Alex's Asteroid Astrology

Joe Biden officially threw his hat into the ring for the 2024 US presidential election, announcing his candidacy in an online video that crossed just after 6 AM EDT on 25 April 2023.  Hardly shocking news, Biden had been signaling his intention to run for reelection for months.  The moment chosen seems to be an auspicious one at the micro astro-level, but its placement in the midst of eclipse season, with a stationary Pluto and a retrograde Mercury, makes it an ill-timed choice over all.

Cast for Washington DC, the chart features 27 Aries rising, conjoined by Jupiter at 25 Aries and asteroid Whitehouse 4036 at 28 Aries, with the Sun just creeping up to the horizon from 4 Taurus.  That’s fine as far as it goes, and a T-Square with asteroids Bida 32014 (our celestial referent for Biden) at 21 Libra and Josephina 303 (feminine variation of Joseph, for which there is no exact match in English) at 22 Cancer links the president directly to this energy.  That speaks to optimism and positive outcomes (both Jupiter) for the current occupant of the Oval Office (Whitehouse) as the president (Josephina, Bida) begins a new venture (Sun on the Ascendant at the start of the day – a new dawn, as it were).  Whitehouse has angular force and momentum, as does Bida, conjoined the 27 Libra Descendant, and Josephina, conjoined the 15 Cancer IC.

All well and good, but there’s also a fly in this ointment:  namely, the presence of TNO Eris 136199 at 24 Aries, right in the mix.  Energized by the recent Solar Eclipse at 29 Aries just five days prior, Eris represents fractiousness, division and squabbling.  It’s a strife-ridden energy, quick to take offense, resentful, prone to feeling disrespected, insulted or marginalized, certainly not the sort of atmosphere one wants to cultivate in bringing the nation together.  With Mars, another energy not noted for making friends and playing well together, exactly on the 15 Cancer IC, squared asteroid America 916 at 10 Libra, there is lots of resentment and animosity (Mars) in this launch, in a country (America) seemingly at war (Mars) with itself.

But there’s solid campaign energy as well, with Mars ruling competitions and contests of all sorts.   And energy is certainly something Joe Biden needs to project, if he’s to overcome the handicap of his age.  At just a few weeks shy of his 82^nd birthday for the 2024 election, aged 86 at the end of that term, Biden is by far the oldest man to serve as commander-in-chief, and that could be a major stumbling block toward reaching his goal.  Even among Democrats, the prospect of a Joe Biden candidacy is not welcomed by the majority – perhaps his saving grace is the fact that even fewer of his countrymen want to see Donald Trump run again.

And even less does the nation desire a second Biden/Trump rematch, though it certainly looks like that’s where we’re heading.  The karmic link between the two men is expressed in a square from asteroid Donn 4686 (for The Donald) at 2 Libra to asteroid Old Joe 10515 (an increasingly apt moniker for the President) at 1 Cancer; with a stationary asteroid Washingtonia 886 at 1 Capricorn, we see the bone these two old dogs are fighting over.  Washingtonia turned retrograde the day after Biden’s announcement, making it an embedded factor in the period and signaling that some form of change is on the way.

Joe Biden populates the chart in several ways, via additional celestial surrogates.  Asteroid Josefa 649 (the feminine Spanish variation) squares the Sun from 11 Leo, spotlighting him in the moment of his announcement.  But asteroid Jose 1423 (masculine Spanish equivalent of Joseph) at 11 Pisces conjoins Saturn at 4 Pisces, a mixed bag at best.  Yes, Saturn represents the presidency, and establishes Biden as its current occupant, but it can also mean loss, and signals old age – with Damocles 5335 also here at 2 Pisces, we have a repetition of that looming threat (Damocles) to his candidacy, the fact of his age.  Asteroid Giuseppina 6533 (a feminine Italian variant) appears at 2 Aries, conjoined Neptune at 26 Pisces, bringing in concerns over mental acuity, ability to focus, and general decline or weakness.

Pluto’s 0 Aquarius station still squares the 4 Taurus Sun, perhaps fueling power into the reelect campaign, but also exactly squares Joe Biden’s natal Moon at 0 Taurus, raising the specter of a serious health crisis, perhaps fatal (with Pluto as modern lord of death).  In that context, Kamala Harris could become vitally important in the reelect, as the individual who is just a heartbeat away from the presidency.  Her support seems unflagging, however, with asteroid Harris 2929 at 8 Pisces conjoined Jose and Saturn, and asteroid Camillo 3752 (one of several variations on Kamala, for which there is no match) at 18 Cancer conjunct Josephina and Mars.  She’s his stalwart (Saturn) and champion (Mars), but the same pairings could also elicit a degree of coldness or separation (Saturn) and friction between them (Mars).

In addition to its square to the Sun, asteroid Josefa at 11 Leo is squared a cluster of points in mid-Taurus, comprising that retrograde Mercury at 14 Taurus, asteroid Demokritos 6129 at 12, Uranus at 18 and asteroid Nemesis 128 at 19 Taurus.  This is a troubling mix; it speaks to a potential for some sort of shock or surprise (Uranus) which puts Democrats (Demokritos) in a controversial or volatile stance (Uranus also) that threatens to undermine (Nemesis) the campaign.  It may have to do with an utterance (Mercury) by Biden (Josefa), who famously suffers from foot-in-mouth disease and can at times be a gaffe machine.  It could relate to messaging issues (Mercury) or even be a presage of future technical problems (Uranus again) that interfere with the eventual voting process (Mercury).  Making matters worse and more unpredictable is the Lunar Eclipse on May 5^th at 14 Scorpio, exactly opposing this Mercury, thus energizing its effects.

Whatever it points to, there’s lots of room for mischief in this combination, and it shouldn’t be taken lightly.  In general Mercury retrograde is never an optimal time to set out on a new course or initiate action, and endeavors begun under its auspices often turn out quite differently from expectations and hopes.  Eclipses are notorious for shaking things up in unexpected ways, and the period surrounding Pluto’s station is fraught with potential peril and the risk of a devastating outcome.

All in all, not a great cosmic start to what may be the latest in a string of “the most important election of our lives.”