4 Jan 2008

Barack Obama

Democrat Barack Obama has won favour in Iowa in the first stage of his bid to become the next US President. Born on 4.8.1961 in Honolulu, no time of birth is available so his chart is set for noon. Because the birth time is unknown, the orientation of the aspect structure is likely to be different from that shown here, but nonetheless, it is visually a very striking chart. Viewed in this position, with the noonday Sun right at the top, it appears like a moving, ruffling fan.

(But see more recent posting "Barack Obama Revisited" 5th August 2008 too, as his time of birth has since become available. You might like to read this first though, then move on to the update).

There is a striking conical shape to this structure which indicates a flexible, Mutable inner motivation. With 4 red, 4 green and 6 blue aspects, Obama's tendency will be towards action/reaction, sensitivity and awareness. His chart shows a line up of planets in Leo, and his Leo Sun is strongly placed in this Sign at 12 degrees. An interesting feature is the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter as tension rulers in the chart. These two don't necessarily sit well together, and the image of Dr. Doolittle's "Push me - Pull you" creature comes to mind! Saturn and Jupiter together could be like driving with one foot on the accelerator and the other on the brake. Jupiter in Aquarius will want to go forward at its own pace with no holds barred; Saturn in Capricorn will provide a steadying influence and could act like a wet blanket too. On the plus side, any ideas, new projects, talents, skills and high ideals will be formulated, underpinned with responsibility and made manifest in a thorough manner. A tension ruler in a chart acts like a filter through which everything experienced or expressed passes. Jupiter in this role could welcome all comers; Saturn will steadily suss out situations and provide a protective influence.

Obama has an interesting aspect pattern - a Megaphone- pinned by Mercury, Venus, Moon and Jupiter and composed of 1 red, 3 green and 1 blue aspect. Already ( via the wonders of colour coding!) we can see that this pattern is composed of predominantly blue/green aspects, and is pinned by blue (Fixed quality) and green (Mutable quality) planets. The literal translation from the German word for this aspect pattern is a "whisper bag". What does that mean in the context of this particular pattern?

Bruno, Louise and Michael Huber say of the Megaphone pattern, in their book Aspect Pattern Astrology, " We speak quietly into the narrow end and our voice suddenly fills the room. The other way round it works like the old-fashioned ear trumpet, as used in the past by the hard of hearing". This pattern is about communication - receiving it and giving it. This is supported and emphasised by the inclusion of Mercury as a pinning planet. The area of the chart that it occupies is important, but in Obama's case we can't know this without having his birth time. The high blue/green ratio of aspects in this pattern highlights its idealistic, imaginative qualities. From what I've heard of Obama's speeches, he knows how to use his words well. The Hubers also say "This person is a thinker who extracts a lot of information from communication, which he can then check for value and truth".
How Obama will fare in the next round remains to be seen. But one final thought. This man is 46. According to the Huber's LifeClock, psychologically he has recently been through the Low Point of the chart which is the low point of the whole life and a significant turning point in the life journey, when inner changes are made. This can be a time of frustration and crisis as well as a time of transformation and personal change. I've deliberately not researched Obama's life story in order to write about what I see in his chart, so there's no way I can know whether this might have significance to him. In the context of his bid to be selected as Democratic Presidential candidate, it's on the plus side that he's been through this personal Low Point prior to the 2008 elections.

Addendum: For an update on Obama's chart, now that his time of birth has become available, see my posting "Barack Obama Revisited", August 5th 2008.

2 comments:

Barbara said...

Hi Joyce,
That was interesting, and I hope that you will do a few other charts of the candidates !
I know very little about my countryman, and it has been good to have an astrological view.

I looked up about info absentee voting for US citizens. It appears that I have to pass through my former state, where my application will be approuved or not.
Several steps to go through following that, also.
I haven't been in my home state since the past 17 years, so I would hardly know who to vote for there....

See you soon.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed looking at your chart for Barack Obama - was surprised to see it, actually - keeping up with our primary games! It would be nice to have an actual time, but the image is striking. The Mt. Astrologer magazine had an article on the candidates, but without birth time info - there was a rumor of Obama's birth time, but that's not good enough. What especially struck me about it was the separated aspect pattern Sun/Pluto/Neptune. Of course, I don't know what that signifies, but striking - especially with the Mercury Opp. & the Sun Sq. - it feels like they are turned away from each other. It was nice to see the Talent Triangle & the Dominant Learning Triangles - what a different-looking chart from GW Bush's chart! So much more expansive!