Alex's Asteroid Astrology

People often ask how I do what I do. And truly, it’s not that difficult, it just requires basic astrologic knowledge, solid data, detail orientation and the focus to do it (which my Virgo Moon grumpily supplies), allied with a bit of synchronicity, luck, happenstance or whatever you call it.

Recently an example encapsulating this process presented itself, and I thought it to be a particularly apt and illustrative case in point. Part of what I do is science, and part is art. The simple science comes in when using major planetary energies or asteroids which perfectly match the subject or theme. I sometimes think of that as classical music, with time-honored rules and procedures.

Then there’s jazz. And that’s the art. It’s knowing how and when to finagle a point to fit the facts or the cast, and it’s a learned skill. And some of these leaps of understanding or interpretation are, quite frankly, illogical, even farcical or absurd. But when they work, they work.

For example, take asteroid Baldone. It’s named for a mountain peak in Latvia, and shouldn’t really have much application beyond that. Except for a linguistic coincidence, whereby, in English, broken down into its component parts, “Baldone” becomes “bald-one.” I come from a long line of bald men, and started losing my hair in my twenties; it’s one of the first things you notice about me, and I have Baldone conjunct my Ascendant! Now, I’ll be honest, I haven’t researched Baldone in other charts to any great extent, but Martha Lang Wescott has, queen of asteroid research, and she swears by it.

Steve Bullock (left) accused fellow presidential candidate, billionaire Tom Steyer (right), of buying his way onto the debate stage, prompting my initial investigation of asteroid Buysballot

She also put me on to asteroid Barto for facial hair. Barto has its German root in “bart”, meaning “beard.” I’ve had a beard or mustache since age 17, and I have Barto opposed my Moon! Then there’s asteroid Stout. Stout is actually named for the brewed beverage similar to beer, but it works beautifully in its English usage of “somewhat fat.” I’ve struggled with weight all my life, and have Stout conjunct the Sun!

But we’re getting off track. What we want to discuss today is asteroid Buysballot. I came across this oddly named chunk of space debris while scrolling through Mark Andrew Holmes’ site, which is always informative about such things. And here’s where the synchronicity part comes in. I was there to look up another B entry, and just came across it in passing. But what sparked my interest was an item from the news that morning, regarding Democratic presidential candidate Steve Bullock’s recent complaint about the rules for participating in the upcoming debates.

By now, with the Baldone example above, you may have divined that Buysballot breaks down to “buys-ballot”, or “paying for your vote”, and Mark Andrew Holmes equates this with all sorts of election fraud or tampering. I wondered if it might apply also to the Bullock story, where the Montana Governor accuses fellow competitor (and billionaire) Tom Steyer of spending $10 million on social media and ads to entice the 130,000 small money donors required to qualify him for the next debate.

The Kennedy-Nixon battle for the presidency in 1960, notoriously influenced by Kennedy’s dad’s big bucks; just weeks after its discovery, Buysballot appears in a Yod with Uranus and asteroid Kennedy at that election

So that’s the first step – find the story, identify the players, and check for points that match those facts. Buysballot was too good a name to pass up (it’s an actual surname, by the way, christened in honor of Dutch meteorologist Christophorus Henricus Diedericus Buys Ballot – is that a mouthful, or what?), and I had a feeling this would prove to be a useful addition to my asteroid toolkit.

Bullock had made his complaint on August 13. A quick check through the alphabetical listing of named points at the Minor Planet Center confirmed what I already knew, that there’s a Stevens asteroid for Steve, and a Thomas. Further investigation revealed an exact match for Bullock, and a Steyaerts for “Steyer.” I added asteroid Whitehouse to the mix, since this concerns a presidential race, and ran the chart.

What I found surprised even me. Asteroids Stevens and Bullock were at the same degree, 3 Pisces, and formed part of the base of a Yod, or Finger of Destiny, a pattern which typically denotes some fated or extraordinary circumstance, but can also apply in more mundane matters. The other point on the base of the Yod was, you guessed it, Buysballot, at 0 Capricorn in sextile to Stevens/Bullock. And at the Apex, inconjunct to both? Why, Whitehouse, of course, conjunct Mercury, at 1 and 2 Leo! So Steve Bullock (Stevens/Bullock) was questioning the essential fairness of the rule, alleging that Tom Steyer had been able to buy his way (Buysballot) into the presidential (Whitehouse) debate (Mercury), and there it was, writ large in the heavens!

The 2000 election was the mother of all electoral funny business; back-to-back Orlando Sentinel headlines illustrate the confusion. Buysballot conjoined Saturn, in close aspect to a stationary direct Mercury, ruling the vote

It was also the day of the Sun/Venus conjunction, which backs up the “essential” (Sun) fairness (Venus)” angle, and Tom Steyer, as the embodiment of that rule, is represented by asteroid Thomas at 20 Pisces, exactly inconjunct Sun/Venus, and asteroid Steyaerts, in trine from 19 Aries. The inconjunct represents adjustment, and Bullock was seeking an adjustment in the rules to make them more equitable, using Tom Steyer as an example.

Having linked Buysballot to a real-time incident involving possible financial funny business in the electoral process (if not an election itself), I decided I had a good enough return on that investment to warrant further research. It’s become axiomatic in the astrologic community that when a new point is discovered, events surrounding that discovery will illustrate the point’s meaning. So I checked for Buysballot’s discovery date, and wasn’t surprised to see September 24, 1960, just weeks before the Kennedy/Nixon presidential competition. Kennedy’s father, Joseph Kennedy Sr, is purported to have bought that election for his son, with the connivance of the Illinois Mafia, who helped bring in that state for the Democrats, tipping the outcome in their favor.

When I cast the chart for Election Day, 8 November 1960, I found another Yod! This one has Buysballot at 25 Pisces on the Apex, with the base comprised of Uranus (an upset or controversial, unexpected outcome) at 25 Leo and asteroid Kennedy at 26 Libra. Again, confirmation.

My next stop, of course, was the 2000 election battle between VP Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush. There wasn’t any vote-buying alleged in that contest, so far as I could recall, but there was plenty of electoral shenanigans, centered on Florida, the state run by the Republican candidate’s brother, who emerged the winner. This would be a good test of whether Buysballot could be used to forecast all kinds of election chicanery, or just financial indiscretions.

The Florida recount in 2000 introduced Americans to a whole new lexicon of electoral terms, including hanging, pregnant, dimpled and dangling chads: the Sun with Sisyphus that day foreshadowed the multiple recounts in some counties, with microscope-wielding examiners trying to determine voter intent

The 2000 election was already heavily on my mind, since I had noted a few days previously that a weird factor from that date would be recurring in the 2020 presidential election. On Election Day, 7 November 2000, Mercury came to its direct station, at 29 Libra. I had looked back over the ephemeris, and that had never occurred before, at least not since the first election of FDR in 1932. But it’s happening again next year, with Mercury turning direct at 25 Libra on Election Day.

It had been a long time since I looked at the 2000 election chart, and I didn’t have all the tools then that I use now. So I took another gander, adding asteroids George, Busch (alternate spelling of Bush), Albert, Gora (for Gore, closest match), Whitehouse, and of course my new friend Buysballot.

What stood out at once was Albert at 3 Scorpio, with SD Mercury at 29 Libra – Gore would be the candidate most affected by the directional change, for good or ill. With Albert exactly squared Neptune at 3 Aquarius, it looked like a huge disappointment, and the possibility of fraud.

The Sun at 15 Scorpio was exact with asteroid Sisyphus, named for that Hadean resident doomed to forever roll a rock uphill, only to have it rollback down again, thus necessitating an eternal repetition of the action. That’s the recount, which did indeed seem endless – doing it over, in some counties, more than once. These are in a close T-Square with Uranus at 16 Aquarius – more controversy, shocks and upsets, as well as tinkering with technologies – and Whitehouse at 16 Taurus, the prize of the Oval Office.

Was the 2004 presidential election stolen by electronic means? Buysballot was in a T-square with the Sun and asteroid Whitehouse, trined asteroid Busch

Asteroid Busch is strongly placed; at 16 Sagittarius, it conjoins Pluto at 11 – power – and asteroid Washingtonia at 19 Sag – for the nation’s capital. These broadly oppose Jupiter, the Greater Benefic, ruling politics and bringing luck or positive outcomes, at 8 Gemini. Asteroid George is also embedded in the day, stationary retrograde at 8 Cancer, in trine to the Sun, a powerful position for the Republican nominee.

Albert with Mercury might have swung the vote Gore’s way – and it did, he won the popular vote nationally by some 600,000 – if not for Mercury’s ambivalent stance at station, and… Buysballot! At 27 Taurus, Buysballot conjoined Saturn at 28 Taurus, symbol of the Chief Executive and the office of the presidency itself. These are closely inconjunct Mercury, affecting the outcome of the vote.

The 2004 presidential election may have been the most-manipulated in history. Exit polls across the nation showing John Kerry leading were unaccountably overturned by official voting results in more than two dozen states, leading to wide speculation that something wasn’t right. But in true bipartisan denial fashion, Americans just rolled over, and the nation rolled on with a second term for George W. Bush. On November 2, 2004, Buysballot at 15 Leo was in a loose T-Square with the Election Day Sun at 10 Scorpio and asteroid Whitehouse at 20 Taurus, with Buysballot also trined asteroid Busch at 12 Sagittarius.

Donald Trump stalks Hillary Clinton during a presidential debate in 2016; Buysballot conjunct Moskva, squared Saturn and trine the Sun, clearly shows Russia’s involvement in the race

Of course Russian interference in 2016 has been well documented by several investigations, including the Mueller Report. It’s difficult to calculate just how much effect was had on voters’ choices by the fake social media ads, but a recent Senate Intelligence Committee report confirmed that election systems in all 50 states were hacked by the Russians, to one extent or another, though there is currently no proof of voting tabulation alteration.

Given this, we shouldn’t be surprised to find asteroid Moskva, Russian for Moscow, its capital, at 11 Pisces conjunct Buysballot at 7 Pisces on Election Day, 6 November 2016. Both are trine the 14 Scorpio Sun and squared Saturn at 14 Sagittarius, symbol of the presidency, with Moskva also at its station degree, turning direct a week later. 2016 was remarkable for having PNAs representing both its candidates at station, with asteroid Hillary at 16 Cancer, about to turn retrograde 5 days later and Troemper at 22 Pisces, poised to resume direct motion the day after the vote. Incidentally, transit asteroid Russia at 18 Gemini conjoins Donald Trump’s natal Sun and squares asteroid Troemper in the transit sky, another cosmic indicator of whose side they were on.

Well, inevitably, after all that I had to look at 2020. This is not a full examination of the upcoming Election Day, just one piece of it. But there are remarkable similarities to 2000, and these aren’t encouraging for the outcome, in isolation.

In addition to another SD Mercury in late Libra, we have the same leading players as 2000, just reshuffled on the cosmic board. This contest will feature Sun conjunct Whitehouse at 11 and 18 Scorpio respectively, with Uranus now opposed from 8 Taurus. More potential for a shocking outcome in the race for president, more capacity for technical glitches or interference.

And Buysballot? Buysballot finds itself at 25 Gemini, newly off its retrograde station at 26 two weeks prior, still moving slowly, and in exact trine to Mercury! Buysballot is also inconjunct Saturn at 26 Capricorn (which squares Mercury), reiterating another connection it shares with 2000.   Also here is Pluto at 22 Cap, and Jupiter at 21. Jupiter/Pluto smacks of criminal activity in a political context, while Saturn specifies the presidential race.

With Trump’s natal Buysballot conjunct Jupiter and t-squared Mercury and Whitehouse, we can expect LOTS of BS in 2020, despite this faux campaign poster

And how about Buysballot in Donald Trump’s chart? At 10 Libra, it conjoins Jupiter, ruling politics, at 17, and is in a T-Square with natal Mercury at 8 Cancer, the vote itself, and asteroid Whitehouse at 4 Capricorn, the Oval Office up for grabs in the contest.

It’s far too early to set one’s hair on fire and pull out the sackcloth and ashes, but this preliminary glimpse is troublesome, to say the least. With Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refusing to even bring funding for increased electoral security to a vote, and Donald Trump jokingly asking Putin not to interfere this time around (to say nothing of leading intelligence officials saying they are doing just that), we can only wonder what atrocities will be committed.

But at least we now have Buysballot to add to the cautionary tale.