An Astrologically Troubled Election Day

Elections are prime fodder for astrologers, though the more skilled and conscientious of them tend toward caution in their prognostications. Pinning down specific “birth” locations and times is subjective and prone to error when it comes to creating the astrological charts.

Nevertheless, a number of notable astrologers were surprisingly accurate in their forecasts for the 2000 and 2004 elections, especially regarding the protracted, confusing and unscrupulous activities surrounding 2000’s presidential results.

That being said, Election Day 2008 is proving difficult and disturbing for many astrologers. As writer Barry Orr recently stated, “This year, something doesn’t seem right. No one feels good about the astrological conditions on election day, nor the conditions on inauguration day. There is a shadow looming over the charts.”

Alignment of Opposites

Part of the shadow is the Saturn-Uranus opposition. Those two astrologically influential planets will be exactly 180 degrees opposite one another at 8 a.m., Washington DC time, on election day, November 4. It’s a rare alignment, occurring every 45 years, and is marked by social upheaval and tinges of revolution as the rebellious aspects of Uranus tear into Saturn’s rigid conservatism. This particular instance is the first of five planetary oppositions that will end in July of 2010. The last Saturn-Uranus opposition was 1965-67, and some of you may be able to recall the amount of societal change embodied in those years.

Shadows Over Results

Adding to the discomfort are some of the 2008 election interpretations voiced by prominent astrologers in May at the United Astrology Congress in Denver. Most of them reportedly focused on the Saturn-Uranus opposition, Mercury moving into Scorpio, Mars and Neptune at 90-degree separation and some lesser influences.

One astrologer, Robert Hand, said the solar eclipse in two weeks, August 1, highlights the aspect of George Bush’s chart dealing with behind-the-scenes power structures. “The period of time at least a month before and after this date (August 1) should be watched carefully,” Orr writes. Such details are fueling the fears of conspiracy theorists who note that the Bush administration has quietly put laws into effect empowering Bush to postpone or cancel the election in the event of a “national emergency,” such as a terrorist attack. This in turn fuels the supposition that the Bush administration has laid the foundation for Bush serving a third term.

Another astrologer, Gary Christen, sees a dark-horse candidate emerging after an “unfortunate event” befalls either the nation or one of the candidates, resulting in one or more of the candidates leaving the race. Astrologer Jacob Scwartz, who accurately predicted much of the 2000 election turmoil, sees Democratic Senator Joseph Biden as the Democratic candidate for president. This is consistent with fears that Obama will be assassinated or that some tragedy will befall McCain, since neither of them emerge clearly when the election results are charted.

Cosmos and Psyche

Is it all nonsense? A couple of years ago I would have thought so. But reading the book Cosmos and Psyche by Richard Tarnas dramatically changed my regard for astrology. I heartily recommend his book to people even remotely curious about the patterns of history. Here’s what Tarnas wrote about the Saturn-Uranus opposition:

Historical periods in which Saturn and Uranus moved into dynamic aspect were marked by certain distinctive themes that were readily intelligible in terms of the archetypal principles associated with these two planets: the exacerbation of tensions between authority and rebellion, order and freedom, structure and change. Often the two archetypal principles combined and interpenetrated in contradictory ways: repressive revolution, erratically unpredictable authority, and so forth, as evident during the Terror in revolutionary France and the Cultural Revolution in communist China... Especially frequent with this cycle were crises and the sudden collapse of structures, crashes, and accidents, grim awakenings, and sudden breakdowns, whether political, economic, or psychological.

Just remember, this alignment occurs at 8 o’clock on the morning of Election Day.