Now that the Democratic and Republican conventions are long behind us, let’s take a look at the acceptance charts for those nominations, as a preview of what to expect for the campaign and the upcoming election in November.
Joe Biden confirmed his party’s nomination by uttering “with great honor and humility, I accept this nomination,” at 10:49 PM EDT on August 20, 2020, from a largely empty school gymnasium in Wilmington, Delaware, with himself, his running mate, the spectators and crew observing current CDC guidelines on mask-wearing and social distancing.
Donald Trump’s statement that “with a heart full of gratitude and boundless optimism, I profoundly [? did he mean “proudly”?] accept this nomination” occurred on August 27 at 10:28 PM EDT, in front of a crowd of 1500 people, largely without masks, packed check-by-jowl on the White House lawn. In addition to being a likely COVID-19 superspreader event, the occasion was also a violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits political activity by government personnel on government property. True, the president himself is specifically exempted from this legislation, but none of the staffers or administration officials who attended, facilitated or participated in the event are.
Those circumstances describe in a nutshell the fundamental difference between the candidacies, with one campaign respecting and observing science, conscious of the safety and welfare of its supporters; and the other contemptuous of expertise of any sort, denying science with callous disregard for the health of its adherents. They are, essentially, polar opposites of each other.
That said, it is perhaps even more astounding to find that both charts have the exact same angles! Although separated by a full week, Trump’s declaration occurred approximately 20 minutes earlier in the evening than Biden’s, and that discrepancy plus the intervening time lapse and the relative proximity of the two venues (which are barely 100 miles apart) allowed the two moments in time to sync precisely, perhaps causing cynics to wonder if there is so much as a dime’s difference between the candidates.
Of course rational individuals understand that this is not the case, and there has rarely been an election in US history which has presented such a stark, dramatic choice. Be that as it may, celestially the two nominees are twins, at least as far as their underpinning structure is concerned, which is what the angles, the fastest-moving points in the chart, represent (making their synchronous appearance in both charts that much more remarkable). With 12 Taurus Rising and 24 Capricorn at the MC, both show Uranus at 10 Taurus on the Ascendant, indicating a high level of energy, potential controversy and engagement. Both have Pluto at 22 Capricorn and Saturn at 26 Capricorn, straddling the Midheaven, making power and authority the ultimate focus of the campaigns.
In his “Build Back Better” slogan, Biden has chosen to highlight the structural (Saturn) transformation (Pluto) elements of this conjunction, while Trump continues to focus on fear (Saturn) of a destructive apocalypse (Pluto) in his campaign rhetoric. These are merely two sides of the same coin, just like Good and Evil, though which side lands face up can be important. Jupiter joins the fray in both instances, at 18 Cap retrograde for Biden, slightly more engaged with the MC than from 17 Cap for Trump. Both campaigns are likely to go to extremes in their rhetoric, and neither has a corner on the market for “good luck”, whatever that is.
There are other similarities in the two charts, and some important differences. Both have Mercury conjunct the Sun; Biden’s conjunction, at 28 Leo and 2 Virgo, is much closer than Trump’s, at 5 and 15 Virgo, but perhaps hampered by the variance in signs—it may be harder to square Biden’s message (Mercury) with the essential core of his campaign (Sun). Trump and his message are more aligned in some ways, but the ten-degree orb signals that the rhetoric may be getting away from him, he is in danger of looking disconnected and out of touch. That seems to be the case with his over-the-top characterization of Biden as a besotted Sanders-style liberal; but people already know Biden, Trump’s hyperbole is ridiculous, and no one but the most rabid of Trump acolytes would buy that one.
Both charts have an exact Nike/Victoria pairing, Biden’s nomination at 26 Virgo, and Trump’s at 29, and both trine the Capricorn stellium. This combines the “winning” energy for both campaigns (Nike and Victoria are named respectively for the Greek and Roman goddesses of victory), providing more focus for the drive to victory, as opposed to a scattered approach, if Nike and Victoria were in conflict. But Biden has an incalculable advantage here—incredibly, the transit Moon at his acceptance was exactly conjunct Nike/Victoria, and this grouping is exactly trine Saturn!
This suggests approval of the masses (Moon) for a Biden win (Nike/Victoria) in the battle for the presidency (Saturn). It allows Biden to portray himself as the adult (Saturn) in the room (Moon), though clearly both, as septuagenarians, fit the bill for Saturn’s “old man” vibe. And not for nuthin’, this Nike/Victoria closely squares Biden’s natal Nike at 29 Sagittarius, perhaps giving him a further boost. (By Trump’s nomination his celestial referent, asteroid Troemper, has created a Grand Trine with this aspect from 27 Taurus, but Nike/Victoria’s forward movement has left Jupiter out of the equation, leaving only the rather ambiguous energies of Saturn and Pluto in the mix, harder to manager and control, and not unreservedly positive.)
Trump’s nomination Moon at 4 Capricorn is fast approaching the stellium, but still isolated from it, though in a Grand Trine with the Sun and Uranus, and in an out-of-sign square to Nike/Victoria. If Trump can sufficiently excite (Uranus) his people (Moon) with his incendiary rhetoric (Uranus), he may yet win (Nike/Victoria), but it’s a struggle (square). However, the Moon also tightly squares asteroid Nemesis at 5 Libra; Trump may find that what he thinks is his salvation, namely his connection with disaffected Americans, is actually his undoing (Nemesis). In focusing exclusively during his first term on the roughly one third of the electorate which shares his views, he has completely alienated the remaining two thirds, not a formula for decisive victory.
In both charts, fittingly, Troemper opposes Bida, these being our primary celestial referents for the President and former VP. These two have been in opposition since mid-July, within a ten-degree orb, and are within five degrees of opposing each other from August 10 through the 30, a period which neatly covers both conventions, when their rivalry is naturally on display. This reiterates the mirroring theme, as opposed points, locked in a Full Moon position, reflect each other, though the effect of their out-of-sign aspect (Troemper appears at 25 and 27 Taurus in these charts, Bida at 0 and 2 Sagittarius) suggests a disjointed, Fun-House-Mirror kind of reflection, somewhat fractured or distorted. They are opposed, but not perfect opposites.
But Biden again has an unexpected ally, in the form of asteroid America, representing the US, which conjoins Bida from 6 and 7 Sagittarius in these charts. Bida and America have been traveling together within ten degrees since mid-July, just as Biden began to pull ahead of Trump significantly and consistently in national polling, and came within five degrees as of August 26, the day before Trump’s acceptance speech. Their exact union will be October 10, and they will remain within five degrees through the election, until late November, finally separating by more than ten degrees on the last day of 2020. This celestial identification of the country with Biden can only do him good, as the two become inseparable in the collective unconscious for the final weeks of the campaign., and during the all-important interregnum when this election may be decided through legal action.
In contrast, the Sun of Trump’s nomination at 5 Virgo squares asteroid America at 7 Sagittarius, putting him at cross-purposes with the country, though this is a more fleeting aspect which will not color the entire period in real time, except to the extent this chart does so.
One major difference between the two charts is a Grand Cross which appears in Trump’s nomination, but which may be more trouble than it’s worth. This had begun to form for Biden’s nomination but wasn’t fully fleshed-out until Trump’s. It involves that Jupiter/Pluto/Saturn grouping at 17, 22 and 26 Capricorn, squared by Mars with TNO Eris at 26 and 24 Aries, with Venus moving to oppose from 20 Cancer and asteroid Whitehouse in square at 20 Libra. (Mars/Eris and the Cap stellium are fairly stable for Biden’s nomination, but Venus is wide at 12 Cancer and Whitehouse is at 17 Libra, just joining the party.)
The implication is that women (Venus) and disaffected persons (Eris) are the battleground (Mars) of the campaigns (also Mars), requiring the campaign’s focus (Saturn) and wielding excessive (Jupiter) power (Pluto); whoever is most popular and gains their approval (Venus again) will reap the reward and responsibility (Saturn) of the Oval Office (Whitehouse).
It’s hard, at this point, to imagine Trump winning over a majority of women (Venus), which leaves discontented populations (Eris) in play. Plenty of those to go around in the US, and in the last round in 2016, Trump mobilized White grievance to his advantage. That he’ll surely try to do again, and may be successful, but this time minorities will be much more engaged. Before, the idea that Trump could win was seen as somewhat fringe (and the resulting outcome if he did was somewhat indistinct), and lots of folks sat on their hands, expecting a Hillary victory without their active participation. Now, four years later, with the full panoply of Trump dystopia and chaos on display, hopefully they’ll be involved, and will far exceed the total Trump can rouse to his banner.
There are additional PNA factors for Biden’s first name, though finding a suitable referent for “Donald” is exasperating. In the Biden nomination chart, asteroid Josephina, a feminine form of Joseph, appears at 22 Capricorn, exact with Pluto, a commanding position, if also fraught with potential peril. Pluto can make or mar, but the precision of the alignment, which is also exactly on the Jupiter/Saturn midpoint, argues for at least a manifestation which is more clearly under Biden’s control, not subject to Pluto’s whim. And asteroid Josefa, another feminine variant, appears at 28 Libra, squared the Cap stellium, trine Mars at 25 Aries and exactly sextile the Sun. This could promote energy (Mars) and visibility (Sun) for the campaign.
As well, asteroid Jose, the Spanish form of Joseph, appears at 22 Leo, exact with asteroid Washingtonia, and within orb of the Sun at 28 Leo (also exactly inconjunct Josephina/Pluto). This highlights Biden (Sun), and connects him directly to the nation’s capital (Washingtonia), where he hopes to spend the next four years.
For Trump, we have two “Donald” options: asteroids Donalek and Donald Duck. Donalek appears at 6 Virgo, closely conjoined the 4 Virgo Sun, again highlighting him in the moment. Donald Duck might be more appropriate, given the “cartoon character” vibe the President often exudes. At 24 Scorpio, it is exactly sextile the MC and exactly squared Washingtonia at 24 Leo (as well as exactly conjoining Trump’s natal IC). It’s interesting that Biden, the ultimate insider after almost 50 years in government, has his referent exactly conjoined Washingtonia, while Trump, who still attempts to bill himself as an outsider (despite running the country for four years), has his referent in exact square, implying a high level of stress between himself and the government he heads.
Finally, one more similarity—both nominations have asteroid Karma prominent, angular on the 24 Cancer IC; at 23 Cancer for Biden, and 26 for Trump. This indicates Fate (Karma) as the foundation (IC) of both campaigns. Whatever happens in November, we can feel confident it was meant to be.
Or was it? Oddly, both charts have asteroid NOT, a general disqualifier, directly bound up with their exact Nike/Victoria conjunctions, precisely at those respective degrees! So, in that case, does nobody win?
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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