“The country can no longer afford to wait to ascertain why President Trump has subordinated himself to Putin—it must deal with the fact that he has.” David Frum, The Atlantic
“Donald Trump’s press conference performance
in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of ‘high crimes &
misdemeanors.’ It was nothing short of treasonous…Republican Patriots: Where
are you???”– former CIA Director John O. Brennan, as quoted in the Washington
Post
No words can express how upsetting
Trump’s performance was today in his joint press conference with Putin in Helsinki,
although the foreign policy experts cited above—and a host of others—do a
pretty good job of it.
Did we ever think we’d see these words in print? It
almost feels like the afternoon of 9/11/2001, when the World Trade towers had
fallen, New York was choked with toxic ash, and we knew for sure we had been
viciously attacked. Only this time, it’s difficult to distinguish between the external and the internal threats.
Putin’s team may have lost in the
World Cup of soccer, but he certainly made up for it in the U.S. coup he pulled
off today. One American commentator called it “the surrender summit;” another
characterized Trump and Putin as “playmates on a soccer field.” Putin ended his
remarks by handing a World Cup soccer ball to Trump (for Russian-speaking
Melania), which was fitting; Trump seems to have long since handed his “b#lls”
over to Putin. Those who have suspected that Trump owes Putin something big (his election, perhaps?) probably feel
validated today.
In the last post here,
we considered the dynamics likely to be in play at today’s summit in Helsinki, but
today’s reality was still quite a shocker. For that reason and because that
article was written before Friday’s stunning
announcement that twelve Russian GRU
operatives are being indicted by the Mueller investigation for their part in
the Russian meddling into our 2016 election, I thought this geopolitical love
fest deserved a second look. I would bet that its impact is going to be felt
for decades, if not more, so it’s
worth deeper consideration.
One
good thing: we now have an actual starting time for today’s meet-up: scheduled
for 1 p.m., Putin’s plane was still
biding its time on the runway at 10 past the hour, its occupant apparently
playing “hard to get.”
Trump, for his part, was waiting in
his hotel room, prepared to arrive fashionably late, after Putin. And so, the games began…CNN reports the meeting kicked off at 1:20 p.m., Helsinki time.
Three major issues of astrological
importance catch my eye with the triwheel I’ve cast for today’s event, using
the event chart itself and the two nativities. First is the heavy preponderance of cardinal energies on the angles of the event chart, and the uncanny
way those coincide with the players’ charts (could there be a court astrologer at work?); second is the amazing array of retrogrades in the event chart; third is the tight connection this
triwheel enjoys with the July 27th total lunar eclipse chart. We’ll cover the first two of these issues in this post; the eclipse
issue deserves an entire post to itself—lots
to talk about there!
With the retrogrades, it’s as though
the Cosmos has been holding its breath right along with the rest of us! What’s
also interesting here, though, is that the summit predated Mercury’s impending retrograde station just prior to eclipse day. At
this station, Mercury will conjoin
Trump’s natal Mars and Putin’s natal Pluto (both Leo), perhaps taking the
wind out of both of their sails temporarily.
So we can see one reason why their joint
narrative today (pre-retrograde
station)—enabled by Trump’s pre-summit tweets and the Russian Foreign
Ministry’s retweeting of those tweets—was
a propagandistic coup.
Here’s the theme that’s been unfolding for weeks and was
doubled down on today: the DNC is to
blame for Russia’s hacking of its systems, and the “Rigged Witch Hunt”/Mueller investigation is to blame for US-Russia
relations being so bad.
All of this lays a pretext for the
cozy relations Trump so dearly wants with Putin, and it doesn’t seem to matter
that yes, relations between our two nations are bad because Russia attacked us and shows no signs of letting up
or taking responsibility. Trump was asked blatantly by a reporter to say who he trusts on the issue of Russian
election meddling: his unanimous U.S. intelligence community? Or, Putin?
Rather than answering the question
in all its simplicity, however, Trump began rambling on and on about Hillary
Clinton’s “server,” and why the FBI hasn’t looked at that server, and how he
doesn’t think Russia would be the one
to do such a thing, and yadda yadda. In other words, blaming Hillary (as he’s blamed the DNC in past
tweets) for what our intelligence community (many of them Republicans!) knows the Russians did to us. At least we now know beyond a doubt where
Trump’s loyalties lie, and we have a firm leaping off point for considering the
charts below.
The
astrology
Judging from their post-meeting
press conference (held up by the specter of a Nation journalist being dragged out of the room for holding a piece
of paper with the words “Nuclear Test Ban Treaty” on it…so much for “free
press”), Trump and Putin must have agreed that Putin would speak first. His
segment fleshed out in incredible, rapid-fire, complex detail the global policy
areas that these two claim they discussed, including one key area that leapt
out at me: that he and Trump want to forge business
relations between American and Russian companies, and that they aim to
establish mutually beneficial economic ties.
Needless to say, this goal is
putting Trump’s recent movements into perspective: he’s made no secret of distancing himself
from trade relations with Europe, encouraging Theresa May to sue the EU on the UK’s way out the door
and calling the EU a “foe.” His demonstrated desire to shift his focus to Russia
might also explain why Trump sent the GOP Appropriations Committee delegation
to Moscow for talks with Russian counterparts (see July 5th post
and here).
So where does that leave the issue
of sanctions? Or Russia’s annexation
of Crimea, its downing of a Georgian airliner and its feared incursions into
other Baltic states? Or its proven interference
in our election? Into the UK’s Brexit election, and the recent nerve agent
poisoning of UK citizens? The list goes on.
The fact is, Trump seems to have
found his idol and benefactor—the one powerful person he looks up to as a role
model (I wonder if the World Cup ball was autographed?)—and the sanctions (if
they’re even being enforced by his administration) can be worked around very
handily, with the GOP’s help. Their complicity
is a story for another day.
Triwheel
#1: (inner wheel) Trump-Putin
Summit, July 16, 2018, 1:20 p.m., DST, Helsinki, Finland; (middle
wheel), Donald J. Trump, June 14, 1946, 10:54 a.m. DST, Jamaica, NY; (outer
wheel) Vladimir (rect.) Putin, October 7, 1952, 12:39 p.m. ST, St.
Petersburg, Russia (chart rectified
by Isaac Starkman). Tropical
Equal Houses, True Node.
As noted earlier, my focus here
today is on two key issues: first, the
preponderance of cardinal placements
between all three charts, and why that’s geopolitically important; second is the impressive line-up of retrogrades in the event chart. So let’s
take each issue in turn and see how they play out.
Cardinal
energies
This is a good point to pause and consider why cardinal energies are so important
in geopolitical contexts like today’s summit. There are, according to Bill
Meridian and the mentors he refers to regularly (Johndro and Jayne) “power
points in the Zodiac” and they’re mostly in Cancer and Capricorn. Here’s the
list Meridian cites in the March/April 2006 issue of Astrological Journal[1]:
0° of the
cardinal signs (15° fixed signs)
10° Cancer: the helio north node of Jupiter
13°-14° Cancer-Capricorn: the invariable plane
20°
Cancer: the helio north node of Pluto
24°
Cancer: the helio north node of Saturn
Meridian also cites the geocentric north nodes of Saturn at 20° Cancer and Pluto at 23° Cancer (Pluto is now
transiting its own south node) as
powerfully compelling, and he gives a technical explanation for why the
geocentric and helio nodes interact in mundane charts. As to the importance of
these cardinal points, he says:
“Many major political entities have important points near
these cardinal degrees. This includes the USA Sun in Cancer, the USSR Sun [now
Russia’s Uranus-Neptune] opposite it in Capricorn, the imperial Japanese Sun in
Capricorn, and the Red Chinese Sun by square from Libra. One transit hits all.”[2]
These points have practical implications for citizens of these
nations: for instance, Meridian points out that Americans may be on average
wealthier than other nationals because our radix Sun and Jupiter are conjunct
Jupiter’s helio north node. This, combined with Jupiter ruling our radix chart
with its Sagittarius ASC, has worked pretty well for us over the years.
We might also make the connection with how these cardinal
points operate in Trump’s chart: his Cancer Mercury is within orb of Jupiter’s
helio north node, and his Saturn-Venus conjunction is conjoined Saturn’s helio
north node. Putin’s nativity features other key placements along these powerful
cardinal axes, and in some cases, his placements overpower Trump’s (surprise,
surprise).
To a great extent, today’s summit was a show of cardinal shadow-boxing,
but judging from Trump’s pre-summit tweets alone, we pretty well knew who would
emerge victorious.
Stay tuned for the role these key cardinal “power” points played
in the overall picture of today’s event—it’s dizzying!
Summit ASC (Libra) conjoins Putin Sun and
Trump Chiron-Juno and squares Trump Mercury/Saturn (midpoint, Cancer) and Putin
Uranus (Cancer). This reflects a powerful impediment to Trump’s ability
to speak freely, even though he seems to ramble on incoherently half the time. Putin’s Sun is in its glory here, conjoined
the event’s ASC; it’s tempting to say that a “new day” has dawned for him,
in fact, courtesy of Trump’s Chiron-Juno square Mercury/Saturn
vulnerability. Munkasey has this to say about this midpoint, minus Juno’s and Chiron’s
input:
“Serious discussions with your partner; talk which carries a
sense of duty and realism; approaching and discussing difficult subjects with
your companions; plans for joint projects or mutual activities.”[3]
Even having these closed-door,
secretive, no-accountability-required discussions with Putin was enough to
compromise Trump’s presidency, not to mention the presidency in general. It
shouldn’t surprise us that both the presidency and the nation-at-large are represented by the Sibly Sun at 13+Cancer—square Putin’s Sun shown here.
Recall
that this 13°-14° Cancer/Capricorn axis is a
major power axis; in fact, Meridian tells that it is on what is known as the “invariable
plane” (the explanation for this is pretty wonky; suffice to say here, nations
with placements on this plane tend to be more powerful than those who don’t). [8] Meridian details a number of
major historical events and national chart placements along this plane—I think
we can add today’s summit to his impressive list.
Bottom line, both the
presidency and the nation-at-large were turned into Putin’s wounded “trophy
wife” today (Trump Juno-Chiron).
Every American president to date who has had to deal with
Putin has stood up to him, save one—Trump. No improved economic ties in the universe can
make up for that!
Interchart T-Square: Summit Sun-MC, Trump Saturn-Venus, and Putin
Uranus-Part of Fortune (all Cancer) oppose Summit Pluto Rx (Capricorn); this
axis squares Putin Saturn-Neptune-Mercury (Libra) conjoined Trump Jupiter Rx
(Libra) and Summit ASC. These aspects reinforce and demand more from the
first set of aspects at the Summit ASC, and again, we see how Putin outmatches Trump’s
strength on all fronts, and it may have something to do with how the cardinal “power
points” are deployed here.
Putin plays to Trump’s considerable insecurities, conspiracy
theories and thin skin (Putin’s Saturn-Neptune-Mercury to Trump’s
Venus-Saturn—all conjoined or square to Pluto’s north node at 23°Cancer and Saturn’s helio
north node at 24°). Putin
probably adds some unique twists to the narrative (Putin’s Uranus-Part of Fortune, also
aligned with this sensitive power axis. All for the sake of fulfilling Putin’s geopolitical wish-list (his Part-of-Fortune
tightly conjoins the Summit Sun). My guess is that the summit
was timed to make sure these conjunctions would be prominent.
It’s no secret that Putin sees himself as the rebuilder of
Russia’s former glory, and he’s wily enough to seize the opportunities these
cardinal dynamics offer (Capricorn Pluto is key here, too). Trump
is playing right into his hands (Pluto opposes Trump’s
finance-related Saturn-Venus), so it’s likely that money is a big reason why. Is there something for him, personally, in all those business deals
he’s hoping to make with Russia? Or is it simply payback time for past favors? We
could speculate for days here—better to wait for the facts.
We might think Trump
has a choice in whatever’s going on, but when Pluto’s involved (it is
now not only opposite Putin’s Uranus,
but conjunct Russia’s founding Uranus-Neptune conjunction, see the July
5th post), we can’t really take that for granted. Putin is on a
mission to seal his legacy, and Trump handed him a big victory today.
Summit Saturn Rx (Capricorn) opposes Trump Mercury (Cancer) and squares
Trump Neptune (Libra); Summit SaturnRx/PlutoRx (midpoint) squares the gathering
at the Summit ASC (discussed earlier). Putin was clearly thinking and
speaking rings around Trump today, and that shows up here, along with Trump’s
dodgy loyalties and grasp of the facts. He’s trying to serve “two masters,” as
the saying goes, and it’s isn’t going well because
it can’t be done. Munkasey captures this Saturn/Pluto midpoint exceedingly
well:
“Keeping affairs private or not open to scrutiny; secret
preparations for future restrictions; hoarding resources for potential future
disasters; lengthy consideration of methods of removal or destruction.”[4]
The first two points were clearly accurate today; it will be
interesting to see what resources are at stake, and who or what’s likely to be
removed or destroyed.
Retrogrades
First, a run-down of which planets are retrograde in the
Summit chart: (from right-to-left, clockwise) Chiron (Aries), Neptune (Pisces),
Mars (Aquarius), Pluto and Saturn (Capricorn), Vesta (Sagittarius). Beyond the
overall sense that the Cosmos is holding its breath and awaiting something big,
the restrained, inward-looking characteristics of these retrogrades made for
some interesting dynamics between today’s players. Let’s look more closely:
Summit ChironRx (Aries) squares Summit SaturnRx (Capricorn). This
aspect spans the charts 4th-7th houses, suggesting that
we’re seeing a wounding, almost “parental” relationship take shape. Authority
flows in one direction in this relationship; it’s not a relationship of equals.
Summit NeptuneRx (Pisces) trines Summit Jupiter (Scorpio), squares
Trump Uranus and Putin Ceres (both Gemini) and quincunxes Putin Saturn conjoined
Trump Jupiter Rx (both Libra). Trump prides himself on being able to “deal”
on the fly, with no preparation other than his natural ability to play with
words and spin alternate realities (which is getting real old). Here, Neptune
seems to have him under the lazy illusion that others can’t see through his
machinations.
There’s a limit to how many times he can call the facts “fake
news” before even his biggest boosters get tired of it. Actions spoke louder than words at today’s summit—reflecting the
stress his cardinal points (including Jupiter Rx here) were under. He reportedly
had “low expectations” for this summit (it was going to be the “easiest” of his
European stops), and he certainly delivered!
Summit MarsRx (Aquarius) conjoins Summit South Node (Aquarius), squares
Summit Uranus (Taurus) and inconjoins Summit Venus-Ceres-Moon (Virgo). Again,
we see that 4th-7th house connection in action: the
shocking relationship “coup” revealed today has both tangible (Taurus) and
technical/weapons-related (Aquarius) implications. There were supposedly
nuclear arms issues discussed, but my interest was especially piqued by the business dealings these two seem
prepared to pursue. Trump complains non-stop about China’s theft of our
technology: will he gift Putin with
the same? Putin wants our strategic missile defense technologies removed from Russia’s
sphere of influence: will Trump deliver?
We know that agreeing to a framework
for a three-way alliance with Israel was high on their priority list today; who
will be arming whom, at whose expense?
How does control over Syria’s future fit into their plans?—in
a weird twist today, Trump allowed Putin to characterize himself as having “compassion”
for the ravaged people of Syria—really,
after supporting the Assad regime’s merciless bombing campaign against those
same people? More than likely, “compassion” translates as lucrative nation-building
contracts (Taurus) ready for the picking!
Trump said he would not suspend military exercises going on in
the Baltic States: is that a small bone he’s willing to throw the NATO alliance
for the sake of appearances? Or a smoke screen for throwing those states under
the geopolitical bus down the road? I wish this speculation was outlandish
paranoia; unfortunately, Trump’s committed to pleasing Putin, so anything goes.
I tried to listen carefully as Putin detailed his agenda for today’s
discussions (yes, Trump appeared to let Putin set the agenda), and many of the
above issues were quickly mentioned. The translator
could hardly keep up with Putin’s rapid fire wish-list.
Summit PlutoRx and SaturnRx (both Capricorn) anchored today’s
discussions; SaturnRx trines Uranus (Taurus). We’ve talked at length
about the cardinal oppositions and squares that Pluto and
Saturn are involved in; here we see how their physical location in the
chart weighed everything down, leaving
heavy dismay in their wake for many. What might normally be a positive feeling
trine (SaturnRx to Uranus) felt instead like an unfortunate use of
resources and energies.
SaturnRx also quincunxes the Summit North Node (Leo),
suggesting that relationships will be fatally compromised by what happened
today, with reputations destroyed, and so on. Trump’s word is already pretty worthless, but he was even criticized by Fox News today! Loyalty is a Saturnian
virtue, and with this SaturnRx opposite Trump’s natal Mercury
(Cancer), his loyalty to the U.S. is being questioned.
VestaRx (Sagittarius) conjoins Putin Mars and Trump Moon (both
Sagittarius). These points figure heavily into the discussion we need
to have about the upcoming eclipse, so I will just note here that there’s a lot more going on in this conjunction
than meets the eye. In his incredible compendium of information about eclipses
entitled The Predictive Power of Eclipse
Paths, Bill Meridian teaches that eclipses wield an impact for some period prior to the dates they happen, and the
July 27th eclipse point at 23+Sag will reignite and carry forward whatever transpired in today’s
meeting.
The more I look at it, the more I believe this eclipse will be
one for the books: please check back for more on that soon!
In the meantime, hope
springs eternal, but it doesn’t trickle down from on high—it surges up from
the grass roots!
Raye
Robertson is a practicing astrologer, writer and former educator. 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, Astrological Journal, and other
publications over the years.
She is
also available to read individual charts—contact her at: robertsonraye@gmail.com.
© Raye Robertson 2018. All
rights reserved.
