Jupiter square Jupiter; Jupiter=Asc/Uranus: In the 9:51 AM chart for Trump, I had mentioned elsewhere that Trump would risk "over doing it" in the debate. My assessment was that Trump is deteriorating (not merely aging) mentally. He appeared desperate and amped up his rhetoric by trafficking in conspiracy theories. He interrupted the debate an unimaginable multiple of times, cutting off the moderator and Biden some 128 times, stealing 30 minutes of air time. There is no way to equivocate his behavior to anything normal. He was described as behaving like a 'monster' or a 'crackhead' which corresponds well with Pluto opposed Saturn. But I think this "perfomative Jupiter transit was too much to handle. Jupiter rules the 5th house and is in the 3rd of this controversial chart. Transiting Venus was smack dab on Mars in the first, Venus ruling the MC and the 3rd. His fiery vitriol was venomously passionate and won over the already converted, but here he erred. He needed to broaden the coalition not reinforce the base. Venus moves into Virgo. And Jupiter moves off the exact midpoint (granted a quincunx but EXACT so suspicious to the EYE) suggesting that Trump was "working feverishly to earn recognition" while Uranus was upsetting the apple cart crossing the MidHeaven, disrupting his status as the head of the country. When Venus moves deeper into the belly of his chart and Jupiter gets off of the square, he may course correct, but too far again. No one has seen a subdued and "censored" Trump to this point. But that is what appears to be in the cards. His main weapon of amplifying his brand, his oft repeated "Truthful Hyperbole," has been decommissioned. Smaller rallies and now a mute button on the microphone for succeeding debates. The "noise" is slowly being squelched and the "signal" may finally be heard above the "noise." Which may not necessarily be a good thing if that "signal" is a dog whistle for an insurrection.
Biden, with Neptune coming across the I.C. did not appear vibrant to say the least. And his retorts were sparse by comparison and possibly not dignified but eh, what would you do in that situation? Of note is that Biden's supporters suggest he only responded by saying what "everyone was thinking." Although Biden missed some opportunities to counter Trump's attacks (and how could he?), forced to acquiesce at certain points, true to his Saturn retrograde of "going along for the ride" and for being vulnerable to exploitation, he over performed on the simplest metric. He didn't fall asleep. Remarkably, from this viewers point of view, he held fast and demonstrated a fixity and tenacity that only a Scorpio-Taurus blend can demonstrate. He seemed to gain strength throughout the debate and not fade, after coming out on the stage white as a ghost. "Who's afraid of the big bad wolf" MnM sang back in the day, and some millennial created and extraordinary "deep fake" video meme to kind of summarize how the debate went. An obvious nod to Biden's courage in the face of a "bully." I would send it over but the meme was taken down already. Biden's weakness is at once his strength. He is vulnerable emotionally. But tragic experiences have fired and tempered his resilience. We saw this on display when Trump erratically attacked Biden's son Hunter after Biden tried to pivot to discuss the patriotism his son Bo... That could have been a breaking point, but instead it was a moment of compassionate inspiration made vivid in a Neptunian way. At this moment, Biden spoke to the people about a shared family pain "we all have" due to the addiction epidemic. Trump gave Joe the opportunity to express his greatest strength. His empathy. Which contrasts with Trumps total lack of empathy. Joe turned to the camera intermittently and with great effect, where Trump wasn't able to look in the eye of the people even once. Trump demonstrated his utter and complete self absorption in himself and his cockamamie theories.
All in all this was Trump's debate to lose. And he did. Betting boards confirm and so did the Quick Polls. But dems cannot take solace in this data since the Quick Polls registered similar results for HRC in 2016. Biden might be the first U.S. President with the Sun in the 12th House... and although he is ahead in the polls, his winning office doesn't make sense on an astrological basis with Saturn transiting the 2nd. But he is an overachiever. Like Demosthene's or Jack Parr (p. 83 of astrology and Personality). A Biden win may possibly be a Divine Intervention of sorts, but not the sort the radical right is hoping for with a bible toting Trump. I am also thinking back to the movie the King's Speech. Biden is smart. But he doesn't flaunt it. The South Eastern quadrant is lit up in his chart but he has never been sure about his cerebral capacity or how it might be received by others. He's had to work at it. He needed to develop himself, build himself up. But the doubt remains buried and "unreachable." Trump went after this target in a way that only a sociopath would know how to do. But it didn't appear to land well. Biden is well fortified and protected in this area. He overcompensates for deeply held feelings of inferiority. Saturn retrograde rules the 2nd house in Gemini, disposited by Mercury in 12 which is supported by retrograde Jupiter. Biden worked to overcome his stutter and turned a negative experience into a positive through personal development, and as an extension through his efforts to build better institutions. I find his chart remarkable. He is as human as the guy next store with his "gafs" and the penchant he has for misspeaking. But I think there is a deep reservoir of a principled and decent human being who embraces humanistic ideals, compared to Trump who is a superficial parrot of conservative talk radio.
Trump's birth chart has an interesting marker. In Principles and Practice of Astrology, Noel did point out that the Moon conjunct the Nodal Axis can correspond to "insanity." And Trump was born on the Lunar Eclipse. The famous psychologist John Gottman has publicly been railing on about Trump being a "Malignant Narcissist." Gottman is behind the recently released documentary Unfit which I recommend. Gottman's work also showed up in the incredible but short lived television series "Lie to Me." He's an expert in this particular area matching facial expressions and body posture with sincerity and deception etc. Contrary to the Goldwater Rule, Gottman and his colleagues consider it their duty to warn. They consider Trump dangerous and his supporters "enablers." You can see Trump's display of authoritarianism in his Mussolinian Jaw Jut (which to be fair Obama also had). Gottman's work is painstakingly documented and collaborative. Jared Yates Sexton puts some historical context around Gottman's observation from a political point of view in his new book American Rule. We have been here before essentially. Hitler imported many of his ideas for domination from the U.S. Yates essentially deconstructs the "American Myth" of exceptionalism, as a deception and cover up cloaked in a perversion of religion, of a "chosen people." Noel makes a poignant point in Principles about how the German people were offered an antidote to their humiliation and depression by embracing Nazism which appealed to their nationalism and "need" for expressing a compensation by claiming to being a "Superior" race, i.e. "To Be Great Again." Here is a quote Noel used from Eric Fromm: "Individuals can either unite themselves with other people in the spirit of love and shared work or they can find security by submitting to authority and conforming to society. In the one case, the individual uses their freedom to develop a better society; in the other they acquire a new bondage." [I took the liberty to make the pronouns gender nuetral]
Excuse my long post after a long silence and for positioning a strong statement against Trump. I do not believe that history will repeat itself. Trump is strong but not strong enough. I think he was necessary to stir up the enmities and unfinished business people harbor privately so that the public can build awareness to course correct together and learn to work and love together in the spirit of the Aquarian Age. A while back we discussed The End of the Republican Party, which was an epic thread. I think a Biden presidency will be the beginning of the end of the Democratic Party. The party system is broken and needs to be replaced. We are witnessing the painful and messy birth of something new. It will be fascinating to see what emerges for our children's generation. But the 'ol timers will finally have to step aside.
All the best,
HVA
