So, election 2016: what the hell is going on?
It’s certainly been one for the record books. In the aftermath of the Uranus/Pluto square, still a potent mover and shaker of the times, and the concurrent Uranus/Eris conjunction affecting the zeitgeist, it’s a fractious, divided, disgruntled and disillusioned electorate that has been driving the agenda, on both sides.
After winning more votes in a GOP primary than any other presidential candidate in history, Donald Trump is on the brink of perhaps losing the election by a greater margin than any we’ve seen in recent memory, and threatens to bring down the entire Republican Party with him.
The October 7 release of the disastrous open mic recording from 2005 of Trump vying with “Access Hollywood” reporter Billy Bush as to who could be more crude and offensive about women escalated an exodus of female voters from the Trump camp.
When questioned at the second debate on October 9 about the comments he made describing his repeated sexual assault of strangers, Trump attempted to write off his words as “locker room talk,” with no basis in fact. Asked directly, Trump declared he had never behaved in a sexually inappropriate fashion with any women, a statement which was promptly disputed when nine women came forward in the ensuing few days to allege that he had, in fact, behaved toward them exactly as he described himself behaving in the “Access Hollywood” footage.
But his slide in the polls actually began almost two weeks earlier, after the first debate on September 26. In its last few minutes, Hillary Clinton raised the specter of Trump’s insulting and demeaning disparagement of a former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado, whom he’d alleged was a “big problem” because she had gained weight after her victory, calling her “Miss Piggy” and “Miss Housekeeping”, presumably based on her Latina heritage. Instead of backing off his earlier comments, Trump went on Twitter to continue a days-long fat-shaming campaign against Machado, and this seems to have been the actual breaking point in female support, cemented after the “Access Hollywood” recording and its attendant spate of female accusers.
The importance of the issue can be seen in the transit placement of PNAs relating to Machado, as well as natal placements in Trump’s birth chart. There is no asteroid Alicia, but using Alice as the closest match, and an exact match for Machado, we can see a stunning impact. As the debate unfolded and Machado became a campaign issue, transit asteroids Alice at 10 Sagittarius and Machado at 10 Virgo were in exact square, both powerfully impinging on the transit Saturn (chief executive, president)/Whitehouse (the Oval Office) conjunction at 11 and 13 Sagittarius. Trump’s behavior toward the former Miss Universe would indeed negatively impact his White House run, becoming the “enough is enough” moment for many voters.
Moreover, natal Machado at 4 Virgo conjoins the Ascendant, showing her as a pivotal influence on how others see Trump. Both this natal degree and Machado’s transit placement of 10 Virgo conjoin Trump’s natal asteroid Truth at 7 Virgo. Truth conjunct the Ascendant is a prime mover in Trump’s success, giving him the ability to project an image of honesty and truthfulness to others; his voters routinely cite his propensity to “tell it like it is” as a fundamental basis for their support.
But Machado here both natally and by transit shows the flip side of Truth on the Ascendant: anything activating Truth has the potential to show the actual reality behind the façade of truthfulness being presented, and Trump’s image was punctured, not so much by his prior words regarding Miss Machado’s appearance, but by the new tirade of insults he unleashed in an attempt to justify his earlier slurs. As always, Trump’s downfall is a direct consequence of his actions and words.
So what’s up for Trump? Principally, we’ll look at two Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), heavy hitters from the outer solar system near Pluto, and their effect on Trump both natally and by transit.
We’ve talked about TNO Chaos before, and its importance both in Trump’s psychology and his campaign. At 24 Pisces natally, Chaos closely squares Trump’s 22 Gemini Sun, defining him as an agent of Chaos, with all its associated bedlam, anarchy, confusion and, well, chaos. By transit, Chaos has been flirting with Trump’s natal Sun all year, and on August 6, the very day when asteroid Troemper turned retrograde, transit Chaos first came to the exact degree of Trump’s Sun. Since then, the campaign has been flailing, disordered, unable to craft a message its head can consistently focus on. In short, chaos ensued.
Initially, the Troemper retrograde (Troemper is the Personal Named Asteroid most closely representing Trump) seemed to be making some headway in turning around Trump’s image and campaign, which was faltering in the wake of an unsuccessful convention and his running battle with a Gold Star mother and family.
Trump brought in a new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, on August 17, and within days he was making a valiant attempt to keep on message, and was even using the teleprompter at rallies, something he had previously eschewed. His numbers began to rise, and he was pulling almost even to Clinton in national polls by Labor Day, and ahead in some battleground states.
This period also coincided with transit Troemper’s opposition to transit Jupiter, giving Trump that campaign boost. Jupiter, known as the Greater Benefic, rules politics, but also brings expansiveness, increase and “luck” to whatever it touches, and for Trump, this meant an improving political situation for weeks, as a retrograde Troemper moved into orb of an advancing Jupiter. This held sway from September 4 through September 29, with the exact opposition occurring on September 16. As the first debate commenced, Troemper was moving out of orb of Jupiter’s beneficence, while asteroid Hillary was just moving into orb of its square to Jupiter, which continues through Election Day. Trump’s political fortunes waned apace, while Clinton’s went on the rise.
In late August and early September, Trump seemed to be re-evaluating his approach, reassessing his stance and making adjustments, all appropriate actions during a PNA retrograde. But for The Donald, nothing sticks for long, and the late-night disparaging tweets and outrageous off-the-cuff remarks at rallies quickly resumed. Troemper’s retrograde, which continues until the day before the election, also grants the populace the opportunity to do their own reassessment of Trump’s personality and candidacy, and so far, the decision seems to be coming down against him.
So the natal potential for chaotic, disruptive behaviors seen in the Sun/Chaos square has come to full flower under its transit conjunction with that Sun, causing many to question Trump’s stability and suitability or fitness as president and commander in chief. But what explains this sudden emphasis on things sexual and inappropriate?
For this we look to that second TNO, Salacia, named for Neptune’s wife, and the root of our word, “salacious”, meaning explicitly sexual, having or showing explicit or crude sexual desire or interest, and intending to titillate or arouse with erotic content, words or actions.
Natally, Trump has Salacia at 24 Sagittarius, exactly conjunct asteroid Achilles, also conjunct the Moon at 21 Sagittarius and opposing the 22 Gemini Sun. This contact to both Lights, the primary movers of our existence, identified Salacia as an energy that is deeply embedded in Trump’s personality. The conjunction with the Moon suggests there is a strongly emotional component to Trump’s salacious words and actions, and the opposition to the Sun shows it as a central feature of his character. The exact conjunction with Achilles identifies this as a key vulnerability or weakness. Put it all together, and you have a perfect image of Trump’s alleged MO with women—approach, pounce, and hope for the best, that this fumble-fingered tactic will indeed arouse sexual interest, or at least acquiescence, in his victim.
The natal situation is bad enough, showing a clear penchant for bad behavior. But, on September 16, a Lunar Eclipse occurred at 24 Pisces, exactly conjunct natal Chaos and in exact square to natal Salacia, forming a Grand Cross with the transit Sun and Trump’s natal Sun at 22 Gemini. This was the touchstone that has set off the precipitate slide in the polls, ultimately resulting in the disclosure of Trump’s “wooing” patterns and inappropriate behaviors towards women with whom he was not formerly acquainted.
Transit Salacia made its mark as well. Currently at 29 Pisces, Salacia was conjoined by transit Troemper from August 23 through October 16, a period coinciding with the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape, where Trump described grabbing, groping and forcibly kissing women whom he’d just met, as well as the subsequent revelations from victims of these acts.
The combination of activations of Chaos and Salacia in the natal chart and transit sky, during these final pivotal weeks of the election cycle, could prove the death knell for Trump’s misguided and ill-advised presidential campaign. At least, so it is to be hoped.
On Election Day, November 8, 2016, transit Chaos at 22 Gemini is still firmly entrenched on Trump’s Sun, opposing Whitehouse at 26 Sagittarius, with asteroid Machado at 21 Virgo in T-Square, and Chiron at 20 Pisces forming a Grand Cross, perhaps bringing a devastating wound (Chiron) to Trump’s ego (Sun), in the form of the complete collapse (Chaos) of his presidential aspirations (Whitehouse), precipitated in part by his fat-shaming of a former Miss Universe (Machado). If so, then transit Salacia at 29 Pisces will also be a prime cause, squared Whitehouse and asteroid Icarus at 28 Sagittarius, indicating the rash, reckless (Icarus) sexual impropriety (Salacia) that blocked Trump’s path to the Oval Office (Whitehouse).
As of this writing in late October, things looks good for Hillary Clinton, who is posting double-digit leads in many national polls and is ahead in most battleground sates, even bringing some reliably red states into play, like Arizona, Georgia, and even Texas. But there are still weeks to go, and the daily drip-drip of WikiLeaks revelations, plus the parlous state of national and international security from the terrorism threat, keeps us guessing. All things being equal, Clinton stands to take a truly stunning electoral college win in November, but if WikiLeaks drops a bombshell, or terrorists drop a bomb, all bets are off.
We’ll just have to wait and see.
Alex Miller is a professional writer and astrologer, whose website AlexAsteroidAstrology.com offers a trove of info on the role of asteroids in personal and mundane astrology. He is the author of The Black Hole Book (available on Amazon.com) and The Urban Wicca, former editor of “The Galactic Calendar,” and past president of The Philadelphia Astrological Society. His pioneering work with Black Holes in astrological interpretation began in 1991, when his progressed Sun unwittingly fell into one. Alex’s books and writings are available on his website. Alex can also be reached for comment or services at .