There is a dark cloud enveloping the country as we move through the spring of 2020 and beyond. The still-metastasizing pandemic has already taken 100,000 lives and close to 40 million jobs. People are hurting, and they are angry. Much of this could have been avoided with a responsible and competent chief executive more interested in serving the public than serving his own political interests and narcissistic image. The mountain of evidence for his criminal negligence is crystal clear, and history will have much to report on the pernicious stain of the Trump presidency.
Into this already stressful reality, we now face yet another in a long history of egregious acts of lethal police violence, yet another murder of a black man by police under the thin, obfuscating veil of a blue uniform drenched in blood. The explosive rage that has erupted on the streets of Minneapolis is being echoed in solidarity on sister streets across the nation. A simple indictment for the unjustified murder and the reckless endangerment of a citizen, as well as the abuse of power by law enforcement would go a long way to quell the uprising. But the indelible memory of multitudes of similar instances, also caught on video for the world to see, but followed by the predictable exoneration of such vicious, unrepentant crimes feeds the unforgiving fires.
As stated previously, I feel that the Pluto transit opposite the US Mercury (24Cancer12), covering from mid-January through June 26, 2020, and returning from November 29 through December 31, is the astrological signature of an intense struggle to survive, as well as a partisan, almost paranoid distrust. This heightened, fearful Plutonian emotion is currently further strengthened by the progressed US Moon opposite natal US Mercury in May and conjunct transiting Pluto from May 12 to June 6. This points to a particularly stressful few weeks with a great deal of upheaval.
Unfortunately, the progressed US Moon will conjunct natal Pluto (27Capricorn33) from July 23 to August 23, while also be conjunct transiting Saturn from August 1 through August 12. Again, this will heighten the paranoid, suspicious partisan divide, as well as the anxious feeling of the struggle to survive against seeming impossible odds. How this will manifest is unclear, whether it is about the resurgence of the virus, another completely crazy and destabilizing Trump power grab, more racially tinged violence, a vicious hurricane and wildfire season, or some combination of these issues, is unknown. But the feeling of deep anxiety and struggle is a given.
We are also just entering the protracted period from May 28 through November 4 when the volatile configuration in the 2017 Inaugural chart that includes Mars, the Moon and Saturn is being activated, first by transiting Uranus and then by the Inaugural progressed Moon. The first piece of this is the transit of Uranus opposite Inaugural Moon (9Scorpio22) and semisquare Inaugural Mars (24Pisces21) from May 28 to June 20. This configuration brings unexpected and transformative events that activate popular rebellion and protest (Moon/Uranus), as well as aggressive and angry response from the administration (Uranus/Mars). Not only is the escalating protest in Minnesota a manifestation of this aspect, but also the current Trump battle with Twitter, including his writing an executive order in response to Twitter noting the dishonesty in one of his tweets about mail-in-voting. Watch this battle continue to escalate through June. We may also see an increase in popular anger and revolt over the pathetic government response to the corona virus.
This Uranus transit opposite Inaugural Moon (9Scorpio22) will return full force from September 13 to October 15. But it will be joined by the progressed Inaugural Moon conjunct natal Saturn (23Sagittarius30) from September 1 through September 30, progressed Inaugural Moon conjunct progressed Saturn (23Sagittarius54) from September 14 through October 14, and progressed Inaugural Moon square Mars (24Pisces21) from October 1 to October 28. We can expect a whirlwind of trouble, upheaval, and failure from the administration (pr Moon/Saturn 9/1 to 10/14), as well as both an angry and aggressive response (pr Moon/Mars/ tr Uranus all of October) both from the administration and in response by the public.
Ironically, my plan for this article was to write about Joe Biden’s Vice-Presidential pick. And as we can see, once again, the presidential race is being overwhelmed by the circumstances on the ground. Nonetheless, let me briefly mention that I have been searching for months to find a VP candidate that brings a strong positive chemistry and successful outcome for the Joe Biden candidacy. Until last week, I could find no one that seemed to really stand out. Then I researched the chart of Gretchen Whitmer (8/23/71 at 8:51 PM in Lansing, Michigan). I cannot predict if Biden will choose Whitmer as his running mate, but I can say that her presence would bring a synergy to the ticket that is incredibly positive. With her on the ticket, we would be looking at a much more confident and comfortable Biden and a partner that would be in total alignment and easy rapport with him.
Whitmer’s Jupiter (27Scorpio57) is in an exact conjunction with both Biden’s Sun (27Scorpio34) and his Venus (28Scorpio33). This is a profound connection that strengthens Biden’s sense of self and his confidence and articulateness. There are several other interesting connections, but the most noteworthy are in the Biden/Whitmer composite (midpoint) chart. Here we find an exact Sun (13Libra55)/Venus (13Libra54)/Mercury (13Libra17) conjunction. There is nothing that compares to the sense of attunement and easy communication that this combination describes. Moreover, this configuration is in an exact square to the US Sun (13Cancer19) suggesting a strong connection to the US. Moreover, the Midheaven in the composite chart is 12Scorpio12, an exact conjunction to Biden’s Mars (12Scorpio25), again suggesting that the partnership would help to strengthen him. These are the highlights although there are several other significant connections. I will write more if Biden does in fact choose Whitmer as his running mate. I can only say that their chemistry together is off the charts and would bring great success. We will see what happens.
There is, of course, the pressure for Biden to pick an African American woman for the ticket. In light of what I have found in the Whitmer chart and in none of the others, I still prefer Whitmer. But I also think that the early pick of Stacey Abrams for the very prominent and powerful role of Attorney General, in a position where she can focus on the multitude of issues of racial injustice, voter suppression, and police brutality, just to a name the most obvious, might speak clearly to the African American community about what they can expect and about the shared agenda they will have with the coming administration.