In astrology the signs that rule money are Taurus and Scorpio. I think of Taurus as “my money” and Scorpio as “your money.”

Taurus earns its keep and balances the checkbook while Scorpio becomes the commercial lender and controls the money of his fellow men. Scorpio is the tax collector.

You’d expect, then, to find lots of Taurus and Scorpio in the highest seats of the banking kingdom.

Interestingly enough, I’m not finding that.

Astrology is garbage then, you say.

Astrology helps me understand patterns of this complex world and mega-banking is just one more pattern to understand. If Taurus rules money, why aren’t people who understand money running our banks?

In my blog “Astrology of America’s Top Bankers,” I learned that America’s bankers have Mars/Aries energy or Capricorn energy. Banking, then, is not about balancing the checkbook but about competition (Mars/Aries) and control (Capricorn).

The Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, is a Sagittarius sun and Pisces moon, a risk taker and dreamer. What’s a risk taker doing running the Federal Reserve? Maybe the Federal Reserve isn’t really about stabilizing the US economy but about managing global risk.

Jim Yong Kim

President Obama has recently nominated Jim Yong Kim as head of the World Bank. OHA once again dug into the horoscope hoping to hit some rock (earth sign), but came up with fire.

Kim has Mars, Jupiter and sun in fire sign Sagittarius. It is no surprise with Jupiter and Mars conjunct sun that Kim is an athlete (according to Wikipedia).

Kim’s moon is either in Pisces or Aries. Athletic ability points to Aries.

If that moon is in Aries, Kim is aggression personified, the poster boy for aggression, a man with aggression as his middle name. And, he’s aggressive.

Kim seems to have been birthed with an extraordinary amount of energy which probably is the key reason for his many successes in life. I’m guessing he doesn’t sleep much.

Jupiter and Sagittarius are both associated with luck, benevolence, generosity and, on the other side of the spectrum, risk-taking, irresponsibility and recklessness.

Does this man balance his checkbook?

I’m imagining his checkbook is balanced but by people who live under his energetic and intense command.

Kim is the type to demand perfection of others (Pluto in Virgo square stellium in Sagittarius) but would not blink an eye when he did not follow those same rules. Sagittarius can be like that – lofty ideals but lax in practice because Sagittarius is not strong on self-control.

Will Kim pass the nomination process?

I’m not sure what the process is for World Bank nomination. However, from the current transits, Kim may be in for some trouble.

First, Mars transiting Virgo is conjunct Kim’s natal Pluto in Virgo and square natal Mars in Sagittarius. Mars and Pluto are like Mentos and Coke – an explosive mixture. Mars will be igniting Plutonian critical rage for Kim for the next month. Kim will both issue and receive harsh criticism.

Once Mars moves past Pluto, it will be squaring Kim’s Jupiter and sun in Sagittarius. Sagittarius likes freedom and Virgo likes to nit-pick so Kim will feel a cramp in his style. Maybe someone will tell him to stop whatever it is he does for fun and provide him a book written by Miss Manners in preparation for his nomination process.

His counselors may tell him to have a cup of herbal tea and go to bed early every night until the process completes, something Kim is probably genetically unable to do.

Meanwhile, transiting Pluto is conjunct Kim’s Saturn in Capricorn. Yikes, although Sagittarius is generally a friendly sign, I can’t imagine that Kim is being real nice right now. The powers that be are trouncing on Kim and Kim is probably sending the powerfully constricting energy downward to anyone in the way.

I’m sure someone is picking through Kim’s past right now – which brings me to his Venus/Neptune conjunction in Scorpio.

Saturn will leave Libra and hit that conjunction this October when it enters Scorpio. If Kim has some leather and chains in the closet, I’m guessing we will all hear about it in October. Venus/Neptune in Scorpio is imaginative in a darkly psychological and often sexual way.

What else?

If Kim’s moon is in Aries, Uranus is shaking that up right now. Whether in Aries or Pisces, Uranus has been interacting with that moon which means sudden explosions of emotions, often involving women.

Whether Kim makes it through the nomination process or not, it’s going to be a tough process. Kim is an extraordinarily energetic fighter, so if he is attacked, I’m sure he will return the fire. But we may learn more about Kim than he’d like during this process.

What sign should you be to run a World Bank?

Prior to studying bankers, if I were on a quiz show and the host asked me “What sign should you be to run a World Bank?” I would have hit the buzzer and yelled, “Taurus.”

During these tough economic times I hear folks talk about tightening the belt and balancing the budget. That’s Taurus stuff.

When I look at the heads of the banks, Federal Reserve and World Bank, I don’t see practical souls who just want to balance the books.

Instead I see competition, aggression and risk-taking.

Astrology is teaching me that my image of a banker comes from “It’s a Wonderful Life” rather than from reality. In reality, our bankers are entrepreneurs forcing us into growth. With growth comes risk and risk means one can win big or lose it all, or something in between.

But when does risk-taking become gambling?

And in global finance who is the gambler and who is the house?

Maybe money is like energy – it is never destroyed, it just changes forms – and hands.