Alex's Asteroid Astrology

Now, before you get your knickers in a twist, Old Joe is the name of an asteroid, not just an agist slam on Joe Biden, whose 81^st birthday occurs Monday, 20 November 2023.  With vast numbers of Americans, even Democratic supporters, leery about Biden’s ability to continue four more years in the notoriously high-pressure job due to his age, the point seems an increasingly apt celestial moniker to represent the 46^th President of the United States.

With the 2024 election just two weeks shy of Biden’s next birthday, I’m not sure which Solar Return will be most effective when Americans go to the polls, the waning 2023 or the incipient 2024.  But let’s just take a quick look at what the skies say about Old Joe’s coming year, regardless of the boffo finish.

With the Sun at 27 Scorpio exactly conjoined by asteroid America 916, it looks like Americans are more behind Biden than polling might suggest.  At this point, things seem like a referendum on Biden, and persons who are disgruntled about the current state of affairs are naturally likely to give any sitting president bad reviews.  But come next November, it won’t be a referendum, it will be a choice.  And Americans have been nothing if not consistent in rejecting Donald Trump, by large margins.  Trump lost the popular vote by some three million in 2016, and by more than double that in 2020.  They’re unlikely to reverse that judgment in the next go-round.

Which isn’t to say Trump doesn’t have a shot at returning to the Oval Office.  Sadly, with the US’ messed-up electoral system, he does.  Trump squeaked into the presidency in 2016 with about 10,000 votes in three key states that were perfectly balanced to bring him an Electoral College win, and the same could happen again in 2024.

But the exact conjunction of Biden’s Solar Return (hereafter abbreviated “SR”) Sun with asteroid America signals a strong underlying connection and identification of the nation with its current commander-in-chief.  Is everybody happy about that?  No, not with SR Mars also here, at 26 Scorpio.  There’s some grumpy, cranky, malcontented energy there, which will have to be dealt with, and a united front formed, for electoral success.  On the other hand, Mars on his Sun could provide a wellspring of much-needed energy for the octogenarian, with a presidential campaign adding considerably to the rigors of a normal year in office, already taxing in the extreme.

Sun/Mars is also involved with a T-Square, comprising an opposition to SR Uranus at 20 Taurus, with SR Damocles 5335 exactly conjunct SR asteroid Troemper 28130 at 26 Aquarius on its fulcrum.  Uranus opposed the Sun says, “assume crash positions!”  It’s bound to be a year chockful of unexpected twists and turns, startling shocks and surprises, volatility and controversy.  At seven degrees wide initially, the aspect narrows during the course of the year, with a retrograde station exactly opposed the Sun in September 2024.  If there’s going to be an earthshaking event affecting the election outcome, expect it then.

Troemper is our celestial referent for The Donald, and its exact conjunction with Damocles, closely squared Biden’s Sun, suggests there is a doom hanging overhead, some looming threat of disaster.  The problem here is that the skies aren’t clear about doom for whom?  Is this a straightforward read of Trump’s loss at Biden’s hands, or a warning that Trump could upset the apple cart and boot Biden from his position?  All we know for certain is that Biden and Trump are involved, the outcome is unforeseen or controversial, and the nation is heavily invested in it.

Again, with no certainty that this Solar Return will be fully operable in a year’s time, what are the indicators of a Biden victory?  Actually, there are a fair number, but not without some caveats.

Let’s start with that SR asteroid Old Joe 10515.  At 16 Libra, Old Joe conjoins SR Venus at 13 Libra, and both align with the US natal Saturn, representing the presidency, at 14 Libra (also here is asteroid Josefa 649 at 12 Libra, underscoring Biden’s personal connection).  Venus is known as the “Lesser Benefic,” providing luck and positive outcomes; it also represents women generally, who are likely to support Biden over all.  If that margin is large enough, it’s “game over” for Trump, and the close conjunction with the US Saturn suggests women are pivotal in choosing the country’s next leader.  Old Joe/Venus also squares SR asteroid Washingtonia 886 at 12 Capricorn, another indicator that Biden is returned to DC on a tide of women voters.

SR asteroid Bida 32014, our cosmic placeholder for Biden, appears at 17 Sagittarius, conjunct SR Mercury at 15 Sagittarius.  This could relate to young people’s support for the President, with Mercury ruling that demographic, and also represents the vote itself.  But the cosmos is muddying the waters a bit here, with a conjunction to SR asteroid Donn 4689 at 11 Sagittarius, another indicator of Donald Trump, albeit with a wider orb.  Will they split the youth vote, perhaps with Trump getting a larger share than anticipated?

On a less ambiguous note, we see SR asteroid Josephina 303 (a feminine equivalent of Joseph, for which there is no exact match) at 2 Libra conjoined SR asteroid Victoria 12 at 0 Libra.  Victoria is named for the Roman goddess of victory, and the root of our word.  That seems pretty straightforward, and the union is enhanced by placement at the Apex of a Yod, or Finger of Destiny, with inconjunct aspects to SR Saturn with SR asteroid Karma 3811 at 0 and 4 Pisces, and asteroid Nike 307, named for Victoria’s Greek counterpart, at 1 Taurus, doubling down on that winning vibe in what appears to be a fated (Karma, Yod) victory (Victoria, Nike), for Biden (Josephina) in his quest to retain the presidency (Saturn).  As well, SR asteroid Guiseppina 6533 at 26 Aries (an Italian feminine form of the name) conjoins Nike, another indicator that victory is within his grasp.

Secondary pointers to a Democratic win include SR asteroid Demokritos 6129 at 25 Gemini, conjoined SR asteroid Whitehouse 4036 at 21 Gemini, squared SR asteroid Jose 1423 (Spanish for Joseph) at 23 Pisces.  This pattern is suggestive of a Democratic (Demokritos) retention of the Oval Office (Whitehouse), in the person of Biden (Jose).  But there’s a cautionary note in the form of SR Neptune at 24 Pisces, conjunct Jose.  Neptune can encourage false hopes, a denial of reality, and disappointing outcomes.  It also tends to weaken what it touches, so Biden’s increased frailty might become an even bigger issue over the year than it is currently.

A number of astrologers, including siderealist Ken Bowser, have predicted that Biden may not survive to the next election, and that a late-day withdrawal, via death or a major health crisis, could spell disaster for the Democrats, cast into confusion and unable to rally around a progressive alternative.

Biden’s 2023 Solar Return is not without intimations of mortality, though to be fair, this sort of interaction is not uncommon, and often simply indicates major change. 

Be that as it may, celestial indicators of potential demise include SR asteroid Osiris 1923 at 0 Sagittarius (named for the Egyptian god of the dead), conjoined the SR Sun at 27 Scorpio; SR asteroid Lachesis 120 at 17 Aries (named for the mythic Greek Fate who determines the span of life), opposed SR Old Joe at 16 Libra, in a T-Square with SR asteroid Requiem at 13 Capricorn (named for the funeral mass for the dead); SR asteroid Anubis 192 at 23 Sagittarius (named for the Egyptian deity governing funerary rites), squared SR Jose at 23 Pisces; and SR Pluto at 28 Capricorn (modern lord of death) squared SR asteroid Giuseppina at 26 Aries.

Yes, that does seem like a preponderance of aspects of a potentially fatal nature.  I’m unfamiliar with how these points typically show in a Solar Return chart which results in death during that year, but if this were a chart of a demise itself, this is exactly what I would expect to find.

I guess we just have to cross our fingers and hope that Old Joe has another dozen months in him at least.