On August 21, 2017, the United States will experience a rare celestial event—a Solar Eclipse whose path of totality cuts a swath straight across the country from sea to shining sea. Entering the US in Oregon, the eclipse sweeps over the Rockies, the plains, through the heartland, and exits via the Deep South off the coast of South Carolina. It is perhaps ironic that the path begins in Oregon, one of the most liberal states, and ends in South Carolina, one of the most conservative. Most of the continental US will see at least a partial eclipse, in a phenomenon which hasn’t occurred here in 99 years. Precise at 2:30 PM EDT, the eclipse degree of 28 Leo 52 makes several stunning alignments, including a close conjunction with Donald Trump’s natal Mars/Ascendant pairing at 26 and 29 Leo, as well as his asteroid America at 27 Leo. For the US itself, the eclipse lies opposed its natal Moon, representing the people, at 27 Aquarius. We’ll look at the details of these contacts more closely, but first, the eclipse itself. Two major bodies accompany the eclipse, but broadly. Mars at 20 Leo trails behind, and Mercury at 8 Virgo runs ahead. Mercury is retrograde, indicating a need to go back into old material and clean or clear whatever is left undone or unsaid; in Virgo, the accent is on precision and detail – leave no stone unturned in the quest to tie up loose ends. This can seem a herculean task, but Mars is there to lend a hand. Mars with the eclipse increases the intensity and the drama, but also provides energy and drive to accomplish what must be done. Be mindful of a tendency to lash out at others, keep it civil but be forceful and direct. Additional minor factors complicate matters. Exact with Mercury are asteroid Eurydike and TNO Orcus. Eurydike denotes a nostalgic energy, a desire to revisit the past and perhaps recreate situations which have long gone beyond recall. Orcus requires integrity, authenticity and genuineness to thrive; it is one’s word, given as an oath, to which one is bound, the breaking of which creates turmoil. Together, these points can work as a team, with Eurydike bringing up the past, Orcus cutting through the haze of nostalgia and sentimentality to what was truly worthwhile and valid from that time, and Mercury expressing this in updated terms and concepts which resonate to today’s needs. Closer to the eclipse degree are asteroids Circe and Persephone, both at 24 Leo, and Atropos, at 22 Leo. Circe is what beguiles or bewitches us, the things we explore which fundamentally alter us, without us even realizing we have changed. Persephone is another call to reclaim the past, particularly to right a wrong, as well as the circumstance which pulls us out of the equilibrium of innocence and requires us to face reality with maturity and respond with growth, becoming fully engaged and powerful in our own truth. Atropos signals an ending or finality, a terminus to pertaining conditions and a pause while we await rebirth or reconstitution of circumstances.
It is when we look to aspects to the eclipse that we move from the realm of the philosophical or theoretical, to pragmatic concerns on the ground in the world as we know it. Whitehouse and Damocles are in an extended conjunction for most of the year; what doom may yet befall?
Opposing the eclipse is a pairing of asteroids Whitehouse and Damocles, at 21 and 23 Aquarius. This conjunction has been an ongoing pattern since April, and will continue into December, which represents a doom hanging overhead for the administration, and the occupant of the Oval Office specifically. However, its inclusion in the eclipse footprint ramps up the pressure to peak. Think of that old Memorex ad with the man sitting in the chair, literally blown away by the music. Damocles is a karmic point, and cannot be reasoned with or appeased; its blow may fall in its own good time, but it will fall regardless. As if to underscore its point, the eclipse also squares asteroid Washingtonia at 25 Scorpio, representing the DC power base and culture, which is conjoined by asteroids Arachne and Ophelia, both at 23 Scorpio. Arachne shows the consequences of deception, as we become tangled in the webs we weave around ourselves; created to entrap others, we find ourselves enmeshed in the gossamer, with no hope of escape. Ophelia connects to feelings of being overwhelmed or “drowned” by circumstances, which can lead to mental imbalance. This may be based in a perceived rejection, such as eroding approval in polling, which brings us directly to Donald Trump. This grouping is remarkably descriptive of the atmosphere at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but the points to which it is opposed, also in square to the eclipse, are perhaps even more telling. These are centaur Bienor and TNO Sedna, both at 26 Taurus. Not much is known of Bienor, his mythic backstory is very thin. However, we do know one thing – the meaning of his name, which is, literally, “Strong Man.” That this is how the administration wishes to portray Trump is apparent from Bienor’s exact conjunction with the Ascendant in the inauguration chart, so its inclusion in the eclipse pattern is another indicator of pressure on the Commander-in-Chief. The exact conjunction with Sedna, named for an Inuit goddess who dwells in the deepest, most inaccessible part of the Arctic Ocean, and refuses to accept adult responsibility, indicates that the would-be “strongman” is isolated, unwilling to be held accountable, and inadequate to his task.
The repetitive nature of so many points in exact conjunction with each other sets a sub tone of emphatic statement by the cosmos. The celestial timing to create such precise alignments, at such a powerful moment, suggests an important message to be conveyed. One more such pairing exists in the chart, although it does not aspect the eclipse degree itself. This is a union of asteroids Karma and Icarus at 3 Libra. This shows a comeuppance, the results of our prior actions (Karma), particularly those which have been rash, reckless, heedless of the consequences, and taken against countervailing advice (Icarus). If that doesn’t sound like an indictment of Donald Trump, I don’t know what would.
Saturn paired with Askalaphus and Achilles – revealed secrets of the Chief Executive which leave him vulnerable.
Also of note are two groupings which might impact the US and its leader. There is a string of points splayed out in Sagittarius, comprised of asteroid Askalaphus at 15, Saturn at 21, and asteroid Achilles at 27 Sagittarius, on the Galactic Center. This concerns the chief executive and the office of the presidency itself (both Saturn), with secrets revealed (Askalaphus) which expose a weakness or vulnerability (Achilles), one that is made manifest for the entire globe to see (GC). The other is a closer conjunction of asteroid America at 22 Aries with TNO Eris at 23 and Uranus at 28. This symbolizes the country itself (America), which is discontent, fractious and strife-ridden (all Eris), and ripe for revolution and change (Uranus). Both these groupings are in rough trine to the eclipse degree (the Aries cluster is much closer, with the Uranus trine exact), forming a Grand Trine pattern.
Asteroid America with TNO Eris – a fractious, divisive country, ready to erupt.
This becomes a Kite with the opposition from the Sagittarian points to a conglomeration of minor bodies in Gemini, which congregate on Donald Trump’s natal Sun at 22 Gemini. This “string” of the Kite directs the latent energy of the Grand Trine giving it focus and power, transforming potential into action. The points which collude on Trump’s Gemini Sun are asteroids Hybris, Phaeton and Kassandra at 22, 24 and 25 Gemini, and TNO Chaos at 23. Hybris, the root of our word “hubris”, signifies prideful arrogance, a willingness to tempt fate and call down the judgment of heaven; Phaeton represents a spectacular implosion and fall from grace, or from a position of authority and responsibility for which one is wholly unprepared; Kassandra raises issues of credibility and trustworthiness; and Chaos is just that—turmoil, confusion and anarchy. All these act to reinforce the eclipse’s impact on Donald Trump, in ways unlikely to serve him, or the nation. Having set the stage, let’s proceed to how the eclipse degree itself factors into Trump’s natal chart.
Born 14 June 1946 at 10:54 AM EDT in Jamaica NY (Rodden rating AA), Donald Trump’s natal Ascendant at 29 Leo 57 is just a degree shy of the eclipse at 28 Leo 52; his Mars at 26 Leo and America at 27 Leo are also bound up in this. Up to this point, against all odds, this natal combination has served Trump well—his bluster and bravado, both Mars traits, helped him squelch 17 mainstream Republican candidates for the GOP nomination, and Mars with America allowed him to tap into the country’s anger and appear as its champion—“Make America great again!”
But the eclipse may cause the worm to turn. Eclipses tend to reset existing circumstances and turn things on their head. An eclipse on the Ascendant can radically alter the way others see us. Where once Trump was viewed as their champion, ordinary Americans may now experience him as just a blowhard bully (in fairness, many—most—already do), and may transfer their anger and righteous indignation to Trump personally. Mars/America on Trump’s Ascendant could become a nation embittered and furious, irritated and annoyed by his lack of accomplishment and now viewing his aggressive character traits as something which is distracting and yielding little or no result.
Encouraging this flip of perspective is the eclipse’s simultaneous opposition to the USA’s natal Moon at 27 Aquarius, its people, who may now find themselves in literal opposition to the man in the Oval Office. Where once they were his ally and partner (US Moon conjunct Trump’s natal Descendant), they can now be his adversary (Seventh House as the house of open enemies). The marriage of populist Trump and the voters he deluded may be heading for divorce.
A particularly choleric-looking Donald Trump; will the eclipse on his Mars bring up stress-related health issues?
There are other concerns with an eclipse on Mars as well, particularly health matters, such as stroke or heart attack. Trump’s fury with the ongoing Russian investigation and the people he sees as “disloyal” who have brought him to this place can’t be doing his health any good. The type of obsessive interest and chronic resentment he displays is very wearing on the circulatory system, Mars-ruled. Trump is not a young man, and the pressures of the office, allied to his extremely personal reactions to the political quagmire he finds himself in, could prove fatal. Mars’ connections to violence raise the specter of assassination as well. In the year of his death, John F. Kennedy experienced two Lunar Eclipses in aspect to natal Mars, one in January 1963 in exact sextile, and another in July in trine. William McKinley, assassinated in September 1901, received a Lunar Eclipse conjoined natal Mars in May of that year.
And the problems don’t stop there. The eclipse is strategically placed to bring out the Russian Grand Cross in Trump’s natal chart. The most precise of these aspects is an exact sesquiquadrate to natal asteroid Mueller at 13 Aries, highlighting the work of the Special Counsel who may ultimately call Trump to account, for a host of indiscretions including financial dealings and obstruction of justice.
Other points activated in the Grand Cross include asteroid Nemesis at 16 Cancer, representing self-undoing and divine retribution; Chiron at 14 Libra, indicating a wounding; and asteroid Lavrov at 14 Capricorn, the name of the Russian Foreign Minister, bringing the story home directly to the Kremlin. Given the current political climate and legal circumstances, it’s difficult to image a more inimical line-up of eclipse-activated points than this, and one suspects the fallout will be extreme. Whatever the result, the American Eclipse is certain to produce manifestations which are pivotal to our development as a nation, and crucial to our history. It’s a vital moment which we can watch play out in real time. What will this astrological field test reveal? Only time will tell.
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