by Marilyn Muir, LPMAFA
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As a practicing astrologer, during the 1980 and 2000 election processes, I received many questions about the possibility that whoever was elected as president might die in office. Why? Several sitting presidents had died of both natural and unnatural (assassination) causes for well over a hundred years of our nation’s history. Since these events had happened repeatedly, it suggested the possibility of happening again. People were honestly concerned about casting a vote that might conclude with their chosen candidate participating in a tragic event. As each election process occurred, I along with many other astrologers, searched diligently to determine this unusual political outcome.
My early participation in the political process and political astrology was sporadic, cursory, and relatively naive. As I have gotten older, the political process has increased in importance in my life. In 2008 as we worked our way through the primaries, the election, and eventually the 2009 inauguration, the question surfaced again and again. I was reasonably certain that the energy pattern that was in existence for that extended period of time had concluded and would not directly influence current events, but I still get questions about the possibility. I want to explore the astrological patterns that were in play during earlier presidencies and why I feel it is part of our political history and not part of our future. Perhaps I can find words to define what happened and that this pattern is no longer functional.
We should start by realizing that anyone who pursues such an office knows the dangers of assuming that office. Life does not come with guarantees. The best care given to protect the president may not be enough. All candidates for that office in particular do know and understand this. There is no way to protect against stupidity, bias, and nonsensical violence. Some humans do truly stupid, selfish things, and they don’t ask our permission to do so. Every life is sacred. Our personal opinion and bias are just not a good enough reason to forcibly exercise violence, but it does happen. Also, life in general happens. People get ill, have accidents, and leave us before we’re ready. That’s life and living.
We need to back up to the time period when this pattern first emerged and examine the influence that surrounded several of our national tragedies. The cycle we will be examining occurs approximately every twenty years. It is the common conjunction (joining) of the transiting cultural planets, Jupiter and Saturn. The joining of the two gas giants marks a beginning, but those planets are in constant motion, so time and the place is a marker only and not a constant.
- Jupiter takes about 12 years to do one complete orbit (cycle) around the Sun.
- Saturn takes about 29 years to make the same circle due to its more distant orbit.
During the twelve years of Jupiter’s circular travel, Saturn will have moved several signs forward in the zodiac. Jupiter will have to do more travel to catch up to and again connect with Saturn to form a new conjunction (joining) at a new degree and sign. By the time this “hurry up and wait” pattern occurs, approximately twenty years will have passed. So, our cycle to study is twenty years, and this is a cycle (twenty years) that exists within two cycles (twelve and 29 years).
Starting with the conjoining of Jupiter and Saturn around 1840, the presidents who were elected or sitting at or near the moment of those conjunctions died of natural or unnatural causes. As if that were not enough, there were many attempts on the lives of several presidents. If we add twenty-year increments to 1840, we find approximately 1860, 1880, 1900, 1920, 1940, 1960, etc. as possibilities. By looking at factual history and the accurate cycle markers (date and position), a cyclic pattern does emerge. The question is: is it a finite cycle, with a point where it ends, or is it an ongoing pattern and can it affect us currently? As I was doing my research on the 43 presidents of the U.S. and their connection to the U.S. chart, this somewhat scary possibility became a research necessity. What I found was so specific that I want to share those findings with you.
Seven of those twenty-year conjunctions occurred close to election years in which the year ended in “0.”
- Four presidents were assassinated (gun): Presidents Lincoln, McKinley, Garfield and Kennedy.
- Two died of natural causes: Presidents William Harrison and Franklin Roosevelt.
- Presidents Zachary Taylor and Warren Harding both died in office of assumed natural causes. Claims of assassination were not ever supported by later research.
There is an anomaly in the dating of the two early deaths with this cycle we are studying. They were close but not precise. That particular Jupiter-Saturn joining was the first of this 140-year series. Why one particular 140-year period of time, and not before that time, and not since that time?
The Great Mutation or Grand Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn is an approximate twenty-year cyclic (repeating) aspect.
- On Aug 30, 1742 they were at 27 Leo 09.
- On Mar 18, 1762 they were at 12 Ari 21.
Both were pre-Revolutionary War, but were periods of fomenting problems between Britain and the colonies.
- Nov 5, 1782 came next at 28 Sag 07, with the Revolutionary War active.
Because we did not elect a president until 1789, none of these conjunctions were pertinent to the presidency.
Notice the three conjunctions were all in the fire element. The repeating cycle of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction is seven in a single element, then one in different element, back into the initial element for one passage, then return to the second element for seven passages… and then repeat the whole cycle. Eight parts to the whole cycle, seven in one element, one in another element, seven steps forward and one step back in my mind. It is a true dance of the planets. (Note: Only the first pass of each cycle is listed in this article.)
- On Jul 17, 1802, Jupiter and Saturn moved out of fire and entered the earth element for one time only at 5 Vir 08. The fledgling U.S. was at constant warfare and we had a president (Jefferson), but he did not die in office.
- On June 19, 1821, the conjunction was at 24 Ari 39 (back into fire for one passage), and there was an attempted assassination of Andrew Jackson on Jan 30, 1835.
After that fire element conjunction, we began the seven-cycle passage of the Jupiter and Saturn conjunction in the earth element. From the list I used in my research, not all assassination attempts were given, but 90+ attempts were mentioned, and they were part of this continuing pattern.
- The next Jupiter-Saturn conjunction was on Jan 26, 1842 at 8 Cap 54. President Benjamin Harrison died in 1841 (the year prior to the conjunction) one month after taking office, of natural causes. He was elected in 1840.
- President Zachary Taylor died in 1850, and his death was suspect but not proven to be anything other than natural.
There is an anomaly here in timing, but the question is whether it is specific to the election/inauguration process (date with “0” year for the election) or a sitting president while that conjunction is in effect (twenty years). This cycle is marginal, the other six cycles in this series of seven are much more specific.
- On Oct 21, 1861, the conjunction was at 18 Vir 22 (4˚ from the USA Neptune) and President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on Apr 14, 1865, a few weeks after his second inauguration. There had been a previous attempt on his life Feb 23, 1861.
- The Apr 18, 1881 conjunction was at 01 Tau 36, and President James Garfield was assassinated on Jul 2, 1881.
- On Nov 28, 1901, the conjunction was at 14 Cap 00 (opposite USA Sun), and President William McKinley was assassinated on Sep 6, 1901 in his 2nd term. He was succeeded by President Theodore Roosevelt, who had a failed assassination attempt on Oct 13, 1912.
- On Sep 10, 1921, with the conjunction at 26 Vir 36, President Warren Harding died of natural causes in 1923 (murder was suspected but not proven).
- Aug 8, 1940 at 14 Tau 27 was the next passage, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in 1945 just after the start of his fourth term. An assassination attempt was made on FDR early in his first term on Feb 15, 1933. Roosevelt was succeeded by President Harry Truman, who experienced an assassination attempt on Nov 1, 1950.
- The seventh earth element Jupiter-Saturn conjunction was Feb 19, 1961 at 25 Cap 12 (on the USA Pluto), and President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Nov 22, 1963, just two years into his first term. President Kennedy experienced another attempt on his life on Dec 11, 1960 (between election and inauguration) and Apr 2, 1961 (threat).
There were an amazing number of attempts or threats made on several presidents during later cycles, but President Kenney’s death was the last natural or unnatural death in office.
- President Richard Nixon had an attempt made on his life Feb 22, 1974.
- President Gerald Ford experienced attempts Feb 5 and Sep 22, 1975.
- President James Carter experienced an attempt Mar 5, 1979. All were governed by that 1960 Jup/Sat conjunction and occurred prior to the next conjunction, which moved out of the earth element and into the air element on Dec 31, 1980 at 9 Lib 30.
- A near-deadly attempt was made on President Ronald Reagan’s life on Mar 30, 1981, on President George H.W. Bush on April 13, 1993, and on President William Clinton on Sep 12 and Oct 29, 1994. Those attempts were governed by the prior 1980 conjunction.
The current Jupiter-Saturn cycle occurred May 28, 2000 at 22 Tau 43.
- Attempts were made on President George W. Bush on Feb 7, 2001, Sep 11, 2001 (9/11 conspiracy?) and May 10, 2005.
This conjunction remains in effect until the next conjunction, which is in the air element.
The next Jupiter-Saturn conjunction will take place on Dec 21, 2020 at 00 Aqu 29, an air sign. The seven-pattern cycle of the Jup/Sat conjunction in earth has ended.
In my book Presidents of Hope and Change, I concluded with, “What is important to this moment is that the pattern of seven did finish with President Kennedy. The old pattern is finished. The pattern that was of concern is part of our history and not of our future. I think that is very good news. It does not offer us a guarantee that nothing will happen because there are other patterns and activations that exist, but this particular pattern has completed itself”.
The Tables of Planetary Phenomena by Neil F. Michelson is a great source for such research.
Published on EZine May 2009, republished with slight editing.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.