Alex's Asteroid Astrology

The deteriorating situation at the US/Mexico border began to gain traction in the Press in mid-March, as waves of unaccompanied minors flocked to seek asylum.  Mostly from violent, corrupt, climate-devastated regions in Central America, some of the overwhelming numbers of migrants were released from holding camps established on the Mexican side of the border during the Trump administration.  Others were new arrivals, emboldened by Biden’s election victory and the hope that his administration would deal more humanely with them than the previous one had.

Unfortunately, the crisis brought out some of the darker underbelly of the administration.  In my profile of the new regime, I had noted that asteroid Sphinx was one of the points at station in its chart, energies which would carry a greater weight and define the administration, for good or ill.  Quoting from that article: 

“Sphinx is hard to read – intentionally.  It conveys a certain opacity or inscrutability, a quality of mystery and enigma.  It can indicate questions, missing information, lack of answers and understanding; Sphinx at station in any administration could suggest an unforthcoming nature, a desire to conceal or obfuscate.  This will be an innate tendency of the Biden administration that may be difficult to overcome.” 

Sadly, this tendency came to the fore quickly, as the Media was kept largely in the dark regarding the situation developing in Texas, where access was denied to overcrowded detention facilities, Press ride-alongs on border patrol rounds were discontinued, and the White House refused to even characterize the circumstances as a crisis.  Only government-engendered photos were permitted, and even these were withheld for weeks before release, until after Texas Representative Henry Cuellar leaked some of his own after visiting a facility in Donna, Texas.

It’s difficult to establish a precise genesis for this ongoing story, but the heat was turned up in mid-March, so I chose the 15^th, the Ides of March, as a date traditionally fraught with portent (commemorating the date when Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC).  I was looking for a general baseline of this phase of the protracted immigration issue, and I found that this worked very well indeed.

Although mainly crossing into the US at the Texas/Mexico border, most of these migrants originate in the Central American countries of Guatemala and Honduras, trekking the intervening 2000+ miles on foot or with the facilitation of the infamous “Coyotes”, criminals specializing in smuggling immigrants.  These often charge exorbitant fees and provide traveling conditions which are dire, even deadly, in themselves.  So in this overview, I have used asteroids Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Texas and America, as well as Child.

I quickly found that I had chosen well, with the Sun moving through the midpoint of the ongoing Saturn/Uranus square, roughly semisquare to each.  The tension between stability and freedom, conservative values and progressive ideals, the status quo and the uncomfortable newness, the government and refugees, all depicted by that square, spoke volumes for why the issues had come to the boil at that time.

With the Sun at 25 Pisces on March 15^th was Neptune at 20 Pisces, underscoring the hopelessness and despair of the migrants, as well as the lack of clarity from the administration; Venus at 22 Pisces, arbiter of our values; and asteroid Child at 29 Pisces, the main issue at hand.  I was not at all surprised to find that this stellium was opposed by asteroid Sphinx at 19 Virgo, which is also the precise degree of Joe Biden’s Midheaven, ramping up the tendency to obfuscate or conceal, especially in the service of his career, status, reputation and standing (all MC concerns).

Nor was I dismayed to see, at the periphery of the stellium, asteroid America at 18 Pisces, and asteroid Guatemala at 3 Aries, with asteroid Bida (our primary celestial referent for the President) at 4 Aries.  Thus the vast majority of the players were present in this one grouping, scattered amongst a sixteen-degree stretch of the zodiac.  Asteroid Honduras at 5 Libra opposed the Child/Guatemala/Bida portion of the solar stellium, providing another link.  And forming a T-Square with the underlying dynamic of the Saturn/Uranus square was a pairing of asteroids Texas and Mexico at 5 and 11 Leo, defining the major crossing point for the migrants.  This puts Texas/Mexico roughly sesquiquadrate from the Sun, trine Child/Guatemala/Bida and sextile Honduras, linking all the geopolitical players.

The Biden administration chart, being just two months older, shows much of the same dynamics embedded in its framework.  Most striking is the conjunction of Child with Guatemala at 8 and 10 Pisces, tightly squared by asteroid NOT at 8 Sagittarius, a general disqualifier or symbol of halted momentum.  This is reflected in Biden’s recent statements that migrants should not approach the border, but rather wait for systems to be set up in their home countries for asylum application from there.  Interestingly, though not yet in effect, this configuration was hit by the November 30^th Lunar Eclipse, during the interregnum between Biden’s election and taking office.  At 8 Gemini, the eclipse T-Squared the soon-to-be-natal square, exactly aspecting Child and NOT.  There will be a “booster” of this energy, now fully in play, from the May 26^th Lunar Eclipse at 5 Sagittarius, which may reveal a turning point in the crisis.

Honduras weighs in from 9 Libra, sextile NOT and inconjunct Child, and it is surrounded by Biden PNA indicators, being conjoined both asteroid Jose, the Spanish equivalent of Joseph, at 5 Libra, and asteroid Giuseppina, the feminine Italian version, at 11 Libra, while squared asteroid Josefa, another feminine variant, at 7 Capricorn, suggesting the President is very personally involved in decisions made regarding these populations.  Be that as it may, he’s also been willing to delegate command of the day-to-day development of immigration policy to VP Kamala Harris, her first major assignment since taking office.  Her involvement is prefigured by asteroid Harris at 13 Libra in the administration chart, conjoined Honduras and inconjunct Child/Guatemala.

Texas and Mexico are still locked in their dance, even closer here, at 17 and 20 Leo, with conjoined planets indicating possible friction as they endlessly chafe each other, with no escape in sight.   These oppose the administration Mercury at 18 Leo, planetary ruler of adolescents, students and young people, again focusing on the issue of contention as Texas and Mexico duke it out over the immigration crisis across the southern border.

Joe Biden’s natal chart shows that, for the President personally, as well as his administration, a lack of candor and openness on this issue may come naturally.  Born 20 November 1942, Biden owns a Grand Cross of Guatemala at 5 Taurus opposing Texas at 3 Scorpio, with the squared polarity composed of Bida at 3 Leo and – you guessed it! – Sphinx at 0 Aquarius!  That latter placement is most unfortunate, coinciding exactly with the administration’s Sun, feeding Biden’s private misgivings and reluctance to disclose into public policy.  Guatemala also conjoins his natal Moon at 0 Taurus, which feeds into the entire pattern, so Biden’s response to rehoming (Moon) these migrants (Guatemala) will be an emotional one (Moon), but with Pluto at 7 Leo also drawn into the Grand Cross, there is a certain quality of calculation, ruthlessness and self-preservation (all Pluto) that accompanies his decisions.  The situation genuinely tears at his heart strings, but also activates a survival instinct that may promote further defensiveness or lack of transparency.

Asteroids Honduras and Mexico are both at 14 Sagittarius, widely conjunct asteroid Child at 21 Sag, and more closely opposed Saturn at 9 Gemini, indicating a desire to limit or restrict underage immigration from that quarter.  This can also manifest as minors (Child) from Central America (Guatemala) kept in conditions of privation or hardship, with limited resources (all Saturn).  Honduras/Mexico also squares Biden’s natal MC at 19 Virgo, so how he deals with this issue could strongly affect his career, for the man who has just stated, against common expectation, that he does indeed intend to run for reelection in 2024, at age 82.  Natal asteroid Achilles exact with Neptune at 1 Libra, also conjunct asteroid America at 6 Libra, suggests that his handling of refugees (Neptune) could prove a weak spot or vulnerability (Achilles) in his relations with the nation (America).

How the situation ultimately unfolds and develops is anyone’s guess, but currently the US is on track to see migrants in numbers greater than we’ve experienced in two decades.  This is an issue that’s not going away, and may be very difficult indeed to resolve.