On July 21, 2016 at 10:19 p.m. EDT, in Cleveland Ohio, Donald Trump became the official Republican candidate in the 2016 presidential election. The moment he officially and publicly accepted the nomination represents the birth of his campaign. The chart for that event should, in theory, provide some insight into his chances of success. In Part 1 of this article I explored Trump’s nomination chart, which shows the outcome of his campaign from his perspective.
Now that the Democratic National Convention is over, we know that Hillary Clinton is the official Democratic candidate, and we can look at the chart for her nomination and see how her campaign looks from her perspective.
Please remember that neither chart provides an objective answer to the outcome of the election itself. We can only view the campaigns from the perspective of each candidate and then compare and contrast.
Trump’s chart contained a host of challenges. And with the conventions only a week apart, Clinton’s chart was expected to contain many of the same challenges as Trump’s chart.
Only it doesn’t.
It’s possible that the Democratic National Committee consulted with an astrologer.
Hillary Clinton began her acceptance speech on July 28, 2016 at 10:30 p.m. EDT in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. But she didn’t actually accept the nomination until 10:47 p.m., and that changed everything.
Before we consider the chart itself, let’s review what we’ll be looking at.
Here’s a quick rundown of how to interpret an event chart.
The first house represents the nominee. We’ll consider the planet that rules the First House and evaluate its condition including both Essential Dignity (power) and Accidental Dignity (prominence). We’ll also consider any planets that occupy the First House because they further describe the condition of the nominee.
The seventh house represents the opposing candidate, but here’s where things get a bit complicated. The ruler of the Seventh House specifically represents how the nominee perceives his or her opponent. We’ll consider the dignity and debility of this planet, both independently and in comparison with the dignity and debility of the ruler of the First House.
The tenth house is the prize. In this case, the Tenth House, and the ruler of the Tenth House, is the Presidency.
The second house relates to the nominee’s money and resources available for the campaign.
The Moon shows the action and events. Every aspect the Moon makes before it changes signs is significant. And if the Moon doesn’t make any aspects before changing signs — if it’s Void-of-Course — that’s also significant. A Void-of- Course Moon suggests that nothing will come of the question.
Here’s the nomination chart for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Presidential Election.
This chart has 6°25′ Aries on the Ascendant, so Mars, the ruler of Aries, represents Clinton.
Mars in the chart is in Scorpio, and it’s by far the most powerful planet in the chart. It has dignity by both Rulership and Triplicity. Had Clinton accepted the nomination at the start of her speech, the final degrees of Pisces would be on the Ascendant, and Clinton, like Trump, would have been represented by a debilitated, powerless Jupiter in Virgo.
Planets in Rulership set their own agenda and control their own fates. And planets with dignity by Triplicity tend to be lucky. Clinton is an exceptionally strong candidate, far more powerful than Trump is in his chart.
But Clinton gets an extra boost in this chart. She accepted the nomination at the moment when the Sun — the natural ruler of Kings and leaders — was exactly trine the Ascendant. The Ascendant is at 6°25′ Aries and the Sun is at 6°25′ Leo. That’s an exact trine. (1)
I can’t believe that’s a coincidence. Adjusting a chart so that the Sun has a close, harmonious connection to an angle is one of the tricks used by astrologers when electing a chart for an optimal outcome.
As good as this chart is, it still has some challenges.
Mars occupies the eighth house, which is not considered a positive or supportive placement. Planets in the eighth house have trouble being seen; they receive a prominence score of -4. Clinton also has some potential upsets and surprises in store because Uranus is in the first house. (2)
The good news for Clinton is that unlike Trump, she doesn’t have to deal with three malefic influences in her first house: Neptune, the South Node, and Chiron. The bad news is that they’re in her twelfth house.
The twelfth house governs hidden enemies, sorrows, adversity, and self-sabotage. It’s Clinton’s shadow — and her blind spot. Everyone can see it clearly but her. What’s working against her is the wounded energy of Chiron, the drain of the South Node, and the deception, illusion, corrosion and corruption of Neptune.
Especially when it comes to Neptune, facts don’t matter; it’s all about perception. Clinton’s hidden enemies will continue to paint the most unflattering picture possible. And given that the twelfth house also relates to imprisonment, we can expect more calls for criminal investigations and indictments. None of these placements connect back to Mars, so it’s unlikely that anything will stick. But Clinton will continue to have to defend her reputation throughout the campaign because the twelfth house smear will never go away entirely.
Libra is on the Descendant, so Venus, the ruler of Libra, represents her opponent, Donald Trump.
In this chart, Venus is in Leo in the fifth house. Venus has no Essential Dignity and receives a power score of -5, compared to Mars’ power score of +8 for Rulership and Triplicity. From Clinton’s perspective Trump is hardly a worthy opponent. She’s the heavyweight champ and he’s the water boy.
Venus is applying to a square to Mars, so Trump may be the aggressor coming after Clinton more than she goes after him. It would be a mistake to dismiss Trump because he’s so weak; he may still get lucky. Venus is applying to a trine with Uranus in the first house, and Trump may score some easy points with unexpected personal attacks on Clinton.
Next, let’s see how Clinton views the prize: the Presidency.
The Midheaven of Clinton’s nomination chart is 3°27′ Capricorn, so Saturn represents the prize.
Saturn is retrograde in Sagittarius. It’s peregrine, so it’s damaged. And it’s also conjunct the Fixed Star Antares. Antares is in the heart of the constellation of Scorpio, and it’s associated with destruction and malevolence, as well as rash, headstrong activity. It’s often linked to stubborn and self-destructive behavior. To Clinton, the Presidency will be very hard work, and filled with challenges.
There’s no connection between Saturn (the prize) and Mars (Clinton), at least not yet. They are both in the eighth house of the chart, and with Saturn retrograde and Mars direct, they’re moving towards each other. And they’ll meet up. Eventually.
But it won’t be easy.
Mars and Saturn do come together, but they don’t come together until Mars moves out of Scorpio and into Sagittarius. When Mars moves into Sagittarius, it loses all power. It goes from having Rulership and Triplicity to being peregrine. Clinton may be quite strong as a candidate, but if she is elected, that power may disappear.
And before Mars and Saturn come together, Saturn changes direction. At the moment, they’re moving toward each other, but soon Saturn will start moving away from Mars, and Mars will have to work twice as hard to catch up. This suggests that her campaign will start off well, but then something will change and it will falter. The last part of the campaign will be an uphill climb.
It’s fortunate that Clinton doesn’t have to worry about having enough money to run her campaign.
Donors will line up to fund the campaign … in exchange for influence.
Taurus is on the cusp of the second house, so Venus in Leo represents the finances of the campaign. We’ve already seen that Venus is peregrine, so it’s not in great shape. If they stick to a budget, there’s probably enough money. The real issue is that the campaign money is in the fifth house of bribery and influence. Clinton’s donors expect a return on their investment.
The Part of Fortune in Gemini is in the second house, which helps Clinton’s finances because it shows there’s money in her coffers. But the ruler of the Part of Fortune is Mercury in Leo in the fifth house, so even that money is tied to Wall Street investors who hope to influence policy.
This in no way reflects on Clinton personally. Big money political donors assume their contributions will influence policy. Whether Clinton is prepared to deliver on that implied arrangement is beyond the scope of this chart. But this financial picture suggests that Clinton’s donor base will receive close scrutiny, and she may have to pander and curry favor to receive patronage to support her campaign.
Finally, let’s look to the Moon to see what the outcome will be.
Everything we’ve covered so far has described the context of the campaign, but the Moon determines the outcome. When considering horary, electional, or event charts, we have to pay close attention to the sequence of aspects the Moon will make before it leaves the sign it’s in.
In Clinton’s nomination chart, the Moon is just separating from a sextile with the Ascendant and conjunction to the Part of Fortune, and is applying to a sextile with the Sun. These are extremely supportive aspects, suggesting a positive outcome for Clinton.
Next, the Moon forms an opposition to Saturn, the prize. When an opposition is involved in the outcome of a chart, Lee Lehman warns, “If you do it, you’ll regret it.” The Moon then forms a square to Neptune, a sextile to Venus, a square to Jupiter, a simultaneous square to Chiron and sextile to Uranus, and finally goes Void-of-Course with a sextile to Mercury.
All of these aspects suggest that Clinton’s campaign is just getting started. She can expect a number of ups and downs, and she will have to address the twelfth house scandals more than once. But the final outcome, as seen by the last aspect the Moon makes before changing signs (i.e., Moon sextile Mercury), is positive.
By contrast, the Moon in Trump’s chart is Void-of-Course, so nothing else happens in his campaign.
Clinton’s campaign clearly has the best chart. Does that mean she’ll win?
Not necessarily. There’s no definitive way for astrology to predict the outcome of the election. But given what we can tell about the campaigns and the candidates, we can adjust the odds.
First, let’s compare the candidates.
In both charts, Clinton is far more powerful than Trump. In her own chart, Clinton is Mars in Scorpio with a power score of +8, while in his chart, Trump is Jupiter in Virgo with a power score of -10. Within each nomination chart, the planet that represents Clinton is much stronger than the planet that represents Trump.
In this context, power represents the ability to influence the outcome. Clinton has plenty of power. She can make things happen in her campaign and she can fight for what she wants. Trump has no power at all. For Trump, the die has been cast and all he can do is wait for events to play out. External factors can still influence events, but nothing Trump does personally between now and the election will alter the outcome of his campaign.
Next, let’s see where the candidates are in relation to the prize.
In Trump’s chart, Jupiter in Virgo represents both Trump and the Presidency. In a real sense, he already has the prize. And he doesn’t want it. Jupiter in Virgo is in awful condition, so the prize isn’t worth it. And it’s in the seventh house, which belongs to Clinton. It’s almost like Trump is handing her the win.
In Clinton’s chart, Mars (Clinton) and Saturn (the prize) are both in the eighth house, and even though they’re in different signs, they’re moving toward each other. Eventually, they’ll meet. Clinton really wants the prize, and she’s willing to fight for it.
Trump’s campaign appears to be over, while Clinton’s is just getting started.
The difference between the Moon in the two charts is very significant. The Moon in Trump’s chart is Void-of-Course, so literally nothing else happens with his campaign. Remember, Trump has no power to change that. And he has little interest in continuing.
The Moon in Clinton’s chart shows initial success as it applies to a sextile to the Sun. It makes seven more aspects before going Void-of-Course, but it ends on another positive note. It’s going to be a long, eventful campaign for Clinton, but she will probably be pleased with the outcome.
At least initially.
When you add up all of the factors, the odds favor Clinton.
It’s going to be a very close race. I expect much nail-biting and hand-wringing along the way. But I’m calling it for Clinton because she really wants to win, and Trump has never had any interest in becoming president. The big win for Trump was getting the nomination.
Editor’s notes:
(1) The author sent this chart using Solar Fire software, which gave the Ascendant at 6°27′ Aries, a trine from the Sun with 2 minutes orb. I use IO for the charts on the blog, which shows the Ascendant as 6°25′ Aries.
(2) The author uses the Accidental Dignity and Debility scores as described in Nicholas de Vore’s Encyclopedia of Astrology.
Bio: Kevin B. Burk is the Headmaster of The Real Astrology Academy, which provides astrological information, education, and training to astrologers and astrology students around the world. He’s the author of eleven books, including Principles of Practical Natal Astrology: Talented Astrologer Training Book 1. Read more of his articles in the Talented Astrologer Blog.