Mercury-Neptune and The Presidential Records Act

Selling Secrets and An Unfit President With Odd Ideas

by Jude Cowell

Due to The Presidential Records Act of 1978, legal ownership of official presidential and vice presidential records changed from private to public, and new standards of management were established for records created or received after January 20, 1981. Therefore, changes and standards have been enforced since the 1981 Inauguration of Ronald Reagan, his first.

Now as you know, the requirements of the 1978 law (updated in 2014) have apparently been followed by all presidents and vice presidents until the haphazard "administration" of Donald Trump, a loose-lipped opportunist who thinks, or pretends to think, that presidential records can belong to him! See Do presidents have the right to withhold privileged material from Archives? (MSN August 24.)

Naturally, astrologers can easily recognize such indiscriminate, fantasy-spinning, scheming behavior via Trump's natal Mercury-Neptune square, and notably, astrologer Alan Oken has labeled this particular square aspect, The Sneaky Mind: Mercury (thought processes, communications, negotiations, planning) and Neptune (sneakiness, deception, spying, surveillance, mass media). Word is, that Trump watched the August 8th FBI search at Mar-a-Lago on CC TV from his location in NY or NJ, wherever the brazen blighter was on that day. If so, it's because his Mar-a-Lago resort is wired for surveillance. And why wouldn't it be?

Of course, there are other planetary aspects in faithless Trump's natal chart which can support such sneakiness (and evasiveness) if that's how he chooses to use the energies, but his Mercury-Neptune square leads the bunch, in my estimation, or perhaps I should say, forms the basis of his thought processes.

So, although unknown at the time, a previous SO'W post published in 2009, Reaganomics Eclipse 1981 a Turning Point for America concerned more than that era's decade of greed and financial slights-of-hand (cheered on by Reagan's natal Scorpio Jupiter's ruthless materialism - ex: he and his cronies hung the yoke of student loan debt around our necks) because, on what can be considered a positive level, passage of the 1978 Act was due to Watergate lawbreaking ("if the president does it, it isn't illegal," - R. Nixon - a fallacy that Trump likes to go by).

So now, through the subversive behavior of the orange scofflaw, we can discover more about what was going on under the hood of US Politics by a manipulative Herr Trump, a comrade who played the role of POTUS from January 20, 2017 until January 20, 2021 - and departed the White House thinking he was 'owed' more that he'd got. Obviously, monetizing secrets from down in Mar-a-Lago seemed a lucrative scheme although my suspicion is that he was already in that business while inhabiting the Oval Office (free rent!).

Then and Now: Cosmic Time Links via Eclipses and Evasive Neptune

Significantly, the 1981 Reaganomics Solar Eclipse fell into the 1 North Saros Series as did the King of Alarm Eclipse (of Nostradamus fame) of August 11, 1999 - and The Great American Eclipse of August 21, 2017 during which Trump removed safety glasses and stared directly up multiple times at the Total eclipse ('sun god' he, with Apollo rising along with royal star Regulus). 1 North themes include: "unexpected events loom large; make no hasty decisions since information is distorted and possibly false; tiredness and health problems are attached" (paraphrasing B. Brady). But with Trump, we know that hasty decisions are already baked in.

Meanwhile, perhaps a glance at the above linked 1981 Eclipse Horoscope holds a clue or two such as the fact that transit Neptune at that time was retrograde @22Sag23 - conjunct the natal Moon-South Node Conjunction of Donald Trump. This transit suggests a period of eroding relationships when intrigue, mystery, confusion, delusion, and fantasy surrounded him with a feeling of rootlessness which perhaps inspired a leaning toward underhanded efforts such as (lucrative) traitorous activities which were engaged in as his connection to home and country became estranged or weakened. And as you know, for Herr Trump, loyalty is a one-way street, and this was a period of grand promises of expanded horizons - if he accepted a deal. Why, he even enjoyed an expansive Jupiter Return (17Lib27) exact on September 28, 1981, a transit that can bring an end to a 12-year cycle of beliefs.

So if you have a chance, dear reader, check out transits to his natal planets (June 14, 1946 10:54 am edt Queens, NY) for the 1978 to 1981 period for this was a cosmically transformational time for Trump and his ideological principles (to the extent that he held any). For instance: born during a Full Moon phase, and besides spreading its dissolving energies all over his natal 4th house Moon-South-Node, transit Neptune in 1981 was in process of opposing his 10th house Sun-NN conjunction in often-duplicitous Gemini so that unrealistic notions and uncertainty affected his self-image, undermined his objectives and overblown plans - and he could be easily seduced by false flattery such as the sort that foreign agents may have offered. (Of course, with flattery the ladies are implied as well but that's beyond the scope of this post.)

Plus, another factor viewable in the 1981 eclipse chart is the Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction in progress @5Libra+ for it hit Trump's natal 2nd house Neptune Rx (@5Libra50, part of his 2nd hou$e Neptune-Chiron-Jupiter trio of grand schemes, promotion, and speculation). This thereby formed a midpoint picture for him which includes two potentials that, for me and perhaps for you, triggered a basic part of vengeful Trump's seriously flawed personality so let's close today's fussiness with that - and tellingly in Venus-ruled Libra, lover of luxurious possessions and ease:

1981 Jupiter-Saturn = natal Neptune: "Begrudging the good fortune of others; losses" (R. Ebertin).

Oh, and there are two more potentials to appreciate, added to this picture by Noel Tyl:

"Bewilderment; not knowing which master to follow." My guess is that the orange blighter soon figured it out and for transactional Trump, his "loyalty" went to the highest bidder.

Astro-Notes on the Natal Mercury of Donald Trump

The Objective Truth and Mr. Trump

by Jude Cowell

To my March 2018 post concerning the natal Mercury of Donald Trump and its position of '8 Cancer' in Carelli's Degrees (which is spot-on if you haven't read it), here are some basic facts about Mercury in Moon-ruled Cancer which seem to me to particularly apply to Donald Trump who continues to tease about sitting down for an 'interview' with Special Counsel Robert Mueller in the ongoing RussiaGate inquiry. For as you know, astrological Mercury, our mutable and changeable 'tofu planet', rules many things...among them: the mind, thinking processes, teaching and learning, speech, hearing and all the senses, interviews, testimonies, perjury, negotiations, oaths, decisions, news, gossip, tweets and communications of all sorts along with commerce, trade, travel, and theft:

Mercury in Cancer indicates a mind that is influenced by deep-seated emotional patterns and desires which cause one to look at some facts while ignoring others. This allows bias, prejudice, a lack of objectivity, and incorrect judgments to result. A good memory may be denoted due to the emotional intensity associated with various thoughts and learning often occurs through osmosis rather than by traditional teaching methods. The osmosis accounts in part for his tendency to 'listen to the last thing he heard someone say' and then to spout it as his own thought which can change in a flash due to high susceptibility to the thoughts, opinions, and attitudes of those in his environment (ex: FOX News). Emotional appeals hold particular sway over Mercury in Cancer's thinking with patriotism on the top of the list (Cancer = home, homeland, family, mother, women, real estate, nurturing such as food, comfort, familiar surroundings). As you must have noticed, Mr. Trump exhibits 24/7 the Mercury in Cancer trait of believing that whatever is done or spoken within his environment is directed expressly or exclusively toward him.

Supremely subjective (and with me-first Mars rising), Trump also suffers from being stuck in the past with slights and injuries forever remembered (or imagined) although they may have blossomed beyond recognition into worse than was ever intended; meanwhile, present reality becomes distorted to the point of neurosis and a morbid imagination may be one of the outcomes.

If Mercury in Cancer is negatively afflicted as is his by a square from natal Neptune in Libra, untruthfulness, deceit, and a self-created fantasy world are prevalent such as we see through Trump's Mercury afflicted (squared) by nebulous Neptune, planet of lies, falsehoods, deceit, fraud, loss, misconception, fantasy, tall tales, self-deception, gas lighting, and confusion. These Neptunian effects are made stronger due to the fact that the square from Neptune is his Mercury's only planetary aspect so no other planet adds what could have been a speck of objectivity to his thinking via 'tofu planet' Mercury which soaks up whatever it touches. For Mr. Trump, it only soaks up watery urge-to-merge Neptune!

And as astrologer Alan Oken aptly terms it, a Mercury-Neptune square is an aspect of "The Sneaky Mind" and whether the secretive Mr. Trump tells lies unconsciously or not, Hillary Clinton's natal Mercury-Saturn square in the White House would have been more serious, studious, and fact-based than the morass of deceit, betrayal, and disappointment America stews in now as stirred by Donald Trump--these days always operating in pearl-clutching mode because he can't keep up with all the lies he's told and is afraid to be challenged over his many tall tales.

Recommended Reading: The Astrologer's Handbook by Sakoian and Acker.

Above photo: speedy little Mercury (NASA)

In the Realms of Jupiter: Reince Priebus

First, here are a few astro-notes concerning the natal planets of White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus which were posted to SO'W prior to RNC 2016 and its Capricorn Full Moon conjunct US natal Pluto if you care to take a peek.

And here are some explanatory details about this series of posts on the natal Jupiters of Mr. Trump and a few of his White House associates.

Of course, you've heard by now of the 'open war' between Priebus and Trump's new Communications Director Anthony 'The Mooch' Scaramucci over 'mystery' leakers lurking within the White House (one of whom is Donald Trump).

Eek! 5:22 pm edt UPDATE: a few minutes after this was posted, I saw a WaPo headline that Trump will replace Reince Priebus. We'll both want to check into that!

If you need it, ABC News has the Priebus-Scaramucci cat fight. Rraowwrr! And here you can view an accurately timed (RR: AA) natal chart for Reince Priebus showing a Scorpio Ascendant ruled by Mars, co-ruled by Pluto, and a Locomotive shape lead by powerful Pluto.

Now, while Priebus is still yoked to Trump, let's consider the natal Jupiter of Reince Priebus born March 18, 1972 in Dover, New Jersey. Natal Jupiter, the planet whose natal sign reveals how we relate to others, is at 6Cap13 and is unaspected--unless we choose to count Jupiter's waning square to Pluto (5S30) which we will consider, below. In earthy Saturn-ruled Capricorn (the authority) is usually uplifted and uplifting but may exhibit a certain lack of bouyancy. And since there are no major aspects to or from sociable Jupiter, its sign and position function quite purely although an 'ivory tower' tendency may be prominent and a detached or disconnected air noticed in his personality (Tierney).

Additionally, Priebus' natal Jupiter is not involved in any midpoint pictures which would have helped attach to some degree the planet and its relational abilities into his psyche via aspected planets. However, a hefty amount of idealism is a primary feature of an unaspected Jupiter and a certain 'far-awayness' aura may be noticed. Yet in Earth signs, Jupiter most often shows good judgment (well measured in Capricorn), reliability, and much interest and talent in financial realms--especially since his natal Jupiter is posited in his 2nd house of Earning Ability, Self-Worth, and Possessions. And although Jupiter rules his 2nd house (cusp 28Sag53), sign Capricorn and Jupiter itself are intercepted (Placidus) which tends to delay or interfere with the ease of the planet's functioning (as does ruler Saturn) and may denote karmic conditions from the past which haunt finances or other realms of Jupiter. These may be due to an ancestral situation or family myth, or perhaps from a natal tendency of his own.

Now if we wish to consider him as having a Jupiter-Pluto square (separating and thus unconscious, and half a degree beyond 5 degrees so not as strong an influence as it would be if closer) we may see Mr. Priebus as a wheeler-dealer engaged in large-scale projects and, being mired in Politics (that 'organized system of hatreds') and having lucrative financial involvements, perhaps he is just that. Expert astrologer Alan Oken gives this aspect as 'misuse of knowledge' and 'an often frustrating drive for power', and says it describes one who is 'rarely satisfied with their place in life and consistently trying to better themselves, often at the expense of others'. Oken labels Jupiter square Pluto as, The False Prophet but I must leave it to others who know Reince Priebus to determine how closely this may or may not describe the man. Whether such misuse of knowledge includes leaking information from the White House I cannot not know.

Natal Jupiter @7Capricorn

The Sabian Symbol for Jupiter at '7Capricorn' = "A Veiled Prophet of Power"...SUPREMACY; positive expression: unerring insight into the motives of men and a consequent gift for organizing their efforts along any given line of accomplishment (yes! as Chairman of the RNC--jc); negative/unconscious/shadow side: inability to distinguish true values from false. Oh my goodness, is Priebus as bad at distinguishing true from false as Donald Trump?!?

So perhaps we should consult the esoteric degrees of Adriano Carelli for '7Capricorn' to gain more insight...

The Sphinx. The whole of the sign Capricorn is a labyrinth, of which this degree especially stresses such scientific and engineering skill as to be really worhty of Daedalus, and drives to the utmost its defects of puzzling and selfish secretiveness.

A labyrinth: will the native be its maker or its victim? Or, like Daedalus, both at the same time? A Sphinx: is the riddle in the native's self, or waylaying him at a bend of the road he is to travel? And will the riddle be of material, intellectual or spiritual nature? Will there be political, or feminine, intrigue?

The Sphinx would rather not be asked questions. She is to ask them herself. As usual, the whole of the nativity will have t help formulate the answer.

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Should the native be a man. and he be involved in political intrigue, there is sure to be a woman somewhere. The native may fly high or land in jail, may be exiled or die a tragic death. It is the end that counts. (My italics.)

As you know, in Greek Mythology, Daedalus built the labyrinth, and one of his sons was...Icarus.

Well, those are all the notes I have on the natal Jupiter of Reince Priebus for now but I want to add here a note about his natal asteroid, Icarus (whose wings melted when he flew too close to the Sun): the August 7, 2017 Lunar Eclipse conjoins his natal Icarus @15AQ so more leaks may drip out or secrets may be inconveniently revealed, thanks to the Lunar Eclipse (followed by the Total Solar Eclipse of August 21, 2017), and it will be interesting to watch as the eclipses approach to see if Mr. Priebus holds onto his White House position, crashes and burns like Icarus...or simply manages to fly away.

Follow Reince Priebus @Reince

'7Cap' info from The Sabian Symbols in Astrology, Marc Edmund Jones; 'The Sphinx' details from The 360 Degrees of the Zodiac, Adriano Carelli.

Donald Trump Is a Lunar Eclipse Baby!

Donald J. Trump: Followed by a 'Moon Shadow'

by Jude Cowell

Mr. Donald J. Trump was born on June 14, 1946 at 10:54 am edt in Queens, New York. As the Cosmos would have it, a Lunar Eclipse perfected that very day at 2:41:36 pm edt @23Sag04 making him an 'eclipse baby'. As you see in the Lunar Eclipse horoscope, the Moon opposes the 24Gem04 Sun and represents a culmination phase to his Prenatal Solar Eclipse of May 30, 1946 @8Gem48 in the 2 Old North Saros Series (endings and separations--Brady) which conjoins America's natal Uranus (8:55).

Below, you see the Lunar Eclipse chart on the day of his birth; please enlarge to read some basic notes concerning Mr. Trump, an "eclipse baby" with unconscious, inherited habits and attitudes that are difficult (impossible, apparently) for him to recognize in himself which then makes it impossible for him to improve upon such habits--even the ones that are no longer practical in the here-and-now or that fail to lead to the results he wants:

Having quirky maverick Uranus in opposition to the eclipse Moon increases the chances of disruption in all things lunar: home, family, relationships, public relations, emotional security. As we've seen, the man is always ready for a fight (Mars rising) and likes to stir up trouble even where none exists. These qualities are in addition to his 2 Old North Solar Eclipse themes which already denote separations and the endings of unions. Then his Sagittarian Moon suggests a changeable nature that can be moody and superficial, and can fall suddenly into despondency when negatively triggered.

As you know, a Sag Moon can be egotistical, arrogant, narrow-minded, sectarian, and may think it's superior to everyone else. Identifying with certain social values for unconscious emotional reasons, Mr. Trump lacks objectivity when considering social issues and though he aspires to lofty goals, he lacks a realistic view of life.

Mommy issues at birth and later on are also suggested here with an out-of-bounds Moon (was Mum emotionally detached from little Donny? or perhaps ill or absent?) which conjoins the separative South Node (of the Moon). His Moon-SN also hints at bad timing and difficulty contacting his emotions. Thinking, dealing Mercury and manipulative power broker and Underworld figure Pluto, the saboteur, are also OOBs of the earthly plane and off doing who knows what with their qualities functioning quite unconsciously for Mr. Trump who is susceptible to his unconscious and needy lunar issues--so desperate for approval and respect.

Now as you see, the houses of his planets in the Lunar Eclipse chart differ from those of his natal horoscope and my suggestion is to read this chart 'as if' it's his natal chart (which it almost is--same day) to gain more insight for it is certainly of influence. Here the Moon rules his 10th house of Career and Public Status and the sign of one's Moon signifies the reigning need (Tyl) which, for Donald Trump, means Jupiter-ruled Sagittarian themes such as freedom, wanderlust, idealism, expansion, the broadening of vistas, and boundary crossing. So he deals with the difficult Gemini Solar Eclipse themes in his life through the lens of Sagittarius via the energies of this particular Lunar Eclipse. And since the Lunar Eclipse is in the 3rd house of Communications, we both know how keen he is on expressing himself without boundaries or restraints: in speeches and rallies, and in tweets to the world (no middle men).

Karmic planet Saturn now transits through Sagittarius and visits off and on this Lunar Eclipse degree. Simultaneously, Saturn contacts fixed stars Ras Alhague and Lesath which are triggered (22--24Sag) and made prominent by their conjunction with Trump's Prenatal Lunar Eclipse. Actually, we've discussed Mr. Trump's Moon-SN-Ras Alhague trio and Saturn's visitation previously but the keywords for Lesath (Upsilon Scorpii; sting of the scorpion's tail) should be noted: potential for accidents, catastrophes, or surgeries such as appendectomies or hemorrhoid removal (Ebertin-Hoffmann); acids, danger, desperation, immorality (deVore).

Now along with his out-of-bounds Mercury (what will he say or tweet next?), this Lunar Eclipse chart describes only a part of the complex psyche now residing (part time) in the White House but it can reveal some of the unconscious urges, habits, and attitudes that are 'in control' of our nation at the present time. Those born with major links to eclipses lead eventful and often public lives and I believe eclipse baby Trump's Lunar Eclipse chart tells of a broadcaster and promoter of Jupiterian proportions who does not, or is unable to, realize just how much unconscious information he shares with the world (gives away) each time he opens his mouth or tweets his thoughts at us. His deeper motivations are not as hidden as he believes, and to cap it all, Mr. Trump's fantasy-prone loose-lips/indiscretion tendencies are ably described by a problematic Mercury-Neptune square with its deceit, cunning, and mis-perceptions of a *sneaky mind.

*Mercury-Neptune square = The Sneaky Mind--Alan Oken. He adds that, "A conscious redirection on the part of the individual can result in a realignment of this or any other challenging aspect." Yet an ability for conscious redirection is what's difficult to impossible for Mr. Trump whose level of self-awareness at age 70 is seriously in doubt and must unfortunately affect our nation with what some say is his lunacy. Lunacy! Something that ramps up, say police departments, on a Full Moon!

However, there is a professional opinion that Trump Isn't Crazy so to be fair, there's that.

Still, it turns out that Strange Things Do Happen at a Full Moon...and on June 14, 1946, one of those strange things was the birth of the very intense Donald J. Trump, an inflated Jupiterian of vast proportions who jumps from the skillet into the fire at every opportunity which keeps the 24/7 news cycle on its toes.

Related: don't miss Julie Demboski's 2008 post on eclipse babies who "come into their life on Earth charged with the intensity, and perhaps shadowed by, eclipse energy." You may also wish to see Is Trump Suffering from Dementia? Or Is He Just a Clueless Narcissist? (video).

Or how about Cat Stevens' Moon Shadow from 1970?