I followed many of the key speakers at the DNC and was mesmerized by tracking the astrology as it unfolded, but I do not have the objectivity to make a prediction about the upcoming election. I’m happily optimistic about those predictions that have called it for Obama, and very happy that he has gotten a bounce in the polls. (1) (Those of us watching the astrology, especially at the end of his speech, could feel that coming.)
Chris Brennan diligently and impeccably covered all three days of the convention. Check out his fine contribution here: Day I, Day 2 and Day 3.
I have some highlights and impressions below.
Bill Clinton’s amazing, warm-hearted speech was the big event on Wednesday, September 5th; many have commented on the content and specificities in his talk. He was in very good form: Clinton was having a return of his exalted Moon in Taurus that night and he started his (long) speech as the local Moon (the chart set for Charlotte) was on the Ascendant.
Clinton’s speech ended and Obama walked out onto the stage at 11:23 p.m. for a hug with Bill and a brief wave to the crowd (which was going wild). The Ascendant at that moment was 3° Gemini, the degree of the president’s natal Moon. The Moon, of course, connects us to the public; in these moments you could sense the delegates’ affection for these two men. (One TV commentator who had attended both conventions said that the biggest difference was the genuine warmth and family feeling at the DNC. I didn’t watch the RNC — Chris Brennan and his crew did — but according to this fellow, there was not much of a feeling tone present.)
The president spoke on Thursday, September 6th, and there were many moments that were positive omens for his success in November. As mentioned above, one in particular was at 10:26 p.m. as Obama accepted the nomination: transiting Venus (ruling the Taurus Ascendant) was at 1° Leo, exactly conjunct the IC. This placed 1° Aquarius at the Midheaven, the degree of Obama’s natal Jupiter.
Another striking observation: A big shout out to Kate Petty for so vividly noting that Obama has a natal antiscia between the Midheaven (29° Scorpio) and Jupiter (1° Aquarius) that was lit up by the transiting Moon-Venus antiscia, and precise as Obama accepted the nomination! (2)
The north node was at 29° Scorpio; Obama’s natal Midheaven is 28° 53 Scorpio. The Moon was exactly conjunct the south node at 29° Taurus.
There were many more remarkable moments; do read Chris Brennan’s three-part series for the moment-by-moment account. (And, his report on the RNC.)
In looking back to the 2008 election, Obama’s solar arc Mars, ruler of his natal Midheaven, was 8°16’ Scorpio, exactly on natal Neptune (8°36’). In hindsight, this suggests the idealistic hope (I was right there) and subsequent mood of disappointment for some. He has no exact solar arcs at the time of this election. At least, that particular moment in time is behind him.
A brief look at some other difficult aspects that have also passed:
Transiting Neptune was square the natal Midheaven from March through December 2011. (His reputation suffers and/or his goals are confused?)
The transiting south node (3° Gemini) was conjunct Obama’s natal Moon during the summer of 2012. That has passed, and the transiting nodes have changed signs, with the north node conjunct his Midheaven at the time he accepted the nomination.
His progressed Sun moved into Libra in November 2010, just in time for that powerful ingress onto the world axis to be opposed by transiting Uranus throughout 2011.
There is another stressful series of progressed and progressed-to-natal patterns that have passed exactitude. It’s a bit complicated to write, so let’s look at the current (secondary) progressed chart first:
In summary:
Progressed Mercury conjunct progressed Mars in July 27, 2008
Progressed Mercury square progressed Saturn on November 11, 2008 (the election was on November 4)
Progressed Mars, ruler of the Aries Ascendant, precisely square progressed Saturn, ruler of the Midheaven, in March 2009
Progressed Saturn square progressed Ascendant on November 16, 2010
Progressed Mercury square progressed Jupiter on May 7, 2012
Progressed Mars opposite Ascendant on August 25, 2012 (a few days before the convention)
To add another layer, here’s the president’s natal chart:
Saturn and Mars rule the angles in the natal chart (as well as the progressed angles). Saturn rules the natal Aquarius Ascendant and Mars rules the natal Scorpio Midheaven.
Transiting Saturn has been squaring natal Saturn since November 2011 and was precise for the last time at 25°19’ Libra on August 21, right before the convention.
During this same time, transiting Saturn was opposite the progressed Ascendant, conjunct progressed Mercury, and square the progressed Midheaven ruler (see chart above), i.e., Saturn at 23° Capricorn and conjunct Ascendant ruler Mars at 25° Libra; both rulers are also on the progressed angles. One further detail: slow-moving progressed Mars has also passed the exact square to natal Saturn in April 2012. Yikes! I’d say this is a life well-tempered by Saturn.
The president’s natal Jupiter is retrograde at 0°51’ Aquarius (in the 1st house in whole signs). In January 2011 Jupiter went direct by progression. This is a hopeful note as well, perhaps a (slow) improvement over the conditions he has inherited. (3)
Very recently, the U.S. Sibly progressed Moon was conjunct progressed Mars (exact on September 1, 2012, right before the DNC).
With that riled up Moon just behind us, maybe the U.S. populace will start to get along a bit better. (I must be channeling Bill Clinton: this conjunction is at 18° Libra; he has Libra Ascending with Mars, Neptune, Venus, and Jupiter in the 1st house. His natal Venus/Jupiter midpoint is 17° Libra and Chiron is at 18° — an echo of Chiron’s role as the wounded healer. He spoke memorably at the convention about bringing people together and the fact that he “never learned to hate” his opponents.
This leads me back to my overall impression of Obama’s speech. Saturn at 25°19’ Capricorn is his chart ruler (Aquarius rising) and transiting Saturn has been squaring natal Saturn since November 2011. As noted, the last exact square was on August 21, 2012. He gave a sober, serious speech, a realistic assessment of what’s ahead. He was critiqued in some places for not being inspiring or lofty enough; I thought it was a perfect display of a natal dignified Saturn. I hope he wins.
Footnotes:
(1) Huffington Post
(2) My friend Robert Blaschke was always trying to get me to pay attention to antisica. I never saw it so clearly as that night, an unforgettable moment. Thanks, Kate.
(3) Thanks to Gary Caton for this comment to a blog I wrote in 2009: “Jupiter in fall explains the extraordinary circumstances which he has inherited through no fault of his own.”
26 Comments
Hi Mary,
I feel Obama is going to win. I have the same feeling I had in the 2008 election. The revolutionary and liberating energy is rising and I believe that will make all the difference, though it may be close, and unfortunately, as others have already pointed out, Mercury retro may create havoc, leaving us in the “waiting” position to get the final results.
FYI-Clinton spoke on Wednesday and Obama on Thursday.
Thanks Wendy for noticing my typo..I quickly fixed it…And, yes, agreed that the Mercury retrograde is very important…we’ll be glued to the news media is how I imagine it..
Best,
Mary
IMO it is a tragedy you don’t see that Neptune, the planet of deception is responsible for Obama’s claim to fame. His promise of transparancy is a joke. 23 million people unemployed, including my husband, is a stark realization that this guy is a poor leader as exquisitely shown by the weak Sun in th weak 6th house. We need a leader not a deceiver. It is sickening to me that you are so blind you even use the Sibley chart.Stores are empty everywhere, the animal shelters are over flowing with pets who cannot be cared for, gas is over $4.00. Where do you think Eric Holder and Timothy Geiter worked before Obama put them in the White House, where a portrait of Michael Jordan, the great baseketball player hangs, they worked for GOldman Sachs.They imposters are socialists and probably communists. Obama is a functioning illiterate using phrases “and all this bunch of stuff” over and over to describe various programs. Houses everywhere are empty. Keep blamimng Bush.
Hello Dee,
Thank you for your comments…I certainly do not think the situation is perfect, and never wrote any kind of definitive description of what I think are very complex issues..
I sympathize with you and your husband and also have many unemployed people in my immediate life. I do see that times are very, very difficult for many..
Best to you,
Mary
Mary, BTW, besides your title ” What Obama has been through” which is really offensive,Since Baby Boomers are now reaching retirement age and on medicare – did you know that Medicare now only allows people to have a mdical checkup every five years? Also, a notice on my doctor’s receptionist’s desk last week: “Medicare will not pay for any pre-op tests”. That means when a person on Medicare, which they pay their own premiums BTW, needs surgery, the tests necessary before the operation such as EEG, EKG, blood work, xrays, doppler-venal tests, etc. ” Are not paid for medicare anymore. Nice going Obama. Doctors will now receive even less than last year’s payments for office visit, the medicare patient has to pay MORE/ illegals pay nothing. Social Security is NOT an entitlement – it is a financial system WE PAID INTO EVERy week,month and year our entire lives. Teachers, union people and other government workers d pay no insurance premiums. The taxpayers have to pay for the teachers ins. that is why they are all on the cruises and vacations in Europe and everywhere. They are the only people living it up..those who the government spends lavishly on. The rest of us are bankrupt. I should writ an article ” What the Americans have been through” since 2008.
Hello again,
Yes, I do understand something about the mess of Medicare and health care..
Again, I was merely trying to describe the astrological symbolism in the president’s recent years.
I do know we have all been through a lot..take good care
Well, I guess we know which side of the aisle Mountain Astrologer sits on. Also, in your last magazine there were two articles in which both authors favored Obama, Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring. I guess even your authors have to be socialists to have an article placed within its pages!!!!!!! Very sad.
Hello Edward,
I spoke for myself (i.e., not any kind of TMA policy) and as I mentioned, I know I am not objective in these matters.
My personal preference is for Obama in this election as his administration’s views more closely align with my own than do Mr. Romney’s.
I also feel that the issues are complex and recognize our ability to respectfully disagree..
Best to you,
Mary
Mary,
It seems that the extreme right wing of the Republican Party is trying to take over this site. This is supposed to be an astrology site, instead the right wingers are on here espousing their very subjective views and putting down any one they perceive disagrees with them.
Gail
Hi Gail,
I have the option of not posting any particular comments, but so far, I feel like I’ve managed to explain myself clearly..Thank you for your words..
Sorry, for the confusion. Replying to my own comment as I must have hit the send button. I was referring to an author who had high praise for Occupy Wall Street and The Arab Spring movements, yet had nothing to say about The Tea Party and what it has brought to the table. And I would like to know how we can be sure that Obama was born where and when stated!!! His long form birth certificate has been determined to be a forgery!!!!
Hello again,
I’ll just reiterate what I said above, that there is room for all points of view in all the issues of our time…
Take care..
Thank you Mary for a very informative blog this week about the Democratic convention. I had been concerned that (Barack) Obama would be speaking during a day long void of course moon in Taurus and I think it may be the reason that he just didn’t “connect” with his audience as we have come to expect from past speeches. He seemed uncommonly sober and subdued to me….. just kind of an off night. But there were so many grand speeches by Clinton, Michelle, Castro (yea Texas!) and Biden. Thanks again for such a great analysis and I think he will win….he has to!
Hi Rebecca,
Thanks for the comment…
Best to you..
Mary
Dear Mary, as a long time subscriber to TMA and an ardent fan of your work in TMA this week, I must take exception to the nasty comments voiced by some this week. Your knowledge of astrology is enormous, your analyses are never simplistic, and your facts are checked responsibly. Moreover, your writing style is lucid and flowing. Your personal observations are often downright poetic, and your tone is invariably respectful. Writing is hard, often humbling, work. You do it well, and I thank you!
Thank you so much!! Really, deeply appreciated..
Mary
Well said – I fully agree.
I would refer you all to a you tube video of Sam Vaknin, PhD, author of “Malignant Self-Love:narcissism Revisited”, by LPAC TV in November 2010, where he declares that Obama a classical malignant psychopathic narcissist, after studying him thoroughly.
He thinks his narcissism might be expressed through the devastation of our economy. Please look it up.
Hello Susan,
Although I am very interested in all manner of psychological conditions, my blog was meant to be a reporting of astrological symbolism as I saw it….not definitive, not a justification, just an observation..
Thank you for commenting..
To Susan,
LOL
Gail
Obama will lose because he was nomonated at the convention during a void of course moon.
Hello Valentine,
That idea was popular for awhile, but recent research suggests that it is not always accurate..
Al Morrison wrote about this is the 70s..as I mentioned, it’s not so simple..especially since the idea of how to define a void Moon has become more sublte in light of recent translations of early texts..
Best to you,
Mary
Hello Mary,
Would you please tell me what aspects point to the irrational and illogical hatred that is focused on Barack Obama? This is worse than what the Clintons faced because at least they were never denied the fact of their citizenship. I think Jung would have had a field day with the birthers and if we allow these amazingly ignorant people to continue in their fear and malice, I fear that he will be in danger, esp. since he did NOT pass any new laws to crack down on the gun nuts. Is there nothing of which Barack Obama cannot be accused? I feel as if we are on the verge of another Civil War, and this time the neo-Confederacy (the current Republican Party, The Tea Party and their hangers-on) are drowning us in lies, while the rest of the world makes progress leaving the U.S. behind still screaming at the top of our lungs, “We’re number one!”
Hello Michelle,
yes, i agree that it is an interesting phenomena about shadow and projection and inclusion and defending against whomever we perceive as ‘different’ and heaven knows what else!
Thanks for your comment…keep good cheer!
Sincerely,
Mary
Mary,
I feel all the divisiveness is going to go on until Uranus and Pluto leave their square aspect. What do you think?
Gail
I hope not!
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