Timing and out-of-the-blue
obligations colluded
to cut short my writing time this week, so this will be a
very preliminary consideration of the Senate impeachment trial of Donald J.
Trump, which I will argue here was “birthed” officially this past week at
2:00 p.m. on the 16th, when Chief Justice Roberts was ushered into
the Senate chamber to swear an oath of impartial justice and then to administer
that oath to the Senators convened.
It’s tempting to analyze the astrology for
this unfolding drama on a day-to-day basis—and perhaps in the future we’ll do
some of that—however here, we’ll treat that ceremonial 2 p.m. oath-taking as
the definitive launch of the trial.
Why not wait until the January 21st
beginnings of the substantive procedural
arguments and opening statements? As we’ll undoubtedly witness over and over,
the ceremonial and substantive dimensions of the impeachment process are
hopelessly enmeshed because such are the
solemn workings of government, and an impeachment trial is among the most
solemn. So it’s all one multi-dimensional process that for our purposes here,
launched at 2 p.m. on January 16th.
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Roberts is greeted after swearing the oath. |
Consider the position of the Moon,
for instance. On January 16th, when the ceremonial oath was given to
officially launch the proceedings, the Moon was in justice-minded Libra
(see outer wheel, Biwheel #1 below),
a lone voice in the nearly vacant lower hemisphere of the chart.
Far from
isolated, however, Lady Luna formed traditional aspects with several other points, including Juno, Jupiter, Pluto-Saturn-Ceres-Sun (the
Sun
only widely), Neptune,
Eris and Vesta, not to mention both
the ASC (Gemini) and the MC (Aquarius).
This suggests that the “People” (Moon)
have a lot at stake in the
proceedings—the solemnity of the moment aptly captures the complexity and
divisiveness of this moment in American life—so we might hope the public will
be intensely engaged in the arguments being presented. Our Congress people are
there to represent us, of course, so
the Moon
speaks to those individuals, as well. Sitting in forced silence as the
“audience” for these proceedings over the days of this trial, they will also be
impacted by the ebb and flow of lunar energies, no matter where the Moon fell on January 16th.
The Sun is an interesting
figure in the impeachment process because it seems to represent both the leadership of the Senate, and the proceedings themselves, as a living, developing entity. It may not
seem so at times, but both Houses of Congress enjoy joint leadership, a
juggling act that plays out between the majority and minority leaders of each
body.
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Senate Leaders Mitch McConnell (r) and Chuck Schumer (l). |
In the case of the Senate, that’s
between Majority Leader McConnell (GOP) and
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (Dems), and while the majority weighs heavily
when bills come up for votes, there’s a give and take nevertheless. We’ve seen
small examples of that already during this trial, and will see much more before
the end.
For instance, while the Sun was
still in Capricorn, on January 21st, Schumer presented
several amendments to McConnell’s proposed Senate rules for the trial, calling
for the Senate to subpoena additional witnesses and documents from various
sources, but one after another, they were dead-on-arrival, voted down by the
GOP majority. A couple small, but
important changes
were adopted by McConnell,
however, apparently due to pressure from his own caucus. In true Capricorn
fashion, the changes pertained mostly to timing.
Mercury (Aquarius) rules this Gemini-rising
chart, but interestingly, the daily proceeding charts have all been
ruled by Mercury so far, as each day convenes at 1 p.m. in Washington,
D.C. This could reflect the small army of
technicians and communications personnel that put on the “show” every day.
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Chief Justice Roberts presiding and admonishing. |
Even Chief Justice Roberts is providing
mostly administrative services, although he embodies the “leader/enforcer,” as
well. Saturn (especially apt in Capricorn) would represent this heavier
role.
Roberts may appear to be doing very little, but his presence radiates
the solemn, dignified and disciplined aura that the proceedings deserve.
Something about those robes, huh?
In fact, when Roberts decided it was
time to chastise the presenters on both sides for “uncivil discourse” before
the Senate, admonishing them to “remember
where they are,” it was 1 a.m. on the 17th—the Moon had
moved into late Libra and the 12th house, and the earlier square
to Pluto-Saturn-Ceres-Sun had tightened nicely. Institutional
decorum became an important point of order and it was Roberts’ job to rein things
in. Even with no caffeine allowed, things
can get dicey at 1 a.m.!
Interestingly, these solemn, Saturn-infused
proceedings may have informed the House Impeachment Managers’ overall strategy of
laying out the narrative of their case in chronological order. This strategy was unfurled on January
22nd, when the Sun had moved into Aquarius
(co-ruled by Saturn and Uranus), square Uranus in
Taurus (chart not shown).
This tense fixed square
was potentially upsetting and stressful to that body, even with
Roberts’ firm hand over decorum. Hyper-partisanship is built into this divisive
square, of course, but that’s nothing new. What is new is how the facts of this impeachment trial are gradually
unfolding in a way that’s difficult to ignore. Time will tell, but with a typical 8° orb, the Sun-Uranus
square will persist into next week. Will we see a surprising wake-up
call of some sort? Or perhaps an unexpected shake-up to the proceedings
themselves?
The Senate’s daily life is certainly
being turned upside down by this trial, which Leader McConnell may find is not
quite as controllable as he thought.
Let’s return to the role the Moon is
playing in the trial for a moment: her movements over the course of even a
couple days have reflected subtle (or not so subtle) shifts in perception and
mood among the attendees, not to mention the
public, which has perhaps the greatest stake
in the outcomes here. Viewership has been fairly strong—11
million on network television on the trial’s opening day, and that doesn’t
count those who watched or listened by other means. We can expect that public
opinion will reflect the lunar ebb and flow of these proceedings.
The
astrology
Just to frame the following
discussion, please note that this post is not
about litigating the case against
Trump one way or another. It’s impossible to do so in a space like this, nor is
that my goal. I care deeply about the health of this nation and its democracy,
and it’s no mystery that I think Trump has been a destructive force to both, but
this is not about making a legal argument in regards to a specific set of
allegations.
What we will do here is to examine the January 16th trial chart against Trump’s
nativity on one hand, and against the U.S. Sibly chart on the other. IMHO, how
the nation is going to emerge from this process is more important than how
Trump will fare, but since the fates of both seem to be inextricably linked at
the moment, we’ll consider both sides of the situation.
Let’s begin.
Biwheel
#1: (inner wheel) Donald J.
Trump, June 14, 1946, 10:54 a.m. DST, Jamaica, NY; (outer wheel) Impeachment
Trial Opens-Oath, January 16, 2020, 2:00 p.m. ST, Washington, D.C.. Tropical Equal Houses, True Node.
Interchart
Grand Square: Trial Capricorn Stellium
falls over Trump 5th house, opposing his 11th house
Mercury, Saturn-Venus (all Cancer) and Trial No. Node (Cancer); this axis is
squared by Trial Moon-Juno (Libra) conjunct Trump Juno-Chiron-Jupiter (Libra),
all opposite Trump Eris (Aries)-Trial Chiron and in later Aries, Trial Eris. What
we’re going for here is the overall opposing feel of these aspects—the Libra-to-Aries placements involved
are far too wide to be considered oppositions under normal circumstances, for
instance, but Trial Eris does firmly square both Trump’s Capricorn Saturn-Venus
and Trial Saturn-Pluto in Cancer.
This suggests that the
tension is palpable and that it’s heightened by the “wounded warrior”
sensibility of Trial Chiron-Trial Eris.
This is especially true, seeing that
these points fall over Trump’s “fight or flight”-oriented 8th
house and oppose his 2nd house points. His Neptune
(Libra) rules his Pisces 8th house, at the
same time it opposes his Eris there and forms a t-square
to his security-oriented Mercury (Cancer, 11th). This seems
to reflect his clearly zero-sum mindset, in which life is a battle, and it’s
him against the world. Those who buy into this imagined victimization may
resonate with this part of his chart.
Lead House Manager Adam Schiff
evoked a “wounded warrior” Chiron-Eris perspective throughout
his arguments, but his approach was extra powerful when he likened America to
the wounded plaintiff in his case,
saying that “She deserves a fair trial.” He was arguing, of course, for the GOP
majority to vote to allow more witnesses and documents than its leadership has thus
far allowed. How appropriate for proceedings that kicked off under a lovely,
but stressed mid-Libra Moon-Juno conjunction.
On the other hand, this conjunction
falls over Trump’s Libra Juno-Chiron-Jupiter, which may suggest that Lady
Luck (his Jupiter also trines his elevated Gemini Sun-Node-Uranus)
will allow him to skate free in the end. As we’ve all learned watching him
evade accountability over and over again, she usually does.
Even so, the Capricorn stress on Trump’s
Libra and Cancer points is heavy and
real, and could, in the end, outweigh
the more supportive looking Moon-Juno, etc. By the number of lawyers he’s hired, we can
see that Trump is putting tremendous resources (2nd house),
not to mention emotional energy (a record number of tweets) into his
defense.
So those Aries placements falling
over Trump’s
8th aptly represent the battle the House team has been
waging, but they also represent the existential (Scorpio’s natural house) threat
Trump feels he is under, and the battle he and his defense team are waging to
keep him in office.
The Trump 5th-11th
house axis here is familiar terrain in this “battleground,” of course—he’s been
the target of one investigation and/or controversy after another while he’s
been in office—from his sketchy way of combining his official position with
personal profit to his coziness with Vladimir Putin and Russia’s interference
in the 2016 election—but this axis also reflects how many of his “associates”
have found themselves indicted and imprisoned since he took office. The
sentences are still pending, in the case of Trump’s long-standing ally and
advisor Roger Stone and Trump’s first National Security Secretary, General Mike
Flynn.
![]() |
Former EPA Secretary, Scott Pruitt. |
Many early administration members,
like disgraced EPA head Scott Pruitt, who didn’t officially run afoul of the law had to resign their offices so they
wouldn’t. The list of resignations and firings goes on for pages on Wikipedia. The fact that Trump has gutted several key agencies of personnel (notably
the State Dept.) and made no effort to fill the empty roles is a matter of deep
national security concern in many quarters.
All of this is coming home to roost
in the impeachment trial in one way or another, it seems. We just saw the
addition of an audio recording of Trump—around the dinner table with his
cohorts in his D.C. Trump International Hotel—ordering the firing of former
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch in response to lies attendee Lev
Parnas told him.
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Giuliani associate Lev Parnas. |
Former Giuliani (and presumably, Trump) associate Parnas
has given interviews to explain how and why he and Trump lawyer Rudy
Giuliani worked to smear Yovanovitch—known to be a staunch anti-corruption
figure in her diplomacy with Ukraine—and to get her out of the way.
Parnas was also careful to establish
that Trump knew and directed everything he,
Giuliani and Igor Fruman were doing. It’ll be interesting to see how the Trump
defense team addresses the Parnas revelations—so far it appears they plan to
double down on the repeatedly discredited Russian theory that Ukraine meddled in our 2016 election, not Russia, and that the DNC
“server”—that our intelligence chiefs have testified was hacked by the Russians—is somehow part of the story.
Artful distraction is the key to a magician’s act, right?
For our purposes here, this drama
only adds to the 5th-11th house pressure in Trump’s
chart.
Trial Mars (Sagittarius) trines Trump Eris
(Aries), squares Trial Venus (Pisces) and quincunxes Trial No. Node-Trump
Mercury (Cancer). Transiting Trump’s 4th house, Trial
Mars is certainly a disruptive factor, suggesting that he might be
venting his rage at the impeachment challenge with his family or wife. This
could explain the tension expressed by the Trial Mars-Venus square
(Sagittarius-Pisces), but with Trial Venus-Part of Fortune (Pisces) also
trine
his Mercury, the challenge is minimal.
A common theme in his defense is to
bemoan “how badly he’s being treated”— that victimized viewpoint is only
exacerbated by this frustrating Trial Mars quincunx Trump Mercury. Because
his imperious Leo Mars and Pluto jointly rule his Scorpio 4th, with
that Mars
trine his 4th house Moon (Sagittarius), nothing less than
kingly treatment (“he can do no wrong”) will do.
Trial Neptune (Pisces) squares Trump
Gemini-Sagittarius points and quincunxes Trump Jupiter (Libra). It’s
worth pointing out here that this transiting Neptune is also edging
into trine
territory with Trump’s Saturn, and that it
definitely trines his Mercury/Saturn (midpoint, Cancer), which
would account for his misinformation and conspiracy theory-laced defense.
Michael Munkasey attributes this aspect with the “breakdown of logical
processes,”[1]
which certainly seems to fit.
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Transparent facts are hard to find when it comes to going to war. |
Unfortunately, Neptune
transits persist for long periods
of time, and they can be quite hard on a person’s emotional and mental health (Trump’s
Sun-Moon are also caught up in this), so we shouldn’t expect rigorous,
fact-based narratives from Trump or his defense team any time soon. Emotional
appeals (Trump Moon square Trial Neptune) that blur the lines between
facts and fiction or simply misrepresent the facts entirely are far more likely.
If this was unusual with him, we might look for different explanations, but he
does have a track record of conjuring “alternative facts” as he goes, so most
likely more of the same, only amplified.
The tight conjunction of Trial No. Node with Trump’s
Mercury (Cancer) suggests a collective focus on the working of Trump’s
mind going forward. His Mercury disposes his Gemini
points, in addition to ruling his 2nd and 11th
houses (Virgo and Gemini cusps), so its influence pervades
his chart. Interestingly, his Mercury also disposes his Progressed
Sun, still in early Virgo (chart not shown), and this
point is now being trined by Trial Uranus (Taurus) and
opposed by Trial Venus (Pisces).
He is naturally adept at creating distractions and
convenient crises—it’ll be interesting to see if these “soft” aspects
exacerbate that, especially in the realm of foreign affairs (Uranus
transiting his 9th and ruling his 7th).
It’s also pretty clear from this that Trump will—as many
have warned—continue accepting foreign
assistance for his campaign if he isn’t stopped: Trial Uranus also trines
his natal Mars-ASC (Leo)—he definitely feels empowered to accept help wherever it comes from. This nice trine
could also be fueling the ego-bloated defense his team is floating that claims
he did nothing wrong (even though his
own words belie that). They’ll reinvent right and wrong before they will admit
that he made any mistakes.
This Mars rules his Aries 9th, so
yes, he feels “above the Law,” and this trial isn’t likely to change that
stance. Megalomania is alive and well with him, and as we’ve been hearing from
him and his defense team, those who
disagree with his concept of himself and his freedom to act with impunity are
just being unfair. Unfortunately, Uranus seems to be
playing along for now, although it is capable of surprises and sudden
turn-abouts. Stay tuned!
Biwheel
#2: (inner wheel) USA-Sibly
chart, July 4, 1776, 5:10 p.m. LMT, Philadelphia, PA; (outer wheel) Impeachment
Trial Opens-Oath, January 16, 2020, 2:00 p.m. ST, Washington, D.C.. Tropical Equal Houses, True Node.
Here we have another set of tense
cardinal oppositions that cut across key areas of the Sibly chart, impacting Sibly
Pluto (Capricorn), Mercury, Sun, Jupiter, Venus (Cancer) and Saturn-Juno
(Libra). It’s quite possible to see the amazing array of Capricorn
energy transiting the Sibly 1st and 2nd
as a full-on assault on virtually all
the institutions of American government: the Justice system (Jupiter
and Saturn), the Legislature (Saturn), the State Department
(diplomatic functions-Venus), the Economy and its complex institutions (Venus and Pluto),
the Media (Mercury). Last, but implicating all of the above, the Executive
branch and the Nation-at-large itself (Sun).
As I was listening to one House
Impeachment manager after another evoke the Founding Fathers as they presented
their case, it occurred to me that this trial is basically forcing the nation to relitigate its founding democratic purpose. Does it matter that we have a
president-who-would-be-king, who seems to prefer a Russian-style kleptocratic
system to our democratic checks-and-balances?
If not, where does that leave the American
experiment? With Saturn-accompanied Pluto rapidly transiting within orb of our Sibly
Pluto, we may find that we have taken democracy for granted for far too
long.
I wish this were an exaggeration,
but based on the Trump lines of defense that we’ve heard thus far in the trial (basically
that he can do anything, cheat, lie and smear innocent public servants, obfuscate
all he wants, and if we expect better, we’re being unfair to him), I don’t think it is. Based on the evidence that
continues to emerge (from Lev Parnas, in particular), it’s hard to believe that
this president has any remorse or plans to do anything differently because, in
his mind, he did nothing wrong.
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Trump, crowing about his economy at Davos. |
We saw how that mindset manifested
in Biwheel
#1, so it’s not surprising that in this
biwheel, we see Trial Jupiter (Capricorn) opposing Sibly Venus-Jupiter-Sun. For
now, Trump feels validated (just wait until he has that acquittal!) because
Wall Street hasn’t given up on him yet, and he’s been finalizing some trade
deals—the transactional issues he grasps and can crow about.
Transiting Jupiter
is not all that potent in Capricorn, however, so his support
system may be shakier than he thinks. Jupiter is coming into orb for a square
to his natal Jupiter, as well (inner wheel, Biwheel #1)—maybe someone or something will finally tell
him no at that time.
A couple non-cardinal points to
watch: Trial Mars (Sagittarius) conjoins Sibly ASC (Sagittarius) and opposes
Sibly Uranus (Gemini) and quincunxes Sibly Jupiter/Sun (Cancer). Munkasey
likens the Sun/Jupiter midpoint to “a religious or philosophical system
which ties the effective leadership of the country to a predetermined course of
action; the executive of the nation battling with the legal and justice parts
of government.”[2]
I’d say he captures the situation here well—this Mars stimulates that
midpoint in frustrating ways, as well as making me wonder if military
volatility is still a present threat. Many believed that Trump’s decision to
assassinate Iran’s General Soleimani was designed to distract from the
impeachment even then—plenty of other opportunities for military adventurism
are out there, so this bears watching.
Trial Neptune (Pisces) opposes Sibly Neptune (Virgo) and squares Sibly ASC-DSC and Mars (Gemini). The onslaught of “alternative
logic” and conspiracy theories as policy drivers in American government has not
happened overnight, but the aspects are tightening and the situation is
starting to bear real toxic fruit. Can reason and constitutional order prevail
in this trial, as so passionately call for by the House managers? It’s hard to
imagine from this chart, but Neptune leaves room for hope.
Perhaps as its half-return to Sibly Neptune perfects, something
will click into place for our national Soul and we’ll finally be able to move
forward and meet the very critical challenges of this century.
In the meantime, the “fog of war”
appears here as an easy way to knee-cap the impeachment effort—I sincerely hope
I’m wrong about this, but we saw the prelude with Soleimani and are very few
guard rails exist around Trump’s impulses these days.
It doesn’t help that
Trump’s nativity is tied so tightly into these mutable aspects—Congress needs
to have more say about any plans for
war, not less, and it’s up to every one of us to support that. It isn’t going
to happen without a determined fight—Trial Neptune (Pisces) quincunxes Sibly
Saturn (Libra).
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This historical trial is being preserved in images, as well as words. |
Final
thoughts
So much more could be said about the
impeachment trial itself—and I apologize that time simply doesn’t permit right
now—but the basic astrological forecast seems pretty clear: hope springs eternal, but the odds on miracles
are pretty long. In a strange way, we’re actually inhabiting dual realities in
this nation at this moment—one determined to pull us back into a rewrite of
everything that’s made this nation worth its salt, and one determined to lead
us forward into something that builds on our idealistic foundations, heals some
nagging wounds and propels us into a lighter, more sustainable and united
future. Unfortunately, the first option still has us in its divisive grips.
It’s up to us to keep that brighter future
in our sights!
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Perhaps the People are more interested in this trial than the Media lets on? |
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 2020. All
rights reserved.