By Leo Knighton Tallarico
There is a New Moon in Capricorn at 8:30 PM EST on Saturday January 9. It signifies new beginnings, as do all new moons.
This one is in Capricorn and as such it prompts us to get back out into the world, to organize and plan, to be more disciplined, to do what one needs to do, to make firmer boundaries, to be in one’s integrity, to demand more from your self and others, to concentrate more on work and accomplishment, to have greater self respect, to be more logical and realistic.
This is a more intense Capricorn New Moon than usual, as the Uranus/Pluto square fits into the lunation’s configuration- with the New Moon in Capricorn conjunct Pluto in Capricorn and Uranus in Aries square the New Moon.
Besides being more intensifed than usual, it will also tend to shake up our usual thinking and habits, and to transform us out of old patterns and beliefs that we have outgrown.
It assists our transformational journey into a new season of our lives, helping us to release and to find closure on some issues.
The coming week, therefore, will push us forward, whether we feel we are ready or not. Keep in mind that Mercury is Retrograde, so do your best to take it slow, to go through the full process; and with a New Moon in Capricorn, be rather cautious about making any moves that have long term implications.
We are getting closer now to the first caucuses and primaries for President of the United States. Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Greens and other parties will be choosing this year their nominees for President.
The election for a new President is less than 10 months away now. The first caucus is in Iowa on February 1 and the first primary in New Hampshire is on February 9.
So both of these elective events will be held after Mercury goes back Direct on January 25.
Today’s assessment of the candidates for President is being presented during Mercury Retrograde, so I will wait till late January to make an absolute prediction for both Republican and Democrat nominees as well as predicting who will be the next President.
But I will nevertheless give you an astrological assessment of each candidate’s chances to win before that, kind of like odds of their winning based on the planets.
I use a formula I have created to assess the chances of each candidate. This formula is in large part based on how much each candidate’s natal planets connect with the USA natal planets from July 4 1776, the nation’s birth date.
This formula is also based on important planetary movements and transits that will be occurring over the next four years or so, and how much each candidate has planets that fit into those transits.
I do this because it only makes sense that whoever is President will have a planetary makeup that connects with whatever crises the world and especially the USA is going through.
I used this formula for the 2008 election for President, and in late 2007 I predicted that Senator John McCain would be the Republican nominee, and then Senator Barack Obama would be the Democrat nominee.
At the time I made the predictions Rudy Giuliani had a huge lead in the polls for the Republican nomination and Hilary Clinton had an overwhelming lead to be the nominee for the Democrats.
I thought at that point that my formula must be crazy, but it turned out right on.
For President I said the planetary aspects were favorable for both McCain and Obama, but I gave the slight edge to Obama.
Now this time I will be assessing the chances only of those who have any chance at all, as there are so many candidates. I will not be looking at Libertarians, or Greens etc. as the processs for finding a President through debates and media coverage is controlled and dominated by Corporate and Party control of media and debates, taking away the chances for smaller parties to win.
We will take a few weeks to make the assessments.
For the Democrats, Bernie Sanders and Hilary Clinton are the ones who are running for President.
Bernie Sanders was born on September 8 1941 at 12:27 PM in Brooklyn Heights, New York.
His Sun is in Virgo, his Moon is in Aries and he has Scorpio Rising.
This makes him intensely passionate, forthright and direct, and wanting perfection and purity in all he seeks.
His Rising Sign in Scorpio and his Saturn in Taurus square the USA natal Moon in Aquarius; his North Node in Virgo exactly conjuncts the USA natal Neptune; his Pluto in Leo closely conjuncts the USA North Node; and his Moon/Mars conjunction in Aries has contact with the USA Sun in Cancer and its Pluto in Capricorn. His Jupiter in Gemini conjuncts the USA natal Mars placement in Gemini.
That is a lot of connections to the USA natal chart, making him a serious candidate.
In the sky for all of us, there will be important Uranus transiting connections to the USA Pluto in Capricorn- in 2017 and 2018, and Sanders’ Mars in Aries will be affected at the same time by that Uranus transit.
Pluto will make its first ever USA Pluto Return in 2021, and a second term for Sanders would connect him with that reality. No human beings ever have a Pluto Return as it takes almost 250 years of age before it can happen.
Pluto in Capricorn in the USA natal second house is where we can see its power base for money and resources and its world dominance.
The Pluto Return will give us a turning point in the Superpower staus of the USA in the world.
Around the same time, in December of 2020, Jupiter will conjunct Saturn in Aquarius, a sign of the beginnings of the Age of Aquarius; so the USA will be either struggling to become an equal member of the Diversity in Unity world forming for the New Age, or it will be nicely fitting into that new world already.
And whichever candidates are connected to that Pluto in Capricorn natal position of the USA have a better chance of being a nominee and/or President. A few other candidates we will look at also have a connection to the USA natal Pluto.
Hilary Clinton was born on October 26 1947 at either 8 PM or 8 AM. Different close friends or workers of hers have given these polar opposite times of birth. So Astrologers use both to try assess Ms. Clinton.
The 8 AM time gives Hilary Sun in Scorpio, Moon in Pisces and Scorpio Rising, making her a double Scorpio.
The 8 PM time gives her Sun in Scorpio and Moon in Pisces, the same as the 8 AM time, but the rising sign changes from Scorpio to Cancer Rising.
The 8 AM time with double Scorpio (and also Mars conjunct Pluto) show her to be very intense and powerful, rather ruthless and demanding, yet also being a very sensitive feeling person who sacrifices herself for others (Moon in Pisces).
But in this 8 AM scenario the “weight” of her tendencies is more toward the power and ruthlessness, and less toward the gentle sensitive.
With the 8 PM Cancer Rising she still is very intense and powerful, but the “weight”of her character is toward sensitive and giving, motherly and nurturing, sensitive and caring.
In the 8 AM chart her Rising sign of Scorpio, her Saturn in Leo and her North Node in Taurus all make difficult aspect to the USA Moon in Aquarius. Her Uranus in Gemini makes conjunction to the USA Mars in Gemini (which rules conflict and war); and her Venus in Scorpio and Neptune in Libra make rather favorable aspect to the USA natal Sun in Cancer.
There are no connections to the USA natal Pluto and few to the coming important planetary movements.
Her 8 PM birth time has similar connections, but with a more warm and fuzzy temperament.
Both Sanders and Clinton have enough solid connections to have a chance to be the Democrat’s nominee for President as well as actual President.
We will also look at the Democratic Convention and Election Day planetary alignments in connection to the candidates’ natal charts before making final predictions. We will then make a final prediction after Mercury goes back Direct on January 25.
The next couple of weeks we will analyze the Republicans.
Remember that my assessments will be strictly based on the astrological formula and I will divorce my predictions from polls or conventional political wisdom.
For this coming week, it is time to get your life more in order and to make commitments to plans and goals, issues and people who are important to you.
But remember that Mercury is Retrograde, so thinking and communication are in flux and thus off their usual center. Expect the past to come back to you in various ways also.
The stock market took up where it left off during the eclipses in September, going way down in value. This is only the beginning of a vast transformation of the world and USA economy.
Let’s meet again next week,
Leo
You can get an astrological consultation with me during these changing times to help you on your path and with your life. Please write soulus@aol.com for more info..
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Leo Knighton Tallarico has been a full time professional astrologer, spiritual guide, counselor, and writer for 30 years.
My life partner Deborah has a blog now that will bring to you a greater sense of life’s sacredness and our human connection to our Earth, Feminine mysteries and that which brings us all together in unity.