JOHN McCAIN’S CHART; THE 2008 ELECTION

n last month’s edition of Echo, I interpreted Barack Obama’s birth chart and I am very hopeful that Senator Obama will win the election.  I realize and admit that I cannot impartially delineate John McCain’s chart.  In addition, an accurate time for McCain’s birth is unknown – his mother has given his birth time as 9:00 and 11:00 AM on different occasions [note how different these times are from his actual birth time of 6:25 PM, which demonstrates that mothers don't always accurately remember when their children are born] – and I choose not to waste my time speculating upon or rectifying his time of birth.  However, it would be remiss of me not to address some aspects between the planets on the day of McCain’s birth.  One is a four-planet T-square:  Venus and Neptune opposite Saturn, all squaring Jupiter.  These aspects are irrespective of what time of day he was born because they were effective all day.  The Venus-Saturn opposition in this T-square means that McCain has some fear of intimacy and that he is more of a loner than a joiner.  We can certainly see how this (and Mars square Uranus in his chart) has manifested as his maverick behavior [which he proudly brandished during his campaign for president] and his reputation in the U.S. Senate.  At his core, he feels unworthy of love and attracts people around him who reinforce this feeling.  Have you noticed how stiff and uncomfortable he is when he embraces others?  You can see it in his body language [which is unrelated to his war injury].  With this opposition, he has great difficulty accepting and receiving criticism without reacting defensively.  [His Venus-Saturn opposition also adversely affects his ability to communicate because Venus rules his 3rd house of communication.]  Furthermore, it indicates his lack of charisma and he is not exactly the good humor man.

Jupiter square Saturn and Mars square Uranus (in fixed signs – stubborn, recalcitrant) both signify his tendency to overreact or go to extremes.  He is seldom, if ever, satisfied with the status quo but this could be unfortunate for the country if he is elected because both of these squares are indicative of his restlessness, his obstinate nature, his impulsivity, and his need to stir up trouble at times.  He also has difficulty staying on task and focusing on a particular objective long enough to achieve it.  The Mars-Uranus square in his chart gives him an unpredictable, rash, rebellious nature and he tends to react negatively and aggressively (Mars in Leo) to pressure.  This square [with the Sun on the western horizon reinforcing it] means that he is a warmonger.  Robert Hand says of people with a Mars-Uranus square, “you will fight when you have to, and even sometimes just for the love of it” (R.S.H., p. 233 (1977)).  Actions are often taken in haste and sometimes later regretted, though mistakes are seldom admitted (he has much pride with Mars in Leo [and particularly in his work, as it turns out, since he was born with Mars in the 6th house of work]).

McCain’s extreme wealth is indicated by Jupiter (in its home sign of Sagittarius) square both Saturn and Venus – he owns so many homes he can’t keep track of the number!  [It is also indicated by Venus (money) in the 7th house of partner - and most of his wealth is from his wife.]  With Saturn (achievement) in Pisces (a dreamy sign), Neptune opposite Saturn (unrealistic), and Jupiter square Neptune (dreamy, fantasy driven), he is unrealistic and self-righteous, he often has expectations far beyond reality, and he is frequently disappointed.  Although he wants to see the best in others and in the world [with Pisces rising], he sometimes pretends that problems (with people or countries) don’t exist.  In addition, he is unpredictable (Mars square Uranus) so he can suddenly change his mind or what he thinks needs to be done – like get rid of some staff member or attack some country (if he is elected).  Mars is anger too and, with his Mars in Leo (a fixed fire sign) and peregrine (at its worst), he tends to seethe or he sometimes explodes (Mars square Uranus).

If McCain was born in the morning as his mother claims, then his chart has a Moon-Pluto opposition.  [Since he was actually born at 6:25 PM and the Moon is in early Aquarius rather than late Capricorn, in traditional astrology we do not consider this an opposition.  Therefore, some of the following does not apply or does apply but for different reasons.]  This opposition means intense, emotional relationship problems and power struggles with other people.  His mother was a very strong and powerful influence upon his persona [because she is represented by Moon in Aquarius and McCain was born with Saturn, ruler of Aquarius, in the 1st house] but as a result of his lack of control as a child and during the years as a POW [more as a result of restraints placed upon him represented by Saturn in his 1st house and by Moon in Saturn's sign], he now struggles with the impulse to control [affect is a better word here because of four planets in his 7th house] situations, other people, and other countries if he gets the chance.  In other words, he is a control-freak [this trait is not applicable based on his actual time of birth - see what a difference a few hours in someone's time of birth can make?].  The Moon-Pluto opposition and the Mars-Uranus square mean that McCain is a danger to this country if elected [this is not so much the case because the Moon is not opposite Pluto, as far as traditional astrology is concerned].  Don’t mistake my meaning – he is not an evil or inherently bad person, but he would be bad for this nation.  The decline of the U.S. as a world power during the Bush regime would continue with McCain at the helm.  There isn't a progressive bone in his body [this is even more true than I knew when I first wrote it, although the Moon in Aquarius when he was born is at least one progressive bone] - his Moon is in conservative Capricorn [it was no longer in this sign by the time of day when he was born], he has no emphasis in progressive Aquarius [his chart actually does have the Moon in that sign], Uranus in his chart is retrograde in conservative Taurus, [he was born with conservative Saturn in the 1st house], and he has three planets in conservative Virgo, two of them opposite conservative Saturn.

As to the matter of predicting the winner of the 2008 presidential election, I read recently what Lee Lehman [a professional astrologer] had to say about why astrologers have such a poor record when it comes to picking the winner of presidential elections and I agree with her.  She said that most astrologers (including me) are too passionate about politics (most are probably liberal humanitarians like me) to render an unbiased and accurate judgment on such election outcomes.  Irrespective of the outcome, I predict that the winner will be dealing with a more deeply divided and polarized nation than before the election.  The divide between those few who will live comfortably (the rich) in our future of soaring oil prices [although gas prices have fallen to about $1.50/gallon by January 2009, this is only a temporary reprieve from the worldwide energy crisis], ever-increasing inflation [although prices initially will decline during the current economic depression, the printing and borrowing of hundreds of billions of dollars by the U.S. government will eventually cause run-away inflation] and surging unemployment, in contrast to those who are struggling to survive or make ends meet (the poor and “middleclass”) is and will continue to deepen until and unless the forces of humanitarian change and compassion overcome the entrenched forces of personal greed, corporate plutocracy, and indifference to human suffering.  McCain is a good example of this polarity – he is so out of touch with the economic suffering of millions of Americans that he doesn’t even know (or he doesn’t want to publicly admit) how many homes he owns!  About 100,000,000 Americans don’t even own one home!  [In reality, this number is much higher because the mortgage company actually owns most peoples' homes.]