Nancy Pelosi

United States House member Nancy Pelosi has just been elected for her second run as Speaker of the House, the last occurring from 2003-2007. Astrologically this is a bit odd.

Aries-sun Pelosi has spent the seven years of Uranus’ transit of Aries as House Minority Leader, in political terms a lesser position (although dependent upon electoral outcomes) than Speaker of the House. Uranus is the planet of enlightenment so Pelosi may have learned and accomplished more as Minority Leader than majority leader.

During her term as Speaker of the House from 2003-2007, Uranus was in Pisces. Pelosi’s natal Mercury is in Pisces opposing natal Neptune in Virgo (called mutual reception because Mercury rules Virgo and Neptune rules Pisces).

With Neptune opposing one’s Mercury and Mercury in Pisces, the more literal signs (like earth signs) may consider Pelosi’s words to be less than factual, imaginative, and emotional. The energy of her first Speakership involves communication and ideals of perfection. Perfection, a word different in the eyes of each of us, is a Neptunian delusion.

Pelosi’s second Speakership will occur under very different Uranus energy – Uranus will move into Taurus in March 2019 for the next seven years. Pelosi has Saturn, Uranus, Venus and Mars all in Taurus opposing (not all exactly but by sign) moon in Scorpio. Do not be surprised if Pelosi’s personal finances come under a great deal of scrutiny, especially in March 2019. All that Taurus is probably what earned her the moniker “limousine Liberal.”

Pelosi will need to be literal while Uranus transits Taurus for the next seven years. Can she put aside her imaginative Mercury in Pisces?

Mitch McConnell

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, while on the other side of the aisle from Nancy Pelosi, will experience similar challenges as Uranus transits Taurus beginning March 2019.

Just two years younger than Pelosi, McConnell has moon, Mars, Saturn and Uranus in Taurus. Saturn and Uranus are conjunct which in general represents difficulty with authority, especially when authority wants to touch your Taurus tangible stuff (like with taxes and right-of-way).

McConnell’s sun in one degree of Pisces does not make a lot of aspects inside the chart suggesting his imaginative, sensitive, psychic and potentially manipulative sun is on its own making him at times dreamy and “somewhere else,” while at other times the Taurus in his chart is on the front porch with a gun trying to defend his property.

Jupiter’s transit of Sagittarius opposes his natal Jupiter suggesting the social crowd with which he’s been a part no longer accepts him in the same way. Jupiter in Sagittarius wants exotic and foreign energy to challenge the status quo. McConnell’s natal Jupiter in Gemini is more interested in the local happenings and immediate friends and neighbors.

With a Pisces sun, McConnell can be different every day, if he chooses. It’s the Taurus energy that demands regularity, the same lunch every day. However, when Uranus shakes up Taurus energy, McConnell won’t be allowed his routines or his daily cappucino so he may don his chameleon Pisces nature and ride the waves.

Or he may simply retire from the Senate to become a banker or real estate agent.

Justin Trudeau

According to the news, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been facing challenges:

His government has kept some promises since it overhauled the child benefits scheme, legalised recreational cannabis, and gave parents the option of taking an extended parental leave.

But there were fumbles along the way: a disastrous overseas trip to India, broken promises on electoral reform and on short-term deficits.

Trudeau was born on Christmas Day which should carry enough imagery to expect a challenging life. Astrologically, he is a Capricorn sun with moon square in Aries. The combination is a forceful, competitive, ambitious individual who has to learn to respect others as he desires to be respected. There’s quite a bit of unawareness of others’ needs, or at least a lack of empathy.

Pluto has been transiting Capricorn since 2008 and Uranus Aries since 2011; this square aspect has caused irritable tension on the globe. It affects our individual charts as well especially for those with cardinal signs in the chart (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn). In addition, in December 2017 Saturn entered Capricorn transiting Trudeau’s sun which usually means restriction or limitation to the self (like “shut up and do your job”).

All of the cardinal signs are having challenging times getting along with others, which cardinal signs always struggle with even in the best of astrological aspects. Cardinal is the initiator, one who likes to take charge and start projects. For the fixed and mutable signs, it can be plain bossiness.

The good news for Trudeau is that transiting Pluto is out of aspect to his sun and Uranus will move from Aries to Taurus in March 2019. Saturn also is now out of the orb of his sun. The worst is technically over.

However, Capricorn tends to take the path of most resistance so what’s around the bend may not be challenging enough for the competitive, responsibility-seeking Trudeau.

In November 2018, transiting Jupiter entered Sagittarius where it will transit for a year and pass over Trudeau’s natal Neptune, Mercury and Jupiter and oppose his natal Saturn in Gemini. For Trudeau, this means the expansive, excessive and addictive part of his personality will arise.

If there is no challenge, Trudeau will get bored and indulge in his favorite Sagittarius excess. Some traditional excesses for this sign include travel, reading history, learning a new philosophy, gambling and intoxicants.

Or maybe like the satirical parodies indicate, he’ll indulge in a little legal marijuana.

David Brooks and The Morality of Selfism

Today New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote a scathing opinion piece on self-centeredness.

You probably want to be a good person. But you may also be completely self-absorbed. So you may be thinking, “There is no way I can be good if I’m also a narcissist. Isn’t being good all about caring about other people?”

But how wrong you are!

We live in a culture of selfism — a culture that puts tremendous emphasis on self, on self-care and self-display. And one of the things we’ve discovered is that you can be a very good person while thinking only about yourself!

As noted in the OHA blog My Uranus in Aries, this transit brought not only the rise of selfies but the rise of individual-directed marketing which is good for business but bad for the personal worldview. Too much targeted information can create a very self-absorbed lens. As Brooks points out sarcastically in his piece, the rise of social media allows us to express ourselves continually which can lead to confusion about expression versus action.

While the article definitely provides food for self-reflective thought, astrologically I chuckle a bit when a person with Mercury, sun, moon and Uranus in the fiery, expressive, center-of-attention Leo tells me I’m too self-absorbed.

Brooks also has Saturn in Capricorn and will be experiencing his second Saturn return by the end of 2019. Saturn has a 29-year cycle that represents stages of maturity. What might be difficult for Brooks isn’t just the self-centeredness of our times, but also his own waning influence upon a culture that is increasingly bestowing authority on those who can shout the loudest.

It’s a sad time both for Brooks and this blogger as an informed, well-constructed opinion is much more enjoyable as intellectual aerobics than the slew of articles with teaser headlines about trivial and insignificant events. However, as Uranus moves into Taurus in March 2019, Brooks will continue to experience irritation and tension as Taurus is in square to Leo.

Brooks, like others on the planet in 2019, will most likely need to focus on the health of the personal body, personal assets and the earth itself. Brooks may want to spend his Saturn return writing about the breakdown of authority, including his own, as Pluto transits Capricorn.