“Two
human beings. It feels a bit odd in this political setting to specify their
humanity that way, doesn’t it? And I admit it feels strange to have to do that.
But we in this political culture and in this city and in this building and even
in this chamber – we seem to sometimes forget that before this woman and this
man are anything else, they are human beings…”
Senator Jeff Flake, on the floor of the Senate on
9/26/2018.
This will be a very brief look at
the chart for this morning’s much-anticipated Senate Judiciary Committee
hearing with Judge Brett Kavanaugh and the first woman to come forward claiming
that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her as a teenager, Dr. Christine Blasey-Ford.
Needless to say, Kavanaugh is
expected to vehemently deny any wrongdoing, yet Blasey-Ford’s testimony could
open doors that Republicans would rather keep shut in their rush to vote on
Kavanaugh’s nomination early on Friday. In the past three days, three
additional women—one represented
by controversial lawyer, Michael Avenatti—have come out with similar, if not
more disturbing claims against Kavanaugh. Just when we thought things might be
kept fairly straightforward, they’re more complicated than ever!
So, let’s consider what the chart
for this morning’s hearing looks like. We can probably assume that the Senate
Committee’s leadership (Sen. Chuck Grassley, et al) would have chosen the
timing for this hearing, for what that’s worth. In fact, there is an
interesting resonance between the hearing chart and the chart for the planned
Friday vote (9:30 am)—both feature fixed angles, with Scorpio ascending,
conjunct Venus. Both feature Taurus Moons and a staunch Fixed Grand Cross
taking in the chart horizon (ASC-DSC) and significant planets in fixed signs.
It’s impossible to know if these
times were deliberately chosen, but as an astrologer who knows astrologers are involved in high places, I think it’s fair to
speculate.
One quick caveat here: we’re not doing
an horary analysis of this hearing
chart—i.e., to answer a question about the event represented. We’re simply
considering what the energy is likely to feel like in the hearing chamber, and
to gain some insight into the overall proceedings. I expect to be somewhat
surprised by the outcome, but let’s not rush to judgment before examining the
chart.
Chart #1: Kavanaugh/Blasey-Ford
Hearings, September 27, 2018, 10:00
a.m. DST, Washington, D.C. Tropical
Equal Houses, True Node.
As it happens, we
can pull most of what we’re trying to discern about this hearing from one central aspect configuration that
kind of says it all. We’ll see how the other points we need to consider
essentially function in relation to that configuration.
Fixed Grand Square: Venus rises at ASC (Scorpio) opposite Moon-Uranus at DSC (Taurus); this
axis squares Nodal axis (Leo-Aquarius) and So. Node conjoined Mars (Aquarius). This
configuration certainly reflects the extreme tension and frustration that will
characterize the hearing. Those who want to move forward with Kavanaugh’s
confirmation will likely find it very difficult to drop their entrenched preconceptions:
that the claims brought against Kavanaugh are fabricated by her and the Dems
for political effect, that if Blasey-Ford
had a credible claim it should have come out years ago, and so on.
That being said, Uranus
(Taurus) is the wild card here, and even though it’s in fixed sign
Taurus, it could inject a surprise or two into the proceedings.
Needless to say,
Trump’s latest Twitter narrative that
the new claims against Kavanaugh are just a “big, fat con job…” by sneaky old
Dems will be hovering in the “ether” of that hearing room—no pretense of
fairness there! Probably sensing the possibility of more complications (as more
allegations have piled up against Kavanaugh in the past two days), Trump did
build a little wiggle-room into the narrative for himself at yesterday’s press
conference, saying that he “could be persuaded” to change his mind if the
evidence against Kavanaugh meets some ill-defined threshold.
This is not
surprising, but it is an interesting crack in the fixed narrative armor: Trump’s
Gemini-Sagittarius full Moon nature routinely floats two opposing narratives so he can land softly on one of them in the
end. The GOP majority on the Senate Judiciary Committee may wish they had a soft landing in the
court of public opinion if things go terribly wrong—but Uranus could also deliver
surprises that serve their agenda.
Here’s what
aspects expert Bil Tierney has to say about the very difficult fixed grand
square:
“The Fixed Grand Square tends to work its
powerful energies out on the will and desire level, creating inner frustrations
often leading to emotional crises. The four squares intensify the willfulness
and unyielding fixity of this quality. Here the tendency is to compress
feelings and fortify the will to such an extent that pressures internalize upon
the deeper levels of the psyche, resulting in enduring blockages and
inhibitions….”[1]
We’ve already
seen quite an overlay of “fixity” in the way the hearing was set up: Chairman
Grassley has been unwilling to give an inch on almost any of Blasey-Ford’s requests. Most importantly, she requested an
FBI investigation to independently assess what happened, she requested that
Kavanaugh friend, Mark Judge be summoned to testify (she claims he was in the
room and an active participant in the alleged assault), and she requested that
her corroborating witnesses be allowed to testify: all of these requests were rejected out of hand by Grassley.
Blasey-Ford
(through her lawyer) has repeatedly expressed concern that she would not be
treated fairly, that the committee has already decided what they believe or
don’t believe, and the Committee’s response to her concerns was to turn the
questioning over to a female Republican prosecutor from Arizona, Rachel
Mitchell. Clearly, the GOP wants to avoid the optics of 11 male Senators
questioning this one woman (conjuring up Anita Hill’s testimony all over
again), but some see this as a move designed to frame Blasey-Ford’s testimony
as part of a crime investigation, against
her!
One way or
another, I would expect that we will see enough emotional outbursts to go
around this morning—probably on both sides!
It’s worth noting
that Mars
(Aquarius) co-rules this chart with Pluto (Capricorn), and
that both are placed in the 3rd house of communications and
messaging. The rules of order (Saturn rules this house), especially
for question-asking by Democratic committee members, are expected to be really
strict and limiting: it’s hard to see how these restrictions will serve the
purpose of getting to the truth, but fixed energy lends itself to rigid, authoritarian
approaches. The intense anger afloat over this hearing (on social media, particularly) has been a constant theme, but Control over the
proceedings seems to be a paramount concern for Grassley.
Mars anchors
the bottom of this chart with detached, yang
energy, but this will be countered by the square from Moon-conjunct Uranus (Taurus),
and Uranus
disposing Aquarius Mars. The Yin-Yang battleground may
be littered with the wounded by the end of the day, but at this point, the odds
look fairly even.
In fact, Yin and
Yang energies are tightly interwoven in this chart, but we need to remember
that this does not equate necessarily to Female/Male. The woman (Blasey-Ford) in the proceedings is represented most directly
by Venus
and the Moon, yet there’s a lot of other Yin energy floating around
that could be leveraged by her or Kavanaugh.
For instance, the Venus/Jupiter (midpoint, Scorpio) almost exactly trines Neptune
(Pisces), so the person resonating with or capturing this useful trine
the most readily could gain some advantage. Which one comes across as being
more credible (inspires belief, Jupiter)? Which one reflects more
appealing ideals (all three of these
planets)?
Alcohol figures into all the allegations
brought against Kavanaugh (the other three
instances will also hover in the
background during these proceedings), and this trine can be interpreted to
reflect that prominent (and freely flowing) fact. Interestingly, the Neptune/Chiron
(midpoint, Pisces) also trines Jupiter (Scorpio)—will the wound of
alcoholism/addiction be an important focus of some of the questioning?
Trump, a
tee-totaler, is known to stay away from alcohol (his alcoholic brother
died young), so if his support for Kavanaugh founders, it may be on this
point, rather than on any sexual assault allegations. The 3rd and 6th
house placements of the Aquarius-Taurus portion of the grand square will
resonate with these possibilities.
There’s a strong
Yin feeling here, which might lend itself to supporting the female witness, however those who have
their beliefs set in stone already probably won’t alter them under this energy unless something is said or done that
evokes a deeply emotional response from them. It’s also quite possible that
this trine will do more to confuse people
listening to the two witnesses than it will do to clarify anything.
We can expect
that Kavanaugh will continue denying (Neptune) the allegations out of
hand—ever more vehemently—but will there be any evidence to support his denials
beyond letters from supporters? On the other hand, Blasey-Ford will make her
claims, but will she be able to substantiate them with Neptune-proof facts? We
can expect the questioner to poke holes in any “fuzzy memories” (Neptune),
and the truth could be very slippery.
Saturn
and Neptune are both placed in their ruling signs, and are therefore
the final dispositors in this chart, so the big questions may be focused around
whether the information testified to is Objective (Saturn) or Subjective (Neptune). It doesn’t sound like this hearing is
designed to really make that distinction in a thoughtful, doubt-free way, but again, we could be surprised, with Saturn trine Uranus-Moon.
Finally, it
appears that a lot of decisions will
likely be made on the basis of projected emotions and biases, and this works
both ways, of course. Jupiter co-rules the 5th house
here with Neptune, so its trine feels like the “crony network” is
well-oiled and geared up to assist. Mercury (Libra) rules the Virgo 11th,
and along with the Libra Sun, it trines 3rd house Mars (Aquarius). This
will hopefully break up the stagnant air of control in this closed-door hearing
a bit (12th house Mercury): the transcript must be
published and information will flow,
whether committee leadership or the White House like it or not.
The overall
feeling in this really intense chart is control
thwarted, and if this turns out to be the case, some significant
information could be revealed. Will the vote tomorrow morning send Kavanaugh’s
nomination to the full Senate anyway? The
GOP may end up being damned if it does and damned if it doesn’t, but my hope is
that Senator Flake’s humble open-mindedness will prevail. I will close here
by picking up the thread of his speech cited at the top of this page. To his
credit, he delivered a much-needed apology to the characters in this political
drama playing out this morning, and some much-needed perspective. Again, from Senator
Jeff Flake:
“And so I will say to these witnesses – these human
beings - we owe both of you a sincere apology.
An apology is inadequate, of course, but it’s a start. We
can’t very well undo the damage that has been done, but we can govern our own
behavior as we go through this painful hearing tomorrow, and the days
afterward. We must do that, lest we do even more damage. Some of the public
comments about both of these witnesses have been vile.
Not unrelated to those comments, each of these witnesses
have reportedly been subject to death threats, and for that we should be
ashamed. The toxic political culture that we have created has infected everything,
and we have done little to stop it. In fact, we have only indulged it, and
fanned the flames, taken partisan advantage at every turn, and deepened the
ugly divisions that exist in our country.
These past two years, we have tested the limits of how low
we can go. And my colleagues, I say to you that winning at all costs is too
high a cost. If we cannot have a human – rather than a political – response to
these witnesses, if we are heedless to the capacity that we have to do real and
lasting damage, then maybe we shouldn’t be here.”
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 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.
[1]
Bil Tierney, Dynamics of Aspect Analysis:
New Perceptions in Astrology, CRCS Publications, Reno, NV, 1980, pp. 87-88.
