Venus enters Libra

Dawn in Southern California

(photo credit: Jessie Eastland, January 2012)

Venus enters Libra on Sunday, October 28th and 1:05 in the afternoon, UT/+0 time.

And maybe not a moment too soon for many of us! Three-plus weeks of Venus in Virgo has (obviously) led to Venus traversing Virgo’s higher degrees where we’re most apt to encounter challenges and critiques. And nobody likes that part much! Even those of us equipped to use the Venus-Virgo effect for streamlining our effects and getting things done are probably plumb worn down with being patient, checking to-do lists and listening to people announce what else needs doing. (Not to mention all that difficulty with the when such things need doing, right?)

All this is to say that as Venus enters Libra, we may (for reasons we can’t quite place), heave a sigh of relief and begin to relax. Under optimal conditions Venus in Libra drains off ‘focal tension’ which will allow us to complete tasks with less stress…maybe even attract a helping hand.

It’s simply a more generous people-to-people time. Where a couple of weeks ago Michelangelo could have unveiled the Pieta and a few Italians would have grunted as they hurried by on their way to some meeting, now he would whip off the cover and people would ‘ooooh’ and ‘ahhhh.’

The Pieta of Michelangelo Buonarroti as it is housed in the Basilica di San Pietro in Rome, Italy

(photo credit Rsuessbr, September 2004)

But lest you think all done under Venus in Virgo would be for nothing, naught and nuisance value, if what you were doing was part of a greater process, then you did the right thing. Acts of utility (which may have felt like futility) but a couple of weeks ago will now tend to bear fruit.

And so we sigh collectively saying…’so they DID notice…!’ and we cheer.

Libra being the sign of connecting to others, attracting others and ‘exchanges’ of ideas on the abstract plain, the next three-plus weeks of Venus in Libra will be good for finding out what works and what doesn’t work. Venus in Libra tends to evoke whatever charisma we have…and teach us how to be more effective through rewarding that others like.

In other words, it’s not guaranteed they’ll like everything we say or do, but it is more or less guaranteed that they’ll let us know the pluses and minuses OF what we say or do. And that cues us into how we can achieve ever greater success.

That Venus is entering Virgo some twelve-plus hours prior to Mercury entering Sagittarius (and half again that prior to this month’s Full Moon) signals either a ‘piling on’ of responses or things you have ‘set up’ prior to now falling into place.

Think dominoes. If your dominoes are properly lined up, you’re now all set for a spectacular display, much glee and a great Full Moon moment. If your dominoes are not in alignment, or if you have tried to include a few ‘tricks’ that you haven’t yet figured out, between October 28 and 29 life will show up what has gone wrong, derailing some portion of your effort.

 Apparently kittens like to play at dominoes, so why shouldn't we?

Katjesspel by Henriëtte Ronner-Knip

(c 1860, oil on panel, housed at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam)

After the Full Moon however, what we effectively have is a personal planet ‘line up’ of sorts: Venus will be in Libra, the Sun will be in Scorpio and Mercury and Mars will both be traversing Sagittarius.

Under any estimation this marks the next several weeks as a time when interactions and efforts aimed at creating agreement and a ‘forward path’ will be focal. Not necessarily pleasant or happy making, but focal.
And what’s the issue? Why, with Venus in Libra should there be any flies in our luscious, deliciously unguent ointment of life?

There are actually two flies here. The first is Mercury’s shift into Sagittarius, which often manifests as the tendency to substitute volume for common sense. Undoubtedly there will be more sound and less sense now for a while.

And yet, we won’t get as annoyed as we otherwise might get with such people. We’ll look at them, we’ll give half-a-listen and we’ll decide that we need to do what we know is right. At least right for us in terms of what works for us. That’s Venus in Libra.

Then there’s the Sun in Scorpio, a far more volatile problem especially since there will be a Solar Eclipse on November 13th. The tension we feel now which will covert on that date to a feeling of having to cope will cause many of us to quail. And yet some of us – notably those who have been too headstrong or too ‘my way or the highway’ may now realize the wisdom in working together.

It all depends where and how you come into this time.

And what you come into this time doing. And how you’re going about doing it.

Considering the Solar Eclipse, there is a shift in social and societal patterns going on which is global, yes. But it’s also personal to you. This is part of the natural ‘breakdown’ process which happens in advance of any solar eclipse. Prior to now, the tendency will have been to ‘judge’ others. But once Venus enters Libra, we may see wisdom in their choices we hadn’t taken into account. We may recognize that even if what they have to say or what they aim to do isn’t our cup of tea that doesn’t mean it isn’t a valid path for them.

We may, in short, learn more about who we want to be with/to others (or maybe who we need to be in order to maintain or improve things) BECAUSE we stop feeling so disappointed that ‘they’ aren’t who we’ve been wanting them to be!

About now…and through the period of the Full Moon and into the first few days of November emotions may well run high. We’re likely to be very concerned about whether we can make things work the way we want them to work.

During this time, Venus in Libra is likely to manifests in two very different ways. Some will try that old ‘power of persuasion’ thing. Or the ‘I’m going to charm your socks right off of you!’ thing. And some will take a step back and think about what works…and WHY it works.

You may think along one theme, you may think along the other. Or maybe you’ll vacillate between both.

As will everybody else, hence feelings of ‘doing a little dance’ which may seem evident – even amusingly so! – during this time.

But since the bottom line is likely to be whether we want to insist on our way OR whether we want to aim for that which will help us build a profitable future…

You get where I’m going with this, right?

And why CAN’T we have our own way? Why CAN’T things be what they’ve always been?

The answer to that is the famous Bob Dylan line: ‘the times, they are a’changing.’

They simply are. We’re moving into a time which is going to be very ‘make it work’ period (that’s for all the Project Runway fans!). Hardly anyone is going to get to continue doing what they’re been doing (or how they’ve been doing it) and most of us are going to face some sort of personal crisis which forces us to take that ‘same set of skills’ and transport it into some new avenue or outlet.

Sunrise in orbit above Earth reveals Venus and Mars

(photo credit: NASA-JPL, August 1995)

 
There are those who aren’t going to be affected directly by this November’s solar eclipse directly. (They wouldn’t be any of my friends, but I’m sure such people exist, she says gallantly…!) But as I look ahead, you know – as the online astrologer – I’m doing calculations and seeing that very, very, VERY few of us (if any of us) are going to get through the next year-and-a-half (or so) without some serious transitioning.

This Venus in Libra time is going to be a boon to those who have already embarked on their purposeful life shifts. Since it spans a set of weeks during which Mercury goes into retrograde, news which comes in during the last part of this Venus transit (in other words, while Venus is transiting that ‘input from others’ 3rd decanate zone)…that’s going to be useful grist for the mill and something you can apply to your ongoing evolution. Against that, those who haven’t let go of the old assumptions, the old assertions, the old ‘I want what I want and I want to do it the way I’ve always done it’ (or ‘how it’s always been done’) folks are going to find themselves stalled during the days between November 14th (ahem – the day after the eclipse…) and early on November 22nd (which would still be November 21st in the Americas) when Venus moves on into Scorpio.

There’s a lot coming down the pike next month: Neptune is going direct, we have a solar and then a lunar eclipse…and nobody’s favorite (Mercury retrograde) will tend to muck up the works.

And then Venus goes into Scorpio, a combination of sign and planet which signals emotionally challenging efforts at the very least!

All that is to say make the most of Venus in Libra…which is sometimes easier said than done. But then again, all depends on your definition of ‘making the most of things’ too, right? Venus in Libra is a great time for socializing. It’s also a great time for networking, making good impressions and working to improve the positives while…well, doing our best to avoid the negatives.

Speaking of that trend, this will be the Venus passage under which the United States goes to the polls to elect not just a President, but a giant chunk of the nation’s Congress. Venus transiting Libra at this point in the campaign promises some glossy last-minute ads and serious outpours of campaign and pac/super pac money.

 Franklin D. Roosevelt campainging in Topeka Kansas in September of 1932 (National Archives and Records Administration, Catalogue No. 196072)

The Mars and Mercury in Sagittarius merging with this speaks to the fervency of positions and a fine walk (certainly for the candidates, if maybe others too!) between ‘right’ and ‘righteous.’ One describes a path, the other evidences the nature of a human ego – and the candidate who knows which is which and who is able to manifest the right choice is going to (Venus in Libra) probably get the response they want at the ballot box.

I can well understand if you’re sick of politics by now. Personally, I think an entire tree has given its life for the number of political mailers which have ended up getting stuffed in my box during these past couple of months. But the comments above do have bearing in our individual lives as the “patterns” which lead to success on the ‘big stage’ don’t change just because we’re not running for high political office.

That’s one of the interesting things about astrology – and probably why its kept my interest through more than thirty years now. How this universe manages to manifest so that the same ‘shapes’ of things seem to challenge us…with everything fitting together just so with each person responding to their generation and their family and a nation which was founded when and re-founded at a later date…

It’s just plain ol’ interesting.

And useful – which is why (I am guessing) you come to read this blog!

.
.
.

Sun in Scorpio: Is the Fix In?

We all have our pet peeves, right? So here’s one of mine: we all know someone (or have heard someone) say ‘I’m a Scorpio - I’m sexy.’

Uh, maybe. But then, maybe everybody’s sexy – just not in the same way you are. After all, every chart has all twelve signs, right?

So with a Sun in Scorpio, what’s the deal?

Considering that Scorpio is an emotional sign which is only activated through interactions and risking our personal (Taurus as opposition to Scorpio) value by exposing what we think of ourselves to others – or by joining some group in a ‘joint venture’ (financial or otherwise) maybe that ‘I’m sexy’ comment is Person A venturing into deeper water than they’re used to. Or maybe it’s their attempt to be part of a group.

There are three water signs: Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces. Cancer is the sign of the surf zone and all which can live in or out of the (emotional) water. The tide pool can provide safety – or it can expose a young grab to deadly danger. The same goes for all things Cancer, sign of home, childhood, habits and family. Our home can literally be our safety zone. Then again, it can be the place where we’re least comfortable. Considering how the zodiacal water sign triad is also our bedrock of wealth (not bank account: wealth – as in ‘sources of’ wealth)…real estate or simply where we live can be the best and most vital place to invest our time and money – or our greatest headache or financial torment.

At the other end of the water spectrum is Pisces – oceanic deep water. In the Piscean zone water is all there is. There is no crawling back out onto dry land like the Cancer does. Metaphysically, this translates to Pisces as the sign of feeling my feelings (or feeling how I feel about things – emotional reflection) and all forms of wealth which just keep being generated even without further effort. Pensions, royalties, annuities…these are all examples of Piscean wealth sources, as is anything which generates this kind of money flow – like oil. Like the power of artistic endeavors which connect with the broad scale audience.

This Else Bostelmann's illustration of a bathysphere descending into deep water was made for William Beebe's 1934 National Geographic article. But it's a great way of considering the difference between Pisces and Scorpio. The Pisces confrontations with our own feelings are often bewildering - as if we are strangers immersed in a strange land of our own human emotionality (and confounded in part merely by the fact that there's any way we can continuously be so foreign to ourselves throughout the whole of our lives!). In Scorpio, other people and external forces like societal institutions and world situation serve to prompt a re-examination of, or need to assert our personal values...and the most vulnerable among us tend to bristle, insist, assert and threaten far more often than those who simply have confidence in their ability to ride out the storm.  

Between these two we have Scorpio – the fixed water sign. Ever hear the expression ‘caught between the Devil and the deep blue sea’ ? That’s rather in keeping with the Scorpio dynamic. Scorpio asks ‘how much is enough’ against ‘how much is too much’ and the thing being measured is our emotional risk. How far can we go before destroying ourselves or that which we are interacting with or utilizing as our vehicle through which to explore our Self?

Scorpio is the realm of strong currents and storm washed seas. All three totem Scorpio emblems – the scorpion, the gray lizard and the eagle (Scorpio is the only sign to have three animal symbols)…all three of these creatures are air-breathing. So in Scorpio, or by Scorpionic means we can be overcome. We can drown. Considering this, it’s not so very surprising that Scorpio is the sign of death, conception,  brutality, torture, surgery and war.

It’s also the sign of psychology and doing psychotherapy, a process which can help us understand why we tend to drown ourselves. Or why we submit to control or abuse – or why we feel the need to inflict such on others.

The power of Scorpio is really about understanding how we work. And we learn that through interactions with others or things in life like investments, taxes, inheritances which raise questions and test us, provoking our emotions. The crux of Scorpio as control and helplessness is about how we react to these themes: the person who is willing to own what they have chosen to do learns what works and doesn’t work through a Scorpio interaction. Those who know to make others feel insecure have the choice whether to press their advantage or not.

Whether they do or not…? That’s the measure of their Scorpio-Taurus axis. And this is not about strength – this is about self worth, self respect, self control and personal values.

Those who cannot be happy without rendering others vulnerable and harming them (even threatening to harm them) aren’t testing ‘the other guy’: they are seeing if they can pass their own tests. Thus we have the great dichotomy which is so very Scorpio: in seeming to be ‘about’ others, Scorpio reveals to us who we actually are.

And from seeing where those things do or don’t meet, the path of wealth (emotional, financial or otherwise) lies in finding that which works for all involved parties. Because Scorpio is defined as a ‘public sector’ sign – such ‘workability’ has to offer everyone equal satisfaction. It also has to comply with established social, societal or ‘group’ standards.

Thus Scorpio is a sign of drives and our striving to get where we want to go while dealing with where our less ‘integrated’ (social/public) emotional factors represent vulnerabilities which – unless we master them at the inner emotional level – will shipwreck or drown us.

 The Costa Concordia (here photographed by Rvongher on January 14, 2012) ran aground at Isola del Giglio on the Italian Tuscan coast on January 13, 2012. Some 4,252 people on board were evacuated, thirty died and two people remain missing and are presumed to have perished in what is a painfully obvious image of the Scorpio circumstance where we are just beyond safety and yet foolish enough to think our presumptions will hold. Most Scorpio tragedies are merely emotional, though many are financial and some - as in the case of the Costa Concordia - involve the loss of life.

All these attributes and factors have become suddenly far more real with Saturn and Mercury’s Scorpio ingress back on October 5th.

Link to Scorpio Saturn/Mercury ingress blog

Now, as the Sun enters Scorpio on Tuesday, October 23rd at 15 minutes past midnight UT/+0 time (which is obviously still October 22nd for much of the world), life grows more intense. After all, as the Sun enters Scorpio, there sits Medea.

Last week Medea figured in the Libra New Moon moment. This week Medea is very much conjunct the it’s involved in the Sun’s Scorpio ingress.

You could say that Medea gets around, yes. But since the astrological Medea is all about our tendency to love something so much that we end up killing our hopes, our selves, our ability to function freely, our whatever…(check your natal chart Medea position plus where the sign of Scorpio is positioned)…this may be where some of us follow some inner fixation right off a cliff.

Or where we recognize our tendency to do so.

Then there’s the matter of the solar eclipse. There will be a solar eclipse on November 13th – or November 14th for those more than two time zones east of Greenwich. Since this solar eclipse will take place at 21 Scorpio (a degree between 20 and 29 of a given sign) we know this eclipse is all ‘about’ how the world sees or responds to us.

Or doesn’t see…or doesn’t respond to us, yes.

That too.

Neptune having gone direct (indicating energies coming to us from external life) just a couple of days prior to the eclipse tells us that something is probably ‘melting away.’ And that something has to do with what we put out there…or what we have already put out there…or what we have tried to hide (about ourselves)…or what we have been in denial of (about ourselves).

Given that the Sun entering the sign of the upcoming eclipse acts somewhat like a trigger which brings everything in to ‘real life’ (Sun) focus, this Scorpio ingress may be a moment when you want to just give up. Or when you realize your ‘hand’ is all played out.

Thus for some, this ingress will manifest as having to ‘face the music.’

For others – notably those who have been most honest with their lack or incongruities, those who have been working hard on putting themselves as people on more solid ground (with themselves), this moment will be more like a gateway. Yes, there is still work to be done (with Sun conjuncting Saturn, probably a lot of it!), but now you’ll feel like you’re gaining a bit of traction. And that you’re capable of handling your own load.

Still, things aren’t simple. That we know from Pluto’s pressing in to finish its primary conjunction of Facies, the astrological ‘fixed star’ which is actually a nebula. Nebulas being composed of lots and lots of stars, the whole of this year has felt like a complicated set of choices where you couldn’t change one thing without changing another thing which depended on yet another thing and…and…and…

Perhaps just so that Cancer fans don't feel left out, a photo of the Crab Nebula

as taken by NASA's Chandra X-Ray Telescope. (photo credit: NASA-JPL)

We’re not done with Pluto/Facies yet, either. That conjunction reaches its climax in December – after the solar eclipse.

Thus we have the Sun’s entering Scorpio as our second step (Saturn/Mercury entering Scorpio came first) in a process of either bulldozing through the Gordian knot in our head, heart and life…or succumbing to it.

Some will now realize that they have been the architect of their own downfall. With Saturn and Mercury also transiting Scorpio as Sun/Medea opens windows on the proverbial ‘very best of times and very worst of times’ (i.e., things which will stir us to the core) the thing of the moment may well be important.

But what’s even more important is the Mercury part of such moments – recognizing how we feel about matters, why we feel that way and what that says about us….and the Saturn part of such moments – the confrontation with what we really need to do if we are to have anything close to the life we really want. The easiest thing is going to be to blame others, say ‘they’re nuts’ and do things like ignore the whole kit and caboodle. Even for those willing to tackle problems, they may wish they could ignore them!

The metaphysical ‘successful bet’ is on those who tackle wherever it is that they’ve been lacking…or wherever they’ve been blaming others for their own problems, lack of effort, unwillingness to change (learn, evolve, etc.).

That doesn’t however, means that those people are going to be in the majority. Just sayin’…this next month or so is likely to see behavior of the head/desk kind such as few of us can believe.

And you thought these past few months were bad?

(Okay, you did – and you’ve been right. But it can get worse, and in certain quadrants, it now will get worse.)

Yet for some, this will be a time of making headway. Yea verily, advances of the vital and significant kind. Who will be these people?

A diagram of various influences (including an astrological formation known as

a 'magic rectangle' - at center in blue and green) which add to, or perhaps modify

the Sun's entrance into Scorpio.

 

Most of those who make headway now will have dealt with the fallacies, implications OR differences between of where they come from (Chaldaea/Pallas) and where they (Mercury/North Node) need to be going. They will have (Sedna-South Node-Algol-Phaethon) dealt with the internal battle of native desires by taking hold of the determinative internal drive behind wanting things to be your way and, in owning that, gone through finding ways to make that (Virgo) work for them, despite the (Venus/Kallisto) beastly time they’re having or the ugly things which must now be dealt with.

This applies whether we ‘win’ or ‘lose’ in this moment and going forward, by the by.

There is an indicated Chaldaea/Pallas (in Pisces) square Vesta (in Gemini) in the above diagram – with Vesta also trine Eris/Lachesis. It’s an indicator that at some level, we all feel like we’ve waited too long to realize or get to doing something. We know we have broken tryst and trust with others and quite possibly with ourselves, which from here we can see but not change.

 Part two of the influences in play as the Sun enters Scorpio, here we have pictured the 'tough stuff' - the Vestia-Mercury-North Node adjustments which need to be made in order to keep our word (or get back to keeping our promises to self and others), the fact that we are Eris-Venus-Kallisto uncomfortable and should expect to (Lachesis) remain not so thrilled with things as we work through our challenges (that evidently being what it takes to get us to deal with reality instead of goofing off trying to have fun while ignoring life's rules, standards and karma), the Chaldaea/Pallas-Vesta square which is knowing we need to fix things in and for ourselves...and the not-so-loveable combination of two semi-sextiles (Chaldaea/Pallas to Eris/Lachesis and Eris/Lachesis to Sedna) which in conjunction with the thus-formed sextile of opportunity between Chaldaea/Pallas and Sedna have us wishing we could just keep on doing what we 'used to do' but faced with the necessity to let go of what was while applying ourselves to capitalizing on old understandings and knowledge while growing that into a new base and basis of personal viability.

In realistic terms, there is only going forward. And in metaphysical terms, this is a picture of life having brought difficulties and un-pleasantries from which we will learn.

The pain, the discomfort, the lack of peace with ourselves…we are supposed to be being bothered by our conscience at some level now, because that is how life gets us to do something else. People are always looking for ‘an answer’ or some ‘magical’ sort of moment which will clarify everything and make us feel better. But that’s not how it works. Some pains, some bad experiences, some moments of having fallen far, far short of our own minimal standards are motivation. We would like to think that we learn best when all is calm and well – but that’s not the truth of it. When all is calm and well and ‘enough’ we tend to go have ourselves a good time, however you define that.

Necessity is the mother of invention is a serious human truism. After all, nothing gets a person moving like a disaster. It’s a worthwhile recognition to think of how groups of people – be they a family, a social group or a nation or any other ‘collective’ – how when times are decent we tend to squabble and snarl like ill-behaved children. But let something terrible happen and we all instantly drop all the animosity and band together.

At some level this is what is happening to every one of us now as, with Saturn and Mercury in Scorpio, the Sun’s entrance into Scorpio ratchets up the heat. So expect challenges. Don’t be startled if a heated exchange breaks out.

But far more important to each and every one of us is the recognition of how these energies are part of our individual life. We are now within days of a Scorpio Solar Eclipse. There is something in your life which isn’t working. If you can now recognize where that comes from in you, you have a wonderful chance to fix it. And if you fix it, rather magically all the problems will begin peeling away and your life will be buoyed up and ride out the storm, no problem.

If you deny, if you project or blame others, if you try to hide in your security of wealth, sex, power or any other Scorpio ‘thing’…then life will come and get you.

It may even cause you to get yourself.

So the fix is in. For most of us this isn't going to be our most comfortable period...and yes, it does remain to be seen as to who is going to ‘fix’ whom.

But here's the metaphysical secret: those who take on fixing their own 'stuff' do not leave an opening to be 'fixed' by others. The trick here is knowing what it is which really needs to be fixed. The Sedna-Algol-South Node congruence (which, it should be noted is directly across the zodiac from the upcoming eclipse) is all about how we think we should be 'entitled' to run our lives. Or attributes we think others should just have to put up with.

By your successes you shall be known in this regard. Those who insist on having it 'their way' (no slight on the fast food chain which uses this slogan) with no regard to the usefulness (even advisability) of same...they are the ones which will suffer the most. And they will have very much 'done it' to themselves.

So be realistic. Recognize that you need to get along in this world based on the world's standards, not yours - not even of you and your friends. There is...well, let's call it a 'purification' process now under way which as part of it's removing of toxicity is making all sorts of bad behaviors, choices and priorities apparent in life, and in our lives as individuals.

 A map of general oceanic currents as generated by NOAA, if you

think about it in terms of history, says a great deal more than just

where the water goes.

That thing which makes you say 'but if I change that...' that's probably exactly what life is asking you to look at.

It's not the thing itself - its why you want it, cling to it, insist on it so much and so dearly which is the genesis of all.
.
 .
 .

Election 2012: Debate #3 – Foreign Policy

 Billed as a foreign policy debate, this is the chart for Presidential Debate #3 which is scheduled to take place on October 22, 2012 at 9 p.m. (EDT) at Florida's Lynn University

The third (and last) 2012 Presidential Debate is scheduled for Monday, October 22nd at 9 p.m. (EDT) at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida.

And the chart? It’s above. And its 9th house Moon in Aquarius is slap-dab on the money.

Foreign money? Maybe. The 9th house is, after all the house of all things ‘foreign.’ And Aquarius is the sign of economics and income.

But in a national chart (or discussion), Aquarius is more the sign of social systems which in the 9th suggests things like foreign students and foreign workers. International trade. Students getting jobs when they graduate with higher degrees. The cost of education and whether a nation should-or-shouldn’t support those educational institutions, particularly as that concerns foreign-born or immigrant students.

Given that Aquarius is also the sign of ‘sticking with the system or rebelling against (aka changing) it’ and how you go about it, the cost of changing or not changing how America functions is bound to come up. It may be an undercurrent, it may be front and center, but it will be there – as will be the spoken or unspoken issue of foreign cultures, religious or state sponsored fanaticism. Religion is a 9th house subject. Fanaticism is Aquarian – as again, so is a ‘social state’ which in combination with the 9th house is easily translated as ‘nations who see things differently than the United States does.’

But there’s a whole other issue which is just as potent as this 9th house Moon. That’s the fact that this chart has 9 Gemini rising and 9 Sagittarius thus at the Descendant. Those two degrees are currently inhabited by Royal Stars Aldebaran (at the Gemini Ascendant) and Antares (at the Sagittarian Descendant).

This is a tricky sort of thing which will have the candidates debating who’s acting (Ascendant) with integrity and who’s obsessed (Antares) with what others do, how they do it, what they don’t do (the way you do, maybe) and what people think of you.

Many an American President has said what they wanted to say, regardless of what others
thought of it.  But when it comes to HOW things have been said,few can hold a candle to
Abraham Lincoln, a man who said more in fewer words while touching more hearts than perhaps
any other President throughout United States history. I'm the first person to say that reading

history can be incredibly dull. But when I sat down to read a collection of Lincoln's writings and
speeches, I came away inspired, gratified and far more aware of history as something current,
not something which exists only in the past.

Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

(photo credit: Erich Robert Joli Weber, June 2012)

On one hand, this lays out a playing field which tests the sheer communicating skills of both candidates. How much of what we will see and hear will be about policy? How much will reveal the nature of each man? How much will each of them play to the audience?

The ruler of the Aldebaran/Ascendant (the integrity of/in what you do) is framed here in theoretical Gemini terms – which may bring out a bit of the preacher in both men. But the ruler of that Gemini is at 23 Scorpio in the 6th house of necessity and conjunct the North Node.

This brings a focus to what responsibility does a government have versus what responsibilities do people have for their own lives. With Mercury and the North Node in 3rd decanate degrees (degrees between 20 and 29 of a given sign) this signals a response which will definitely come after the debate on this topic, whether it gets discussed or not.

And the signs involved here - on the 6th house cusp and its polarity 12th house cusp – because those are Scorpio (on 6) and Pisces on the cusp of the 12th, plainly that which has so far been summarized as ‘the level playing field’ underlies this whole discussion.

With Sedna, the South Node and Algol in the 12th (all in Taurus) we’re likely to hear the ‘out of touch’ conversational touchstone being evoked. Heck, one or both of the candidates may verbally throw it at the other guy!

But the thing to watch out for is probably denoted by  Black Moon Lilith at 4 Gemini conjuncting (take a deep breath) Hybris…arrogance…conjuncting Aldebaran (integrity) at the Ascendant.

This becomes sort of a conversational “he who sounds most arrogant loses” signal. And since the Gemini Ascendant leads through Mercury in Scorpio to (Scorpio’s two rulers) Mars in the 7th house and Pluto in the 8th house, that’s were the emotional cord doth lead.

About the only question is whether that cord is long enough for either candidate to trip over…or hang themselves with.

Mars is not strong in the 7th house. Conjunct defender of the household Juno, this would be a conversation about Leadership. Throw in Hidalgo (manners, protocol) and we have a conversation about the many (Sagittarius) things a national leader (Juno) has to deal with with and manage through governmental channels (Hidalgo) before they go pronouncing their opinions or ‘facts’ not yet in evidence.

This last is very Mars in Sagittarius. Sagittarius is a sign known for ‘pronouncements’ (and rhetoric, and dictates) which may have a place in national leadership but probably isn’t the default position for any successful  President.

As for Pluto, Pluto in the 8th in Capricorn suggests two topics at least: the national debt and war. With Pluto still working over the ‘many tangled threads’ symbol we know as Facies, the combination of Mars and Pluto sounds a bit like ‘haste makes waste’ which on the world/national/governmental/military stage could be seriously deadly.

A yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax violaceus) enjoys the beach in Boca Raton. It's not likely

any of them will attend the Presidential Debate, but you never know!

(Ianare Sevi, June 2009)

One more item well worth noting here before turning to individual charts…Vesta is going retrograde on the very date of this debate: October 22nd. Which means Vesta is going on station as of the 20th - which is why this post is hitting the digital airwaves now.

You know...it's that old 'station allowance' thing. Two days (maybe a bit more) before and the same after the date of station? That means Vesta's station effects begin on the 20th and run through the 24th.

We also know that Vesta is doing its ‘turnabout’ at 25 Gemini. And since 25 is a 3rd decanate degree, we know that other people are going to get input and say on the  standard Vesta question of ‘promises.’

But to equate Vesta just with the word 'promises' is to short-change the subject. Yes, Vesta does sometimes surface in someone getting all miffed because ’you promised that…’

So this would not be the moment to go and break your word. Not even for cutting corners on your word!

Although...well, this might be the moment for thinking over corner cutting you've already done. Or how you can explain that promise you didn't mean to break but...

You know, that stuff.

So Vesta is promises, plain and simple. but Vesta is also all about what it takes to keep a promise. All those comments you make to yourself about what you need to do or get done. All the feelings and working out of schedules to meet that schedule.

With Vesta in Gemini, and with Gemini being ruled by Mercury, that does leads us right back to that Mars and Pluto as rulers of Scorpio conversation.

But it also indicates a choice. And that combination of 'promise' plus 'choice' is both the choosing to promise and the hard-nosed concept that nine times out of ten when we do break a promise (if we do) we choose to do so knowing what we're doing.

Oh, what a nuance to add to a political debate!

But that Mercury quality...considering that the Mercury of the debate chart is in the 6th house that points to one's 'functionaries.' And when it comes to a President or a presidential candidate, there are functionaries a-plenty.

Let's see...foreign affairs...functionaries...matters to be debated...one could guess we will hear more about recent tragic doings in the Middle East.

 Who will spend the next four years living here?

The White House (south side) in Washington, DC

(photo credit Cezary p, July 2008)

Back to the 6th house. The 6th house of a national chart is, among other things its military, health care and the  civil service - which in the case of the United States includes Congress.

Oh, gosh oh golly gee...such things could get said! All of the above (health care, the military, Congress) are hot-button subjects. But with the Moon and Mercury in square by house? Part one: whoever talks about any of these topics had better know their facts. Part two, they had best have both a problem and solution on tap, lest they look petulant. Because Mercury rules that Ascedant-conjunct-Aldebaran, their statements must reek of integrity...the 'winning' attitude with this combo will be the guy who knows how to pose their statements as implied questions - not accusations.

And no matter the format, things may get feisty! Even a touch testy. Scorpio and Aquarius are both fixed signs: feelings and convictions will be there under the skin. With the Moon in Aquarius, taking the high road is a good idea, though getting haughty or arrogant (which tend to be the negative side of the Scorpio Moon) is not a good idea. Whatever sign the Moon is in, that spells out (among other things) what qualities the audience is going to be sensitive to. With an Aquarian Moon, care is advised...but evasion isn't. The job of Aquarius is to take the job on: to show what you can do and prove you deserve approval.

One other note to this square-by-sign: treating people like numbers...or using difficulties, challenges or tragedies merely for a political goad isn't going to wash. Making the point while showing that they know real people are involved (Americans or otherwise) is important to both candidates. The 'business' of war is about people, not commerce or personal power. Anyone who gets near those negatives is going to blow themselves out of the water (pardon the pun!).

Another point about this chart: it contains a Ceres-Saturn-Neptune grand trine. Among other things, one can bet there are many non-Americans listening to this debate. It's also more likely than usual that something will get said which is particularly telling...or maybe just entirely memorable.

Debates are funny that way. Get people talking and even the most schooled of politicians will sometimes go and say the gob-stopping-est things!

For Governor Romney on a personal basis, that his native Pluto (at 22 Leo) exactly opposite the Moon of this debate puts him on a tightrope between his desire to get people to think his way and an inborn instinct to be the private sort of person his personality…or his Mormonism (or maybe both) have created him to be.

Governor Mitt Romney

March 12, 1947 - 9:51 a.m. - Detroit, MI

That Governor Romney’s personal Asc-Dsc line lies at 1 Gemini/1 Sagittarius suggests he will go into this debate feeling somewhat at home. With his native Ascendant conjunct the debate’s Black Moon Lilith (at 4 Gemini)…is that a good idea? The Black Moon is always some sort of ‘externalized’ denial – as opposed to asteroid Lilith, which is about our internal issues with emotional denial. But on the outside? This is either Romney wanting to deny something that he’s done or said, wanting to deny some portion of society something, or being denied a (Gemini) hearing no matter what he does.

Romney’s Gemini Ascendant is ruled by his Pisces Mercury. This is an emotional Mercury which can charm or inspire, but which isn’t always strong. In square to Romney’s natal Uranus in the 1st house, this also the very description of the fact that Romney appears to contradict himself (or change positions on the proverbial dime) …but also why: a Gemini Uranus in the 1st ruled by a Pisces Mercury in the 11th is ‘built’ to get what is wanted in the moment. It’s not the same as lying; with both planets in emotional degrees what underpins this tendency is a genuine desire to be liked and – at some level – an insecurity with/about Self.

As for President Obama, his Ascendant is 10 Aquarius and his Descendant is 10 Leo (the later ruled by a 12 Leo Sun which makes him very adept at being in front of the public). With his Ascendant one degree off the debate’s 11 Aquarius Moon, he could be overly professorial again. Then again, he could come off as divisive.

President Barack Obama

August 4, 1961 - 7:24 p.m. - Honolulu, HI

With his natal Moon at 3 Gemini, he too has Black Moon Lilith problems, though since Obama’s Moon is natively well placed (particularly for a President) in the 4th house, he may use this Moon/Lilith dynamic to emphasize what people don’t have but need if they’re going to get ahead. Or if the US is going to be built (modernized?) to compete on the international stage.

(Mitt Romney’s Moon being intercepted in the 6th house has helped make him rich via Bain Capital, but it isn’t as likely to connect to everyday people. While streamlining companies has its pluses, right now all people are going to hear is ‘you’re getting wealthy by firing people’ and that’s not a big vote-getter!)

The Nodal axis in Obama’s chart runs from 27 Aquarius (South Node) to 27 Leo (North Node) – and in that aligns rather well with the ‘where this is going’ Midheaven-Nadir of the debate chart. With his Uranus conjunct his North Node he may get distracted and off conversation and if he does, that will hurt him. Obama’s tendency to be a ‘big picture’ thinker isn’t exactly compatible with people wanting him to talk to them.

We’ll have to see if he remembers.

Whatever happens and however the President and Governor Romney go about saying whatever they’re going to say, it’s pretty sure everyone out here in audience-land will remember what gets said.

And then…finally!…the nation will go to the polls and all the votes will get counted.

WHOEVER YOUR CANDIDATE IS,

ELECTION DAY IS NOVEMBER 6TH!

BE SURE TO VOTE!

.
.
.