Washington Alert
Zip Dobyns
I debated calling this article Washington Wake. I’m not sure whether we are seeing the steps leading to a funeral celebration for the current Washington Establishment, or for the democratic process in the country at large. Like most astrologers who also watch the stock market, I had thought we might see the market drop in the interval between the Saturn-Uranus-Mars conjunctions (which occurred at almost the same time that they entered Capricorn) and the March 17 eclipse. Instead, we had few important events for the conjunctions and Capricorn entries but a wild flurry of activity in the hours leading up to and following the eclipse.
In the space of a few days we have had the first four indictments by the Special Prosecutor, Judge Walsh, who filed criminal charges against North, Poindexter, Secord, and Hakim of Iran-Contra fame. Then to distract the public from the charges against his former employees and to pressure Congress into voting more contra aid, President Reagan claimed that the Sandinistas had invaded Honduras and he sent some 3,200 troops down to Honduras to join the 3,000 plus who are already there. Next door, an attempted coup in Panama was defeated by General Noriega. U.S. officials have been working on a deal to let Noriega retire to Spain, promising not to extradite him to face the drug charges if he leaves quietly. As this is written, he is still standing his ground.
On the economic front, the biggest bank in Texas had a run by fearful depositors and had to get a 1 billion dollar bailout from the government (and may require several more before they are finished). The second biggest Savings and Loan Institution in the U.S. (American S & L in California operated by the Financial Corporation of America holding company) has also appealed for a transfusion of billions of dollars in government help.
Under the heading of miscellaneous crises we can list a plane crash in Colombia which killed 137 people and a magnitude 6.1 earthquake in Tokyo. The quake is reported to have occurred 55 miles deep in the earth, to have injured 9 people, but otherwise not to have done much damage.
In the same week, Shamir’s visit to Washington, DC was a non-event. He refused to budge from his hard-line position on the Palestinians and the Gaza strip where riots and deaths continue daily. Up to March 7, the Palestinians had attacked by throwing rocks, putting up road blocks and burning vehicles, but on the seventh a group used guns to take a busload of Israelis as hostages. Both Israelis and Palestinians were killed in the counter attack. In addition to the Palestinian men and boys killed by being shot or beaten, over 500 pregnant Palestinian women are reported to have had miscarriages due to tear gas. The powerful tear gas is supposed to only be used in the open air but the soldiers have repeatedly thrown it into private homes and hospitals. One can think of it as ironic and as typical psychological projection and as karmic justice that Shamir who was a terrorist as a young man is now faced with desperate men, women and children who are fighting for freedom just as he fought against the British when they ruled Palestine. Shamir was jailed by the British as a terrorist and he now refuses to talk to the PLO “because they are terrorists.”
In the same general part of our turbulent world, after a short lull in their escalated “war against civilians,” Iran and Iraq went back to throwing missiles at each other’s capital cities. Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Russia are still trying to work out a compromise government so that the Russian troops can be pulled out of Afghanistan and the refugees can return to their country from Pakistan. Between the Soviet-sponsored government which has tried to upgrade the status of women and the different patriarchal feudal tribes which have had trouble cooperating even in the face of a common enemy, a compromise government is likely to be very hard to maintain. If the Russians simply pulled out, there is every likelihood that there would be civil war between the tribes, now armed with modern U.S. weapons, and a quick return to women as chattels with death for the more educated individuals who have cooperated with Russia.
The “little” wars continue in many places. The Tamils fight in Sri Lanka and the Sikhs in India. Recent riots in India called for the ouster of Prime Minister Gandhi. Two people were killed and 68 injured at a Catholic funeral which was being conducted for three IRA guerrillas in Northern Ireland. A young fanatic Protestant cut loose with hand grenades and a pistol and had to be rescued by the police, leading to a sequel at the funeral for the new deaths when a mob killed two observing English soldiers. Violence begets violence, including warfare between the teen-aged gangs of Los Angeles who are still running wild, defying a much advertised police crackdown. It has been quite a week!
Since we obviously do not have that much violence associated with all eclipses, what patterns in the sky can we identify as symbolizing the general uproar? I ran charts for the events for which times were available, and noted that Icarus stayed conjunct Mercury in early Pisces for several days. The combination fits the religious fanaticism which is a thread running through many of the events listed above, including the fanatical anti-communism of Reagan and his henchmen. For the Japanese earthquake, we had Nippon square Richter, Tokio square Pluto, the Sun conjunct Fuji and quincunx Pele, plus a grand cross formed by Pompeja conjunct East Point and north node of the Moon, square MC and Chiron-IC, and opposite the south node. Of course, as as been said repeatedly in the past, the current emphasis on Capricorn marks these years as a general report card for the world. Tensions which have simmered for years become “ripe destiny” and bear sometimes shocking fruit. Also, the charts for planetary conjunctions which have been discussed in previous Mutable Dilemmas and Asteroid-Worlds have pointed to an escalation of the power struggles in the world.
I had planned an update on the Washington scene including tentative horoscopes for the beginning of the Democratic and Republican Parties. The data for the political parties comes thanks to Mark Lerner’s magazine, and there are fascinating connections to the charts of the candidates! According to Mark, the Democratic Party came into being with the inauguration of President Jackson at noon in Washington, DC on March 4, 1829. The Republican Party is said to have been born at a meeting in Ripon, Wisconsin at about noon on February 28, 1854. We have no exact dates when different parts of the country shifted from local apparent time (LAT) to local mean time (LMT). I ran both charts for both types of time and was fascinated to find that the two Ascendants are in the same degree in both systems; 2 Cancer for LMT and 5 Cancer for LAT. We are printing the LMT charts which have transiting Saturn on the Descendant. This seems appropriate for the intense power struggle between the Parties over the Contra issue. The Republicans tend to be hawks and rabid anti-Communists while the Democrats are listening to the preferences of the majority of the people who do not want more war, and who see the Contras as terrorists who are mostly attacking helpless civilians.
The Los Angeles Herald-Examiner gave the dates and times at which Reagan made the decision to send U.S. troops (and it was his personal decision against the advice of at least some of his associates); when the first troop convoy left Fort Ord, California by truck; and when the first plane took off from Travis Air Force Base in California to carry some of the new troops to Honduras. These events were respectively: 11 A.M. on March 16, 1988 in Washington, DC; 11 P.M. on March 16; and 8:29 A.M. on March 17. Although the decision was made at 11 A.M., Reagan was still lying to visiting Congressmen that afternoon, saying that he had not yet made a decision. He reached the decision when the Moon in Pisces was exactly on the MC and the local Ascendant in Managua, Nicaragua was exactly square the Washington MC. (When I say exactly, I mean within a one-degree orb.) Mercury had just entered Pisces, was octile Mars and was conjunct a whole collection of asteroids including Icarus (who overreached and crashed), Hathor (a goddess of the underworld), Helio (a Sun god for power and fame), and Nike (goddess of victory). Ra-Shalom (named for the Egypt-Israel peace accord) was just past Mercury but within the one degree orb to Icarus. Atlantis squared the MC in Managua and was octile Neptune. Columbia (for the “District of” where the decision was made and for the country which is the source of most of our cocaine) was on the Ascendant within 6 minutes of longitude. Potomac (the river running through Washington beside the Pentagon, our military nerve center) was on the Vertex in Managua, similar to a Descendant position for either partnership or warfare.
Pages could be written about each of these charts but readers who are interested in the mundane area can run the charts and see the traditional factors for themselves. I will just mention that the chart for the departure of the troop convoy has Atlantis on the Ascendant where the event took place and Saturn on the Ascendant in Washington where the orders were given. The report card on this action should be interesting. Makover square the California Ascendant may give us a clue as to the outcome. Icarus is still on Mercury. Mars squares the midpoint of MC/Ascendant. The Sun is octile-trioctile the Venus opposition to Pluto in all three charts. The Ascendant in the chart for the flight take-off is conjunct Asmodeus (Babylonian god of lust which could signify several kinds of excessive behavior) and Dike (one of the Fates). Godiva and Vaticana were on the Ascendant in Washington. The Vatican, of course, is the center of the Roman Catholic church. Most of the people in Latin America are Catholic. Godiva took her famous ride to try to persuade her foreign husband to stop persecuting her people. There were seven asteroids within one degree of the MC on the flight chart including Seleucus, a Roman general, Industria for U.S. big business which would like to keep Central American countries banana republics, subject to our well-being rather than theirs, and Lucifer who might be either a light bearer or a devil. Fanatica was on the Washington, DC MC. As readers may recall, Fanatica is prominent in the charts of North and the CIA.
We do live in a fascinating and mysterious world. Turning back to the tentative charts for our major political parties, the most striking theme that I noticed involved Saturn aspects to angles between the charts of the parties and the charts of the candidates. The Republican progressed (P) Ascendant in Washington, DC is exactly on Bush’s natal Saturn. If we have the correct time for Bush, he also has a cluster of his own P natal and local angles on his natal and P Saturn. He is certainly facing the issue of executive power, laws, limits, and the consequences of past actions. The Republican P Ascendant is exactly conjunct Dole’s natal Saturn while the Republican P East Point (with the same meaning as the Ascendant) is exactly conjunct Dole’s P Saturn. In Kemp’s case, his P Saturn is on the Republican MC while the Republican P Saturn is moving to conjunct Kemp’s natal East Point but it not within the one degree orb. We cannot check Robertson since we lack his birth time to get his angles.
Turning to the Democrats, Dukakis has his P Ascendant exactly conjunct the Democratic natal Saturn. The Democratic P Saturn is on Gephardt’s natal Ascendant. Jackson has his Washington P IC approaching the Democratic Saturn but if his birth time is accurate, the IC will not reach the one degree orb until six months after the election this fall. Simon has his P MC exactly on the Democratic P Saturn. Only Gore lacks close angle aspects, but his P Vesta (job) is on the Democratic Saturn with his P Antivertex just two degrees past it while the Democratic P Saturn is approaching a variety of aspects to Gore’s planets including a conjunction to his Pluto. I did note that in Los Angeles, California, Gore’s local Ascendant would be conjunct the Democratic Saturn. For once, our late primary is going to play a major role in the nomination process, and Gore’s chart fits that expectation.
If the party charts check out as reliable, we should be able to use them to guess the winner in November. However, forecasting is not easy, even with dependable charts. Since the Democratic angles are uncertain because, at that early date, the country might still have been on LAT, and since the Republican beginning is only approximately around noon, we cannot really rely on angle aspects in either chart. In the Democratic chart, P Mercury begins a conjunction to P Saturn in November. P Moon will have just entered Capricorn and it will enter the seventh house in both charts by the Inauguration. Do those patterns mean frustrated goals or achieved goals which bring great power and responsibility? P Jupiter in the sixth house of work is trine to Pluto in the tenth house of executive power but this is an aspect which has been there for years. It would also be possible for the Democrats to repeat the past by winning many of the local races but losing the Presidency. P Sun quincunx P Neptune suggests changes in the handling of power and ideals. P Venus on the IC in the LMT chart and sextile P Ascendant in the LAT chart could mean approval and support by the public.
Shifting attention to the Republican chart, if the LMT noon time is accurate, P MC in Washington is forming a grand trine to the tenth house Moon and P true south node of the Moon, tying all the earth houses into a favorable aspect for success in coping with the material world. However, it is also just changing signs (suggesting a change in the role and handling of power) and it will start a square to Pluto by the time of the inauguration. P Sun squares P East Point and they have formed a T-square to Pallas-Chiron-Jupiter during these years of Iran-Contragate. These aspects are just phasing out, but Sun and East Point will be moving into a T-square to P Jupiter in time. P Ascendant in Washington is quincunx natal Saturn and trioctile P Saturn suggesting a change in the handling of power and the executive role. P Juno also squares natal Saturn. Another major conflict aspect is formed by P Mars square the natal Ascendant if the LMT noon time is accurate. However, if we were still on LAT (less likely by this date), P Moon trines the Ascendant and P Mars will not reach the square for some years. On the stress side, P Moon squares its nodes and is trioctile P Sun-MC. P Pallas (our asteroid most involved in politics) trines natal Saturn but the LMT P MC is just starting an opposition to natal Pallas. At this point, I am not ready to give odds to either side.
Shifting back to the candidates again, I made an exciting discovery just a few days before starting work on this article. When Halley’s Comet was making its trip into and out of the central area of our solar system, I wrote repeatedly of its aspects to Reagan’s chart whenever it was in an astronomically significant position. I had also noted that it was conjunct Bush’s tenth house Sun when he and Reagan were inaugurated for the second term on January 20, 1985. Out of curiosity, I checked the Halley ephemeris from ACS and found to my excitement that transiting (T) Halley was on Bush’s natal Ascendant on super Tuesday when he swept the Southern states. I also looked up the position of his natal and progressed Halley and found that his P Sun was crossing them when he ran for the Presidency in 1980, was nominated for the Vice Presidency, and was inaugurated into that office in 1981. T Halley is making a station on his Washington Ascendant, square his natal MC and Mercury through April 1988 to mid July! Something important has to be going on, and my guess would be the opening up of his secret past involvement with the CIA-contra money and drugs. Walsh has said that he will not make any charges against either Reagan or Bush. But North who has been charged with 23 counts says that he is resigning from the Marines so that he can testify openly and can subpoena his superiors as part of his defense. There is no doubt that North was taking orders from Reagan and that Bush also knew what was happening. If North talks; when the Kerry committee that has been investigating drugs reports its findings; when the Christic suit hits the headlines, something has to give and it ought to be Bush. Even if Reagan gets Noriega safely out of Panama without his private files reaching the press, there should be sufficient evidence to bring down Bush. If Noriega is smart, he will let the CIA know that his evidence will be given to the press if Noriega suffers any inexplicable accidents. Yet, when all is said and done, most news analysts think that the American people are bored with the controversy over Iran and would rather forget the past. Mostly, the writers and commentators do not expect Bush to be hurt by new revelations. We will find out whether the prominence of Halley was a signal of a real loss of power by Reagan and Bush, or whether their struggle over Iran-Contragate was the extent of the “downfall” traditionally associated with comets, or whether the traditional threat of comets has been much over-rated.
Dole knows about the material gathered by the Christics and others, and he has said he will remain in the race because new information may damage Bush’s chances. P Halley in Dole’s chart is on his Neptune and quincunx his Uranus while Dole’s P MC in Washington trines his natal Halley. The combination would fit Dole having faith in his goals, unexpected events leading to new directions in his life, and some kind of help for his career in Washington, DC coming from something dramatic and attention-getting. Nixon also knows about the undercover deals. He helped start the secret team in 1960, and he has advised Dole to stay in the Presidential race. I ran Nixon’s chart for the date of the indictments (March 16) and was fascinated to find that he has a fixed grand cross in mutable houses involving P Moon, P Mars, natal Saturn in the ninth house, and P Halley completing the configuration! As if that were not enough, T Halley is stationing on his P Halley from April into mid-July 1988, setting off the whole cross. On the day of the Walsh indictments, T Halley was on Nixon’s P MC., retrograding at one Virgo. I just marvel when I see such patterns. What is Halley telling us? Is it just a picture of what might be or what should be, the downfall of destructive leaders, rather than what will be? It is only the Christics and those who have heard them who know of the trail leading back to Nixon. Most of the public are blissfully ignorant and probably would rather stay that way.
In contrast to Nixon’s chart, the CIA horoscope is relatively harmonious. It looks as if they will safely ride out the storm though P Moon square the tenth house Saturn-Pluto in Leo this summer does suggest some stress. P Mercury has been in a T-square to the Gemini Mars in the ninth house and Juno in Sagittarius in the third house, fitting the increased media attention focused on the CIA in the last year or so, but the aspects are now separating. P Ascendant was also quincunx Mars for over two years but if our time is accurate, the aspect has ended. We have the time that Truman signed the bill creating the CIA within a few minutes, but we could be off a degree. It was in Washington, DC on July 26, 1947 at about 12:20 P.M. EDT. The CIA P Moon will be quincunx the twelfth house Neptune through April to June, 1988, so maybe some secrets will come out. P Chiron (for ethics and judgment) squares natal and P Halley for years, and P Moon formed a T-square with them when the indictments were handed down. Also, the Quotidian Ascendant was on Natal and P Halley on the day of Walsh’s indictments. T Halley’s station is on the CIA P MC during these months just ahead. Maybe more will be done to rein them in a little, but I don’t have much hope on that score.
Oliver North’s Halley can be described in one sentence. It is in a lifetime conjunction with his Pluto. If we have his accurate birth time, his Washington Ascendant is within two degrees of his Halley and Pluto. There is a good chance that Reagan will pardon him after the election but before he leaves office, assuming Reagan is still around and providing North does not provide such damming testimony that Reagan becomes impeachable. Given the time we have for North, only his P Antivertex on his twelfth house Saturn might point to jail. He has P Ascendant on Jupiter and P Venus is coming to his Sun in just over a year, both pretty protective aspects. Unless the Christic evidence can convince a lot more people, he is likely to remain a hero to the conservatives.
Richard Secord’s P Halley is sextile his Ascendant, quincunx P Ceres in Capricorn in the eighth house (forming a yod), and will conjunct natal Moon by the fall of 1989. He also has P Ascendant octile natal Ascendant and coming to the opposition to P Saturn in the ninth house in a few months. His chances for jail look stronger than North’s, but he also has protective aspects such as P MC coming to trine Moon and sextile Ascendant, P Mercury coming to conjunct Jupiter, P Vesta coming to sextile Mercury, and P Uranus remaining in a trine to Jupiter though it also squares Pluto. Secord’s new lunation cycle, a new thirty year period, starts in early 1989 with P Sun and Moon still conjunct P Neptune. Faith and ethics will be central issues for years.
Turning back to the presidential candidates, Halley proved to be a bonanza on the Democrats. Both Gore and Gephardt were born with Halley on the Ascendant, exact to the degree. Gore’s P Halley turned direct and is still in a one-degree orb conjunction with his Ascendant. Gephardt’s P Halley is still retrograding and is conjunct his Washington, DC East Point as an auxiliary Ascendant. Simon is less dramatic, but there are angle aspects. P East Point squares his natal Halley and P Halley is semisextile natal Ascendant. Simon’s P MC will conjunct his natal Halley in 1992. I wonder what kind of role he will play in the presidential campaign that year? Dukakis has natal Sun square Saturn with P Saturn conjunct MC. Natal Halley opposes the midpoint of natal and P Saturn-MC, while P Halley is square natal Sun within one degree; a fixed T-square if we allow the midpoint. P Halley is also semisextile his Neptune-Vesta conjunction, sextile Jupiter, and in a grand trine to P Juno and P Ceres. If his birth time is accurate (it was given as around the even hour by his mother), P MC will trine Halley for about three years starting in mid-1989. Since the natal aspect of MC-Halley was an opposition, there could still be stress and separations with the trine though he might handle it quite successfully. Jackson’s Halley is at the midpoint of his Pluto/Chiron in the sixth house, and it holds a lifetime trine to his MC in Washington. With his P Sun coming to his natal MC in 1990, he seems likely to remain a power figure in coming years. As I have written previously, he will go into the Democratic nominating convention this July with his P Moon on his Ascendant trine Jupiter.
The coming months seem likely to provide a dramatic show, so the addition of Halley to our leading players just repeats the message. Halley stays in Leo for most of its orbit so it is in that sign for all of the individuals discussed here. ACS Publications still has some of the Halley Ephemerides for $2 plus postage; the biggest bargain in astrology if you enjoy exploring unknown territory. Once the final nominations are made in July and August, (though it does look like a shoo-in for Bush at this point), we’ll be trying many more techniques on the two final (?) contenders.
P.S. Though not connected to the Washington scene, I can’t resist sharing with you the latest treasure from Mark Lerner’s journal. He has tracked down the birth date and place of Jimmy Swaggart, the latest of the fallen gurus to be brought down by a sex scandal. Jimmy was born in Ferriday, Louisiana on March 15, 1935. We have no birth time, but a noon chart shows us a grand trine in water signs involving Sun, Jupiter and Pluto. The water trines indicate faith at the unconscious level. The key to possible challenges from sensuality and relationships is shown by a very close cardinal T-square between Venus, Pluto and Mars. A second cardinal T-square is exact to the degree with Uranus in Aries square the true nodes of the Moon. Mercury in Aquarius is in a fixed T-square with Jupiter and Pallas. If Swaggart was born later in the day, he could have the Moon opposite Vesta. Nothing is inevitable in astrology, but I usually find Vesta involved in sexual aberrations; anything from impotence to asceticism to perversions to prostitution. To reinforce the message, Icarus is on Vesta to the degree, and Bacchus is on Icarus. By now you know about Icarus. Bacchus is the Roman Dionysius; less involved in wine, women and “divine madness” than Dionysius, but with a little of the same flavor. Swaggart also has (would you believe? yes, you would!) Asmodeus on his Sun to the degree. Our friend, the Babylonian god of lust, does get around from Ramtha’s Ascendant to Gary Hart’s cardinal cross with Mars, Moon, Ascendant, MC plus Circe, Aphrodite, and Icarus. Swaggart’s Circe (who turned men into pigs) is octile his Jupiter and trioctile his Pallas, one of the relationship asteroids. Swaggart’s natal Sun is also trioctile Halley’s Comet. Godiva who rode naked through the streets is on Swaggart’s P north node of the Moon and opposite Pluto. One gets the picture of a man who fought his own sexual hang-ups by accusing other preachers. Gorman, who lost his church after Swaggart publicized his sexual sins, hired the detective who photographed Swaggart visiting a prostitute. “Judge not lest ye be judged?” That karma came around pretty fast.
P.S. 2 To use Mark’s metaphor of being a colander in the ocean, it is pretty obvious that if we are putting out anger, we are going to be sitting in a puddle of anger, or fear, or whatever we are generating. If we are radiating love, that’s where we are, in an expanding glow of love. The problem with most metaphysical teaching is its emphasis on the conscious mind. Change can start on the conscious level but it happens in our lives when we reach the unconscious level, the location of the real power, the level where union IS. If everything is ONE, connected, obviously anything we do is being done to ourselves even if we aren’t immediately conscious of it. That’s karma in a monistic system.
Birth data Discussed
George Bush; June 12, 1924; 11:05 A.M. EDT; Milton, MA. (Data from family friend. Mother says between 11 A.M. and noon).
Robert Dole; July 22, 1923; 0:10 A.M. CST; Russel, KS.
Jack Kemp; July 13, 1935; 3:15 A.M. PST; Los Angeles , CA. (Data from Gauquelin Book of American Charts).
Michael Dukakis; November 3, 1933; 6 P.M. EST; Brookline, MA. (Data from mother). Jesse Jackson; October 8, 1941; 3:30 P.M. EST; Greenville, SC.
Albert Gore; March 31, 1948; 12:53 P.M. EST; Washington, DC.
Paul Simon; November 29, 1928; 0:10 A.M. PST; Eugene, OR.
Richard Gephardt; January 31, 1941; 5 P.M. CST; St. Louis, MO.
Oliver North; October 7, 1943; 0:43 A.M. CWT; San Antonio, TX. (Data from Renee Goodale).
Richard Secord; July 6, 1932; 3 A.M. EST; La Rue, OH.
Richard Nixon; January 9, 1913; 9:35 P.M. PST; Yorba Linda, CA.
Most of the preceding data was obtained through the efforts of Marion March.
Postscript to Washington Alert
Both Gephardt and Dole dropped out of the presidential race while the Pisces 1988 Mutable Dilemma was at the printer. I expected it with Gephardt, in light of the eclipse and Uranus-Saturn conjunctions on his grand cross of P Moon, P Sun, Neptune, local P MC and P Ascendant (both angles calculated for Washington, DC). The eclipse also touched Dole’s chart, though less dramatically. His P Moon is 29 Pisces, natal Vesta 29 Virgo, and P Sun 0 Libra, the latter two in the sixth house to suggest a change of job (in this case, trying to get the job of President). So we are left with Dukakis and Jackson on the Democratic side and Bush guaranteed the Republican nomination unless his Contra-CIA-drug connection gets him. Gore is still running, but his odds in the northern states are not impressive unless some of the political leaders decide that he is more charismatic than Dukakis and throw their weight on his side. Both Dukakis and Jackson have beautiful P Moon trines in air signs in the next few months, so they may well continue to communicate effectively to many people and to run neck and neck. Gore has some nice P Moon sextiles, so he may hang in too.
But the real reason for this postscript is to add a little more to the Halley discussion. After the Pisces Mutable Dilemma went to the printer, I finally got around to calculating the charts of the remaining presidential contenders for the respective dates and places of the nominating conventions. The Democrats begin meeting on July 20, 1988 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Republicans begin on August 17, 1988 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Bill Bradley, often mentioned as a potential contender, endorsed Dukakis, but Mario Cuomo, everyone’s favorite “dark horse” candidate remains uncommitted, so I also ran his chart for Atlanta and put Halley’s comet in. !!! You guessed it? In Atlanta, Cuomo’s natal Ascendant is conjunct his natal Halley within a fraction of a degree! And in New Orleans, Bush’s natal Ascendant is conjunct his natal Halley within a degree!!! How does the universe manage that?
So we have Halley on the Ascendant within a one degree orb (natal or progressed, birthplace or local) for Bush, Cuomo, Gore, Gephardt, Kemp, and aspecting the MC (natal or progressed, birthplace or local) for Jackson, Dukakis, and Dole. Simon has a weak semisextile of P Halley to natal Ascendant and his P MC will conjunct his Halley in 1992. We have no time, so no angles for Robertson. I also looked, for the first time, to see where transiting Halley will be for the next inauguration on January 20, 1989, and found that it will be at 3 Virgo, in the same degree as Super Tuesday, on Bush’s natal Ascendant!!!
What is Halley telling us? I wish I knew. We will know more in a few months and still more in a few years. The only certainty at this time is that Bush will remain in the limelight for the foreseeable future. IF Halley is signaling a fall from power, a tradition associated with comets, we still have no certainty that it will come immediately. If the media commentators are right, the public mostly doesn’t care whether he was involved in secret activity with the CIA, the NSC, the Contras, etc. Especially if the new peace in Nicaragua holds, the public may be ready to forget the past and just remember the reassuring lies of “big daddy Reagan;” at least enough of the public to elect Bush. But if the material gathered by the Christics is allowed in the media, I can’t believe that people would vote for someone personally involved in bringing drugs into the U.S., even though the goal was to “fight communism.”
I heard a talk on March 25 by Sara Nelson, Executive Director of the Christic Institute, and they have continued to gather evidence implicating Meese, Bush, and Reagan as operating in full complicity with the Contra-CIA drug running. One of the new bits of information concerned an airport in Arkansas. Local police and sheriffs have been investigating possible illegal activity there. A second grand jury is now dealing with the case, after the first failed to reach a conclusion. Meese sent word from Washington that national security was involved, and the local police should stop any investigation. The evidence gathered by the Christics indicates that this airport was used to re-fit 3/4ths of the planes used for drug smuggling by the Contra-CIA-Mafia affiliation. The planes are rebuilt to be more effective in carrying weapons down and bringing drugs back to the U.S. Meese also tried to stop an investigation in Florida where drugs have been brought in. There is even evidence of planes landing with drugs and being unloaded on a U.S. military air base. The Christic leaders and their families have been repeatedly threatened, and have periodically gone into hiding but they are committed to the cause of trying to make the U.S. public aware of this secret government. A tape was made of Sara Nelson’s talk, and I hope to get a copy. It will be broadcast on public radio in Los Angeles. The hearings on drugs of the Kerry committee are also due to start in a few days, but I don’t know how much they will dare to reveal.
So we are still left with a variety of possibilities as to the outcome of this drama. 1. Bush may be exposed, defeated, and another Republican candidate may replace him. That result seems unlikely now that I have seen how prominent Halley is in his chart on crucial dates and in New Orleans, but if Halley really is signaling a downfall, it remains possible. 2. Bush may keep the nomination but lose the election as a result of the exposure of his role in the hidden government. I would consider this more possible if he didn’t have Halley on his Ascendant for both Super Tuesday (when he had such an incredible triumph) and the inauguration in January 1989. But we can’t rule out the possibility that he was raised up in order to fall spectacularly. 3. Bush may win the election, be inaugurated as President, and be confronted in his term of office with dealing with the fury of the American people in the face of a depression and the expanding knowledge of his role in hooking America on drugs in order to protect the rich and to resist communism. 4. Comets do not necessarily indicate the downfall of rulers, even of unworthy ones. They may be just another key to prominence, being in the limelight, being involved with power, etc.; a generalized interpretation of being similar to the Sun as they approach the Sun and are ignited into visible fire.
Astrology is a pragmatic study. We watch the sky, and see what happens on earth. Halley continues to be a fascinating key to the puzzle, but the precise meaning of the key still eludes us.
Before we leave Halley, we can note that Bill Bradley has Halley in a lifetime conjunction with his tenth house Pluto in Leo and a lifetime sextile to his natal Ascendant. P Saturn and P Mercury in the chart for the Democratic Party are also on Bradley’s Pluto-Halley. His local MC in Trenton, New Jersey where he is governor is on the Democratic natal Saturn though with a wide four plus degree orb. Many aspects point to Bradley playing a leading role in the nominating convention this year, and I am sure that we will hear more from him in national politics in the future. He also has his natal asteroid Washingtonia on his natal Ascendant in both Washington, DC and New Jersey. His P Sun will square Saturn and octile Pluto-Halley in 1992 while his P MC sextiles natal Moon and P Saturn. That may be when he makes a run for the top job if a Republican gets it this year.
As a PS on a PS, I have written before that Jackson’s P Sun will conjunct his natal MC in the fall of 1989, so I expected more power for him in the future, unless he was born a few minutes earlier. When I did his chart for Atlanta, Georgia, I found that his P Sun is already on the MC in Atlanta so his birth time is probably right. Do you suppose he might actually get the nomination, and that result give Bush the victory in November? So far his color has actually been an asset, as others have hesitated to attack his views for fear of being called racist. He has tremendous magnetism and ability as a speaker, but his far left positions which are the source of his appeal to a growing number of frustrated people would also alienate the voters in the middle who swing the election. I understand that Jackson is willing to run again in 1992, and does not want to be accused of losing the election for the Democrats, so he may settle for the Vice Presidential position. I’m not sure how even that much would set with the voters in the middle.
Dukakis has P Mars and natal America on his Atlanta MC in a grand trine to P Vesta and his Washington, DC Ascendant and natal Moon. His P Moon crosses that Moon-Washington Ascendant in April-June, 1988. Of course, these aspects are among the reason that I gave him odds from the beginning. Gore in Atlanta has local P East Point on natal Mars and local P Ascendant on P Mars trine Jupiter. He showed his Mars in his attacks on Gephardt, and is just starting to challenge Jesse Jackson’s lack of experience and radical views. For the convention, his P Moon is sextile his local MC but his P local MC opposes Chiron. He certainly looks like an active participant, but probably not in line for the jackpot. You will remember that all the other major contenders (except Jackson) had an Ascendant conjunction with Saturn in the chart of their respective political party. Yes, the universe works. Gore has his Atlanta Ascendant on the Democratic Saturn though it is a bit over a two degree orb; not as close as the rest of the current contenders. Jackson has his P MC in Washington, DC opposite the Democratic Saturn. Maybe that tells us the story. The Party Regulars will go to the convention with several hundred uncommitted votes. Gore is now attacking Jackson openly. The Democratic Establishment may feel that they have to band together to stop Jackson, seeing him as a sure loser. But if they alienate the liberal majority of the Party, they may lose anyway. They may be in a no-win situation. But the Democratic P Saturn and P Mercury are on Jackson’s Halley, trine his Washington, DC MC, at the midpoint of Pluto/Chiron. We have interesting months ahead, and history in the making.