Asteroid-World Winter 1999
Zip Dobyns
Over the years, I have periodically tried to find a time that would “work” for what is traditionally used as the beginning of the New York Stock Exchange. A small group of men is supposed to have met under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street on May 17, 1792, and they agreed to meet regularly to trade stocks with each other. Different astrologers have suggested different times for the agreement, ranging from 8:52 A.M. to early afternoon. I have tested many of these times against the historical panics and depressions and other events that have affected the market, but have never been comfortable with any. My latest candidate is for a time of 11:25 A.M. LAT (local apparent time, which would be the time on a sundial), but I am not really satisfied with it. I will include the chart, in case our readers want to test it for themselves against the market’s past events, but please consider it speculative. The N.Y. Exchange has been revised and reorganized repeatedly, and it is quite possible that this theoretical origin is simply not a valid beginning chart. But I have also checked some of the dates of reorganizations used by different astrologers, and have not found any of them that worked any better.
The chart does fit the nature of the business, with its emphasis on fixed signs and fixed houses which are associated with personal finances (letter two in our astrological alphabet), investment and gambling (letter five), and joint resources and the return on investments (letter eight). With this speculative time, Mercury rules the second house and is in Taurus close to the MC. Pluto, natural ruler of the eighth house, is on the Descendant square Mercury while P Uranus in Leo, the sign of investment, holds a T-square to Pluto and Mercury for years. The combination is a beautiful picture of the competitive power struggle which is the nature of the market, and it also fits its volatility. The fixed “sides of life” all have an explosive potential, though Taurus is the slowest to reach the threshold, and Scorpio, with its water instinct for holding in, can also be slow, but really violent when it blows.
Neptune and Jupiter are co-rulers of the Pisces on the eighth house cusp, and Jupiter rules the fifth house, so their close opposition to Saturn, a ruler of the Capricorn which is also in the fifth house, provides another key to a roller-coaster potential. The over-optimism of the fire and air can alternate with the fear which is common with a Moon-Saturn conjunction. The lunar nodes, in a fire and an air sign in the financial houses, can also feed the roller coaster, as can Uranus on the East Point.
Both the Sun and Mercury, which are rulers of the first house signs, are in the tenth house for the dominant position in the financial world which has been achieved by the NY market. There are many harmony aspects for optimism and success. Mars in the second house trines the MC and sextiles the Antivertex. Juno holds a grand trine to Pluto and Jupiter-Neptune. The Ascendant trines the ninth house Moon and Saturn and sextiles Jupiter-Neptune. Vesta is sextile-trine the lunar nodes, but square Venus and octile Mars. Pallas squares the lunar nodes. The chart is really quite dramatic, with its powerful aspects including both harmony and stress. It does fit the organization, with its potential for big wins and big losses. The big question remains. Do the chart’s historical patterns fit the market’s historical events??? I remain uncertain.
The progressions provided in this issue of Asteroid-World are calculated for January 1, 2000, the time of the famous Y2K showdown. Current information claims that the big banks and brokerage houses are prepared, but some of the smaller businesses may be less ready. But I am also interested in several periods in this year 1999. IF the chart and this time for it are valid, the P Ascendant will be crossing the Descendant for the latter part of 1998 and all of 1999. This suggests a major change in the public activity of the organization, which could range from new forms of partnership, to expanded public interactions, to increased competition and litigation. As the speculative Ascendant has progressed opposite P Uranus and over Pluto, modern technology has taken over much of the work which was once done by individual “runners” and hand signals by men on the “floor.” Thanks to computers, information is now instantly available to traders everywhere in the world. The P Ascendant sextile Saturn and trine Juno and coming to the trine to Neptune, along with the P Sun trine the Moon, suggest a continuing bullish confidence, though the P Sun also remains square the P lunar nodes for volatility. But P Mars squares Saturn and starts a quincunx to Juno in 1999, while P Moon is moving through Scorpio, warning of the need for caution.
Among the interesting aspects of the Moon in 1999 are its trine to Ceres and semisextile to P Ceres, with a conjunction to P Vesta, a square to the East Point, and a trioctile to Juno starting before the Ceres aspects end. These aspects come in the latter part of 1999. 2000 will take the P Moon over the IC and P Jupiter and into a full fixed cross to Pluto, Mercury, and P Uranus. The transits in mid-November 1999 are especially intense, with T Mars on P Mars square Saturn and T Jupiter while T Sun and T Mercury activate the fixed cross. In fact, if we do not have huge volatility in the market in November 1999, I will be inclined to abandon this chart as too unreliable for any more investment of time and effort.
Before we leave it, we can take a quick look at some of the asteroids. ASCII was named for the set of symbols for letters, numbers, and punctuation marks which give instructions to computers. The NORC was a prototype computer, an early Navy calculating machine. In this speculative chart, The NORC has been progressing over the Ascendant in recent years and P Ascendant is opposite it this year. Natally, it was in 1 Cancer on Pallas, so P Neptune holds a long trine to it. ASCII was natally in 1 Gemini, so P Neptune holds a long quincunx to it. P ASCII in 13 Cancer is now retrograde, in a semisextile to the East Point and a trine to P Vesta. If the chart is reliable, it certainly suggests a high focus on computers, but also the likelihood of managing them successfully. Urania seems to resemble the knowledge/technology potential of Uranus. N Urania in 27 Capricorn is trine the Sun, quincunx Juno, and square Neptune. The mixed aspects suggest productive success when new knowledge is used in practical ways, but a definite need to be practical and not get carried away with rose-colored glasses. P Urania in 13 Aquarius opposes the East Point, squares P Vesta, and is quincunx P ASCII, which suggests some unexpected developments are inevitable from the Y2K bug. Eudora is the other asteroid which I am watching as a possible key to computers. She was a goddess controlling the waves, which could include electronic waves. The big high-tech company Qualcomm gave the name Eudora to their software, which was widely used for e-mail, so someone in the company knows some mythology. N Eudora is in 12 Sagittarius, quincunx Ceres, octile Neptune and Urania, and just short of trine the East Point. Of course, the angles are speculative. P Eudora in 2 Aquarius is sextile/trine the true lunar nodes and will have ended a quincunx to The NORC and a square to P Neptune before the deadline of January 1, 2000. So, IF this is a valid chart, it promises continuing volatility, but the patterns look less like the threat of a lasting depression and more like volatility combined with increased productivity and profits thanks to computers.
On March 16, 1999, at about 9:50 A.M. in New York, the value of the group of stocks included in the DOW topped $10,000. The DOW Jones Index is the most watched of many stock indexes, and most of them have not done as well as the DOW in recent years. Many investors are uneasy because the stocks connected to Internet companies seem absurdly over-valued, and many smaller companies have declined in value compared to the big companies in the DOW. The sojourn of the DOW at $10,000 hardly lasted a minute before it fell back, and as this is written, it has so far failed to reach or hold that level, though on March 18 it hit the target again near the end of trading, but backed off 3 points in the last seconds. Astrology can theoretically do a chart for anything which has a beginning, and that was the beginning of a DOW above $10,000, though we will get another chart when the Dow stays above what some have called a “magic” number. Only time will tell whether this chart is useful, but for students interested in financial astrology, it might be worth testing.
The chart is certainly interesting! The south lunar node, which I read as a lesson, and Icarus, who overreached and fell, are both conjunct the MC within one degree. That does fit an immediate retreat, but can we guess for how long? The chart is loaded with trines formed by factors in fire signs in mostly air houses and some in air signs in fire houses, so it certainly suggests an upside potential, with the optimism of fire and air along with lots of volatility. But one observation of market-watching astrologers is that peaks are reached on harmony aspects and can be immediately followed by major downers. The famous “harmonic convergence” period of late August 1987 was a dramatic example when, after spectacular fire sign trines, stocks plunged into a huge drop in November. Yet, they bounced right back again.
Some of the other prominent asteroids in this chart include Tokio on the IC and Prometheus on the Descendant, with a collection of asteroids connected by overlapping orbs. Most economists think that Japan’s market and economy are the major keys to whether or not conditions improve in Asia, which has mostly been in trouble since the summer of 1997. Nipponia (Japan) is in 11 Libra in the fifth house sextile Pluto and Juno and semisextile Mars, but the P Moon will be quincunx it for the next two months during this early spring of 1999. The aspects suggest ongoing changes, whether in Japan’s legal system, in banking and investment regulations, or in U.S. legal action to protect our industries and jobs. Improvement in Japan might come later, since the retrograding P Nipponia will be moving into a trine to P Ceres. The P Moon has already left its square to Ceres and it will move into a trine to Mars in just under a month, while still square Pluto and Juno. While still trine Mars, it starts an octile to Venus, and Industria in 12 Cancer completes a grand trine. Eudora, which is just past Industria in 13 Cancer, might refer to electronic technology, perhaps especially to Qualcomm, which is a major player in the world of wireless communications. With that kind of mixture, the only certainty is for more dramatic ups and downs: some stocks flying and some probably crashing or disappearing, whether through failure or takeovers. Most market watchers expect stocks to keep rising, at least until income tax time on April 15, since many investors will be buying for tax-deductible retirement plans.
The cluster of asteroids mentioned above, which runs from Prometheus in 15 Sagittarius 19 on the Descendant, includes Kennedy, Rockefellia, Armandhammer, Columbia, and Stefani. Prometheus brought fire to humans, and was punished for it by the gods of Olympus. The Greek myths are full of mortals who were punished for what was seen as hubris, for defying the gods. The wealth of the Kennedy family came partly from stocks, and, according to rumor, partly from alcohol smuggling during prohibition. Rockefellia and Armandhammer were named for U.S. millionaires who made their wealth originally through oil. Columbia could signify the site of the U.S. federal government in the District of Columbia, though other geographic regions also share the name. Stefani is a variant of Stephen or Steve. Steve Forbes is a wealthy contender in the current presidential contest. It seems appropriate to have several of the asteroids named for U.S. wealthy elite in prominent positions in a chart for the stocks of the large companies which tend to dominate the world.
George W. Bush, another presidential contender, was also originally in the oil business like his father, the former president. If G. W. Bush wins, as seems quite possible, oil companies will probably get some favorable treatment, including additional tax breaks. Obviously, tax breaks for the already wealthy come with a cost to the less wealthy, which includes most people, as symbolized by the Moon. During part of the summer of 1999 and into the fall, P Moon will square the Ascendant of this chart as well as the Sagittarian asteroids. Just after it finishes the square to Stefani, it starts a square to Justitia in 19 Gemini, and it will also be octile Neptune during that late fall and early winter period. Oil, alcohol, and chemicals in general are associated with Neptune.
The presidential sweepstakes is already underway, and will be omnipresent by this coming summer. The winner will face, and help to shape, the financial issues of the next century. Well before the election, the P Moon will square the Sagittarius group while it moves over another cluster of asteroids. Poseidon is just under 18 degrees, and Bacchus, Atlantis, and Albertina are in 18 degrees of Pisces. Poseidon was the Greek Neptune. Bacchus was the Roman version of the Greek Dionysus, with a similar reputation for extremism. Atlantis is often associated with the abuse of power. I am watching Albertina as a possible key to Al Gore. The “root” of an asteroid name often seems to “work” for individuals with a similar personal name. If there is a real crisis in the market late in 1999 that hits the wealthy investors, it would not help Al Gore’s chances at the presidency. However, the underlying patterns of the chart seem more of a threat to “ordinary” people than the temporary aspects in the latter part of 1999. The Sagittarian asteroids are part of a grand fire trine to Pallas in Aries and Fortuna in 16 Leo. The asteroid, George, for the Bush father and son, is in 7 Sagittarius exactly trine Jupiter and Vesta. Any lasting effects of the conflict aspects from the Moon are more likely to threaten average citizens than the wealthy elite.
One of the less-used factors in astrology is the Moon’s Apogee, the point in its orbit when it is farthest from earth. Opposite it is the Perigee where the Moon is closest to earth. The Apogee seems to be used more by French astrologers who call it the “Black Moon” or Lilith. They mostly interpret it as having a negative meaning. Calling it “Lilith” is very unfortunate, since there is a real asteroid named Lilith which seems to be very similar to Pluto in meaning. There is also an imaginary point with the same name which was promoted by the deceased astrologer Ivy Jacobson, and which was also interpreted as negative. To further muddy the waters, there are two ways to calculate the Moon’s Apogee, as there are two ways to calculate the lunar nodes where the Moon crosses the plane of the earth’s orbit. But the variance in the node calculations is never more than about 3 degrees, while the variance in the calculations for the perigee/apogee axis can be up to 20 degrees. Mark’s CCRS program includes the average position of the perigee and apogee, but not the true positions, so I have never worked with the latter. I was interested to see that in this chart, the average positions fall in 20 Taurus-Scorpio, exactly square the node axis. Both of these axes are based on the Moon’s position, and I interpret them as carrying the same meaning as the Moon. The conflict patterns remain as a backdrop for the faster moving factors in this chart. They are not a good augury for the welfare of the “ordinary” public.
So what is new? The chart would fit the situation since the beginning of the “Reagan Revolution,” with the rich becoming much richer and the majority hanging on or getting poorer. The natal T-square of the Moon to Ceres and Pluto-Juno becomes a grand cross with Guernica just under 10 Virgo and Dolores in 10 Virgo. As readers may remember, Guernica was named for Nazi attacks on a non-military target, the town by that name, during the Spanish Civil War. Dolores in Spanish is sorrows. Interestingly, the asteroid was actually named for the woman co-founder of the communist party in Spain. The Communists resisted the Spanish Fascists and their Nazi supporters. Spain is now a democracy seeking to extradite and try the Chilean dictator, Pinochet. History circles through the issues of life: the tension in both the cardinal and fixed dilemmas between self-absorption and sharing, interwoven with the moral issues of the mutable dilemma.
Certainly some of the public will be successful, and this chart suggests they will be the ones who got in early on some of the technology stocks. Mars is already trine Industria and moving into trines to Eudora in 13 Cancer and The NORC in 13 Pisces. The P Moon joins the grand trine during the late spring and early summer of 1999, crossing The NORC. ASCII is on the second house cusp in 7 Cancer. ASCII does square Jupiter, so it may be a bit late to get into some of these stocks at what look like highly inflated prices. But some are likely to be winners, with the grand trine in fire signs including Jupiter, Vesta, and the trio in Sagittarius who are reinforced by Urania, a key to new knowledge, in 11 Sagittarius.
We will need to watch the chart for at least months, if not years, to see whether it will “work” as a key to the movement of the DOW. One of the most important test times will be in the spring of 2000, when there will be a progressed New Moon in 26 Pisces with a trioctile to Mars. An astrological New Moon begins a new 30-year cycle, and this one starts with very mixed patterns. The Sun-Moon conjunction will be quincunx Bellerophon, who was initially very successful, but eventually overreached and crashed, like Icarus and Phaethon. The asteroid Phaethon, in 11 Taurus, holds a yod (double quincunx) to Nipponia in Libra and Juno and Urania in Sagittarius, and the New Moon will octile it, promising more volatility. Finally, the two primary asteroids for the U.S., America in 0 Pisces and Washingtonia in 15 Libra, are trioctile each other. Dionysus, an extremist, is in 0 Cancer, trine America to egg us on, and Saturn sextiles America to encourage practicality and staying power. Only time will tell whether the chart is a reliable key or a passing dream (or nightmare).
The open season of the race for the U.S. presidency is underway. Readers who have been with us for a while know that politicians and gurus are among my favorite subjects. They both deal with power. The techniques may vary, but both claim the support of a Higher Power or Higher Principles. As leftovers from previous campaigns who are running again, we have the birth data for Lamar Alexander, Dan Quayle, Pat Buchanan, and Steve Forbes. We have a tentative birth time from a TV biography for Elizabeth Dole, who is replacing her husband as a contender. But the star player is clearly George W. Bush, current governor of Texas, son of a former president, and brother of Jeb Bush, current governor of Florida. The Bush family appears to be taking over the center stage position formerly held by the Kennedy family.
Other than computers, the best thing that has happened in modern astrology is the increasing cooperation of astrologers in getting and sharing accurate birth data. Lois Rodden and Fran McEvoy are among our most reliable sources for good data, and a variety of publications and internet lists pass it on. One of the latter is called ACT (act@thenewage.com), led by Michael Erlewine’s Matrix Software. A recent post to ACT from Kim Castilla reported that she was able to get the birth time for George W Bush (hereafter GW), after he was first elected as governor in Texas. She talked a PR person at the hospital in New Haven, CT where he was born into giving her the time on his birth certificate. I jumped with joy! GW was born on July 6, 1946 at 7:26 A.M. EDT. Can you believe that GW and Kenneth Starr and Bill Clinton were all born within a month and a half? What a summer!
GW was born into a wealthy political family, and is said to have lived largely as a playboy until he stopped drinking (and possibly smoking and snorting) around age 40. He may have rivaled Bill Clinton in his earlier party years, but he married at age 31, and reportedly he has been faithful to his wife. They have teen-aged twin daughters. GW grew up in Midland and Houston, TX. His family moved to Midland when he was a toddler and his father, George Herbert Walker Bush (hereafter GHW), went into the oil business. GW got a BA at Yale in 1968, and, yes, like his father, he joined the elite Skull and Bones society in his final year at Yale. The highly secretive group opens doors to the wealthy aristocrats of the world. Like Clinton, GW avoided the draft of the Vietnam years by being in the National Guard, flying planes in Texas from 1968 to 1973. In 1975, he earned an MA in business administration at Harvard and moved to Texas.
Like his father years earlier, in 1975 GW started his own oil company with Mexican connections. He used $20,000 of his own money and his father was Vice President. But the drop in oil prices in the early 1980s hit the business hard. About 50 investors, described by GW as mostly friends of his uncle, put in $4.7 million, and ended up getting back about 20 cents on the dollar. In September 1984, the Spectrum 7 Energy Corporation bought GW’s struggling business. Spectrum was owned by wealthy Reagan/Bush supporters DeWitt and Reynolds. Though the other investors lost money, GW did well. He became president of Spectrum, was given 13.7% of its stock, and was also allowed to buy a part interest in the Texas Rangers for much less than its current value. After two years under the Bush presidency, Spectrum was in trouble, losing $400,000 in its last six months. Harken Energy Company, owned by another wealthy friend of GHW, bought Spectrum in 1986. GW got $227,000 worth of Harken stock, was put on the Board of Directors, and made from $90,000 to $100,000 a year as a company consultant well into the 1990s. He also was given the option of buying Harken stock at 40% below its face value, and allowed to borrow $180,375 from Harken at very low interest. The company’s SEC filings in 1989 and 1990 said that it forgave $341,000 in loans to unspecified executives.
There were other interesting developments at Harken after GW joined the team. A $25 million stock offering was handled by some interesting banks, starting with one in Arkansas headed by Jackson Stephens, who was on President Bush’s “Team 100,” 249 rich persons who gave at least $100,000 each to his presidential campaigns. Stephens placed the offering with the London subsidiary of Union Bank of Switzerland, which was not known for investing in small American companies. Union Bank was a joint venture partner with the notorious BCCI, which had offices in Geneva and was connected to the Nugan Hand Bank, a CIA operation in Australia. Nugan Hand and BCCI were involved in a variety of scandals, including money laundering in Panama and Ferdinand Marcos’ movement of 25 tons of gold out of the Philippines.
Also, despite the company’s lack of any previous experience in undersea drilling, it won an exclusive drilling contract with Bahrain, and an Arab member of its Board of Directors was invited to White House policy meetings with President George Bush and National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft. According to the preceding and other information from the Internet which was dug up by my friend Doc Cottle, every major business deal in which GW was involved included wealthy supporters of his father. The corollary is that many of those investors later received favorable treatment from either the federal government under GHW or the current Texas administration of GW. The billionaire Bass brothers of Texas offered to underwrite the Bahrain oil drilling deal. Robert Bass is another member of GHW’s Team 100. Bass and his kin gave $226,000 to GHW between 1988 and 1992. The Iraq invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 dropped the value of Harken stock by 25% since the Bahrain contract was its only real worth, and soon after, a big quarterly loss by the company lowered the value of its stock even more. Providentially, GW sold his Harken stock in June 1990 for $848,560. Could a secret State Department memo in May 1990 which warned that Saddam was out of control and an oil embargo was possible have had anything to do with the sale? GW did not register the sale as insider trading until March 1991, after the war had ended. He was never cited or punished.
GW bought a 1.8% interest in the Texas Rangers for $600,000 with borrowed money. He was given an additional 10% as a bonus for putting together an investment team, though others did most of the work. The main value of the team is its new stadium, which is ranked by Financial World as the most profitable in baseball. In addition to the stadium property, the team owns 300 acres of vacant land between the stadium and the 6 Flags Amusement Park next door. The private owners of this valuable land did not want to sell it. Bush and his partners gave a low offer. When it was rejected, they arranged for a new government agency, the Arlington Sports Facility Development Authority, to condemn the land for them. The Agency foreclosed on the land and bought it for a very low price, judged by a jury to be 1/6th of its actual value. The Agency also floated bonds which were guaranteed and paid for by taxpayers to finance the purchase. This amounted to a subsidy of $135 million for GW and partners, compared to the $80 million they paid for the franchise. They recently sold the franchise for $250 million. When GW talks about tax cuts, remember Arlington, which had to impose a ½ cent sales tax to pay for the subsidy received by GW and friends.
Willie is not the only slick person born in the summer of 1946. With those connections and this track record, does anyone doubt GW’s ability to buy the U.S. presidency?
Is anyone surprised to find Leo rising in GW’s chart, in addition to Mercury, Pluto, and Venus in Leo in the first house? To add to the potential magnetism, he has most of the Libra stellium in the third house which Bill Clinton has in his first house. Venus is in Leo and Mars has just gotten to Virgo, but all the keys to “god” are there, Neptune, Chiron, and Jupiter, along with the Moon and Juno. (Bill’s Moon is in the other Venus-ruled sign, Taurus.) Astrology shows psychological principles and many different life details are possible. The combination of Leo and Libra can be totally charming and promiscuous (like you know who) or it can be very idealistic and loyal in close relationships, and it is quite possible for individuals to change from one expression to the other at different stages in their lives.
Air and fire are the elements of extrovert salesmen. Air is highly verbal and logical, but may lack practicality if the logic is based on ungrounded premises. This is especially a danger when the air is strongly reinforced by the over-confidence of fire. If possible, GW is even weaker in earth than Bill Clinton, with only Pallas in Capricorn and Mars in Virgo in the Taurus house. The records are emphatic: his financial success has been given to him by others rather than earned. Still, he may have turned over a new leaf when his P Sun reached Virgo near the beginning of 1996 after some months serving as Texas governor. He also had a progressed New Moon in early Virgo in the Taurus house in the winter of 1997-8, so his new 30-year chapter could be a more productive one. His P Ascendant and P East Point are also moving through Virgo and P Antivertex will enter Virgo in 2001 when he might become president.
What in GW’s chart shows his financial fortune? Initially, I look to harmony aspects involving water planets, signs, and/or houses for the subconscious faith that helps the world and/or lets the world provide for the individual. Strong fire adds to the feeling that we have a right to what we want, and strong air is willing to let other people do their share, or sometimes a little more. In GW’s chart, we can give some of the credit to positive aspects to Pluto, a water planet. Pluto and all forms of letter eight are keys to joint resources and pleasures: giving to, receiving from, or sharing with others. Pluto sextiles Neptune, another water planet, which connects it to the rest of the Libra stellium. The strong fire and air are noteworthy in the charts of both GW and Bill Clinton. Both also have the idealism factors, Neptune, Chiron, and Jupiter, in Libra with its numerous potential expressions. Many of the early “boomers” born soon after World War II have this combination. They may look forever for the “perfect” partner and never stay committed to anyone. Or they may be devoted to a mate or have a mate devoted to them. Or they may try to play “god” to others in helping professions or by marrying victims. Or they may expect others to be “god” for them, giving them heaven on earth. Or they may marry a partner who thinks he/she IS god and has a right to whatever is desired. Or they may “worship” a potential mate to the point where they do not want to live without them. Etc., etc. Astrology shows principles. Character (habits) determine the life details. The obvious solution which avoids a kind of idolatry connected to close relationships is to share ideals with others, to move together toward the shared goals and values.
For GW, the closeness of Jupiter to the IC is also an important clue. P Jupiter moved to within one degree of the angle of home, family, parents, and basic security, and it has stayed there within one degree for years, also holding a trine to N Antivertex. Jupiter is a co-ruler of the Pisces in the eighth house, so inheritance is possible from or through family members, parental friends included. What most people see as the “luck” they associate with Jupiter is actually based on the faith that one should have what one wants, and that “god” in some form should provide. Jupiter represents our conscious faith and Neptune our subconscious faith, which is even more powerful. But they both “work.” Life echoes back to us our fears and our faith. Chiron, an alternate expression of Jupiter which can manifest either the Sagittarius or the Pisces potential, is slowly progressing over GW’s IC in Washington, DC. At 19 Aries 50, his local MC holds a close grand trine to Venus and the south lunar node. He feels entitled!
There are many other positive aspects in GW’s chart progressed to Election Day in November 2000. P Mercury is conjunct Venus. P Venus is sextile N Venus and P Mercury, and it trines P Uranus. P MC is conjunct P north lunar node, which is the node through which we receive more easily, while the south node marks a need to learn and then to give something. P Moon conjunct P Mars connects personal power and action to the public, and they are sextile P Pluto in the natural house of Mars. P local MC is just under 12 Gemini, sextile P Pluto and trine P Mars/P Moon. P Saturn holds a long trine to Vesta, a major key to career success, and most dramatically, it is conjunct GW’s Ascendant in Washington, DC for the potential of executive power there. His local P Antivertex is just under 18 Leo, with a sextile to N Jupiter and the P north lunar node. P Antivertex from GW’s birthplace is sextile P Juno, which is sextile P Pallas, our most political asteroid. P Ascendant in 18 Virgo is semisextile Jupiter, while P local Ascendant in 8 Virgo is conjunct Mars. The Ascendant carries the same meaning as Mars—in this case, getting the job he wants. Finally, P Sun will be near the end of a two near trine to N Pallas and semisextile Neptune. Though I think that predicting life details is always an educated guess, this chart looks like a winner.
We have not yet mentioned any asteroids, and there are two versions of George, one with the “ia” added to the end, which used to be done to feminize asteroids with normal orbits which were named for men. Both natal George and Georgia are in 0 Leo in GW’s chart, and they are also conjunct Ops, the goddess of underground wealth. Is that appropriate for oil in the natural house of Neptune? Then there is his N Sun on Midas and Columbia (for the District of, or maybe for the country which is the source of the drugs which are persistently rumored to be connected to the Mexican associates of the Bush family). P Georgia at the election will be conjunct P Mercury in Leo, sextile P Chiron and the north lunar node and just coming to N Venus. P George will be in 6 Virgo conjunct P Sun. Could we get a better statement of media attention and fame? P Ops and P Aten (a sun god) will be in 24 Leo, trine the MC and sextile P Jupiter. GW won’t even have to ask his oil-rich friends for funds. They are already pouring in the cash. Even Microsoft has gotten religion and is giving big bucks to the Republicans. With P Midas on GW’s Ascendant, could there be any alternative? P Neptune trines Herberta, for his father’s middle name. P Herberta in 25 Gemini trines P Jupiter.
As usual, it is hard to stop with so many relevant asteroid aspects. P Icarus and P Victoria are on Pallas, trine P Sun and N Ate in 5 Taurus. The latter goddess was considered the epitome of evil by the ancient Greeks. Electing an executive with Ate in Taurus in the tenth house and quincunx Neptune does not reassure me about the fate of U.S. finances under his control. Icarus and Victoria are also square P Vesta, but this may simply mean he will get the job and it will be more of a challenge than he anticipates. Or the factors in Aries square the factors in Capricorn, with both in fire houses, could simply restate GW’s lifetime tendency to resist limits to his personal will. P Kaiser, named for former rulers of Germany, is on P Saturn to reinforce that sense of personal power. Also in the mix are P Columbia and P Elizabeth. The polls put Elizabeth Dole in second place in popularity behind GW, and some have suggested she might become the candidate for Vice President. Though her name is certainly in a prominent position in GW’s chart, a conjunction on Saturn in Leo could also signify the power struggle for the presidential nomination. Or, GW might nominate her for a position in his Cabinet after the election. P Patrick Gene is also in the cluster in 3 to 4 Leo. It might stand for Patrick Buchanan, one of the repeat contenders for the presidency, which would fit the power struggle for the executive role.
We will be looking at the charts of the other candidates in future issues of The Mutable Dilemma or Asteroid-World, but the odds for GW at this point should make Vegas green with envy. I had planned to discuss the chart for GW’s press conference in Austin, TX when he announced that he was going to set up an exploratory committee to investigate the possibility of becoming a candidate, and will keep it brief. The conference was called for 2 P.M. CST on March 2, 1999, and it is so “lucky” according to traditional astrological theories that I suspect that GW had astrological advice. The chart has a grand trine in fire signs and another grand trine in water signs with the Ascendant at one corner of the triangle. The Moon sextiles the Cancer Ascendant, which it rules. The East Point sextiles Saturn.. The Antivertex sextiles Mercury, which is almost on the MC, with Jupiter just past the MC, conjunct it within less than 2 degrees and closely trine Chiron and George. Georgia is in 27 Pisces, sextile the Antivertex, and Karma and Duponta (named for one of our industrial powers) are both conjunct the MC. King, Lust, and Albertine are clustered on the Sun with overlapping orbs, Hybris (hubris) is on Vesta, the key to one’s job. Fama is on the IC, the public. Icarus is on the south lunar node, and America is just past it within one degree. Tyche (luck) in 5 Leo trines George. GW’s father would have learned about astrology from the Reagans, and they may well be using a consultant, but one much more discreet than Nancy Reagan’s betrayer. He or she probably does not know about the asteroids, and may not be using the extra angles, but the traditional planets are so well placed I suspect the chart was an electional one.
Postscript March 25, 1999
This is a PS to Asteroid-World in light of the NATO attacks on the former Yugoslavia. The first bombs are said to have fallen on Serbia and Kosovo at about 8 P.M. local time on March 24, 1999. The asteroids are dramatic, as usual, and the bomb chart supports the horoscope of Milosewic, which I discussed in the Sagittarius 1998 issue of The Mutable Dilemma. Data for leaders is often questionable, and we have to watch future events to keep testing it. A German source reported that Milosewic was born on August 20, 1941 at 10 P.M. in Pozarevac, Yugoslavia, 44 N 37, 21 E 11. War time was in effect, so UT was 2 hours earlier.
Progressed to the time of the first bomb, aspects to his natal Part of Death included P Moon conjunct it, P Sun octile it, and P Venus square it. His P Part of Death opposed P Saturn and P Antivertex. His need for personal power is sending a great many people to death. P Pluto in Leo holds a lifetime square to his Taurus Ascendant. Readers who keep back issues of The Mutable Dilemma can see much more in the article about him. I will just add that he is a tough man, and may hold out for months, despite some optimists who think he will be forced to give up in a few weeks. Assuming his chart is accurate, in June 1999 his P Moon hits a network of aspects, crossing the 6th house cusp, quincunx P Mars, square P Pallas, opposite P MC, and octile P Vesta. His P Part of Death will be quincunx N Mars and East Point.
I was initially puzzled by the lack of aspects to the Moon in the chart for the first bombs, but, in 8 Cancer, the Moon was conjunct Milosewic’s P Ascendant. It was also square Jupiter for problems involving beliefs, ethics, and judgment. The asteroids for war, death, dynamite, etc. have been periodically in early fixed signs aspecting Saturn and Neptune since the rash of bombs discussed in the summer of 1998. They are still there, and some will still be featured during the eclipses in the summer of 1999. It could be a grim year. Bombs fell in several places in Serbia, Kosovo, and Montenegro, but the country is not large and the MCs ranged from 3 to 5 Leo, connecting to Saturn, Neptune, and the asteroids for violence. Williams (for Bill Clinton) was exactly opposite the Ascendants. Among the listed asteroids were the war goddesses, Belisana in 1 Scorpio and Bellona in 2 Aquarius, Nobel and the north node of Mars in 1 Taurus along with Tantalus, who could never reach his goals, and, of course, Neptune was in 3 Aquarius and Saturn in 2 Taurus.
Many more relevant aspects could be mentioned, but in this brief postscript, I want to also mention the chart calculated for Washington, DC for the same UT time. The MC in Washington was 1 Taurus, conjunct Nobel, Tantalus, and the north node of Mars, along with Saturn. The Ascendant was 11 Leo, conjunct Atropos, who cut the cord of life, with an exact square from Mars. Belisana opposed the MC, while Psyche and Bellona and (more widely) Neptune squared it. The bomb charts in both regions were loaded with trines involving factors in fire signs. Trines are not always “good.” Fire trines especially can indicate over-confidence and over-reach on both sides of the struggle.
Editor’s note: the Milosewic chart in the Sagittarius 1998 Mutable Dilemma was run incorrectly for standard time [corrected in web archives], but the discussion was based on a chart using War time.