Trump’s Russian Grand Cross

They say there’s no smoke without fire, and if so, then judging by the amount of smoke being generated over the various probes into Russian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and potential collusion by the Trump campaign, there must be one massive conflagration somewhere.

Consider: Trump National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, resigns just weeks into the new administration for lying about the extent, the timing, and the content of his interactions with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak; Trump Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, recuses himself from any Russian-related investigations after it was discovered that he lied to Congress during his confirmation hearings about his contacts with this same ambassador; first son-in-law and presidential advisor, Jared Kushner, is reported to have had conversations with Kislyak regarding setting up a secret communications channel between Trump and Putin, which he “forgot” to report on his security clearance application; Trump himself fires both the acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates, after she warned the White House that Flynn was compromised by the Russians, and FBI Director James Comey, avowedly to ease the pressure from his investigation into the Russian connection; and it was Trump who revealed classified information, and later opined on the firing of Comey to that same Russian Ambassador and the Russian Foreign Minister in the Oval Office the day after the firing. (1)

Up to this point, multiple investigations by the House, the Senate, the FBI, and now by the Special Counsel Robert Mueller, have yet to reveal concrete proof of collusion or explicit wrongdoing. But, as astrologers, we have other tools besides subpoenas to help us get to the root of the matter. One of the most valuable of these are PNAs (Personal-Named Asteroids), which can point the finger to specific places and people that might have a bearing on the story.

So, if one were to try to astrologically explain the seemingly dominant hold that Russia has on Donald Trump’s political psyche, where would one begin? How about with asteroid Russia (#232)?

Asteroid Russia makes a powerful statement in The Donald’s birth chart. (2) It is at 12° Aries, which squares Mercury at 8° Cancer; to paraphrase the old Ray Charles hit, that spells “Russia on my Mind” in no uncertain terms. Mercury also rules commerce and trade, and, according to Eric Trump’s conversation with a golf writer in 2014, Russian capital formed a huge part of Trump’s funding, especially after the economic downturn in 2008: “We don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.” (3)

At 12° Aries, natal asteroid Russia is also trine to Trump’s natal Pluto at 10° Leo, another indicator of potentially deep pockets in that country for the Trump empire. There’s an element of coercion, power politics, and scandal when Pluto is involved, all of which lend their flavor to the Russian investigation.

But most importantly, Trump’s 12° Aries asteroid Russia opposes his Jupiter, which is stationary direct at 17° Libra and conjunct Chiron at 14° Libra. Jupiter, of course, rules politics, as well as foreign relations, diplomacy, and international commerce. Because it is stationary (it turned direct barely three hours after his birth), Jupiter is deeply embedded in Trump’s psyche. It acts as a still point upon which the chart revolves, a sort of gravity well that draws in whatever it touches.

With Jupiter opposite asteroid Russia, Trump’s political philosophy naturally turns toward all things Russian. His iconoclasm on the issues affecting this country is made all the more dramatic by Jupiter’s exact trine to natal Uranus at 17° Gemini, which delights in upsetting the apple cart, shocking others’ sensibilities and flouting social norms, and espousing unconventional attitudes. Trump’s continual praise of Vladimir Putin, his unfathomable hesitation in ascribing the hacking of the DNC and the Clinton campaign to Russia, and his coziness with Russian officials, all demonstrate this Uranian inability to toe the line of others’ expectations. Natal Uranus is conjunct Trump’s Sun at 22° Gemini, also in trine to Jupiter, which makes all this very personal indeed. (4)

The contact with Chiron also indicates a maverick streak, reinforcing Uranus’s alternative, often-eccentric approach to politics, but also suggesting a serious wound from that quarter. Certainly if Trump’s political career comes crashing down, his connections to Russia will be a huge part of that disruption.

And just as Chiron acts to reinforce those Uranian urges Trump seems unable to quell or resist, there is another player in the mix that reinforces Chiron’s emphasis on self-wounding. This is asteroid Nemesis, which, at 16° Cancer in Trump’s natal chart, forms a t-square to the Jupiter–Russia opposition. Nemesis is named for the ancient Greek goddess of divine retribution, a karmic force that intercedes to restore the balance when we mere mortals step too far out of line or fail to pay proper respect to Fortune for having blessed us. When we start to attribute our greatness or success solely to our own efforts — discounting the role of fate — Nemesis reminds us just how lowly we really are.

Originally a force of “due enactment,” a comeuppance for our sins, in modern usage Nemesis has come to represent any person, circumstance, or power that stands in our way, blocking our goals and ambitions, deservedly or otherwise. In that sense, we can see Nemesis’ hand in the rapidly decreasing political capital for the Trump White House, distracted and consumed by the pushback on the Russian investigation, losing focus on its agenda, and having difficulty enacting any sort of legislation.

But we said this pattern was a grand cross, and so far we’re only seeing three “corners” filled. This is where things get interesting, from a PNA perspective. The confluence of the Comey firing and the Russian Oval Office meeting made me curious about how these players might factor into Trump’s natal asteroid Russian ties. There are more than 17,000 named PNAs, so there’s a good chance that at least some of these names are represented celestially.

As for the fired FBI Director, there’s no “Comey” asteroid, but there is a Combe, a close phonetic match. (My research with PNAs over the past decade has shown that often these will work, appearing in natal and event charts in ways that drive the narrative from an astrological perspective.) And so it is with Combe: At 12° Libra natally for Trump, Combe activates and energizes his natal tendencies toward political (Jupiter) wounding (Chiron). Asteroid Combe is also exactly opposed asteroid Russia at 12° Aries! Initially, Trump had less to fear from the congressional investigations run by Republican chairs with potentially sympathetic views toward indiscretions committed by a Republican president. But FBI Director Comey was independent and therefore more of a danger; after failing to extract a loyalty oath or an agreement to pull back on the investigation, Trump fired Comey on May 9, explaining to his Russian guests the following day that this would ease the “pressure” he had felt. (5)

The Russian guests at that May 10 meeting are in the mix as well. Asteroid Sergej (a variant spelling of “Sergei”) falls at 13° Cancer in Trump’s natal chart, conjunct Nemesis and square the asteroid Russia/Jupiter opposition.This represents both Ambassador Sergei Kislyak and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is also represented by asteroid Lavrov, which, incredibly, has an eponymous asteroid that falls at 14° Capricorn in Trump’s nativity, filling in the empty leg of the Grand Cross! Sergei Kislyak is deeply involved in whatever this story turns out to be, and could well prove Trump’s nemesis, as prefigured by asteroid Sergej’s conjunction with asteroid Nemesis. As above, so below!

When we factor in the transits for May 9, the day of Comey’s firing, plus natal placements for Comey himself, we find a stunning resonance. (6) First, transit Jupiter at 14° Libra was effectively fanning the flames of this as yet unsourced fire. Jupiter was about to return to its natal degree in Trump’s chart and exactly conjunct his natal Chiron; the emphasis is on the political wounding that has lain dormant since Trump’s birth. Not to be outdone, Comey’s natal Jupiter at 10° Capricorn fits snugly into the pattern, and was reinforced on the day of his firing by asteroid Rosenstein at the same degree. (Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s recommendation was the initial reason given for Comey’s dismissal, until Trump himself exposed the Russian motivation a few days later in an interview with NBC anchor Lester Holt.)

The confluence of these energies natally, and their apt reinforcement by transit, is a truly staggering display of celestial synchronicity, but it is by no means a rarity. These placements betray the internal fires from which all this external smoke issues, and give us excellent insights into the motivations and proclivities of this seemingly chaotic and abstruse story.

So, Comey’s out and Mueller is in. Will things get better for Trump?

Not likely. There’s also an asteroid Mueller, and on the day of the Comey firing, transit Mueller was at 16° Cancer, exactly conjunct Trump’s natal Nemesis. Worse, its natal degree is 13° Aries, just a degree off natal asteroid Russia, and very firmly tied to the Russian Grand Cross. Comey’s appearance as asteroid Combe may be judged to be tentative and ephemeral, a catalyst rather than a staple in the story. But Special Counsel Robert Mueller is emphatically and powerfully embedded in the pattern, so he’s going nowhere.

Not only that, but transit Pluto, currently retrograde, comes to its direct station in September at 16° Capricorn, exactly opposed Trump’s natal Nemesis at 16° Cancer. This is barely a month after the path of totality of the “American Eclipse” highlights the U.S. from sea to shining sea and falls atop Trump’s natal Ascendant.

Fasten your seatbelts; it’s going to be a bumpy summer!

Footnotes:

(1) Wikipedia

(2) Donald J. Trump; June 14,1946; 10:54 AM EDT; Jamaica, N.Y., Rodden AA.

(3) The Hill

(4) An exact square from Trump’s natal Sun at 22° Gemini to natal asteroid Mosvka — Russian for “Moscow” — at 22° Virgo reinforces this, making it a part of his core essence.

(5) NPR

(6) James Comey; December 14, 1960; Yonkers, N.Y. (no known time). Wikipedia.

Bio: Alex Miller is a professional writer and astrologer, author of The Black Hole Book and The Urban Wicca, former editor of “The Galactic Calendar,” and past president of The Philadelphia Astrological Society. His pioneering work with Black Holes in astrological interpretation began in 1991, when his progressed Sun unwittingly fell into one. His work with deep space points and asteroids appears monthly at DayKeeper Journal. Alex can be reached for comment or services at glaktix@verizon.net, or visit him at his website: Alex’s Asteroid Astrology.