Speculating on the Doles
Zip Dobyns
The greatest frustration for mundane astrologers is finding out that you have been working with inaccurate data! The next greatest is not having complete data. Years ago, Lois Rodden was told by former Senator Bob Dole’s office that he was born on July 23 shortly after midnight. I recently acquired the joint biography of both Bob and Elizabeth Dole, and he was born on July 22, 1923, probably in the late afternoon. He writes that his father went to work that morning at the usual time and was called home before the end of the day. The place was Russell, Kansas; 38 N 53.7, 98 W 51.6 and it was on CST. Dole lists quite a few events in his life, so the chart presented here remains speculative but it fits the events.
I chose the time of 5:26 P.M. initially because of the war injury in which he nearly died. He was shot in Italy on the morning of April 14, 1945. He spent months in the hospital, with his life threatened repeatedly, unable to walk or even feed himself. He is still unable to use his right arm. A birth time of around 5:24 to 5:26 puts his P MC square Mars in the eighth house when he was injured, and his P Ascendant opposite Pluto. It also puts natal Saturn on the MC which fits Dole’s intense ambition and lifetime work for the government. I recently finished writing The Book Of Saturn, and several of the examples were politicians who had Saturn on the MC, including Jack Kemp, Dole’s current running mate as Vice Presidential candidate, Jesse Helms, Walter Mondale, John Glenn, and Michael Dukakis. Since the MC has the same meaning as Saturn, a conjunction between them shows an intense involvement with power.
Of course, there were many other progressed aspects when Dole was wounded, most of which would have been in effect even if his birth time were different. It is the angles of the chart which are highly dependent on birth time, and to a lesser extent, the Moon which could be off a few degrees. Using this late afternoon birth time, Dole’s P Moon when he was shot was in 5 Virgo trioctile Chiron. Both the sign and Chiron can point to health issues. P Vesta (a Virgo asteroid, so also related to health) was octile Dole’s natal Moon but in a protective trine to Ceres, which also has some Virgo overtones. P Ceres was opposite Mars, conjunct the tentative Antivertex and square the tentative P MC. Dole’s tentative P Antivertex was opposite P Sun and P Mars, and P Mars was conjunct P Neptune. P tentative East Point opposed natal Sun and Mercury. These are dramatic aspects to the angles, appropriate for a critical threat to Dole’s life. Regardless of his birth time, P Saturn held a long square to Venus as he struggled to survive and recover some of his lost abilities.
In light of his rather dour personality, many astrologers might doubt the possibility of Dole having Sagittarius rising, but in his early life he was very actively involved with and very good in sports. Also, he is noted for a wry sense of humor, for quips which sometimes get him into trouble and saying things even when they are not politically expedient. But his chart has a strong water and earth emphasis in sign positions, and if this birth time is close, his Leo and Aries fire signs are in water houses which tends to mute the spontaneity and expressiveness of the fire. He does show the stubborn independence of a rising Sagittarius plus the total investment in his work which fits Capricorn in the first house and both rulers of the first house signs in the tenth house, though Jupiter is really on the cusp of the eleventh. The tenth house is associated with executive positions and the eleventh house with the legislature in a democracy. Dole has served in Congress for many years, and has tried before but failed to win an executive position. He was Ford’s running mate in the 1976 election, and failed to get the nomination for President when he ran against Reagan in 1980.
Water signs in all of the air houses, including two water planets, Pluto and the Moon, repeat the potential of sensitive emotions making it hard for Dole to “take things lightly.” He is certainly intelligent, but often has trouble articulating his thoughts clearly. Clinton has a clear advantage in that area, with his huge Libra stellium in a fire house, including two fire planets there. In addition to his recently rewritten biography, there is an article about the Doles in the last Vanity Fair which is probably more objective. As Gail Sheehy describes Dole and his life, he seems to have been basically a loner who has trouble being really close to other people. He spent little time with his first wife and only child, a daughter, after being elected to national office, and eventually simply told her he was getting a divorce. His lawyer and a judge presented the terms to his wife, and she was left with little support. She had to move and get a job. Dole was reportedly involved at the time in an affair with a gorgeous model. So much for family values. Sheehy reports that in his last year of marriage, he had dinner with his wife and teen-aged daughter three times, two of them Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Dole married Elizabeth on December 6, 1975 and his father died the same month while they were on their honeymoon, so we expect major aspects to the MC for a change of marital status and parental relationships. P Mercury was on Saturn and the birth time I am using also put it on the MC. P Ascendant was quincunx natal Venus. P East Point was quincunx natal Sun and Mercury. P Antivertex was on the P south lunar node. When on one node, a factor is, of course, opposite the other one. The opposition and especially the quincunx are typical of separations, but the opposition can also be manifested as a partnership. I interpret the south node as a lesson in relationships. If Sheehy is right, Dole’s loner tendencies have denied Elizabeth the emotional closeness she would have liked. She was always a career woman and had put off marrying for a long time, so perhaps it was not too hard for her to continue to get her main fulfillment in her work. I normally expect angle aspects to Juno when people marry (or divorce). Dole’s P Juno was in 6 Virgo 1 when he married Elizabeth, with a quincunx to the Antivertex and a trioctile to Chiron. P MC in Washington where they were living and had the ceremony was trioctile natal Juno. P Pluto and the true nodes also held long aspects to Juno. Regardless of birth time, Dole also had a classic P Sun on P Venus and they were quincunx P Chiron. P Moon was just coming to P Vesta and the aspect would have reached the standard one-degree orb by the time Dole’s father died. Vesta, as mentioned above, can show health concerns or a focus on work. Any factor in the tenth house can also be related to authority figures or to one’s own power. Last, but not least, Dole’s P MC for this birth time was octile P Saturn, repeating the potential for change and/or stress involving status, power, and power figures in the life. The MC and Saturn are usually keys to the father while the Moon and the IC relate to the mother, but sometimes these are reversed, or the parents are similar, or one parent is playing both roles, etc.
So far, as indicated above, the aspects for major events seem to fit. So can we say anything about Dole’s chances in the coming election? With hindsight, it is obviously easy to find something that matches. One of the things which bugs skeptics is the way that astrology’s marvelous symbolism can always be made to fit after the fact. Foresight is another trip. Each of the twelve principles in astrology can manifest in many different details in the life. Astrology shows the psychological state which can be manifested in many different ways. As I have written in the past, I thought that Dole had a good chance to win based mainly on the inauguration chart on January 20, 1997. Among other aspects, the asteroid Roberta on Venus and trine the Ascendant which Venus rules looked as if Dole would be happy. As this article is written in early September, the odds against Dole are looking insurmountable. Clinton’s lead is staying in double digits in most polls, and the uproar in Iraq is likely to give him more help, in view of the militant tendencies in our country. Of course, we can always find stressful aspects as well as harmonious ones in every chart. Roberts, the other asteroid in the inauguration chart with Dole’s name, is square Dike (fate) in the first house, quincunx Atlantis (often a key to the abuse of power), and trioctile Henry which I use for H Ross Perot. Most commentators think that Perot will help defeat Dole as he presumably did Bush in 1992. This is not because he likes Clinton. Reportedly, he despises him as a total opportunist with no firm morals.
We can also look at the transits on election day, November 5, 1996. Roberts is in 0 Aquarius, within one degree of Uranus in its own sign. Does that mean an upset victory or a drastic defeat? It is also sextile Saturn (executive power) on one side and sextile Roberta in 0 Sagittarius! Jakoba, a variation of John for Jack Kemp, is in the configuration in 29 Scorpio, and Libitina, a death goddess, is also there in 0 Sagittarius. Do they describe a political death or is a literal one possible? Roberta, Libitina, and Jakoba are all trioctile Ganesa, named for the elephant-headed god of India which I am testing for the Republican Party. If it is reliable, it suggests tension between Kemp and Dole on one side and at least some of the Republicans. Anyone who loses will, of course, be looking for a scapegoat.
The asteroid Williams, which I have been using for Bill Clinton, is in 29 Leo and square Jakoba, Roberta, and Libitina—all within one degree. It is that sort of specificity with the asteroids which blows me away—finding Jack and Robert together in a conflict aspect to Bill! How does the universe manage that? Williams is also conjunct three potentially relevant asteroids: Mason-Dixon, which could point to the black vote being important, Angelina, which may work for Los Angeles, and Prudentia for prudence. Another possible asteroid which might “work” for Clinton is Clintford. Similar sounding names do often seem relevant. Clintford is in 19 Capricorn on California, repeating the importance of the state. Albertine, which may “work” for Al Gore, is in 10 Virgo with relatively few aspects. Its trioctile to Neptune does not look encouraging. Another interesting cluster is a conjunction of Lincoln, United Nations, and Guillermina in early Leo. The latter is a Spanish variant connected to William. The United Nations is obvious. The Republicans are sometimes called the Party of Lincoln, who was their first elected president. The Leo trio are trine Pluto, and if we use wider orbs for the planets and the initial four asteroids, Pluto is conjunct Pallas and trine Saturn and Juno, to create a grand trine in fire signs. We do not have any houses or an accurate degree for the Moon, since we don’t know when on election day sufficient votes will have been cast to decide the outcome. If we depended on the transits of the personal name asteroids, Dole would look pretty good, though the association with death (which is also present in other related charts) would hold a shadow over him with the possibility that if he won, he might not last out the term.
Astrology is clearly a “work in progress,” especially when we are dealing with hundreds of newly discovered asteroids. We learn what works by analyzing charts with our tools and techniques and then watching to see what happens. If, as looks likely, Dole loses to Clinton, the positive aspects in these charts for the election and inauguration could be read as “the asteroids are not reliable,” or “transits are less reliable than progressions” or “Dole will really be better off out of the pressure cooker tensions of handling power in the current world,” or “he will be vindicated later by a massive Clinton screw-up,” or “the Republicans in Congress will benefit despite Dole’s and Kemp’s personal loss,” or “grand fire trines show the danger of overreach and do not guarantee success. They say that we know what we want but if what we want is impossible, we still don’t get it,” or ??? Disappointment is common when fire trines are mixed with conflict aspects, especially when the latter involve earth factors. High expectations are rudely awakened by the material world.
My personal belief, as I write regularly, is that astrology shows states of mind and it is always a guess when we try to figure what will happen, given those emotions. Pluto on election day is also involved in another interesting configuration with squares to America, Nemesis, and San Diego (all exactly conjunct in early Virgo) and both Pluto and Pallas square Mars in 3 Virgo. San Diego and Orange County in southern California usually go Republican. Will the election bring the retribution of Nemesis (who punished you when you defied Themis, divine law) onto America? Themis is in 11 Leo, trioctile Ceres the earth mother, which I think signifies a mixture of Virgo and Cancer. Farm subsidies are being phased out, but a lot more popular programs would have to be cut to give Dole’s promised tax cuts and still balance the budget in 6 years.
Turning finally to his own (unfortunately tentative) chart and my preferred technique of secondary progressions, how do Dole’s chances look? It is frustrating to try to forecast without a reliable birth time, since the chart angles (MC, Ascendant, East Point, and Antivertex axes) are so sensitive to birth time and such basic keys to outer changes in the life. Fixed and mutable factors may remain internalized or be experienced vicariously by observing others. It is cardinal factors which show personal overt changes—of status/career/power, home, close relationships, and personal action. If Dole was born just 10 minutes earlier than the time I am testing, his P Sun would already be on the MC. Readers may remember that John F Kennedy was elected president when his P Sun reached his MC in Washington, DC and he was assassinated three years later when his P Sun reached his natal MC. Like Saturn, the MC can show a rise to power or a fall if we have overreached our capacity or are trying to do something impossible. Of course, we don’t know what is possible until we try. Using the time I have picked for Dole, his P Sun will reach his MC in 2 to 3 years, and be on it then for 2 years. If this birth time is approximately right, his P Sun will reach Saturn in 3 to 4 years, which would fit a change of career and/or home during the following 2 years. Dole is certainly wealthy enough to retire, but it is highly debatable whether his ambition will permit him to just go play golf and ski like Jerry Ford. If he is not so disgraced by a huge loss that he totally loses face, especially if he can avoid being blamed for any Congressional losses, he could stay on in Washington as some sort of senior advisor.
Dole’s P Sun is currently quincunx P south lunar node and Roberta, one of his personal name asteroids. If this birth time is close to accurate, P Sun will start a square to Pluto just about the time of the inauguration of the new president in January 1997. These aspects are associated with tension and change, but that will happen in his life regardless of the outcome of the vote. His P Sun is trine Ceres and semisextile Jupiter, aspects more associated with success, and by February 1997, if the birth time is approximately accurate, P Sun will trine the asteroid Washingtonia for the U.S. capital. These aspects look like staying involved in the Washington scene even if he loses the presidential election. The planets of beliefs, values, goals, hopes, etc., Jupiter, Neptune, and Chiron, have been holding long-term aspects to each other for years. Like Perot, Dole really feels he should win, no matter what the odds, but the aspects are mixed. Neptune and Chiron have held a trine for years, showing faith in his personal destiny, but Jupiter has been square Neptune and quincunx Chiron for even longer. Conflict aspects between Jupiter and Neptune are often head goals at war with heart goals; conscious desires versus the wider “knowing” of the subconscious which is part of and open to the Whole. P Mars is semisextile P Saturn, a weak aspect which may or may not be positive. If Dole was born 2 to 3 minutes earlier, which would still maintain the appropriate angle aspects for the life events discussed above, P Mars would be square his natal Ascendant and his P Ascendant would be on the south lunar node and/or Uranus. These aspects look more like defeat. But perhaps the most important aspect is P Moon (representing the public in one of its extended meanings) square P Saturn (the job he wants) and quincunx the Ascendant (his ability to get what he wants), even if we subtract a couple of minutes from his birth time. Also, P Moon will have just left the square to Chiron in the fourth house, which, like the Moon, can signify the public and the homeland. Those aspects look like a rejection of his power ambition by the public.
Other tentative aspects if this birth time is accurate, or one to two minutes earlier, include: P local Ascendant square Ganesa (for the Republicans?) and P America in 0 Leo, square P Ceres in 0 Aquarius, and quincunx P Mercury in 0 Libra. P local East Point is on Chiron, and, depending on the exact birth minute, either opposite P Saturn or quincunx P Jupiter, though it is also trine P Neptune, P Nemesis, and P Potomac, all in 19 Leo. The latter asteroid was named for a river running through Washington, DC. With P Jupiter square all three, we could be seeing Nemesis dashing Dole’s dreams of Leo power in Washington. P local Antivertex for this birth time is crossing the IC and P Roberta is just leaving it, having been retrograding over it. Both are quincunx the north lunar node. Obviously, the chart is loaded with aspects for change, and Dole’s life will change, whatever the outcome of the election. In summary, the P Moon square P Saturn and Chiron and quincunx the Ascendant provides the strongest indication of a loss of the election.
There is always more. Astrology is literally inexhaustible. I consider Vesta an important key to one’s job and health. Dole has P Vesta in 5 Scorpio just about to leave a square to Mars, continuing to hold one to the tentative Antivertex, and about to start a conjunction with the tentative local MC. The latter aspect strongly suggests a job change. If the birth time is even 1 minute earlier, P Vesta would already have started the aspect by the time Dole resigned from the Senate. Or course, more than one change is possible during an aspect which, in this case, will last about four years. P Vesta is also octile P Mars and trioctile the tentative P Ascendant—both aspects which look like job frustrations, not being able to do what he wants in the work area.
I know Dole would not find it amusing, but I had to smile when I saw P Godiva conjunct his P Saturn. Godiva’s famous ride might be mythical, but it was supposedly in protest of the high taxes imposed on her people by her foreign conqueror husband. The ride took place in Coventry, England. Would you believe that P Coventry is on Dole’s natal Saturn? Taxes are almost THE major theme in Dole’s campaign for the executive post. It is that kind of “coincidence” that I just never get used to. But clearly the chart shows the ISSUE, not what will happen. It shows that taxes are a determining key. If he wins, his tax reduction proposal will get much of the credit. If he loses, it will get some of the blame. Natal Godiva is in 12 Virgo, so P Roberta and P local Antivertex are quincunx it. Natal Coventry is in 18 Virgo opposed by the P Ascendant. Another possibly relevant asteroid is Karma, which Dole has in 11 Sagittarius. His P true lunar nodes have been square it and his P Pluto quincunx it all of his life. That configuration is surely one of the keys to the loner personality described by Sheehy, which certainly is not typical of someone with a major emphasis in Cancer and Leo as well as factors in Libra and Scorpio—all signs of interpersonal relationships. P Karma is now in 21 Sagittarius 49 square P Mars, quincunx P Moon, and conjunct the tentative Ascendant. Dole is meeting his Karma, the consequences of his character.
Elizabeth Dole was born on July 29, 1936 in Salisbury, NC. Originally, I had no time for her and speculated that since she had no children, despite several factors in Cancer and Leo, since her career had been her major focus, she might have a major emphasis in the top left part of the chart. A time shortly before noon which put most of her Cancer and Leo in the tenth house with Libra rising looked like a good possibility, especially when it put Roberts on her Descendant for her marriage to Bob Dole. But I called Lois Rodden to see whether she had heard anything about Elizabeth’s time of birth and learned that the Horoscope Guide magazine had published an article using the time of 1 A.M. Lois is trying to check with the author, but in the mean time, I ran the chart for that time and found her personal name, Elizabeth, on the Ascendant.
That is not proof of her time. The rectification I did originally of Nicole Brown Simpson had her personal first name on one angle and her original last name on the same angle where she lived in the L.A. area. The chart worked well for her violent death, but she was not born then. Marion March got her birth certificate from Germany, and that chart worked even better. My conclusion from that experience is that charts for more than one time of day may provide useful information, but the actual birth time will be superior if we can get it. As everyone probably knows, many astrologers use solar charts with the Sun on the MC or on the Ascendant when they lack a birth time, and these charts do provide useful information. No matter what we do to the sky, we still see some of the meaning which is inherent everywhere.
So, until we have more definite information, I’m going to discuss the 1 A.M. chart for Elizabeth Dole, remembering that it is still questionable so the house positions and the Moon are unreliable. I have fewer precise and dramatic events from Elizabeth’s life than I had for her husband. She did not marry until she was 39 years old, but she was a leader in her career, often going into fields or attaining power positions where she was the first woman to achieve what she did. Her first house Vesta conjunct Chiron fits her identification with work and the tendency to idealize career or want work which makes a more ideal world. The first house Gemini plus five factors in the Gemini house if this birth time is accurate show intense curiosity and great verbal facility. The Moon and Jupiter in Sagittarius reinforce the intellectual ability and drive for knowledge, and Neptune in Virgo and Saturn in Pisces complete a full mutable cross. The most common forms of the mutable dilemma, as readers must know by now, are a need for clear priorities to avoid the danger of scattering due to too many talents and too many interests and problems in staying focused on one area until something is accomplished. Elizabeth has had a lot of different jobs, but has apparently done well in them. The other very common mutable hazard involves constant frustration because life never lives up to our ideals. That one is easy to solve. We just have to enjoy the journey while we are moving toward the ideals—not wait until we arrive to be happy.
Elizabeth was very close to both her parents and her older brother, tending to idealize all of them. Saturn for father is in Pisces and Uranus, ruling the tenth house, is in the Pisces house. The Moon for mother is in Sagittarius. Elizabeth’s Leo in the third house would fit the love for her brother. Placing two keys to identity, Mars and Mercury, which rules the Ascendant, in the third house suggests that her brother was a personal role model for Elizabeth. Both Pluto and Juno in the same house, which signifies siblings among many other meanings, suggest that he was also a role model for what she wanted in a mate. A seventh house Moon indicates that her mother was also a role model for mates. These placements can also mean continuing close relationships with early family members into one’s later years. Close bonds with one’s original family so they satisfy the human need for a support system, plus the tendency to search for an ideal mate, plus an identification with one’s work, can all lead to delaying marriage.
If this early birth time is accurate, in addition to it being on her Ascendant along with the asteroid Phaethon (for overreach), the asteroid Elizabeth is just within my one-degree orb to form a sextile to her Sun in Leo, and her Moon is very closely trine her Sun. Such harmony aspects show inner harmony. We are more likely to be successful in life when we are in agreement with ourselves about what we want. Conflict aspects show inner ambivalence which needs to be integrated through some kind of compromise. Elizabeth’s Sun is also semisextile Roberta and Gingerich which are conjunct in 6 Cancer, but the Moon is quincunx the Cancer asteroids. The other asteroid with the root name “Robert” is Roberts in 16 Aries 12. Elizabeth’s P Jupiter held a trine to it for some years. Newtonia, for the other name of the current Speaker of the House of Representatives, is in 20 Virgo square Vesta and Chiron. We can suspect that Elizabeth feels considerable ambivalence about Newt Gingrich. He and Bob Dole have had a mixed relationship, needing to cooperate but often with very different ideas on the relative importance and timing of items on the legislative agenda.
Regardless of her birth time, Elizabeth has a continuing mutable dilemma with P Neptune, P Jupiter, and P Saturn all in 17 degrees of mutable signs, holding a long-term T-square. P Elizabeth for some years has been going through 17 and 18 Gemini to complete a mutable grand cross. With the birth time we are using, P Elizabeth ended the square to P Neptune some years ago. It is just now ending the opposition to Jupiter, and will still stay in the square to P Saturn for a few more years. The 1 A.M. birth time produces a local MC (in Washington, DC) of 17 Aquarius 14, emphasizing the mutable dilemma even more since aspects which involve angles become more emphatic, likely to manifest in the life in overt events. The trine from P Elizabeth has ended but the sextile from P Jupiter to the local MC will remain for years, pointing to continued success in her career.
When Elizabeth’s chart is progressed to November 5, 1996 for the election, it provides the usual mixed picture and the lack of certainty about her birth time is intensely frustrating. Her P local MC trines Jupiter but is quincunx Neptune. Her P Moon is on her local MC trine P Elizabeth. It is also conjunct P Dembowska, which I have found to be very similar to Saturn, but it squares the tentative East Point axis and Ceres in the work house. It is also quincunx P Washingtonia and P Atlantis in Virgo, and it opposes P Bacchus and P Lincoln. The harmony aspects suggest at least the possibility of success, but when a harmony aspect is connected to a conflict network like the mutable cross, the tension and challenge of the cross may override the expectation of the trines that we can get what we want. If Dembowska is more or less equivalent to Saturn, a conjunction can mean an increase in power if we have earned it, or a failure if we are trying for more than we can handle or for something that is not possible. The involvement of both Ceres and the Moon points to the role of the public in determining the outcome. Bacchus, the Roman version of Dionysus, connected to Lincoln who is associated with the Republican Party, hints at the religious extremists who are trying to take over the Party and alienating many moderate Republicans. Regardless of the election, Elizabeth has said that she plans to continue as president of the Red Cross, so she will remain in a power position as well as in the news.
One of the important features in Elizabeth’s natal chart is her conjunction between Mars and Pluto. Mars symbolizes our right and power to do what we please, to be a free soul, without limits. Pluto symbolizes our ability to share the world with close peer relationships—marriage or business partners, counseling relationships, etc. Cancer symbolizes our capacity to accept nurturing from others or to give it to others—the baby/mother relationship—the hunger for emotional security. Obviously, the combination describes a “freedom-closeness” dilemma and an issue around power. The need for closeness looks much stronger in Elizabeth’s chart, but Mars still shows some ambivalence, and of course, none of the fixed sides of life are willing to be dominated. There is currently a major grouping in 25 Cancer at the midpoint of Mars and P Pluto which includes P Roberta (for Bob Dole), P Libitina (a death goddess), P Bellona (a war goddess) and Elizabeth’s P Ascendant IF this birth time is accurate. The natal north node of Saturn in 24 Cancer is also within one degree of the P Ascendant, while the P north node of Saturn is on P Pluto and the P local Ascendant in Washington. The planetary nodes carry the same meaning as the planets which are their source, so these patterns, even if the birth time is not accurate, describe Robert’s political battle for executive power. Astrology keeps saying the same thing in many ways.
Another major configuration involves factors in 10 degrees of the cardinal signs. P Roberts is retrograding in Aries. Our tentative P East Point (equivalent to an Ascendant for personal action), P Jakoba (variant of Jack for Kemp) and P Vesta (job) are in Cancer. Natal Dunant (founder of the Red Cross), P Themis (divine law), P Coventry (tax and power issues) are in Libra and P Mercury is within a one-degree orb of Dunant so it is connected to the T-square. P Mercury’s sextile to its natal position also connects it to the network of aspects. Some factors are early in the 10th degree so they bring in Uranus in 9 Taurus, and Elizabeth’s natal tentative local Ascendant is in 10 Gemini with P Victoria conjunct it. The mixture seems to point to personal victory including positive media treatment for Elizabeth, but struggles for Jack and Bob in which she, of course, is involved.
There is always more, but in view of the uncertainty of Elizabeth’s birth time, we can save it for a later day.