Alex's Asteroid Astrology

Karma can be defined as the results of our actions – what we put out, comes back to us in some linked form. It is the metaphysical equivalent of Newtonian cause and effect – every action has a related reaction. It has been said that the wheel of justice grinds slowly, but exceedingly fine. Karma is intimately related to justice in that it has a component of impartial equilibrium and in time, invariably brings us what we deserve, based on our prior behaviors. Also related is Nemesis, divine retribution, an equalizing force which rectifies the balance and resets the counters of karma.

Karma is also a celestial body, an asteroid from the Main Belt, a region of rocky debris populating the solar system between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. As we take action via Mars and move toward the social interaction sphere of Jupiter, we encounter these bodies, which represent the people, places, forces and principles which we navigate as we enter the field of society. Some we perceive as stepping stones or allies in our progress, others will be roadblocks and hindrances.

For Donald Trump, asteroid Karma has been very active, not only in the birth chart, but also by transit, both in recent transiting contacts made to natal Karma, and additional activations from transit Karma to other chart points. But up to this time, the principle of karma, being responsible for our actions and paying for them, has seemed to lag behind its celestial referent’s prominence. But that may be about to change.

“What goes around, comes around”, is Karma’s dictum, so be careful how you act; with a natal Icarus angular and trine his Sun, Trump is naturally impulsive and reckless, unable to accept or heed good advice, leading to disaster

In this incarnation Trump has given new meaning to the term “Teflon Don”, once applied to mobster John Gotti (so, come to think of it, not so very different after all). With a stationary Jupiter in his chart, which turned direct within hours of his birth, Trump has avoided serious consequences for a long history of wrongdoing, fraud, deceit and malfeasance, originally in business and latterly, politics. Jupiter, in the form of benefactors, supporters and that indefinable quality of “luck”, props him up at every turn. Time after time, Trump falls into a pile of feces, and comes out smelling like a rose.

But those karmic wheels are grinding on multiple levels now, and one gets the sense that at last, Donald Trump is about to reap what he has sown.

Natally, Trump (born 14 June 1946) sports an exact conjunction of Saturn with asteroid Karma, both at 23 Cancer. This indicates that, at some point, whatever he has put out in regards to career matters will return to him, in extremely precise ways. No such thing as a free lunch, and Karma will not forever overlook lapses of the nature of Trump’s infractions, heightened during his time in the presidency, also ruled by Saturn.

The set-up for this potential period of reckoning has been developing for some time. TNO (Trans-Neptunian Object) Eris has been playing tag with Trump’s natal Saturn/Karma for years. A slow-mover, Eris began its exact square from Aries to the duo which requires him to account for his career actions in April of 2016, just before Trump locked up the Republican presidential nomination; it came to its first of two stations in exact square on July 20^th, smack dab in the middle of the Republican National Convention where Trump accepted the GOP nomination.

Never stable at the best of times, the push to impeachment has made Trump increasingly unhinged. Here he is unleashing another tirade with the hapless President of Finland beside him in the Oval Office on October 2; note the body language, with the visiting Finn leaning as far away from Trump as possible without toppling off his seat

Eris was pivotal to Trump’s rise. Named for the Greek goddess of strife and discord, Eris represents persons who feel they have been marginalized, ignored, affronted, or otherwise disrespected, and who lash out in response. It is grievance politics to the max, of which Trump is a past master. With his natal Mercury at 8 Cancer in exact square to the USA Eris at 8 Aries, Donald Trump was a natural mouthpiece and conduit for this discontent and fractiousness in the American electorate, able to galvanize their disgruntled dissatisfaction. In tandem with transit Uranus at the time, Eris fomented a rebellion of this populace, providing just enough votes in key locations to drag Trump over the presidential finish line in the Electoral College, despite losing the popular vote nationally by almost three million. In the Trump Inaugural chart, Eris stands with Uranus at 22 Aries, exactly opposed Jupiter at 22 Libra and exactly T-Squared asteroid Whitehouse at 22 Capricorn, an image of the powerful political (Jupiter) coalition of the “deplorables” (Eris) which resulted in the Oval Office (Whitehouse) upset (Uranus) of the century. Note that the “missing” leg of this T-Square, making it a Grand Cross, is Trump’s Saturn/Karma.

Eris has continued to gob-smack Trump’s Saturn/Karma throughout his presidency; in fact, its last exact square will occur just weeks after the January 2021 inauguration, eerily bookending the period of his first term. Its most recent entry into Aries’ twenty-third degree occurred September 23, 2019, just a day before the House Speaker announced formal impeachment proceedings would begin against Trump.

We can’t always predict the outcome of our actions; what is set in motion one day may come back to crush us at a later time; with Mercury squared Neptune, Trump is blinkered on the ramifications of his acts, preferring his own fantasy version to the reality of the situation

Eris for Trump has been a two-edged sword. Eris loathes disrespect, and chafes at diminishment of others. Yes, in 2016 he was able to channel the anger of voters who felt they had been treated that way for decades, using it for his own advancement, but as President, Trump has done nothing but disrespect others. Beginning with the demeaning nicknames given, first to nomination rivals in the GOP Primary campaign and then to anyone who crossed him in any way as nominee and president, Trump has mocked reporters with disabilities, beauty queens who put on weight, Gold Star families who didn’t support him, sports stars who registered their opposition, his own Cabinet members and appointees, and political opponents of every stripe, in and out of his own Party. Eris cannot be pleased with this performance, especially after all she had done for him.

Trump doesn’t respect the office he holds, nor the country’s foreign commitments, treaties, or alliances; he scoffs at Constitutional norms and codes of conduct, openly courts division and misinformation, and sows enmity and mistrust. Every time Eris clangs the Saturn/Karma tuning fork, Trump heaps more disrespect on this pile of verbal refuse, until at last, no one respects him, at home or abroad.

So Eris has been preparing the ground for his discomfiture, which has come to a head as transit Pluto came to its retrograde station in April of 2019. At 23 Capricorn, this station exactly opposes natal Saturn/Karma, indicating that the time has come for a reckoning of Trump’s manipulation, coercion, criminality and scandalous behaviors, specifically in a career context, in an implosion of spectacular proportions. Pluto began its exact opposition on March 30^th, 2019, just a week after Special Counsel Robert Mueller submitted his report on Russian interference and possible presidential obstruction of justice to the Attorney General; its station on April 24^th came less than a week after the Report’s public release.

Although the 448-page Mueller Report characterized Trump’s behaviors as unethical, and it detailed ten incidents which might have constituted unlawful acts, Mueller was not empowered to file charges or draw legal conclusions. With such complicated evidence, it was impossible for Democrats to cut through the fog of potential criminality and present a coherent case for impeachment to the American people. The opportunity slipped through their fingers, seemingly never to be revived.

It may look like we have the upper hand, but there is always something waiting to cut us down to size, and karma is the vehicle by which this is accomplished

Enter the Ukraine. The very day after Robert Mueller’s uneven and disappointing congressional testimony seemed to lay to rest the specter of his impeachment, Trump reopened the case for his removal with a call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump’s clear, uncontested, self-exposed attempt to shake down a foreign government, linking desperately needed military aid to their investigation of alleged corruption by a domestic political rival for his own personal gain, is something easily understood, and not easily muddled or excused. Democrats have seized upon this incident as emblematic of Trump’s self-focused leadership style and moral inadequacies, and with public support for impeachment growing daily, are poised to accomplish in a few short weeks what years of investigation could not.

When that call was made on July 25, 2019, transit asteroid Karma was at its station degree of 2 Aries, about to turn retrograde ten days later. From there it formed a square to the US natal Karma at 3 Cancer, which itself conjoins the nation’s Venus and Jupiter, at 3 and 5 Cancer. This suggests severe repercussions (Karma) for politicians (Jupiter) based in ethical considerations (Venus), and Karma’s station in waning square to its natal degree indicates that a crisis of consciousness (waning square keyphrase) is presenting itself to the nation, a literal “turning point” (station) where we are forced to confront the actions of a leader who has transgressed ethical bounds (Venus) for political ends (Jupiter).

In Trump’s chart, that 2 Aries degree forms a T-Square by opposing natal Neptune, ruling lies and deception, at 5 Libra, and squaring asteroid Whitehouse, the Oval Office itself, at 4 Capricorn. It would seem that Trump’s days of spewing disinformation, deceit and obfuscation from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue are numbered, and a karmic comeuppance for prior bad acts is in the offing.

In its approach to station, Karma highlighted an intriguing T-Square in Trump’s natal chart, which it will activate three times in six months. This is comprised of the Sun at 22 Gemini, squared asteroids Ukraina (for Ukraine) at 25 Vigo and Kiev (its capital) at 25 Pisces, indicating a vital role for the small Eastern European country in Trump’s biography. Karma focused on this region from June 5^th through the 19^th (thus appearing squared the Sun in Trump’s 2019 Solar Return, indicating an ongoing factor for the year, retaining its impact even as the actual aspect wanes) and September 22^nd through October 9^th (as the Ukraine story broke and impeachment proceedings were begun). Current estimates of when articles of impeachment might be ready for a House vote suggest Thanksgiving, November 28^th, as the crucial period, with transit Karma returning to this zone for its final pass that very day, extending into December 15^th.

In 2018 I opined in my analysis of Trump’s Solar Return that this was the critical year; if Trump survived it, he would likely finish his term and might even win re-election. In 2019’s Solar Return I noted that Jupiter was opposing his Sun, prepared to prop him up again, as it has done all his life. But I also acknowledged a danger with Jupiter – overextension. Stepping out too far on that limb before reassuring oneself that it can support the weight. With the Ukraine matter, Trump seems to have sawed off that limb behind him.

Impeachment by the House seems certain, but with a Republican-controlled Senate, where his impeachment trial would be held, Trump may yet retain his office. But in the upcoming 2020 Solar Return, asteroid Karma conjoins the Sun. In some way, shape or form, there will be a reckoning. If Trump holds on now, he may face rejection by the voters that autumn; if he is already out of office, criminal charges may be brought.

Karma will not be denied. And as is often said, karma is a bitch.