You may want to read my astrological profile of John McCain for some background information.
John McCain’s Virgo Sun is undergoing a transit of Saturn which began last November, took a second hit in February, and just concluded. Because of Saturn’s tendency to create limitations and challenge, the transit of Saturn to the Sun can make it difficult for any individual to express themselves in the best light.
McCain’s greatest weakness is his inability to relate well to others, as shown in the opposition between Saturn and Venus (love and relationships) in his birthchart. To exacerbate the situation even more, Saturn in his chart is retrograde, showing that he is particularly self-critical, and both Saturn and Venus are squared by Chiron (healing and wounding) which shows that this has been a lifelong challenge for him and a painful one.
Currently, Uranus is beginning a challenging transit to this T-square of planets including Venus, Saturn and Chiron in McCain’s natal chart, an event that began in May as transiting Uranus collided with McCain’s Saturn, and coming to a head in June, July and August with Uranus changing direction in what we call a “station” (where the planet virtually stands still) in an exact opposition to Venus and square to Chiron.
Uranus is the Awakener, the Disrupter. It brings about change and a radically new way of doing things. Often when we are undergoing a planetary transit, the planet in question appears in the form of a person who exhibits the traits of that planet to introduce its influence into our lives. Uranus is personified in this transit by Barack Obama, the cool cat with Aquarius rising (ruled by Uranus) who is all about change. And Obama’s popularity and newness (Uranus) is bringing out all of the painful (Chiron) awkwardness of the guy who can’t get a date with the press (McCain’s Saturn/Venus opposition) who he complains has been ignoring him. In fact, a Wall Street Journal headline asks, “Is McCain Stupid?”
Over the next month McCain’s progressed Virgo Moon will catch up to a conjunction with his progressed Mars/Midheaven conjunction. It’s quite possible that during this period we will see McCain blow up into one of his famous rages for which he has become so famous but which have been so notably absent during the campaign.
In November transiting Saturn will oppose Saturn in his natal chart and set off the whole Venus/Chiron thing. Typically we would expect this kind of cycle to denote a time of difficulty, but some powerful people can glean the most from this transit and use it to work their way to success. This is not usually McCain’s methodology, however, and I would guess that this Saturn event, coming around election time, will not be an easy one.
posted August 1, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Nicely explained Lynn.
While these coming months will prove challenging for McCain, Obama has the same Uranian/Saturn effect oppose/conjoin his Mars in Virgo (same degree as McCain’s Venus). Irony seems to know no limits here.
Could this be the heavyweight fight where two spent boxers struggle to stay alive in the final round? Both candidates are going to experience Uranus/Saturn at the same time, although McCain gets the more intense version of the transit due to his natal Saturn position. Who scripts this stuff???? At the very least it makes for great theatre. At worst, another Republican ascends the throne.
posted August 2, 2008 at 12:13 am
I’m very, very sorry this is off topic, but suddenly this evening my Internet Explorer refuses to load Crooks and Liars, and many of the other “lefty” sites that you have links to! I have tried on both my computers (ie: the new Vista and the old Windows XP) and get the very same “error” — that Explorer can’t link to them… even tho I often see part of the page already on the screen! And then the screen blanks out. Have you or any other of your readers experienced this?? I hate to be paranoid, but the standard commercial sites are just fine… any suggestions would be appreciated…
posted August 2, 2008 at 7:33 am
Cathy – Blogger has tagged a lot of blogs as spam (including AM on the old platform!) but Crooks and Liars is a free-standing website and still not working. I don’t know what’s going on there and can’t find any comments about it.
Joseph – we’ve been discussing that opposition of Uranus to Obama’s Mars, which creates a restlessness and eagerness to part from conventional ways of doing things. We’ve talked a little bit about orbs for transits, and the Saturn/’Uranus opposition is at 18 degrees which is a little far from Obama’s Mars at 22 degrees. In my experience these transits don’t really make themselves felt until they’re about a degree away, although many astrologers use much wider orbs for transits. I use wide orbs for natal aspects, but not for transits. I have to say, your worst-case scenario is rather frightening.
posted August 2, 2008 at 6:01 pm
This is in reply to Cathy … I have experienced the same thing she has… where the address bar shows I have reached the site, but the page is blank, or the ‘error’ message appears.
Thank you, Lynn, for covering important subjects with insight … you are a great teacher!
Due to your explanation of Pluto in Capricorn changing structures, I have become more aware of unusual buildings and innovative materials that are being developed, as well as the new ways of dealing with old problems in society, all of which looks very hopeful!
Cheers!
posted August 3, 2008 at 12:18 pm
>We’ve talked a little bit about orbs for transits, and the Saturn/’Uranus opposition is at 18 degrees which is a little far from Obama’s Mars at 22 degrees.
I agree about the the transiting effect. However, given the direct hit at the first retrograde pass, I consider that dynamic to carry memory through the retrograde cycle. Hence, has a stronger effect on the natal chart.
I agree the worse case is rather frightening. However, given McCain’s recent change in tone (new campaign manager is more of an attack dog), this presidential run has great potential to turn very nasty; hence, my analogy.