There are several processes to determine career possibilities:

•      Check out the Oriental planet (the planet rising before the Sun) as that planet usually describes the approach to life.  E.g. Mercury oriental describes people involved in communicative areas; Venus oriental describes people who often have an artistic approach to life – or for whom relationships are all important; Mars oriental describes those who have strong drive and a competitive nature  … and so on.  This will be a determining factor in how other energies function.

•      If the Moon is involved in the career flow process, then the first planet it goes over after birth will also be a factor to be considered.

•      If a planet involved in the career flow is conjunct the Vertex or antiVertex, then it is often the major focus in career, over-riding all other considerations.

Angular Planets in aspect to the MC or the ruler of the MC take prominence.

So these are the first considerations to look at in this process.

The career flow process involves the following procedures:

1.      In most western countries and a growing number of other countries the MC describes the career. So the first step is to look at the sign, duad and degree of the MC.

2.      All planets in close aspect to the MC must be considered a major player in the career.

3.       Midpoints involving the MC will affect the career.

4.      The ruler of the MC, its house, sign, duad and degree is very powerful.

5.      Following this, the planet that rules that planet is a factor
… and so on, planets that rule any planet in the career flow become a focus.

6.      If any of these planets are in aspect to the MC or ruler of the duad of the MC, they become high focus.  The more of these factors involved, the stronger the planetary focus.  If any of these planets are on an angle they become extremely high focus.

7.      If a planet in the career flow is an oriental planet or the first planet the Moon goes over, then it becomes very high focus.

8.      If a planet is conjunct the Sun/Moon or Ascendant/MC midpoint and is part of the career flow, then it is very high focus.

9.      Aspects to planets involved in the career flow process are also important.  E.g. a quintile pattern will give a creative or power oriented focus;  a septile pattern will give a searching, other worldly and often quite scientific focus;   dynamic aspects will give drive and ambition; flowing aspects will give a gentler approach.

10.      The career flow process usually gives a number of possibilities.  The long cycles (dashas and Fidaria) will often show when the person will focus on a particular planet.  Progressions and Directions will also show areas of focus at any give time.

To Illustrate I will use the chart of the current President of the USA, Barrack Obama.

Oriental Planet:

Obama has Mercury as his Oriental planet.  This means that he is primarily a communicator.  As Mercury is in Leo his communication will be dramatic and direct.  As it is in the 6th house it will often be about matters of public service.  Mercury is parallel Pluto, the ruler of his MC, giving considerable powers of persuasion and parallel Venus, giving sweetness of speech.  This is brought even further into career focus because Mercury-Venus-Pluto are in a rolling parallel with the IC and contraparallel the MC.

The Moon:

The Moon is an angular planet as it is conjunct the IC and therefore opposite the MC.  The Moon in aspect to the MC indicates someone who can connect with the public.  In the 4th house it indicates that his home and homeland is important.  In Gemini it gives further focus to communication skills.   The Cancer duad of Gemini increases his orientation to home and homeland and his ability to comfortably connect to the public.

The first planet the Moon moves over after birth is Venus.  We have already seen that Venus is important because it is the ruler of the duad of the MC, so the Moon emphasising this planet increases its power.  In Cancer is further ratification of his family, home and homeland orientation and in the 5th house suggests children and creative outlets would be important for him - as an aside, Venus in Cancer is a very female combination of energies and in this 5th house this  has given him daughters.

The Vertex axis:

Obama has Pluto, the ruler of the MC, conjunct the Vertex.  This is a very, very powerful placement and describes a destined career – a vocation rather than just work.  Pluto-Vertex is in Virgo, suggesting that the destined career will involve some kind of service to others.  Pluto has a further increase of power by being in the Scorpio duad of Virgo;  this placement gives a very sharp mind and the ability to penetrate to the heart of a problem, it also gives considerable insight into the motivations of others and an excellent ability for research.   The Vertex, in the Aquarian duad of Virgo. emphasizes a strong social conscience; this combination often gets involved in humanitarian groups or political groups that have the betterment of the human condition as their aim.

Event in 1967, particularly near October 1967, when Solar Arc Pluto moved to conjunct the Vertex, would have set the seeds for his future destiny in his career.

The Midheaven:

Barrack Obama has a Midheaven of 28Scorpio54.  A Scorpio MC will often draw people to big business, global areas, politics, research and sometime surgery.  Matters to do with power are always important.   The duad, midpoints, aspects and the placement of the ruler of the MC will usually  determine the focus of choice.

If you check the duad table here: Duad Table you can see that Obama’s MC is in the Libra duad of Scorpio, bringing an element of negotiation and tactical skills to the career.  This combination particularly gives skill in the public relations side of corporate business.  As Venus is the ruler of Libra, if it appears in the career flow map it will greatly strengthen the placement.

Aspects to the Midheaven:

I have already mentioned the Moon opposing the MC under The Moon section of this article.

In addition Obama has the Moon’s Nodes square the MC, further indicating a strong public focus in the career.  The Nodal axis will often describe working in association with others for a specific purpose.

With both the Moon and its nodes in aspect to the MC we can see that this man has a strong public focus.

Uranus is square the MC as well as conjoining the North Node.   In a career Uranus can indicate a desire to radically change a situation.   It always brings the ability for lateral or original thinking and can often describe considerable innovation.  As it is square the MC, this can bring in an element of tension and as it is conjunct the North Node it can describe political associations with an aim to reform existing conditions.

Pluto is novile the MC and makes up a midpoint structure of MC = Pluto/Ascendant.  The novile aspects describe an initiation and,  if it passed successfully, considerable benefits.   This novile midpoint structure can give considerable ability to attain power and authority.  It is one of the indications of success in the career, and because it involves the Ascendant, the physical body and personal presentation is a major part of the success.   As Pluto is also conjunct the Vertex, this is part of his destiny.

Jupiter is in out of sign sextile with the MC, increasing his ability to be successful, particularly through communication and networking as these are both sextile qualities.

In addition Jupiter is parallel the MC, giving good fortune in the career.

The Career Flow Chart:

Noel Tyl describes this as the Midheaven Extension Process.  I use the same principle slightly differently as I include duads, so have decided to call it the Career Flow chart.

It involves a flow from the MC using planets that rule the signs and is as follows:

Obama’s MC is Scorpio;

Pluto is the ruler of Scorpio and in in Virgo, conjunct the Vertex and in the 8th house;

Mercury is the ruler of Virgo and is in Leo in the 6th house;

the Sun is the ruler of Leo and is in Leo in the 6th house.

So the career flow stops with the Sun dignified in its own sign.  Any part of the career flow involving the Sun will give some prominence or fame at some time in the life, in dignity in its own sign it gives considerable prominence.

As the Sun is also conjunct the Descendant with a five and a half degree orb it can be considered angular, which gives further prominence.

The Sun is in the Capricorn duad of Leo and this combination gives leadership and administration skills.  The combination is particularly oriented to politics and/or corporate administration.

The Sun in the 6th house will give a public service orientation to these skills.

So using this method it is quite easy to see why Obama chose a political career which lead him to the Presidency.

Timing:

As the Sun is the final leg of the Career Flow chart, the times when the Sun arcs to contact the MC will be a period that is most prominent  in his career.  At the time of Obama’s election to President of the USA, it was at 28 Virgo, sextile the MC.

Secondary Progressed MC was also trine the natal Vertex, indicating a year of destiny in his career.

Obama started his Fidaria Sun cycle on 4th August 2005, so we know his period of prominence in his career started with this cycle.  At the time of his election, on 4th November 2008, he was in the Mercury section of his Solar cycle, increasing his powers of communication.

Copyright (C) Alice Portman September 2010

1. We have the very unusual situation of both candidates being appointed to very high positions really recently.

Julia Gillard (29th September 1961, 11.52 am, Barry, Wales)  was appointed to the position of Prime Minister in late June.  Her astrology does show considerable success, but is it this appointment or winning an election?  It is really hard to differentiate.

Tony Abbott (4th November 1957, London UK, time unknown)  has his Secondary Progressed Sun in parallel of declination with Australia’s Sun-Jupiter-Mercury-Uranus-Vertex  and this is usually a winning combination.  Abbott was made Leader of the Opposition on 1st December 2009 and this parallel was active then too, so does it describe his appointment or winning the election?

So both leaders have winning combinations,  both have recently received appointments to high office and contesting for the highest office in the land.  This makes life very interesting for an astrologer.

2.  We don’t have Tony Abbott’s time of birth

and this can make a huge amount of difference.  For example, with the small amount of data I have, he seems to have 24-26 fixed prominent in his chart.  If I put 25 Leo on the MC (6.57 am)  then his Solar Arc MC is conjunct natal Jupiter, Solar Arc Vertex conjunct natal Uranus, Secondary Progressed Ascendant conjunct natal anti-Vertex … and so on.  He has lots of activations that seem to fit the current events very well.

In addition, Australia’s SP Vertex-Uranus is conjunct his natal Moon, suggesting a destined association with the public.

But i have no idea if that time of birth is the correct one so can’t predict on that basis.

3. Australia’s Oath Taking  or Inauguration chart

(1 January 1901, 1.35 pm, Sydney, Australia) is currently having Solar Arc Saturn sesiquadrate radix MC.  As the MC is the Party in Power but also describes the Prime Minister, does this Solar Arc describe the axing of Kevin Rudd or the loss of the election by the Labor Party – or both?

4.  This is the first time Australia has the opportunity to elect a female Prime Minister.

This is shown by Progressed MC conjunct Progressed Moon, however this was exact when Julia was appointed Prime Minister – and right on her own Descendant – so does this progression show the appointment or her winning the election?

Concurrently SP Mars is square SP MC indicating the battle involving a Mars person, aptly described by Abbott who has Sun in Scorpio and Moon in Aries!

5.  this is  a battle of the sexes

Though no-one would dare to say so publically, so many people will vote to favour one sex or the other.

6.  This election is also a battle of religion versus atheism

As Tony Abbott is a very right wing Catholic and Julia Gillard is an atheist, so many people will vote on that basis.  Fortunately Australia is not very religious, but there is a huge Catholic population so overall they would favour Abbott.

In addition we have a series of fascinating human interest stories, with axed Prime Minister Rudd campaigning for his Labor Party; ex-leader Latham reporting on the election and clearly showing his own bitterness; respected ex Prime Minister Hawke having a TV film about his own axing aired and another biography published as well as campaigning for the Party; on the Liberal Party side ex-Prime Minister Howard campaigning for Abbott but ex-Prime Minister Frasier resigning from the Party in disgust … and so on.

Even the lunations connected to the election have some difficulty in discerning who will win, with Julia showing up strongly on the New Moon and first quarter Moon before the election and Tony on the first Quarter Moon before the election and Full Moon after the election.

This all clearly describes this neck and neck race.

On the day of the election

the Moon is in Capricorn- and at the opening of the Polling booths is conjunct Australia’s parallax duad Moon.  This clearly shows the public involvement and could favour Julia.  The Moon is trine Julia’s MC.

What has really swung me towards Julia is very simple astrology.  Election day has a Venus-Mars conjunction in Libra.  Julia has her Sun in Libra so is described by Venus, Tony has his Sun in Scorpio so is described by Mars.  Venus is in its dignity in Libra and just (0.03′!) above Mars, which is in its detriment.  At the close of the Polls Venus has moved further away from Mars (0.13′).

The Moon is conjunct Julia’s Saturn, which is on a very political degree, and is parallel her Jupiter.  This activates her natal, very powerful Saturn-Jupiter conjunction.

In addition, Julia is shortly experiencing transiting Saturn conjunct her Sun and then transiting Pluto square.  This ties into Australia’s Saturn, which will experience transiting Saturn square and transiting Pluto conjunct.  It seems likely that this shows Julia as Prime Minister having to deal with stressful situations in Australia.

Political Parties’ charts

When we look at the chart for the Federal Labor Caucus (see Party charts on my website) the Moon is conjunct Saturn and then moving into a trine to Sun-Venus-South Node during election day.  The Sun is conjunct Labor Mars and Neptune is opposing.

The Liberal Party’s charts don’t seem to have such strong activations, but again, I don’t have the time of its inception so this could change matters.

Copyright (c) Alice Portman August 2010

Any politician should have some connection to this chart, but a prospective Prime Minister needs to have a very strong connection.  In my article on ”Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott in relation to Australia’s chart” here: http://aliceportman.com/?p=1112 I have shown that they both have good connections to our national chart.

The Progressed and Directed charts for Australia will describe what is happening in the nation at that period of time, but these charts should also have a connection to the natal chart of the prospective Prime Minister and vice versa.  These charts should also have a connection to the Political Parties of Australia found here: http://aliceportman.com/?cat=4

In this article I will consider the Solar Arc Directions and Secondary Progressions of  Australia’s Inauguration chart, Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott.

Solar Arc Directions:

Australia’s chart is the inside wheel and its Solar Arcs are the outside wheel.

Here we find several very strong activations:

• Solar Arc Sun conjunct radix Ascendant:  indicating a time of prominence for Australia, with perhaps a Solar or Leo person in the picture.
• Solar Arc Ascendant square radix Moon:  A period involving the public.  A woman in the public eye.
• Solar Arc Uranus, ruler of the MC,  semisquare radix Moon:  Unusual or sudden situations.  Something different.  A female reformist.
• Solar Arc Moon square radix Venus:  A charming woman.  Love unions.
• Solar Arc MC sesiquadrate radix Saturn: As Saturn in the traditional ruler of the Aquarius MC, this can indicate a ‘separation’ from the Government or Prime Minister i.e. they Party in Power could lose.  However, it could just describe the axing of Prime Minister Rudd, particularly as Saturn is conjunct Australia’s Part of Rulers at 8 Capricorn 12.   A 1.35.45 pm time would make this aspect exact on the 24^th June 2010 – the date of the axing.  This aspect also describes a struggle with difficulties and problems and that has certainly been the case for the last few months of government.
• Solar Arc Venus conjunct Koch 12^th cusp:  Indicates the emphasis on government reform of hospitals that has been part of the current policy of the Labor Party.

Does the Solar Arcs of Australia’s chart activate the natal charts of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?  Any contact at all will be helpful, the more there are the stronger the connection.

Julia Gillard and Australia’s Solar Arc:

Julia on the inside wheel and Australia’s Solar Arc on the outside wheel.

The contacts are:

• Australia’s Solar Arc Pluto conjunct Julia’s Sun:  As Julia’s Pluto is conjunct her MC, this Pluto contact from Australia shows an increase in power – and that has happened with her becoming Prime Minister.
• Australia’s Solar Arc Moon square Julia’s Moon:  This stimulates public interest in Julia
• Australia’s Solar Arc MC trine Julia’s Saturn:  This is most helpful for structuring government and ease of government.
• Australia’s Solar Arc Saturn opposite her natal Mars:  This describes the battle with her opponent for the Prime Ministership and the exhaustion she must feel as she campaigns.
• Australia’s Solar Arc Saturn square Julia’s natal Jupiter:  This is a politician’s aspect and reinforces her natal Jupiter-Saturn conjunction.  It brings pressure, tests and difficulties and can also describe a change of residence.

In around one and half – two years, Australia’s Solar Arc MC will conjoin Julia’s Descendant and antiVertex conjoin Sun.  This suggests an important period for Julia.

Julia Gillard’s Solar Arc and Australia’s Inauguration Chart

Julia’s IC is 16Pisces33 with her Solar Arc Jupiter currently conjunct.  This is made even stronger because:

• Julia’s Solar Arc Jupiter is conjunct Australia’s Ascendant/MC midpoint: This is a very powerful configuration for Julia and is part of her great success at this period of time.
• Julia’s Solar Arc Moon is square Australia’s Ascendant:  Indicating the huge amount of current public interest in her.
• Julia’s Solar Arc Neptune is conjunct Australia’s Mercury-Chiron:  As Mercury is the ruler of Julia’s MC, this is quite a good configuration.  It gives inspirational communication.
• Julia’s Solar Arc Vertex is trine Australia’s Jupiter: A very favourable configuration suggesting a destined beneficial contact with Australia.

Tony Abbott and Australia’s Solar Arcs

Tony is on the inside wheel and Australia’s SolarArcs on the outside wheel.

There is not a lot of contact shown here, but this is because we don’t have Tony’s time of birth.  There must be quite strong contacts because he recently became the Leader of the Opposition.

If Tony was born near 7 – 7.30 am, Australia’s Solar Arc Uranus-Vertex would be conjunct his Moon, and as Uranus rules Australia’s MC, this would be a good indication of a destined victory.

However, the Sun culminating Moon position of 6Aries50 is being activated by opposition from Australia’s Solar Arc Pluto.  Not a good indication of victory – more likely wipeout.

The only Solar Arc we can be sure of is Australia’s Solar Arc Saturn in opposition to Tony’s natal Mars.  At its best this gives tests of strength with a rival, at its worst it can give separations and endings.  If Mars rules Tony’s MC this is not a good omen for victory, but if it doesn’t then it describes the exhausting lead up to the election.

Tony Abbott Solar Arc and Australia:

Australia on the inside wheel and Tony Abbott’s Solar Arcs on the outside wheel.

Again not a lot of contact because of the lack of his time of birth.

• Solar Arc Moon is possibly conjunct Australia’s South Node, indicating a great deal of public contact.
• Solar Arc Neptune conjunct Australia’s Jupiter:   As Neptune rules long term situations and Jupiter describes benefits, this can suggest long term benefits.  It can also describe the current media involvement.

Secondary Progressions

Australia

• Australia’s Secondary Progressed Moon conjunct Secondary Progressed MC suggests a powerful woman.  Interestingly this configuration was exactly on Julia’s  Descendant when she became Prime Minister on the 24^th June 2010.
• This configuration is sesiquadrate Australia’s Sun.  As the Sun rules the 4^th house of the opposition Party, it aptly describes the current battle between a female Prime Minister and the male leader of the Opposition.
• SP Sun conjunct Australia’s Ascendant. A time of prominence.  As the radix Sun is in the 9^th house it could describe an important visitor from overseas – perhaps President Obama finally gets here.
• SP Mars is square SP MC:  This was close to exact ( 0’42’ orb) at the time Prime Minister Rudd was axed on the 24^th June.
• SP Mercury is trine SP Ascendant:  Very helpful for ease of communication, and, as Mercury is the ruler of Julia’s MC, of benefit to her.
• Progressed Uranus is opposite Progressed and natal Pluto:  This aspect has been in effect for many years and is not all that important unless it is stimulated by transits or other progressions.  However, it is square Julia Gillard’s MC at 16Virgo33, with SP Uranus exactly square that point now.  As Uranus is ruler of Australia’s MC, this suggests that she will bring a number of changes into her Prime Ministership.  Transits and lunations to these points will be particularly strong as long as she is in power.
• The Secondary Progressed Ascendant is conjunct Australia’s Part of Glory at 8Leo43 and the Solar Part of Nobility and Honour at 8Leo23, so it will be interesting to see how this takes effect.

Julia Gillard and Australia’s Secondary Progressions

Julia on the inside wheel and Australia SP on the outside.

• The standout configuration here is Australia’s SP Mean Nodal axis and MC-IC axis  straddling Julia’s Ascendant-Descendant, with Mars SP square: this is a startling indication of current events and gives Julia a strong contact to Australia right now.  The square from Mars shows conflicts and confrontations and this has certainly happened.

Interestingly, former Prime Minister Bob Hawke has the same Ascendant as Julia and he has been in the news through a telefilm about the last days of his Prime Ministership as well as a biography published about his life.

*  Australia’s SP Moon is currently conjunct Julia’s Ceres and square her Nodal axis.  This too shows the strong contact she has with the public.

• As previously noted, Australia’s SP Uranus is exactly square Julia’s natal MC, indicating sudden changes and upsets.  This is stabilized by Australia’s SP Saturn in trine to Julia’s MC, indicating steadiness and the ability to build solid structures in her career.

These are very strong contacts and unless Tony Abbott’s time of birth trumps them, should ensure her winning the election.

Declinations:

Julia Gillard is on the left and Australia’s Secondary Progressions are on the right:

Look at the number of contacts!

• Australia’s SP Uranus parallel Julia’s antiVertex:  As Uranus is ruler of Australia’s MC, this clearly shows a destined contact.
• Australia’s SP Jupiter-Saturn parallel Julia’s Jupiter-Saturn: Jupiter-Saturn is a politicians’ combination, having  swap with Australia can only empower Julia.
• Australia’s SP IC-Node-Descendant parallel Julia’s Ascendant:  This shows the current strong connection between Julia and Australia
• Australia’s SP Ceres parallel Julia’s IC;   This empowers Julia.
• Australia’s SP antiVertex-Venus parallel Julia’s Venus:  A lovely contact showing a pleasant destiny.
• Australia’s SP Ascendant-South Node-Moon-MC parallel Julia’s Descendant-Pluto Hugely powerful!  Gives a massive contact with the public.
• Australia’s SP Neptune parallel Julia’s Vertex:  Long term destined contact

These are powerful contacts and should help her win.  The only thing lacking is Australia’s SP declinations parallel Julia’s Sun, Moon,  MC or ruler of the MC.

Australia and Julia Gillard’s Secondary Progressions

Australia on the inside wheel and Julia’s secondary progressions on the outside wheel.

• Julia’s SP Jupiter is conjunct Australia’s MC: A sure indication of victory unless Tony Abbott’s angles can over ride it.
• SP Vertex is sextile Australia’s Pluto:  A destined contact of power.
• SP Pluto is square Australia’s Venus.  A long term progression that would not be noticeable unless transits or lunations triggered the contact.
• SP Uranus square Australia’s Nodes.  Also a long term progression that is not all that noticeable until triggered by transits or lunations.

Declinations

Australia on the left and Julia’s SP declinations on the right.

• Julia’s SP Ascendant parallel Australia’s Mercury – excellent for communication
• Julia’s SP Saturn-Mars parallel Australia’s Ceres-Venus-Node.  The sexy Mars-Venus parallel always ensures a good vote but I am not sure how the Saturn involvement will go.  Her Jupiter to Australia’s Venus can only bring benefit.
• Julia’s SP Node-IC parallel Australia’s Pluto:  Powerful associations and
  
• Julia’s SP Pluto parallel Australia’s Moon-IC-South Node.  This is a parallel swap between IC and Pluto – a very powerful configuration indeed.  As Pluto is the ruler of Julia’s Ascendant it has brought her enormous power and should continue to do so for a while.
  
• Julia’s SP Descendant Parallel Australia’s antiVertex; – destined contact.

Tony Abbott

Tony Abbott and Australia’s Secondary Progressions

Tony has no contact from Australia’s SP except a possible SP Mercury conjunct natal Moon.  His angles would surely show quite strong contacts, so I think that perhaps his MC or Ascendant would be around 24-26 fixed.

Declinations

Tony Abbott natal on left, Australia SP declinations on the right.

Not particularly strong connections:

Australia’s SP Node-Descendant in parallel with Tony’s Mercury enhances communication with groups of people.

Australia’s SP Saturn in parallel with Australia’s Saturn would probably not have a noticeable effect, but would increase seriousness and a sense of reponsibility.

Australia’s SP Vertex in parallel with Tony’s Mars is a good indicator and suggests a destined association.

Australia’s SP Mars in parallel with Tony’s South Node is another indicator of strong connections with groups of people.

Australia’s SP Ascendant-South Node in parallel with Tony’s Uranus is an indicator of change.

Australia on the left Tony Abbott SP declinations on the right

• A really, really powerful connection is Tony Abbott’s Secondary Progressed Sun in parallel to Australia’s powerful Mercury- Sun-Jupiter-Saturn-Vertex-Uranus parallel of declination. This could and should be a winner just by itself, but Julia’s contacts may trump this one.
• His SP Mercury-Mars is parallel Australia’s Venus-Node, bringing in the sexy Mars-Venus combination that most Australians love.
• SP Neptune-Chiron is parallel Australia’s Descendant-Mars.  Mars-Neptune combinations give charisma and this can only help Tony.

However on the base of Julia Gillard’s very strong contacts with Australia’s natal and secondary progressed charts, she is the winner using this system.

Copyright (c) Alice Portman

For these reasons I decided I would look at the election through the lens of several astrological techniques and after the election on the 21st August see which ones were the most accurate.

Lunations

New Moon

The New or Full Moon previous to an election can often show the mood of the people and which leader receives the greater amount of energy.  This can be either positive or negative so doesn’t necessarily determine the winner, but can give some excellent clues.

In mundane matters I like to work with the Parallax New or Full Moons i.e. the Moon calculated from its visible position in a location.   Here is the chart for the Parallax New Moon on the 10th August 2010 in Canberra:

The Nodes angular show a major event affecting the Canberra populace, and as this is the New Moon before the election, the populace of Australia.

Capricorn rising shows  a serious approach to life this month and with Pluto conjunct the Ascendant, matters to do with power are involved.  The midpoint structure of Ascendant = Pluto/Node can indicate a mass event that strongly influences the public.

Saturn, the ruler of the Ascendant, elevated in the 10th house and exalted, suggests that matters to do with authority and government are in high focus.  This augurs well for the Party in power.  However,  Saturn is making a most interesting midpoint structure of Saturn = Jupiter/Uranus, which can bring unusual events and sudden changes in this area, at its most negative  it can also bring unexpected losses.  Nevertheless, an elevated and exalted Saturn should win through.

The Midheaven is in the Taurus duad of Virgo – a steady, practical position that will encourage sensible voting from the Australian public.  As Virgo is one of  the signs that is connected to workers, this might favour the Labor Party.   Mercury, the ruler of the MC, is conjunct the MC in the 9th house,  it is very powerful as it is in its own sign.  In matters to do with elections the MC describes the sitting Government and the IC the Party in Opposition so Mercury’s position favours the sitting Government, particularly as it is also elevated above both rulers of the IC,  Jupiter and Neptune.

The New Moon itself is in the 8th house at 17Leo27.  I think the 8th house position could bring matters to do with finance and debt to the fore.  It activates the Cardinal Planets’ midpoint structures as it makes a 8th harmonic aspect to the midpoints of  Venus/Saturn; Saturn/Pluto; Jupiter/Saturn; Jupiter/Pluto; Venus/Jupiter; Venus/Pluto; Venus/Uranus; Uranus/Pluto; Jupiter/Uranus.   9 midpoint structures! The Venus/Saturn and Saturn/Pluto midpoints are close to exact.

The New Moon is also in sesiquadrate (135 degree) applying aspect to Jupiter and Pluto making a Thor’s Hammer aspect pattern and emphasising the New Moon = Jupiter/Pluto midpoint.  This  clearly describes the battle for power and the success of one Party.   This is an enormous amount of power for this lunation and suggests quite intense events during the month.  As the New Moon activates 12th house Pluto I would surmise some secrets or hidden matters come to the fore.

Australia’s charts

(see charts in the Australia’s Charts article on this forum)

This new Moon falls in the 4th house of Australia’s Inauguration chart, which might favour the Liberal Party as it is the Party not in power.  it is in quintile aspect to the Descendant, but I am not sure what to make of this as yet. (click to see Australia Inauguration and New Moon)  The Ascendant of the New Moon chart is conjunct Australia’s Saturn, indicating the populace will have a serious and practical approach to this election.  It is likely to vote very conservatively.  The stimulation of the 12th cusp by Uranus suggests that matters to do with hospitals and institutions will be important considerations and the stimulus of the 6th house by Saturn-Venus-Mars suggest matters to do with national services, health services and unions will also be important.

The New Moon falls in the Commonwealth of Australia’s 11th house, suggesting a social month and emphasizing matters to do with Parliament.   The 8th harmonic aspects to the MC-IC  indicate the battle for power.  (click to see Commonwealth of Australia and August New Moon 2010)  Mars is on the Ascendant of this chart, indicating a very active period.  As Mars is also conjunct Julia Gillard”s Sun, this might favour her.  Mars is trine the Part of Rulers at 7Gemini50.  I would think this shows gain to Julia as her natal Sun is also trine this point.

The New Moon falls in the Birth of Australia’s 7th house, emphasizing foreign affairs. (click to see Australia Birth August 2010 New Moon) The New Moon South Node is conjunct Birth of Australia’s  Mars, as Mars is ruler of the 4th house of this chart, this could favour the opposition, particularly as Mars is opposite the Part of Rulers.

Leaders’ Charts

Julia Gillard

The New Moon strongly stimulates Julia Gillard’s natal chart.  Julia is the inside wheel and the New Moon is  the outside wheel.

*  Notice the Vertex -antiVertex axis of the New Moon chart stradding Julia’s Ascendant-Descendant and the Ascendant-Descendant of the New Moon straddling Julia’s Vertex-antiVertex.  This is a very powerful configuration indeed, suggesting a month of destiny for Julia.

*  New Moon Mars is conjunct her Sun suggesting a very busy and active period.

*  The New Moon MC and Mercury are conjunct Julia’s Midheaven suggesting a powerful time for her career.

*  New Moon Jupiter is trine Julia’s Part of Acomplishment.

*  New Moon North Node is conjunct her Part of Destiny.

*  New Moon Saturn is conjunct her Part of Victory.

*  New Moon Mars is trine her Part of Nobiity and Honour and square her Part of Rulers.

*  The New Moon is square Julia’s Jupiter/Pluto midpoint.  This is the success and power midpoint.

The very strong contacts of this New Moon chart are likely to favour Julia’s election to Prime Minister.

Tony Abbott

We do not have Tony Abbott’s time of birth so we cannot know if the New Moon stimulates any of his angles.  Here is his Sun Culminating chart on the inside with the New Moon on the outside wheel.

I can’t see a lot of contacts between these two charts.

*  The major contact is the New Moon in square to Tony’s Mercury, indicating a period of intense communication.

*  Pluto is in trine to Tony’s Pluto, indicating a period of personal power.  As Pluto is the ruler of his Scorpio Sun-North Node-Mercury, this is a very favourable aspect.

* Jupiter is making up a YOD pattern with Tony’s  Neptune-Pluto sextile.  This too is very favourable as Jupiter is success, Neptune is long term and Pluto is power.  It all depends upon whether Tony’s angles are affected by any of these configurations.

First Quarter Moon

The First Quarter Moon is only a few days before the election and so will rather strongly  influence the mood of the populace.

It is a waxing Moon so matters it describes will develop and grow towards culmination around the Full Moon.

This Moon has Sun conjunct the antiVertex and Neptune conjunct the Vertex, indicating a time of destiny.  Financial matters are to the fore as these placements are in the 2nd and 8th houses.

The waxing Moon is in the 4th house, favouring the Opposition Party, but is conjunct Julia Gillard’s Ascendant, bringing her into strong focus with the public.  It is in a wider conjunction to Tony Abbott’s Mercury, indicating considerable communication on his part.

This Moon is opposite the Moon in the Inauguration Chart of Australia, again showing strong public focus, perhaps with a female emphasis.  It is conjunct the North Node of the Federal Labor Caucus chart, putting emphasis on this Party.

The first planet the Moon moves over is Ceres, indicating a woman is very prominent at this time.

The oriental planet to the Sun is Jupiter, suggesting a time of energy and optimism with a Jupiterian type of person prominent.

In this chart Venus, the ruler of the MC, is conjunct Mars, the traditional ruler of the IC,  perhaps suggesting the polls are very close.  However, Venus is in its own sign so the Party in power is still the stronger of the two.  You can see the emphasis on communication with the ruler of the MC and IC both in the third house. Saturn on the cusp of the third and square Pluto will bring some glitches in this area.

The Moon waxing towards Full in the lead up to the election will tend to bring intense emotions to the fore.

All this time transiting Mercury is conjunct Julia Gillard’s MC, giving her considerable focus and prestige.  At 5:58:31 am on the day of the election Mercury at 19Virgo04  moves into retrograde motion. This can indicate people change their minds on which Party will get their vote on that day.  This movement can bring muddle, confusion, lost votes, misunderstanding on how to vote, mis hearing or misunderstanding of what the leaders or party members say .. and so on.  This is reinforced by a Sun-Neptune opposition also in the skies on the 21st August.  On the plus side Mercury is strong in Virgo so might well sort out most problems.  It is only three degrees away from Julia Gillard’s MC, so still giving her prominence.

Full Moon

The election is over by this time and both Parties are assessing the results.

the MC is Taurus with its ruler, Venus, strong in its own sign of Libra.  The IC is Scorpio with its traditional ruler Mars, in its detriment in Libra.  Venus is pulling away from Mars.  This suggests that perhaps the Labor Party has done well.

Tony Abbott has the  Sun conjunct his natal Pluto and both in trine to Pluto in the skies.  This should be of benefit to him – literally the Sun shines on him.

The Nodes are straddling the Ascendant-Descendant axis suggesting the populace is still talking about the events of the election.

These predictions are based on the Parallax Moons.  Normally calculated lunations will give different angles and perhaps different results.  In fact, the first quarter Moon and full Moon charts would suggest victory to the Liberal Party.   Time will tell which is the more accurate.

Copyright (c) Alice Portman August 2010

Mel is notorious for his terrible temper, alcoholism, chain smoking and radical, right wing catholic beliefs.  He is an active member of Opus Dei, a fundamentalist catholic sect that still says the Latin Mass, abhors Jews and treats women abominably …The Leader of Opus Dei, Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, said  “Woman are so sinful and are responsible that we have been dislodged from the garden of Eden. And the only possibility for them to lessen their guilt is by subordinating themselves… “You should be like a carpet where people can step onto” he explained… (Heard by a lot of people at an information evening of the Opus Dei in Dornbirn Austria. easter 1994. from the book “gottes rechte kirche” by t.m. hofer)”

Mel one of the richest and most successful actors in the USA with a string of movie hits that has made him millions

He is a dual Australian-American citizen as his mother is Australian and his father from the USA.  The whole family moved to Sydney, Australia in 1968 when Mel was twelve.

On the 2^nd July 2010 the world was shocked to hear of a tape that his former partner and mother of his eight month old daughter, Oksana Grigorieva,  had secretly recorded where Mel abused her for the way she was dressed, saying she looked like ‘a pig on heat’ and was asking to be raped by a ‘pack of niggers’.  Apparently there are other, worse tapes that Oksana threatens to release if he won’t give her custody of their daughter.

So who is this deeply troubled man?  He was born on the 3^rd January 1956, 4.45 pm, Peekskill, NY,   the time was gleaned from a biography.  Click chart to enlarge.

With the strong sado-masochistic theme of many of his movies, I expected to see Pisces in his chart and wasn’t disappointed when I saw the Pisces Midheaven in the Scorpio decanate and Sagittarius duad.  This can be a particularly religious combination and so fits his general fanatical religious focus.

His creativity jumped out at me when I saw the modern ruler of his MC, Neptune, on the cusp of his 5^th house of creativity and part of a quintile pattern that made up a midpoint structure of Sun = Neptune/MC.  The quintiles describe power, both creative and destructive, and Mel’s creative power is considerable.  He is able to use this ability in his career as both the MC and the ruler of the MC are involved.  His own ‘star quality’ is also shown in this pattern as it involves an angular Sun.

On the negative side, this very pattern could also show his addictive tendencies as Neptune is often involved in addictive behaviour.

But where do we find his terrible, explosive, abusive temper?  Usually a temper is described by Sun-Mars; Moon-Mars; Mars-Uranus and sometimes Mars-Pluto.  Mel has no major direct connections between these various pairs of planets, though he does have a North Node = Sun/Mars midpoint structure that can set him off on occasion.

I noticed the Mars-Saturn conjunct Vertex configuration and wondered if this could be the answer.  Mars-Saturn is usually very controlled, but the Vertex axis can increase the power of any planet conjoining it and suggests that under pressure this could explode.  In addition Mel was born on the day of Mars (Tuesday) and in the hour of Saturn, making this conjunction even more important.

Fortunately his Vertex is in early Sagittarius as a Mars-Saturn-Vertex combination in Scorpio could indicate intense cruelty, both as a recipient and perpetrator.  The Sagittarian Vertex relieves this to some degree so Mel uses this quality to make films that depict incredible cruelty.  I do think he had a violent and rather cruel and fanatical father so was probably the recipient during his childhood.  Hopefully he wasn’t a perpetrator on his own children.

Mel’s Mars is very strong in Scorpio and in trine to the MC, indicating all his ‘warrior’ types of films.  It is in the Leo duad of Scorpio so is creative and expressive, and in the duad chart is conjunct Uranus, suggesting an underlying temper that he inherited from at least one side of his family.

In 1968, when he moved to Australia, Secondary Progressed Mars conjoined the natal Sagittarius Vertex, indicating that he was ‘destined’ to travel to this land.  Interestingly, Australia’s true North Node is also 1 Sagittarius19, conjunct Mel’s natal Vertex.  Sydney was a very good location for him as it is on his Sun-Moon and Mars-Jupiter paran; has the Sun trine IC; gives MC = Mars/Neptune and IC = Venus/Uranus.  Venus is in a 5 degree conjunction with the relocated Ascendant as well.

What is the astrology for this latest scandal?

Since 9^th November 2008 Secondary Progressed Pluto has been in orb of a one degree  conjunction to  Secondary Progressed Ascendant.  This was exact in February 2010 and is still in very close orb.   Currently this configuration is receiving a transit from Neptune in Aquarius, indicating scandal, deceit and confusion.  The Neptune transit is also square his natal Saturn, suggesting that many old structures will be dissolved.

Actors and film makers often create movies that play-act the energies that are activating their chart in real life and in this way relieve the pressure;  e.g. ‘The Passion of the Christ’ was made whilst Mel was experiencing transiting Uranus opposing his Pluto and square his Saturn.  It will be interesting to see if Mel creates a movie to manifest transiting Neptune opposing Pluto and square Saturn.

Other current Secondary Progressions are SP Venus square SP Vertex, activated by the total Solar Eclipse at 19 Cancer on 11th July 2010, suggesting problems through a Venusian type of woman.

Secondary Progressed Moon is conjunct natal IC, indicating the tremendous publicity.

In June 2010 SP Ascendant moves into orb of conjunction to natal Pluto and this becomes exact in September 2011.  Following that it moves into square to natal Saturn.  Pluto activations tend to bring upheaval in the life and in Mel’s case is exposing his very dark side.  I think more is to come over the next couple of years, and particularly in February-March 2011, when transiting Mars and the full Moon activate this configuration.

Copyright (c) Alice Portman July 2010

To read more about the Duad system read here:   http://aliceportman.com/?cat=5

This is the duad chart for the political chart of Australia – the Swearing-In or Inauguration Chart of 1 January 1901, 1.35 pm, Sydney, Australia.

Notice that the MC is not on the 10th cusp so it is called ‘The floating MC’.    In this chart it is in the 12th house in Pisces.

*   People with planets or angles that connect to this chart will, in some way, be influential in this country.

*   People with planets in the same houses in their natal chart as they are in the Australian duad chart will also have a strong connection to this country. e.g.People with the Sun in the 2nd house.

*   People with planets in the same aspects as planets in this duad chart will have a connection with Australia.  e.g. People with the Sun conjunct Neptune or Moon sextile Mercury.

The Prime Minister of Australia and most famous or influential people in this land  must have a strong connection to the natal chart of Australia and this is intensified if there are duad connections as well.

I will use the charts of Robert Menzies, Bob Hawke, John Howard, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard to illustrate:

Bob Menzies

Bob Menzies is our longest serving Prime Minister  he held office from 1939 to 1941 and from 1949 to 1966. He was also the instigator of the Liberal Party of Australia, formed in late 1944.  He has had an enormous influence on Australia.

Bob was born on the 20th December 1894 at Jeparit, Australia.  We do not have his time of birth so I have used a Sun Culminating Chart.

His Sun is conjunct Australia’s Mercury-Chiron  and to a wider degree, Jupiter,   it is also opposite Australia’s Neptune.  His Mars is trine Australia’s Jupiter and in a three degree conjunction with Australia’s Ascendant.  His Nodes square Australia’s Jupiter.  So, even without his time of birth,  Bob amply fulills the criteria that a Prime Minister must have strong connections to Australia’s Swearing-In chart.

This connection is made even more powerful when we compare his natal chart to Australia’s duad chart;

Australia’s duad chart is the inside wheel and Robert Menzies natal chart is the outside wheel:

There are some powerful conjunctions:

Robert’s Saturn on Australia’s duad Mercury: He had a rather ponderous way of presenting himself to the Australian people and they took everything he said very seriously.

Robert’s Mercury conjunct Australia’s duad Pluto-Node:  Powerful person, particularly in the communicative areas.

Robert’s Neptune conjunct Australia’s duad South Node: Neptune shows up so often in political and socio-economic areas.

Robert’s Nodal axis straddles Australia’s duad Ascendant-Descendant. If the time of birth was a few seconds later it would be an exact conjunction:  A strong connection to this country.

So, even without a time of birth we can clearly see the strong connection Robert Menzies had with Australia.

BOB HAWKE

Australia loved this man, warts and all.  Before he became Prime Minister he was a hard drinking, womanizing, tough ACTU President  and Australia didn’t mind this at all.

Read more about him here:  http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/Hawke/before-office.aspx

Bob was elected Prime Minister on 5th March 1983 and served nearly 9 years, resigning on 20th February 1992.

He has a powerful connection to Australia and its people that should show in both the natal chart and duad chart of Australia.  Even now (2010) we still love him, watch films, documentaries and read books about him.

Here is his synastry chart with Australia:  Australia is the inside wheel and Bob Hawke the outside wheel:

There are so many connections:

Mars conjunct Uranus-Vertex: Suggests a destined connection that was sparky and unusual.  Bob was a sports fan and enjoyed sports of all kinds.  This resonated very well with the Australian people, and this conjunction might well describe the connection.

Mars is also conjunct Australia’s Venus: A well known ‘love affair’ configuration.

Venus is conjunct Australia’s North Node: Aspects  to both the true and mean North Nodes of Australia are prominent with politicians.  Venus gives a most pleasurable connection.

Bob’s Vertex axis straddles Australia’s Ascendant-Descendant axis, indicating a destined connection.

Likewise his MC-IC axis straddles Australia’s, indicating a strong career connection.

His Descendant is conjunct Australia’s Moon, indicating a strong public persona.

… and so on.

Look what happens when we put Bob’s chart around Australia’s duad chart:

Australia’s duads is the inside wheel and Bob Hawke is the outside wheel:

Notice that Bob’s Ascendant-Descendant straddles Australia duad Vertex antiVertex. This is a most powerful configuration and is almost exact.  It confirms that he has a strong destiny with this country.

In addition his Moon-Neptune opposition straddles Australia’s duad MC-IC, with Neptune in exact conjunction with the IC.  This is a powerful career pull and confirms his public appeal.

Bob’s Sun-Mars conjunction is conjunct Australia’s duad Pluto-Node, again suggesting the powerful appeal he had and perhaps an association with mass events (Pluto-Node).

.. and so on.

If you calculate Bob Hawke’s own duad chart you will see his duad Sun at 14Gemini16 conjunct Australia’s antiVertex and his duad Moon at 16Gemini07 conjunct Australia’s Pluto.  So there are powerful connections both ways.

John Howard

John Howard was born on the 26th July 1939 in Earlwood, Australia.  We do not have his time of birth.

He is the second longest serving Prime Minister after Robert Menzies as he served 11 years 9 months.  He was defeated in the election of 28th November 2007 by Kevin Rudd.

People felt safe with Howard at the helm.  They felt they could trust him to do the right thing, so he must have a strong connection to both Australia’s natal and duad charts.

Here is the synastry chart.  Australia is the inside wheel and Howard is the outside wheel:

I think Howard’s Sun-Pluto conjunction on Australia’s Leo IC was the connection that made people  look on Howard as a father who would take care of Australia.

In addition Howard’s Moon is conjunct Australia’s Mean North Node at 29Scorpio49.  Most Prime Ministers have some connection to Australia’s nodal axis.

Saturn on Australia’s Ascendant is normally not perceived as beneficial by the populace, but became Howard had Sun-Pluto on the IC, his Taurus Saturn gave the feel that he was steady, responsible and could be relied upon to keep matters under control.

As Australia has an Aries Ascendant, Howard’s exalted Mars was another major attraction point, particularly as it was in trine to the mean South Node.  It is in a 4 degree conjunction to the MC, showing Howard’s decision to enter us into the Afghanistan war.

Uranus is the ruler of Australia’s MC, so Howard’s Uranus conjunct Australia’s Moon was also a powerful placement.  This tended to make women a little edgy about his policies because of his right wing quality.  Many people felt that his government tried to take us back to the ’50′s – this was a quality of both his Saturn on Australia’s Ascendant and his Uranus on Australia’s Moon.

Here is the Australia duad chart on the inside wheel and Howard’s natal chart on the outside wheel.  Click to enlarge.

Four contacts immediately spring to the eye:

Howard’s natal Saturn conjunct Australia’s duad Sun-Neptune, with his Sun-Pluto in a wider square.  Perhaps this is his ‘boat people’ solution.  He certainly did his very best to keep them away from Australia’s shores and set up processing places in Christmas Island and other Islands.

Howard’s Sun-Pluto square to the Sun, ruler of the duad 6th house of workers, described is final undoing when the Australian people felt he had betrayed them by his Work Choices policy.

Howard’s Uranus exactly conjunct Australia’s duad Uranus. This is very powerful because Uranus is the modern ruler of the MC and indicates that people accepted his decisions in spite of frequent controversy.

Howard’s North Node  is exactly conjunct Australia’s duad Mercury. This is a powerful contact for communication with the masses and enabled him to be quite persuasive.

I am positive that if we had his correct time of birth we would find the angles of his natal chart activated at least one duad position in Australia’s chart.  Its very possible that all his angles activated some points.  I think it is highly likely that either Australia’s natal Vertex axis or duad Vertex axis would have been activated by Howard’s natal angles.

Kevin Rudd

Kevin Rudd unseated long term Prime Minister John Howard in a landslide victory on he 28th November 2007.  However, he is one of our shortest term Prime Ministers as he stood down from this position on 24th June 2010 and was replaced by Julia Gillard.  He was born on the 21st September 1957, at Nambour, Australia.  We do not have his time of birth.

Here is his synastry with Australia’s chart.  Australia is the inside wheel and Kevin Rudd is the outside wheel.  Click to enlarge.

The exact contact of Rudd’s Mercury with Australia’s Mars is interesting.  He had the reputation of micromanaging everything and perhaps this contact describes this problem.  I don’t know if he was particularly interested in sport or creative areas, which are normally described by the 5th house.

Rudd’s Sun-Mars conjunction is square Australia’s Mercury and Neptune.  I think this gave the idealism and desire to improve the lot of working Australia, but the square brought much confusion, difficulties and a few real problems.

Rudd’s Neptune is conjunct the Descendant.  Here is Neptune again – always so prominent in political and socio-economic charts.  In Rudd’s case I think it describes his idealism, and perhaps enormous popularity for much of his Prime Ministership.  It can also describe the problems brought through the boat people  and quite a bit of the confusion and muddle of major projects.

And most difficult!  Rudd’s Pluto square Australia’s Nodal axis. This configuration aptly describes his downfall when his own party turned on him and removed him from office.  It is not an easy configuration and is one that is shared by Tony Abbott.

Rudd’s Saturn in the 8th house and conjunct Australia’s Venus could describe the Mining Tax that brought about his downfall.

The duad chart of Australia shows further strong connections:  Australia Duads on the inside and Rudd natal on the outside.

Rudd’s natal Pluto is conjunct Australia Duad IC. This is a very powerful configuration, further emphasised by Rudd’s Pluto in close trine to Australia’s  duad Sun-Neptune. This gave him his powerful position.

However, Rudd’s Neptune opposed Australia’s duad Sun-Neptune.  As Neptune is ruler of the duad Ascendant this is an important contact.  It gives the Neptune contacts that show up so often, but the opposition in the duad 2nd-8th houses could show the considerable amount of spending that was necessary to keep Australia out of the world recession and some of the muddle and screw-ups in big projects that bedevilled his administration.  This was further shown by Rudd’s Neptune quincunx Australia’s duad Saturn.

Rudd’s North Node is in exact conjunction with Australia’s duad Ceres.  Ceres contacts are another point that I have noticed in political charts and well worth further study.

Rudd’s Sun-Mars is in a wider conjunction to Australia’s duad Descendant.  This gives him prominence and leadership.

and Rudd’s Jupiter is in the same sign as Australia’s duad Jupiter.  This is a very fortunate position, particularly as Jupiter is the traditional ruler of the duad Pisces Ascendant.

As we don’t have Rudd’s time of birth we can’t check out his angles, but I am sure that in some way they connect to either Australia’s natal or duad chart.

Julia Gillard

Julia Gillard was appointed the Leader of the Labor Party and therefore Prime Minister after Kevin Rudd stood down on the 24th June 2010.  This was an historic moment in Australia’s history as she is the first female Prime Minister.  Julia was born in Barry, Wales on the 29th September 1961 at around 12.00 pm,  of Welsh parents and migrated to Australia in 1966, when she was four years old.

Here is her synastry with Australia.  Australia”s chart is on the inside wheel and Julia’s on the outside wheel.

Julia Gillard has a number of close connections with Australia’s chart – as would be expected of a Prime Minister.  The aspects near a one degree orb are:

Her antiVertex is conjunct Australia’s Saturn. This indicates a destined connection to Australia.

Her Mars is conjunct Australia’s Descendant. As Australia has Aries rising, the position of Julia’s Mars is very important.  Its angular position means that she has a strong effect on Australia.  It is also conjunct Australia’s Part of Benevolence, suggesting that she will have a benevolent influence.

Her Uranus is trine Australia’s Ascendant and trine Chiron, making up a grand trine in Fire.    As Uranus is the ruler of  Australia’s MC,  Julia’s Uranus in close contact with placements in Australia’s chart means that she has a strong influence.

Her MC is square Australia’s Pluto. Pluto is connected to power, global situations and big business, so this activation brings all these areas into play for her.

Her Moon is opposite Australia’s Venus and square Australia’s Mars. This can suggest her strong, female influence and, as her Moon is in Australia’s second house, the requirement to pay considerable attention to the financial resources of Australia.

The midpoint of Julia’s Pluto/MC = Australia’s Mars. In the Combination of Stellar Influences Ebertin says of this configuration: “A great striving for the attainment of power.  The urge to dominate other people“  As Mars is ruler of Australia’s Ascendant, this configuration is very powerful.  In addition Mars is conjunct Australia’s Part of Profession, indicating her Pluto/MC career connection.

She does not have planets conjunct Australia’s Nodal axis and  this gives me pause.  However, her Uranus-Node in Leo is square Australia’s Mean North Node and this might be enough of a connection to interest the Australian people.

Here is her synatry with Australia’s duad chart. Australia’s duads are on the inside and Julia is on the outside:

We have the same configuration as Bob Hawke, with Julia’s Ascendant-Descendant straddling Australia’s duad Vertex-antiVertex, indicating a powerful destiny with this country.

Julia’s IC-MC is in a wider conjunction with Australia’s duad Ascendant-Descendant axis showing the career connection for Julia.

Julia’s MC is square to Australia’s duad Pluto-Node conjunction. This is another very powerful configuration,  it can give a massive and often very intense influence with the public.

Julia’s Sun is in a wide conjunction with Australia’s duad Jupiter and her Moon is in close to exact trine. This is a most fortunate configuration that enables her to both benefit from and bring benefit to Australia.

Her Gemini Moon is quincunx Australia’s duad Ceres.  This gives a strong  female emphasis, but I am not sure how it will work.  The Moon is is a four – five degree conjunction with Australia’s duad South Node.  I am not sure if this is close enough to stimulate the interest of the voting public, we shall see on election day, 21st August 2010.

Another point of interest is Julia’s Chiron conjunct Australia’s duad MC. We are still learning about Chiron and how it works in mundane areas, so I will observe this placement with a great deal of interest.  Magi Astrology says Chiron symbolises the ability to successfully blaze new frontiers – and Julia certain has as she is the first female Prime Minister of Australia.

Her dignified Saturn is conjunct Australia’s duad exalted Mars with a four degree orb.  Perhaps this indicates the connection to manual labour through the trade unions.

I hope this article has interested you in the use of duads in mundane astrology.  I find it almost frighteningly accurate, with, as you have seen, very close connections between the natal chart of Prime Ministers and the duad chart of Australia.

Copyright (c) Alice Portman July 2010

* For the first time Australia has a female Prime Minister

*  We usually elect Prime Ministers who have the Sun in a fire or earth sign.  Julia Gillard has her Sun in Libra, an air sign;  Tony Abbott has his Sun in Scorpio, a water sign;  so Australians have no potential  Prime Minister with the Sun in Fire or Earth.  To date this seems to be causing  some confusion or lack of enthusiasm with the Australian people.    Bob Brown has his Sun in Capricorn, an Earth sign, but his Greens Party will not win enough seats to govern, however it seems highly likely it will win a number of seats in the Senate.

*  Australia’s Secondary Progressed Sun is changing signs from Aries to Taurus close to the time of the election.  As Taurus is considered a yin or female sign, this is quite appropriate as a timer for our first female Prime Minister.

The chart of 1st January 1901, 1.35 pm, Sydney Australia is the appropriate chart for all matters to to with Government as it marks the time our first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton, took the Oath of Office.

All Australian Prime Ministers have at least one strong connection to this chart and/or its declinations.  It seems to be a prerequisite for election.  So lets check out Julia Gillard (29 September 1961, 11.52 am, Barry Wales) and Tony Abbott (4th November 1957, London, UK,  no time of birth ).

Julia Gillard

Julia Gillard’s birth chart and orgins of her birth time can be read here: http://aliceportman.com/?p=959

Australia is the inside wheel and Julia Gillard is the outside wheel in the chart below.  To enlarge, just click the chart.

Synastry:

Julia Gillard has a number of close connections with Australia’s chart – as would be expected of a Prime Minister.  The aspects near a one degree orb are:

*  Her antiVertex is conjunct Australia’s Saturn. This indicates a destined connection to Australia.

*  Her Mars is conjunct Australia’s Descendant. As Australia has Aries rising, the position of Julia’s Mars is very important.  Its angular position means that she has a strong effect on Australia.  It is also conjunct Australia’s Part of Benevolence, suggesting that she will have a benevolent influence.

*  Her Uranus is trine Australia’s Ascendant and trine Chiron, making up a grand trine in Fire.    As Uranus is the ruler of  Australia’s MC,  Julia’s Uranus in close contact with placements in Australia’s chart means that she has a strong influence.

*  Her MC is square Australia’s Pluto. Pluto is connected to power, global situations and big business, so this activation brings all these areas into play for her.

*  Her Moon is opposite Australia’s Venus and square Australia’s Mars. This can suggest her strong, female influence and, as her Moon is in Australia’s second house, the requirement to pay considerable attention to the financial resources of Australia.

Arabic Parts:

Julia also has:

Her Sun conjunct Australia’s Part of Friends at 5Libra33 and Part of Organisation at 5Libra38, suggesting that she is both a friend to Australia and able to organise and run situations well.  Her Sun in Australia’s 6th house shows her relationship to Trade Unions and her left wing orientation.

Her Pluto, ruler of her Ascendant, in trine to Australia’s Part of Rulers.  A strong indication of her current position as Prime Minister.

Her MC is square Australia’s Part of Influence, suggesting her career is of great influence in Australia -well it has been and she is our first female Prime Minister to boot!

Her chart activates a number of Arabic parts, but these are particularly connected to government.

Declinations

Australia on the left, Julia Gillard on the right.

I consider Declinations very powerful as they describe the position of planets in the Southern and Northern Hemisphere.  For any connection to Government in Australia the more declination connections the better, they are particularly powerful if the two planets are also conjunct.

As you can see in the above illustration, Julia has a number of declination contacts with Australia.

Her antiVertex connects to Australia’s massive rolling declination between Mercury, Jupiter, Sun, Saturn and Uranus.  This is a powerful placement that indicates a destiny with Australia.  It ratifies and further empowers Julia’s antiVertex conjunct  Australia’s Saturn in longitude.  Any parallel trigger of this point on election day will be powerful.

Her Jupiter-Saturn conjunction is also in parallel of declination and this connects to Australia’s Ceres-Venus.

Her Ascendant is in parallel with Australia’s MC.

Then you get the lovely, sexy Venus parallel Mars and the nurturing Ceres parallel Ascendant.

Her Uranus -North Node is parallel Australia’s Pluto – an enormously powerful connection.

And even more powerful we can see Julia’s Pluto-Descendant parallel Australia’s Moon-IC. If this parallel is triggered on election day it will be  a force to be reckoned with.

Midpoints:

Julia has a number of midpoint connections with Australia’s chart:

The strongest is her MC = Australia’s Sun/Moon  at 15Pisces41 and Ascendant/MC at 16Pisces02. It is rare to have the Sun/Moon and A/M midpoints in the same sign and degree, so anyone who has planets or angles on this point will have a strong connection to the politics and government of Australia.  Julia’s MC on these points clearly describes her political career.

Julia has her Pluto conjunct Australia’s Pluto/Node at 8Virgo47, indicating powerful associations.  It is also on Australia’s Moon/Jupiter at 8Pisces39 – a very powerful configuration for success.

Tony Abbott

As yet we do not have a time of birth for Tony Abbott I am using a Sun culmination chart i.e. when the Sun was conjunct the MC on that day.

Australia is on the inside wheel and Tony Abbott on the outside wheel of the chart below.  Click to enlarge.

Synastry

As we do not have Tony’s time of birth we are a little handicapped with this synastry because I am unable to map angular connections.

*  Tony’s Venus is conjunct Australia’s Mercury-Chiron.  This is a lovely configuration that indicates he will do his best to benefit his country.

*  Venus is also trine Australia’s Ascendant, indicating that most Australians like him.

*  Venus is opposite Australia’s Neptune. Neptune is a very active player in politics so this suggests both his interest in writing about politics and his ability ‘to playthe game’

* Tony’s Venus is Out-Of-Bounds, making him a bit of a maverick, so I am not sure how it would work in synastry with Australia.

*  Like Julia, Tony’s Mars is conjunct Australia’s Descendant, but with a slightly wider orb.  This is an important placement as the ruler of Australia’s Ascendant is angular in its chart.

*  Tony’s Sun-North Node  is in Australia’s 7th house and semisquare Australia’s Jupiter.  This too is quite a fortunate configuration.  It suggests a strong public profile – particularly in his athletic areas.

* Tony’s Uranus is trine Australia’s Venus. As Venus is in the 8th house and ruler of the 2nd, this suggests that innovative ideas in the financial area might benefit Australia.

* But, Tony’s Neptune squares Australia’s MC. Neptune shows up a great deal in politics, but I think this square might indicate that the Australian populace does not fully trust him.   It could also indicate confusion in government if he becomes Prime Minister.  As Neptune is connected to global socio-economic areas this would be part of his agenda in his government.

* Pluto is square Australia’s Moons Nodes.  This describes his position of power in Australia, particularly as Pluto rules his own Scorpio North Node and Sun.

Tony was born in between a total Solar and total lunar eclipse. This can make him very psychic, but I don’t think he would value this ability – perhaps it works as good intuition.  The Solar Eclipse was at 29Libra29, conjunct Australia’s Descendant.  Venus in the eclipse chart was at 14Sagittarius49, conjunct Australia’s Uranus-Vertex. The lunar eclipse at 14Taurus31 was quincunx Australia’s Uranus-Vertex.

These eclipses give him a very strong tie to Australia.  It will be interesting to see what happens when Saturn transits Australia’s Descendant and this Solar Eclipse point.

Arabic Parts:

Tony’s Neptune is opposing Australia’s Part of Celebrity of Rank at 1Taurus47  and his Pluto is in trine.   Perhaps describing his position as Leader of the Opposition.

Pluto is trine Australia’s Part of Sudden Advancement at 1Capricorn31. As transiting Pluto moved over this point Tony Abbott became the Leader of the Opposition.

Declinations:

Australia is on the left and Tony on the right.

Some reasonable connections on the declination level:

*  Tony’s Saturn parallel Australia’s Venus-Node. This could work either way – his Saturn could stabilize the economy, or bring severe restrictions.  As both are in Australia’s 9th house, he could bring in restrictive laws – particularly in the ‘Work Choices’ area as Venus is the ruler of Australia’s 6th house.

* Mercury is parallel Australia’s Chiron. Quite a good combination as it increases his ability to communicate with Australians.  However, his communication could be ‘wounding’ at times.

*  Mars-Chiron-Neptune are parallel Australia’s Descendant. Mars-Neptune can give charisma, as can Chiron-Neptune, so this could make him quite appealing to Australians.  It could also describe his ‘action man’ image and with Neptune involved, the ‘budgie smuggler’ photographs of him swimming and coming out of the sea.

* Mars-Chiron-Neptune are also contraparallel Australia’s Mars. This is an important aspect as Mars is ruler of Australia’s Ascendant.  It would give the desire to take action rather than sit around discussing a situation and this could work both positively and negatively at times.

* Uranus parallel Australia’s Moon. A rather nervy, unsettling energy, perhaps describing why women don’t really trust him.  As Uranus can be quite retroactive at times, it could describe his far right wing approach to the roles of women in Australia.

*  Pluto parallel and on the parallel midpoint of Australia’s South Node and Neptune. I am not sure how this would work, but it could certainly describe upheavals and at times group disasters.  It is a particularly potent configuration as it further emphasizes his Pluto square Australia’s Nodes.  I really don’t like it very much at all.

Midpoints:

Tony’s Sun-Node = Australia’s Sun-Mars at 10Scorpio52.  Ebertin says “The desire to become a person of importance; desire for recognition; desire to establish oneself in a community“  This has certainly happened.  Leader of the Opposition is definitely a ‘person of importance’.

Tony’s Mars = Australia’s Mars/Uranus-Vertex at 28Libra. A very energetic and explosive configuration.  I am sure it will bring a number of upsets when this point is transited.

Tony’s Saturn = Australia’s Venus/Uranus-Vertex at 12Sagittarius40.  A strange one to have for an aspiring leader.  It can give estrangement and separation.  As Venus rules the 6th house and Uranus the 10th  I think it describes Tony’s desire to control the workers of this country.

Tony’s Pluto = Australia’s Moon/Uranus-Vertex at 2Pisces30. This can be extremely self willed and fanatical.  It possibly describes his constant ‘foot in the mouth’ when he talks about women.  Other than that, it describes his desire to make radical changes and the likelihood of this deeply upsetting the populace.

Copyright (c) Alice Portman July 2010

As I don’t have the actual time of the agreement to found the Liberal Party,  the chart above is for the time the Sun was exactly conjunct the MC on that day.

The Liberal Party of Australia was founded on October 16, 1944 after a three-day conference in Canberra. (started 13th October 1944) The conference was convened by Robert Menzies, the then leader of the United Australia Party (UAP).

Menzies sensed the need for a united political party offering an alternative to the Labor Government of the day and its socialist tendencies. In order to offer Australians a viable choice Menzies foresaw a political party based upon modern liberal political beliefs. Robert Menzies invited eighty delegates to meet in October 1944, a meeting often referred to as The Canberra Conference. The men and women present represented eighteen separate political and semi-political organisations who stood for “liberal, progressive policy” and were opposed to “socialism with its bureaucratic administration and restriction of personal freedom”. (Sept. 1944, Delegate Invitation to The Canberra Conference)

At the conference, the broad objectives for a new Party were adopted and it was agreed that a Federal Organisation would be established with a branch (now called a division) in each State.

The delegates were unanimous in their support for the name of the new united party. The Liberal Party would be, in Menzies words, a “progressive party, willing to make experiments, in no sense reactionary but believing in the individual, his rights and his enterprise [sic].” (Menzies, R. Afternoon Light 1967)

Federal Liberal Party

On the 14-16 December 1944, Non Labor people meet at Albury to form a new non-Labor Party – The Liberal Party of Australia.  The meeting formally agreed on the structure of the Party, adopted a provisional Federal constitution and appointed an interim Federal Executive. Only five years later, on December 10, 1949 the Liberal Party, in coalition with the Country Party, was elected to govern the country. Robert Menzies (later Sir Robert) served more than 16 consecutive years as Prime Minister, the longest period to date.

I don’t have the time when the Provisional Federal Constitution was agreed upon or when the interim Federal Executive was appointed.  I think the appointment of the Federal Executive would mark the correct time for this chart and this was likely to be on the last day of the Conference.

Here is the midday chart for the 16th December 1944.  There are strong connections to all of Australia’s charts.

Swearing In Chart:

*    The Moon is trine the Ascendant

*   Mars is conjunct the Vertex and Uranus

*   Chiron is trine the MC

*   Jupiter is square Jupiter

Commonwealth of Australia Chart

*   Neptune conjunct Ascendant

*   Sun is conjunct Jupiter

Birth of Australia

*   Venus conjunct Sun

*   Sun conjunct North Node

*   Jupiter square North Node

Note that when the Liberal Party won its first election on 10th December 1949, the Secondary Progressed Sun of this chart was conjunct the MC of the Birth of Australia chart. (See Australia’s Birth charts http://aliceportman.com/?p=28)

Formal Announcement

The formation of the new Liberal Party of Australia was  formally announced to House of Representatives on 21 February 1945.  The Parliament convened at 3.00 pm and this was the 8th item on the Agenda.  I chose the  time  of 5:18:31 pm  for this chart because  the Ascendant is conjunct the IC  and the MC is conjunct the Moon of  Australia’s Swearing In chart.    As The Liberal Party has had very long periods of Government in Australia, it is highly likely that the angles of this chart would connect to placements in Australia’s chart.

In 2008-2009 transiting Neptune was square the MC of this chart and there were several leadership spills.   At the end of this transit, on the 1st Dec 2009,  John Abbott beat Turnbull to become leader.

Copyright (c) Alice Portman July 2010

For matters to do with the President and Government of the USA I find the Inauguration or POTUS chart, when the first President, George Washington, took his Oath to be very accurate.  This chart is for the 30th April 1789 at 12.45 pm, New York, NY.

Daily Age Harmonics for 11th September 2001

When I check the Daily Age Harmonics for the  POTUS chart for 11th September 2001 and adjust the time to 12.45.07 pm I get:

* DAH MC at 15 Taurus03 square DAH Uranus at 15Leo47 and both in 8th harmonic aspect to DAH Saturn which is at 0 Libra 58 on the world axis and opposite the POTUS Part of Danger and Peril.

* DAH MC = POTUS Uranus/Ascendant (sudden event)

* DAH IC conjunct POTUS antiVertex (destined?)

* DAH Descendant (open enemies) square POTUS MC (Government and President).

* DAH Sun = POTUS Pluto/South Node

Interestingly the DAH Moon was conjunct the POTUS Part of Fame and Recognition! Also conjunct Jupiter – which expands. I don’t think there has ever been an event that received more publicity.

These very relevant harmonics are enough to convince me to use the POTUS chart for the time of 12:45:07 pm for much of my work on the USA.