Alex's Asteroid Astrology

OK, yes, somewhat redundant, because JD Vance has been in Washington for 18 months already, since his election to the Senate in 2022.  But you all know how much I love punning titles.  “Mr. Bowman” is a reference to Vance’s birth name, which was James Donald Bowman.  Vance has shifted identities over the course of his life with chameleon-like regularity, becoming James David Hamel as a toddler, after his parents divorced and his mother married Bob Hamel, who adopted him.  Vance shed his skin yet again, becoming James David “JD” Vance (his maternal grandfather’s surname) when he married wife Usha in 2014.  But the title also conjures images of that Americana utopia crafted by filmmaker Frank Capra, a land which never existed, but which Republicans still insist on trying to revive.

Vance may be tailor-made for their aspirations.  Although a very vocal Trump critic in 2016, calling him “America’s Hitler” and “cultural heroin,” Vance’s chameleon DNA has asserted itself sufficiently to place him atop Trump’s short list for a 2024 running mate.  They say the cream rises to the top, but so does feces, and Trump made the announcement that Vance was his choice on the first day of the Republican National Convention.

Born 2 August 1984 (no time available), it’s no shock that JD Vance would gravitate to the nation’s capital, with asteroid Washingtonia 886 embedded at station, turning retrograde from 7 Aries on August 14^th but already at its station degree.  Stationary points exert a much greater-than-usual influence on character and biography, becoming the lodestars of our existence.  With a stationary Washingtonia, JD Vance’s True North has always been DC. 

Washingtonia also appears in a Grand Trine Kite pattern with trines to the Sun at 10 Leo and Uranus at 9 Sagittarius, the String formed by Washingtonia’s opposition to asteroid Ohio 439 at 11 Libra, which confirms Vance as a self-identified (Sun) radical (Uranus) when it comes to federal policy (Washingtonia).  Ohio, the state Vance represents, becomes the gateway to DC, and the vehicle to drive him there can be seen in asteroid Senator 8603 (Vance’s current job title), which at 5 Cancer squares Ohio and trines Saturn (career) at 10 Scorpio.

Saturn also exactly squares the Sun, confirming Vance’s conservative bona fides.  More important, that square joins a Grand Cross, composed of the Sun’s opposition to a pairing of asteroids America 916 and Whitehouse 4036 at 6 and 8 Aquarius, and a second square, to TNO Chaos 19521 with asteroid Lie 26955, both at 9 Taurus.  It’s hard to imagine a more fitting pattern to describe someone hellbent on creating a MAGA dystopia, than to combine energies of repression, limitation and authoritarianism (Saturn) with disorder, anarchy (Chaos) and deception (Lie), all focused on transforming the nation (America) via the Oval Office (Whitehouse).

Vance’s radicalism can be seen in such stances as those on abortion (he supports a national ban, with no exceptions other than the life of the mother, stating in regards to rape and incest exceptions that “two wrongs don’t make a right”); women’s rights (he has stated his wish that women in abusive, even violent, relationships should stick with them); gay rights (he opposed the Respect for Marriage Act which legalized same-sex unions, and proposed a bill to make gender-affirming care for minors a federal crime); immigration (he proposed a bill to make English the US “official language” and opposes any form of amnesty for illegal immigrants); and Ukraine (he opposes any further funding of their struggle against Russian aggression).  What a prince!

Vance’s 10 Leo Sun is conjoined by asteroid Hybris 430 at 4 Leo, named for the Greek goddess of prideful arrogance, so there’s a strong streak of conceit and haughty egotism in his essential makeup.  Providing cosmic backup is Mercury, exactly conjoined asteroid Narcissus 37117 at 7 Virgo, and squared Uranus at 9 Sagittarius.  Mercury with Narcissus denotes someone whose thoughts (Mercury) are always on himself (Narcissus), rarely giving consideration to others (or even acknowledging their existence).  The square to Uranus brings out the radicalism in his views, utterances and written statements.  I find it personally amusing that the Mercury/Narcissus conjunction also suggests self-obsession in a written form, and JD Vance’s claim to fame was his much-ballyhooed 2016 book “Hillbilly Elegy,” a bestselling personal memoir of his family.

His PNAs (Personal-Named Asteroids) don’t fit the normal pattern, so far as we can tell (they don’t connect to the Sun or Mercury, two typical placements, but we’d need a time of birth to determine connections with the Moon or Ascendant, the other two points most commonly engaged), but are intriguing nonetheless.

Asteroid James 2335, the only name he was given at birth that has consistently remained a part of his identity, is exactly conjunct Venus at 23 Leo, also joined by asteroids Hammel 3530 (variation of his first adoptive surname, Hamel) and Bowman 2996 (his birth surname) at 25 and 26 Leo (there is no celestial equivalent of Vance).  Asteroid Donn 4689 at 0 Leo, closest to Donald, his original middle name, broadly conjoins the Sun, the only PNA to fit the standard pattern, and was jettisoned early in his existence.  Asteroid Davida 511, a feminine form of the name that was chosen to replace Donald, appears at 24 Pisces, inconjunct James, Hammel and Bowman.  

Donn, of course, also references Donald Trump, and may contribute to the simpatico between them, with The Donald seeing a “Mini Me” in Vance, who, if elected, would be the youngest US Vice President since Richard Nixon in 1952 (now there’s a comforting comparison!), and the heir apparent to MAGA-land.  But just eight years earlier, Donn’s square to asteroid Panacea 2878 at 4 Scorpio (named for the Greek goddess of medicines, asteroid ruler of drugs of all kinds, also a term for a “quick fix” of any kind) could have contributed to Vance describing Trump and his promises as “the needle in America’s collective vein.  Trump is cultural heroin.  He makes some feel better for a bit.  But he cannot fix what ails them,” (as published in his piece for “The Atlantic,” 6 July 2016).

It’s interesting, given Trump’s pervasive influence on his life (he also facilitated Vance’s rise to the Senate by endorsing him in the 2022 Ohio GOP primary), that asteroid Troemper 28130 has so little to say in the chart.  At 18 Gemini, Troemper (our celestial referent for Trump) makes no major contacts, though it is semisquare Hybris, squared Davida, and trine asteroid Nemesis 128 at 25 Libra, noted as a source of ruin or destruction (yet another reason for Vance’s initial skepticism and abhorrence of Trump).

But one thing Troemper did do – it was ready and waiting for its transiting equivalent to reconnect with it when Donald Trump named JD Vance as his running mate on 15 July 2024.  Transit Troemper at 17 Gemini, amazingly, is right back where it started, just a degree off the natal placement.  So Vance was experiencing a “Troemper Return” at the time, a remarkable testament to the efficacy of these bitty bits of rock chunk to affect our destiny.

Also in Return mode?  Asteroid America, which at 9 Aquarius retrograde was just about to return to its 6 Aquarius natal placement, also conjunct natal Whitehouse at 8 Aquarius, and setting off the entire Grand Cross.  America has been crisscrossing itself for months, with its first reconnect by direct motion in May, as Vance’s name began to be discussed as running mate; this retro pass occurring less than two weeks after his elevation; and the final direct conjunction to come in late October, just two weeks before the election.

When Trump formally announced the pick on his social media platform at 2 PM CDT on July 15^th, in Milwaukee, WI asteroids Davida and Bowman at 5 and 7 Taurus joined asteroid Washingtonia, also at 7 Taurus, all on the 13 Taurus Descendant.  This asteroid cluster rests on the fulcrum of a T-Square with Pluto at 1 Aquarius conjunct asteroid America at 9 Aquarius, and Venus at 5 Leo with asteroid Whitehouse at 10 Leo.  This depicts Vance (Davida, his adoptive middle name of David; and Bowman, his birth surname) as Trump’s pick for a partner (Venus) in his quest to transform (some might say, “destroy;” both are Pluto) the US (America) via the presidency (Whitehouse).  Note also that Whitehouse conjoins Vance’s natal Sun exactly, and opposes its natal degree, in a ”Full Moon” placement that symbolizes completion and fulfillment.  So the natal potential that could place JD Vance in the Oval Office was given a further boost by this second transit activation of the Grand Cross.

Vance is also seen as asteroid Senator, which at 16 Aquarius conjoins the 24 Aquarius IC for the announcement; closely trine to asteroid Troemper at 17 Gemini, Senator Vance was an easy choice to make.  As well, asteroids James and Hammel at 1 and 4 Cancer bracket TNO Chaos at 2 Cancer, not a comforting thought, evoking images of the chaos Vance as Veep, and possibly successor to Donald Trump, could create.

If there’s a silver lining in all this, it comes in the form of Mercury.  Ruling decisions, announcements, and the voting process, Mercury at 19 Leo conjoins the 24 Leo MC, the point of highest elevation in the chart, the focus of all eyes.  This is no more than appropriate for an attention-getting announcement with such far-reaching repercussions, but Mercury doesn’t stand alone.  Accompanying it are asteroids Whitehouse at 10 Leo, Achilles 588 at 14 Leo, Lie at 21 Leo, and Nemesis at 25 Leo.

The implication here is that, having doubled down on MAGA extremism in his choice (Mercury) of JD Vance as running mate, his willing partner in deception (Lie), Donald Trump may have inadvertently created a weakness or vulnerability (Achilles) which threatens to destroy (Nemesis) his presidential campaign (Whitehouse).

Or so we may hope.