Although removed from office almost a month ago, Donald J. Trump continues to set presidential records. Only president to lose the popular vote in both general elections where he was on the ballot; only president to never reach a 50% approval rating during his term in office; only president to be impeached twice; only president to be tried after leaving office; and now, the president with the most bipartisan impeachment and majority conviction in history.
On Tuesday 19 January 2021, I lost my dear fur buddy Charcoal to cancer. What I thought was a respiratory infection, which Charkey got every winter, turned out to be a mass in his mouth. While waiting for the biopsy appointment, the faint swelling I had observed on his left side blew up dramatically over the weekend, becoming so large it looked like he had a tennis ball in his cheek. I dropped him off for his appointment that morning, the vet confirmed the diagnosis a few hours later, and shortly after that, I held him as he passed.
“That hymn you hear [playing in Congress] is ‘Just as I Am,’ and we’re open for deathbed conversions.” – Joe Scarborough, former Republican Congressman and MSNBC morning show host
Can you feel it? Impending political mortality is in the air. Trusted councilors leave the bedside, rats exiting a sinking ship; former shark allies mass in feeding frenzy, smelling blood in the water; media buzzards circle, waiting to pick the bones. US President Donald J. Trump is in extremis, with scant days to go before the end of his political career.
By Constitutional fiat, all US administrations begin at 12 Noon on the January 20th following a general election, regardless of when the oath of office is actually sworn. This provides a celestial continuity from decade to decade, with all administrations having an early Aquarius Sun conjunct a late Capricorn MC, and a mid-Taurus Ascendant (unless begun by the death or resignation of the previous office holder). But within that rigid framework, the permutations are virtually endless, especially when asteroids are considered.
[Cover Photo: the author with his Aunt Betty, 2011]
I had made it all the way through 2020 without personally knowing anyone infected during the coronavirus pandemic. Until New Year’s Eve, the last day of the year, when my cousin called to tell me that her 90-year-old mother had been hospitalized with COVID pneumonia. Aunt Betty was my mother’s sister, and had been a fixture of my childhood and an integral part of my family festivities for decades, until a hip fracture resulted in her moving in with her daughter nine years ago. This disrupted our seasonal celebratory cycle, and I have only seen her sporadically since then.
Moving at barely a walking pace of 3 mph, Hurricane Sally made landfall near Gulf Shores, Alabama as a Category Two storm at 4:45 AM CDT on September 16, 2020. The storm promises to be one of the worst water-dumpers ever, with historic levels of rainfall expected and major flooding likely. Up to 30” of rain is predicted in some locations, a devastating amount of precip as Sally slogs her soggy way across the south-east.
Astrologically, too, Sally promises to be a major event, fitting the pattern of her PNA (Personal-Named Asteroid) in major aspect to the Sun. In this instance, we have asteroid Salli, an alternate spelling, which at 29 Sagittarius is squared the Sun, coming in just under the wire of 24 Virgo, at 23 Virgo 59 for her landfall. A broad T-Square is created by Neptune, planetary ruler of floods, opposed the Sun from 19 Pisces, where it is accompanied by asteroid Achilles at 23 Pisces, a symbol of vulnerability, and asteroid Heracles at 25 Pisces, a symbol of strength and power. In this case, vulnerability (Achilles) from water (Neptune), via a storm that already exceeded expectations for its strength (Heracles) at landfall.
