Four years ago, when President Barack Obama flubbed the oath of office at his first inauguration, astrologers weren’t surprised. Obama was coming into office under a planetary picture called Mercury retrograde, where the orb thought to govern communications appeared to be moving backward from the Earth’s point of view.
When Mercury is retrograde, an event that happens three times a year, astrologers believe that there are sure to be misunderstandings, crossed signals and checks lost in the mail. In any event, the burden of Merc retro was seen as a significant obstacle to the President’s ability to get his message across during his first term (perhaps no more so than during his first debate with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney).
The second term of President Obama poses a challenge to astrologers because there are two horoscopes for the event — one for the private oath of office he took on Sunday, Jan. 20 and the other for the public swearing in that took place Monday, Jan. 21 at noon. The necessity of two ceremonies was caused by the fact that the inauguration date mandated by law fell on a Sunday, which it also did for Presidents James Monroe and Ronald Reagan.
Jude Cowell, who blogs about astrology and politics at www.starsoverwashington.com, notes that in the horoscope for the private oath of office, the Sun in Aquarius at the Midheaven of the chart is at odds with the will of the people, represented by a Taurus Moon rising on the Ascendant of the chart.
According to Cowell, Americans will be stubbornly focused on their own personal financial security during the second Obama Administration and will not respond favorably to the President’s emphasis on what is good for the nation as a whole.
Cowell points out the Jan. 20 horoscope is burdened by the South Node of the Moon rising, which is considered a negative. Cowell, who is based in Georgia, notes that the South Node rising indicates “separation, restriction and loss,” though she also points out that this portent may apply to members of the administration who are losing their jobs or leaving in Obama’s second term.
With the disruptive planet of Uranus transiting the sign of Aries in the 12th house of hidden enemies of the Jan. 20 swearing-in chart, Cowell sees “secret plans” being hatched to disrupt the President’s agenda. Uranus is in a challenging position to Pluto (still widely followed by astrologers despite its demotion by astronomers) in the chart. Pluto rules secrets and the ones revealed during Obama’s second term could be explosive.
The message of this aspect: Don’t expect the birthers to go away anytime soon, even though Obama is starting his second term, and be prepared for more allegations about the President’s personal life and family.
Indeed, Cowell sees the potential for sudden disruptions and explosions during the next four years, both based on the inaugural charts and the various horoscopes for the birth of the US (not everyone believes the nation was born on the Fourth of July).
The good news for Obama and Americans in general is that the Jan. 20 inauguration chart has prosperous Jupiter rising in the first house, albeit diminished by a retrograde position in Gemini. Cowell sees the economy picking up momentum during Obama’s second term.
The horoscope for the public Jan. 21 inauguration gives more support to economic expansion since the Moon, which changes sign every two and a half days, moved into Gemini, where it sits along with prosperous Jupiter. Cowell sees Americans in a cheerful mood during Obama’s second term, most likely due to the recovery in housing prices.
Indeed, the stars are predicting better financial days for Americans but ones that could be rocked by explosive events and shocking disruptions, a la Superstorm Sandy and the Newtown, Conn., massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
As I recently noted, an asteroid named Sandy is currently hovering close to Pluto in the sign of Capricorn and opposing the Sun in Cancer in the U.S. July 4 birth chart. So keep an eye out for surprising current events and people in the news named Sandra or Sandy.
Astrology Mundo 