Recent pronouncements by 2020 presidential election contenders and a personal run-in with potential disaster sent me scrambling for the ephemeris lately, and while having that knowledge in hindsight didn’t change the reality, at least there was some comfort in confirming the timing of the cosmos is always perfect.
In all four instances, Saturn seems to have been a mover and shaker of the events, and with the planet of authority, restriction, limitation, career and status currently at station, that’s not surprising. Saturn turned retrograde on May 11, but has been energizing its station degree of 1 Aquarius since April 7, and will continue to do so until June 15, affording two months of saturnine shenanigans while it slows, changes direction, and picks up speed again. So Saturn themes are emphasized throughout the period, which has also witnessed the height of the US death toll from coronavirus (about to top 100,000), with Saturn acknowledged by the ancients as Lord of Death.
Saturn also rules chief executives and the presidency, which is the chief focus of this article. In particular, we’ll look at two statements from presidential candidate Donald Trump and one from rival Joe Biden, all of which garnered heightened attention or controversy.
Case One
“The time has come, the Trumprus said, to talk of many things – of Lysol cures, Obamagate, and hydroxychloroquine.” (with apologies to Lewis Carroll)
The first incident involves Trump’s almost offhand announcement on May 18 that he himself was taking the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, which he had touted for months as a possible miracle cure for COVID-19. Trump made the assertion in front of a press spray, almost as a sidebar, but the news quickly eclipsed anything official that was revealed on the same occasion. The President alleges he began his two-week preventive course in the immediate aftermath of learning that his personal White House valet had tested positive for the disease. But was the statement factual?
The skies suggest it was not. Trump has taken a lot of heat recently for his endorsement of the controversial drug, following several studies which revealed that the medication caused more problems than it relieved, even increasing mortality among those COVID-19 patients treated with it. So Trump had a vested interest in pushing back on the naysayers—what better way than to declare he was taking it himself, and “I’m still here”, as he gloatingly confirmed.
As you may imagine, there is no “hydroxychloroquine” asteroid, but there is a “Quine”, an exact match for its last syllable, and at 1 Gemini for Trump’s revelation, this was highlighted by the transit Sun at 28 Taurus, putting the drug in the spotlight at the time. Saturn in exact trine from 1 Aquarius showed the President’s (Saturn) support (trine) for the medication (Quine), reinforced by asteroid Troemper, our personal celestial referent for The Donald, in semisquare to Quine from 17 Aries.
But look what else Troemper is doing. For one, it’s sextile a forming conjunction of Mercury at 13 Gemini with asteroid Lie at 20 Gemini, suggesting false (Lie) statements (Mercury); it’s also trine asteroid Panacea at 12 Leo, named for the Greek goddess ruling medications (and which has come to mean the “quick fix” Trump touted hydroxychloroquine to be), which is closely conjoined asteroid NOT at 13 Leo, a disqualifier that indicates a negative or countermanding force; and finally, it’s squared asteroid Bilk at 18 Capricorn, signifying fraud generally. Put it all together, and it portrays a duplicitous (Bilk), purposefully inaccurate (Lie) disclosure to the press (both Mercury) from the president (Troemper) about a drug (Panacea) he’s only pretending to take (NOT).
Further confirmation of the essential inaccuracy of the statement, and why the story broke that day, is asteroid Whitehouse at 19 Virgo in close square to Lie, the Sun’s exact quintile to Panacea, Mercury’s close semisquare to Panacea/NOT, and Panacea’s exact semisquare to asteroid Swindle at 27 Virgo, another indicator of funny business afoot.
No, folks, he ain’t takin’ it.
Case Two
“Because you know I’m all about that base, ’bout that base, mo’ trouble.” (with apologies to Meghan Trainor)
On May 22, Donald Trump attempted to shore up his flagging poll numbers with key base constituencies by declaring that he was “opening the churches” for the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, whatever anyone else said. Decrying state governors who have judged “liquor stores and abortion clinics” to be “essential businesses” capable of reopening, but continuing to restrict houses of worship, Trump brought the hammer down on their irreligion. “It’s not right” scolded the President, who patently does not have the authority to enforce what he has ordered.
Once again Saturn plays a key role, representing the President, the business community, and the imposed limitation of COVID-19 closures, and now in a perfected trine with the transit Sun at 1 Gemini, putting Trump and these issues once again in the spotlight. Saturn also sextiles asteroid Isis at 2 Sagittarius, a point which represents reuniting sundered parts of a whole, much in the way Trump hopes to reassemble his coalition by courting fundamentalist Christians via his endorsement of church reopenings. Saturn’s exact opposition to asteroid Christian at 1 Leo makes this obvious, as does the Yod (AKA “Finger of Destiny”) formed by the sextile to Isis, with asteroid Church at its Apex, inconjunct both from 0 Cancer.
But lest we miss that message, the cosmos has obliged with a confirmatory T-Square from Neptune, representing issues of faith and zeal, at 20 Pisces opposed a close alliance of asteroids Fanatica and Whitehouse at 19 and 20 Virgo (the hand-in-glove relationship between the administration and fundamentalists), with an exact Mercury/Venus retrograde pairing on its fulcrum at 20 Gemini (showing the flagging popularity —Venus retro—in the polls—Mercury—which prompted the statement). Asteroid Troemper at 19 Aries taps into this pattern by semisextile to Neptune, inconjunct to Whitehouse/Fanatica and sextile to Mercury/Venus, confirming The Donald’s direct involvement.
As an aside, let’s note that Troemper is heading into troubled waters, about to join disaffected Eris and its square to powerhouse Pluto at 24 Aries/Capricorn, also incorporating the political, bombastic energies of Jupiter at 27 Cap. If you think we live in interesting times now, give it a few weeks!
Case Three
“Hey Joe, don’t say it bad – Take a sad pun and say it better; Remember to gaffes you’re very much prone, but you alone can make it better” (with apologies to The Beatles)
Well, we all knew it was bound to happen, sooner or later. Gaffe machine Joe Biden has once again stepped into it, asserting to a popular black radio host who was interviewing him, but wavering in his support, “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black!”
The statement was immediately denounced by President Trump and conservative allies, though most African American pundits and commentators seem to be accepting Biden’s later apology and walk-back of the comment as an attempt at humor, acknowledging, “I shouldn’t have been so cavalier.” Setting aside for the moment the obvious old school, racist undertones of coupling blacks with incorrect English usage, let’s see what the stars have to say about it.
The incident occurred May 22, the same day as Trump’s “free the churches” diatribe, and also shows that perfected Sun/Saturn trine, in this case indicating the other contender for the presidency, Joe Biden. Again, just to be clear, the cosmos reiterates this with an exact sextile from Saturn at 1 Aquarius to asteroid Bida, our closest celestial referent for Biden, at 1 Sagittarius, and this forms the base of an exact Yod, or Finger of Destiny, with, you guessed it, asteroid Black at 1 Cancer! You can’t get much more precise than that!
Underscoring the huge visibility of the remark is Black’s exact semisextile to the Sun at 1 Gemini (therefore the Sun is exactly opposing Bida, thrusting him in the spotlight for the day), and semisquare asteroid NOT at 15 Leo, adding the qualifier in the statement, “You ain’t (NOT) black (Black)!”
But if you want further confirmation, how about asteroid Jose (Spanish for “Joseph”) with asteroid Negron (for “negro”, Spanish for “black”), at 18 and 22 Cancer, in a T-Square, opposing Pluto/Jupiter (political scandal) at 24 and 27 Capricorn, with asteroid Josefa (another “Joseph” variant) at the fulcrum from 27 Libra. We can even see Biden’s attempt at damage control, the apology that he was “too cavalier” in his remark, in Josefa’s inconjunct to asteroid Cavalieri at 24 Pisces, conjunct Neptune at 20, which is itself exactly squared Mercury at 20 Gemini, suggesting a confused (Neptune) utterance (Mercury) and prompting the choice of Biden’s descriptive term “cavalier”.
And just to wrap all this up in a cosmic bow, try this on for size: a Grand Trine from Josefa to asteroid Schwartz (German for “black”) at 21 Aquarius and that Mercury. Yep, Uncle Joe is interacting with African Americans, for sure!
Biden’s been insinuating himself into the news a lot more lately (generally in a more positive light), and that’s no surprise, with asteroid Josephina, yet another PNA referent for Joseph, at 4 Aquarius conjunct Saturn and also at station, embedding Biden more firmly into the news narrative in his capacity as presidential contender. But Josephina is turning retrograde on May 28, joining Bida in that stance, so the next few months may be less than smooth sailing for the Biden campaign. With Joe Biden’s natal Mercury at 21 Scorpio conjunct Mars at 12 Scorpio and squared Chiron at 28 Leo, Biden’s foot-in-mouth disease and its ability to create annoyance or upset is plain to see; the T-Square with Damocles/Whitehouse at 25 and 28 Aquarius shows this as the potential disaster looming over his presidential run.
Case Four
“Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends; Mm, see more sky with a little help from my friends; Mm, learnin’ why with a little help from my friends” (with apologies – again – to The Beatles)
Here’s where the personal meets the celestial, and you get another glimpse into my life and chart.
When Saturn came to station at 1 Aquarius in opposition to my natal Sun at 4 Leo (as well as square the 4 Scorpio Ascendant), I figured there’d be more than a few challenges to face this spring and summer, Saturn being the grim taskmaster that he is. The move itself was under that umbrella to some extent (though it was so protracted, over many months, that there were a lot of cosmic influences at play), but as things worked out, Saturn’s role there seemed to have been just a cementing of the timing, with the final move occurring May 9, just two days before the station. So Saturn was saying, “OK, you own a house, now you’re an adult!”
As I looked at other transits this year, I also noted Neptune stationing at 20 Pisces opposed my Moon at 19 Virgo, so my watchword for the move became “check everything twice, then check it again!” Neptune sows confusion and disorder, so being prepared for things to go haywire is best at these times.
And with Neptune ruling water and the Moon ruling the home, as the proud owner of a leaky basement, I figured that would be one source of trouble. So again—preparedness. My father compensated for the wet by leaving the basement essentially empty and installing a sump pump and dehumidifier, but with 8 million boxes of seasonal tchotchke to provide for, I didn’t have the luxury of discounting the cellar as a major storage area. So I brought in wood pallets to hold the shelving units, and made sure everything was at least 3” off the floor.
Satisfied, I prepared to meet my soggy fate.
Except it wasn’t an excess of water, as you’d expect from Neptune; it was a lack! On Sunday May 17, while watering the extensive new perennial plantings, the well ran dry! While I had noted the obvious opposition from Neptune to the Moon, and the theme of water being an issue in the home, I hadn’t factored in Saturn’s station in sesquiquadrate to the Moon, less easy to see.
Saturn of course brings limitation, restriction, lack or privation. And so it was…
But that’s not the end of the story. While commiserating with friend and dwarf planet expert Sue Kientz about the situation, she asked if there might be any asteroids in play. As well there might!
Upon checking the listings, I found an asteroid Wells. Transiting at 16 Aries, I noted that Wells had just squared my natal Saturn at 13 Capricorn, and was inconjunct my Moon. But the kicker was in the natal chart – asteroid Wells appears there at 1 Leo, exactly opposed the recent Saturn station! You just can’t make this shit up!
One more of life’s mysteries solved. By the way, water pressure returned in about an hour, and I have since established a less stressful watering schedule, dividing the garden into quadrants and extending the time between waterings. Hopefully that puts me in good with the well, and I don’t need to take further action.
On a related note, after publishing my recent “House Diary” on Beltane, a reader asked if there were any asteroids which might explain my love of gardening. From my prior work with current events and biographies, I knew there to be an asteroid Gardner, closest referent to the profession (or avocation, in my case) of “gardener.” You may imagine my lack of shock to discover that natally, asteroid Gardner lies at 3 Leo, just one degree off my Sun.
And with all the work I’m doing getting the yard in shape, Saturn’s opposition to this point sure makes it feel like my new job!
As for the anticipated deluge, never fear—Neptune doesn’t actually station opposed my Moon until late June, so there’s plenty of time for that!
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 .
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