Depth Astrology » current events

Astro-Veep: What to Look for in the Debates Tonight

Kathy — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:40:35 +0000

Nothing like looking at someone’s horoscope chart to generate a little sympathy.

This afternoon, in gleeful anticipation of tonight’s debate, I’m checking out the birth charts of Vice Presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin –- specifically, their abilities to translate thoughts into meaningful, convincing words, and nicely.

(Please note: My image uploader is being temperamental. I’m working on posting the candidates’ charts here. In the meantime, enjoy my handicapping of tonight’s debate.)

Both candidates have been accused of not being able to filter thoughts before they escape from their mouths. With Biden, the charge is usually around his long-windedness and we can certainly see from the preponderance of green lines (quincunxes and semi-sextiles) in his chart that the man has a lot on his mind. On one hand, he’d like to just sit and enjoy his thoughts. But another part of him needs to process them out with a willing audience. His tendency to go on and on is a reflection of a mental process that tries to capture many ideas at once.

It certainly doesn’t come from Mercury in Scorpio in the 12th house, which would normally keep its own counsel – though that might allow him to think on another level even as he speaks. As you listen to Biden during the debate tonight, see if you can trace these mental processes in the way he responds to questions.

For Palin, the filtering problem comes off as faltering for smart responses when she’s unscripted. Though her Moon-Mercury conjunction suggests a facility for communication, Palin’s larger chart picture suggests significant vulnerability to the environment swirling around her. That is, without clear direction from an advisor, friend or event, she appears to have little anchoring for how to respond to a situation. Her Mars-Saturn-Sun conjunction may also signal a tendency to get defensive when feeling cornered. These patterns have been painfully obvious in the clips of her interviews with Katie Couric over the last few days. Look for similar stymies in the debate tonight. When does Palin switch from eloquent to defensive?

Palin can wow audiences with prepared speeches that are paradoxically aggressive and charming: That lineup of five planets in Aquarius around the descendant, with Moon-Mercury sextile Venus, helps a lot. But the Moon-Mercury-Venus aspect is only distantly connected with Palin’s Sun – her self-awareness and, ideally, her reference point for self-expression. And the Moon is her weakest ego planet, so she may work very hard to say the right words that will appeal to the right people. But the question remains whether she herself connects with them.

Speaking of disconnect, the other criticism of Biden is that he can come off as condescending – indicated, perhaps, by his Saturn in the 7th house. Normally we associate a 7th house position with how others present themselves in your life, not how the chart native comes off to others (for that, we look to the 1st house). But on a more basic level, the 7th house is about projection: If I can’t accept a trait in myself, I’ll attribute it to you instead. And if you don’t deliver on it, then I’ll either do it myself or provoke you until you do.

In addition to Biden’s Saturn being in a prime place for this projection dynamic, and being his weakest ego planet to boot, it is also disconnected from the rest of his aspect structure – with lines only to power planets Pluto and Mars. So it’s not surprising that he still has trouble reining in his condescension. As long as he’s working from his stronger ego planets – Sun quincunx Moon, in a great position for bringing deep thinking out into the public sphere – Biden should do fine tonight. But if things get really heated, if his game is thrown off somehow, look for that condescension to come out.

Frankly, many people, myself included, found much of Palin’s RNC speech to be condescending as well. Not surprisingly, she also has Saturn in the 7th house – though unlike Biden’s, hers is, as noted above, closely aligned with her Sun and Mars. Like Biden, though, this Saturn is barely connected to the rest of her aspect structure, making her vulnerable to its unconscious expression and possibly making it hard for her to translate her thoughts into tangible self-expression. She’s not, as many have suggested, a stupid person. But her ability to give voice to her thoughts may be Palin’s great challenge. Watch tonight and see if you can tell when Palin is working from her Moon/Mercury sextile Venus (proper choice of words, beautiful expression) or from her Mars-Saturn-Sun conjunction (defensiveness or attack). See when she’s able to move her thoughts into concrete words and when she has trouble with that.

It should be an interesting night.

Seduction and Power, Take 2: Venus, Scorpio, Money and Control

Kathy — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 21:47:25 +0000

This week’s entry of Venus into Scorpio, coupled with the buzz of global financial meltdown, has my thoughts turning once more to the darker side of power and seduction. Of course, like Mercury retrograde, Venus is not the instigator of the mess in the financial markets. There are lots more likely contenders for that honor. But this week’s news peak reflects the energy
of Venus in Scorpio in an interesting way.

The entrance of the beautiful, shining Venus into the dark, murky waters of Scorpio brings a more personal, more intimate perspective to issues of power and seduction. Whereas Venus in Libra may have tried to equivocate, compromise and create the right atmosphere for seduction, in Scorpio she becomes more forthrightly demanding, possessive and controlling. She’s done talking about abstractions and ideals. She’s finally able to admit that, as every Don Juan knows (or should!), you’re always more attractive when you talk about me.

This kind of power-seduction dance could happen anywhere — in the bedroom, at the movies, in the grocery store — but we saw it play out clearly last night in George W. Bush’s speech appealing for Americans’ support of his $700 billion bailout plan. The President made a point to personalize the financial crisis for Americans, saying that if the situation is not addressed fully and rapidly:

More banks could fail, including some in your community. The stock market would drop even more, which would reduce the value of your retirement account. The value of your home could plummet. Foreclosures would rise dramatically. And if you own a business or a farm, you would find it harder and more expensive to get credit. More businesses would close their doors, and millions of Americans could lose their jobs. Even if you have good credit history, it would be more difficult for you to get the loans you need to buy a car or send your children to college. And ultimately, our country could experience a long and painful recession. (Italics and boldface added)

The seduction here is undeniably the dark side of the Scorpionic: controlling, based in fear, based in loss. While evoking partnership in true Venusian fashion, it is clear that the speaker (not surprisingly) wants control of that partnership placed squarely in his court. So he talks about us, which makes us listen, and then rivets us further by evoking our scariest fantasies of personal catastrophe and unthinkable loss. Then he goes back to the benevolent dictator role by promising to take care of us: Don’t worry. Daddy is in control. Trust me.

The speech also can’t help but evoke the central symbol of the current crisis: money, our culture’s quintessential mechanism for self-possession, self-control, self-determination. Who has it? Who doesn’t? The beauty of a democracy is that everyone (in theory) has one vote. The beauty of capitalism is that (even more in theory) everyone has control over their money. But if we don’t have personal control over a little cash, or if we have no cash at all, then who exactly is in control of our lives? It’s one of the central things counselors tell women who are being abused in their homes: Stash a little cash away, if you can, for the time when you have to run — when you can finally take control of your own life.

It’s a paradoxical appeal, in a way. In asking us to bless his bailout package, Bush asked us to entrust power and control to him in the short-term so that we can be more assured of personal power and control in the long-term. But how do we know he will use the power for good? And how do we know we’ll get it back?

This week’s planetary positions indicate there is a key choice in response to this moment of crisis. On one hand, we could work toward a greater understanding of the crisis for the purpose of moving ahead with new structures and perspectives. (Granted, this possibly might have to allow for the total breakdown of the current system — not because of urgency but instead because the power of knowledge sometimes leads naturally to change.) Or, on the other hand, we could try to placate the situation through sweetly-phrased power-grabs and drowning the whole ugly mess in a thick, sugary coat.

Of course, a greater understanding requires more learning, more information, more data. The brevity and vagueness of Bush’s bailout plan don’t appear to support that path, at least in the short-term. That’s what really frightens me.

Look, I’m not scared of massive, systemic Plutonian breakdown and change. I believe if it comes, something else — and, optimistically, something better — will come in its place. But I don’t know that you can make the best go-forward decisions without the full scope of important information, without shining a light into the darkness. This, rather than sugar-coating a gunky swamp, is what Venus in Scorpio could really do over the next few weeks: lighten the dark.

Sure, knowing ahead of time what’s in those murky waters might still kill you, but at least you’d know enough to pack your snakebite kit.

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P.S. This is my first foray into astrological political blogging. Please let me know what you think in the Comments section below! Should I forge ahead bravely or go back to more personal reflections? Or some combination of both?

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