Astrology Musings for Election 2020

This USA election season is far too volatile to predict with accuracy. Let’s discuss the importance of each vote. The USA heads for its Pluto Return in 2022.

Whichever party wins this election will be at the helm during this period of irrevocable transformation.

We already experience the return to some of the themes that lead up to 1776: the division of those who objected to “taxation without representation” and those loyal to the Crown. 

Of course there are many variables in the groups who feel overtaxed and underrepresented; the spectrum includes Libertarians who believe everyone should pay their own way and dwellers of Blue States who feel they pay the most tax yet have the least voice.

Those in power know that every vote counts. With Mars Retrograde, the GOP in Texas fights to toss votes made through a drive-in option. Their argument is that it’s UnAmerican… but the concept of “drive-in” a distinctively American signature.

Regardless of who wins this election, the USA heads for upheaval and change. 

The Donald Trump presidency has created four years of high alert. Tempting as it may be, one man cannot be blamed for this country’s reckoning. Had Hillary Clinton won in 2016, the USA would still be at a crossroads — but how and why we got here would have been a different passage. Because it was Trump, a large body of more moderate voters may be willing to risk more progressive action.

Trump’s message was that he was going to dismantle the bloated government and run it like a profitable business to benefit the people. His message resonated with many because the Pluto Return demands economic and institutional overhaul. Dismantle structures and tailor new ones to suit today’s nation. However, grand gestures with no concrete foundation allow opportunists to seize the vacuums and propel their own agenda.

Trump’s nodal return is lit up Election Day 2020. The Nodal Return happens about every 18-19 years. The Nodal Return provides opportunities to realize what are you here to strive for in this lifetime; this requires effort and a willingness to learn unfamiliar territory. Since Donald Trump was born at the Lunar Eclipse, the experience is deeply personal for him. Both his ego and emotional reactions get activated. He responds to the call to lead, succeed in his chosen profession and to be the authority, that’s the North Node in his 10th House. But there’s more to it than that.

Ego and emotional reactions don’t necessarily help us grow into our destiny. Especially when the Sun (ego) and Moon (emotions) are challenged as they are in Donald Trump’s horoscope. We need a great deal of self-awareness and reflection to climb out of childhood blocks or we perpetuate an arrested psychological development. Donald Trump is not a person who put any work into confronting his issues; he would view to do so as a sign of weakness.

Trump’s North Node is in the sign of Gemini. That means this lifetime is about listening, partnerships, sharing ideas, gathering information, community involvement and playful curiosity.

Donald Trump is to be a leader AND a team player — the latter is where he seems to have trouble. He has the potential to tease out the other side’s POV and dance together. Yet it’s very difficult for Donald Trump to embrace this energy; because of his need to be right, he can sabotage the give and take required for sustainable success. 

As my old friend, marriage counselor, Melinda Martin used to say: “do you want to be right or do you want to be in a relationship?”

Donald Trump seems far more comfortable to slip into old behaviors of the Sagittarius South Node. Unfortunately, this unconscious habit emphasizes the negative traits of the south node sign. We can use our South Node strengths as a foundation to spring into the North Node destiny. But when we cling to the “default” behaviors, it stunts our growth. In the habit of Sagittarius, this reflects as arrogant, immoderate, foot in mouth, shoot from the hip, spread all over the place and loutish. 

In order for Trump to succeed at this time he’d do well to open into his keen desire to gather knowledge and widen his community. This would mean talking to people in other media networks, the other party and the citizens who he serves.

If he wins the presidency for a second term without doing this, he has no incentive to deepen into his North Node. This would not only be unfortunate for the USA, but for his own spiritual development. Every nodal return is an opportunity for growth, but it requires a desire to accomplish the harder task, in this case, reciprocal partnerships and communication.

If he doesn’t win, he still benefits from broadening his communication and listening skills. It certainly is possible, but the older one gets the more attached to past behaviors. He’s had this opportunity before, every 18-19 years.

Both candidates are affected by Mars Retrograde in Aries. When Mars is retrograde, it’s harder to move forward, especially for people with strong natal Mars placements. Donald Trump puts his Mars rising front and center; he plows in like a tank and stays behind its armor. With Leo Rising and Leo Mars he acts the part more than he’s actually invested in the fight. Hence his tendency to bail or shut the other down if they don’t bow to his blunt weaponry.

In spite of his public persona, Joe Biden is a very private man. With a stellium in Scorpio he plays the long game. Joe Biden’s Scorpio planets, including Mars, map out strategy for the stealth attack.

Mars in Scorpio cannot be deterred from its course of action. Biden will figure out another route if the original one doesn’t work. One should not underestimate the ferocity under the genial surface. In a way, the retrograde may be working to an advantage for Biden to curb his unfettered verbal gaffes.

Biden’s Taurus Moon indicates tenacity, loyalty and with Scorpio emphasis stubborn persistence. The transiting Capricorn planets of Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto stimulate his Scorpio planets in a harmonious sextile. This bodes well for him; of the two men’s Election 2020 transits, this may be more indicative of a Biden win. 

With Biden’s North Node in Virgo, that long goal has been to serve. He has used his South Node in Pisces to draw on his strong faith. This faith has allowed him to come to terms with profound loss and then utilize those losses as connective tissue for the service he’s here to do. 

Because Mars has been retrograde in the sign of Aries, anyone on the attack stands to receive a boomerang consequence of their own aggression. In other words, this is not a time to go on the offensive. Although this is a challenge during a presidential campaign, we can look at who has been the more aggressive candidate or where a fight started. 

Perhaps the biggest assault has been on the right to vote and for votes to be counted.

The irony with Mars Retrograde is that denying counts of mail and limiting poll access could also affect the party that has demanded those limitations. Unfortunately, as Mars goes direct on November 13, violence and unrest continue regardless of who wins. 

Because Mercury goes Direct on Election Day 2020, as it did in 2000, it seems inevitable to expect public outcry and demands for recount. Aside from Mars Retrograde, another big difference in 2020 is the Gemini Moon. This emphasizes the need for a message to be heard. Gemini is the sign that relates to youthful expression. The votes of young people stand to be clear and because of the Mercury station direct, tip the election.

The other person with a strong Mars in this picture is Kamala Harris. She has an Aries Moon and Leo Mars which shows that she knows how to grab attention.

Like Biden, Mars Retrograde may be helping her in spite of feeling held back; yes, she shines on stage or as she sprints across a tarmac, but she has toned it down to complement her running mate.

Harris is a Libra and like Trump, has the Gemini North Node. However, Kamala Harris seems to have utilized her Sagittarius South Node to develop her legal expertise. She has gone on record to take responsibility for judicial decisions that did not always reflect how she felt but that she asserted because that was her job.

She does not hide behind pompous South Node retorts (even though they may play in her head). Listening skills are how knowledge can be transmitted in ways the recipient can understand — she hears where someone comes from and then works to find a way to connect. That’s the Gemini North Node in action.

Kamala Harris is not easy to paint in the usual negative tropes, although her adversaries try. They know that she’s a torpedo under a deceptively calm persona. With Venus in Virgo, she favors a neat tailored look yet doesn’t shy from a bit of glam (Mars in Leo). The Leo/Virgo merge lends itself to a sphinx aura, but since she was born at the Uranus/Pluto conjunction her capacity to orchestrate transformational change should not be underestimated. She has the ingredients to make the waves that those entrenched in the status quo fear.

Biden and she share Mercury in Scorpio which allows them to communicate with depth. It also allowed them to bridge differences and come to an understanding as running mates. She aims for that Gemini North Node by recognizing the value of listening, humor and partnerships. 

An example of how she has used her expertise to connect with humor occurred in 2014 when she said young people were “stupid”. It’s important to know the context of that remark. Her adversaries use that one word as an attack, when actually she sought the need to provide initiatives to reduce recidivism rates for young, low-level offenders.

I don’t know about you, but I certainly made some stupid decisions before the frontal lobe of my brain was fully developed. Harris connected with her audience by reminding them of their own youth as she appealed for empathy within the criminal justice system. This is an adroit use of south node experience for the Gemini North Node desire to give voice for a community.

Harris also has connections with the USA chart that indicate she can be a champion for the people. Joe Biden has been the long-distance runner and Kamala Harris stands to grab the torch for the sprint. This can be pivotal in 2024 when Uranus is in square to the USA Moon… but more about that when we see what happens over the next month.

As the country experiences so much division from seeming opposite camps, it’s of interest that these three people are all born at the time of full moons, when the sun is in the opposite sign. A major lesson of the full moon is integration.

Biden and Harris as a ticket have stronger transits for a win. If Donald Trump were to get the presidency once more, I would not refer to it as a win. Sometimes winning is to lose.

If you have the right to vote in the US election, please do so — a strong turnout reflects the majority and this election determines how the USA processes its Pluto Return of irrevocable transformation.