Presidential Election 2000 Prediction
© 2000 David Stricker 

With the election less than a week away, I wanted to evaluate the time lords of Gore and Bush utilizing the eminence indicators used by Valens and described in previous articles. I am going to use some of the predictive methods described by Valens in Book IV of The Anthology. This would include the Quarters method, Aphesis from Fortune and Spirit, Profections and transits. There are other methods in Valens but some of them are elaborated on in books yet to be translated and I have held off on delving into them too deeply yet. All quotations from Valens books are from The Golden Hind Press publications (1993-1997), Robert Schmidt, translator.

If you are like me, you probably hate reading astrological articles about elections that go into great detail and then waffle about who will win or suggesting that it will be close. I will tell you up front, based on my interpretations of the methods below, that I think that George Bush is going to win. Now if you are not interested in anything else, I just saved you a bunch of time. If I am wrong in my prediction, I hope you will blame my delineation of Valens' methods and not the methods themselves. There is still a lot to be learned from Valens' work and I am the first to admit that it will be a long time before I am extremely confident with all his works. Having said that, I will start with Al Gore. The examination of his eminence factors showed the prominence of both his Moon and Saturn in this regard. I will keep these planets in mind as I review his time lords starting, with the quarters method.

Division of the Times based on 1/4 of the Least Planetary Periods

The following is an excerpt from a posting I did in September 1998 concerning the general political environment during the Clinton-Lewinsky storm. I use the quarters time lords as an indication of the general environment the person is in; to get a idea whether it is generally favorable or unfavorable. I delineate the time lords in a matter/form approach as Valens instructs in his books. While I was only describing quarters time lords, I will tie it to other methods in this article. Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1998 07:20:07 -0600 Al Gore: Jupiter major period October 1997 to 9/24/2000

Jupiter is the material and his Jupiter is in Sagittarius in the 5th house. Dignified, in a chrematistikos place and in sect. This is a generally positive material for Gore that will vary as it manifests through different forms.

The form is the Moon from the time of the scandal breaking (1/19/98) until the day before Clinton testified and spoke on TV (8/16/98). Gore's Moon is undignifed in Capricorn and it is weak in capacity in the 6th. The Moon is ruled by an undignified and strong Saturn in Leo in the first. The Moon is in aversion to its ruler (Saturn). The Moon is also in aversion to the major period timelord (Jupiter). The aversion to Saturn would indicate to me that Gore was unaware of what was going on with Clinton.

Mercury takes over the forms right before Clinton's apology/attack. Mercury is weak and undignified and squared the Jupiter. I haven't heard that much from Gore. The media says Gore has been standing by Clinton but he was in Hawaii when this last brooha started. I think the square symbolizes that anything he says right now is not going to help Clinton and it is not going to help himself.

The Sun takes over the form in 1/99 and his Sun is dignified in Aries, in mutual reception with its ruler Mars in the 1st. The Sun stands forth by virtue of being in the 9th with the MC (and Fortune). The Sun is trined to the major lord Jupiter. I would consider this to be a very positive period for him, just looking at the quarters (which is a silly thing to do, I know). It is interesting to consider that Saturn stations in late Aries near the end of December 1998.

The Venus takes over the forms next and this is still good for Gore but less so than the previous period. While the Venus is dignified in Taurus and in the 10th house, it is in aversion to the general lord Jupiter.

The period that includes almost all of the primary season is under the form of Saturn, undignified, retrograde and prominently standing forth in the 1st. The Saturn is trine the Jupiter material. Saturn taking on Jupiter material is not as good as Jupiter taking on Saturn matter. This early primary season is when he should really shine as the Vice-President but it will be harder than he thinks. He may have challengers he is not planning on.

The period including the convention and the early debates (?) come under the forms of Mars. Mars is not in as bad of shape as Saturn but he is out of sect. I don't think Gore will come across as a good a debater as people say he is.

Prior to the run up to the election in 2000 (Sept. 24), Gore's material changes from very good Jupiter material to very weak, undignifed and out of sect Moon material. I think this looks very bad for Gore as far as his general environment goes in that it won't being conducive to producing what he is working towards.

In the article about Gore's eminence indicators, I pointed out that his Moon was important because she is in the 10th sign from the Lot for Fortune. Things relating to Fortune or tuche, are not necessarily things the individual has much control over for good or bad. I found it interesting that the Reuters news service ran a headline on the day the quarters changed (9/24), saying that Bush had caught up with Gore in the polls. Gore had a nice lead coming out of the convention and I am sure he may have wondered what he did to cause him to loss so much momentum. Probably nothing. It was tuche. The environment in which his actions may have led to positive results with less effort before, changed to an environment that became more difficult no matter what he did.

Aphesis from Fortune

(A quick plug for my web host. These calculations were done on Curt Manwaring's Aphesis program. It is a great program that does just what you need, takes up very little space and is rock solid dependable.). The calculations I am providing use 360 day years and 27 years for Capricorn, as Valens instructs.

Gore's Lot of Fortune is in Aries. Aries as the material division lasted from 1948 until January 1963. Taurus took over until December 1971. Gemini lasted until August 1990. Cancer began in 1990 and will last until April of 2015. It is interesting that he began Cancer just prior to the time that Gore began his time as the Vice-President. Gore's Cancer is in the 12th place. There are no planets there. I am interested in looking for planets in the sign as well as the domicile ruler because the first division represents the matter and this comes from planets in the sign. The nature of the 12th place with Cancer is important and would be indicative of an environment that is more hidden, behind the scenes, and not very helpful. After all, the Hellenistic astrologers called this the place of the Evil Spirit. This place is not as weak as it could be since it is angular with respect to both the Lot of Fortune and the Lot of Spirit. Clinton has said that Gore has been one of his closest advisors. Al Gore spent most of this time in the shadow of Bill Clinton, for good or for ill. The Moon taking responsibility for this sign is not particularly helpful as she is undignified in Capricorn. The current second division of the releasing is to Capricorn; October 5th, 1998 until December 23rd, 2000 ( The second division represents the form and this will add importance to the domicile ruler being activated). Saturn is in Leo in the first house. Saturn's 1st place position could be correlated with him being out before the public more. Unfortunately Saturn is in detriment, retrograde and co-present with Mars and Pluto. Notice also the Lot of Exaltation is with Saturn in Leo. His luck regarding the highest office is related to these Leo planets. These are the forms that are manifesting. And chance (tuche) is something we have little control over. Saturn is important in the consideration of Gore's eminence because he is the third triplicity lord, in the 10th place with respect to the Lot of Spirit and the lord of the Acquisitive place. I do not consider these time lords as being helpful for his rise to power.

Aphesis from the Lot of Spirit

Gore's Lot of Spirit is in Scorpio. Scorpio was the material division from birth until January 1963. Sagittarius took over from 1963 until November 1974. Capricorn began November 10th, 1974 and will last until June 21, 2001. This Capricorn period encompasses Gore's whole political career up to this point. Capricorn is in the 6th place and it has the Moon there. We have the same considerations that were mentioned with the Lot of Fortune Aphesis. This will be somewhat different because the Lot of Spirit is related to a person's actions. With an aversion between the Moon and Saturn, it is hard for Gore to perceive how his actions are viewed by others.

His 6th place Moon in Capricorn material has reached the last of the formal or second division periods as of 4/27/2000. It brings up an issue that Valens did not mention and Gore's experiences are unlikely to clarify. It has to do with the loosing of the bond. After the secondary divisions have gone through all twelve signs, instead of just starting another "lap", they jump to the sign opposite the initial sign. This is what happened to Al Gore in 1992. The Capricorn/Sagittarius time period ended 3/10/1992. Instead of starting with Capricorn/Capricorn again, Valens indicated the next period should be Capricorn/Cancer. The loosing of the bond can be one important indicator of critical changes in a person's life. This time period lasted until March 30th, 1994 and included the Clinton/Gore election in 1992. Valens' indicates the loosing of the bond will be "established as most active when it hands over the division of the times to zoidia which are powerful in accordance with the support of the nativity, and offers reputation and help in accordance with the stars that are present." Gore's 12th house Cancer does not have much power and there are no planets there. So reputation and help would not seem to be indicated.

In April of 2000, Gore's Spirit Aphesis has once again completed Sagittarius. It is not clear in Valens if there should be a second loosing. If there is, which I am inclined to believe, then Gore is back to Capricorn/Cancer, just as he was in 1992. If not, he has Capricorn/Capricorn. In either case, the Moon/Saturn in his chart are going to be activated. Should this be an indication that he will be successful as he was in 1992? I don't think so because this is only one factor and most of the other time lords are different. I would also suggest that it might be necessary to contemplate whether or not his career being tied to Clinton in 1992 was a good thing or not. I am not going to make any judgements. Gore's Spirit Aphesis will have a major shift to Aquarius as the first division material in June of 2001. This will shift the emphasis from the sixth place to the seventh.

Profections

Al Gore turned 52 in March of 2000. That means he is currently in his 53rd year. This means he will have a handing over by 5. I would like to point out that profections repeat every 12 years. Although other changing factors will most likely modify the events in a person's life, a common theme may often repeat in some way. Gore was in a "5" year in 1976 when he first ran for Congress and won. He was in a "5" year in 1988 when he first ran for President in the Democratic primaries and was defeated. The profections he has for March of 2000 until March of 2001 are:

All of these profections need to be taken into account to get a feel for the total year. Reading delineations out of Valens book will not be helpful unless you take into consideration the condition of the planets involved. While the profecting of the Ascendant and the other Leo planets to Jupiter might be a positive time, I think it is important to remember that Jupiter was not one of the planets that would indicate eminence in Al Gore's chart. The Sun handing over to Saturn and Mars is considered difficult. I am very interested in the Moon>Venus profection for a couple of reasons. First of all the Moon is important in Gore's eminence consideration. The Moon is associated with women and Gore's policy proposals are generally considered more beneficial to women than Bush's. But a third factor that I always consider is the matter of climateric times according to Critodemus as mentioned in chapter 8 of Book VI of Valens. This topic is worthy of a whole article by itself but that will have to be done at a later date. The climateric times will help indicate which planets are emphasized at various ages of life. The planets emphasized in 1976 were different than 1988 and 2000. I can't go into great detail here but between the 52nd and the 54th years, the Moon gains extra emphasis in anyone's chart. The Moon was not emphasized for Gore in either 1976 or 1988.

Despite the fact I warned against using delineations right out of Valens book, in Gore's case it is applicable:

"The Moon handing over to Aphrodite indicates a year that is on target and conducive to accomplishments, and [it indicates] reputation and alliances, sympathies and marriages by both males and females. But if by any means they should happen to be uncongenially situated or are contemplated by malefics, it indicates unpleasantness and enviousness, and expenditures and breaches of faith with regard to female persons. Generally, then, the handing over itself always brings in jealousies and factions and unsettlement, and enmities in relation to kin or family and those who are friends." Page 48-49 of Book IV.

I found it symbolically appropriate when Gore mentioned in a speech on November 1st that the election was not a popularity contest. In a sense, he knows he is less popular or less likeable than Bush. My overall impression from studying these two candidates is the election will be lost by Gore because he has more negative time lords as opposed to being won by Bush because of positive or powerful time lords.

There is one last thing I would like to mention about Gore's profections. The profections he is having in 2000 are the opposite of the ones he had in 1992 (handing over by 9). I have noticed on several occasions, depending upon the natal chart, that this reversing of the profections can be associated with a reversal of the outcomes at this time. If this is true in Gore's case, it is a bad sign for him.

Considering the transits relating to the planets I have been focusing on, I think the following ones are important. Transiting Saturn is moving retrograde towards a conjunction with Gore's natal Venus. Transiting Uranus stationed on October 26th in opposition to Gore's Saturn. Transiting Mars on election day will be within one degree of a square to Gore's Moon. All of the natal planets mentioned are important to Gore's eminence and the transits are intensifying planets that are time lords in the methods I have described above.

George Bush

The eminence factors from George W. Bush that were prominent in my previous article were the Moon, Venus and Mercury. These will be the planets I want to pay attention to when examining the time lords.

Division of the Times based on 1/4 of the Least Planetary Periods

Bush's quarters time lords changed the major division in July 1998. Prior to this time he was doing Sun periods. It then changed to Saturn. The Saturn/Saturn period lasted until April 3, 2000. Saturn in his chart is in the 12th place, in Cancer. Saturn is in a weak position with only the bounds for any dignity. The material and the form are Saturn and it indicates that this period would be a difficult environment in which to be try accomplish things. The Quarters form changed to Mercury and will last until June 2001. The Mercury form will bring an emphasis on his first house, co-present with Venus and Pluto. The difficulty will be that the Saturn and Mercury are in aversion. This is one of his eminence indicators and it would be more of a hindrance than a help for him in his campaign. Some might indicate the material for his Mercurial forms is behind the scenes and possibly not something that Bush is consciously aware of. My observation about Bush's environment would be that I wonder if he really knows what he is getting into?

Aphesis from Lot of Fortune

Bush's Lot of Fortune is in Scorpio. In September 1999, his first division changed from Capricorn to Aquarius. While the Saturn as the ruler did not change, the emphasis of the material shifted from 6th to 7th place issues. This period of Aquarius/Aquarius will last until March of 2002. Since I don't consider Saturn extremely important in matters of his career and eminence, I don't think these time lords will have much of an impact, except for maybe his having some good breaks through some kind of partnership.

Aphesis from the Lot of Spirit

Bush's Lot of Spirit is in Taurus. Prior to October 1998, the first division had been in Cancer for 25 years. It then shifted to Leo. The Leo/Leo releasing lasted until April of 2000. The Leo time period would bring about a change of actions from a 12th place material emphasis to the 1st. This is important because Leo is in the 1st place and both Mercury and Venus are there. Around April 23rd, the second division changed from Leo to Virgo and will last until December of 2001. This would indicate a change in the forms from the Sun to Mercury. Once again, as with the Quarters time lords, the two planets involved are in aversion, making it difficult for Bush to understand how his actions are regarding himself are communicated and/or how to try to convince others about his ideas concerning the Sun in Cancer (the compassionate conservatism slogan comes to mind).

Profections

George Bush turned 54 in July which means he is in his 55th year. This is a handing over by 7. This would mean the profections for Bush are:

When I look at Bush's activities since his birthday in July, the lunar forms are apparent in his emphasis in the campaign on education, family issues and his personality. I made reference to Gore complaining that the election was not a popularity contest. Bush's MC handing over to Moon and Jupiter in Libra is positive for his career in terms of likeability and popularity with the public. The Libra nature seems to relate well with his campaign slogan of "bringing America together". The Neptune may reflect his refusal to discuss his life before politics and the drinking problem that he had. The Moon and Jupiter are ruled by Venus in the first. This brings Venus back in to the picture. I mentioned the Moon is important because she is the third triplicity lord of Bush's Sun. This last third of his life will have the Moon as an influencing factor, which in his case will be the most positive of the three triplicity lords.

Transiting Jupiter is squaring his Mars and sextiling his Mercury. This will still be within one degree on election day. Jupiter and Mercury are is a time lords while Mars is not. The Jupiter is retrograde in Gemini. The ruler of transiting Mercury is also retrograde and I think this will make bring difficulties for Bush to keep his message or his stand on the issues clear in the last days of the campaign. This period of Mercury retrograde in Scorpio being ruled by transiting Mars in Virgo has been a rather nasty few weeks as I watch the people around me and events in the world at large. There is a pickiness and bitterness that is unpleasant to watch. Since Bush's Mars is in Virgo, I expect him to go through a tough time the last few days of the campaign as Mercury stations shortly after election day.

As I said earlier, the reason I think Bush is going to win is there is less difficulty in his time lords that relate to eminence than Gore's. Bush's focus seems to be around the Moon in Libra in the third linked to the MC and the strong emphasis on his Mercury and Venus in Leo. To me this indicates that Bush is benefiting more from people liking him, rather than just liking his stand on the issues or his experience.

Time will tell if my analysis is correct.

Dave Stricker is currently on sabbatical and is not interested into getting into any political debates.

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