Wednesday 6/26/2024: It's Debatable -- UPDATED on 7/15, 6/28 & 6/29

Plus, the astro-logic of Assange's release and other top stories

[UPDATED on June 28th & June 29th, after the debate — so we can see how the potential in the debate chart played out]

I've been asked by Avid Readers what astrology has to say about the planned joint TV appearance of President Biden and convicted felon/adjudicated rapist Donald Trump. Since you asked...

Astrology has plenty to say, and we can't possibly cover all of it. But if you are an astro-nerd and appreciate an academic approach, we can look at the chart for the scheduled start — 9 PM ET in Atlanta — to get a sense of this moment in time:

Observations:

• This moment in time reflects developments in the chart of the Biden-Harris Inauguration. Thus it is fascinating that Mars is right on the Ascendant of the inauguration chart. This suggests provocative action, assertion and/or attacks. Mars is in Taurus, where it is considered to be debilitated, i.e., not on its best behavior...as in...a possible bull in a china shop. [UPDATE: this was proven accurate]

• The root of the "debate" chart is 29 Aries. That is where the Moon was on Inauguration Day, and it is where Mars was on January 6th. Coincidence or conspiracy? Biden's Moon, FYI, is 0 degrees Taurus.

• Pluto is verrrrry close to an exact conjunction to the Sun in the Inauguration Day horoscope. Pluto on the Sun suggests empowerment, break down and/or transformation. Resistance is futile. More on Pluto in a minute.

• President Biden is the defending champion in this chart; the convicted felon is the challenger. Biden is represented by the Moon in Pisces, ruler of the 7th house. If this were a chart for a trial, the Moon would represent the jury, a.k.a. The People. So...Biden and The People are one and the same. That would bode well for Biden. Moon in Pisces needs to work with ideals, healing and empathy. It understands the nature of sacrifice. Moon is on the cusp of the 3rd house, where it is said to be "in joy". Astrologer Demetra George notes that  "the Moon in her joy has the power, resilience, and ability to survive hardship..."  [UPDATE: it is instructive to look at how Biden was treated by his opponent and the moderators, and consider that if this event is ultimately deemed a loss for Biden, it is also a loss for the American people.]

• Moon's next aspect is a sextile to Uranus, suggesting an easy, friendly flow of innovative communication and cooperation, seeking to bring a multitude of factions together. We'll see that vibe throughout the whole broadcast, but it affects Biden more personally, since he is represented in this chart by the Moon. [UPDATE: I’m not sure how this materialized for Biden, though he did include a lot of data in his answers to questions. The Moon’s next aspect was a conjunction with Neptune, at “it’s the end of the world” verrrrry last degree of Pisces.]

• Note that the 7th house has Venus and the Sun right on its cusp (the Descendant). Venus is the ruler of the 10th house; if this were a chart for a court case, Venus would represent the judge. We'd argue that the judge would be in the defendant's corner, especially since Venus is in Cancer, which is ruled by the Moon. Venus is considered to be a fortunate planet, so this is a good sign for Biden.

• The convicted felon is represented by Saturn, also in Pisces. The best thing anyone (i.e., astrologer Michael Lutin), ever said about Saturn in Pisces is that its strategy for success is to turn its suffering into an art form. Has anyone suffered as much -- and whinged more about it -- than Donald John Trump? Saturn is in the 2nd house -- of money, values, and self-worth. Saturn in the 2nd often reflects anxiety about never having enough of those three things, and aptly reflects the title of Mary L. Trump's book about her uncle's upbringing, Too Much and Never Enough.

• Saturn is in a supportive --albeit not immediate -- alignment with that badly behaving Mars in Taurus, which we see in the 4th house -- the homeland. It also receives some measure of (not immediate) support from Venus, and we'll have to see how that manifests on stage tomorrow night. [UPDATE: how it manifested was that the supportive contacts to Saturn from Venus and Mars were reflected in a forceful performance by the convicted felon — stubborn, bullying and undignified (the qualities of debilitated Mars in Taurus, the Bull, including bullshit). It was a different format than his long, rambling rallies, and the 1-2 minute time limit for each response worked to his benefit. Now we can see what these patterns reflected, it is not unreasonable to anticipate that this will continue].

• Both Saturn and the Moon in this chart are peregrine, which adds a bit of a "wild card" factor. It supports what some have said about whether it is in either party's best interest to participate in this contest. And yet...we saw the astro-logic of the timing when we looked at the chart for the Inauguration!

• Moon is moving away from Saturn; there's no approaching connection between them. Both are under the thumb of Jupiter. Why? Because in traditional astrology, Jupiter is the ruler of Pisces. In this chart, Jupiter is in Gemini in the 5th house. Jupiter refers to the media and the ability to influence the collective mindset (through education, philosophy, dogma, etc.). CNN is the media, and they are controlling the terms of this contest, right? Jupiter refers to expansion, exuberance and braggadocio. Jupiter has some measure of functionality in Gemini tomorrow night, by virtue of the fact that it seems to be in the right place at the right time, and that it is fearfully focused on the Gemini need to be the smartest, most informed person in the room. Jupiter in the 5th house suggests a need for a stage on which to shine, for the purpose of entertainment. Seriously, the 5th house is the house of fun and games, sporting events, and gambles. It reflects the breathless media/pundit speculation on "who will win" this contest, without deeply considering the Big Picture. Right? Jupiter in Gemini blows up trivia, not overarching philosophy, which is what is at stake. [UPDATE: the debate moderators posed a series of random wonky questions, as if answers to these policy matters were the most important factors for consideration. They acted as if it was perfectly normal for one of the candidates to be a pathological liar and convicted felon, with more criminal trials to come. DJT lied repeatedly and was not challenged. Imagine if what he said had been fact-checked in real time by the journalists, whose job it is to uncover deception and hold people accountable. They failed to present the Big Picture]

• Do you know what Project 2025 is? Here is attorney Joyce Vance to explain it to you. This is part of the essential Big Picture, i.e., what’s at stake in this election. [UPDATE: the moderators didn’t ask about Project 2025.].

• Neptune is at the verrrry end of Pisces, on the cusp of the 3rd house. Neptune refers to vision, healing, dementia, and drugs. The 3rd house refers to how we think and communicate. There's been malicious talk of Biden being pumped up on drugs, notably from demoted-from-admiral-to-captain Ronny Jackson, who was demoted for abusing alcohol, Ambien, and female staff while overseeing the White House pharmacy.  [UPDATE: Neptune also refers to viruses and infections. Biden’s voice was faint and raspy, and this was not acknowledged at the start of the event, which was disconcerting for anyone watching. Every stand-up comic knows you have to own what’s going on in the room, or the audience becomes anxious and/or distracted. About a third of the way through the event, word got out on the Twitter (via his staffers, reportedly) that he had a cold]. There have been observations from concerned mental health professionals about the convicted felon's persistent word salads. It's interesting that in the language of modern astrology, Neptune is the ruler of Pisces. Therefore, modern astrologers would argue that the performance of Biden and the convicted felon will somehow be subject to Neptune's standards, not Jupiter's. [UPDATE: DJT followed Steve Bannon’s playbook and “flooded the airwaves with bullshit” a.k.a. lies, lies, lies. Many saw through it; his base will still believe it. Biden’s voice and overall energy came across to many as foggy and weak. Meanwhile, Heather Cox Richardson tweeted,”I saw a sociopath who is a pathological liar try to bully a man who was trying desperately to provide correct information— accurately but too much of it.” “Too much information” — a pitfall of Jupiter in Gemini. And several hours later (after I first updated this post), HCR told readers about the “Gish gallop,” which is:

“…a rhetorical technique in which someone throws out a fast string of lies, non sequiturs, and specious arguments, so many that it is impossible to fact-check or rebut them in the amount of time it took to say them. Trying to figure out how to respond makes the opponent look confused, because they don’t know where to start grappling with the flood that has just hit them.

It is a form of gaslighting, and it is especially effective on someone with a stutter, as Biden has.“]

• Pluto is in the 1st house -- power, resources and it squares the Midheaven of this debate chart. In traditional astrology, Saturn is the ruler of Aquarius, where Pluto now sits. So we see how the challenger/convicted felon -- represented by Saturn -- has some influence over the power play Pluto represents to the leadership and core foundation of our nation. [UPDATE: Yep, and it he was going full throttle.] Not that this is telling us anything we didn't already know...but astrology gives us confirmation.

• I'll be interested to see what's going on around 9:49 PM ET, as this looks like an especially provocative moment. [UPDATE: I think this was either the moment where DJT said he didn’t have sex with a porn star or CNN asked him about January 6th — it was definitely provocative].

• At 10:30 PM ET -- the scheduled end of this event, Pluto will have just crossed the Ascendant and Uranus will almost be exactly at the bottom of the chart. Could be a bit explosive, [UPDATE: “A bit” was an understatement, and I thought about not qualifying “explosive” in the first draft of my analysis, but I was concerned about overpromising and/or freaking people out. Pluto on the Ascendant and Uranus opposing the Midheaven were akin to a missile attack, followed by an earthquake, especially with Uranus on the Fixed Star Algol, synonymous with “losing one’s head.”] as we near the end....and in the moments after 10:30 PM ET. [UPDATE: as it turned out, the convicted felon gave his closing statement last. The disruption of Uranus at the bottom of the chart was reflected in the media coverage after the event, with many pundits so shaken up by Biden’s failure to wrangle his opponent the way Pete Buttigieg smacked down smarmy, ignorant congressmen in a hearing on Capitol Hill just hours earlier, that they called for Biden to withdraw. Meanwhile, Biden was captured on tape at a post-debate party exuding much more vitality, stating that it was tough to have a debate with a liar. ]

[UPDATE: The Moon’s next aspect was a conjunction to Neptune, which I noted in the forecast for the week: “FRIDAY: Note your dreams. Moon meets up with Neptune at 4:44 AM ET. Did whatever happened last night get lost in translation? Yes, I’m referring to the debate between President Biden and convicted felon/adjudicated rapist Donald John Trump.” Moon-Neptune patterns can refer to bewilderment, and with the conjunction in Pisces, we have potential sensitivity, vulnerability, and a sense of it being the end of the world. I appreciate Heather Cox Richardson and like-minded souls who blasted pundits for calling for Biden to step down, but not the bullying pathological liar who will most certainly destroy our democratic republic if he is elected. I also appreciate Greg Olear for including a link to the “debate” transcript in his must-read wrap-up post, noting that:

“If we read the transcript, we see that all night long, Biden managed to give smart, thoughtful responses to the questions the moderators asked.”

Those are the updates for now.

Meanwhile, the corrupt Supreme Court…

on Friday curtailed the power of federal government agencies to regulate vast swaths of American life, overturning a 40-year-old legal precedent long targeted by conservatives who say the government gives unaccountable bureaucrats too much authority.

I’d argue that the government has given unaccountable Supreme Court justices too much authority, and it is up to We The People to take it back.

To be continued…

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There are plenty of other patterns we could look at in this chart, e.g., midpoints and such...but what's going on in the horoscopes of President Biden and CF/AR DJT?

First, President Biden will have just received an exact opposition to his Mars from transiting Mars, which my computer software interprets as

"Strong survival instincts. Self-preservation, often at any cost. Assertive and aggressive behavior. Competition with others. Direct action and communication -- lack of diplomacy."

Biden has Mars in Scorpio -- square Pluto and the Sun/Moon midpoint. These patterns are highly effective in any competition or crusade. Any buzz he's accused of having is not from drugs (sorry,  Captain Jackson (USN-demoted), but the electrifying potential of transiting Uranus opposing his Sun-Venus conjunction. Now -- and into 2025 -- is the time for fiercely individualistic expression. President Biden may also reap the reward potential of transiting Jupiter conjunct his Saturn, which expands ambition and authority.

As for the Other Guy, please review the forecast written for this Friday for insights on his Mercury (how he needs to think and communicate) and Saturn (controls, karma, authority). Meanwhile, he's also processing the high-voltage buzz of transiting Uranus -- squaring his Mars and conjunct his Midheaven (professional status). Daring assertions -- to the point of recklessness -- would not be surprising...

...and speaking of daring assertions and recklessness, astrologer Jennifer Van Bergen says she's located a birth date for Aileen Cannon, the judge who's doing her best to make sure that the man who appointed her at the very end of his term doesn't have to stand trial for taking truckloads of classified documents from the White House. Have you seen the latest photos?!?!?  

Cannon has a square between Mars in Aquarius and Uranus in Scorpio. This suggests a stubborn application of assertive energy, and yes, potential recklessness. Like her client, the man who appointed her, transiting Uranus will be activating her Mars (on July 3rd), and transiting Mars will follow suit the week after Bastille Day. Could be exciting. [UPDATE: on Monday, July 15th, the day after Bastille Day (and the day of the exact Mars-Uranus conjunction on Algol), Cannon dismissed Jack Smith's case, saying that his appointment was unconstitutional. Obviously "exciting" was a bit of a snarky choice of words, when "reckless, rash, outrageous, chaotic, disruptive and rebellious" would have been better.]

In other news...

With Venus (women, money, arts, worth) in Cancer, it is focused on matters of home and family security. Today Venus is at the Bendings (the North and South Node);  i.e., between a rock and a hard place. Mercury (how we need to think and communicate) is also in Cancer and today it was trine Saturn (symbol of controls, authority, mortality). Early this morning, historian Heather Cox Richardson reported that...

A study published yesterday in the pediatrics journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA Pediatrics) shows that the idea of returning women to roles as wives and mothers by banning abortion has, in Texas, driven infant death rates 12.9% higher. The rest of the country saw an increase of 1.8%. Infant deaths from congenital anomalies increased almost 23% in Texas while they decreased for the rest of the nation, showing that the abortion ban is forcing women to carry to term fetuses that could not survive.

When the Texas ban went into effect, Governor Greg Abbott said there was no need to make an exception for rape, because Texas was going to “eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas.” Instead, in a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers estimated that in the 16 months after the Texas ban, 26,313 rape-related pregnancies occurred in the state.

And then there was this:

• "Conservative lawmakers are pushing for an end to no-fault divorce" -- which benefits wealthy men because it is usually the wife who files for a no-fault divorce. This story, along with the ones above are apt for this week's sextile between Venus (women) in Cancer and Mars (men) in Taurus. It's a cooperative alignment, you see. The planets may represent two parties coming together. But Mars is in Taurus -- stubbornly possessive and not on its best behavior. Who wants to connect with that?!

In other news...

UPDATE: on Julian Assange -- written about many times here throughout the years. Around February I noted that transiting Uranus was hot in his horoscope.  Translation: themes of freedom and a geographic relocation.  So when it was reported back then that there was talk of a possible deal that could lead to a release, I could see the astro-logic. Oh...but there is still a bigger pattern at play here! In June of 2012, Assange sought asylum in Ecuadoran embassy in London. I wrote extensively about his horoscope in July, noting the potential for good fortune we could see around August 28, 2012. When Ecuador announced in August that it would make a decision on whether it would grant Assange's request, I wrote:

 Let the astro-logical record show that in contrast to utterly bewildering patterns currently active in his horoscope, on August 28th there will be an exact measurement involving the Sun and the Midheaven (public status) that usually accompanies major success and recognition. That measurement would be in effect a few months before and after August 28th.

Ecuador granted him asylum!! And guess what measurement was exact on June 17, 2024, "coinciding" with his release? A measurement involving the Midheaven and the Sun that only happens once in a lifetime, like the measurement Assange had in 2012! And now, Assange is home in Australia, "a free man."   Whatever you may think of Julian Assange, astrology is amazing.

Meanwhile...

Barbara Walters just had a lesser version of what went down in Julian Assange's horoscope. Yesterday, with the Sun exactly on her Midheaven, Variety announced:

• Barbara Walters to Be Subject of Doc Set at Hulu From ABC News Studios, Imagine Documentaries (EXCLUSIVE)

Ms. Walters passed away in 2022, but her horoscope is still functioning as designed. The horoscope lives FOREVER...

...and this concludes my work for the day. Huzzah!

If you'd like to know when your horoscope is due for a dose of well-deserved recognition, consider booking a personal consultation.  Here's the 411.

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