The Astrology of the US chart reveals that there is potentially more going on in government circles right now than meets the eye and this indeed seems to be the case when we closely examine the facts of the matter. This is because transiting Uranus is just opposite US Neptune, and the recent Full Moon configurations, including the one for March 10th, have triggered this aspect. Meanwhile, Saturn has made one pass in close conjunction to US Neptune with another on the way in late August. With US Neptune so activated we think of oil, and confusion or even deception in high places, as well as support for the high ideals of this country.

The high ideals are certainly evident in the mood of the electorate in hopeful approval of the new president. But the deception is there as well, as evidenced in some recent news items. This is an exchange between Bill Moyers and MIT economist Simon Johnson, a guest on his news show, dating from February 13:

Bill Moyers: And, yet, Secretary Geithner's chief-of-staff is the former lobbyist for Goldman Sachs. How - serious question - how do they make a dispassionate judgment about how to deal with Goldman Sachs when they're so intertwined with Goldman Sachs' mindset?

Simon Johnson: … the new administration has a lot of rules about lobbying. And they have rules that basically say, I think, as understood the rules, when they were first presented, I was very impressed. They basically said, "We're not going to hire lobbyists into the administration. There has to be some sort of cooling off period."

    Bill Moyers: And the next day Obama exempted a number of people from that very rule that he had just proclaimed.

    Simon Johnson: Yes. It's a problem. It's a huge problem.

    Bill Moyers: So here's the trillion dollar question that I take from your blog, that I read at the beginning, quote, "Can this person," your new economic strategist, in this case Geithner, "really break with the vested elite that got you into this much trouble?" Have you seen any evidence this week that he's going to be tough with these guys?

    Simon Johnson: I'm trying to be positive. I'm trying to be supportive. I like the administration. I voted for the president. The answer to your question is, no, I haven't seen anything. But you know, perhaps next week I will. But right now, as we speak, I have a bad feeling in my stomach.

Full transcript of BMJ for February 13

This is but one indication that there may be some difficulty in the new administration being able to meet the high ideals expressed by Barack Obama during his campaign. Another would be the actual carrying out of the anti-war platform that he ran on. Even though there has been a plan for a draw-down of troops in Iraq, there has been mention of "50,000 advisors" even after that draw-down has been achieved. And sending 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, while matching campaign promises, is not exactly an anti-war move. It is possible, as has been alleged, that more civilians are being currently killed in Afghanistan by the US army than by the Taliban. If true, this is also a serious problem for this president.

Also, even though President Obama has with great fanfare made plans for the closing of Guantanamo, ending the imprisonment without trial for some 200 prisoners there, his justice department has simultaneously refused the right of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan the right to a trial, using exactly the same argument as the Bush administration.

See truthout on Bagram prison

In another disturbing fact, a lawsuit pending against illegal wire-tapping by the Bush administration was attempted to be shut down by the current justice department, using, again, exactly the same argument as the Bush administration did.

See truthout wire-tapping legal battle

It may well be that the moneyed powers behind any Washington administration have more to say about the way the country is run than the public. For a discussion of this topic, see

Michael Winship blog entry

All of this is disturbing, and matches the astrological determination that the Obama administration, inaugurated under a void of course moon and Mercury retrograde, might begin after a while to look a little different than the promise that was initially held out, once in office.

Barack Obama and the Eclipses of Change

As we congratulate ourselves on the positive mood that is currently sweeping the country – and it is with a well-deserved sense of optimism that we greet this vibrant new leader and his lofty new vision for America – we are also aware that several astrological factors are more problematic. For one thing, as we all know, Mercury is retrograde. Since Mercury was retrograde and the Moon was void of course when Mr. Obama took the oath of office, that moment presages a certain degree of difficulty is seeing that lofty vision through. The Moon was famously void of course when Nixon was sworn in after being elected in 1972, shortly before the Watergate scandal came to light and he was forced to resign. And Mercury was retrograde when Nixon took the oath for his first term of office in 1969. He had campaigned on a rapid end to the war in Vietnam that turned instead to an escalation. Twenty years later, in 1989, George H. W. Bush took the oath with Mercury retrograde, and the economy hit recession, and a new war began. During the campaign, the senior Bush had stated "read my lips: no new taxes" but his 1990 decision to renege may have cost him a second term. Since this inauguration chart has both, with Mercury retrograde conjunct the Sun as well, we may well have some reason to worry.

It needn't be all that grim. At least the concept is good: that America needs to turn it around. It's just that turning it around may prove in the final analysis just a wee bit more difficult than we all would like to think. A comical example of the effect of Mercury retrograde was revealed in the very taking of the oath itself. Although the constitution requires a word-for-word recital, Chief Justice Roberts misspoke one line, then waited for the President-elect's response. Mr. Obama, aware that the line was incorrect, waited also. At this point Mr. Roberts re-stated the line correctly, but Mr. Obama repeated it as originally and incorrectly stated. The oath was re-administered successfully the next evening.

As the presidency of Barack Obama begins, we and the rest of the world face two eclipses, one that begins the Chinese New Year on January 26th, and the Lunar Eclipse of February 9th. These eclipses trigger the on-going Saturn - Uranus opposition that will become exact in February. Change is in the air, and resistance to change is also very present with us right now. How do these two eclipses hit the chart of the president? It's a question that yields some very important information.

On January 26th with Mercury still retrograde, the eclipse in Aquarius, President Obama's rising sign, is close to his Jupiter degree (). Actually, Jupiter in the sky is only a few degrees past his, and conjuncted as well by this potent New Moon. There is ample evidence for the president's Jupiter return in the amazing level of popularity that he currently enjoys, over 82% approval, contrasted with the outgoing administration's 23. And his decision to reverse many of the Bush policies is welcome news in most quarters. Even the conservatives are in support of his transition. The eclipse Sun and Moon degree, 6 + Aquarius, also hits his Mars and Neptune. There is an important Sabian Symbol that accompanies this degree: A child born of an eggshell. Does this symbol speak to the fragile nature of these times? It is also a symbol of self-creation. For this degree symbol, Marc Edmond Jones has "A highly individual and completely unlimited resourcefulness," while Dane Rudhyar says it indicates a rebirth "free from the inertia of the past." And it's true that in some sense the past has ceased to exist.

The eclipse powerfully hits the US chart as well. Barack Obama's Mars degree, the same degree as US Neptune, is hit with a sesquiquadrate aspect, indicating tension. Also the president's Neptune degree is hit, by square. Mars and Neptune in the US chart, which are square each other, are hit by the eclipse degree of the Sun and Moon which is sesquiquadrate to them both. All this Mars and Neptune reminds us of the various meanings that can take, including deception and the military, including action involving oil. Since both of these planetary archetypes are powerfully configured in the charts of both the president and the country, we had better pay careful attention to these aspects. As far as the US chart, difficulties in the Neptune department are hardly new. See my recent Zodiactivism blog entries for some ideas there. As far as the president's chart goes, we might suppose that ideals, perhaps bordering on illusion, maybe even confusion, could come up. This would apply to the entire thirty days of this lunation cycle until the next New Moon. It might be a good time to cut him some slack. Or it might be a time when deception on the part of others will come to play an important role. Since President Obama's Neptune is located in the 9th house of his chart, his high idealism with regard to matters of higher mind could well be shown and tested in some way. For this placement – true also but in a different sense for the US chart, the TimePassages software has in part: "Your challenge lies in relying on your considerable inner vision to unfold your own unique pathway, to make concrete and real your flights of consciousness to other realms, and bring this vision back with you into society at large."

The January 26th eclipse Sun and Moon degree also aspect President Obama's Mars degree, a sesquiquadrate. This is a testing time for him and for the entire country, as the nation's new leadership must comport itself as best as it can in a time of war. Altogether, at the time of this eclipse, the president's Mars degree is being conjuncted by Saturn, opposed by Uranus and Venus, and trined by Mars and retrograde Mercury, all fairly exact aspects. Retrograde Mercury, in Capricorn, also conjuncted the president's natal Saturn on the day before.

Now, there is another eclipse on the horizon in these last days of January, the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse of Monday, February 9th. This eclipse, in the 22nd degree of Aquarius and Leo, lies directly across within a few degrees of the president's Ascendant – Descendant axis (). The Sabian symbols are: "A rug placed on the floor for children to play on" and "A carrier pigeon." Marc Edmond Jones speaks of "Service of life at large to the special requirements of individual understanding," and of "the deepening of every potential of self-hood [in service]." The Moon also conjuncts his natal Uranus, located in late Leo near his Descendant.

All in all this monthly period leading up to February 24th represents a testing and an amazing time for the country and for the president, when his powers of competition and taking care of business will be highlighted, perhaps with more frustrations and setbacks than we would have hoped. This will also be a time of personal challenge for him when his need to nurture his family in spite of these circumstances will be brought into prominence. We wish him well.

Barack Obama's Natal Chart Analysis »