The Autopsy of an Election

by Marilyn Muir, LPMAFA

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The 2012 election process was a bear astrologically. I am an old hand at calling the winner over several elections, with Bush v Gore as the most difficult to call before 2012. I waited until after the primaries to set the charts because there were just too many candidates. Casting and reading these charts is time consuming, and I did not want to waste that much time on wannabes. Once the party tickets were formed for president and vice president, it was time to get serious.

All four charts were alive with activity mirroring the frantic pace of the election itself. My usual way of determining a winner starts with an accurately timed birth chart, then Naibod progression to the election, plus a personal diurnal of the candidate to complete my astrological picture. Why the diurnal? It provides the personal transits including an accurate midheaven, ascendant and Moon. I place all three charts on one tri-wheel with the diurnal in the center, which sets the house cusps for all the charts, the natal next, and the progressions outside, placing the natal and progressed midheavens and ascendants where appropriate.

I do not cast the chart for the election itself because we are a huge country with too many possibilities due to a wide time zone spread, our poll openings and closings, and our absentee ballots. To describe this election activity, astrological abbreviations will be necessary. I will describe hard aspects only because I have limited space. The focus will be on the angles from all three charts for each candidate. There will always be more aspects than read.

Mitt Romney’s diurnal election chart has:

  • 15 Sag rising with Mars in the first at 22 Sag – lots of competition and aggression, assertive action. Sag is either the truth seeker or the con-man, or as I call it, truth and consequence.
  • Ura is conjunct the 4th cusp (IC) indicating a possible change of residence at election… or a whistle-stop campaign living style.
  • Jup as ruler is at 14.5 Gem retro in the 6th moving away (old activity or promise not kept) from the Dec with both natal and progressed Ura (upset) in the 7th. Read that as the ruler of Romney’s moment is weakened in the 6th, moving away from the power of the angle and retrograde.
  • If diurnal Ura is conjunct the diurnal IC, it is opposed the diurnal MC (the goal or mission). Natal and progressed Nep (his dreams or delusions and his religion or spirituality) are conjunct the diurnal MC on the 10th house side with the MC applying to both. This is not a bad aspect in and of itself, but may play out through another venue or outlet. He may receive great applause or stature within his business community or religious organization.

There is lots of angular action common to an important day in the life of the native but the activity is unsettling.

  • His progressed Asc and Sat are conjunct his natal Sat and all are square the diurnal Sat.
  • The diurnal Ura opposed diurnal Ven/MC and natal and progressed Nep is contentious but divisive.
  • Besides the progressed Asc/Sat, he has progressed Moo conjunct MC, progressed Ven conjunct Mar, and progressed Sun conjunct Mer, all of which actually denote a good period in general, but not enough to overcome the hard aspects previously mentioned. This day and the effects it produces can still benefit him as time progresses.

Paul Ryan’s chart has the:

  • Diurnal Asc, natal and progressed Plu all conjunct within 1˚.
  • Diurnal Mar is in the 3rd about 5˚ from the IC, actually too far off to be in play that day.
  • He has an unusual Dec/7th house conjunction between diurnal Ura, natal Mar and progressed Ven, very volatile and rash, and it is opposed diurnal Ven, natal and progressed Ura in the diurnal 1st. All are square diurnal Plu and progressed Asc in the diurnal 4th.

To me this is not a celebratory chart, just an intensively active one.

President Obama’s:

  • Diurnal has Gem rising with Jup about 4˚ into the 1st – very promising. However, that Jup rules the 7th of his rival and his chart ruler is Mer/Sag/retrograde in the 6th, again not the best of placements. Do we look at Jup rising as “yes” or is that the ruler of his rival’s “yes”?
  • Mer retrograde can also indicate that he goes back to do what he has done before, a second term. Could this Mer retrograde denote a repeat of what has happened previously?
  • Diurnal Nep is 4˚ conjunct the MC with natal Ura/Nod and progressed Ura/Nod in opposition/square natal MC/IC, not the happiest of combinations.

Move? What about his physical location?

  • Natal and progressed Nod/Ura straddle the diurnal IC (again possible whistle-stop activity), with diurnal Nep on the 10th house side of the MC.
  • His progressed Asc 22 Ari is coming to the opposition of his progressed Mar/Mer in about four years, and that should equate to his vacating the office since no third presidential term is possible.
  • And…progressed Ven will conjunct natal Plu in the 4th at that same time. Time to go home with power intact?

Considering the concern for the President’s physical safety, that would be welcomed news. That we disagree with someone’s politics should not be the basis for a physical attack – we are supposed to be reasonably sane and responsible adults.

Vice President Joe Biden His is probably the clearest of all with:

  • Diurnal 23 Sco rising with diurnal Nod in the 1st rising, conjunct natal Mer/Sun/Ven.
  • Just a couple of degrees more and you find diurnal Mer conjunct natal Asc and progressed MC. Those are opposed natal and progressed Ura and Sat in the 7th.
  • Diurnal Moo is conjunct natal Plu of his power. Diurnal Sun is conjunct natal Mar and progressed Moo, which I see as a signature of our irrepressible VP Joe Biden.

Okay – decision time. Lots of activity, more positively tilted to the Obama/Biden ticket, but both the presidential candidates have the ruler of their Ascs in a weak position, with the rulers close to the opponent (Dec) angle. Do you trust the planet on the angle or the ruler of the angle?

About two weeks prior to the election, I settled on the planet Jup rising and the Obama/Biden ticket but wanted more solid proof. Where to find that? Two concepts got my attention:

  1. Rachel Maddow of MSNBC illustrated how we could end up with John Boehner as President and Joe Biden as Vice President. Talk about scrambling my brain! She was right; such a result is possible. Ye gods, what a combination!
  2. Only two men could take the oath of office – four were not in contention. Which pair would it be? I set the inauguration for all five men for January 20, 2013, again requiring the tri-wheels. Now you know why I limited myself to the chosen candidates. Three men had to lose as only two men could win the day. We know the results of the election but this is an autopsy, a forensic search for answers. We will start with the wild card, Speaker John Boehner.

The dates for the election and the inauguration are only about ten weeks apart. The Founding Fathers had chosen March 4th as inauguration day, but a later U.S. Congress changed the date to January 20th in time for F.D. Roosevelt’s second term. The angles on the diurnal will shift 75 days forward from the election as well as the diurnal Moon and the faster moving planets, each at their own daily movement. As always, the outer planets change more slowly. The progressed charts will be relatively unchanged so we will concentrate on the diurnals and the progressed Moon only for the balance of this article.

Wild card Speaker of the House John Boehner:

  • If you look strictly at his diurnal, there are no planets anywhere near the angles within 2 to 3˚, unusual if this were a key date in his life!
  • Comparing the natal to the diurnal, nothing leapt off the page. There is a square between the diurnal MC and natal Moo/Nep conjunction and progressed Nep.
  • Interestingly, the progressed angles are very close to the diurnal angles, about 2˚ off, but no planets line up with the diurnal angles.

I did not see inauguration for Speaker Boehner.

Candidate Romney’s diurnal for the day of the inauguration:

  • Does not show any diurnal planets near the angles either.
  • His natal Mer was close to the diurnal Asc.
  • And his natal Ura was close to his diurnal IC with progressed Ura less than 1˚.

Nothing else touches – so, to me, this was not an inauguration moment.

Congressman Ryan’s diurnal chart again shows only:

  • The N Node conjunct the Asc with no planets close by.
  • No natal connections either.
  • The progressed S Nod on the diurnal MC and progressed Mer conjunct diurnal IC about 4˚ off. That is all the close connections, not good enough for inauguration.

I did notice diurnal Sat about fourteen degrees behind the Asc. Why would I note that? The Asc moves forward about ¾ to 2˚ a day, so this contact was made in early January. The first week in January is when the Congressional members are sworn in. I do not know if you realize it, but Ryan had hedged his bet and he ran for his congressional seat as well as for vice president. He did win his re-election for Congress. The time of the Congressional oath taking on January 3, 2013 is therefore visible in Paul Ryan’s chart.

As I write this, John Boehner is Speaker of the House and is under fierce fire from his own constituency as to his leadership, particularly from Eric Cantor and (“drum roll”) Paul Ryan. Could diurnal Sat on the Ryan diurnal Asc at the time of the congressional oath-taking show Ryan in serious contention for Speaker? Stay tuned, the answer is already in play and we should know the final answer within three weeks. Why is this important? Whoever becomes Speaker of the House will be directly in line behind the vice president for the presidency.

President Obama’s inaugural diurnal:

  • Has Mar conjunct the Dec about 3˚.
  • His natal Asc is the diurnal Dec, almost exact.
  • The diurnal Moo is on the degree of the fixed star Capul Algol (not a good placement, he could “lose his head”) conjunct the natal IC.
  • His diurnal Sun is conjunct his natal Jup. Diurnal Ven is conjunct progressed MC.

Here is more of the type of action that could illustrate an inauguration.

Vice President Biden’s diurnal chart:

  • Has a Sun/Mer/Asc conjunction.
  • The diurnal N Nod/MC is conjunct natal Sun/Ven/Mer.
  • Diurnal Jup is conjunct natal Ura/Dec/Sat.
  • Progressed Moo is conjunct diurnal Sat almost exact.
  • Progressed Sat is conjunct diurnal Jup.

It just does not get better than that.

Two more points about election/inauguration: I set the 67 USA Virgo rising progressed inaugurations to 2009 as research for my political book Presidents of Hope and Change, but never used them. That means another political book is on my drawing board. Of course, I set the 2013 inauguration as well and found a curious association between the 2009 and the 2013 progressions. Remember these charts are four years apart in time as an inauguration chart sets the stage for the four years the inauguration covers.

In the 2009 chart:

  • Progressed Mer retrograde 23 Aqu 35 was conjunct natal Moo 22 Aqu 36, 1˚ applying.
  • Progressed Ven 17 Ari 54 was opposed progressed Mar 18 Lib 40 retrograde.

That is a set of aspects that should be a one-time event by progression even after 236 years of life for our nation; but a curious thing happened on the way to 2013 as I laid the two charts out side by side. Perhaps you have heard of the horary terms “translation of light” or “collection of light.” This is infrequently used in other astrology work, but the concept exists between these two charts.

  • The progressed Moo 19 Lib 19 has moved to the Ven at 22 Ari 23 opposed Mar 18 Lib 28 retrograde, which is clearly separating or in the past – except that the Moo is still applying to the new position of Ven 22 Ari 23, and that represents new activity. Because you cannot wiggle one end of an axis without the other end wiggling as well (reflex involved), this activates the still existent progressed opposition, even though Mar is 18 Lib 28R. That 2009 opposition is still alive!
  • In addition, Mer retrograde is clearly past the 2009 conjunction to the natal Moo, but…the diurnal Moon is applying to both the progressed Mer and the natal Moo. That 2009 conjunction is still alive as the diurnal Moon activates it.

What can it mean? Perhaps in the case of the opposition, it would indicate polarization or more of the same, true… however the people (Moo) really got involved in the last four years and that will continue for four more years. YES! The way to fix our broken government is for the people to take an active hand just as they did in 1776.

While I am at it:

  • The 2009 progressed inauguration MC was 24 Cap 26 right on the opposition to USA natal Mer 24 Can 20 retrograde, which just happens to be opposed USA natal Plu 27 Cap 34 retrograde. In 2013, that progressed inauguration MC is 28 Cap 11, clearly past both that USA natal Mer and Plu…but it is applying (aspects coming in to exactitude is about the future) to the conjunction of USA progressed Plu.

That aspect is alive as well, the power of persuasion for good or for ill, a power play. Sound familiar?

It is important to note that the 2013 inauguration date has been moved forward one day to January 21, 2013. Do not let yourself be fooled; this is strictly ceremonial. The power of the existing president ceases at noon on January 20th of an inauguration year as set by the Constitution. The power passes to the incoming president at noon regardless of whether or not that person has taken the oath. Note that the vice president is sworn in first, as a precaution to the passing of such power at noon. The oath taking is both a formality and a celebration. It is very important in the personal charts of those taking the oaths but does not have any effect on the passing of power of the presidency.

If this workup is not enough to boggle your mind, look to both the moment of power passing and the moment of oath-taking to evaluate the four-year reign of any presidency. The power itself passes at noon on the date set in the Constitution. The personal occurs at the moment of the oath. Each is a natal chart. If you want to know how the USA has evolved, look to the progressing USA chart. It is a moment-by-moment astrological map of the evolution of our country. At the election, the country puts out a call to the electorate for the manager it needs to assist it in that process of its evolution. There are no mistakes. The electorate responds, a person is elected, and that evolutionary step for our country is inaugurated at the passing of power moment.

First published “Autopsy 2012 Election” (Journal) 5.23.13, pub AFA 5/14, republished with slight editing.

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