AstroDispatch.com

My latest research into past U.S. election cycles shows that Obama will be re-elected in 2012.  It will be a somewhat close contest, but I do not expect it to be a cliff-hanger like some of the elections of the previous years.

The 132-Year Research Project

Last winter, I completed an extensive study of horoscopes for years that included U.S. Presidential elections going back to 1880.  This gives us 132 years of US Presidential election data to study. I have examined Aries ingress horoscopes, cast for Washington DC, at the moment when the Sun enters Aries, traditionally the first moment of the astronomical new year for election years.  This has enabled me to determine the basic characteristics in Aries Ingress horoscopes that indicate Presidential winners.  While some horoscopes are more straightforward than others, the basic rules of traditional astrology are applicable here as well.

We would look at the 10^th house of the king to signify the current president or the incumbent party, and the 4^th house for his opponent.  We closely examine the planets in these houses as well as the rulers of the houses to determine who fares better.  It really is that simple.  As ever, we look at the traditional planets, rather than the modern rulers.

For 2012, I was struck by the similarity of the 1880 Aries Ingress, and wanted to share that horoscope with my readers to explain my predictions for the 2012 US presidential election.  The horoscope for the 2012 election is below.

1880 Presidential Election Contenders

Do you remember the year 1880? It was the decade of mutton-chop mustaches, ruffled bustles on ladies’ skirts, and the height of the Gilded Age industrial economic boom.  Well, I wasn’t alive either, but it’s an important year for the 2012 presidential election, because of the close astrological resemblance of the 1880 election to this year’s contest.

In 1880, the Republican incumbent was Rutherford B. Hayes.  Hayes chose not to run that year, so instead, the Republican party chose James Garfield as their nominee.  The Democrats, after a close and splintered contest, nominated Winfield Scott Hancock, a highly respected Civil War General.

Following the lead of the ancient Arabic astrologers, we will assign the Aries Ingress 10th house to the King; that is, the current president or incumbent party. His opponent is signified by the fourth house, as it is the seventh from the 10th, or the “enemy” of the King.

The 1880 horoscope has 29° Virgo on the 10th house cusp, and of course 29° Pisces on the fourth house cusp. This is one similarity between the 1880 and the 2012 Aries Ingresses.  Garfield, as the representative of the incumbent party, is symbolized by Mercury, ruler of the 10th house. We note that Mercury is stationing retrograde, and the Moon in Cancer is making an immediate square to Mercury. It may be that Mercury is particularly benefited by going retrograde, because it indicates the return of a party to power, though this remains to be researched.

We do know for certain, however, is that Mercury applying to a planet in its domicile, that is the Moon in its own sign of Cancer, is strongly benefited. So that is one point for Garfield. The fact that Mercury is in the fourth house ruled by his opponent, does not seem to matter, based on my examination of the horoscopes for US elections.

This is another similarity between the 2012 horoscope and that of 1880; Mercury, ruling the King, is in the fourth house, and a different sign from the house cusp.

Now, let us look at the horoscope from the point of view of General Hancock. The fourth house is a crowded house; Jupiter in Pisces is on the fourth house cusp, the Sun in Aries is just inside the fourth house, and we have Mercury conjunct Saturn in Aries as well. The position of the Sun may have helped Hancock, but the fact that it is in a different sign from the cusp seems to have negated most of its positive effects. What about the extremely benefit Jupiter in its own house on the fourth house cusp? Since Jupiter is also the ruler of the fourth house and represents Hancock himself, much of the positive impact is negated as well. Further, there are no immediate applying aspects between Jupiter and other planet.

You can see that the late degrees on the fourth/10th house axis are a bit of a red herring. As you probably know, James Garfield won the 1880 US presidential election, though by a margin of less than 2000 popular votes out of a total of about 4.5 million.

The 2012 U.S. Presidential Election

We see that Mercury rules the 10th house of the king, and it is retrograde. Just as in the 1880 horoscope, it is possible that the 10th house ruler retrograde indicates a return of the president to power for another term. More importantly, Mercury applies to a conjunction with the Sun in Aries. The Sun is extremely powerful in Aries, as it is the sign where the Sun is traditionally exalted and therefore very strong. It is favorable for Mercury to apply to it, even though such closeness to the Sun is called combustion and is normally problematic. In the last 132 years, in the Presidential election context, a planet’s application to the Sun in exaltation has been helpful, not harmful for the candidate symbolized by the applying planet.

As in the 1880 election, we see that Mercury and the Sun are placed in the opponent’s house; while this may pose difficulties ordinarily (Mercury would be in the opponent’s power), the fact that Mercury and the Sun are in a sign different from the fourth house cusp seems to eliminate the negatives associated with this placement.

With these positive factors, Obama is sitting pretty for reelection this year.

His challenger, symbolized by Jupiter as ruler of the fourth house, is not so fortunate. There are no applying aspects to Jupiter, reminding us of the girl who did not get asked to the prom. No one is coming around to knock at the door to change the opponent’s current trajectory.  For modern astrologers, who would take Neptune as the ruler of Pisces, we have Mars applying to oppose Neptune, while the Moon (the popular will) separates from Neptune.  This is not a good sign for the Republican party nominee in 2012.

Who will be the challenger?  As of this writing, the three Republican front runners are still fighting it out, but I suspect the winner will be Mitt Romney; as the wealthiest of the three contenders, Jupiter in the very material sign of Taurus symbolizes him.

Bookmark to

• Cosmic Dirt Astrology, Ma...
• Astrology Today: March 18...