Caroline Kennedy’s Journey of Healing

December 22, 2008 By

Caroline KennedyThis is not an evaluation of Ms. Kennedy’s qualifications for the New York senator seat, but a look at what motivates a private person to seek a very public office. by Lynn Hayes

Caroline Bouvier Kennedy has led a life that has been at once charmed and full of tragedy. The only survivor of the political era fondly remembered by some as “Camelot” for its beautiful illusion of perfection, she has long shied away from publicity and preferred to work behind the scenes as a writer and as a board member of various nonprofits.

Ms. Kennedy (born 11/27/1957, 8:15 am, NY)  has the Sun in Sagittarius and, if the 8:15 am birthtime is correct, Sagittarius on the ascendant. Normally a Sagittarian Sun and Ascendant denotes an individual of jovial (Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter/Jove) temperament and character.  But here we also see a 12th House Sun, describing the longing for privacy and a need to be hidden, and Saturn conjunct Mercury, illustrating a serious (Saturn) mind (Mercury) that perhaps leans towards depression despite the naturally buoyant Sagittarian influence.

Pluto forms a square (challenging aspect) to Ms. Kennedy’s Sun, a dynamic which often (but not always) denotes a familiarity with either death or abuse at some level.  Pluto’s intensity can exhibit many forms, and while the Pluto/Sun square does sometimes reveal a violent victimhood, it can also describe the death of a parent or a lifetime associated with death.  We have certainly seen this with Ms. Kennedy, whose father was killed when she was only six, and who also lost her uncle at a young age.

Ms. Kennedy also has a tight conjunction of Chiron (the Wounded Healer) to her Moon (emotions), suggesting a life of emotional pain that requires consistent application of conscious healing in order to be resolved.  The Chiron/Moon conjunction is nearly exactly square to Saturn, which deepens the pain of this dynamic but also builds tremendous strength of character through crisis.

Caroline Kennedy was virtually invisible to the public through much of her adult life, and only emerged on the public stage when she spoke to the Democratic Convention in the year 2000 following the death of her brother, John Kennedy Jr.  The death of her brother was certainly a devastating event, and it occurred as transiting Saturn (challenge and disappointment) formed an exact square to the Chiron/Moon square.  Over the next year, however, Pluto began to make a harmonious transit (a sextile) to the Chiron/Moon conjunction at that time which would have helped to facilitate the transformation of her healing process.

n January of 2008, when Ms. Kennedy announced her support for Obama’s presidency, transiting Chiron was completing a transit to her Moon and natal Chiron.  At this moment, Venus in her progressed chart is exactly conjunct her progressed Ascendant, the point at which we become visible to the outer world.  At the same time, transiting Chiron is making a sextile to her natal Ascendant, completing the process of healing and deepening into a personal comfort level.  This has likely been a long journey of healing for her, and her emergence onto the political stage is very likely a part of this personal healing journey.

Over the next year Chiron will continue to work on her chart in harmonious transits to Jupiter in her chart, the point at which we find faith and belief that life has meaning, and also to Mercury in her chart, opening up new levels of understanding.  She will also have a large number of Jupiter opportunity transits, including a trine of Jupiter to her natal Jupiter which is a very positive event.  The New York governor will appoint the next senator of New York, so she will not have to run for the seat.  I cannot predict whether or not she will be appointed, but it does seem clear that her public life is really just beginning.

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The Astrology of Election Day: A More Detailed Look

November 3, 2008 By

Many writers, including me, have expressed concern over the presence of major and challenging planetary cycles occurring on Election Day.  However, we have primarily looked at the astrology of the day with a broad brush approach.  If we zoom in a little closer we see a very nice combination of aspects.

Today, leading up to the election the Moon is in Capricorn, heading towards a conjunction to Jupiter.  There will be a sense of responsiblity and duty with the Moon in Capricorn, and the combination with Jupiter suggests that an overarching feeling of optimism will take over, particularly towards 6:00 pm when the Moon/Jupiter conjunction is at its peak.

The conjunction of the Moon to Jupiter in Capricorn makes a trine to Saturn in Virgo and a sextile to Uranus in Pisces.  These are harmonious aspects, which suggest that the optimism and positivity of the Moon/Jupiter combination will soften the potentially disruptive effect of the Saturn/Uranus opposition in which the structures of our world (Saturn) are challenged by the need of Uranus to effect change where change is needed.

Another aspect of concern on Election Day has been a square from Mars to Neptune which is particularly interesting because Mars squares Neptune in the US chart.  Neptune erodes the power of Mars and sends its energy underground where it can erupt in weird ways – Neptune confuses the issues and deception can run rampant.  However, the current square from Mars to Neptune interacts with the square in the US chart with a combination of harmonious and challenging aspects.  (Warning:  Geeky astrological details ahead. Mars on Election Day is at 21 Scorpio where it forms a nearly exact sextile to Neptune in the US chart and an exact quincunx to Mars in the US chart, and Neptune on Election Day is at 21 Aquarius where it forms an exact trine to Mars in the US chart and quincunx to the US Neptune)

Many astrologers have expressed concern about the change of direction of Neptune just days before the election as an event that would bring deception.  This is a very simplistic way of looking at Neptune’s effect.  When traveling retrograde (meaning it appears to be moving backwards from our perspective on earth), Neptune encourages us to leave our logic behind and work from instinct – to become more attuned with the subtler aspects of our life and to attain an experience of the divine.  If we are not walking the higher path of Neptune, it’s true that we will encounter its lower path which is deception and illusion. Neptune is more powerful now, which can serve us for good or for ill.  We are more prone to deception and not seeing things clearly, but we are also more idealistic and better able to envision the future of the world in which we live.  The fact that Neptune is squared to Mars at this time accentuates this  and makes it even more important that we see clearly with our true Heart, and not just with our fantasies and illusions.

Stressful aspects are difficult but they inspire change; harmonious aspects promote ease but also complacency.  A combination like this is ideal because the harmonious aspects facilitate and lubricate the adjustment and transformation that the challenging aspects require.

The Scorpio Sun on Election Day forms a trine to the Cancer Sun in the US chart, offering an opportunity for the soul of the nation to shine and become illuminated.  We don’t usually notice these short-lived planetary cycles, particularly when they are of the harmonious variety, but in an electional chart the trine of the Sun to the Sun is very significant and favorable. The Sun in a national chart also represents its leader, or figurehead so this is a very beneficial planetary event for Election Day.

We also see Venus making an exact trine to Chiron in the US chart.  The US Chiron is in Aries the fourth house, the house that represents the affairs of the populace and the national pride.  The United States is famously a melting pot, and since its inception we have seen an influx of people from Africa, Asia, Europe, Indigenous Americans – all longing to feel at home and safe (fourth house) in their new country.  But this has been a painful (Chiron) battle that has required violent confrontation (Aries) which is still going on as evidenced by the voice of Sarah Palin telling white voters in the Heartland of the country that only THEY are the Real Americans.  The trine of Venus to this sensitive point may show the potential for healing of these wounds on Election Day.

Still, we do have some planetary aspects of uncertainty.  Mercury changes signs at about 11:30 am Eastern that day from Libra where there is more of a collaborative process, to Scorpio where our opinions intensify and harden.  This could signify that some people will decide not to vote.  It also suggests that ballots (Mercury) could become lost (Scorpio) leading to voting problems.

Overall though, it’s not as bad as you might have heard so don’t drink the doom and gloom Kool Aid.  There is tremendous potential for evolution here.  Seize the day!  And don’t forget to vote.

Thanks to Jill for this video in support of Barack Obama.

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Political Advertisement: Spiritual Leaders for Obama

October 27, 2008 By

In this blog I try to present as balanced a viewpoint as possible when analyzing the astrological charts of public figures.  But we are facing a historic election and I am unabashedly using this pulpit for a political message:  Vote for Barack Obama on November 4.

Today’s spiritual leaders have gathered together to present the case for Obama.  Deepak Chopra, Pema Chodron, Shiva Rea, Jon Kabat-Zinn and many others write:

As spiritual leaders signing this letter we are stepping forward
to say: “We can make a difference” As our spiritual practice
empties, opens and strengthens us, we are naturally moved to
engage in the world with compassion, equanimity, and the
dedication to live our values.
We know many of you are already both concerned and
involved in this year’s Presidential election. Yet, in the past
weeks, many of us have heard friends in the spiritual
community expressing ambivalence about voting. When
asked why they wouldn’t vote we heard things like: “It doesn’t
make any difference”; “I’m more interested in spiritual
practice than politics”.
This election, we have an opportunity to create a paradigm
shift in the nature of politics. Senator McCain has voted with
President Bush over 90% of the time leading to policies that
have increased violence the world, furthered environmental
destruction, tried to force religious views on the country, and
shown a staggering lack of compassion for those most in need.

Play a role in bringing peace and justice back to the planet.  Vote for Barack Obama on November 4.

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US Has Attacked Syria

October 27, 2008 By

This comes as Saturn approaches within one degree to an opposition of Uranus. Mars today is in an exact square to Chiron which just turned direct and this event is certain to push with aggression (Mars) old wounds (Chiron) in the Middle East.

A U.S. military official said the raid by special forces targeted the network of al-Qaida-linked foreign fighters moving through Syria into Iraq. The Americans have been unable to shut the network down in the area struck because Syria was out of the military’s reach.

“We are taking matters into our own hands,” the official told The Associated Press in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of cross-border raids.

The attack came just days after the commander of U.S. forces in western Iraq said American troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian border, which he called an “uncontrolled” gateway for fighters entering Iraq.

A Syrian government statement said the helicopters attacked the Sukkariyeh Farm near the town of Abu Kamal, five miles inside the Syrian border. Four helicopters attacked a civilian building under construction shortly before sundown and fired on workers inside, the statement said.

The government said civilians were among the dead, including four children.

This was the first large-scale US raid conducted within Syria by air and eight people were killed, including four children. Talks between Syria and the UK were canceled as a result of the raid and it is feared that diplomatic efforts by Syria towards Israel will also be damaged.  Unfortunately I am out of town at the moment without my book of World Horoscopes but I looked at the Geodetic chart for Abu Kamal, Syria where the attack took place and the Mars/Chiron square falls right on the angles of the chart, with Mars on the IC (cusp of the fourth house of home and country) and Chiron on the descendant (cusp of the seventh house of partners and open enemies).  I am just learning about Geodetic astrology after taking a workshop at the Blast astrology conference, but the placement of this attack seems very particular and suggests that this is an event of major significance, not only for Syria but for the region and the world.

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Power to the (Working) People!!

October 26, 2008 By

Ray Merriman has a new article up about Saturn in Virgo and the Saturn/Uranus opposition. Ray writes:

Saturn in Virgo … relates to the growing frustration of those who do the work – the working class, the middle class. They look around and they see that they do all this work. Yet when the business fails, it is they who suffer, not the management that made the decisions that led to the failure. The workers are the ones who lose their jobs or give up benefits. And oftentimes when those in management make these failed decisions, they leave the company and receive huge financial bonuses, known as “Golden Parachutes.” And even while they are there, if the company prospers, it is these decision-makers who also receive huge end-of-year bonuses – at least huge in comparison to the much smaller bonuses given to those who did the hands-on work. It is not that these conditions have not existed forever between management and labor, between the wealthy and the middle class. It is just that now, in the first decade of this new century, the rate of growth and rewards between management and the work force has widened to its largest distortion ever.

I might add that it is largely the Pluto in Virgo generation that is suffering at the hands of the power elite, and I think it’s also noteworthy that this executive compensation issue went to the extreme under Saturn’s ride through Leo, the sign of ego and kingship.

Ray believes that the opposition from Uranus to Saturn will lead to an uprising (Uranus) of the working people against the power structures (Saturn).  I would like to think that’s true, but I don’t believe we will get to that point until Uranus enters Aries in 2011 and the force of resistance and change (Uranus) is energized by the fiery Aries energy.  People are floundering now under Uranus in Pisces, looking for the peaceful way (Pisces) to revolt (Uranus).

They have plenty to strike over though, Americans have lost trillions of retirement dollars thanks to the reckless activities of our banks, which our government has just bailed out for hundreds of billions of dollars.  It looks like they didn’t need the money, though:

Despite the Wall Street meltdown, the nation’s biggest banks are preparing to pay their workers as much as last year or more, including bonuses tied to personal and company performance.

So far this year, nine of the largest U.S. banks, including some that have cut thousands of jobs, have seen total costs for salaries, benefits and bonuses grow by an average of 3 percent from a year ago, according to an Associated Press review.
“Taxpayers have lost their life savings, and now they are being asked to bail out corporations,” New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said of the AP findings. “It’s adding insult to injury to continue to pay outsized bonuses and exorbitant compensation.”

When Barack Obama says it’s time to spread the wealth around, he means give it back to the people from whom it was stolen. Unfortunately, it’s those very same people that are reacting with such fear to the idea, calling it socialism.  With the opposition from Saturn to Uranus, new ideas and change (Uranus) will become even more frightening for those who cling to the past (Saturn).

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Pluto and Capitalism: “Creative Destruction”

September 24, 2008 By

I first heard the term “creative destruction” this morning on NPR relative to the current debacle in the financial industry, and I thought:  how perfect for the nature of Pluto re-entering Capricorn where it has already marked a destruction of the mode of capitalism that the US economy has devolved into.

From Wikipedia:

“The opening up of new markets and the organizational development from the craft shop and factory to such concerns as US Steel illustrate the process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one … [The process] must be seen in its role in the perennial gale of creative destruction; it cannot be understood on the hypothesis that there is a perennial lull.” (Quote from “The Process of Creative Destruction” by Joseph A. Schumpeter, 1942)

Pluto is the god of destruction; in our personal lives he removes any person or thing that is not serving the purpose for which it was intended in our soul’s journey.  That destruction can be felt as ruthless, but it is always recognized in retrospect as being necessary. When a computer’s files are corrupted to the point that the computer doesn’t work, we reformat the hard drive and reinstall the software.  I believe that the economic system in the US is that broken, and it needs to be allowed to self-destruct so that something more effective can be built in its place.

Obviously this is a painful process, but this is what we’ve been anticipating with Pluto’s entry into Capricorn, the sign of buildings, banking, governmental and religious structures.  Capricorn is also the sign of personal responsibility: of living up to one’s own rules.  The system that passed a major piece of bankruptcy legislation tightening the noose around the neck of individuals whose bad financial decisions or plain bad luck resulted in financial losses should be held to the same standards here.

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Sarah Palin’s Astrological Chart

September 2, 2008 By

Palin ChartMany of you have asked me to post her chart, so here is the Solar chart, using noon as the birthtime since the time is unavailable.  I know that Jude Cowell is using a sunrise chart which is for 7:06 am.  WIth all respect to Jude, I prefer the noon chart because it provides a better idea of the placement of the Moon which travels about a degree every two hours

Update: Sally McDonald at Astrowold has posted a 4:40 pm time that came from astrologer Claudia Dikinis, via Margie Herskovitz from NCGR.  Until there’s some kind of confirmation I’m hesitant to use a birth time. BUT, the buzz around the astrosphere has speculated a Leo ascendant, and the 4:40 pm time does have Leo rising although any afternoon birthtime will have the Moon in Aquarius which makes less sense to me.

Update 2:  Sally’s friend Claudia tells me that an AFAN newsletter reports the birth time of 4:40 pm is AA (reliable).  Still no word on the source, though.

All of these “sudden revelations” about Sarah Palin do smack of Uranus, though, and sure enough using this chart we have transiting Uranus retrograding over her progressed Midheaven.  That would fit perfectly with her being picked out of nowhere and then this rapid meltdown.

I’ll post more as it comes available.

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McCain Picks a VP

August 29, 2008 By

Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, is John McCain’s new choice for Vice President. Palin brings an interesting combination of political and personal characteristics to the McCain ticket.  She fought vigorously against the widespread corruption in the Alaska political system, even to the detrment of her own party.  She hunts, fishes, and won a beauty pageant in 1984.  She has five children including an 18-year old son who deploys soon to Iraq and an infant with Down Syndrome, and calls herself a “hockey mom.”  She is strongly “pro-life”, meaning she opposes abortion, but supports capital punishment.  (I have to say, I have never understood how you can be pro-life in one breath and embrace the killing of a human being on death row in another.  But I digress.)

For the McCain ticket, Palin brings credentials where McCain is lacking. She enhances his “maverick” status, which has waned in recent months as he waters down his personality for the presidential campaign. Unlike McCain, Palin is an active churchgoer (Pentecostal) and wants creationism to be taught in schools alongside evolution, bridging the mistrust the Religious Right holds against McCain.

Astrologically (born February 11, 1964) , she has at least four planets in Aquarius (Mercury, Sun, Mars and Saturn) and possibly the Moon as well, if she was born after noon.  Aquarius is the sign of the activist, the renegade – the individualist who isn’t afraid to buck the system.  With no planets in water signs other than Chiron, Palin is not a very emotional person and this is heightened by the strong Aquarian influence which is more interested in rational thinking and ideas than emotional viewpoints.

That Aquarian individuality is tempered with a triple conjunction of Saturn and Mars to the Sun.  Saturn is the ancient ruler of Aquarius, and lends its focus on solitude and a tendency towards rigidity which in the case of Palin may exacerbate the fixed nature of the Aquarian personality. Palin is conservative under the Saturn/Mars/Sun conjunction, but the Aquarian influence makes her quirkily so.

Neptune squares her Sun – the very same aspect in Obama’s chart that has suspicious astrologers claiming Obama is deceptive.  (See my earlier article.)  Neptune/Sun aspects tend to show that the individual has experienced difficulty expressing herself as an individual, and that there is a tendency for others to be unable to see her clearly because she becomes a hook for their projections.

Palin’s birthchart also shows that she has an exact opposition from Chiron to Pluto, and by association to Uranus as well.  I would be surprised if she has not had painful experiences in her life – that Chiron/Pluto opposition indicates an indivdiual who must continually face her inner demons so that they can be vanquished.

This is an interesting time for Palin – transiting Saturn has been aspecting this opposition, coinciding with the birth of her son with Down Syndrome.  Transiting Neptune is affecting her as well – passing over first her Sun, then Mars, then Saturn over the next several years.  This Neptunian time shows that she is prone to overidealizing the realities in her life, and there is a danger of not seeing things as they really are.

Update: Depending upon the time Palin was born, her Moon was either in Capricorn (morning) or in Aquarius (afternoon).  I’m going to go for Capricorn because without that earthiness and practicality at a deep emotional level her chart would not have the discipline and drive to achieve that Palin demonstrates.  The  Moon shows the way we respond when we’re backed against the wall – our instinctive nature, and Palin’s Troopergate scandalhttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/2_bing.gif, where she fired a public safety commissioner for not firing her former brother-in-law during his messy divorce from her sister, demonstrates the ruthless side of Capricorn for which the ends justify the means.

She’s an interesting choice for an already interesting election!  Tomorrow I’ll look at how she and McCain will likely get along.

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The 2008 Election: The Generation Gap

August 27, 2008 By

The US Presidential Election this year has been a battle between the Pluto in Cancer generation (John McCain), the Pluto in Leo generation (Hillary and Bill Clinton) and the Pluto in Virgo generation (Barack Obama).  Back in February I covered this in an article about the Clinton/Obama contest as a referendum between the early (Pluto in Leo) and late (Pluto in Virgo) boomers.  The passion of the feelings in the comments on this earlier article reveal the intensity of the conflict between these two generations.  (Note:  obviously these are generalizations about a demographic group as a whole.  Within these groups individuals find their own exprssion.)

The Clintons were central to a powerful Democratic political machine that was centered on loyalty and a politics of personality – hallmarks of the Pluto in Leo generation.  Although I am counted among that generation, I have to admit that there is truth to the blame that the early boomer (Leo) generation gets for being narcissistic and self-absorbed.  These are negative traits of Leo, but there are also positive ones:  generosity, inspiration, creativity and open-mindedness.  The Clinton era has reflected all of the traits of Pluto in Leo, both positive and negative.  But the strongest Leonine traits of the politics of both Clintons has been a powerful sense of pride and entitlement,  Politico reports:

The former president is disappointed, associates said, because he is eager to speak about the economy and more broadly about Democratic ideas — emphasizing the contrast between the Bush years and his own record in the 1990s.

This is an especially sore point for Bill Clinton, people close to him say, because among many grievances he has about the campaign Obama waged against his wife is a belief that the candidate poor-mouthed the political and policy successes of his two terms.

Pluto in Leo has a hard time turning over the spotlight.

On the other hand, we have Barack and Michelle Obama, Pluto in Virgo types.  Virgo tends to shy away from expressions of ego and doesn’t care much for Leo, and the Pluto in Virgo generation bears a fair amount of resentment against the egotism of the Pluto in Leo older brothers and sisters.  But often this resentment obscures the understanding that it was the boldness and vision of Pluto in Leo that started the wheels of change turning.  As a generation, Pluto in Virgo (1956-1971) has been the beneficiary of many of the changes that the Pluto in Leo generation, with their search for pleasure and freedom, sought to implement.

Then there’s John McCain representing Pluto in Cancer (1913-1939) - the generation that sacrificed everything for family and country, both under Cancer rulership.  This generation, as a whole, did not question authority or seek to pursue their own dreams as they lived through two World Wars.  Cancer’s main focus is on security and emotional safety, and they may have a greater tendency than other generations to relate best to people that are most like them (Cancer is rooted in tribal affiliations).

With the transition of Pluto into Capricorn, change is afoot.  Those who embrace change will vote for the new guy.  Those who fear it will retreat to the safety of the past and vote for the old one.

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The Astrology of the Democratic Convention

August 25, 2008 By

The two overriding planetary aspects shadowing the Democratic National Convention over the next few days ia a long-term conjunction of Chiron (wounding and healing) to the North Node (the ascending point where the path of the Moon crosses the path of the Sun around the Earth, from our perspective on Planet Earth).  The North Node is not a planet, but in astrology it symbolizes the path of our future evolution. The conjunction of Chiron to the North Node began back in June and will continue through October.

The North Node opposes the South Node (the descending point on the path of the Sun), so an aspect to one point affects the other point as well.  The South Node denotes the past – issues and ideas that hold us back from evolving towards our destiny.  Chiron right now is therefore opposite the South Node, where it is challenging and opening old wounds from the past that are keeping us from moving forwards towards our soul’s true purpose.

This conjunction takes place in Aquarius, the sign of the collective and the urge for change, social justice, and living a life of authenticity and freedom.  One could argue that the Democratic party is ruled by these Aquarian principles of change and equality, so it is not surprising that the Convention, falling under this Chiron/Node conjunction, is opening old wounds of party issues.  The Clinton/Obama rivalry which many hoped was behind us is now heating up to a boiling point, and questions of rivalries between men and women, between those of different races, and between generations are rupturing as old wounds fester and come to the surface.  This is Chiron’s work: to bring the old wounds to the surface of our awareness so that they can be faced and dealt with.

Working in tandem with the Chiron/Node system is a square from Pluto (transformation and endings) to Mercury and Venus.  The square of Pluto to Mercury signifies difficulty in communication – arguments and power struggles between various ideologies.  Pluto to Venus stimulates the ending of long-held alliances and partnerships.  At the same time, Uranus (rebellion and radical behavior) is opposing Mercury and Venus as well – instigating arguments (Mercury) and questioning alliances (Venus).

I’m not surprised that Hillary Clinton is still exerting her influence in the convention.  Transiting Pluto is just completing a square to her Moon, which is intensifying her already intense personality characteristics (Senator Clinton has four planets in Scorpio plus the South Node, and all are square to a powerful conjunction of Saturn, Mars and Pluto in Leo which hungers for power).  The conjunction of Chiron to the North Node is interacting with her Leo and Scorpio planets and I sense that she is not yet ready to relinquish what she feels to be her destiny on the national stage.

There is a lot of uncertainty as to how these events will unfold, but I predict that things will not go smoothly.  There will be a fair amount of dirty laundry aired and protests that will reveal the wrinkles in the happy front that is presented to the press.

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