George Bush’s Terrible Year
December 1, 2005
© Joseph Crane
This essay uses techniques of transits and profections from the Hellenistic
tradition to help us understand the abysmally bad streak that has currently
bedeviled President Bush. I will focus on the effects of transiting Saturn
in Leo
and transiting Mars’ extended stay in Taurus. It is Bush’s profections for
this
year that make these transits particularly difficult and help explain his current
streak of bad fortune and their duration.
The reader is familiar by now with all that has gone wrong lately with Mr.
Bush and his administration.
This seemed to begin after Bush’s last birthday in July. August featured a
camp-in by Cindy Sheehan by Bush’s ranch at Crawford, Texas. Her purpose
was for Bush to meet with her himself and explain why her son died. Instead
of
this matter being insignificant to all but the editors of Mother Jones, Ms.
Sheehans’
action received international attention.
One month later Hurricane Katrina arrived in Mississippi and Louisiana,
flooding New Orleans. His administration’s non-response illuminated issues
of
cronyism, incompetence, as well as policy and personal indifference to the
poor.
For Bush and his administration, Katrina was a monumental public relations
disaster.
Following this were criminal charges made against Vice President
Chaney’s Chief of Staff, “Scooter” Libby. The build-up to Liddy’s indictment
marked a change in public opinion on the issue of whether the Bush
administration made up reasons for invading Iraq.
In November, Congress itself began to repudiate Bush’s budget priorities
and demand a say in the conduct of the war in Iraq.
Fellow Republicans running for office next year don’t want to be seen
with Bush as his approval poll numbers descend into the 30’s.
When one looks at Bush’s transits there seems little that is remarkable.
When one looks at Bush’s transits there seems little that is remarkable.
Outer planet transits have been uninteresting during this time. Jupiter, moving
from Libra into Scorpio, moves from his third to fourth house. Saturn just
recently crossed his Ascendant: this is significant but not sufficient to help
us
understand the nature and duration of Bush’s difficulties. Indeed, Bush’s
problems began earlier than the crossing of Saturn over his Ascendant.
Saturn entered Leo on July 16, 2005, which corresponds more closely to
the beginning of Bush’s difficulties. If we include the fact that Mars entered
Taurus, on July 28 -- just before Bush returned to Texas for his summer vacation
-
- transits of the malefics give us some timing for his current difficulties.
Hellenistic astrology teaches that transits are important when the transit
highlights a planet that is already involved as a planetary time lord, a
chronocrator. For this reason I now discuss Bush’s yearly profections from
his last
birthday to his next one.
A profection advances a position, and a yearly profection advances each
position one zoidion or sign per year of a person’s life. If, for example,
we
advance the Ascendant six signs, the planet in or governing that sign
takes up
the Ascendant and becomes a planetary lord for the Ascendant for the
year.
Bush turned fifty-nine in July 2005; for our purposes we think of this
year
being his sixtieth. Subtract from sixty the next lowest multiple of
twelve (fortyeight)
and the number of his profection for this year is twelve. Everything
moves
twelve signs or zoidia: his Leo Ascendant advances into Cancer, Sun
and Saturn
in Cancer advance to Gemini, and so on.
I now supply Bush’s chart using “whole sign houses” and without the
modern planets. This renders the chart easier to work with for our purposes
here.
The Lots of Spirit and Exaltation are in Taurus
Bush’s Lot of Fortune in Scorpio advance by profection to his beneficent
Moon and Jupiter. Up until lately Jupiter also had been transiting through
this
sign. The Lot of Fortune signifies money and health and also the ingredient
of
luck in one’s life, as Moon and Jupiter both become chronocrator for the Lot
of
Fortune. This is a positive development for him; it does not explain his current
difficulties.
Moving backwards from the Lot of Spirit in Scorpio to Libra we notice
that Moon and Jupiter themselves have moved by profection to Virgo wherein
lurks Mars. If Moon and Jupiter present themselves in Bush’s life as emotional
confidence and a positive outlook, the profection to Mars is more like landing
on
a land mine. This gives us our first indication of difficulties.
Advancing Mars in Virgo twelve signs or zoidia, we find ourselves with
the Ascendant, Mercury, and Venus. These two planets in the sign of Bush’s
Ascendant point to Bush’s interpersonal savvy and persuasiveness. Advancing
Mars, the malefic out of sect in his diurnal natal chart, brings increased
conflict
and hostility. Venus and Mercury take up the matters of Mars, which can be
quite forceful and directed.
Saturn, however, has been transiting through Leo. Mars by profection
combines with Saturn by transit to make a rather nasty storm onto his usually
beneficial Ascendant-Mercury-Venus configuration. Mars may present itself
as
Bush taking up an active fighting stance to force Congress and public opinion
to
go along with his agenda. Saturn transiting puts a leaden weight on this
activity.
As a result, we see Bush working with this frustration under the banner
of Mars:
becoming angry and then angrier. Bending and adapting he has yet to do.
In
Bush’s latest public statements we are seeing the action of two malefics
on the
place of his Ascendant.
If we advance Bush’s Ascendant-Mercury-Venus combination in Leo we
are with the Sun and Saturn in Cancer in the twelfth. This has feel of
stepping
onto a bear trap. Fortunately there are no planets transiting Cancer
at this time
to make this profection even more problematic than it is.
Sun and Saturn move to Gemini by profection. There seems to be not
much here.
I move to the tenth sign from the Ascendant: Taurus. Here lies Bush’s
Lot
of Spirit, the counterpoint to the Lot of Fortune, and his Lot of
Exaltation.
Ordinarily these are very strong and powerful influences in Bush’s
chart. Venus,
governing these Lots and the Midheaven, is angular to the Ascendant
and also to
the Lots of Fortune and Spirit. It is this positive feature that
is compromised this
year by Mars.
By profection the Lot of Spirit moves to Aries. Mars governs Aries,
so that
by profection Mars influences the sign or zoidion of his Midheaven
and Lot of
Spirit and Exaltation.
It is here that we must consider Mars transiting through Taurus,
in Bushj’s
tenth. Beginning in this zoidion at the end of July 2005, Mars
went retrograde on
the first day of October, goes direct on December 10, and finally
leaves Taurus on
February 18, 2006.
By transit as well, Mars has much influence on these important
positions in
the tenth.
I summarize:
• Mars profects to Ascendant, Mercury, and Venus.
• The Lot of Spirit advances to Aries, which is governed by
Mars.
• Transiting Mars moves through the sign of both the Lot
of Spirit and
Exaltation.
• Venus in the first governs these Lots, and Venus receives
the profection of
Mars.
Mars signifies not only oppositions and conflict but, as
Mars is involved with
both the Ascendant and the Lot of Spirit, by profection and
by transit, one must
consider the manner in which Mr. Bush would address his situation.
Transiting
Mars over his tenth brings this planet out more prominently
and publicly. This
tempts one into a fighting response even when such a response
is
counterproductive. As Bush’s Lot of Spirit pertains to what
he does on one’s
own, it is hard not to see his current attitude of stubborn
defiance to be his
genuine response, although it compounds his difficulties.
That Mars is also
transiting the zoidion of his Lot of Exaltation symbolizes
that he is fighting to
rescue his diminishing standing with just about everybody.
Comparing 2005 with 2004
One might have predicted difficulties last year, from his
birthday in
2004 until his birthday in 2005. That year his profections
were eleven signs
or zoidia
Eleven signs away from Bush’s Mars in Virgo is Cancer,
wherein
are Bush’s Sun and Saturn and Saturn also transits Cancer.
Based on this
feature alone, one would think last year as difficult
as this one.
During this time, however, not only did political disaster
elude
Bush but he was re-elected President.
There are mitigating circumstances.
Moon and Jupiter in Libra advance to his Ascendant-Mercury-
Venus combination. This is wholly positive.
Sun and Saturn in Cancer profect to Taurus, inhabited
by the Lots
of Spirit and Exaltation. This is a mixed blessing
at best, as it does show
some limitation due to the profection of Saturn.
Venus in the first
governing Taurus does come to the rescue. Even
with the presence of
Saturn on his profected tenth and transiting through
the zoidion of his
Sun and Saturn, Bush overcame his many detractors
where it counted:
doing well enough with the public to be re-elected.
Nor is there the strongly negative influence of
Mars transiting
through Taurus. It is this Mars transit that
renders 2005 so utterly difficult
for President Bush.
For how long will Bush’s current difficulties
last? As long as Mars
remains transiting through Taurus, things will
probably not get substantially
better. He will doubtless attempt to set things
aright at the time of next year’s
State of the Union address. I expect that by
the end of February, Bush will be
onto somewhat happier times. However, as the
Ascendant in Leo continues to
receive the profection of Mars and Saturn remains
in Leo by transit, I do not
expect to see substantial improvement in his
fortunes anytime soon.
Do Bush’s current predicaments signal a lasting
demise? I have not seen
any of the longer-term predictive factors
activated at this time. If the longerrange
predictive factors were involved, this would
signal a major turning point.
He may also reap the consequences of the
previous five years and remain
President under diminished conditions, but
with some positive times ahead. It is
this possibility that I am inclined to predict.