Alex's Asteroid Astrology

Have you ever had a bad day? I mean, a really, really, REALLY bad day? Well, unless it involved bodily harm, it can’t have been much worse than Tuesday, August 21^st, 2018 was for Donald J. Trump, when two of his closest associates were found guilty of fraud and criminal conduct. Paul Manafort, one of Trump’s Campaign Managers in 2016, was convicted of eight counts of bank fraud and tax evasion by an Alexandria, Virginia jury; and in New York, Michael Cohen, his long-time lawyer and fixer, pled guilty to eight similar charges, as well as campaign finance violations, implicating the President in the process.

Talk about synchronicity! If the Manafort jury and Cohen’s lawyer had “colluded” in this double body blow to the President, they couldn’t have done better. And all while the transit Sun at 28 Leo was just crossing Trump’s 29 Leo Ascendant, the point which governs how others see us. “Birds of a feather” indeed, and Trump’s flocking association with two more felons on an ever-expanding list shows him up yet again as fundamentally flawed, dishonest and corrupt.

We’ve already discussed the Manafort trial and Trump’s relationship with Cohen, so I won’t go back over old ground now. Just taking a look at the day itself, however, presents us with some illuminating factors.

Paul Manafort arrives at the courthouse with his lawyer, to hear his “truth-speaking” – the literal meaning of “verdict”

In addition to its conjunction with Trump’s revealing Ascendant, the Sun was focused on justice that day, in opposition to asteroid Justitia at 29 Aquarius, named for the Roman Goddess of justice, and the root of our word. It’s a poor time to try to hoodwink justice and escape the consequences, with the blindfold goddess in bold relief under the Sun’s rays. There is also a widening opposition to asteroid Roberts at 20 Aquarius, one of three PNAs to represent Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who brought the charges in the Manafort case, and turned over Cohen to the US Southern District of New York prosecutors with whom the embattled Trump fixer cut a deal.

Rumor has it Cohen will now turn to Mueller to cooperate in his ongoing probe into Trump’s alleged misdeeds. A preview of coming attractions may have been inserted by Cohen into his plea statement, when he asserted that he had been “directed” by a “candidate” to pay hush money to two women with whom said candidate had illicit affairs, in an attempt to influence the outcome of an election. Trump is now an unnamed, unindicted coconspirator in Cohen’s case, and Mueller won’t delay in snapping up yet another key witness as he adds a new brick to the wall of Trump’s future cell.

Michael Cohen arrives at the FBI office in Manhattan, ready to make his plea bargain

Prefiguring Cohen’s and Mueller’s further cooperation is a combination of asteroids Michel (one of three PNAs for “Michael”) and Mueller, at 15 and 18 Sagittarius. As above, so below, and we can expect these two to be in close proximity terrestrially as well. Two additional Michael PNAs, Michelle and Michela, at 15 and 19 Aries, make the tasty outer shell of a celestial sandwich cookie whose sweet creamy filling is asteroid Swindle, defining Cohen’s general activities, at 16 Aries. These square Pluto at 19 Capricorn, the planetary ruler of crime and corruption, symbol of devastating loss and total transformation.

Asteroid Cohen at 8 Virgo is just entering the Sun’s orb of influence, potentially bringing Cohen into prominence over the next six weeks, until the Sun moves fully past its orb of conjunction. Who knows what shoes will drop in that time? Cohen is also exactly squared asteroid Nemesis at 8 Gemini, named for the goddess who punishes transgression or evokes undoing. Nemesis is playing a double game here, acting as enforcer and enactor of divine retribution for Cohen’s own past misdeeds, while simultaneously setting him up to act as her agent in the downfall of another. Now who might that refer to? Transit Cohen conjoins Trump’s natal asteroid Truth at 7 Virgo, perhaps shedding some light on the veracity of the charges pending against the President.

The jury deadlocked on ten other charges, but the eight they convicted Manafort on should be enough to put him away for 7-9 years

Paul Manafort is represented by asteroid Paul at 16 Pisces, which conjoins Neptune, ruling fraud, deception, dishonesty and imprisonment, at 14 Pisces, and is exactly semisextile Swindle at 16 Aries, also broadly squared Nemesis at 8 Gemini. Paul is also squared to Lie at 13 Sagittarius, conjoined by Michel, underscoring the fundamental dishonesty which has brought down both men.

Another factor bringing these two fraudsters to justice is asteroid Themis, named for the Greek goddess of justice, which at 7 Cancer conjoins asteroid Bilk at 9, another point indicating fraudulent financial dealings. These oppose transit Saturn at 2 Capricorn, meting out punishments, and bookend Trump’s natal Mercury at 8 Cancer, bringing the subject home to him personally, in ways which must weigh heavily on his mind (Mercury).

Trump pauses with reporters on Friday the 17th to do a little jury tampering, declaring Manafort to be a “good man” whose trial was “sad”

But why was the cosmos being so hard on Trump yesterday? Well, for one thing, transit Troemper’s applying square to transit Pluto became exact then, with Troemper at 19 Libra and Pluto at 19 Capricorn. If you’re looking for the cause to a bad day, Pluto is always a good jumping-off point. And on their midpoint, sermisquare to each? Why, asteroid Karma, of course!

At 3 Sagittarius, Karma is calling Trump to task for prior acts of a criminal nature (Pluto), and its placement here creates a T-Square of that Cohen/Nemesis square. So it’s prior acts involving Cohen specifically which have the potential to bring Trump down, based in the chart for his plea bargain. And just in case the cosmic picture isn’t crystal clear, recall that asteroid Michela falls at 19 Aries, creating an exact T-Square of the Troemper/Pluto square, and further enmeshing Michael Cohen in Trump’s troubles. Pluto can signal total destruction, an existential crisis, and with Nemesis and Pluto tag-teaming Trump, both utilizing Michael Cohen in their maneuvers, the chances of this ending well for the 45^th president would seem to cycle somewhere between “slim” and “none.”