Last Look at the Election
Zip Dobyns
I just returned from the AFA and AFAN meetings in Chicago, and as usual, there are divided opinions on the outcome of the coming contest. Though I am told that most astrologers attending the NCGR conference last May were giving it to Reagan, several have now decided that Mondale will get it after all. As our readers know, I have been saying that Mondale would probably get the nomination and should not be counted out on the top prize till the votes are counted, but I wanted to try some more approaches before making a final choice. Astrology has an increasing number of techniques available, especially with computers at our disposal.
I have written repeatedly that the aspects in Reagan’s chart suggested that he would either lose or would not serve the full term. At this point, it seems most probable that Reagan will win and Bush will inherit the mess in the world. Since I think that Reagan’s policies have made the coming depression worse than it might have been, it seems poetic justice to have the Republicans again stand guilty of the crash. I would also hate to have our first woman Vice President blamed for the problems. Since such statements show my bias, I have to guard against wishful thinking in evaluating the astrological picture.
One of the new tools which I used in making a decision is the ephemeris for Halley’s Comet. It is available from Al H. Morrison for $3; Box 75, Old Chelsea Station, N.Y., N.Y. 10113. The old traditions suggest that heads of state fall from power when comets come. On inauguration day, Jan. 20, 1985, Halley’s Comet is exactly on Bush’s Sun in his tenth house. When it makes its closest approach to the Sun on Feb. 9, 1986, it is on Reagan’s Sun. On Sept. 30, this fall, it is stationary and goes retrograde on Nancy Reagan’s Mars. On Election Day, it is on Nancy’s Pluto. In passing, we might note that it was on Grace Kelly’s Pluto when she had her fatal accident. Of course, thousands (perhaps millions) of people have Pluto in the same degree, so the comet is only a pointer suggesting a Plutonian period; a time for self-analysis, self-mastery, and sometimes letting go of some of the past. I share the Pluto position with Nancy and may be visiting Sai Baba in India in early November for a Plutonian experience.
The comet makes another station and goes direct at 13 Gemini on March 25-6, 1985. The chart for the U.S. Constitution has Sun at 13 Pisces and Saturn at 14 Pisces. Nancy Reagan has her natal Jupiter (eighth house ruler) and Part of Death and progressed Sun at 13 to 14 Virgo. Ronald Reagan has his Antivertex at 14 Sagittarius and his natal asteroid “America” is 13 Sagittarius. Bush has his natal Jupiter at 14 Sagittarius. 13 degrees of the mutables are either octile or trioctile Pluto in the U.S. Declaration of Independence chart.
Of course, when we use Arabic Parts and angles of a chart, we hope that our birth time is accurate. One of the nice opportunities at conferences is the chance to exchange data. Katherine de Jersey reported in her lecture that she had been a personal friend of Nancy Reagan’s mother; had gotten the private phone number of the Reagan’s before he ran for the Presidency; had called and been told by Nancy that as near as Ron had been able to determine, he was born around 2 A.M. This time confirms a late Scorpio Ascendant.
Another article will discuss the new time for the NY stock exchange, another treasure brought home from the conference. It is reported to be recorded as high noon which would put 27 or 28 Taurus on the MC. Bush has the same house cusps! The U.S. Constitution chart has 28 Scorpio rising. We thus have a powerful focus on those degrees, including a major angle in the charts of two of our primary institutions as well as in the charts of the two men running on the Republican ticket for the executive positions. Nancy Reagan has her natal Venus at 28 Taurus, on Ronald’s Descendant, highly appropriate for marriage. Readers will probably already know that Saturn makes a station at 28 Scorpio on March 7-8, 1985, remaining conjunct the area of 27 to 29 degrees from late Jan., 1985 to mid-April, 1985. Transiting Uranus is quincunx Ronald’s eighth house Neptune during much of the same period.
For further evidence, Halley’s Comet passes over Bush’s Sun twice more next year; during the second and third weeks of June and on Nov. 1. The comet is stationary retrograde on Sept. 21, 1985 at 3 Cancer, opposite Ronald Reagan’s natal Mars. At its perihelion passage on Reagan’s Sun (already noted), transiting Uranus opposes Mars in the chart for our Declaration of Independence, while Saturn and Mars oppose the MC and Uranus in the Declaration chart and conjunct Reagan’s Washington Ascendant. The comet makes its next station on June 6, 1986 conjunct the U.S. Declaration of Independence Ascendant and the Constitution MC. (They are within one degree of each other if my time on the Declaration is accurate.) It spends all of Sept. 1986 on the Declaration Neptune and progressed Neptune. The fall of 1986 is the time I had picked for the U.S. economic problems to require more than band-aids. In passing, we might note that Bush’s Sun is conjunct the natal Mars and square Neptune in the Declaration chart.
Eclipses are a tool which I tend to down-play in personal charts but consider important when world issues are involved. The four 1985 eclipses are all Scorpio or Taurus-Scorpio, and all of them hit the fixed emphasis in Ronald Reagan’s chart. May 4 we have the lunar eclipse across Reagan’s nodes, Moon, and Jupiter. May 19 the solar eclipse is on his Descendant and on Nancy’s Venus, also hitting Bush, and the stock market and Constitution charts. On Oct. 28 the lunar eclipse is across Ronald’s Vesta-Galilea opposition. I think Galilea is connected to our faith while Vesta is work and health—our ability to function effectively. Bush has natal and progressed Hidalgo (like another Saturn) on Reagan’s Galilea. If one loses competence, the other may gain power and responsibility. On Nov. 12, the solar eclipse is on Reagan’s Hidalgo and Bush’s progressed Antivertex (an auxiliary Ascendant suggesting personal action). This time, the emphasis is on Reagan’s executive power and Bush’s personal power. As our readers know, I think we can see the cosmic order in the sky, but the sky does not create the order. The patterns help us to understand ourselves, our fellow humans, and our evolving world.
There are many more traditional aspects which could be cited, such as Ronald’s progressed Moon on his Uranus quincunx his Pluto in the spring of 1985, his progressed Sun on natal Saturn starting just before the election in the fall of 1984, his progressed Venus and Vesta square natal Venus and Eros, his Mars possibly square his Ascendant-Descendant (if his time is just a bit closer to 2 A.M. than I have been using), his progressed Juno opposite progressed Pallas (the two Libra asteroids), his progressed Saturn quincunx his Washington, DC Ascendant (if his time is accurate), etc.
In light of all the conflict and separation aspects, you may wonder why I think he will still win the election. But he also has progressed Vesta trine his progressed Ascendant and a grand earth trine involving natal Saturn, progressed Sun with progressed “America” and progressed Bacchus. The last named asteroid seems to have Neptune overtones implying faith (or problems with it if there are heavy conflict aspects). If I am right on his birth time, progressed Jupiter is also still in a long sextile to his natal MC, though it is about to leave the aspect. His Washington progressed MC is also conjunct his natal Washington Ascendant, and the new asteroids bring in many more aspects, but they all point in the same direction -to a major change in his life. So it is really an educated guess that he is going to start the Presidency but not finish the term. The aspects could fit equally well a defeat at the polls. But the high focus on Nancy’s and his charts next spring (when I expect a variety of crises in the world) seems to me to fit being in the power position and having to cope with both personal and public challenges. Assassination seems unlikely to me, but serious illness would be a possibility for either or both of the Reagans. Nancy has the typical hyper-sensitive chart of a potential cancer victim, trying to hold in her feelings and put up a brave front. Ronald is more likely to go with a heart problem, with stress coming from both concern about loved ones and thwarted ambition as the world does not follow his script of having a nice recovery for which he can take credit.
Nancy also has many stress aspects in her progressed chart; Mars to Pluto, Ascendant still conjunct Pluto, Jupiter and Saturn in a long quincunx to her Washington Ascendant, Sun entering the sixth house conjunct Jupiter which rules her eighth house, Venus square her first house Vesta, MC opposite Saturn and East Point square it, etc. In the spring of 1985, Nancy’s progressed Moon is quincunx her Washington Ascendant, forming a yod with progressed Jupiter and Saturn.
Bush also has a variety of separation aspects in his progressed chart, as does James Baker, Reagan’s main White House assistant. Baker’s chart is discussed in another article. One of the most fascinating of the new asteroids is Apollo, associated with the Sun in mythology, and seemingly similar in astrology as a possible key to fame or power. Bush has progressed Apollo on his Washington Ascendant at 27 Leo, adding to the emphasis on those late degrees of the fixed signs. Ronald Reagan has progressed Apollo on his Descendant. The symbolism is remarkable if Apollo does indicate fame and power; it is rising for one and setting for the other.
The fixed signs mentioned already have additional emphasis in Bush’s chart. His progressed nodes of the Moon hold a long square to his Washington MC at 22 degrees with his progressed Antivertex just coming to his Washington IC after the election. The vertex axis crossing another angle axis in a chart is appropriate for major changes in the life situation. The original stock market chart has a fixed T-square at 23 degrees involving Mercury, Pluto, East Point, and progressed Uranus, a further close tie between Bush and the market. His chart would be an appropriate one to preside over another market crash, but more on that in the article on the new market chart. Besides his natal Mercury, MC and Washington Ascendant, Bush also has an incredible collection of new asteroids around 27 to 29 degrees of the fixed signs, including Apollo, Bacchus, Pandora, Germania (all in Leo), Lilith (the real asteroid) and Pittsburghia in Scorpio, Vesta in Aquarius, and Arabia in Taurus on his MC. If we are headed for a banking crisis as most experts think, Arab money will be a part of it. As I write this article in early August, transiting Uranus is preparing to make a station within one degree of Reagan’s Washington Ascendant, Baker’s Descendant, and the IC of our Declaration of Independence chart just one day after the opening of the Republican nominating convention. Mars will cross the same degree area at the end of August, perhaps before this journal reaches its readers. As the Republicans open their convention, the transiting Sun will be on Bush’s Washington Ascendant at 27 Leo and the first vote of the election will be cast at midnight Nov. 6, 1984 at Dixville Notch New Hampshire with 29 Leo rising. As the nominating process begins, transiting Jupiter has been retrograding over Reagan’s natal Mars (while he is vacationing with his horses), Mercury will be on and Venus just past his natal MC (the same degree as the Ascendant in the U.S. Declaration of Independence chart and the MC in the Constitution chart), while transiting Saturn is on Reagan’s progressed south node of the Moon and Jupiter. On Election Day, the transiting Sun is on Reagan’s natal south node and Jupiter.
Still, in spite of all the tools we continue to discover, I do not think that astrology can be 100% sure of details. We see the issues and the timing clearly, but human choices can change the details. It is only after we have watched someone function that we can make more than educated guesses on how they will continue to function in the future. Or, we may assume standard reactions when masses of people are involved, and the general level of self-awareness and self-mastery is low. I think the odds are strongly in favor of my guess, but other astrologers are convinced that Mondale will win, and his chart does have many contacts with power, both from traditional planets and from the new asteroids such as Hidalgo and Dembowska. So, even with astrology, we have to wait and see.