A fun spin on serious cosmic stuff! Wendell C. Perry has 40 years experience studying astrology and how it impacts personalities & relationships. He's written two books & published articles in astrology magazines. He's happy to share this website so that you, too, can have fun with astrology to help you in everyday life!
In mundane astrology (the astrology of historical events) we typically look at what’s happening astrologically during the big, documented events, like an election. But sometime the really important decisions are not made during these “big” events. Sometimes these are decisions made in backrooms away from the public eye. A good example of this is the U.S. presidential election of 1876
Those of us who lived through the drama of the 2000 U.S. presidential election and then the truly scary moments of the 2020 election might think that we know all about the crazy twists and turns that American democracy can take. However, we don’t the half of it because, as divisive as those two elections might have seemed, they were calm affairs compared to what happened in 1876.
In 1876 the United States was still recovering from the trauma of the Civil War. It was also was only the seconc national election held after the Amnesty Act of 1872, which returned to ex-confederate soldiers the right to vote. The support of these confederate veterans allowed the Democratic candidate, Samuel Tilden, to win the popular vote. However, he was still short of having a majority in the Electoral College. That vote count would remain in doubt for several months.
A horoscope for Election Day in 1876 explains the confusion. (Click here to see the chart.) Neptune is placed within just a few degrees of the Descendant and it is the focal point of aspects from the Moon, Uranus, Venus, Mercury and Saturn. The T-square with Neptune, Mercury and the Moon explains it all. The people had spoken and the message they had delivered was a Neptunian muddle.
I had hoped that the New Moon for April 20 (click here to see the chart and the article) might give us some relief from the epidemic of gun violence but that proved to be a false hope. However, there was a subtle change in the nature of that violence. Along with the typical crazed gunman shooting up a doctor's office we got people being shot by their neighbors or by homeowners fearful that the delivery guy or the teenager knocking on the wrong door was an imminent threat. This pervasive anger and paranoia resonates with Pluto, which was strongly place in that April 20th chart.
Pluto was placed in the Second House in that chart, bringing together the themes of power and the economy. Republicans in the House of Representatives presented their plan to deal with the debt limit crisis. The plan was an obvious power play that going to fuel a lot of debate. Looking beyond Pluto in that New Moon chart, I thought that the configuration of Uranus and Mercury indicated a technological breakthrough of some sort. That was not the case (as far as I know) but the discovery of (relatively) recent water flow on Mars sort of fits into that “science fiction” theme.
Pluto may have been the dominant factor in the Apr. 20 New Moon chart, but in the Full Moon chart for May 5th, it’s Uranus that’s the “big dog.” It is conjunct the Sun, opposite the Moon, sextile Mars and, more important, near the Midheaven of that chart. (Click on Full Moon to see the chart.) This means that we can expect a Uranian quality to whatever happens during the next two weeks, which doesn’t necessarily bode well but it certainly will keep things interesting.
No one was particularly surprised when President Joe Biden announced his intention to seek a second term yesterday. He has been hinting at such a move for several months. Also, it would be unusual for any first term president not to go for a second. What might make Biden an exception is the fact that he will turn 82 years old in 2024, but the President and his supporters apparently don’t see that as a problem.
Astrologically, the announcement couldn’t have been better timed. It came just as transiting Jupiter was making a 90 degree square aspect to Biden’s natal Jupiter. Square aspects usually imply action and Jupiter is all about expansion and optimism. Of course, Jupiter in a square aspect can sometimes mean too much optimism and, when we look at what’s coming up in Biden’s horoscope for the second half of 2023, it’s evident that Jupiter’s benefic glow is not going to last. (Click on Joe Biden to see the chart.)
I have to admit that I was thrilled when I heard that Tucker Carlson was being “let go” by Fox News, not because of any disagreements I might have with his politics but because I knew we have a complete horoscope with a time of birth for Carlson. It is so seldom that people pop us in the news for whom this is the case that I knew I had to write something about this event. (Click on Tucker Carlson to see the chart.)
First of all, a few words about Carlson’s chart. He is a Taurus by Sun sign. It is amazing how often people with strong philosophical and political opinions turn out to have this Sun sign. We tend to assume that Taurus people are only concerned with the physical but, in fact, they need solid, fixed ideals and principles on which to base their actions in the physical world. This need can sometimes take an otherwise earthy Taurus into an intellectual space that is surprisingly rarified and abstract.
In Carlson’s chart this tendency is reinforced by the placement of the Sun and Moon in the Eleventh House, which indicates a need to be identified with a particular community. Also, he has Jupiter conjunct the South Node of the Moon. In my book, The Lunar Nodes, I associate this aspect with the archetype of the “True Believer.” You often find it in the charts of people with deep religious, philosophical or political convictions.
