Election Prediction?

9.20.04


You want to hear my election prediction, don't you?

Everything I've written over the past few weeks has been leading up to it. My analysis of the Mercury-retrograde obsession with irrelevant three-decade-old details. My discussion of Bush's second Saturn return and the impact of the upcoming eclipses on his chart. My review of Kerry's current period of fortuitous professional expansion. It all directs me to my final conclusion, which is…

…the future hasn't happened yet, and so there's absolutely no way to know.

'Argh! What a cop-out!' you might snidely say, disappointed in my insistence on leaving you hanging. Perhaps you could have come to this same (in)decision yourself, without all that astro-garbage I could supposedly use to bolster my case for a Bush or Kerry victory, whichever case I might choose to argue. I answer back, 'What do you think I am, a dummy? Wager my professional reputation by publishing a prediction and risking being wrong? Forget it!'

But even beyond the obvious survival-instinct reason to refrain from explicit prophecy (i.e., covering my own ass), I have no prediction to offer… because, despite certain misconceptions about how astrology works, I am not in the business of predicting the future. There's this funny little thing called free will I consider when doing my astrological work, and it stipulates that each of us holds the power to alter the course of the future based upon what we freely choose to do, whether to turn left at the fork in the road (and end up lost? face-to-face with the love of our life? spiritually fulfilled?) or to continue going forward (on the same boring path? hitting a dead-end? scoring fame, fortune and everything that goes with it?).

Astrology is simply a tool to help us see the road conditions ahead, to assist us in understanding the most likely ramifications to our life should we choose to turn left instead of proceeding ahead. The whole point of astrological forecasting is to provide a preliminary heads-up, so that we can make more informed decisions and actively create the future that we're hoping for. It's not unlike the warnings meteorologists offer in advance of potentially damaging hurricanes, giving affected residents a chance to batten down their hatches and evacuate, preserving their personal property and their lives, creating a more fruitful future (that is, alive-and-well-ness) for themselves.

For instance, when I see a client whose chart shows a Uranus transit challenging his natal Mars, I'll probably say something like, 'You're likely to face a potentially chaotic or disruptive force that pressures you to act in radical new ways, as part of shaking you free from the past and setting you on a more liberated course of action… When you notice the pressure to behave in an unorthodox fashion radically different than what you're used to, don't hold on too tightly to the status quo and try to fight… Go with the energy, or else you'll be more prone to physically disruptive consequences, such as accidents or nervous conditions.' By no means am I predicting an accident in this client's future—in fact, I'm hoping to prevent the accident by encouraging him to boldly leap into the unknown and experiment with his physical behavior. And hopefully, the insight I've offered gives him faith…

Without a doubt, my reading of the Election Day situation portends professional, outer-world-reputation good luck for John Kerry—as I said last week, transiting Jupiter and Venus close together in Libra straddling Kerry's natal Midheaven is a darned good sign for him. It's the kind of information an irresponsible fortune-teller might use to predict Kerry as a winner. But in my opinion, astrological fortune-telling went out the window a few centuries ago, about the time the ultimate authority of kings and feudal lords (who might have consulted their court astrologers and based their unequivocal authoritative decrees on what they heard) gave way to the power of the people.

Astrology simply cannot overpower the combined free choice of all American citizens over 18 to register to vote or not, to bother to actually vote or not, and who to vote for. Nor can we possibly foresee whether all ballots will be clearly printed to avoid voter confusion, whether all ballots will actually be counted, whether a close margin in one or more states will lead to contested results that may or may not be fairly decided by a judicial body of limited membership.

I also must stress that what counts as personal good fortune for Kerry in his professional life may not necessarily equal what Kerry supporters would presumably consider good fortune for them, which is his victory in November. John Kerry is an individual, a person like you and me, not merely a symbol of patriotic military service or excessive liberal spending or blue-blood privilege or rescue from the wrath of Bush or whatever else we project onto him. When I've discussed transits to his chart, I'm interpreting effects in his personal life, not on the country.

Jupiter sometimes has a funny way of disguising its good-luck opportunities in the garments of bad luck. Someone may need to lose a job in order to be open to the better job a couple steps down the road. Get the picture? Either Kerry will win in November, or else he'll be glad, sooner or later, that he didn't. If he does lose, he'll probably end up thankful to escape the stress and potential danger that comes with the job, likely in some other service-oriented public position he'll find more deeply satisfying.

Bush, meanwhile, is currently reaping the karmic consequences (good and/or bad) of how well he's shouldered his personal responsibilities over the past several years, as a result of his Saturn return. Bush, like Kerry, is just another person—not Good or Evil Incarnate—and how his Saturn return plays out is a private affair between him and his psychic well-being. Likewise, we're unable to determine the true personal value to Bush of victory… is it an honor he deserves or a punishment he deserves? Would defeat soil his pride, save his soul, or both?

I reiterate my opinion: Bush is the single primary actor in this presidential drama, and Kerry's professional fate will largely be determined by Bush's actions. Bush is the one with all the current Mars business stirring his pot—I'd tell him to remain acutely aware that how he behaves over the next several weeks will very much decide the election, based on how his assertion of will and strength comes across to the voting populace. Kerry need only keep himself open and out there, for I believe he's already done the bulk of what he can, simply by offering himself up as the alternative to Bush. I'd tell him to stay faithful, for just as every other past twist in his career journey has provided surprising results that support his ability to serve others in a spiritually rewarding way, so too will this.

As for everyone else of legal age in America, I tell you to VOTE in November and help forge the best possible future you can imagine for yourself and your country, whatever that may be.