Biden vs. Bernie
Now that the Democratic primary has settled down to a two person race (sorry Tulsi Gabbard) I thought it was time to look at the astrological situation for the two candidates left standing: Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden. Unfortunately, I can’t do a completely balanced matchup because we don’t have a birth time for Bernie Sanders. I recently did a speculative chart for Sanders based on how well he was doing in the early primaries. I will be using that chart, but it is purely speculative.
We do have a time of birth for Joe Biden, though I think it might be off by a few minutes. (Click here to the article in which I discuss this. Click here to see a chart done with his recorded time.) At the moment, as you might guess from his performance yesterday, Biden is getting some astrological love in the form of a nice sextile from transiting Jupiter to his natal Mercury. Sextiles are not life-changing aspects, but they do bring us good news and, sometimes, a bit of luck. In mid-May Jupiter will almost sextile Biden’s Sun before it goes retrograde. It will sextile his natal Mercury again in September.
Saturn joins the sextile party in Biden’s chart in late July when it is sextile his Sun and Venus. Saturn sextiles aren’t quite as positive as Jupiter sextiles. Things tend to go your way but often the result is not as you planned, or the positive changes that come bring you added responsibilities and work. Saturn will be sextile Biden’s natal Mercury in November, just after the election.
Of course, the big news in Biden’s horoscope for this year is the passage of transiting Neptune over his I.C. Neptune obscures. It encourages rumors and imprecise information. We can already see Neptune’s influence in Biden’s life with the uproar over his son's involvement with an Ukrainian oil company. You can count on hearing a lot about this matter over the next few months. It’s not so much that Biden will be found guilty of wrongdoing. It will be more about questions raised about his character and judgement.
However, the most damaging influence of Neptune in Biden’s chart may not have anything to do with Ukraine. It could well be more about his speaking style and his proneness for misstatements and verbal meandering. This in is Neptunian quality and it could get Biden in trouble on the debate stage and elsewhere.
The saving grace for Joe Biden lies in his secondary progressed chart. Here he has progressed Mercury opposite his natal Jupiter. For all of his verbal fumbling, this aspect tells us that Biden is excited about the message he’s putting out there. That excitement is one reason he’s ahead in the delegate count. Unfortunately, that excitement, along with a tendency to skirt the details, will only add to Biden’s tendency toward verbal gaffs.
We don’t have to worry about Bernie Sanders fumbling his words. He’s been shouting the same message for as long as some of his millennial supporters have been alive, and he shows no sign of stopping. Unfortunately, that message, which is so good for stirring up crowds at rallies, has not brought younger voters to the polls in the kind of numbers that Bernie Sanders needs.
I have said many times that Sanders was working against the odds, astrologically. Pluto is currently square his natal Mars and his natal Venus. This is an aspect that weighs you down. The Mars square saps your physical energy while the square to Venus makes it difficult for you to get people on your side. It is an aspect for frustration and obstacles. The fact that Sanders has done as well as he has in this primary season with this T-square in his chart truly amazes me.
In the speculative chart I did for Sanders I proposed a birth time of 1:10 PM. (Click here to see that speculative chart.) This put his secondary progressed Sun on his Ascendant. That’s a very powerful aspect. Donald Trump had this going on in his chart back in 2016. It would certainly explain why Bernie is still in the race. However, most of the time, a power transit outweighs a powerful progression, at least in terms your your outer, public life.
Sanders may get some help in late March and early April when transiting Jupiter catches up with Pluto and joins the square to Bernie’s Mars and Venus. Jupiter brings a more positive influence, even though the aspect is stressful. Personally, I doubt that this will be enough to save Sanders’ campaign, but it could bring a period good fortune or, at least, a relief from the pressure.
In the secondary progression of the speculative chart I did for Sanders and I found that he had only one other close progressed aspect. That was his progressed Venus quincunx his natal Jupiter. This is a positive indicator but a weak one. The support it would giving the progressed Sun aspect, if it is present, would be minimal.
Right now the pundits are predicting that Biden will roll up the delegates he needs to win in the upcoming primaries. I wish I could say otherwise but, from what I can see in these two charts, I think the edge goes to Biden. Of course, Bernie has surprised us before and, without a time of birth, I can’t be absolution certain the he won’t do it again.
