THE CLINTON AFFAIRpart three

Clinton and America

Bill Clinton is a Leo with Moon in Taurus and Libra rising. He had his 52nd birthday on August 19th 1998. Two days earlier, he testified before Kenneth Starr's grand jury and that evening, still seething, addressed the nation admitting to an inappropriate relationship with Monica Lewinski. One day after his birthday, he launched missile strikes against terrorist facilities and addressed the nation again to effectively declare war on terrorism. The day after that, there was a solar eclipse in Leo, close to Bill Clinton's natal Sun.

These events are depicted in Bill Clinton's annual solar return chart. Solar returns are cast for the time the Sun returns to its exact zodiacal position at birth, but for the town that is the usual place of residence during the year. They are used to predict the year ahead. In the precessed solar return chart, major themes in the life are indicated by strong aspect configurations between the planets, especially when these configurations involve the angles of the chart.

Bill Clinton's precessed solar return chart contains such a configuration: Neptune rising in Aquarius, on the Ascendant, opposing Moon/Mars setting, on the Descendant, with both poles of the opposition in square aspect to Saturn, the ruler of the Ascendant, in the 3rd house. From about mid-July we started to see how this particular combination of planetary energies will affect the President both in his personal life and his public role over the ensuing year.

An obvious example of Neptune rising at Bill Clinton's solar return must be his video appearances in public (and not so public) broadcasts, where he presented a different image of himself each time. And, with life imitating art, parallels were immediately made to the black comedy Wag the Dog. An unfortunate real world example of this symbolism lies in the terrorist bombings at US embassies in East Africa and in the mourning of the many who lost their lives in those unconscionable attacks. The subsequent US strikes against the facilities of those responsible and the declaration of war on terrorism are another example.

The Sex Scandal is a Neptunian smokescreen...

On the domestic front, we see a general disenchantment with a fine president whose position has been compromised, not because of any (as yet) proven wrongdoing, but mainly it seems because embarrassing secrets about his private life have been revealed. However, the sex scandal itself is a Neptunian smokescreen, one which veils questions about serious breaches of the law. His opponents have utilised this Neptunian energy very well; they have already won a moral victory, succeeding in impugning Clinton's personal integrity even before they have proved any legal impropriety on his part. Nonetheless, for Bill Clinton, the threat of impeachment is becoming more real by the day.

This is an important and stressful year for the President - and for America as a whole (which he symbolises) - because there is a preponderance of hard aspects in his solar return chart. His main focus will be on shoring up support among allies and dealing with the overt attacks of international enemies and domestic adversaries (his Sun sign, Leo, intercepted in the 7th house and the 7th itself tenanted by all the personal planets and the north node of the Moon). Clinton and his associates will face one upset and scandal after another (Uranus and Neptune in the 1st house); just how many more judicial investigations can there be? Scandals are likely to ensue, as he attempts to perpetrate some form of deception to serve his own interests. Upsets are likely to stem from secretive, nefarious events unfolding around him, or around American citizens (Neptune on the Ascendant).

Perhaps despite all this, Clinton will be inclined to exercise his authority and take the initiative in all affairs (Cardinal sign rising). But, even when he acts decisively, people may suspect his motives and call his reputation into question (late degrees of Capricorn rising with Neptune). In short, confusion and uncertainty surround the President.

Legal and Emotional Conflicts

Clinton is personally involved in legal conflicts (natal Ascendant sign on the 9th, the house of legal activities and foreigners), because a former paramour has turned against him (ruler of natal Ascendant sign, Venus in the 7th, the house of partners, the public, open enemies and legal disputes). This is creating a media frenzy around the young woman (Venus in Leo opposite Uranus in Aquarius). Moreover, the adverse publicity about the President's private life is affecting his reputation (Mars, ruler of the 3rd house of routine thought, communication and the media and co-ruler of the Scorpio Mid-Heaven, career and social standing, is opposing the Ascendant).

On the face of it, the situation has become a tumultuously emotive, public scandal concerning his sexual relations (Moon in Leo in the 7th conjunct Mars in Cancer, both opposing Neptune conjunct the Ascendant). He seems to be under attack from female adversaries making scandalous accusations about him (Lewinski and Tripp - Moon rules the 7th and opposes the Ascendant/Neptune conjunction; Moon is conjunct Clinton's natal Saturn and Lewinski's natal Sun). But the true focus of the legal action against Clinton is the serious question of whether he really urged the young woman to lie about their liaison, or worse, attempted to pervert the course of justice in some way (Saturn, ruler of the Capricorn Ascendant, in the Venus-ruled sign, Taurus, in the 3rd). Saturn is the key because, as the Ascendant-ruler and as the ruler of such things as 'the laws of the land' and 'judges', it is the focal point of the opposition between Neptune rising in the 1st and Moon conjunct Mars setting in the 7th.

This tells us that, in actual fact, Clinton's forced appearance before the grand jury was brought about by longtime enemies working behind the scenes who hoped that this form of entrapment would lead to his self-undoing (Saturn also rules the 12th, the house of hidden enemies and secrets, and again, deceptive Neptune is conjunct the Saturn-ruled Ascendant). The special prosecutor's investigation riles Clinton (Mars is conjunct Ken Starr's natal Sun/Saturn), and threatens to divest him, at worst, of his position and authority and, at best, of his respectability (Capricorn ruler of his natal 4th, the house of endings and of outcomes of lawsuits, is on the Ascendant).

With the late degrees of Capricorn ascending, the indications are that Clinton will change his direction or face major endings during the year. These changes may be brought on by health problems, but, at the very least, some sort of personal sacrifice or readjustment will be required of him (Sun inconjunct Ascendant). Moreover, given Neptune rising, he may be seen as betraying the confidence of others, in which case people will become disenchanted with him. We have already seen many of Clinton's staunchest supporters express such sentiments after he admitted lying about his affair with Ms Lewinski. Has this admission completely undermined his moral authority?

How will it turn out?

Well, Clinton has Pluto in Sagittarius (co-ruler of the Scorpio Mid-Heaven) fairly strongly positioned in its own house. This usually indicates the continuation of power, but in this instance (since it is not close to the angle and is in a different sign from the Mid-Heaven), it probably only means that Clinton will be determined to hold on to power. All the other planets in the solar return, except his Sun, are fairly weak, so he gets little help from them. And the Sun itself has been weakened by the solar eclipse of August 22. The effects of this eclipse hold sway until the next solar eclipse, which occurs in Aquarius on February 16, 1999. Unfortunately, this eclipse offers no respite for Clinton, because it assails his Sun again by opposition.

On the other hand, the general weakness of the planets in the solar return may suggest that the situations he faces are not as substantial as they first appear to be. So all we can say with any certainty about how the actions of others will affect Bill Clinton is that his public persona will be tarnished and his effectiveness as a leader diminished somewhat by the actions of others.

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