EXCITEMENT! CONFUSION! MISINFORMATION! CHAOS! DELAYS!
Photo above: Political pundits discuss erection
situation this morning live on CNN.A Clear Case of Something Different:
Mercury Retrograde Messes with
Presidential ErectionBy Eric Francis
Planet Waves Digital Media | Click here for November Horoscope
For more news, also see StarIQ.com......While historians and scholars will look back on the election of 2000 as a truly astonishing political moment for generations, astrologers have an illuminating case of the strange effects long-associated with Mercury retrograde: mistaken information, incorrect calculations, retracting bold statements and making wrong assumptions.
......But moreover, here we have a clear case of something real happening in the world, and of the television news being more than a prepared television program. As one young astrologer I know commented, "It doesnt matter what happens now, at least people are seeing things a little differently."
......Is it any surprise that in this moment, Mercury, trickster of the sky and the planet of communications and math, was up to his fanciest games? Mercury stationed direct, or moved to normal, forward motion, just as the polls were closing in the critical east coast region, at 9:28 p.m. EST. As the presidential election hinged on a knife-edge of several hundred votes in the state of Florida, where 25 electoral votes would tip the balance toward George Bush or Al Gore, media repeatedly made and retracted incorrect projections of victory for both candidates. Live news broadcasters were at a loss for words as the night wore on and on with no end in sight.
......A CNN commentator said it best: "I don't know if it's some kind of planetary harmonic convergence, but the historians will look back on this moment and say they ain't seen nothin' like it."
......Planetary convergence indeed. This was no ordinary Mercury retrograde. During these periods, the two days in which the actual stations occur are invariably the most chaotic and unpredictable -- days that beg us not to back up computer equipment or sign mortgages. Or elect the leader of the western world.
......Trickster's trickiest trick was that it stationed direct at 29 degrees of Libra and 56 minutes, just three arcminutes from the edge of Scorpio. Here, we have a beautiful image of the scales of Libra hinging on a tiny balance, and a national election balanced on a few hundred votes -- the residents of one floor of a Florida condominium. Libra taken in such an extreme way represents indecisiveness and ambivalence, clearly attributes of the election situation.
......Just as the moon can be void-of-course, the sun and planets can also be void of course, making no new aspects to other planets before leaving a particular sign. As with the moon, this is a sensitive and unpredictable time, a time to watch and take care. The 30th degree of the signs has also been described as the "degree of weeping," in which strange fates befall those with planets stationed there, or when a 30th degree is rising.
......Many astrologers looked at this chart long before the election and shook their heads. But some knoew the deal. StarIQ.com writer Jim Shawvan wrote last week, in Election 2000: Who Will Win?, "The election may be so close in some states that it may be several days before the actual electoral college votes can be tallied with accuracy. This could involve the counting of absentee ballots, and possible charges of fraud or irregularities in some places. As of election night, it may look very much like a Bush victory, but uncertainty may develop as the count goes on."
A Grinding Halt, or a Pregnant Pause
......As a the accurate results of a presidential election were delayed for a duration of time more typical what occurred of before telephones, a central metaphor of Mercury stationing was activated: there is a pause in the action, and the flow of reliable news and information coming to a complete standstill.
......Plus:
......<> News reporters first gave Florida to Gore, then said it was unknown, then gave it to Bush, then took it back, as the margin of victory closed in from about 11,000 votes to several hundred (though officially stated at 1,600 as of press time).
......<> After conceding the election, Al Gore calls George W. Bush and retracts his statement, saying it really is too early to tell.
......<> The New York Times literally stopped its presses Wednesday morning because news in its editions was wrong. When was the last time that happened? Meanwhile newspapers around the country have Bush as the decided victor. If he loses, this will create a market for collector's newspapers in about 20 years -- save them in plastic bags.
......<> A recount is mandated by law in Florida when elections are tied within 1/2 percent. The margin of victory is so close that military write-ins from overseas could tilt it. People are always recounting things when Mercury is retrograde, and usually getting different answers.
......<> There is a real chance of an electoral/popular split, though prior to the election pundits were assuming that Gore could lose the popular vote but win the electoral vote for only the fourth time in history and the only time in the modern age. But it now seems more likely that if anything, the opposite would occur. What would happen to the Electoral College at that point is unclear, though it was built into our government system by the framers of the Constitution as a mechanism for reducing fraud and corruption.
......We also have a clear case of journalists actually having to work, to eat their words for a change, and to be involved in the latest, most chaotic reporting of election results in generations despite this being the first election in which the Internet and other instantaneous electronic media were a major factor.
Asteroids Play Supporting Roles
......Pallas Athene, the major asteroid associated with politics and political situations, was within two minutes of exact conjunction to stationing Mercury as the polls closed in the east.
......But Martha Lang-Wescott also points out in her book Mechanics of the Future that Pallas, in conjunction, is associated with "pleasing daddy," translating to "what one does (or refuses to do) to win approval" with authority figures. Here we have an interesting picture of the George W. and George Sr. scenario in which George W. was apparently born out of the head of his father -- as was Pallas Athene.
......Other major asteroids factor prominently into the chart. Asteroids work to clarify themes and give clues as to the details. The exact conjunction of Vesta to Neptune states the theme of sacrifice -- but whose, Neptune-style, is not yet clear. But as this conjunction occurs in Aquarius, no doubt something is being sacrificed by "the people" and not by the demigods of politics.
......The scorpionic asteroid Juno, wife of promiscuous Jupiter and long associated with Hillary Rodham-Clinton, was exactly conjunct Uranus, planet of invention and innovation, on Election Day. And it was on this day that Hillary became the first First Lady ever to be elected to public office. This conjunction represents the changing role of the wife and the evolving shape of marriage.
......In this configuration, the Juno-Uranus conjunction was strongly supported by centaur Chiron in Sagittarius, suggesting that Hillary's political career is just beginning.++
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