Standing in the Radiance of Venus - A visual astrology view of US presidential elections and its self-imposed union with Venus

by Bernadette Brady

This piece was first published in September 2008 in The Visual Astrology Newsletter and makes a forecast for the 2016 US presidential election based on historical analysis of the powerful Venus cycle.

Modern day two-party political systems would have appeared strange to the eyes of the Mesopotamian astrologer priest. However, they were not unfamiliar with the concept of rivals seeking to overthrow the king and in that light they would have considered the two-party system as a kingdom ruled by two warring families, each one claiming different levels of power at different times. But our early forefathers of astrology would have warmed to this political struggle within the US because, unlike any other country, the US presidential elections have been tied unintentionally by law to the ever-important and powerful Venus cycle.

This is a concept that they would have considered most logical, as it allows the party or faction receiving the blessing of Venus to gain the rulership of the kingdom. Venus was the only female deity in their world view and her power, which was considerable, was her ability to bestow radiance on any star or planet near her. If the king received this blessing, then he was protected and strong. If, however, she chose to give it to a rival, then the king could be overthrown.

The USA's adoption of the Venus cycle

It so happens that the term of office for the US President was set by the Founding Fathers at four years and so, starting from 1792, US presidential elections have been held every four years, always occurring on any year divisible by four. At that time the date of the different states' presidential elections could vary, as long as they fell within a 34 day period before the first Wednesday in December (1). However, as time passed and communication between the states increased, it was clear that candidates were gaining an advantage in some states due to early victories in others. Thus by 1845 it was decided that the four yearly presidential elections would be held on the same day throughout the country. This date was set as the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, thereby locking the presidential elections into an interesting Venus cycle (2).

Every eight years Venus returns to the same place in the sky. Look at the planets on your birthday when you are eight years old and you will notice that Venus is around the same zodiacal degree for when you were born. This is also the case for your 16th birthday, 24th birthday, and so on. This regular cycle of Venus, when linked with the US four-yearly presidential elections, means that every second election Venus will be in the same place in the zodiac. Indeed Venus simply alternates between two zodiacal position from one election to the next over the many elections since 1792. These two positions are the early degrees of Libra and the middle degrees of Sagittarius.

Added to this is the fact that the elections are also tied to a calendar date - elections occur between the 2nd and 8th November - thereby locating the Sun, for every election, within the middle degrees of Scorpio. When these two cycles are combined - the four-year elections with a set date every four years - then Venus for any given election can have only one of two relationship with the Sun: it will either be in Sagittarius, giving it good separation from the Sun, and thus it will be seen as a bright Evening Star; or it will be in Libra, also with a good separation from the Sun, and thus it will be seen as a bright Morning Star.

Morning Star Elections or Evening Star Elections

To the astrologer/priest of the Mesopotamian court, these four-yearly set calendar date elections are custom-made for Venus. With this perfect alignment between the two, they would have considered it an intentional and fortunate association which allowed Venus to be the deity who chose the winner by casting her beams on nearby planets representing the king or his rivals. The brighter she was the greater her favours, and with the US system of presidential elections, Venus is bright for every election and could and would give her strength and imprimatur to either the king or the king's rival in the court. So the astrologer/priest pondering this contest would want to know whether Venus was, firstly, a morning or evening star, as that changes the nature of her favours, and then, secondly, explore who she was empowering with her beams.  

Sorting out the Elections

The following are the election dates divided into their Morning Star Elections with Venus in early degrees of Libra and the Evening Star Elections with Venus in the middle degrees of Sagittarius.

Morning Star Elections - The Victors Venus in early degrees of Libra			Evening Star Elections - The Victors Venus in middle degrees of Sagittarius
Franklin Pierce	2 Nov 1852		Zachary Taylor	7 Nov 1848
Abraham Lincoln (1st term)	6 Nov 1860		James Buchanan	4 Nov 1856
Ulysses Grant  (1st term)	3 Nov 1868		Abraham Lincoln (2nd term)	8 Nov 1864
R. Hayes	7 Nov 1876		Ulysses Grant  (2nd term)	5 Nov 1872
Grover Cleveland (1st term)	4 Nov 1884		James Garfield	2 Nov 1880
Grover Cleveland (2nd term)	8 Nov 1892		Benjamin Harrison	6 Nov 1888
William McKinley (2nd term)	6 Nov 1900		William McKinley	3 Nov 1896
William Taft	3 Nov 1908		Theodore Roosevelt	8 Nov 1904
Woodrow Wilson (2nd term)	7 Nov 1916		Woodrow Wilson	5 Nov 1912
Calvin Coolidge	4 Nov 1924		Warren Harding	2 Nov 1920
Franklin D Roosevelt (1st term)	8 Nov 1932		Herbert Hoover	6 Nov 1928
Franklin D Roosevelt (3rd term)	5 Nov 1940		Franklin D Roosevelt (2nd term)	3 Nov 1936
Harry Truman	1 Nov 1948		Franklin D Roosevelt (4th term)	7 Nov 1944
Dwight Eisenhower (2nd term)	6 Nov 1956		Dwight Eisenhower	4 Nov 1952
Lyndon Johnson	3 Nov 1964		John F Kennedy	8 Nov 1960
Richard Nixon (2nd term)	7 Nov 1972		Richard Nixon	6 Nov 1968
Ronald Reagan (1st term)	4 Nov 1980		Jimmy Carter	2 Nov 1976
George Bush	8 Nov 1988		Ronald Reagan (2nd term)	6 Nov 1984
Bill Clinton (2nd term)	4 Nov 1996		Bill Clinton	3 Nov 1992
George W Bush	2 Nov 2004		George W Bush	7 Nov 2000

Venus as Morning Star favours the one who holds the crown

Venus as a Morning Star was considered more independent, desiring to function alone or give favours which are powered with rashness, haste and or free-thinking. Generally this does not favour the political networking and back-room deals needed for any rival to rise to power. For this reason it is rare for the ‘king’ or the king’s chosen heir to lose power at a Morning Star election. Indeed there have only been two occurrences since 1900 when they did, that of the first election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 when he took the White House from the Republicans, and Ronald Reagan in 1981 when he took the White House from the Democrats. Every other election since 1900 which has Venus as a Morning Star has resulted in no change to the ‘family’ who is ruling the White House.

Venus as Evening Star favours the one whom she radiates

This is the type of election where there is a greater possibility for changing who holds the power in the court. This situation does not guarantee change but as an Evening Star Venus is far more active in terms of networking and co-operating in team work and thus her blessing is more suited to the nature of politics, potentially empowering the rival with the luck and skill required for success. The candidate symbolised by the planet or star which is receiving the light of the bright Evening Star Venus will tend to be the victor. 

Venus favours the Rival - a look back at other Evening Star elections

The Academic takes the throne - Jupiter and Mercury

In 1912 Woodrow Wilson claimed the White House for the Democrats under an Evening Star election as Venus was radiating Jupiter and Mercury (see image right). He was an academic who, two years earlier, had become President of Princeton University. Here Venus was favouring the scholar. The Sun, always symbolic of the king or in this case the ruling party, was conjunct Mars (at the top of the apex of the constellation Libra) and the Republicans (the ruling party) were being torn apart from a rift between Roosevelt and Taft.

The King dies in an Eclipse and the Editor (Mercury) wins

In 1920 Warren Harding reclaimed the White House for the Republicans under an Evening Star election. Venus was radiating Mercury (see image right) - Warren Harding was a small town editor reflective of this Venus/Mercury combination - while at the same time the king (the Sun) was within 3 degrees of the nodal axis and thus an eclipse season was in force, signifying a time of mortal threat to the king.

Victory to the Soldier (Mars), while the King ails...

In 1952 Dwight Eisenhower, the successful General of WWII, took the White House for the Republicans under an Evening Star election when Venus was radiating both Mars and Mercury (see image below) while Saturn (the other indicator of the king) was conjunct Neptune (Saturn and Neptune are just above Spica), a combination reflected by Democrat President Harry S. Truman retiring and deciding not to seek a second term.

The Crown Prince takes the Throne (Jupiter) while the king is confused

1960 was the next occurrence of an Evening Star election when John F. Kennedy claimed the White House for the Democrats. At this time Venus was radiating Jupiter, as it was for the victory of Woodrow Wilson. For Wilson, the Jupiter symbolism was in his academic background; for Kennedy it was his youthfulness, his unofficial title of “crown prince” when compared to his opponent of Richard Nixon, the hard-liner, anti-communist Republican. At the same time the Sun (the king's heir who was, in this instance, the Republican party) was sitting with Neptune in a similar situation which gave Eisenhower's victory against the Democrats. This can also be a statement about Kennedy using the new medium of television (Neptune) for the first time and the king's heir not following this path.

The Saturn figure pushes the old heir - Lyndon Johnson - to one side

By 1968 another Evening Star election was held and this time Venus, bright and owning the sky, yielded her night sky position only to Saturn (see image below, Saturn and Venus are only two planets in the evening sky). Now Venus was giving her blessings to the hard-hitting, anti-communist Republican Richard Nixon who took the throne for the Republicans, while the Sun tries to run from Neptune (not shown).

The Southerner takes control blessed by the black vote (Neptune being radiated)

In 1976, the next Evening Star election occurred with Venus radiating Neptune (see right) and a Southerner took the White House for the Democrats. Jimmy Carter, with huge support from the black southern states, arrived as the outsider in Washington. His opponent, the incumbent President, Gerald Ford, was the Sun which was besieged by Mars and Uranus – symbolic of the king in serious trouble.

Venus herself takes the White House

It was Bill Clinton who claimed the next Evening Star election by taking the White House in November 1992 and removing the Republican, George Bush. At this election Venus, although brilliant in the evening sky, only bestowed her blessings on Mercury (her frequent partner in the sky), so it seems as if she has focused on the man whose natal chart was ruled by Venus and who was renowned for his charm.

Victory to the Bold - Pluto receives Venus' radiance

However, by the next Evening Star election “Bush the Younger”, G. W. Bush, retook his father’s house on 7th November, 2000. This was a disputed election and with Venus radiating Pluto, she blessed the one who had the most money, the most power, the most lawyers and the most might.

(Note of Interest: Of the twenty-eight presidential elections since 1900, ten of these elections have seen changes in the party governing the White House and of those ten changes, eight of them have been Evening Star Elections. Thus there is a track record of 28.5% times of change with an Evening Star election versus 7% times of change for Morning Star elections.)

The Evening Star Election of 2008 – a Visual Astrology view 

(Here) we have another Evening Star election. The ‘family’ that rules the White House is the Republicans, and, for this Evening Star election, the king has retired and the appointed heir is seeking the throne. There is, of course, the rival ‘family’ who, for this election, are the Democrats and, as always, the rival is seeking to claim power at these times of change. 

As the astrologer/priest, you watch the heavens looking for the way of Venus. If the king is being challenged, this does not hold well for the Republicans. If Venus is radiating a planet, then what is that planet and who does it symbolise, the king's heir or the rival? From our Mesopotamian mind-set, we can ask this question of the heavens: "Can the king's selected heir win the White House or will the court rival overthrow him? Which of the two families in the court will take the throne?"

The 2008 Evening Star Election

At the time of the election Venus is once again radiating Pluto but differently to the 2000 election as there is also a distant but bright Jupiter in the cape of Sagittarius (see image). If Venus’ empowerment goes to both planets, questionable as the orbs are wide, then this would symbolise a landslide victory to the younger "crown prince", a bold sweeping ascent to the White House where the sheer weight of the mandate places great power in the hands of Obama. Such power can be a heady drug for any politician so the younger rival will need to remember that he is not Caesar, he is not one of the gods and is only human.  

But if Venus' light does not reach Jupiter, then the emphasis will be focused on the raw power-struggle of Pluto. The election will be won by the ‘family’ with the most money, power and grit. Adding to this intrigue, the heir of the retiring king is not being damaged by Mars. Rather that Mars is expressing itself as John McCain, the Soldier.  

One gets a sense already of the power of the Jupiter Pluto victory to the young contender, Obama, but if it comes to a fist fight in the manner of the 2000 election - the last Evening Star election where Venus radiated Pluto - then the victory will go to the one who can wield the most money and power. 

The victory will be most sweet for it will last for twelve years 

On a final note, whichever party gains the White House (in 2008), they will hold it not only in the 2012 elections (Obama re-elected) but also in the 2016 elections. In the election of 2012 a Morning Star Venus radiates the Sun-Saturn conjunction which will give much blessing on the king.

In the 2016 which is an Evening Star election, Venus once again radiates Saturn, with no threat to the king. So Visual Astrology is indicating that the ruling party will hold the White House for at least 12 years. Presidents may change at any stage but the ‘family’ that wins this current election in 2008 gets a very large prize indeed. 

Kings or Presidents, it is all just power and rivals which is the intrigue of any royal court. Not much has really changed since astrology first emerged between the rivers of the fertile crescent.

Endnotes:
(1) The first Wednesday in December was the date set for the meeting of the Electoral College whose purpose was to elect the president.
(2) The four-year cycle of presidential elections also captures a Jupiter pattern but this is not focused as Jupiter does not return exactly to this position every 12 years.

First published by: The Astrological Journal, 2008. Republished: Nov/Dec 2016

Author:
Dr Bernadette Brady is a tutor at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in the MA program in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology. She holds a PhD from University of Wales Trinity Saint David. She also holds a master’s degree in Culture Astronomy and Astrology from Bath Spa University, UK. In September 2006 the Astrological Association voted her the prestigious Charles Harvey Award for “exceptional service to astrology”; and in 2008 she won the Marion March Regulus Award for Theory and Understanding in Astrology at UAC, 2008, Denver. She is only one of three UK astrologers to hold this award (the others being Nick Campion and Liz Greene). For more on Dr Brady visit: www.bernadettebrady.com.
Astro Logos Ltd was established in 1990 as an educating body to the professional global astrological community. It is run by Dr Bernadette Brady and Darrelyn Gunzburg: www.astrologos.co.uk.

Image sources:
Charts provided by the author
Hillary Clinton: By United States Department of State (Official Photo at Department of State page) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Donald Trump: Gage Skidmore [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

© Bernadette Brady - published by The Astrological Journal / 2008/2016

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