Post Mortem

When the astrologer gets it wrong.

Last spring, I discovered an astrological weak link in Donald Trump’s lifetime of lucky breaks and unfathomable comebacks.

In the charts of more than 40 of Trump’s lifetime losses, dating back to the 1940s, there was a consistent signature of hard transits and lunations in late degrees of cardinal signs. The events of last spring, Election Day and Inauguration Day 2025 shared this signature.

Based on this breadth of evidence, as well as other techniques, I suggested Trump would lose the election. I was wrong. Fate had other plans.

Like so many others, I underestimated the extraordinary nature of Trump’s natal chart. He was born with two of the luckiest signatures anyone can have: the North Node-Sun conjunction, ruling his Leo Rising chart and his natal Ascendant conjunct the fortunate star, Regulus.

As an astrologer who loves research, I eagerly tackled this presidential race. The last thing I wanted to do was to inspire false hope. For that, I’m very sorry. It’s clear to me now that my own bias clouded my objectivity.  

For the record, I’m reframing my research and the astrology of 2025. Some of that reframe is below. Some of it will come in the weeks ahead.

My first hindsight thought is: I should have listened to Jupiter.

Jupiter, it seems, is protecting Trump from the Saturnian consequences of his past deeds. The ancients might say that the gods need him to succeed for some purpose only the Fates know. Trump has a destiny to fulfill. (Jupiter is square the god of consequences, Saturn, off and on through June 2025 and conjunct Trump’s Sun-North Node-Uranus conjunction for much of that time.)

Trump’s mission is clearly tied to America’s years-long reckoning with her darkest shadow and her greatest weaknesses. He will lead the nation during her Great Awakening of 2027-2028. (This describes the U.S. Pluto return, complete December 2022, and the Chiron return, complete February 2025 and the Uranus return of 2027-2028.)

Trump’s unpredictability makes him uniquely qualified to dislodge, agitate and instigate American dissent. (Like lightning gravitates to a lightning rod, his natal Uranus in Gemini lines up with Mars in Gemini in the U.S. natal chart. The Civil War years involved this transit.)

Which brings me back to Jupiter. The transit of Jupiter in Gemini, May 25, 2024 to June 9, 2025, amplifies Trump’s affinity for chaos and, it seems, rewards it.  

The Blindness of Bias

I wasn’t blind to Trump’s extraordinary luck. In every published analysis, I nodded toward it. But as objective as my natal Sun-Mercury in Aquarius can be, the rose-colored glasses of my Pisces Moon-Venus got the best of me. I wanted Kamala Harris to win and I observed the astrological data through that lens.

Astrologers and historians and political analysts everywhere made a similar mistake. Some astrologers still wince when you bring up the debacle of 2016, when a panel of master astrologers invited the press to publicly forecast a Hilary Clinton win.

So, what are we to make of the fact that bias can so easily warp our astrological perspective? Is astrology still a meaningful predictive tool?

The short answer is: Yes. This system has survived millennia for a reason. There is wisdom in studying the archetypes and energies of the planets and the zodiac — even in retrospect.

Also, context is everything.

For instance, on Inauguration Day, Trump’s Progressed Moon will square his Progressed Pluto which I had considered an omen of volcanic frustration and self-destruction — due to his loss. Now, I read that alignment as abuses of power driven by his own Machiavellian rage. The alignment and its meaning are the same. The context is different.

Looking ahead to November 2027, when Trump’s Progressed Midheaven conjoins Progressed Pluto, is this the death of his reputation? Or the peak of his power? Now I’m not so sure.

The tough alignments I saw coming for Trump are still on schedule. Mars, Saturn and Uranus aren’t done with him. Clearly, though, the hardship will manifest in ways different from what I expected.

The Inauguration Day transits that suggested bitterness, resentment and unconscious feelings of rejection will still happen — just not in response to a presidential loss as I predicted. Other life events may inspire them. Maybe privately. Maybe not.

Here’s how I described Inauguration Day 2025 in my article:

… [Trump’s] outsized belief in himself – as Jupiter exaggerates his entitlement to the throne – will be thwarted by forces outside his control as transit Mars retrograde conjoins his 12th Whole Sign Venus-Saturn placement. His status is on the shakiest of ground, poised to be completely reversed, a signature of Uranus retrograde on the Midheaven. His worst fears of rejection are aggravated and inflamed as Mars retrogrades over the most insecure part of his personality.

Today, the “entitlement to the throne” still makes sense. Trump’s being thwarted by forces outside his control takes on a new meaning now. Which forces? Is it illness? Or people working behind the scenes to sabotage him? Either could be true.

The reversal in status, meanwhile, now appears to have been him returning to his position of power. We can assume now that Trump’s “worst fears of rejection are aggravated and inflamed” by something other than the loss of the election. But what’s the cause? Who is triggering him? We know from experience that it doesn’t take much. How does he deal with the perceived rejection? Same astrology. New context.  

The Cosmic Meteorologist

There are astrologers who will swear that this ancient system of symbols and myth is a science with clear, mathematical outcomes and no gray areas. My Aquarius side desperately wants to believe that. My Pisces heart knows better.

The truth is human beings are deeply flawed when it comes to objectivity. The system could be pristine. User error, built-in bias and human nature are all still at work. Ask any scientist about the placebo effect or any quantum theorist about the observer effect. (The jury’s still out on A.I. astrologers)

A well-trained astrologer can translate the symbols and gauge the quality of time with precision. (Ahem. As I felt I had.) In the end, like meteorologists, we make our best educated guess and we surrender to fate.

Sometimes the hurricane veers just slightly to the left and Tampa is spared but Asheville, North Carolina is nearly wiped off the map. Sometimes incorrect birthtimes render accurate readings. Sometimes Trump dodges the bullet, rallies the populace and wins a second term.

I suppose the one thing we can all agree on: Trump was born to upend established norms and hasten America’s Great Awakening. Life continues to clear the path so he can do just that.