Bush's summer of discontent

So the summer of George Bush's discontent is finally upon us. Many astrologers (myself included) have long pointed to this June-July 2006 time as especially difficult for Bush and the US. As transit Mars and Saturn conjoin on the degree of George Bush's natal ascendant on June 17, the astrologer is once again in a position to see the future unfold ahead of time.

Regardless of other chart factors, the Mars Saturn conjunction seems to be a focal point of energy -- whether for action or reaction. Given the natural and temporal maleficence of the these planets, it is hard to imagine how anything favourable can come of this configuration. Indeed the other factors do suggest a time of serious hardship.

Bush is running Mercury-Mercury dasha, so the planet Mercury, ruler of 3rd and 12th houses natally, should be a focus of our attention. In fact, the timing of the major events in this time window probably will have more to do with contacts to Mercury than with the ascendant. Transit Saturn doesn't conjoin natal Mercury until July 4. At that time, Mars will still be debilitated in Cancer and will be in close aspect with natal Ketu. Also, the time when Mercury comes back over the Saturn will coincide with an exact Mars semisextile to Saturn on July 17.

Add to that Rahu's aspect to natal Saturn in the next month or two, and you have the recipe for an extremely difficult time. Saturn's affliction may bring destabilization and erosion of institutions and ruling structures through scandal and embarrassment.

Since Mercury is the ruler of all three dasha levels, it would be well to pay attention to Mercury's transit motion as well. Transit Mercury conjoins Saturn June 24, suggesting that is a likely time of communication problems (3rd house) especially involving foreign affairs (12th house). The double presence of Mars and Saturn points to a suddenness of events with a violent component. But afflictions to Mercury may not necessarily imply problems with Mercury's portfolio since Mercury is placed in the first house. This suggests a more general manifestation is possible, although it may have a Mercurial flavour.

Al Gore in 2008

A few weeks ago, I took a look at Hillary Clinton's chart and thought it strongly favoured her chances in the presidental election of 2008. At that time, I hadn't looked at any other contenders (no excuses other than laziness) and so I left the prediction conditional upon new birth time information for Hillary (there are at least two very different times floating around for her), and the announcement of any Republican contenders.

Al Gore has been getting a lot of good press lately with the release of his movie on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth. At present, Gore is considered a long shot for the Democratic nomination, with a futures trading website putting him at about 12% likely to win compared with 48% for Hillary. After looking at Gore's chart, I think it's time for me to change horses, as it were. Or at least, plunk down some cash on Gore's chances, especially with the odds as good as they are right now.

His chart is very strong indeed and given the accuracy of his birth time, I would favour Gore to win the nomination and the presidency in 2008. Here's what he's got.

He'll be running Rahu-Moon dasha at the time of the election. Rahu is very well situation exactly conjunct the equal 10th house cusp showing power and status. He's been in Rahu dasha since 1992 when he was VP so this is in keeping with previous trends. Moon subperiod is extremely favourable since it rules the first house and is conjunct Jupiter in the 6th house of competitions. What's also interesting is that he won the VP with Clinton in 1992 while he was in Moon supberiod. Clearly, the Moon is very powerful for Gore. Another point of strength is that Moon is found in the D10 10th house. The 10th divisional chart represents matters of status and career.

The progressions are no less powerful. At the time of the election, P2 part of fortune is conjunct P2 Uranus and exactly opposite P2 Jupiter. Talk about favourable! In November 2008, P3 Jupiter and P3 Neptune will be only 6 months before their stations. In fact, both planets will be making declination stations at the time of the inauguration in January 2009. The P4 picture is even more favourable as there is a very rare 6 planet configuration involving Jupiter, Saturn, Rahu/Ketu, Uranus, Venus, and Sun all around 25 degrees of their respective signs.

Gore's 2008 solar return is also very promising since his 11th house Venus is picked up by the SR angles, and his SR Moon is bang on his natal descendant. A pretty happy combination.

So at this point, I am making a case for Gore to win it all. Between Hillary and Gore's chart, Gore's looks better to me -- although it helps there is no uncertainty about his time. When I have more time, I will take a look at the possible Republicans, including McCain and Jeb Bush. Although it seems politically awkward, I wonder if the strength I am seeing in Gore and Hillary's chart might be manifested in a joint ticket. Seems far-fetched, and yet both seem to gain substantially around the time of the election. I don't think Hillary would be happy to have her high hopes dashed by her husband's former #2 and accept the consolation prize of VP. Stranger things have happened. Let's see how it all will unfold.

Putting it monetary terms, if I had a hypothetical $10 to wager on the futures site, on the basis of my analysis so far, I would be putting $7 on Gore (with the long odds) and keep $3 for Clinton just in case. It will be interesting to see the changing perceptions of their respective chances on the intrade.com site. I wonder how long Gore will be seen as a long shot.