To finish our series on the next U.S. president, today’s post will comapre the astrological charts of Barack Obama and John McCain for presidential or “royal” qualities.  We have looked at their horoscopes individually, but now we can compare the candidates’ horoscopes side by side for strengths and weaknesses.  There has been a great deal of debate about the candidates’ real birthtimes; all our posts take the commonly accepted times for the candidates.  If the birthtimes turn out different than those currently known, all bets are off.

Barack Obama’s Horoscope: Presidential Enough?

We have looked at the “royal” characteristics in Obama’s horoscope from two ancient astrologers’ perspectives – that of William Lilly and Guido Bonatti.  Their rules are similar but not the same.  The analyses below sum up the findings from the previous analyses.

Obama’s Strongest Card: The Sun in Leo in the 6^th house.  This is not a very strong card, as the Sun is under the horizon and in a malefic house with no major aspects.  The next strongest card is in even worse shape, with Mars, ruler of the 10^th house of honor, in the 8^th house and trine Saturn in Capricorn in the malefic 12^th house.  Most importantly, Obama’s horoscope does not appear to have any prominent royal stars to help lift him to the presidency.  Because of the relative weakness of Obama’s chart, McCain’s horoscope would have to be weaker still for McCain to lose the 2008 election.

Obama’s Horoscope for Autumn 2008: Obama’s Venus will be active by secondary progressions, aspecting his natal Part of Fortune and conjoining the North Node.  This is beneficial in general, but Venus is not one of the significators in Obama’s chart promising fame or prominence.  Interestingly, his solar return for 2008 shows Jupiter in the 7^th house of opponents, an interesting parallel to McCain’s 2008 solar return (see below).  Again, the relative strengths of the horoscopes matter: McCain’s horoscope would have to be weaker than this to lose to Obama.

John McCain’s Horoscope: By a Hair?

McCain’s Strongest Card: Two royal stars, Spica and Hercules, are near the Ascendant and Midheaven, but barely within the acceptable orbs.  Still, this is better than Obama’s horoscope, which does not have royal stars.  McCain also has a very favorable (though not strictly royal) star, Canopus, right on his Midheaven.  This star is also conjunct George W. Bush’s natal Sun. 

McCain’s natal Mars-Jupiter trine is quite lucky as well.  Mars is in the fortunate 11^th house trining Jupiter in Sagittarius in the 3^rd house.  This configuration was active by primary direction when McCain was shot down in Vietnam and nearly died.  That itself was not very lucky, but his miraculous survival against the odds certainly was.

McCain’s Horoscope for Autumn 2008:  His progressed Sun trines the Midheaven in January 2008, his progressed Midheaven trines the Moon (ruler of the natal Midheaven) in April 2008, and progressed Mars trines the Moon in October 2008.  The luminaries are not especially strong in McCain’s chart, but the Midheaven itself is.  When the Midheaven is “lit up” by the Sun and Moon, William Lilly says that these promise “great preferment…and shall govern the Common-wealth.”  Mars, again, is a fortunate planet for McCain.  McCain’s solar return has Saturn on the 7^th house cusp of opponents, possibly indicating misfortune for his opponent.

John McCain’s horoscope appears to be slightly more presidential and luckier than Obama’s, so assuming the candidates’ birthtimes are correct, McCain has an ever-so-slight advantage over Obama for winning the 2008 election. 

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John McCain may or may not have the horoscope of a potential president; the evidence is underwhelming thus far. We looked at McCain’s horoscope a few days ago, and while there were some redeeming features, it was not an outstanding presidential horoscope. Interestingly, this election year does not have a clear winner from an astrological perspective. Barack Obama’s horoscope is equally finely balanced.  We long for the days of Bill Clinton, whose horoscope broadcast “royal” astrological characteristics far and wide.

Today, we will look at John McCain’s presidential qualities from Guido Bonatti’s perspective, as detailed in his treatise on nativities.

John McCain for President?

Bonatti’s Criterion 1: What is the condition of the Sun, the 10^th house and its ruler, and the Part of the Kingdom (I used Asc + Moon – Mars for McCain’s day chart, as per Bonatti’s tract on Arabian Parts), and the ruler of the Part?

McCain’s Horoscope: The Part of the Kingdom in McCain’s chart falls at 2 Aries, where it is opposed by Mercury in Libra in the 12^th house, and ruled by Mars in Leo in the 11^th house. Mercury is not very strong in McCain’s horoscope, but Mars is well-placed in the fortunate 11^th house, trine Jupiter in Sagittarius in the 3^rd house.

The planets should be strong by sign and/or aspect from benefics. None of the planets are strong by sign, but Mars is trine a powerful benefic, Jupiter in its own domicile, Sagittarius.

Bonatti’s Criterion 2: For the planets listed above, the oriental planets should aspect the Sun and the occidental ones should aspect the Moon and Saturn.

McCain’s Horoscope: Only one of these conditions is true for McCain, and it probably isn’t worth much for king-making purposes: Venus in Virgo (the sign of its fall) is occidental and opposes Saturn in Pisces, retrograde in the 6^th house.

Bonatti’s Criterion 3: The condition of the almutens of the 10^th and 1^st houses should be strong. In McCain’s chart, those are the Moon and Saturn, respectively.

McCain’s Horoscope: Neither planet is very strong in McCain’s horoscope; the Moon is in the sign of its fall, in the lowest part of the horoscope, while Saturn is weakly placed in Pisces in the 6^th house.

Bonatti’s Criterion 4: Angular benefics above the horizon should aspect the Sun and Moon, or a planet in the midheaven, preferably with reception. The luminaries should be in masculine signs, with the planets named in Criteria 1 and 3 in good condition.

McCain’s Horoscope: The Sun and Moon are not aspected by benefics above the horizon, and the luminaries are feminine. The only truly “royal” complex is Mars in Leo trine Jupiter in Sagittarius, which has likely saved McCain time and again.

John McCain does not have an overwhelmingly Presidential horoscope, a similarity he shares with Barack Obama. However, as we saw in the previous post about his horoscope, John McCain does potentially have two royal stars, Spica and Hercules, near his Ascendant and Midheaven, which would be enough to give him the election.

In addition, McCain has a very powerful (though not strictly royal) fixed star right on his Midheaven; Canopus. Vivian Robson writes that Canopus on the Midheaven gives “great glory, fame and wealth, dignity and authority by the help of an old clergyman or influential person.” Perhaps this would be enough to get him to the White House!

Later: The Grand Finale. A post comparing our findings on Barack Obama and John McCain’s horoscopes, and which candidate, in our humble opinion, is better positioned to win the 2008 elections.

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John McCain may have the biography of a future president, if past events in his life are any indication. From an astrological perspective, whether McCain’s biography and past accomplishments will be sufficient to propel him to the presidency is a different matter altogether. To become president, one has to have a Royal chart, or more accurately, one’s horoscope has to be more royal than those of one’s opponents.

A few days ago, we have examined Barack Obama’s horoscope for potential indicators of royalty. Today, we will look at McCain’s presidential potential according to the rules of the English astrologer, William Lilly, and later, we will post a comparison of the royal potential of each candidate’s horoscope.

John McCain: The Biography of a King?

Royal Criterion 1: The Sun and Moon, their aspecting planets, the ruler of the midheaven (the house of honor and glory), and any planets in the midheaven should be in their own signs or exaltations.

McCain’s Horoscope: Neither the Sun nor the Moon are in their own signs, and neither aspects other planets. The ruler of the midheaven is the Moon, which is in the sign of its detriment, Capricorn, and it is in the fourth house, the lowest point of the chart. There are no planets in the midheaven. The best and most favorable piece of evidence in this criterion is that the Sun is in the benefic 11th house, where it is elevated above the earth. However, the Sun is in Virgo, where it has dignity by face, which is only a minor strength.

Royal Criterion 2: The above planets should be angular (in the 1st, 7th, 10th, or 4^th houses).

McCain’s Horoscope: the planets we are considering are the Sun, the Moon, and Mars. Of these, only the Moon is angular, and it is in the lowest angle (the fourth house), the one least associated with worldly success and renown. However, Mars and the Sun are in the 11th house, which is very benefic and lucky, but it is not strictly in keeping with this criterion.

Royal Criterion 3: Any of the above planets, including the angles, should be conjunct one of the Royal stars (Aldebaran, Hercules, Regulus, Spica, Lucida Lancis, and Cor Scorpionis).

McCain’s Horoscope: McCain has the Royal star Spica within about 5° of the Ascendant. The Midheaven is within about 6° of the Royal star Pollux. It is said that Spica brings “unexpected honor beyond the native’s hopes and capacity,” which could certainly bring the presidency.

Judgment: By William Lilly’s standards, John McCain does not have an overwhelmingly royal chart, but a royal star on the Ascendant and Midheaven may well be all that’s needed to win the presidency.

The challenge of John McCain’s horoscope is that his birth time is given as exactly 9 a.m.; if he was born just a few minutes before 9 a.m., the Ascendant and Midheaven would move, and it may be that the royal stars would no longer be within range. Alternatively, if he was born a few minutes after 9 a.m., the royal stars could be sitting directly on his Ascendant and Midheaven, and he would be a shoo-in for the presidency. Therefore, there is some uncertainty regarding the quality of McCain’s horoscope.

In the next few days, we will look at the royal potential of John McCain’s horoscope from the perspective of the medieval astrologer Guido Bonatti, and then we will post an astrological comparison of the presidential potential of Barack Obama and John McCain.

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