Ben Carson's Neptune Problems
It’s becoming a tradition for a conservative African-American to enter the race for the Republican presidential nomination. In 2012 we had Herman Cain. This year we have Dr. Ben Carson. Carson is similar to Cain in that he enters the race with no political experience. However, where Cain’s candidacy fell apart because of scandals erupting from his private life, Carson’s has surrendered to the shiftiness of Neptune.
Carson first became famous as a black man who rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most respected neurosurgeons in the country. In 1996 he published an autobiography, Gifted Hands, that became a bestseller and inspired a TV movie. He has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and has been ranked as one of the most admired men in America.
We don’t have a time of birth for Ben Carson (click on the name to see a chart done for noon), but a partial horoscope reveals that he is a Virgo by Sun sign with his Mars conjunct Pluto. Mars is the planet traditionally associated with surgery and Pluto is considered the “higher” octave of Mars, so this conjunction would certainly explain the outstanding skill he has exhibited as a surgeon. Having the Sun in Virgo is also helpful in this regard. Virgo is often associated with health care and provides for exacting attention to detail.
However, Carson’s Mars also forms a close sextile with Neptune. On the positive side, Neptune is associated with creativity. Carson would have never achieved fame as a surgeon if he was not at some level creative in the application of his skills. It is also associated with spirituality. Carson is a devout follower of the Seventh Day Adventist Church and credits his faith as a stabilizing factor in his life. And Neptune is associated with compassion. Carson chose to specialize in pediatric surgery, helping children.
On the negative side, Neptune has problems with boundaries, and Carson’s political involvement has brought those problems to the fore. Carson has become famous for making outlandish statements. He has called President Obama a psychopath and compared Obamacare to slavery. He opposes gay marriage and has said that judges that rule in favor of it should be removed from the bench.
As much as these statements shock liberals, Carson has made others that have equally exasperate hardcore conservatives. He is the only Republican candidate to say the gun control in urban areas might not be a bad idea. He has also made very sensible remarks with regard to end-of-life issues and the right to die. And, before he became a politician, he was deeply critical of the health insurance industry and the whole idea of for-profit health care.
I don’t have a complete horoscope for Carson, but I fairly sure that if I did it would show Neptune strongly placed and that sextile to Mars emphasized. Virgos generally avoid extremes and rarely say things that are blatantly bonkers, but when Neptune is a dominant factor, even a Virgo can go off the rails.
For the past couple of years Carson’s secondary progressed Venus has been opposed to his natal Jupiter. This is why his has become such a popular figure, and likely what inspired him to run for president. However, this aspect in beginning to wane, and his progressed Venus will soon be with range of a square to his natal Uranus. This tells me that the candidacy of Ben Carson, like that of Herman Cain in 2012, is destined to come to a disasterous end.
