"It is the stars,
The stars above us, govern our conditions."
Kent, King Lear, IV, iii
Why Hillary will be a great Secretary of State
She’s a Scorpio. Scorpios are strategic. She’s got a lot of patience when it comes to understanding underlying economic issues (Jupiter in Sagittarius in the second house). She’ll be strong about keeping the focus of her new office on women’s and children’s issues (moon in Pisces in the fifth house), as well as on sovereign concerns. And she’ll be quite prepared to deal with the dozens and dozens of macho despot tyrants she’ll encounter — after all, she’s been married for decades to her rambunctious Leo mate. Stressful times for Hillary: Secretary Clinton’s staff may want to jot down some dates in their Blackberries: February 7 through 10, April 13 through 16, June 1 through 5, and October 18 through 25. These four periods will be times when it might be best to just get out of Hillary’s way. Those who know her may find her impatient and inconsistent on these 21 days. Though she has been, in the occasional interval, in lockstep with the Zeitgeist, as someone born with natal Mercury retrograde, Hillary has more typically spent years and years being misunderstood by the masses. |
Another Leo president. That's what we're getting with Barack Obama, and it's even good news on an astrological level. Never mind that our earliest First Lions were weaklings like Benjamin Harrison (who got the national budget up to $1 billion), and Herbert Hoover (on whose watch occurred that other ghastly stock-market crash). History has not been kind to Hoover — admit it, even playing word association with his name, you immediately think "Dam" or "suck." Despite his other shortcomings, however, Hoover actually had the right idea about how to fix the country's problems, but just lacked political capital and ability (admittedly, big red flags on any political resume). And, with Aquarian (the avatar of optimism in that era) FDR coming along, he never had a chance.So, why should we be grateful to have a Leo back in the Oval Office? For one thing, Leo, a fixed fire sign, is the sign of kings and public relations. The boilerplate on the big cat is that those born under its sign are confident and charming, and don't hesitate to step up to lead. Generally, what you see is what you get with these people, and Leo leaders tend to have compelling personalities. Public acclaim doesn't confuse or annoy them — it's just part of the cost of doing business.
The showbiz lions and lionesses that immediately come to mind are Mick Jagger, Madonna, and Martha Stewart. You know, on a personal level, that they're probably narcissistic sociopaths of the highest order, but they get the job done, to their own satisfaction.
And, after eight years of Bush, a Cancer (astrologically, we mean), God knows we need the clarity. Cancer's symbol is the crab, and W. has showcased the absolutely rock-bottom worst 1 attributes of that sign, from the shifty affect, to the relentless defensive posture, to the ghastly and tragic loyalties that have dominated his administration. How long did it take Bush the Lesser to take Rummy out of the picture, anyway? Lord help us, that gratulating war criminal had been rolling around since the Ford administration. That's way too much loyalty.
Bill Clinton, who launched a memorable, successful, and quirky eight-year charm attack, is our most recent pre-Obama Leo. But that doesn't mean Barack is just like Bill. The complexities and vagaries of the planetary angles in Obama's chart look like a Spirograph compared to Clinton's straightforward horoscope 2 . In other words, Barack has a more complicated chart, which suggests, to some in my profession, a more complicated personality.
Okay, here's the fun part: the actual geometry of the astrology. With Obama's Aquarius ascendant ("rising sign"), we have a president who always will be able to help us look to the future, look on the bright side. He's more concerned with the masses than with having a "one on one" connection, as did the Libra-ascendant Clinton. That's the part of Bill that was all "I can feel your pain," and — at the time — he probably meant it.
We are ready for a Leo president. We are ready for someone who's articulate, confident, considered, strategic, and courageous. Just last week, I wrote down one of the phrases Obama used discussing the appointment of Stephen Chu as head of the Department of Energy. Chu is an actual Nobel Prize–winning scientist, as opposed to a political hack or evangelistic ideologue. "Facts demand bold action," explained the president-elect.
Those two words, "demand" and "bold," are classic Leo-speak. Contrast that with Bush during the 2000 campaign and his plan to use "experienced" administrators. This basically translated to Ford- and Reagan-era Cold Warriors (at least the ones who didn't treat his dad so badly, but that's veering off astrology and into Freudian psychology). The fact that he kept that promise and completely fucked the so-called "bipartisan" agenda he promised was just another reason to be thankful that we're upgrading from crustacean to cat.
