Another Political Season
Zip Dobyns
Is there any time when it is not a political season? But our marathons at roughly four year intervals when we elect a president of the U.S. do get some extra attention. The most interesting phenomenon of this (currently ongoing) season has been Perot’s potential entry in the race and actual departure. We ran his chart in an earlier issue. For new readers, his data is June 27, 1930 at 5:34 A.M. CST in Texarkana, TX. As I wrote in a previous article, he has many positive aspects this year but in spite of them, he was almost certainly not going to win. He is in the age period which everyone experiences around 60 years of age when by solar arc, every planet and angle is sextile its natal position. And, in secondary progressions, his P Sun also trines P Saturn, the key to executive power, while at the election, his P Moon will sextile natal Saturn. Of course, Perot also had some conflict aspects which were mentioned in the previous article, but if he had been running with the endorsement of one of the major political parties, either Republican or Democratic, I think he would have had a chance to win. Historically, Independents have never gone very far, and despite Perot’s initial impact, I did not expect him to be an exception to that tradition.
What I primarily want to discuss in this article are the psychological issues in Perot’s chart when he decided not to run for the office. He made his announcement at around 11 A.M. on July 16, 1992, at a peak moment of the Democratic convention on the day that Clinton was scheduled to make his speech accepting the Democratic nomination. I wondered initially whether he was trying to upstage Clinton on his big day, because Perot certainly drew enormous media attention all day as reporters chased him and his followers for more information. But in the end, the announcement seemed to work in Clinton’s favor as all eyes were on him that evening knowing it was back to a standard 2-man race. Of course, there are always “also-ran” candidates representing tiny parties, but they usually seem like mosquito bites on a pair of whales.
Since solar arc directions and secondary progressions do not change very much in three and a half months (between Perot’s retirement from the race and the coming election), I was most interested in checking his secondary progressed Moon which does move about a degree a month. Perot’s P Moon was at 4 Scorpio 25 on July 16, trine his natal Sun and sextile his P Sun and P Saturn! At first glance, it would seem surprising that he would give up when his P Moon had mostly harmonious aspects, but the patterns make good psychological sense. The Sun symbolizes our capacity to gain and maintain self-esteem, to put our creative power out into the world and receive a positive response from the world. We may love, hoping to receive love in return. We may procreate children, hoping they will be a credit to us in the world as well as returning our love. We may teach, as leader in front of the class. We may sell, persuading people to do what we want and increasing our sense of personal power. We may invest, speculate or gamble, hoping for a bigger return on what we put out. The sexual orgasm is a prototype expression of the Sun-Leo-fifth house principle. In many past societies, the King (SUN) had the first right to any woman and his scepter (symbol of his power) is clearly a phallic symbol. The Moon symbolizes the baby-mother relationship, our capacity to nurture or to be nurtured, our home and family and roots, our emotional security.
As astrologers (and media commentators) have noted, Perot is truly devoted to his family. You will rarely see any chart with as much emphasis on Cancer, including the Moon in its own sign. To astrologers who consider the Sun, Moon and Ascendant as the “big three,” he is a triple Cancer. I think that multiple close aspects can give more weight to any factor in a chart, so other planets or angles may be more important than one of the “big three,” but they are certainly basic keys to character. Perot admired his parents, provided well for his children, became surrogate parent for the school children of Texas when he pushed through educational reform in the state, and he struggled for potentially “lost Americans” whether the latter were soldiers abandoned in Laos after the Vietnam war or hostages in Iran. With his record, we can give him the benefit of the doubt and believe that his decision was at least partly motivated by his desire to do what would be good for his country.
It is also true that with his water emphasis, he is almost bound to be thin-skinned at times, vulnerable to personal criticism. His rising Sun on Jupiter in the twelfth house suggests that he is ego-invested in being savior of the world and the Sun also wants recognition and appreciation for the efforts. The Pisces side of that combination, (represented by the twelfth house), might be willing to be a martyr if that is required to achieve the savior goals, but the Leo side, (represented by the Sun), is not inclined toward personal martyrdom.
Still, Perot is a very strong person. I think he might have withstood the personal attacks if his opponents had not gone after his children. It has been suggested that the last straw which tipped the scales on his decision to retire from the race was the investigation of a male friend of one of Perot’s daughters. I agree with Perot that such activity is totally irrelevant to his qualifications to be president, and is a disgrace in our current political system. Perot’s harmonious Sun-Moon aspects when he left the race fit his basic need and ability to take action to protect his family. At the same time, we know that human motivations can be very complex and multisided. It may be true (as Perot claimed) that he was protecting his country (an extension of the Cancer principle beyond the home to the homeland) against a disruptive campaign which might have ended with the decision shifted to the Congress and no clear leadership in the interval between the election and the inauguration of the next president. And at the same time, he may have been protecting his ego against certain failure though initially he has certainly taken an enormous amount of flak from all sides as a result of the decision.
I will continue to watch Perot’s chart in the years just ahead since he may play a power broker role even though he is currently in the doghouse among many of his former followers. As I have written before, he is aware of many activities which have been carried out by the executive branch of our government. Perot recently testified before Congress about the possibility of abandoned U.S. soldiers in Laos prisons. The persistent rumor is that Laos wanted ransom money to release the prisoners and the U.S. refused to dicker. But behind our numerous public statements that “we will not bargain with kidnapers or terrorists,” the rumor continues that the captured soldiers knew too much about our CIA and other government officials smuggling of heroin into this country to finance their secret agendas. Very early in Perot’s rise to fame, the major media (who are largely controlled by the elite) started the attempt to inoculate the public against any of his “revelations” by sneering at his “conspiracy” theories. But, little by little, from a variety of sources, people are learning that our talk of freedom and democracy has not always matched our deeds, especially in the less developed countries of the world.
I am especially curious about the possible developments in the latter part of 1994 and into 1995. One of many reasons that I concluded that Perot would not win the presidency in 1992 was his P Henry square to P Sun (and natal Karma) and quincunx to natal Sun. He was initially given “Henry” as his first name and he later dropped it, but I suspect that the name is still working for him. By the summer of 1993, Perot’s P Sun will square his natal asteroid Georgia (which was named for King George of England) and by that fall, P Sun will oppose P Herberta. In the summer of 1994, P Venus starts a square to P George and some months later, P Henry reaches a square to P Herberta. Earlier in 1994, P Georgia starts a trioctile to P north lunar node in the tenth house (executive power). As readers know, I have been using Georgia, George and Herberta as significators for George Herbert Bush. I suspect that the contest between Henry Ross and George Herbert is not over. P Karma is currently conjunct natal Barbara in Perot’s chart, and that aspect will last for a couple more years. P Barbara continues for some years in an octile to P Neptune, quincunxes to natal Mars-Chiron, and squares to natal Moon and (soon) Pluto. As I have written before, the charts of both George and Barbara Bush show serious problems during the next term of office, and some of the tension might stem from Perot’s knowledge reaching more U.S. citizens. As always, we will wait and see and learn some more about astrology as we watch the unfolding events.
For readers who watch transits, Perot’s aspects when he retired from the presidential race do include some interesting patterns. T Pluto was trine his natal Moon-Pluto-Ceres conjunction, supporting the idea that he was acting to protect his family and/or his country. At the same time, T Uranus-Neptune were moving back from oppositions to the Cancer stellium and the T Sun had just crossed it. Oppositions can manifest as cooperation or competition or separation. T Saturn was moving out of a quincunx to the natal Moon, an aspect which typically leads toward some form of separation; in this case, from his potential executive role in politics. T Pallas, our most political asteroid, was also quincunx the trio in late Cancer to form a loose yod with Saturn, further supporting his decision to separate from politics. T Mars had ended an opposition to T Pluto and it was about to leave the sextile to the Cancer trio, which fits his ability to decide on a course of action and carry it out. Remember that Perot’s three factors in late Cancer include both the Moon and Ceres which seek to nurture or to be nurtured and Pluto which is one of the keys to a relationship with a mate. T Mercury was leaving an opposition to T Saturn and quincunxes to Uranus-Neptune in the sign of Saturn when Perot made the announcement, and he had wrestled with the decision for many hours while those aspects symbolized some very serious thinking. Of course, many other aspects might be mentioned, but these support the statements that the decision was made to protect his country, his family and (probably) himself. One other important transit might be mentioned. As many astrologers had noted, the June 30, 1992 eclipse took place exactly on Perot’s natal Ascendant. It certainly pointed to some kind of important personal action which might be immanent, though theoretically solar eclipses can be meaningful for up to three years.
As this issue of The Mutable Dilemma is being wound up to go to the printer, the Republican Convention has concluded and Bush has received what has come to be called the “convention bounce,” the rise in the polls immediately after the political circus. I have been too busy to follow the news, but have heard the results of various polls which ranged from a dead heat between Bush and Clinton to a ten point spread with Clinton still in the lead. An article in the August 3, 1992 issue of the Los Angeles Times newspaper described some of the benefits gained by an incumbent president, and quoted several “experts” who predicted that Bush would win in November. One model was developed by Allan Lichtman and Ken Decell in the American University history department. They claim that if six or more out of 13 statements are false, the party in power will lose. At the time the article was published, they rated 4 statements false and two with question marks. One of the latter was the lack of a significant third-party. I think at this point, we can say that this is now true though Perot’s name will still be on many state ballots. The other question involved the lack of a recession. Though the Fed is doing its best to pump up the economy, so far we have to rate that statement as false and things are not likely to get a lot better by the election though I think there may be some temporary improvement. (I have previously written about the new larger reserves which were mandated by BIS (the Bank of International Settlements in Basle, Switzerland). Many banks are now achieving these reserves and likely to increase their lending, which could spur the economy.) Several other students of past elections are quoted in the Times article and all except a Democratic pollster give Bush an edge. As usual, we will wait and see.
In closing, Zeke Schary, a fellow student of astrology, has just given me the precise times when Clinton and Bush were put “over the top” for their respective nominations for President. Clinton’s vote came from Ohio at 22:52:15 EDT on July 15, 1992 in New York. Bush’s vote came from Texas at 0:9:35 CDT on August 20, 1992 in Houston, TX. Barbara Waters, a well-known student of mundane astrology, used these charts to pick the winner, calculating them for the times when the individual had the required votes to get the nomination. I have not previously worked with this technique, but if it is reliable, it supports a win by Bush. In the chart for Clinton, the Sun and Mars are sextile each other but both are quincunx the MC in a yod. Sun and Mars are major keys to personal will and power so this configuration suggests that Clinton’s effort to achieve the Presidency will fail, that he will be separated from the executive position, the MC. Mercury in the sixth house is exactly opposite Saturn in the twelfth house, closely quincunx Uranus and Neptune in Capricorn, and Mercury-Saturn are widely square Pluto. Jupiter is also in the sixth house in a wide opposition to the Ascendant. Bush has Saturn in the tenth house in a grand trine in air signs and earth houses including Juno-Mars in the first house and Vesta in the sixth house. He also has a grand trine in earth signs and partly fire houses with East Point-Moon in Taurus in the twelfth house trine Venus-Jupiter in the fifth house and Uranus-Neptune in the ninth house. P Moon reaches the trine to Venus for the election. Mercury is exactly on the IC and the Part of Fortune is conjunct the MC within less than two degrees. Waters would have said the Fortuna position was a confirmation of a win. The Sun was widely square the Ascendant and it is on the IC when the chart is calculated for Washington, DC. Pluto is widely opposite the Ascendant from the sixth house.
Both charts have some harmony and some conflict aspects as is always the case, but the odds certainly favor Bush. I am assuming that the conflict aspects which are largely fixed planets and signs are an indication of the financial problems which are likely to continue to haunt the next term of office. P Ascendant will square the fourth house Sun and quincunx the mean north lunar node in the eighth house by the summer of 1994. Solar arc directed Pluto will start a two-year opposition to the Ascendant around February of 1994. P East Point holds a square to Saturn for about two years and moves into a square to Chiron in the fall of 1993. P Saturn starts a square to natal Moon in the spring of 1994. All of these aspects are in fixed signs.
There are always a few asteroids which “blow me away.” In these charts it is asteroid Williams in first house of the Bush chart in an exact square to the Sun while asteroid George is in the first house of the Clinton chart in an exact square to the Sun. What are the odds for such a “coincidence?” Bush also has geocentric Hoover (our depression president) and heliocentric Winchester (guns) on his nomination Descendant to the degree. Depression and war—that’s our guy. Does he have any choice except for his choice to play the role?
For my finale, readers will remember that the chart for the U.S. Constitution (our most accepted chart for the country, the only one with a definite time) has had P Herberta on the Washington, DC MC since George Herbert Bush was elected as our executive. The asteroid (which was named for Herbert Hoover) is still moving slowly over the angle, and until about 2002 it will continue on the MC calculated for New York where the Constitution came into power in 1789. It finally occurred to me that this pattern (which will still be present after our current President Herbert is gone) is telling us that the financial pressures associated with Herbert Hoover may continue to challenge the government and the country into the next millennium. The interpretation is pretty obvious, but I hope it is wrong.