My cat said she wanted to run for president of the United States in the next election (year 2020). I told her that cats are not allowed to run for president.

“Show me in writing where it says cats can’t run for president,” she demanded.

Feisty and accurate I changed tactics to avoid a long argument.

“You don’t want to run in 2020,” I said patiently, “when Saturn, Jupiter and Pluto will all be transiting Capricorn. It will be the Authoritarian Armageddon. You will surely get sliced up and packaged in plastic like American cheese.”

“I will not,” she insisted. “My platform is simple. Everyone gets a water bowl, food bowl, litter box, comfy place to sleep and good veterinarian. Humans make life complicated with their ridiculous mind games which create endless desires that can never be fulfilled resulting in enduring unhappiness.”

That was the long argument I had been trying to avoid. I tried one last angle.

“Before you decide to run you’d better check in on the fate of female politicians. In the past few years, many female leaders have lost power. The average tenure of a female leader is quite short.”

That comment gave her whiskers a rise as we reviewed the list from The Los Angeles Times of the 33 women elected (versus inherited) to power. She noticed, of course, there were no cats.

Statistically, Venus, which is almost half of the global population, hasn’t reached near that percent in terms of elected national leaders.

The Pluto in Leo Generation

Many of the women in power today are aged 60-70 indicating that they are the Pluto in Leo generation. This generation was born between 1939 and 1957. In the United States we call them the Baby Boomers. They transformed personal self-expression which led to “social revolution” in the 1960s including creative expression, sexual expression, civil rights and feminism.

Rock and roll is a legacy of this generation. I fear consumer culture (which targets identity and personal fulfillment) is a result as well although it came after the social revolution ended.

That our female politicians are still of this generation suggests that it may be some time before the number of female world leaders begins to grow. It will probably shrink in the near term as the Pluto in Virgo generation (1957 – 1972) is not quite as assertive.

Pluto in Virgo is transforming work, health and food. While those are important concerns, the personal confidence that comes with Leo is lacking in Virgo. Virgo is great at fighting for a specific cause, but not so effective when establishing more comprehensive leadership.

Dilma Rousseff and Helle Thorning-Schmidt

Of the 33 female leaders in The Los Angeles Times article, seven (21%) are from the Americas. All are from Latin and South America. The Los Angeles Times doesn’t list Kim Campbell (late Prime Minister of Canada), but possibly it missed her as she was in power only five months. The United States, as you know, has not produced any female presidents.

In South America, Michelle Bachelet is still president of Chile but Dilma Rousseff of Brazil was impeached late last year (2016) due to administrative misconduct and Cristina Fernandez of Argentina lost her re-election bid in 2015.

In an interesting coincidence, Rousseff of Brazil shares a birthday with another past female head of state – Helle Thorning-Schmidt, past Prime Minister of Denmark. Both began their terms in 2011. Thorning-Schmidt lost power a year before Rousseff in 2015.

Born almost 20 years apart, both women have sun in Sagittarius and moon in Capricorn. Sagittarius is a fire sign known for its idealism, need to find or make meaning of life’s experiences and the desire to travel for experience. Capricorn, in contrast, is reserved, inexpressive and conservative. Sagittarius breaks the rules while Capricorn follows them. Sagittarius is generous; Capricorn stingy. Sagittarius expands; Capricorn contacts.

Rousseff is the Pluto in Leo generation. When she was born, Saturn was also transiting that sign. Combined with her fire sign sun, Rousseff might come across as overly self-confident as Saturn tagging along in Leo is one’s weak spot. Rousseff does have confidence, but doesn’t know when to admit fear or lack of control.

Thorning-Schmidt in contrast is the Pluto in Virgo generation. When she was born, Uranus was also in Virgo with Saturn opposing both planets in Pisces. This opposition makes a square (called a T-square) to her sun causing her much more anxiety than Rousseff experiences. It’s the Pluto/Uranus in Virgo generation that brought us excessive fear of illness and excessive worry over detail.

While it might be a political coincidence that both women came to and lost power around the same time, astrologically it has a pattern.

In 2011, transiting Uranus moved in to Aries which energized the fire signs. In 2015, transiting Saturn moved into Sagittarius which contracted Sagittarius’ habit of expansion and growth.

In addition, since 2008 transiting Pluto has been in Capricorn. Pluto moves slowly so it can take a while to transit a planet in that sign. Both Rousseff and Thorning-Schmidt have moons in Capricorn, probably in the middle of the sign. Pluto’s effect is to change the relationship to public and women and also challenge the reactive pattern of control and authoritarianism.

Park Geun-Hye

Park Geun-Hye, President of South Korea, is the most recent female leader challenged with impeachment.

This is a tricky one astrologically. Geun-Hye has sun in Aquarius, moon in Taurus. It’s possible the moon is in late Aries which may provide a stronger indicator of personal problems. With moon in Aries, transiting Uranus would be causing sudden and impulsive actions.

Geun-Hye’s problems are occurring with a Jupiter transit (in Libra) of a natal Saturn/Neptune conjunction. There’s also a natal wide opposition to Jupiter in Aries.

This natal Saturn/Neptune conjunction in Libra suggests both strong idealization of partnership and strong letdown of that ideal. With an Aquarius sun, Geun-Hye probably carries the idealism farther in a relationship than does the partner. Aquarius is a fixed air sign and has clear ideas about social organization. If the moon is in Taurus, there is double stubbornness about those ideals. Aquarius is also a perfectionist.

While I haven’t delved deeply into her troubles, they appear to revolve around influence peddling by an aide. Possibly the aide or those charging her with influence peddling are the Libra partner (not necessarily of the sign Libra) indicated in her horoscope.

If Geun-Hye’s moon is in Taurus, there’s also opposition to Mars in Scorpio and a wide square to the sun. Taurus and Scorpio are sensual which is in conflict with the more emotionally and physically remote Aquarius. While intimate matters can be messy for many, they are messy by nature for Aquarius.

Angela Merkel and Theresa May

As my cat and I reviewed the dismal fate of recent female world leaders, the cat pointed out that Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister Theresa May of the United Kingdom are doing well.

I reminded the cat that Angela Merkel has a Pluto opposition coming up around 2021, during the Authoritarian Armageddon when Saturn/Jupiter/Pluto will all be transiting Capricorn. Only the sturdiest most resilient economic, social and leadership structures will make it through that transit. Merkel may be just that strong, but it will be tough for her.

Theresa May, I agreed with the cat, has a chance. England has a history of females in power from the long reigns of Queens Elizabeth I & II and Victoria to Margaret Thatcher in the 1970s and 1980s. Thatcher was in elected power for 11 years, an eternity for an elected female world leader.

May like Thatcher has sun in Libra. May’s moon is either in Leo or Virgo. Thatcher’s was in Leo. So there are similarities here.

May has three planets in the strong, confident Leo – Uranus, Venus and Pluto. This suggests a very turbulent love life, even if the moon is in Virgo. A Saturn square in Scorpio adds to the troubles.

The peril of moon in Virgo for a politician is that Virgo thinks and worries itself into corners. Virgo is associated with health and hypochondria is often present due to the overthinking of the regular rough and tumble of life. Once Virgo has decided it has a terminal illness, you can talk to them for years to no avail.

Mars in Pisces opposes Jupiter in Virgo so there is definitely tendency to over-analyze. Yet Mars in Pisces is also intuitive and interested in bonding on a spiritual and emotional level. May’s horoscope is mostly left-brain analytical, so Mars in Pisces may feel squashed. Neptune is currently transiting Pisces so May could experience constant desire to relate to her people but the sense that all her actions toward this end are distorted.

Felines in the European Union

As we discussed the fate of female world leaders past and present, a conversation much too lengthy to include in this blog, my cat decided that as a female, feline and intellectual, Europe was a better place to live. She even presented to me a Huffington Post article on how easy it is for her to travel to Europe.

Unfortunately, I told her, this is one instance where cats have the advantage.