New 7.24 p.m. birth time for Barack Obama

Christmas came early to astrologers this year as the Barack Obama campaign responded to questions about his citizenship and released his birth certificate. He was born at 7.24 pm on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu. This is fairly close to the previously popular time of 7.11 pm, and while the basics of the chart do not change, there are some potentially significant differences in the varga or Hindu harmonic charts. So what does this new and apparently definitive birth chart reveal about Obama's future and the 2008 Presidential election?

In terms of his political aspirations, the 7.24 pm chart improves his chances in November. Moon becomes the current bhukti period and this will run until February. The Moon is well-positioned in the natal chart by virtue of being in Taurus, its sign of exaltation, and placed in the favourable 5th house, which also happens to be the house most associated with politics. If we tweak the birth time back a bit to about 7.20 pm, the Moon rises in the all-important D-10 dashamsha chart which represents career and status. While I tend to be wary of gratuitous tinkering with birth times in order to prove a theoretical point, this is a more legitimate rectification and conforms with the standard margin of error observed in officially documented birth times. Having the bhukti lord Moon rising the in D-10 chart is one important source of his current popularity. Significantly, the Moon subperiod began in November 2007, which was essentially the time when his campaign really took off.

This new chart also confirms the likelihood of troubles I had previously forecast for Obama for early July and then in early August. We can see transiting Rahu (24 Capricorn) is now within range of the ascendant and will continue to be for the next month of so. Rahu isn't always malefic, of course, but in Obama's chart it is more likely to create difficulties owing to its problematic natal situation: placed in the dussthana 8th whole sign house, conjunct Uranus and Pluto. Moreover, Saturn, its transit dispositor, is currently transiting the 8th house applying to a conjunction with Pluto. The 8th house represents surprises (often unwelcome), embarrassments, secrets and scandals, and accidents. I'll have a clearer idea about his election chances when he announces his VP running mate.

Besides his obvious popularity and political success, the other predominant theme in his chart is violence. This is seen through his natal Mars placed in Leo in the 8th whole sign house. The new 7.24 p.m chart unfortunately moves this Mars even closer to the equal 8th house cusp, which makes him more prone to violence and intrigue. In addition, Mars is debilitated in Cancer in the D-8 ashtamsha chart which represents troubles and hardships. It is worth noting that the next bhukti period after the current Moon period belongs to Mars and runs from March 2009 to February 2010. While dashas and bhuktis are not infallible predictive techniques, this is an important factor to consider when constructing a larger model of Obama's future. Given the difficulty of Mars' situation in Obama's chart, this is a possible time of violence against him or his family. Michelle Obama's chart is also heavily laden with active Mars symbolism and intense stresses. In fact, her chart looks so stressed, it is hard to imagine how it could represent a victory for Obama, and yet if there are other sources of hardship on a national and personal level at the time around the election, then they are possible expressions of her chart karma that may allow for an Obama victory. In that sense, negative karma is a zero-sum phenomenon that needs expression somewhere, the only question is how it is manifest. Without knowing her birth time, it is very tricky to figure out just how things will fall into place.

At the same time, I do not want to rule out the possibility of violence in the campaign (especially early August) and during the time after the election and before the inauguration. Transiting Mars conjoins his natal Mars in early August and this will be opposite unpredictable Uranus. While this is a time that will be marked by some kind of violence or sudden event, it's important to remember how there may be karmic surrogates for it such as some global military event that alters the course of the campaign. A strike against Iran is one obvious possibility at this time. Also, Saturn stations near his malefic natal Mars in the 8th house in November and December and these are also likely times of conflict and turmoil either in the country generally, or involving him specifically. So while the new time does enhance his chances of getting elected, it also increases the chances that he will be assassinated. Overall, I think the most dangerous period is summer 2009. Late December 2008 is also marked by some malefic patterns, most obviously transiting Sun and Mars forming an opposition to his natal Venus and the transiting Pluto. Venus represents his wife Michelle, so she is likely to be under stress at this time. And since Venus is also lord of the 10th house of career, it appears to be an indicator of stress from his job -- assuming for the moment that he wins the election, this may mean confronting a serious financial and/or international crisis. This also coincides with the Saturn-Uranus opposition and points to a major disruption (Uranus) to global economic structures (Saturn). The stock market is likely to decline sharply around that time. It seems the US and the world is entering a more difficult and turbulent period that may last for the next three years.