In elementary school I loved square dancing. So when, several years ago, a friend wanted the gang to go square dancing, I was all for it.

Much to my surprise, square dancing is difficult. I suppose back in elementary school we went slower or the teachers guided us through a few basic steps. The real square dancing is fast and you have to know what square dancing terms mean. When the singer says, “take your lady home,” that means you go back to the original position, standing next to each other (I think).

In astrology there is an aspect called a square. It’s when planets are in signs that are 90 degrees apart (which is a square). It’s really easy to figure out. If planets are in the same modality (cardinal, fixed or mutable), they are in square aspect.

Square dancing is fun if you know what you’re doing and are able to listen and respond quickly. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you’ll be bumping into everyone (as we did a few years ago) and you will feel both embarrassed while at the same time understanding how, astrologically, planets in square aspect interact.

Let’s Bow to the Left, and Bow to the Right

We now have our two couples for the 2012 General Election Presidential Square Dance. Democrat Barack Obama (incumbent) will be standing next to Joe Biden while Republican Mitt Romney has chosen Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan as his partner.

Let’s Circle Left

Obama has sun in Leo (fixed fire) and moon in Gemini (mutable air). Biden has sun in Scorpio (fixed water) and moon in Taurus (fixed earth) (chart according to Astrotheme).

Let’s Circle Right

Romney has sun in Pisces (mutable water) and moon in Scorpio (fixed water). Ryan has sun in Aquarius (fixed air) and moon in Libra (cardinal air) (chart according to the Political Astrology Blog).

Let’s Start with the Squares

You may have noticed that we have a little bit of fixed sign squaring going on. Obama’s sun in Leo squares Biden’s sun in Scorpio and moon in Taurus which opposes Romney’s moon in Scorpio and squares Ryan’s sun in Aquarius.

When all four signs of a modality are present, we call it a grand square.

Americans love fixed signs in the White House because there is focus, purpose and unwavering belief. We don’t want someone who says, for example, that they will never raise taxes and then turns around, while in the White House, and raises taxes.

Looking at charts throughout the world, fixed signs are often leaders because you need this kind of focus, determination and strength to handle the assaults that will occur toward any public figure.

I don’t recall the political reasons why Obama chose Biden for Vice President, but I don’t think it was based on personality traits. Where Obama is a fiery communicator, Biden is a methodical plotter.

Romney’s moon is in Scorpio so he’s also serious and intense like Biden. These two would probably make nice running mates if they weren’t, like, in opposite parties.

Ryan has sun in Aquarius which is intellectual and aloof, square Romney’s “I’m gonna get you back someday” moon in Scorpio. Ryan’s sun in Aquarius is opposite Obama’s sun in Leo saying Ryan has more group consciousness while Obama has more personal, show-off consciousness.

Do-Si-Do with the Elements

By element, it’s a little more interesting.

Romney has sun (Pisces) and moon (Scorpio) in water signs. Ryan has sun (Aquarius) and moon (Libra) in air signs.

Water and air – interesting partnership.

Water is beneath the surface and air above, so Romney will take care of the “let’s not talk about it” parts of the election process and Ryan will stay above ground checking the weather gauges. If Ryan’s chart is accurate and he has moon in Libra, this will be fine with him. Libra doesn’t go below ground because it’s dirty and ugly there.

Sun in Aquarius and moon in Libra is idealistic to the point of delusion. Moon in Libra is constantly looking to others as a mirror and reacting to styles and trends of the crowd (even if the Aquarius sun believes itself to be a rebel).

The problem of water and air spending a lot of time together is that water will start to be bothered by things while air has no clue anything is awry.

Both water and air react to the environment, but water reacts to the emotional current and air to the intellectual current.

Obama has sun (Leo) in a fire sign and moon (Gemini) in an air sign. Biden has sun (Scorpio) in a water sign and moon (Taurus) in an earth sign.

Obama and Biden make fire, air, water and earth – all four elements. Having all four elements represented makes them more flexible in covering what each element represents: fire, enthusiasm; air, ideas; water, emotions; earth, practical matters. In their collective personalities, they can conjure up what is necessary for the occasion.

Need a cheering crowd? Send Obama. Need a detail explained for 25 minutes? Send Biden.

While both the Romney/Ryan and Obama/Biden partnerships have elemental balance, Romney/Ryan is more like a teeter totter and Obama/Biden is more like a four-couple square dance.

Newest Partner

Our newest partner to the dance is Paul Ryan. Let’s take another peek at his chart, the one found on the Political Astrology Blog.

If this chart is accurate, Ryan’s more than a little spacey. From articles written about his nomination to the ticket, he doesn’t sound like a man with Neptune in Sagittarius directly on the ascendant. But the next few months will indicate if this is accurate.

When Pluto was at the beginning of Sagittarius in 1995-1997, Ryan probably went through some religious or spiritual conversion. Neptune in the first house, in any sign, has to be careful about being manipulated through religion, spirituality or gurus. Neptune seeks bliss and religion and spirituality are often marketed like any consumer good.

With sun in Aquarius in the third house and moon in Libra in the eleventh house, Ryan probably doesn’t like to spend much time at home or alone. He’s always seeking groups, groups where he can express his ideals. Ryan is the type to help all the neighbors shovel snow while his own home remains buried. He may help others but neglect the needs, especially emotional, of those closest to him.

While moon in Libra likes partnership, it is not an emotional sign. It wants shared activity whether others are willing or unwilling participants. Libra garners its identity by reflecting off of others so Ryan is well aware of what you are doing and the latest trends. By watching your actions and mimicking those actions, he’s actually slightly removed from his own motivations.

Ryan, then, should absolutely love the election process. It’s his comfort zone. And with Neptune in the first house, Ryan may not really know himself after the process is complete. We may see a metamorphosis of Ryan. It will be interesting to see his personality in four months.

With Saturn in Taurus in the sixth house of health, combined with Aquarius energy, I get the sense that Ryan doesn’t like to be touched. He may be turned off both by a sense of uncleanliness and also a nerve sensitivity to touch. With Saturn in Taurus in the sixth, neck, throat and thyroid problems are a possibility. The shaking hands and kissing babies portion of the process may turn him off a little.

Down the Center and Back

Let the debates begin, I say! This election process hasn’t been any fun since Rick Santorum headed back to Pennsylvania. In the 500 Republican debates (or however many it was), the talk got a little repetitive. Now we bring in the other side to have a more natural disagreement, instead of fabricated disagreements (like Newt Gingrich attacking Romney’s wealth) to create differentiation.

There are 52 days until the first debate, 52 days to send out the invitations, get the peanuts and beer and cheer for your team.