the presidential contenders, I noticed a fascinating pattern involving one of the new asteroids calculated by Neil Michelsen. I ordered Galilea along with seven asteroids which had geographic names, thinking it might refer to the area in Israel. But the region is spelled Galilee, and in light of the astronomers tendency to name asteroids for famous people but to substitute an “a” to feminize the masculine names, I decided Galilea was probably named for Galileo. “Someday” I will try to look up a reference to confirm or deny that speculation, but in the meantime, in my overextended life, I have mostly neglected Galilea.
However, I did put all the asteroids in the charts for presidential candidates: I am up to 30 asteroids now. I was very intrigued to note that most of the candidates had either natal or progressed aspects between Galilea and Uranus. Mondale and Mc Govern have Galilea conjunct Uranus. They are sextile for Hollings and Ted Kennedy. (I know Kennedy has said he is not in the running, and many of the others have now dropped out, but this work was done months ago.) Galilea is opposite Uranus for Cranston; trine for Glenn and very widely trine for Bush, Reagan’s running mate (3 1/2 degree orb), and square in Reagan’s progressed chart. The original data we published for Hart did not bring Galilea to an aspect to Uranus until 1988, so I wondered whether he might be at it again then. But the afternoon time on Nov. 28 brings progressed Galilea to a square to progressed Uranus in November 1984! Anderson, who is still listed as a candidate though not taken very seriously by most, has Galilea octile (semisquare) Uranus. Jesse Jackson has natal Galilea in a quincunx to Uranus (and Saturn more widely). Only Askew of the original group of contenders lacked a Galilea- Uranus aspect. Like many of the new tools in astrology, only time will clarify Galilea’s meaning. I have enough faith in the cosmos to believe it has a meaning and that we will discover it in time. My cautious initial hypothesis is that Galilea may involve a search for answers, weighing different belief systems against each other as Galileo and the Church faced the question of theory and experience. The years ahead will certainly challenge our traditional beliefs and methods of handling life. We need to take a new look at traditional assumptions. Perhaps the prominence of Galilea and Uranus in the presidential candidates is a hopeful sign of the coming of a new faith.
Having dealt at some length with the problem of Hart’s questionable data, I also have to report that Jesse Jackson has joined the ranks of the club of dirty data. The birth information published in the Sagittarius issue of The Mutable Dilemma was obtained from a biography about Jackson, thanks to Lois Rodden. The current word from Jackson’s mother is that he was born at 3:30 P.M. Astrologers in the east are trying to obtain his birth certificate. In the meantime, we will offer the chart set for the mother’s time of birth. If this time is accurate, Jackson’s progressed Sun will reach his natal MC in about five years. It would seem that we will see more of him in the future as his Sun approaches culmination. In both charts, for the morning or afternoon birth, progressed Galilea has been squaring the natal Sun for some years. The mother’s birth time puts the progressed MC just leaving a conjunction with progressed Galilea at election. Progressed Ascendant for the mother’s time is in a yod (double quincunx) to natal Neptune and progressed Sun in the ninth house, and moving to trine natal Galilea about the time of the inauguration. Beliefs, goals, faith, are certainly highlighted in the patterns. Progressed Sun is opposite natal Saturn and progressed Uranus, moving toward a semisextile to natal Galilea. Progressed Jupiter is quincunx progressed Vesta in the ninth house. Progressed Mars is quincunx progressed Mercury in the ninth house. The whole chart shouts a new direction involving basic beliefs and goals. The patterns may simply indicate his move into politics as a permanent change of life-focus. Jackson’s original choice of the ministry does fit this afternoon chart with Chiron in the sixth house of work; Sagittarius in the tenth house of Career as major role in society; and of course he has Neptune in Virgo as a more general statement along with the first house Pisces pointing to his identification with the spiritual quest. Unfortunately, an alternative to a personal commitment to doing God’s will is a conviction that our own will is what God wants. The first house (if the mother’s time is correct) south node of the Moon in Pisces points to a lesson in faith and personal action. The close square of Jupiter to the nodes further emphasizes the mutable dilemma. In view of the emphasis in the chart on fixed signs, the form taken by the mutable dilemma is more likely to be a conflict between the ideals and the possible, trying to do more than is possible, than lack of clarity over what Jackson wants.
If the mother’s time is accurate, the fire in Jackson’s chart is amplified at the present time by progressed Antivertex conjunct progressed Mars while the Washington, DC progressed Antivertex is conjunct natal Mars. Reading the Antivertex as an auxiliary Ascendant or Mars, as a key to self-will in action, this combination indicates intense drive and confidence. The fire will be further strengthened within a couple of years by progressed Jupiter moving into the one degree orb of a sextile to natal Mars. In the birth chart, Mars was opposite Sun fairly closely with Jupiter widely sextile- trine them. Aspects between the fire planets reinforce the importance of the element in the nature, regardless of the signs or houses which are involved.
The mother’s time also gives Jackson a grand trine in Air with the Aquarius Ascendant aspecting natal Sun and Jupiter, at their midpoint. He certainly demonstrates the verbal fluency associated with air trines. The Ceres and Moon in earth signs and air houses with Moon conjunct Saturn and Uranus also fit a practical and logical mother who might be trustworthy when it came to remembering when her children were born. The chart certainly suggests that she is a worker but faith would also be important to her with Jupiter in the fourth house and Sagittarius in the tenth house, the two houses of the parents.
With uncertain birth data for three of our four prospective candidates (Hart, Jackson, and Reagan), this will be a difficult election to predict. Astrologers are already lined up on all sides. A number give the edge to Reagan in accord with the polls. It is amazing how he manages to escape responsibility for the drastic events of his term. Jayj Jacobs has predicted a win for Mondale, as I tentatively suggested, but both of us qualify that with the uncertainty over Hart’s data. Joyce Wehrman has predicted that Hart will win. You pays your money and you takes your chance. All of the contenders have the potential for power in the current patterns, including aspects to the new asteroids which seem to be like Saturn, Hidalgo and especially Dembowska. For example, at the election, Reagan’s Sun will be just coming to the conjunction with natal Saturn while his progressed Moon will be conjunct natal Dembowska. Remember, progressed Dembowska was conjunct his natal Sun for years while he was running for the Presidency. The progressed Sun will also be square progressed Uranus and opposite progressed Galilea. Progressed America will form a grand trine with natal Saturn and progressed Bacchus. (See the Research Report in this issue for more material on Bacchus). By the election, Reagan’s progressed Hidalgo and Dembowska will have just separated from a square to each other and Hidalgo will oppose progressed Mercury-Ceres and be quincunx progressed Icarus while Dembowska is quincunx Neptune. Icarus will have just ended the square to Neptune.
The combinations suggest both power and separation, so I have suggested that if Reagan does win, he is not likely to stay through the term. I have had a hard time visualizing Bush as President, but stranger things have happened. He will have progressed Ascendant trine his tenth house Sun at election, and just coming to a trine to progressed north node of the Moon in early 1985, in addition to its quincunx to Uranus in the seventh house. The aspect to Uranus added to the progressed Mars opposite the Ascendant could suggest a separation from his partner, Reagan. Bush also has his progressed Moon opposite Pluto at election, while progressed Mercury reaches the sextile to natal Venus and the semisextile to natal Moon fairly early in 1985. Mercury remains opposite his seventh house Pallas through 1984 to 1988, his progressed MC is square natal Saturn in 1984-5 and quincunx natal Mars-south node of the Moon in the sixth house, while progressed Saturn has started a long quincunx to the natal MC. The chart certainly fits a change of partner and job whether the change involves becoming President or looking for another political role. When all the major candidates seem to show the potential for the job, I wonder whether the result is still open and subject to change depending on human choices. There are still many techniques to be tried, including returns and kinetic returns, before we give up on guessing the outcome. Oh for 24 more hours a day.
At the SWAC conference, in the fall of 1983, I was told about a theory advanced by Sophie Mason offering a quick, easy way to predict the winner in the Presidential race. My information is second-hand, but the gist was that in all the presidential contests, a chart drawn for the opening of the polls in Maine, our state that is farthest east, has shown the popular winner. Mason assigns Jupiter to the Republican Party and Saturn to the Democratic Party, and states that the rising planet will show the winner. According to my informant, the system worked in all except three past contests, when the popular vote did not determine the winner. The polls in California open at 7 A.M., but I have been unable to track down the information on the time they open in Maine. But looking at charts for both 6 and 7 A.M., Saturn is rising on November 6, so Sophie Mason’s prediction would presumably be a Democratic President in 1985.
Since I distrust quick, easy answers in astrology, I went ahead and checked the previous elections, looking at both 6 and 7 A.M. charts. Unfortunately, (or maybe fortunately,) I did not get the results claimed. The Democratic Party first used that name in the time of Andrew Jackson, their first convention being held in 1832 when Jackson was nominated for his second term, but it was really a continuation of the earlier Democratic-Republican Party. The Republican Party was formed in 1854, so Lincoln, elected in 1860, was our first Republican President. Looking at all the contests since 1856, I found 14 in which the winner had the right planet rising, counting all planets from the IC to the MC as rising. In 13 contests, the wrong planet was rising. In 4 of the other 5 contests, both Jupiter and Saturn were setting but in all cases, Jupiter was ahead of Saturn, and 3 of the 4 winners were Democrats. If we ignore which planet is ahead, and instead give precedence to the planet that is higher in the sky, then Saturn would be the key, and the system would fit a little better, but it still seems not much better than chance. In three of the four wins by Franklin Roosevelt, a staunch Democrat, Jupiter was rising. In his 1940 election, we have the problem of Jupiter and Saturn both setting; Jupiter one degree ahead, but Saturn higher in the sky by that one degree. Carter’s election is the only one in which the time of the polls opening makes a difference. If Maine polls open at 6 A.M., Saturn would be in the tenth house, fitting the Mason theory. If the polls open at 7 A.M., Saturn would have moved into the ninth house and be setting. Maybe one of our readers knows when the Maine polls open?
At the ISAR conference in March 1984, I was told by Rob Hand that Dixville Notch, New Hampshire opened its polling place at midnight to be sure to be the first place in the country to vote. A chart for 0:01 EST puts Saturn opposite the MC, just inside the third house, so on the rising side, while Jupiter is setting in the fifth house. The chart is mostly earth, water, and fire with minimal air, suggesting an election that would be taken very seriously, involving intense feeling. The conflict aspects in fixed signs fit power struggles and concern for economic issues. On Election Day, the south node of the Moon is on the degree I have tentatively picked for Reagan’s Ascendant. At the start of the day, the Moon is on Reagan’s progressed Icarus, quincunx the transiting Sun and Saturn which are on Reagan’s progressed Hidalgo. The Ascendant in New Hampshire is within a two degree orb of conjunct Bush’s Washington Ascendant, square Reagan’s natal Ascendant (if his time is right), etc. Mars will also be on Reagan’s progressed Moon and natal Mercury and Dembowska. In the New Hampshire chart, Saturn and Sun square the East Point and oppose Ceres as well as the chart MC. The focus on work and security needs seems really strong with the Capricorn, Virgo, Saturn, Ceres prominence. Does that indicate a decisive role for labor? And, even if we hypothesize such a role, will labor succeed in electing the man they want or will a backlash against them as a form of “special interest” help to reelect Reagan? As you can see, I think astrology points up issues but details are less clear, more subject to multiple interpretations.
Still another method to predict the winner was offered at the ISAR conference by Joyce Wehrman. Joyce calculates a chart for the time the polls close in Alaska but sets it up for Washington, DC houses since that is the location of the outcome. I ran that chart also, tentatively setting the time at 7 P.M. and 11 hours west of Greenwich. Mercury in early Sagittarius is exactly on the IC in this ending chart with the East Point close to the degree which was the Ascendant of the New Hampshire chart for the election beginning. The East Point is exactly square the nodes of the Moon but also trine the Moon just on the ninth house cusp, while the Antivertex trines Mercury. Mondale also has contacts with the chart angles (the planets are, of course, simply the transits for the day) with his Neptune on the beginning Ascendant and ending East Point while his progressed East Point is on the beginning MC. Hart’s afternoon chart has nothing in those angle degrees, but the 6 A.M. chart would have the MC exactly on the Ascendant of the poll opening chart while Hart’s descendant would be within two degrees of the poll opening MC, Jackson’s Saturn, Venus, progressed Sun square the opening Ascendant and his progressed Vesta opposes the opening MC, all within two degrees. If the chart for the New Hampshire opening vote is a valid key to the election results, one would judge that Jackson would not be too happy about them.
We still have plenty of time to try other techniques to pick the winner. I hope readers are interested, not bored by our mundane emphasis during the last two years of our journal. I consider the outcome of the next few elections to be extremely important in shaping our future destiny in the U.S. and on the planet. My personal suspicion is that whoever wins this election will be sorry before the end of the term. I think we need some super-humans to handle the balance of this century. It’s report-card-time for the world. We have muddled through a good many past report-card periods, but this is our first since the development of atom bombs. If readers are interested, we can do an article on the first atomic chain reaction in a future issue of The Mutable Dilemma. The early 1990s look crucial in the chart. Meanwhile, we can work and pray for humans to become more humane.