Asteroid-World Summer 1988
Zip Dobyns
I’m home again for a few months after a wandering spring and early summer. Accumulated mail and newspapers are taking over the study and a good chunk of the living room and time vanishes along with space. I have so many interesting charts, it is hard to choose, but the political ones have top priority since Asteroid-World’s main focus is on mundane affairs. From now on, Asteroid-World will be sent to all U.S. subscribers. CCRS is acquiring a modern photocopier in order to duplicate our publications and save printing costs. With reduced printing expenses, postage becomes the major cost, and by using the non-profit rate (which requires a minimum of 200 recipients), it will cost less to copy and send Asteroid-World to everyone than it currently costs to send to just over half of our subscribers. Donations are still welcome but as always, not required. Since foreign mail costs a great deal more than domestic, we do appreciate an extra $5 a year from foreign readers who would like to receive Asteroid-World.
Lloyd Bentsen has been selected as the Vice Presidential candidate on the Democratic side, and his data is given in the Gauquelin book of American charts. He was born on February 11, 1921, at 2:30 A.M. in Mission, TX. The most dramatic feature in his chart is Progressed (P) Saturn on his MC for years.
The six P.M. time we had been previously given for Dukakis gave him the same pattern, which is also shared by Walter Mondale and Jesse Helms; one liberal Democrat and one conservative Republican. However, the latest information which I have thanks to Frances McEvoy is that Dukakis was actually born at 5:50 P.M. He says that he was born at 6:50 A.M. His mother says she thinks about 6 P.M. Hospital personnel told Frances on the phone that he was born at 5:50 P.M. so Dukakis’ memory that he was born ten minutes before the hour just has to be combined with his mother’s approximate hour.
Both the morning and afternoon times put a ruler of the Ascendant in Sagittarius, fitting Dukakis’ intelligence, idealism, and facility in several foreign languages. But that small shift back ten minutes makes an amazing difference in the two P.M. charts. It brings both P Sun and P Moon into aspect to several angles in the chart, strongly supporting his current prominence whether or not he wins the election. The 5:50 P.M. time gives him a lifetime square of P Sun to P MC. It also puts P Sun semisextile his Washington, DC MC, quincunx his natal Ascendant, and opposite his P East Point. P Moon is conjunct his P Antivertex in Washington, DC, trine his Washington MC, and semisextile his P East Point. His odds for winning seem much better than they looked in a chart for the morning time.
I will be considering both Bentsen and Dukakis again in the Virgo Mutable Dilemma so I will mostly focus on asteroids here. Bentsen was born with Utopia on his Ascendant and Apollo on his MC. P America is on his natal Saturn for some years. Utopia would seem to support his Sagittarius rising, fitting an expectation that life and his own actions should be ideal. This can manifest as a feeling that we should have whatever we want and be able to do whatever we please, or as a feeling that unless we are perfect we are no good. In the middle is a safer place where we do the best we can but accept human limits. Apollo’s association with the Sun in mythology connects fame and power to Bentsen’s career. Saturn progressing over MC and Apollo might mean a shift to the executive branch of the government, or might mean an overreach and failure. Saturn symbolizes the consequences of past actions. We get what we have earned, so if we have earned increased power, we get it. If we are trying to get something we have not earned or cannot handle, we fail. Asteroid America progressing over natal Saturn could give the same two alternatives; executive power in America or rejection by America. It can also mean getting the power but having a struggle in handling the responsibility.
Natal Washingtonia is in the twelfth house sextile Apollo in Scorpio and also sextile the midpoint of P Saturn and natal Jupiter, both in Virgo just inside the ninth house. On Election Day, Bentsen’s quotidian (Q) Ascendant is conjunct Washingtonia and P Fama and trine his P East Point calculated for Washington, DC but square P Dembowska. He will certainly be in the limelight in our nation’s capital, but Dembowska seems very like another Saturn and may be signaling his failure to achieve an executive position. The Q Antivertex is more optimistic, with trines to P Saturn and natal MC. Q East Point conjuncts P MC and they are square P Atlantis (fitting the political power struggle), quincunx Ceres and Pallas (a yod), octile the local MC (in Washington, DC) and P Nemesis. Though the yod could simply mean a change of political jobs from the legislature to the executive branch of the government, the tension aspects are fairly strong. Q MC is trine the local Ascendant, a very favorable aspect for success, but it also opposes the natal Sun which might just indicate a change of job and being center stage, but which might point to failure to achieve his ambition. P Nemesis is also conjunct Bentsen’s local (Washington, DC) East Point and Amun, another Sun god. P Moon has just entered Libra in the tenth house and is conjunct Siva (who destroyed to make way for new creation), square P Helio (another Sun god), and quincunx the mean south node of the Moon. P Sun is conjunct the true south node, so the P Moon is quincunx P Sun during the months preceding the election. Again, the pattern could indicate the constant travel of the campaign or separation from his ambition.
I have written about the prominence of Halley’s Comet in the charts of the candidates, so I was very curious to see where it would be in Bentsen’s horoscope. It is in 17 degrees of Leo in his ninth house square natal Washingtonia (and the progressed factors listed above) while P Halley is square P Washingtonia and trioctile Juno. The combination is not encouraging, but he has been a successful legislator in our capital for years despite the Halley-Washingtonia squares. As suggested in previous issues of Asteroid-World or The Mutable Dilemma, comets may simply symbolize “temporary” suns, pointing to issues around fame and power.
Turning back to Dukakis, adjusting his time back just ten minutes from the chart we had previously published puts his Halley precisely opposite his natal MC and P Halley continues to be exactly opposite the MC as well as square the natal Sun. A number of asteroids are grouped around Dukakis’ natal Sun, and transiting Pluto will be setting off the collection on Election Day. In the natal chart, Nippon and Virginia are conjunct the Sun. Progressed Atlantis, Oceana, California, Caltech, and Apollo form a swinging conjunction with the natal group. By “swinging conjunction,” I mean that the first of the progressed planets is within one degree of the first of the natal ones, and they overlap with one degree orbs through the last one.
I was struck by the implication that the state of California might play the major role in deciding the election. This cluster includes Atlantis for the power struggle and the possibility that modern technology may play a role in the campaign. Cal Tech is a famous university in the L.A. area (specifically in Pasadena) and is a center of high tech. Of course California is located by the ocean. Apollo, as has been indicated previously, can be a key to fame and power. News commentators have been emphasizing the importance of California as a swing state with a huge block of electoral votes. California also has a lot of defense industries which are likely to be cut back by a Democratic victory so they are likely to contribute heavily to the Republicans. Supporting the same idea, Dukakis’ P Pasadena is conjunct his P Mars and natal America. Since the latter group is part of a grand trine to P Vesta, natal Moon and P Chiron, it may work in his favor in the country at large that he has promised to cut defense spending. There are a great many more asteroid aspects in Dukakis’ chart, but at this point, I still feel uncertain about the final outcome of the election.
One of the men mentioned as a possible choice for Vice Presidential candidate on the Republican side is our California governor, George Deukmejian. He is said to be reluctant since he would be replaced by a Democratic governor, but his ethnic background would counterbalance that possible asset of Dukakis and he would probably win California for the Republicans. We published his horoscope a couple of years ago, so I re-ran it for the fall election, and it strongly suggests both his possible choice for V.P. and a possible win. His P Sun is currently conjunct his P Halley and P Aten (a Sun god), while P Atlantis is conjunct his natal Sun. P MC in New Orleans is conjunct P Saturn and trine Halley. Transiting Halley will be conjunct his natal America on Election Day. P Hybris (hubris or overreach) arrives at his natal MC just before the election date. He has P Moon conjunct P Washingtonia and P Utopia, just ending a trine to P Sun but starting a trine to Saturn. P Moon trines P Saturn for the Republican convention this month. P MC and five progressed asteroids are on his Ascendant in New Orleans, site of the Republican nominations: Dudu, Bacchus, Kleopatra, Lachesis, and Abundantia, with the collection sextile his MC in Washington, DC and trine his P Neptune. Dudu seems Plutonian, Bacchus seems Neptunian, Lachesis is one of the Fates, Kleopatra was a ruler, and he might have all of these in abundance along with a new executive position (MC).
Even Deukmejian’s ties with the possible chart for the Republican Party are impressive. The charts for the two political Parties come from Mark Lerner’s journal Welcome to Planet Earth. I am not sure whether the charts should be calculated in local mean time (LMT) or in local apparent time (LAT), though the former is more probable for the Republican date. It is set for noon on February 28, 1854 in Ripon, WI. But both charts hit Deukmejian. The LMT chart has P Ascendant on Deukmejian’s MC in New Orleans, while the LAT chart has its Washington, DC P Ascendant on Deukmejian’s MC in Washington and his natal Ascendant is on this chart’s Descendant. P Mars for Deukmejian is just past natal Saturn in the Republican chart, and the latter’s P Saturn is just past Deukmejian’s natal Venus and north node of the Moon. Many other aspects could be mentioned, but power and personal action are certainly emphasized. Though the thought is horrifying, a Bush-Deukmejian ticket could win. There are even appropriate aspects in Deukmejian’s chart in the fall of 1989 when Bush has P Moon on Uranus square natal Sun. Deukmejian’s P Moon will conjunct Mars and square Pluto in his seventh house, suggesting stress involving a partner, but it will also form a grand trine to P Sun and Saturn. He could gain power and prestige if Bush loses it if the Christic suit finally comes to trial.
The Miami judge dismissed the suit, claiming insufficient evidence. Since the Christics have an enormous amount of evidence, we can only assume that the judge was bribed or threatened in some way. The case will be appealed in higher courts, but in the meantime, Oliver North is making $25,000 per lecture to pay his million dollar court costs. Bush is not named in the Christic suit, but he is strongly implicated in the evidence connecting the CIA with gun running and bringing drugs into this country, and if the case were being tried in open court, the mainline newspapers would have to finally carry more of the material. In June, I read a book by Dr. Noam Chomsky, well-known linguistics professor at Harvard, which removed my last illusions about the ethics of our ruling elite. If Chomsky is right, ordinary Americans have been deceived about the way that the U.S. has destroyed democracy in the rest of the world, always in the name of anti-Communism. Whenever the public has heard of such actions, such as Nixon’s use of the CIA to overthrow the democratically elected Allende in Chile and to replace him with the current dictator, Pinochet, we have been assured that this was a “mistake” or the act of a few “bad” individuals. Chomsky indicates that it has been a systematic policy by both Democratic and Republican administrations for about 100 years to make sure that rich elites remained in power in less developed countries to keep them safe for our rich elites’ business and to keep poor people in their place.
Returning to astrology, guessing details is still a risky game. Astrologers guess wrong on elections quite often. As has been said often in the past, stress aspects could mean failing to win the election or they could mean winning and having a very tough time in the job. We have one more treasure from Frances McEvoy which might help our attempt to guess the outcome of the election this fall: the birth data of Kitty Dukakis, Michael’s wife. She was born on December 26, 1936, at 6:50 A.M. in Cambridge, MA. The chart shows idealism and intelligence with Sagittarius rising, Jupiter conjunct the Sun in the first house along with Ceres, and Mercury also in the first house conjunct the East Point. Pallas conjunct the north node of the Moon in Sagittarius and Moon, Chiron, and south node in Gemini add to the tendency to be intellectually curious and verbally fluent. Strength is shown by the five first house factors being placed in Capricorn, and by Mars in the tenth house, producing a major one-ten theme in the chart. The confrontation between letter one (self-will in action) and letter ten (the limits of self-will) can mark a “steam roller” with enormous ambition, or a major danger of self-blocking. Her current life points to a mixture of the two. She is campaigning to become First Lady in what is still the most powerful country in the world and she recently had surgery for a problem with one or more vertebras in her neck. The bony structure of the body is connected to Saturn while Mars is a key to the muscles which hold the bones in place. Problems in that area are typically associated with unconscious tension over the handling of power. We may be afraid of failing to handle our power and responsibilities, in which case illness will excuse us, get our conscience off our backs. Or we may feel blocked or oppressed by the power of the world. In the latter case, illness will again free us from some of the demands. Saturn illnesses may be as simple as a need for more time and we have to learn to delegate or to leave some things undone or not done well.
Kitty Dukakis has her share of significant asteroids. Natally, Hebe on the MC overlaps California while Caltech opposes them on the IC, confirming the importance of the state and its technology to her potential status. Natal Atlantis and Amun are on her MC in Washington, DC with Attila on the local IC, strongly pointing to power issues in that location. Natal America is at the midpoint of her Ascendant/Sun and Ascendant/Jupiter while Siva conjuncts Jupiter. P Juno is on her natal Washingtonia, and it would be her partner who would bring her to the town. P Washingtonia is retrograding, almost back to its natal position and connected by a conjunction to natal Sophia (wisdom). P Oceana on P Vesta in her seventh house of partnership might be further support for her husband’s work being influenced by states bordering the ocean. P Columbia is on her P IC which could be interpreted as a home in the District of Columbia or as a need to deal with the country which is the major source of cocaine in the U.S. P Helio is on her P Saturn. P Prudentia is conjunct P Icarus in the first house with both square natal Mars in the tenth house. I hope the prudence handles the Icarus danger of overreach, but her recent surgery suggests that her Capricorn puritan conscience is probably pushing her too hard. P America is on P Ceres in her first house so America could give her a new job, mothering the whole country. More might be included, but time runs out for me too and I prefer to keep my bones functional by not asking too much of them.
Shifting to a leading figure in the U.S.S.R., primary rival of the U.S., the June 6, 1988 issue of Time magazine has an article on Raisa Gorbachev. If their information is correct, she was born in Rubtsovsk, Siberia on January 5, 1932. Of course, we have no time of birth, but the date gives us a start on understanding her and also her “feud” with Nancy Reagan. Her Sun exactly opposes Nancy’s Sun. She has a Mars-Saturn conjunction in Capricorn within four degrees with their midpoint exactly opposite Nancy’s Moon. Raisa’s Pluto conjuncts Nancy’s Moon within two degrees. Raisa’s Mars is also exactly (that is, within one degree) square Nancy’s East Point and her Saturn exactly squares Nancy’s true north node of the Moon. Her Venus exactly opposes Nancy’s Neptune and P Venus. Her Ceres exactly squares Nancy’s Saturn. Nancy’s P Uranus exactly opposes Raisa’s Neptune. Raisa’s P Saturn is approaching a square to Nancy’s Ascendant. More could be said, but you get the picture.
Raisa was born less than a year after her famous husband and has similar power struggle patterns involving cardinal and fixed signs. Her Mars-Saturn oppose her Juno-Pluto in Cancer with Mars-Saturn also quincunx Jupiter in Leo while Juno-Pluto are quincunx Ceres-Mercury in Sagittarius and Vesta in Aquarius (a yod). Chiron in Taurus forms another yod with a sextile to Juno-Pluto and a quincunx to Ceres-Mercury. Neptune in Virgo and Pallas-Moon in Sagittarius are square each other and octile-trioctile the Capricorn-Cancer oppositions. The Moon aspects are closer if Raisa was born in the morning. She is clearly a very bright, very strong lady! A late morning birth would give her Taurus rising, fitting her expensive tastes and tendency to collect clothes, and it would put the Mars-Saturn conjunction in the tenth house to add to the power drive. She is much resented in Russia where most women are still second-class citizens.
Another chart for which I have only a date and place is Armand Hammer, founder of Occidental Petroleum and famous for maintaining contact with Russia while most wealthy capitalists considered it anathema. The information is from his recent autobiography; May 21, 1898 in New York City. The major feature in the chart is an incredible stellium in Gemini including Sun, Moon, Pluto, Neptune, Venus, and Pallas. Uranus in Sagittarius opposes the Sun, and Saturn opposes Pluto. The Moon was in the same degree as Pluto at noon. If Hammer was born very late in the evening, the Moon would be approaching a conjunction with Neptune-Venus which would fit the lifetime involvement with oil and charity.
Hammer has been in the limelight a great deal in recent years as he paid to send Dr. Gale and others to Russia after Chernobyl, he was instrumental in freeing several dissident Russians and bringing them to the U.S., and one of his oil rigs in the North Sea exploded on July 6, 1988 and killed 166 men. I can’t run our whole set of asteroids for Hammer since he was born before 1900, but I have them for the oil rig fire. An important key to that week of violence which started with the U.S. shooting down an Iranian civilian airplane on July 3 was the conjunction of Atlantis with Pluto. Psyche was also on Pluto during early July. Atlantis continues to be a key to problems with power, especially when modern technology is involved. Psyche is often involved with feelings of helplessness and self-protection, often at the expense of others. Of course it can be the savior as well as the victim.
Currently, Hammer has P Mars conjunct Neptune square P Mercury, and if he was born near dawn, his P Moon is on P Mercury in the square to P Mars and Neptune. P Neptune for years has been conjunct Venus, fitting the financial success with oil, and a birth time near noon would put the P Moon square Venus and P Neptune. When the oil rig caught fire, transiting Pluto (and Atlantis-Psyche) were trioctile Venus-P Neptune. They would have been octile P Moon if he was born near noon. The preceding alternatives illustrate the way I try to rectify charts, but I have not had time to do more with Hammer’s data. Hammer’s natal Mars in Aries is closely square the true nodes of the Moon and octile the Sun, trioctile Uranus, so the potential for fire and explosions is there in the natal chart and is a constant possibility when one works with oil.
Time and space run out, and we have another helpful collection of sources for asteroid names from Seraphita, all centered on Russia for this issue of Asteroid-World. [Not in the web archives.]