What a week! News broke on December 10th that President Obama has ordered a full investigation into Russia’s cyber-hacking of the U.S. presidential election—now thought by the CIA to have been aimed at installing Trump in the White House.
Obama’s announcement was followed closely by this CIA announcement,
as summarized by The Washington Post:
The
Washington Post is now reporting that the CIA has concluded something
widely suspected but never flatly stated by the intelligence community: that
Russia moved deliberately to help
elect Donald Trump as president of the United States — not just to undermine
the U.S. political process more generally.
And all of this has been happening while a powerful Full
Moon perfected in Sagittarius (Sun)-Gemini (Moon) on the 13th—closely aligned with Donald Trump’s
Gemini-Sagittarius Sun-Moon. We’ll take a much closer look at the relevant
charts for this event ahead.
Obama’s investigation comes 2 months too late, of course;
apparently, ample intelligence regarding Russian interference (from seventeen different agencies) was
available back in October, when the president initially called for a bipartisan
investigation. Along with other Republicans that Obama called upon at that
time, however, Senate leader Mitch McConnell squashed the pre-election investigation
idea, saying that if Obama proceeded with it, he would view the effort as
“politically motivated.”
Double bind number one—Obama erred on the side of
respecting the election process; others, obviously, did not.
As the news has been quick to point out, McConnell had a personal
vested interest in stopping that investigation (aside from his allegiance to
Trump)—McConnell’s wife Elaine Chao, a former Secretary of Labor—was soon to be
named Trump’s Secretary of Transportation.
Fast forward to the 12th, and McConnell changed
his tune, if only to keep the situation from getting too open: he now backs an investigation by Senate committees (Intelligence
and Armed Forces, that happen to be led by Republicans). Other Senators, such
as Democrats Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and Elijah Cummings (MD.) would rather see a
special, bipartisan, 2-chamber committee set up specifically for such an
investigation.
Obama wants the investigation he’s ordered to be completed ASAP—before he leaves office—and the press has exploded with anguished
handwringing about next steps, if it turns out that Russia did somehow
influence the election for Trump.
Trump’s repeated mantra that “the election is rigged” may
turn out to be only too true, in fact, and it appears that the rigging may have
been both an inside and outside job. Outgoing
Senate majority leader Harry
Reid points a finger at FBI head James Comey for throwing the election for
Trump. At issue here is Comey’s reported release of information from hacked DNC
and Clinton emails, while apparently sitting on intelligence that could have hurt
Trump (still a matter of debate).
Many have speculated that Comey himself was in a tricky
position—perhaps headed for the hot seat after the election if he hadn’t issued the now-infamous “letter.”
As we’ll consider ahead, all of these double binds have similar astrological
credentials.
It seems to me that the classical double-bind—being damned if you do, damned if you don’t—is
a deeply mutable phenomenon. By definition a trap created by bridging two sides,
the double-bind’s power lies in the codependence of the relationship in play,
which is defined by its conflicting interests and—often—by a Victim-Victimizer
narrative. Caught between two sets of priorities and demands, the players in
double-bind relationships tap into the slippery power of astrology’s mutable
polarities: Gemini-Sagittarius and Virgo-Pisces. Let’s consider some key
points:
Gemini is all about gathering information and using that
information to connect with others, for the sheer pleasure of the chase. In
fact, information itself is a “bright, shiny object” that provides essential stimulation: Gemini ruler Mercury
co-rules our nervous systems (some would say our minds) with electrical Uranus—bridging the right and left hemispheres of our brains with
electrical, information-laden impulses.
These impulses are then available for use in our Sagittarian
intellectual lives and belief systems; they help us express our fiery pedantic,
“teacher/prophet” instincts, and thereby expand
(Jupiter
rules Sagittarius) our presence in
society. “Hot air” expands—sort of like Trump’s “modest” acceptance speech for Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” (his
Moon
is in Sagittarius).
In astrology, we often speak about relationships as a
Venus-related phenomenon, but Mercury—particularly in its airy Gemini
dimension—is all about crossing boundaries and connecting multiple entities at
once in a Sender-Receiver type of relationship that we know as “the Media.” Communication
is, after all, an important element of any relationship.
On the receiving end, human thinkers then abstract (Sagittarius) elements
within that stream of sensory data (Gemini), and using their faculties
of analysis (Virgo), they form concepts
and beliefs that fit their ideological frameworks (culture, religion, biases,
etc.).
Data bits (such as Trump’s treatment of women) that are
analyzed and fall short in the receiver’s frameworks (Virgo) are either
rejected, endangering broader acceptance of the sender (Trump), or they are
somehow reconciled within that framework (by denying, excusing or accommodating
the behavior, etc.).
Here’s where the
force of emotion (Pisces) comes in: emotions routinely overwhelm rational
judgment, and with sign ruler Neptune transiting the sign, these
emotions have been at high tide.
Those who criticize Trump
for having essentially “no ideology but himself” are tapping into his amazing 10th-4th
house Sun-Moon opposition in Gemini-Sagittarius. Along this axis,
his family name/heritage/reputation, not to mention his ego, are tightly interdependent—he
sells the mere use of his name, around the world.
Trump’s natal full moon suggests that ego gratification (Sun)—Gemini
stimulation—is a constant need (Moon) because it feeds his inner “wild
man/maverick” (Sagittarius). As we’ll see ahead, this polarity shooting
through the heart of his chart is being powerfully triggered by this week’s Full
Moon, falling (perfected on the 13th) precisely flipped on his Sun-Moon.
Let’s examine the relevant
charts—Trump’s nativity against the exact Full Moon. The Full Moon chart is
cast for Washington, D.C. (Trump as elected official).
Biwheel #1: (inner wheel) Donald J. Trump, June
14, 1946, 10:54 a.m. DST, Jamaica, NY; (outer wheel) Full Moon, December
13, 2016, 7:05:37 p.m. ST, Washington, D.C.
A Full Moon illuminates—in this case, the character of Trump
himself and what type of power structure he is constructing around himself.
Many commentators have attempted to read Trump’s nebulous policies by examining
his Cabinet picks and the Apprentice-style
parade of high-level government job applicants. Without getting into the long
list, one prominent feature of his principle appointments is that they are
white males—very “macho” white males.
Clearly these men resonate with Trump’s authority-conscious Leo
Mars/ASC—Trump deals from a position of strength (even if he has to bully his way into that position), and he likely expects his
alter-ego-appointments to do the same. Unfortunately, the type of strength he
seems too respect is purely authoritarian: military generals or billionaire
CEOs—conflated into what one Washington
Post article
calls, “an army of business titans to do battle in Washington.”
If the pending investigations have anything to do with it, this
Full Moon will probably also illuminate why Trump is so eager to add Putin into
his strong-man confab. For starters, their respective Mars are happy to connect—Trump’s
at the same degree in Leo as Putin’s is in Sagittarius.
In fact, Putin’s Mars is tightly conjoined by transiting Saturn in this December
13th chart.
A volatile Aquarius Mars--disposing the chart's Aries Uranus--is featured in this
Full Moon chart, opposite Trump’s natal Mars and conjunct his DSC/Part
of Fortune. These aspects reflect the various efforts going on before
Monday’s Electoral College vote to question Trump’s fitness for the presidency,
but the likelihood of an overthrow is slim: his chart provides fail-safe
mechanisms galore.
Interchart Grand Air
Trine: Transiting Mars &Trump POF-DSC
(all Aquarius) trines transiting Moon-Trump Sun (both Gemini), which trines
transiting Jupiter-Trump Jupiter (both Libra). If we didn’t know that
investigations and other efforts are dogging his steps these days, we’d
probably look at this breezy configuration and say that Trump is “hitting his
stride,” very quickly establishing his narrative (Gemini) that a radically
different, perhaps bellicose posture (Aquarius Mars) towards his enemies (DSC—his
enemies are soon to be construed as the nation’s
enemies) will trigger expansive growth (Libra Jupiter). In fact, a less exact
version of this grand trine already features in Trump’s nativity, but this Full
Moon moment highlights and enhances the pre-existing dynamics.
Grand trines imply very little resistance—the energized
agenda simply flows. Even though this may just feel like business as usual to
Trump, the added punch of the Full Moon could inspire increased recklessness. As
we see with Mitch
McConnell and Paul Ryan this week, others are often called upon to clean up
or contain the mess.
Transiting Sun-Saturn-Trump Moon (all Sagittarius) sextile Transiting Mars-Trump
DSC/Part of Fortune (all Aquarius), trine Trump Mars-ASC (Leo) and oppose Transiting
Moon & Trump Sun-Node-Uranus (all Gemini). The key take-away from all this is that Congress
(Saturn)
may be able to leverage the Mars-opposite-Mars challenge happening over his
chart horizon and perhaps rein in his more reckless instincts. Whether dramatic
changes are likely may be up to the following aspect.
Interchart Grand Fire
Trine: Transiting Uranus (Aries) trines
Trump Mars-ASC (Leo), trines Transiting Saturn-Sun &Trump Moon (all Sagittarius);
Transiting Jupiter &Trump Jupiter (both Libra) oppose Transiting Uranus
(Aries). Revelations regarding Trump’s investments and 2nd-8th
house conflicts of interest are likely, but the likelihood of holding him
accountable for these conflicts to any serious extent is slim. There’s a mutable,
martial arts-style dynamic in progress here—a challenge (T Mars and T Uranus) is
presented; Trump extracts the energy from that challenge (via sextiles and
trines in his chart to those points) and turns it back on the challenger.
In fact, it won’t surprise me at all if Trump’s postponed press
conference about these conflicts delivers on this mutable dynamic, attempting
to redefine such conflicts as strategic foreign policy assets. For all we can
tell now, the military, rules-conscious strong men he’s installing around him are
looking the other way on this issue, and we have to wonder why.
Today’s “post-Truth” atmosphere only facilitates and
confounds his challengers (Neptune is transiting his 7th).
It will be interesting to see if the current demand
that he divest himself of his new Washington hotel (a former U.S. Post Office
leased from the Federal Government) will stick—this is a situation where Trump
would be both the lease-holder and the landlord! Will signing the lease
over to his kids do the trick?
Still, there is pressure being brought to bear—and this is
nothing new—transiting Uranus has opposed Trump’s Jupiter and trined his Mars
for awhile now, so it could simply reflect the general flurry of activity
designed to install an “anti-Government”
(as one commentator dubbed it). Trump’s continued need to stage mass rallies to
re-envigorate his followers’ support (T Uranus-Trump Moon) is
also reflected here.
More on the mutables
Mercury/Gemini and Jupiter/Sagittarius are not naturally
about exclusive or long-lasting, stable relationships (Venus likes those), but
when we say that another person is “on our wavelength,” we’re tapping into a Gemini-Sagittarius
style relationship. The relationship can be fleeting and unpredictable (air and
fire together are especially so), even if the constant hunger for communication
and ideological connection is satisfied. This polarity lives in the fast lane,
and the “spirited mind” is its playground.
Gemini shares Mercury’s rulership energies with Virgo,
an earth sign that helps us discriminate between desirable and undesirable
information, making it possible to use Mercury’s nervous energy for practical
(even healthy) purposes. Is it possible to channel undesirable information (lies, manipulated facts, etc.) in some
desired direction?—clearly, yes!
This is the terrain we get into with the very mutable
phenomenon of the “fog of war.” When the Machiavellian “ends justify the means,” the truth
is the first casualty. No need to actively lie,
however: a constant nudge, nudge, nudge in the media that casts doubt upon
established facts, and questions the terms of reality as we know them, seem to be the
tactics (Gemini) and strategies (Sagittarius) of our times.
“We don’t
know that Russia hacked the election…it could have been China…it could be a
400-lb. man sitting on his bed in New Jersey…” And up is down and right is left, ad nauseum.
As we might expect, mutable, illusion-spinning sign Pisces
provides the “fog” in question.
It’s no accident that Machiavelli’s nativity
features an air grand trine, with Gemini Mercury trine Libra
Uranus trine Aquarius Node-Moon,, and with Pisces
Mars square his Mercury and opposed his Virgo
Pluto. The quest for power is simply its own
justification here.
This quest often makes lively use of mutable energies: As
we’ve seen, Gemini-Sagittarius is always on the lookout for ways to play
with information and the minds that need to process it: social media now allows
the Senders to reach a mass audience of suggestible Receivers. Truth is optional—just keep the
stimulation (i.e., social media) coming.
Ruled by Mercury and Neptune respectively
(with Jupiter chiming in to co-rule Pisces), the Virgo-Pisces polarity is
capable of the highest, most compassionate, spiritual service ethic, expressed
in the most down-to-earth pragmatic ways (feeding the hungry, nursing care,
etc.), but in its lesser manifestations, Virgo-Pisces can also promote twisted
versions of all of the above, laced with illusions, addiction and
victim-redeemer relationships. Why is it that service-oriented people so often
find themselves in toxic, codependent relationships?
Such relationships overwhelm Virgo’s analytical and discrimination
skills—in the case of a classic alcoholic family, the Neptunian denial that characterizes a Pisces-style
addiction can draw the family into enabling the addict and tip-toeing
around his/her version of reality. There often seems to be little choice: the
addiction creates that classic mutable “double bind” discussed above. If
they’re “damned if they do and damned if they don’t,” people opt for whatever
gets them and their families through the day.
Unfortunately, this passive approach only perpetuates the
addiction and the codependency—an intervention,
on the other hand, interjects facts into the picture (bearing witness
to and naming the addiction), which allows Virgo to assume its naturally
therapeutic role in the healing, and liberates Pisces to make that
much-needed surrender to a “higher power.” etc. The objective, witnessing element
of this transaction brings the Gemini-Sagittarius polarity to
bear—the square aspects involved between these axes reflect the difficulty of
this process.
Mutable mind games are a true, “whole-brained” exercise that
plays the more rational, left-brain centers (Mercury-Jupiter) off
against the more emotional right-brain (Neptune) centers. While the air-fire
energies of Gemini-Sagittarius enliven and relay the erratic particles of
thought, the earth-water energies of Virgo-Pisces provide a more sensory, empathic experience. The first
polarity violates boundaries (mostly mental) in its eagerness to express and be
heard; the second overwhelms the boundaries between the tangible and
intangible, leaving us to ask if the evidence of our senses is “real, or Memorex?”
Clearly, mutable mind games roiled the country during
Election 2016—with Saturn square Neptune (Sagittarius-Pisces) the entire past year, it’s no wonder that facts
were overwhelmed by assorted passive aggressive tactics: dismissing reality,
deflecting attention, casting doubt through innuendo and the toxic labeling of
Others—a way of reframing any opposing narratives.
Viral “Tweets” (Neptune/Pisces)
were used to create perception (Mercury/Gemini);
perceptions assumed the status of facts for those with “ears to hear.” As if to
put a tortured cherry on top of this gooey mess, Politifacts’
“Lie of the Year” was just announced as being “Fake News”—a pernicious use of
mutable energy if there ever was one and a central feature of Election 2016.
The truth certainly was the first casualty in 2016’s
Machiavellian wonderland, and all the fact-checking in the world can’t cut
through the illusions if the “believers” have bought into the narrative that
everyone else is lying and conniving.
On this matter, Trump’s Sagittarian Moon is uniquely
convincing: ruling his aggressively protective Cancer Saturn-Venus conjunction,
his Moon marshals emotion and infuses it with fiery protectionist passion—a
charismatic combination for those looking to circle the wagons against the
outside world.
Playing off his erratic, rebellious Gemini Sun-Node-Uranus, this
mutable Sagittarian energy has rocked the ship of State—troublingly, it seems,
with some input from Russia.
In classic double-bind style, the nation will now be trying
to figure out where the bright line is between a vigorous, no-holds-barred
political sparring match, and an illicitly manipulated contest. Unfortunately,
with this extraordinarily entangled double-bind, there may be multiple “bright
lines,” and they may all be elusive.
This, too shall pass!!
Raye
Robertson is a practicing astrologer, writer and former university English
instructor. A graduate of the Faculty of Astrological Studies (U.K.), Raye
focuses on mundane, collective-oriented astrology, with a particular interest
in current affairs, culture and media, the astrology of generations, and public
concerns such as education and health. Several of her articles on these topics
have been featured in The Mountain Astrologer and other publications over the
years. Raye can be contacted by comment here, or
at: robertsonraye@gmail.com.
© Raye Robertson 2016. All
rights reserved.
