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Of Baseball and Hardball

Two competitions of gargantuan proportions reached simultaneous apogees on October 22, 2019, as the World Series of Baseball kicked off in Houston, while in the nation’s capital the House Impeachment inquiry garnered the testimony of a key diplomat involved in the Ukraine “arms for dirt” scandal. While the outcome of both contests is still in doubt as of this writing, it’s beginning to look more and more like the underdogs may emerge the winners.

 

Let’s begin with “America’s pastime”. That’s about to become the formal, public hearings for Trump’s House impeachment and subsequent Senate trial, which will doubtless accrue boffo ratings, but for now that time-honored phrase still means baseball.

 

2019’s World Series pits the favored Houston Astros, some 14 games ahead in the regular season, and the Washington Nationals, who have never played in the World Series. The Astros have been in the Series twice before, in 2005, when they were shut out by the Chicago White Sox in 4 games, and in 2017, when they wrested the title from the LA Dodgers after a grueling seven-game slugfest.

 

With the first two games in this Series going to the Nationals, despite playing on Houston’s home turf, the Astros may be facing another 2005 shutout situation, or a repeat of their 4-3 victory in 2017. Celestial indicators for the start of the Series suggest that Washington may come out on top.

 

With the first pitch slated for 7:08 PM EDT in Houston on October 22, we see Uranus at 4 Taurus aligned with the 8 Taurus Ascendant – there are shocks and surprises in store, a circumstance which automatically favors the underdog. Asteroid Houston at 24 Taurus sextiles asteroid Washingtonia at 23 Cancer, but there is one key difference – Houston is retrograde, implying an embattled, inferior stance. Forward momentum had halted, back on their heels, they’re in retreat. Perhaps more significantly, Houston conjoins TNO Sedna at 27 Taurus, a point noted for isolation, which could imply a shutout.

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The Houston Astros, heavily favored to win this World Series, are represented by asteroid Houston, but with a conjunction to isolating Sedna and squares to weakness-exposing Achilles and doom-bringing Damocles, the ball club may find itself shut out

In contrast, Washingtonia at 23 Cancer is in a strong position, not only conjunct the IC at 25 Cancer, giving it angular force and impact, but also in a T-Square with the highlighting Sun at 29 Libra and powerhouse Pluto at 20 Capricorn. Pluto at the 25 Cap MC is another possible indicator of a highly public, devastating loss. But for whom? With both contending asteroids so close in degree of their various Signs, they basically aspect all the same points. So what is an opposition from Pluto to Washingtonia becomes a trine to Houston, normally the more supportive aspect, but Pluto/Washingtonia’s angularity may give it the edge here. As well, the square to the Sun is more powerful than Houston’s inconjunct.

 

Neither asteroid strongly aspects Mars, the ultimate signifier of any sporting event. At 12 Libra, Houston is broadly sesquiquadrate, but this is a weak connection. Mars’ square to Saturn at 14 Capricorn could imply a truncated Series, something cut short, which again suggests a shutout. Houston does have a strong ally in the Moon, which squares it from 18 Leo, but not without encumbrances.

 

Because opposing that Moon, in T-Square with Houston, are asteroids Achilles and Damocles, at 18 and 22 Aquarius. Achilles represents a weakness or vulnerability, a fatal flaw which threatens to destroy the native, while Damocles is the doom hanging unseen overhead. Surely few expected a two-game winning streak by the Nationals to initiate the Series, especially playing against the home field advantage. The Moon in this pattern shows Houston as the heavy favorite going in, the popular choice of the masses, but the asteroid modifiers indicate that all is not as it seemed.

 

This pattern becomes a Grand Cross with the inclusion of Mercury at 23 Scorpio, opposing Houston. There is news to be made here, surely, but of what type? Will it be the stunning loss of the favored team, or an equally stunning rally which resets the status quo? Uranus on the Ascendant is showing its hand rather early for an upset loss, perhaps there is another turnaround in the stars. Also part of this pattern, squared Houston, is asteroid Victoria at 25 Leo, named for the Roman goddess of victory. Does this foreshadow a Houston win, or does its conjunction with the Moon merely explain why the Astros were so popularly favored to succeed?

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The Washington Nationals were the underdogs going into this Series, but with two wins up front, the potential of asteroid Washingtonia conjunct the IC and in a T-Square with the Sun and Pluto could make for a huge victory

Another way to evaluate the contest, or at least the opening game, is by analyzing the relative positions of asteroids House, for the home team, and Guest, for their visiting rivals. In this case, House at 25 Aquarius is bound up with Achilles and Damocles in the Houston Grand Cross. This would seem to reinforce the deleterious effects of this duo on the Astros, and of course, that’s just how the first two games played out. But now that the venue shifts east, House will represent the Nationals, and this same stellium aspects Washingtonia by inconjunct. Have the cosmic tables turned?

 

Asteroid Guest at 3 Capricorn is in an enviable position for Game One. Part of a Grand Trine with Uranus on the Ascendant and asteroid Nike at 12 Virgo, named for the Greek goddess of victory, this could spell an upset win for the Nationals. Again, this is reflected in the outcomes so far. But there’s also a fly in this ointment, in the form of asteroid Nemesis, a point of undoing or ruin, at 8 Virgo.

 

Nemesis represents a rival, but its energies can be directed either way – will the Nationals act as victorious nemeses to the Astros, or will Houston upend Washington’s early primacy? Guest is semisquare Venus at 17 Scorpio, the “Lesser Benefic”, perhaps signaling popular acclaim, but is also semisquare Achilles at 18 Aquarius, so there may be some vulnerability in the team yet to show itself. But if that hasn’t surfaced while Guest represented them in Houston, will it emerge now that the Nationals return to their home field, and are represented by House?

 

The nation could probably use a win coming out of Washington, with all the mishegas in the capital these days. Enter the “Hardball” portion of the title equation.

 

Just as the possibility of impeachment seemed dead, another “strategically brilliant” move by Donald Trump has revived it, and, against all expectation, the Dems seem to actually be playing effectively, not unlike their home team. The swiftness and depth of their month-old investigation has been breathtaking to behold, and may have reached a critical turning point on October 22 with the testimony of William Taylor, a 50-year career diplomat who was acting Ambassador to Ukraine during President Trump’s “squeeze play”.

 

In more than nine hours of closed door testimony, Taylor essentially eviscerated the administration’s argument that there had been no quid pro quo in the Ukrainian debacle. Although the testimony itself is sealed, Taylor’s 14-page opening statement is not, and reveals a clear pattern of intimidation and pressure applied to the Ukrainian government in an attempt to require its newly-elected president to publically reopen investigations into the Biden family’s alleged corruption and 2016 election hacking by Ukrainians, not Russians.

 

Taylor confirmed that “everything” regarding aid to Ukraine was on the line, dependent upon President Zelensky’s “playing ball” with Trump’s political agenda and supplying, or manufacturing, dirt on his likely 2020 rival. Trump wanted Zelensky to make a public announcement about the investigation and held the release of congressionally-approved military aid, as well as the prospect of a White House visit, over his head, as a penalty for noncompliance. Trump even chose the proposed wording of the statement, saying Zelensky should say that he “will leave no stone unturned.” Talk about a control freak!

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William Taylor, acting Ambassador to Ukraine, arrives at the Capitol to testify about Trump’s malfeasance; asteroid Taylor conjoins Mars and Ukraina, squared Saturn and Troemper, while asteroid William conjoins the Sun

A chart cast for the start of the session at 9:30 AM in Washington reveals a horizontal axis of 22 Scorpio/Taurus, which closely mirrors Trump’s natal MC/IC at 24 Taurus/Scorpio. And indeed, this moment could radically affect the President’s status, career prospects (both MC) and future residence (IC). Conjoined the Ascendant is asteroid Veritas (Latin for “truth”), exactly conjunct Mercury at 23 Scorpio, exactly opposed asteroid Lie at 23 Taurus. And that’s the crux here, truth versus fiction; with Mercury/Veritas on the Ascendant, Taylor’s words (Mercury) have the appearance (Ascendant) of Truth (Veritas). Not to be outdone, asteroid Truth at 16 Sagittarius conjoins both asteroid Zelinsky at 13 and Jupiter at 21 Sag, redolent of truth-speaking from the Ambassador (Jupiter) regarding the Ukrainian president (Zelinsky, for Zelensky).

 

With asteroid Taylor at 14 Libra, sandwiched between Mars at 11 and asteroid Ukraina at 21 Libra, the stage is set for the Ambassador’s (Taylor) revelations about Ukrainian (Ukraina) military aid (Mars). Taylor’s exact square to Saturn at 14 Capricorn, accompanied by asteroid Troemper at 19, shows him as a government employee (Saturn) at odds with (square) the president (Troemper). Pluto also in square from 20 Cap, closely conjunct Troemper, indicates the potential for a devastating outcome, as well as bringing in elements of coercion, corruption, and criminal behavior. Troemper further opposes asteroid Washingtonia at 23 Cancer, suggesting Trump’s increasingly fractured relationship with his own government.

 

House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) led the proceedings, represented celestially by asteroid Schiff at 28 Libra, exactly conjunct the Sun, with asteroid America in tow at 27 Libra. The Chairman (Schiff) is acting for his country (America), attempting to shed light (Sun) on the matter. A conjunction of asteroids William and Adam at 1 and 4 Scorpio are also within orb of the Sun, and show Schiff and Taylor as on the same team, bringing illumination (Sun). Asteroids which conjoin each other can be seen as allies or irritants; they can combine their energies or chafe one another. In this instance, the connection seems obvious, but in Trump’s birth chart, asteroids Adam at 4 Sagittarius and Taylor at 7 conjoin both each other and Troemper at 2 Sag, an indication that they “gang up” on Trump and restrict his movement.

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House Intel Chair Adam Schiff is overseeing the impeachment investigations; with asteroids Schiff and Adam conjunct the Sun and asteroid America, he’s in the right place at the right time

As an aside, asteroids Adam and Schiff have been traveling together within ten degrees since early July 2019, and will remain so entwined until late November. When PNAs representing both names of an individual are in this juxtaposition, it can indicate unified purpose and undivided focus, something the Chairman could surely use if he is to accomplish the House’s accelerated impeachment agenda by Thanksgiving.

 

We’re still in the opening stages of the World Series and the Impeachment process, but as of now, the stars seem to favor the challengers.

 

 

Alex Miller is a professional writer and astrologer, author of The Black Hole Book, detailing deep space points in astrological interpretation, and the forthcoming Heaven on Earth, a comprehensive study of asteroids, both mythic and personal. Alex is a frequent contributor to “The Mountain Astrologer”, “Daykeeper Journal”, and NCGR’s Journals and “Enews Commentary”; his work has also appeared in “Aspects” magazine, “Dell Horoscope”, “Planetwaves”, “Neptune Café” and “Sasstrology.” He is a past president of Philadelphia Astrological Society, and a former board member for the Philadelphia Chapter of NCGR.

2 comments, add yours.

Sandi Campbell

Interesting that Schiff is in Libra, representing, to some, justice reached through balanced deliberation.
Thanks for these ‘enlightening’ articles!

J

The Nationals team chart also features transit Uranus in a tight trine with the Part of Fortune. That probably played a role as well.

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