A few days before the U.S. election on November 3rd, on October 31st/Halloween, there will be a Sun/Moon, Full Moon, opposition between the Sun in Scorpio and the Moon Taurus.
Joseph Biden was born a couple days before a Full Moon, and has the same Sun in Scorpio and Moon in Taurus.
This election is obviously one of the major events of his life, although for those who know at least some of his biographical history, he has clearly had a number of pretty intense, critical major events in his life.
This Astrological energy, close to a major component of his own Natal Birth Chart, does seem to portend another ‘death and rebirth’ point in his life. I think this is clearly going to happen no matter which way the election goes.
Of course, anything involving the sign Scorpio and/or the planet which rules Scorpio, namely Pluto, is going to involve death and rebirth of some kind. By the way, Biden has his Moon in Taurus square to Pluto, and Pluto is in the Scorpio 8th house. So, death and rebirth is likely to be a recurring theme in his life.
One of the statements that I share with clients, however, when I am doing a long Astrology/Tree of Life Tarot Reading is: “None of us are individuals. Each one of us is a ‘crowd.’ We all have many different pieces and facets to our puzzle. The thing is, when we are aware of the good sides, we will tend to forget the bad. And, when we are aware of the bad sides, we will tend to forget that we ever had any good. One of the benefits of the Reading is the ability to see all of the different pieces of your puzzle, simultaneously as it were, and to thereby try get a sense of the whole picture.”
Admittedly, since we all view political actors through our own political lenses, we are likely to be rather biased in our focusing on the strengths vs. the weaknesses of each candidate, and vice versa.
In full disclosure, I have already cast my mail-in ballot for Joseph Biden. Besides his policy platform compared to Donald Trump’s, I also feel he is more evolved as a soul than Donald Trump. Human evolution, I believe, is based on your ability to transcend your own ego and its apparent desires, and it’s need to be in illusionary control of things, in the interest of surrender and service to humanity.
Along with this article, I will shortly be resending the previous article I already wrote about Donald Trump.
I also have a YouTube lecture about Donald Trump’s chart I did shortly after his Inauguration. If you would like to have an audio version to listen to, the link for that is:
So now, some of the ‘Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ of Joseph Biden.
Joseph Biden is a Scorpio, who thinks he is a Sagittarius, pretends he is a Virgo, and in his childhood had to be a Taurus, in a manner of speaking.
First of all, Scorpios are often hard to guess when you are trying to guess someone’s Sun sign. A basic reason for that, in my view, is that it is rare for a Scorpio child to have parents who can really cope with the emotional intensity of a Scorpio child, especially in our rather emotionally repressed modern cultures. The Scorpio child will almost always choose instead to identify with something else in their chart. Their challenge is, therefore, to get back in touch with and own their Scorpio Sun/Soul energy.
The theme of hiding who one really is, however, is a common one for many of us. Joseph Biden has this theme indicated in his chart in a number of ways, in addition to what I just said about a Scorpio childhood.
For example, there is quite a contrast between being a Scorpio but ‘thinking’ you are a Sagittarius. Scorpio is known for being rather good at hiding their feelings and being quite secretive. Sagittarius is known for being too honest, saying things without thinking first, and therefore prone to what I term: ‘Foot in Mouth Disease.’
Obviously, this Sagittarian energy is what gives Joseph Biden his well-known propensity for ‘gaffes,’ which is not a normal Scorpionic trait.
Sagittarius Rising also gives one a youthful optimism and enthusiasm. People with Sagittarius Rising will never become old and boring and crusty. They will always have a youthful quality to them, something I suspect that would enable one to want to run for President at age 77.
This more outward, upbeat and positive Sagittarian energy, however, I believe has helped Joseph Biden to rise up again and again after facing crisis after crisis in his life.
The reasons as to why I think he has had to endure so many crises in his life, however, is something that goes beyond being a Scorpio, although that is a major factor.
To begin to set the scene of what I want to share with you today, I will quote what Hilarion* has said about someone who is Scorpio, and what he has said about someone with Sagittarius Rising.
Scorpio The Scorpio individual is one who, in a previous life, killed himself as an act of atonement for some act which he regarded afterwards as being so horrible and detestable as to unfit him to continue living. As a result of this self-destructive act, certain of the darker kinds of energies were tapped into by the soul, which on the one hand gave to the Scorpio a deep grasp of the meaning of regeneration through sacrifice and death, but on the other hand lend certain qualities of power over others, a win-at-any cost attitude, little patience with ideals of fair play and honor, and in his darker moments, a mocking echo of the self-destructive urges that fueled the original act in the previous life. The great task and challenge for the Scorpio is to manifest the regenerative side of his nature, to rise above the lower self on the wings of an eagle. (The higher animal symbol of Scorpio), and to show to others by his own life, the true meaning of the myth of the Phoenix, rising purified from its own ashes. Few Scorpios succeed fully at this task, especially in the past Piscean Age, when few solid guideposts were available to the seeker after spiritual understanding, and chaos and destruction were seen on every hand. But in the new Age of Aquarius, it will be largely the Scorpio side of individuals (whether Sun-sign Scorpios or not) which will be in evidence. As the understanding of man opens up to the energies of the new age, his spirit will literally take wing and soar to unimaginable heights of wisdom, love and creative power. (End Quote)
In preparation for this article I have been watching a PBS Frontline documentary about Trump and Biden. In that documentary I learned that, following the death of his wife and daughter in a car accident that also left his two young sons in the hospital, only days after being elected Senator for the first time, Joseph Biden wrote the following: “The pain cut through like a shard of broken glass. I began to understand how despair led people to just cash it in, how suicide wasn’t just an option, but a rational option.”
A pretty poignant quote knowing what we now know of someone who is a Scorpio.
However, this is what Hilarion says about someone with Sagittarius Rising:
Sagittarius This sign rising will tend to make the individual see himself as upright, honest and morally strong, whether true or not. It will also give him a yearning to “see the world” through travel. There may even be in the self-picture some aspect of the “Wandering Jew” syndrome. In its effect upon the life, Sagittarius rising often delays marriage or causes there to be more than one marriage-like relationship, usually because of a tendency to cling to the youthfulness and adventurousness of the sign Sagittarius for many years after others have abandoned the excitement of their youthful dreams. This is not by any means to criticize the tendency of retaining a youthful outlook. Indeed, most people in the world now take up far too serious and heavy an attitude to life at an early age, turning their backs on the sense of fun and excitement which the Creator intended man to carry with him all his days.
Now, it does seem that Joseph Biden has been able to indulge in his ‘travel bug’ quite a bit during his role as Vice President. And maybe that was something he was able to use in traveling every day as a single-father/Senator from Wilmington, DE to Washington, DC and back again, earning him the epithet: ‘Amtrak Joe.’
The portion of the above quote about Sagittarius Rising that always catches one’s eye, however, is:
This sign rising will tend to make the individual see himself as upright, honest and morally strong, whether true or not. (End Quote)
If that sounds in any way familiar to those of you who have been following my writings for any length of time, it is probably because the United States itself also has Sagittarius Rising and I have been pointing out that tendency for us to see ourselves as as ‘upright, honest, and morally strong, whether true or not’ as one of our greatest gifts, and greatest challenges. And it is something which is evident across all strata of political opinion in this nation.
I think it has served Joseph Biden as both a gift and a curse as well. I think it has definitely helped him to try to go out and serve with the feeling that he has the moral strength to do so.
I think it has also, however, allowed him to quote other people’s lectures without acknowledging their authorship as other than his own, or to give false data regarding his level of academic success in college etc.
It has definitely been a double-edged sword. As I said earlier, I think it gave him enough optimism and moral courage to be willing to get up and carry on despite defeat, going all the way back to his childhood when he was a serious stutterer, in a time when stuttering usually evoked a diagnosis of mental retardation, or at least mental impairment. Biden was able to stay positive and work hard at successfully correcting this trait, becoming a successful athlete and even elected School President in High School.
I also feel he probably has a remaining tendency in this direction, of not always having control of the delivery of his vocalizations. And when that tendency manifests, it is used in edited and shared video clips of him, the purpose of which is to evoke questions regarding his age and mental acuity.
Returning to the rest of the chart, we can see that Joseph Biden has not only the Sun in Scorpio, but he also has Venus in Scorpio, Mercury in Scorpio, Mars in Scorpio and Jupiter and Pluto in the Scorpio-ruled 8th House. That is a pretty strong Scorpionic theme.
Now, the Venus, Mercury, Mars, all in Scorpio, and Jupiter 8th House placements are all going to have a tendency to create an overemphasis on the physical aspect of love. I believe this supports the observation of Joseph Biden’s tendency to be inappropriately physically intimate with women he is associated with. The Sagittarius Rising, however, is why he sincerely seems rather unaware and oblivious of the true nature of this kind of behavior.
I also think that this denial, and perhaps need to repress these parts of himself, is why he didn’t come to greater compassionate aid and support to Anita Hill in her testimony supporting claims of sexual harassment against Clarence Thomas. Something Biden has since expressed at least a certain degree of guilt and remorse about.
There is another reason for his obliviousness of these Scorpionic energies. The Mars, Mercury, Sun and Venus are all in the 12th House, the house of the deeper unconscious.
These planets being relegated to the deeper unconscious is also another reason why Joseph Biden doesn’t appear, on first appearance, to be that much of a deep, emotional Scorpio.
I would say he uses the Sagittarius Rising, as well as his Virgo Midheaven, to avoid going to those hidden, unconscious Scorpionic energies.
By the way this is what Hilarion says about his Virgo Midheaven:
Virgo This sign at the M.C. gives a tendency to project the characteristics of punctiliousness, practicality and a sense of the importance of detail and organization. A critical streak may also be observed by others as well as a certain idealistic tendency (End Quote)
I would say that is clearly another easily recognizable trait of the public persona of Joseph Biden.
Biden’s Sun and Venus in the 12th House of the deeper unconscious, however, is opposite to Uranus in the 6th House, the Virgo-related house of work, service, activity in the world, the way you spend your day.
Uranus is the planet of sudden ruptures, changes and accidents, as well as freedom from old patterns that have outlived their purpose.
This tense Uranian energy, in opposition to that deep unconscious Scorpionic emotional energy, would be an easily recognizable factor in his stuttering. It is also, I believe, why he keeps having sudden surprise Uranian ‘curve balls’ upsetting his daily physical life and forcing him to go to deeper Scorpionic emotional places, whether as a result of the aforementioned tragic accident affecting his family, or the more recent death from brain cancer of his beloved son Beau, the son, of whom it has been said, was the most like Biden himself. Beau was only 46 at the time.
The death of his son Beau also put Biden into a major Scorpionic i.e. guilt dilemma. This involves the fact that Biden’s need to mourn Beau’s death was put forth as being the reason as to why he didn’t run for President in 2016.
It has since been stated that, as Biden has witnessed the horror of the rise and effects of the Donald Trump Presidency, Biden has had to deal with a fair amount of questioning/guilt over that earlier decision.
In my long career of observing individuals Astrological Charts I’ve seen that, clearly, everyone has a lot of difficult lessons to learn in their lifetime. The question is whether one is going to learn and grow from those lessons, or if they will remain in a less-evolved, more immature, state of denial of those lessons.
I think that Joseph Biden has largely grown from his lessons. Someone with his chart who was in denial would be someone who would be scary as an individual wielding Presidential power.
I would say the same about someone with Donald Trump’s Leo Rising of which Hilarion says:
Leo When the sign Leo rises, there will be a tendency for the self-picture to be colored by the notions of elegance, specialness and superiority. A proudness will often be felt internally, even though it usually does not manifest. The reason for giving this Ascendant to an individual is to prompt him to think better of himself than he is in the habit of doing when in incarnation. The rulership by the Sun thus lends to the individual certain bolstering influences in terms of how he sees himself, which are intended to teach him not to underestimate his own worth and not to feel inferior to others. In view of this explanation, it will be understood that those with Leo rising will often find that they are torn between thinking little and thinking a lot of themselves. Through the experience of this inner battle, it is hoped that they will ultimately learn that each person is complete and worthy in his own right, and that none are either superior or inferior. (End Quote)
In my article about Trump and in the YouTube recorded lecture, I share details as to why Trump is kind of an ‘Uber-Leo Rising’. I also show, however, how he is clearly in denial of the insecurity and feelings of inferiority which are lying behind that false arrogance and superiority. As Trump himself has stated “I don’t like to analyze myself. I might not like what I see there.”
To me, that is a very scary statement coming from someone with Leo Rising.
Trump, unfortunately, was taught by the dynamics in his family upbringing, and during his years in military school, and as a result of his mentorship by New York City ‘fixer’ Roy Cohn, to be a ‘killer,’ to never apologize for anything, and to deny and critically destroy all enemies. This is not an evolved way of dealing with Leo Rising.
Joseph Biden, on the other hand, has had the greater tendency to admit his failings and vulnerabilities, make the requisite changes and move on, trying to do things better. That alone would inspire my vote.
If he wins and other components in his chart seem to become apparent in our experience of him, I will add to this Astrological analysis.
For now, let’s hope he wins.
If you are a Trump supporter and angry at me for being so obviously biased towards Biden, I am sorry but I never promised to withhold my own personal perspectives in how I see things and what I write. There are certainly Republican Astrologers out there who would probably be more to your liking.
Now that I have come forward with my political leanings, I am going to add a PS to this article. It is a poignant plea written by my good friend Stephen Wing in Atlanta. He has expressed views and sentiments that I am happy to pass on at this critical point in our history.
Following his letter, I will share some poignant quotes I lifted from a recent newsletter by Astrologer Rob Brezny. These quotes were listed under the title: Politics is Personal.
Blessings,
Steffan Vanel
Democracy’s Last Stand:
The Rule of the Non-Voting Majority
and Where It Has Led Us
by Stephen Wing
Not voting because the system is corrupt? I’m afraid you have it backward. The system is corrupt because of people not voting. Non-voters are the majority. They decide every election. Not voting is a vote for the way things are. The rich, white and powerful are targeting your right to vote because they know your vote counts, whether you believe it or not.
Not voting because you don’t like the candidates? Politics is a game of strategy, not a morality contest. Vote for the candidate who can be most useful to your strategic goals, which means one who can realistically win. Churchgoing fundamentalists gleefully vote for the most immoral candidate in U.S. history to advance their agenda.
Not voting because the issues in campaign ads don’t affect you? Those are not the real issues. The Republicans carefully hide their true agenda – to roll back every law and regulation that limits their wealth and power. Your vote is all that stands in the way of their dream of a democracy-free America.
Not voting because Netflix and iTunes and ESPN take up all your time? Life is not a spectator sport. We’ve all grown up taking for granted Social Security, unemployment, food stamps, worker safety, consumer protection, public schools, minimum wage, environmental regulations, and so much more. But these were all victories won by voting, and every one of them can be taken away.
Not voting because one vote won’t make much difference either way? Democracy starts long before Election Day. Join a campaign – any campaign – and amplify your voice by persuading others to vote your way. If you can’t support any of the candidates, join one of the progressive organizations campaigning just to get out the vote. (See links below.)
Not voting because the candidates you vote for disappoint you when they win? Democracy doesn’t end after Election Day. The right-wing extremists never let up the pressure on the people they elect. Vote to elect strategically useful candidates – then keep up the pressure through letters and phone calls, marches and demonstrations.
Not voting because you refuse to take sides in a power struggle between Tweedledum and Tweedledee? In 2020, not voting is a vote for a one-party authoritarian state. Obviously, we can’t rely on corporate Democrats to push through a Green New Deal or Medicare for All, cut the military budget, end police impunity or dark money PACs. But if the Republicans win, all of these possibilities are off the table, probably for good, and we’ll be fighting to save what little freedom we have left.
Not voting? Donald Trump appreciates your support!
Despite their moral shortcomings, for the most part the Democrats have played the game called “democracy.” But the Republicans are playing a completely different game, with no rules at all except to win at any cost. Their entire strategy consists of lies, gerrymandering, voter suppression, intimidation, and more lies. False allegations of cheating by Democrats are the key to the Republican plan to win by cheating.
These allegations will rise to a crescendo on Election Night because of uncounted absentee ballots. I am a Bernie supporter, but have no problem settling for Joe Biden when the alternative is Donald Trump. Only a landslide Biden victory on Nov. 3 can head off post-election mayhem in the streets and in the courts. This is why voting early, whether in person (prudently masked) or absentee, is the most strategic choice.
Even more important than defeating Trump is to flip the six seats the Democrats need to take back the Senate. If Biden becomes our next President, we’ll need a progressive majority in Congress to hold him to his campaign promises. And if Trump claws his way into the White House for a second term, taking away his majority in the Senate is a must. With both houses of Congress standing solidly in opposition, the Republican roll-back of democracy might conceivably be stopped.
For one thing, a Democratic majority in Congress is our only hope of overturning the decisions of a right-wing Supreme Court. And Donald Trump could at last be held accountable for his mounting list of high crimes and misdemeanors. The next time Trump is impeached, he could face an actual trial. President Pence would not be much of an improvement, but he would enter the Oval Office on notice that he too will be held accountable to the rule of law.
Senate candidates who need support to challenge Republican incumbents are Mark Kelly in Arizona, John Hickenlooper in Colorado, Theresa Greenfield in Iowa, Barbara Bollier in Kansas, Amy McGrath in Kentucky (facing Mitch McConnell), Sara Gideon in Maine (facing Susan Collins), Steve Bullock in Montana, Cal Cunningham in N.C., and Jaime Harrison in S.C. (facing Lindsay Graham). Georgia has two: Jon Ossoff (facing David Perdue) and Raphael Warnock (the most progressive of a long list seeking Kelly Loeffler’s seat in a special election.) All are easy to find on the internet. You do not have to live in their state to support them with your time and/or money.
Though I call politics a game, it is a deadly serious one. Its casualties include 215,000 lives lost to COVID-19 and countless victims of racist police violence. The moral stakes are high: not just our country’s future, but the future of the entire planet. Ask the families who have lost their homes to wildfires in California and hurricanes in Louisiana, or the refugees fleeing drought in Central America.
The Republicans have known for decades that they would eventually become a minority. Their long-term game plan for minority rule depends on winning this election, and they will do whatever it takes. If they succeed, they will do whatever it takes to permanently lock in their victory. If you think racist violence, economic inequality and planetary ecocide are bad now, trust me, you do not want to see a country under permanent Republican “law and order.” Trump’s threats to lock up his political opponents could become a grim reality.
True, under Democrats and Republicans alike, we have long been ruled by a white, male minority – the “One Percent.” Conservative billionaires, neoliberal neocons, and multinational corporations have invested heavily in both parties for years. We owe moral allegiance to neither party. But from a strategic standpoint they are not identical.
Today’s Republicans are a coalition of extremists. The fundamentalist fanatics who lust for their own version of Sharia Law. The fossil-fuel profiteers who are addicted to burning carbon. The gun-toting whites who cling to our racist past. The ultrawealthy who resent paying any taxes at all to support public infrastructure, schools, the disabled, the elderly. Their right-wing extremist goals are unpopular, so their campaign ads focus on misrepresenting their opponents as left-wing extremists.
This gives the Democrats no choice but to appeal to the rest of us, with a little push from Bernie. That means embracing diversity, protecting the middle class, expanding affordable health care, welcoming immigrants, keeping abortion legal, purging racist cops, defending the right to vote, and most importantly, cutting the feedback loops that feed climate change. These goals are not extreme, as Trump wants his devotees to believe. They represent the vital needs of the vast majority – the 99 Percent.
The One Percent has more dollars to promote its agenda than we do. But we have more votes. The one thing the 99 Percent has never tried is 100 percent voter turnout. In 2020, the alternatives are so stark and the stakes so high that even the non-voting majority might turn out to vote. And if they keep turning out in every election to come, things might start to change. We won’t know if we don’t try.
Voting Democrats into power isn’t the solution, only a strategy. Democrats gave us the New Deal, the Voting Rights Act, legalized abortion and gay marriage, but it was Richard Nixon who gave us the E.P.A. In every case it was not the politicians who made it happen but people voting, boycotting, marching, filing lawsuits.
Whether the corporate Democrats keep their promises after Election Day is up to us. Instead of settling back on the couch expecting President Biden to magically turn into Bernie, we need to turn up the pressure. This is a strategic opportunity to take over the Democratic Party for the working and middle classes, just as right-wing extremists have taken over the G.O.P. for the One Percent.
If the Republicans have their way, we are now in the final round of the game. The trophy they are salivating over is a chance to roll back all the gains democracy has made since the New Deal of the 1930s – maybe all the way back to 1868 and the 14th Amendment, which guarantees due process and equal protection under the law. This is the legal basis for all civil rights legislation. If we don’t vote massively and decisively for democracy in 2020, we may not get another chance.
The only way we can protect the freedom we still have is to step into the game. All of us. Now. There is no neutral place to stand on the sidelines and watch. Nor is there any guarantee that we can win – but the only alternative is to concede defeat. By not voting, for example. Or by casting a nobly symbolic vote for the Greens. It’s democracy’s last stand in the U.S.A. If we choose not to participate, fascism American-style wins without a fight. Checkmate!
Thanks for doing whatever you can do.
POLITICS IS PERSONAL
People say with pride, “I’m not interested in politics.” They may as well
say, ‘I’m not interested in my standard of living, my health, job, rights,
freedoms, future.’ If we mean to keep control over our world and lives, we must be interested in politics.
—Martha Gellhorn
+
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the
victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.
—Elie Wiesel
+
If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of
the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you
say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.
—Desmond Tutu
+
Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the
powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.
—Paulo Freire
+
Intellectual neutrality is not possible in a historical world of exploitation and oppression.
—Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza
* ’Astrology Plus by Hilarion’, the book which I am always quoting from and has been out of print for some time, is now available as an EBook on Amazon.
* Hilarion’s ‘Nations’ EBook is also available on Amazon