Barack Obama vs. John McCain
High Noon at We’re OK- You’re Not OK Corral

Obama Biden vs McCain Palin is a unique contest for the soul of America as embodied in the Declaration of Independence in terms of the Neptune position in the 23rd Degree of Virgo (hex 16.5 >>45). Everything else is just window-dressing to this ultimate confrontation between two very different expressions of the Mysterious Attachment of every American to the cause greater than their self-interest which is the core of the American Dream.

The planet Neptune was discovered when the great dream of national ideals was bursting forth upon the world in the 1840’s. In the United States it took the form of making Manifest Destiny clear by extending the nation from the Atlantic to the Pacific though conquest of territory from Mexico through the Mexican War. In Europe it took the forms of the popular rebellions and communes and the Communist Manifesto of Karl Marx.

The aftermath of these upheavals of the 1840’s were vast new territories in the American West whose opportunities and challenges moved quickly to move North and South to their ultimate showdown of the Civil War. In Europe there was brutal repression of popular demands for democracy which led to waves of Western European refugees who would soon join the ranks of the armies of the U.S. Civil War shedding their blood to buy into the American Dream.

Both Barack Obama and John McCain (as well as Ron Paul by the way) have natal planets within one degree of the position of Neptune in the Horoscope of Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence. McCain and Ron Paul have their natal Venus in the 23rd degree of Virgo atop the US Neptune position. They share the same vision of the American dream—Ron Paul as the pure Maverick and McCain accepting the compromises required to fit into the Bush Republican Party.

Neptune in the 23rd degree of Virgo means: Mysterious Attachment or The American Dream’s Detailed Expression in the style of “A man clad in gay colors of the circus rushes into the barred arena where unwilling animals await his bidding.” Or in terms of the Yi Jing correspondence (hex 16 line 5 the crown of cheering or “ZESTFUL SICKNESS. PRESS ON. YOU WILL NOT DIE. Delirium brings you in touch with your arrogance, then you can truly know how to flow. Have confidence you will survive.”

Obama has his natal Mars in this degree so that his mode of self expression or intimate initiative is to be the showman who eagerly accepts the challenge of the arena to impress, entertain and enthuse the audience by his skill and mastery. For McCain (and Ron Paul) it is their natal Venus in this degree. For them it is their personal satisfaction to meet the unwilling wild beasts of the arena and crack the whip to make them obey and do his bidding.

Of course, what either man will do as President is not part of this image. However, by Inauguration Day Pluto will have moved into Capricorn or Ultimate Commitment’s Firm Control in the style of (2 Capricorn): “Three stained-glass windows in an old cathedral are seen, and the center one has been damaged by bombardment.” Or hex 33.2 “GRAB IT WITH THE HIDE OF A YELLOW OX. NO ONE CAN BREAK IT. Cling to the good.” These describe a time of great challenge requiring renewed struggle and unshakeable determination.

However, everything about the next presidency is tucked out of sight until well-after Election Day. It is not that looming reality, but rather the twists and turns of the campaign that make up this showdown. By an interesting twist of fate this also focuses upon the Planet Neptune in its current position or transit, Retrograde, in the 23rd degree of Aquarius “A big trained bear, sitting on a chair especially built for him, is waving all four paws in grotesque fashion” (or hex 41 line 5 The Crown of Sacrifice “IF YOU ARE GIVEN TEN TORTOISE SHELLS, DO NOT REFUSE. PRIMAL LUCK. Unexpected windfall is blessed by the oracle.” This is an image of a great windfall or special presentation that WOWs the crowd.

This particular planetary position, 23rd degree of Aquarius, also happens to be Sarah Palin’s natal Sun or her Individual Quest. She is the personal exemplar of this degree and thus right now is under the strong influence of transiting Neptune which gives all the mystery and romance of the powerful sea. Generally considered a situation of strong illusions, though those with strong Neptune say it is rather a more penetrating inner vision that only looks delusional objectively.

As another detail of the truth far stranger and less believable than any fiction is that thethe Harvest Moon of 15 September 2008 happens to occur with the Sun in exactly the 23rd degree of Virgo. This puts that Full Moon opposition with the Sun exactly upon Neptune in the U.S. chart and quincunx (150 degrees) from transiting Neptune that day.

The quincunx is a difficult aspect (150 degrees = 90 + 60) where the situation seems to flow along some (sextile or 60 degree angle) and mostly seems to be a confrontation or challenge. The image of Charlie Chaplin trying to open a closed door or take a drink from a fountain comes to mind. If he just turns the knob, the door is stuck, if he runs against the door, it opens easily so that he falls through. If he leans down to the fountain, it squirts up into his face. If he recoils back to a distance, the water just dribbles requiring that he lean down to get the water.

The Harvest Moon linking the US natal Neptune to the current transit position of Neptune has both Sarah Palin and Hurricane Ike thrown into the mix. What is important in this campaign? Who represents what ideal or is the next best hope for our future? Is Obama able to successfully meet the challenges of Sarah Palin and Hurricane Ike? Will McCain find more grist for his campaign mill through this all?

On Election Day, 4 November 2008 it will have just turned direct (slow moving, outer planet of great power in human affairs) in the 22nd degree of Aquarius: “A new, deep, and velvet-like carpet has been placed in the airy nursery, and the happy children revel upon it.” (or hex 41 line 4 The Soul of Sacrifice “DIMINISH THE SICKNESS. IF YOU HURRY, HAVE JOY. NO BLAME. Strict self-discipline heals.” This is an image of making the situation all better so the youngsters can enjoy the scene and come running to play.

Will Obama find the Youth vote mobilized to end the sickness of the Republican smear campaign? Will voters seek to make a comfy playroom of the Whitehouse for Sarah Palin and her infant?

The issues in this campaign between Obama and McCain are epic and idealized. Sarah Palin is a major complicating factor highlighting the difficulties between the traditional ideals of the American Dream and the current grotesque sensationalism of the tabloid media coverage. Hurricane Ike and its aftermath will add the further factor of the destructive tension between the intense campaign with its irrational oil concerns and disaster realities to the candidate preference.

It is approaching High Noon, an epic showdown for all the marbles and the Soul of the American Dream. Obama offers the Audacity of Hope. McCain and Palin offer their vision of the fighting mavericks. Bush43 continues to carry on through the election and all the way to Inauguration Day. It is likely Obama will find Election Day victory will just be the beginning of his struggle to be accepted as U.S. national embodiment of the American Dream.

Recently, in response to blogger rumors that Obama was born in Kenya and thus ineligible to run for US president, released his birth certificate showing his exact birth time 7:24 pm August 4th 1961 in Honolulu. Others complained since he was born in Hawaii the territorial rules for US citizenship would require his father to be a US citizen, not just his mother. But Hawaii became the 50th state and gets the same status of every other state by the time Barack Obama was born. The drive to push Obama out of the American homeland continues at least in partisan Republican minds.

The X-Ray Eye chart for Barack Obama does not change at all for an exact birth time or only the birth day as a whole. That does not prevent his X-Ray Eye chart from being extremely unusual. Natal Saturn is retrograde in Capricorn as is Jupiter which indicates his strong Area I, Grounding In the World, is twisted inward. This may indicate why Barack Obama feels deeply his American roots while others say they can not get a gut feel for what is true home base or believe he is an American like them.

Beyond that, his retrograde Jupiter is in 30 Capricorn which is denoted by algebraic based software as 0 Aquarius 52. The Sabian Symbol for his Jupiter is that of the 1st degree of Aquarius “An old adobe mission rests in the shelter of the California hills and seems as ancient as the mountains behind it.” This shows his Intimate Involvement is with the Old West reaching back into the Hispanic tradition predating the founding of the United States.Jupiter in the 30th degree of Capricorn remains OUTSIDE in the X-Ray Eye form, making his Moon in Gemini the Singleton INSIDE.

This is a special situation in X-Ray Eye analysis, most notable as it changes the Flux Tome or Yi hexagram equivalent from a Yang line in the fourth place to a moving Yin line. The import of the singleton is very special. If there are no planets in a region—Inside, Outside, Above or Below the Waist, etc. it is as if that area of the personality is an empty and closed off wing of a large mansion. Bush 43 has no planets Below The Waist and simply doesn’t recognize issues of relationship even in terms of Grounding in the World. A single plane in an entire region, such as Obama Inside having the Moon in Gemini, highlights that planet. It is like a wing of a large mansion with a single small candle in it whose flickering light casts shadows and entices exploration to figure out what is going on in that vast openness.

The Inside Region is what things mean to you privately, what you feel is in it for you in your own terms. With Obama having his Individual Sustainment and personal emotional response singleton inside, he is challenged to figure out who he is in his own terms and what his identity means to him. Thus his first memoir Dreams From My Father. He further sharpened and focused this sense of challenge to what his identity means for him in his second best-selling memoir The Audacity of Hope.

This configuration of the Moon Singleton Inside also changes his Natal Oracle to hexagram 30 line 5 >> hexagram 13 or Flaming Light with the ruling 5th place open and humble and therefore blessed with good fortune. The Crown of Flaming Light becomes Love Song. Gia-Fu Feng’s translation of the judgment on this line is “BURST INTO TEARS LIKE TORRENTS AS IF GROANING SORROWFUL. LUCK. Expression of sorrow cleanses the true nature.” The Sabian Symbol that corresponds to this hexagram line is 17 Sagittarius: “An Easter sunrise service is about to begin at the suggestion of dawn; darkness surrenders to the worshippers.”

Here we see how he becomes a beacon to the large crowds he addresses. Generally, what is Inside is private and not seen by others. The public display is what the Region Outside is all about. For Obama, the exact position of his Moon in the 4th degree of Gemini has a special American significance. It is the same degree as that of the Ascendant of the chart for the Declaration of Independence. The Ascendant of a wheel horoscope is how others see you. To have his Moon on the ascendant of the US chart makes Obama feel to others as the embodiment of America.

The exact birth time of the United States determines the Ascendant of the US chart. It is a topic of wild and passionate debate amongst astrologers. When the various charts are subjected to analysis through the Sabian Symbols, they generally indicate the hallmark of the astrologer who promotes that chart. One of the most generally used charts is called Sagittarius rising with a birth time of 5:13 pm on the grounds it took till then for the Continental Congress to finish debating the exact wording and sign the document. However, there was no ratification or signing of the Declaration on July 4th. The debate carried on “until very late in the evening” which certainly could not have been 5:13 pm of a summer’s night long before five o’clock end of business was an iron clad rule.

Marc Edmund Jones published a Gemini rising chart for the US Declaration of Independence based upon technical considerations rectifying the Ascendant to fit relevant events in U.S. history. Turns out that is based upon a chart time of just before 2 AM during the night before the Continental Congress considered Jefferson’s final draft. In the official journal of that time, there is no statement about anything—only a printed copy of Jefferson’s final draft which Thomas Jefferson had worked with a printer in the dead of night so that each delegate could have his own copy. Publication is the birth time for work of literature, and Jefferson’s printing of his final draft as the Moon was just about to cross the Zenith high in the 10th house was the true birth time for American Democracy and the US.

The proof of the accuracy of the Marc Edmund Jones chart for the Declaration of Independence is found in the birth chart of Barack Obama. Not only is his natal Moon exactly upon the Ascendant of the US chart but also, his Ascendant is exactly conjunct the Moon position of the US. Thus Barack Obama looks and seems to others as the embodiment of the ruling public of the US. The double set of Ascendant-Moon conjunctions demonstrates both the special quality of Obama as candidate for President of the United States and the true accuracy of the Marc Edmund Jones birth time for the Declaration of Independence.

The US Moon and Barack Obama’s Ascendant are both the 19th degree of Aquarius: Individual Sustainment, emotional response in Objective Understanding in the style of “A series of rooms in a hospitable house, opening one into the other, are decorated gaily with holly and mistletoe.” This is the American Dream as the land of Opportunity and Christmas cheer with hospitality rather than crucifixes preeminent. or hex 58 line 4 The Soul of Contents >> Lining –the power of great wealth requires an appropriate buffer or lining: “INDECISIVE JOY NOT PEACEFUL. WHEN RID OF SICKNESS, HAVE SATISFACTION. Awareness brings healing.”

My consideration of Barack Obama started out without knowing his birth time. He had a number of planetary connections to the chart of the US, most interestingly the same highlighted degree of the US Neptune as Ron Paul the true maverick of the Republican primary season. I wrote a page based upon the also-ran status of Ron Paul and Barack Obama early in the campaign when all commentators agreed it would be a Rudy Guilani and Hillary Clinton duel.

I found it difficult to write a new page about either Obama or McCain as they clinched their primary victories. It only became clear when Sarah Palin became a celebrity and Hurricane Ike barreled down upon Texas that the Harvest Moon September 15th what is afoot. Whether the Republican nominee is Ron Paul or John McCain turns out to make little difference, they both are candidates with Mars in the 23rd degree of Virgo where the US natal Neptune sits.

Sarah Palin has no conjunctions in her chart to the horoscope of the US. Her natal sun holds an exact though difficult quincunx aspect to this same US natal Neptune position. The Harvest Moon in opposition to transiting Sun in exactly that same degree as the US Neptune is also quincunx to transiting Neptune conjunct Sarah Palin’s natal Sun position.

The impact of Hurricane Ike will just begin to be assessed by the time of the Harvest Moon. Sarah Palin will probably find celebrity may run into bumps then also. The public will only start to be able to assess John McCain’s first command decision of Republican Commander-In-Chief selecting Sarah Palin in the weeks leading up to her debate with Joe Biden.

In political campaigns a day can be a lifetime, and this campaign has a number of hairpin turns still to be navigated before Election Day and even more before Inauguration Day. Barack Obama has managed to appear remarkably cool and unimpressive generally while rising to each and every important occasion in unexpected ways. His X-Ray Eye chart explains why and how he represents the American Dream not only for US voters, but for people the world over desperate for Hope and American leadership.

That hardly guarantees an Obama election victory or even less that he will be inaugurated the 44th President of the United States. But the stakes are clear. It is approaching High Noon and the Ultimate Showdown between entrenched Power of the Petroleum warlords and the aspirations of regular folks to live free with hope and opportunity.

Return to top of Obama page