Astrologers Predict the 2012 Election: Roundup VIA @politicalastro #Obama

http://politicalastrologyblog.com/2012/10/29/astrologers-predict-the-2012-election-roundup/

Astrologers Predict the 2012 Election: Roundup ~ http://bit.ly/YpJdEO  ~VIA @politicalastro #Obama

Posted by Chris Brennan on Monday, October 29 2012

The purpose of this article is to give a roundup of predictions that have been made by astrologers about the outcome of the 2012 presidential election in the United States.

The authors of The Political Astrology Blog issued our own prediction about who we think will win the election back in April, so the purpose of this article is to try to get a sense for what other astrologers are saying.

This isn’t just a tally of predictions for Obama or Romney though; instead, I would also like to focus on which techniques each astrologer employed when making their prediction.

The purpose of this exercise is so that we can go back after the election and have a discussion within the astrological community about which techniques worked, and which ones didn’t.

Ultimately astrology is a technical study that involves interpretation and inference. No one has a crystal ball that tells them exactly what will happen in the future, but we do have techniques that can be very good at forecasting things, and this does enable astrologers to know things about the future that they shouldn’t otherwise be able to know.

Predicting events with astrology is not an easy task, though, and it should be clear from the outset that the purpose of this list is not to shame those who turn out to be incorrect after the fact. Rather, the purpose is to review which techniques are being employed to make these predictions, and hopefully this will help us to refine and sharpen some of our techniques in the future.

Ranking the Predictions

The predictions below were culled together from a variety of sources. The majority of them were taken from astrology blogs and websites around the internet, while some were cited from public lectures, interviews, or print publications.

The quality of the predictions differ from astrologer to astrologer and prediction to prediction. For example, some are very long and detailed, while others are very short and simple. Some were presented by relatively big name astrologers, while others on the list are somewhat more obscure. There is also a wide variation in the approaches that each astrologer takes, depending on the tradition of astrology that they specialize in, as well as the techniques that they chose to employ.

As a result of these variations, I tried to develop a loose system for ranking the predictions. This was kind of a difficult task, and I ended up applying several different considerations in the process.

Here are some of the factors that I took into account in ranking the predictions:

• The prominence of the prediction in the mainstream media, either by being featured or cited in a news story or interview.
• The prominence of the prediction in the astrological community, either by being featured in an astrological publication or at an astrological venue, such as at a conference.
• How eminent or well-known the astrologer is who made the prediction, either inside or outside of the astrological community.
• How standard their techniques are, versus using non-standard techniques that are unique to the astrologer.
• How thoroughly the astrologer appears to have researched their prediction.
• How far in advance the prediction was issued prior to Election Day.
• How detailed the writeup for the prediction is, and how much of the research they based it on is shared.
• How clearly they stated their prediction, as opposed to either being unclear or hedging.
• How neutral or non-partisan the astrologer appears to be in making their prediction.

This last point about being non-partisan is important, because there were at least two predictions that I did not include in this roundup because the authors exhibited a conspicuous level of partisanship, and I felt that this called into question their ability to make a neutral prediction based on the astrology. One of the predictions I excluded was for Obama, while the other was for Romney.

One last point that needs to be made here is that the ease with which people can set up websites nowadays means that having a Web presence doesn’t necessarily correlate with one’s training or expertise. In some ways this roundup is largely a survey of those astrologers who have blogs or websites, because they have the ability to make their predictions known.

I’m sure that there were many good astrologers who did work on this election whose predictions were either not published or which I did not find in the process of researching this article though. Nonetheless, I tried to be reasonably comprehensive in compiling this list, and I believe that it accurately reflects the general consensus amongst astrologers about the outcome of the election.

Astrologers Who Predicted That Obama Will Win

The following list contains astrologers who predicted that Barack Obama will be reelected to a second term of office as a result of the 2012 presidential election.

The first five predictions are from the presidential panel that took place at the United Astrology Conference (UAC) in New Orleans on May 29, 2012, because the prediction that this panel made received the most media coverage of any prediction during this election cycle, for example with articles by Reuters and USA Today.

1. Chris Brennan and Patrick Watson (Denver & Phoenix) – The authors of The Political Astrology Blog. Employed a mixture of Hellenistic and modern western astrology. Primarily natal astrology, studying the birth charts of Obama and Romney, and using the Hellenistic time-lord technique called Zodiacal Releasing, as well as transits. Said that both candidates go into important “peak periods” in the summer prior to the election, but that Romney begins a more difficult subperiod starting in mid-October, right before the second debate, ultimately resulting in the loss of the election in November. Later employed inception charts for the moment that each candidate accepted their nominations at the conventions, which confirmed the earlier prediction. Their official prediction was published on The Political Astrology Blog on April 29, 2012, titled Prediction for the 2012 US Presidential Election. The prediction was cited in an ABC news article on May 7, and then again in a live Fox News interview on Fox and Friends on May 8. The prediction was later presented by Brennan on the UAC presidential panel on May 29, which was then cited by Reuters and USA Today in articles later on the same day. Brennan also predicted an Obama win in the June/July 2012 issue of The Mountain Astrologer Magazine (pg. 80), which was released in early May 2012. In this article, which was on Hellenistic timing techniques, he noted indications for a career change in Obama’s chart in 2017, which would coincide with the end of his second term.
   
2. Nina Gryphon (Chicago, Illinois) – Medieval and Renaissance mundane astrology. Did a 132 year study of Aries ingress charts for election years, and then applied the same technique to 2012. Focuses on the 10th and 4th houses for the party in power and the opponent, respectively. Conjunctions to cusps of those houses, then condition of rulers of those houses. Application of Obama’s significator to exalted Sun indicates victory. Romney’s significator makes no applying aspects, which is seen as negative. Prediction originally published as Forecast: U.S. Presidential Election 2012, Gryphon Astrology Blog (website), March 17, 2012. Later presented on UAC presidential panel May 29, 2012. Cited by Reuters May 29. Interviewed live on CNN’s Headline News on May 30. Cited again later in an article on ABC News’ website on September 24, 2012.
   
3. Edith Hathaway (La Jolla, California) – Vedic (Indian) astrology. Correctly predicted an Obama win on the 2008 UAC presidential panel. First predicted Obama’s re-election in an Oct. 2010 lecture in India, noting spring 2012 through spring 2016 in the 60-year Jupiter cycle (Jovian years).  Prefers a rectified time of 6:10 AM for Obama, with sidereal Cancer rising rather than sidereal Capricorn (birth certificate), although she also pays attention to both charts. Analysis of candidates’ natal placements for eminence; timing from Vimshottari dasha system and transits. Romney in Sun dasha, Mercury sub-period – strong due to 10th house placements natally, but nakshatra lords not favorable. Obama in a favorable Jupiter dasha with Cancer rising chart, although even with the official chart Obama still wins due to Saturn dasha from late July 2012. (Saturn becomes ascendant lord.)  Also says Obama has more connections to the U.S. chart. Presented on UAC presidential panel on May 29, 2012. Some of her methodology also discussed in an article on her website: Election Update 2012 (PDF), posted October 16, 2012.
   
   
4. Gary Christen (Brewster, Massachusetts) – Uranian astrology and Cosmobiology. Focuses on the chart for the oath of office on Inauguration Day. Uses the Capricorn ingress chart prior to inauguration, inserting candidate’s Sun placements and then directing them to the inauguration date. Employs transneptunians from Uranian astrology, as well as planetary pictures. Focuses on transits by transneptunians on Inauguration Day. Presented on UAC presidential panel on May 29, 2012.
   
   
5. Claude Weiss (Switzerland) – Modern western astrology. Specializes in mundane and financial astrology. In his prediction he uses natal charts of candidates, US chart, transits, eclipses, secondary and converse progressions, solar returns, and a unique system of progressions applied to the solar return charts (keep the time of the solar return, but use the date of the election). Says Jupiter transits through Romney’s 1st house is positive, and also eclipse in May 2012 in Romney’s 1st. Solar arcs between US chart and Obama more favorable though. Obama solar arc MC opposite solar return Moon (?). Presented on UAC presidential panel on May 29, 2012.
   
   
6. Bernadette Brady & Darrelyn Gunzberg (Bristol, UK) – Ancient Mesopotamian mundane and visual astrology, specifically focusing on the phases of Venus. Brady is highly regarded in the astrological community, and she has been given two of its most prestigious awards. In a newsletter in September 2008 Brady and Gunzberg predicted that the party who won the election that year in the US would also win the 2012 election, and they then reaffirmed their prediction in a newsletter in January 2012, saying that “Venus indicates Obama’s return to the White House.” The focal point of their argument is the fact that Venus will be a morning star on Election Day, which means that it will rise before the Sun. They point out that there have only been two US elections since 1900 where the incumbent lost under a morning star Venus phase. The Visual Astrology Newsletter, Zentara Publications (website), September 2008.
   
7. Dennis Flaherty (Seattle, Washington) – Well-regarded practitioner of Vedic astrology. Current president of the Council of Vedic Astrologers (CVA). Focuses on the Vimshottari dasha system, with Romney in Sun dasha with Sun in 10th, and Obama in Saturn dasha with Sun in the 1st. Also focuses on the transiting position of each candidate’s dasha lord on Election Day. The Sun will be in sidereal Libra, which is weak and thus bad for Romney, while Saturn will also be in Libra, where it is exalted, and thus good for Obama. Vedic Astrology Predictions for Fall and Winter 2012, VedicSciences.com (website), September 2012.
   
8. Lee Lehman (Asheville, North Carolina) – Specializes in Renaissance astrology. Regarded as one of the leading practitioners of traditional astrology. Prediction given in a lecture on August 14, 2012 for the Northern Illinois chapter of the NCGR titled “Modeling Presidential Elections.” Did a comparative historical examination of 16 paired candidates’ birth charts where the data was B or better, and employed a point system based on Bonatti’s rules for war, applying it to: (1) the Aries Ingress, (2) the Libra Ingress, (3) Election day midnight, (4) election day dawn, (5) the prior Mars-Saturn conjunction, (6) the prior Mars-Jupiter conjunction, (7) the prior syzygy, (8) the Electoral College day noon, and (9) Inauguration Day noon.
   
9. Alan Oken (Seattle, Washington) – Modern western and esoteric astrology. He outlines his methodology very clearly in the beginning, saying that he is going to focus on the natal charts of the two candidates, and then compare their transits and secondary progressions for Election Day and Inauguration Day. Interestingly, he uses 6:00 pm Honolulu for Election Day because this is when the last poll closes. Focuses on aspects that are within a degree. He sees transiting Mars in Sagittarius completing a T-square with Romney’s natal Sun and Uranus in the last week of the election as being particularly detrimental. The clincher for him are Obama’s transits on Inauguration Day, especially Sun conjunct Jupiter at the MC for Obama, versus Romney’s less favorable transiting Sun and Mercury opposing natal Saturn. Alan Oken’s Monthly Newsletter, Scorpio 2012, www.alanoken.com (website), October 21, 2012.
   
10. Ray Merriman (Bloomfield, Michigan) – Financial astrologer, and former president of the International Society for Astrological Research (ISAR). Says that the Uranus-Pluto square could indicate change in the White House, but thinks that the majority of astrological signatures favor Obama. Says the Moon in Leo on Election Day argues for Obama, whose Sun is in Leo, like Moon in Cancer on Election Day in 2004 favored Bush, whose Sun is in Cancer. MMA Comments for the Week Beginning October 8, 2012, Merriman Market Analyst (website), October 8, 2012. He says in this article that he originally predicted an Obama win in his “Forecast 2012 Book”, which was published in December 2011.
    
11. Adrian Duncan (Aalborg, Denmark) – Modern western astrology. Semi well-known astrologer due to a book he published in 2002, as well as an astrology software program he designed. Uses a rectified time of 9:42 AM for Romney, which gives him Taurus rising instead of Gemini rising. Transits and progressions for election day. Leans towards an Obama win, saying that Obama’s chart resonates more with the US chart. The Future of America, astrology69.wordpress.com (blog), August 16, 2012.
    
12. Arlene Marcia Nimark (New York, NY) – Uranian astrology. Predicted Bush’s re-election in 2004. Transneptunians, cardinal axis, midpoints, planetary pictures. Focuses on solar arcs and transits for election day and inauguration day. Prediction originally published in the September/October 2012 issue of the NCGR Newsletter (pgs. 13-15), which was emailed October 2, 2012. The article was also posted on Arlene’s website: The Next President of the United States Is?, Arlene Nimark Uranian Astrologer (website), October 2012.
    
13. Col. AK Gour (India) – Vedic astrology. Focuses on 9th house and ruler for luck, navamsha chart, dashas and transits, and the Mercury retrograde on election day. His analysis is too complex to summarize here, but he uses the Vimshottari and Char dasha systems, and like other practitioners of Indian astrology he notes that the Raja Yoga of Sun-Mercury is now unlocked by the Sun-Mercury dasha in Romney’s chart. Like the others though, he says that Obama’s Saturn dasha and transits win out. US Presidential Elections: Obama or Romney, Journal of Astrology (website), September 27, 2012.
    
14. Larry Schwimmer (San Francisco, California) – Wrote a two-part series on the election and the charts of the candidates for The Huffington Post. Talks a lot about personality traits and some timing prior to Election Day, but doesn’t discuss the astrological rationale, so there isn’t much to summarize here. However, at one point in his article he does say that “Historically, the planet Pluto has been a major factor in forecasting the winner for presidential elections,” and he goes on to explain that he sees Obama’s Pluto trine Pluto transit around the time of the election as one of the more favorable factors in indicating his reelection. He also talks briefly about the VP candidates, especially Ryan. Astrology: The Obama-Biden Ticket – Winners or Losers, The Huffington Post, September 5, 2012.
    
15. Maxine Taylor (Atlanta, Georgia) – Modern western astrology. Has the distinction of being the first publicly licensed astrologer in the state of Georgia in 1968. She was also CNN’s on-air astrologer in the 1980s. Primarily focuses on using diurnal charts, although she also takes into account the natal chart, transits and progressions. The emphasis of her technique is to focus on conjunctions to the cusps of the houses, and especially the four angles, in the diurnal chart from transiting and progressed planets. Says that Obama has natal Pluto on the cusp of the 4th in the diurnal for November 5, and then progressed Pluto on the 4th cusp on Nov 6, which she says is a repetition of 2008. Venus conjunct ascendant Nov 5. Progressed Moon on 11th cusp. Says that Romney shows now angular activity on Election Day, but just 8th house placements, like Saturn on 8th house cusp on Nov 5, and North Node on 6th cusp. For Inauguration Day Obama’s diurnal shows transiting South Node on cusp of 10th, and natal north node on asc, whereas Romney again has no cusps activated.  The 2012 Presidential Race Astrologically Speaking, New Era Times (website), September 18, 2012 (originally sent out via private mailing list).
    
    
16. Lakshmi Parthasarathy (India) – Vedic astrology. Focuses on the strength or weakness of natal placements, with particular attention to eminence indicators. Also focuses on Vimshottari dasha periods and a few transits on election day for timing. She considers the natal chart of a President to be representative of what will happen in the country during their term in office. Entering the Saturn dasha period in the summer indicates victory for Obama because Saturn is very well-placed as ruler of the ascendant. Prediction published online as Election 2012 – Vedic Astrological Perspective, Fate Magazine (magazine/blog), August 15, 2012.
    
17. Kathryn Silverton (Lilburn, Georgia) – Author of “In the Stars” horoscope column for United Airlines’ in-flight magazine Hemispheres. Employs transits, secondary progressions and solar arc directions to natal charts of candidates, focusing on Election Day and Inauguration Day. Also looks at Obama’s chart for Inauguration Day 2017, since his second term would end then. Notes some positive things in Romney’s chart like transiting north node conjunct his Moon-Jupiter conjunction, but views other things like secondary progressed Moon in the 12th and transiting Saturn square natal Saturn and MC as being negative. Notes some positive things on Inauguration Day, but suggests that there aren’t enough to indicate an “elevation in status.” Why Barack Obama will be a two-term president, In the Stars with Kathryn Silverton (website), March (?) 2012.
    
18. Christopher Kevill (Toronto, Canada) – Vedic astrology, with some modern western techniques. Vimshottari dasha system, secondary and tertiary progressions, and transits. Obama’s Saturn dasha begins in June or July depending on ayanamsha. Notes that Saturn is very well placed as ascendant lord in its own sign (Capricorn) with Jupiter and opposite Mercury. Saturn ingress into sidereal Libra in August favorable. Transits on election day are mostly good: Jupiter trine ascendant, Jupiter trine relocated MC in Washington, transiting Rahu conj MC. Romney is in Sun-Mercury dasha. Both planets well-placed in the 10th, but Mercury retrograde natally, conjunct Mars, lord of 12th house of loss. Neither dasha lord receives favorable transit on election day. Instead, negative transit of Mars square Sun. US Presidential Election 2012: Obama’s Saturn vs. Romney’s Sun, Modern Vedic Astrology (website), June 4, 2012.
    
19. Peter Stockinger (Llandudno, UK) – Traditional mundane astrology. Utilizes the Libra ingress chart prior to the election, set for Washington, DC. Assigns Obama to Mars. Compares November eclipse chart to Obama’s natal chart, finds nodal axis on Obama’s MC/IC, which he sees as auspicious. Libra Ingress 2012, Obama & the US Presidential Elections, Peter Stockinger’s Traditional Astrology Weblog (blog), March 10, 2012.
    
20. Ron Berger (Hollywood, California) – Vedic astrology. Analysis of natal charts of candidates. Says that Raja Yoga between Sun and Mercury is spoiled due to presence of Mars, who is ruler of 12th and 7th. This is problematic because Romney is in Sun-Mercury dasha during election, which would otherwise be very good. Points to problematic transits around election day like Ketu transiting the Ascendant, and Mars the 7th. For Obama the new Saturn dasha that begins in July is positive because Saturn is well placed, and then transiting Saturn’s ingress into his 10th indicates success because it is ruler of the ascendant and dasha lord.  Astrology for Mitt Romney Versus Barack Obama 2012, LivingSkillfully.com (website), May 15, 2012.
    
21. Nancy Sommers (Kensington, Maryland) – Modern western astrology. Mainly transits to the natal charts of each candidate, with some secondary progressions. “President Obama’s chart suggests that he will be far more contented, satisfied, and beloved than Governor Romney as the year 2012 winds down and 2013 begins. This would seem to indicate his success in the election.”  Presidential Challenges, Starlight News (blog), April 22, 2012.
    
22. Jagdish Maheshri (Houston, Texas) – A blend of Vedic astrology and modern western astrology, using the sidereal zodiac with Placidus houses and the outer planets. Emphasis on navamsha chart. Some form of progressions for Election Day. Says that Obama has a slight edge in natal and progressed placements, but they are even in the transits. Gives a narrow victory to Obama due to progressions. 2012 US Presidential Election Prediction, Astro Insight (website), August 31, 2012.
    
23. Paul Saunders (London, UK) – Modern western astrology. Gives largely psychological delineations of natal placements. Looks at synastry between the candidates, then transits to both natal charts on Election Day, as well as the progressed Moon. Cites some things from Bernadette Brady’s approach to “Visual Astrology,” such as Venus’s phase and certain fixed stars. Barack Obama versus Mitt Romney – Who does astrology say will win the 2012 US Presidential Election?, Solaris Astrology (blog), May 8, 2012.
    
24. Carole Devine (Portsmouth, Virginia) Modern western astrology. Transits, secondary progressions, solar arcs, and tertiary progressions to the natal charts of the candidates. The Election,  Devine Observations (blog), September 15, 2012.
    
25. Curtis Manwaring (Henderson, Nevada) – Mainly Hellenistic time-lord techniques, especially Zodiacal Releasing, with some annual profections. He is known as the programmer of a software program for Hellenistic astrology, and he authored the first program to calculate Zodiacal Releasing periods 17 years ago. Argues that Obama’s chart makes more sense if you employ the diurnal calculations for the Lots of Fortune and Spirit, even though Obama has a night chart. He invokes a rule mentioned by Vettius Valens where the diurnal formula should be used for Fortune when the Moon is below the horizon at night. He hedges a bit at the end, but says that he thinks that Obama will win a second term, citing the repetition of a difficult period from Romney’s past in November, and pointing out that that Obama hits a level 4 peak period in Inauguration Day. Election 2012 – Obama vs Romney and Beyond, www.astrology-x-files.com (website), May 6, 2012.
    
26. Dharmaruci (Devon, UK) – Modern western astrology. He thinks that transiting North Node conjunct Obama’s MC in November 2012 is similar to North Node conjunct his ASC in 2008. Thinks that he will stay in office until Neptune is finished with hard aspects to ASC, MC and Moon, under the premise that leaders are usually elected under hard outer planet transits, and then stay in office until those transits are over. The US Election and a Warning for Obama, AstroTableTalk (blog), January 9, 2012.
    
27. Joseph Crane (Saunderstown, Rhode Island) – Mixture of Hellenistic and modern western astrology. Transits, progressions, solar returns, synastry between the candidates, and some Hellenistic time-lord techniques (decennials, circumambulations, and releasing from Fortune and Spirit). Some of the measurements he looks at seem to favor Obama, while he says that others favor Romney. For example, he points out that Obama’s relocated solar return for Washington, DC has Venus and Jupiter auspiciously placed in the 10th whole sign house, but then points out that Romney has a favorable Venus-Jupiter conjunction in his solar return as well, in Taurus in the 4th whole sign house. Ultimately he does say that Obama will take the electoral college, although his technical analysis doesn’t appear to strongly favor either candidate, and in most instances the indications are either balanced or cancel each other out, according to Crane. Astrology Institute Newsletter, www.astrologyinstitute.com (website), September 2012.
    
28. Anthony Louis (Connecticut) – Applies an experimental method of trying to determine which candidate will take each of the swing states by comparing their natal charts to the inception charts of the states themselves (as derived from Marc Penfield’s data collection Horoscopes of the Western Hemisphere), and then determining which candidate is more compatible according to a point system that involves the number and type of synastry aspects between the charts. He doesn’t show his work for every state, so his conclusions can’t be examined. He says that the method predicts Obama winning the election with 281 electoral votes, compared to 257 for Romney. Updated prediction of U.S. Presidential Election 2012, tonylouis.wordpress.com (blog), October 21, 2012.
    
29. Sam “Sadasiva” Geppi (San Francisco, California) – Vedic astrology. Calls it for Obama, although he kind of hedges a lot, saying that it is very close. At the beginning he says “As I have said from the beginning, either one of them could win.” His conclusion: “Having said that, my feeling is Obama’s exalted Saturn (his dasa lord and ruling planet) in the 10th House will take the day. However, Romney is also running the secondary dasa of a planet that is forming a Raja Yoga on election day (Mercury).”  Vedic Astrology Election Prediction From Sam Geppi, mydailyastrology.net (website), October 23, 2012. Most of the actual delineation is in a 34 minute screen cast on YouTube.
    
30. Sat Siri Khalsa (Santa Cruz, New Mexico) – Vedic astrology. Current Vice President of the Council of Vedic Astrology. Uses the natal charts of the two candidates. Focuses on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level Vimshottari dasha lords of each candidate around Election Day. Uses 3rd, 9th and 10th harmonic divisional charts as well as other factors in order to study the placement of the dasha lords. Starts the Vimshottari dasha periods from the Ascendant rather than the Moon for Obama, saying that it is stronger for him due to having two planets there. Studies chart for when polls open at 7:00 AM in Washington, DC on Election Day. Ultimately assigns Saturn to the Democrats and Jupiter to the Republicans. Jupiter’s retrograde status and other factors compared to Saturn’s favorable position indicates that the Democrats win. US Election 2012, satsirikhalsa.com, October 29, 2012.
    
31. Gar Osten (Newton, Iowa) – In his 1976 book The Astrological Chart of the United States, from 1776 to 2141 he wrote that the year 2012 would see the “re-election of the incumbent president.” This was based on applying secondary progressions to the US chart, using the Gemini rising variant (July 4 1776 at 3:01 AM in Philadelphia, PA). Osten died in 1991. This prediction was brought to my attention by an astrologer from New York who wrote a blog post on it. Gar Osten, The Astrological Chart of the United States from 1776 to 2141, Stein and Day, New York, NY, 1976, pg. 252.

Special thanks to Edith Hathaway for her help in collecting predictions by Vedic astrologers.

Astrologers Who Predicted That Romney Will Win

The following list contains astrologers who predicted that Mitt Romney will win the 2012 presidential election. Of the 14 predictions, 7 were published very recently in October. The October predictions are ranked by the order in which they were released.

1. Michael “Wolfstar” O’Reilly (Bend, Oregon) – Modern western astrology. His prediction was the cover story in the November 2012 issue of Dell Horoscope, which is one of the more highly circulated popular astrology magazines (see the image to the right for the cover). Some excerpts from the article were published on his website, Neptunecafe.com. He focuses mainly on transits and secondary progressions to each candidate’s natal chart on Election Day and Inauguration Day. He also looks at the chart of the US, using the Scorpio rising chart, although he acknowledges that this chart “remains controversial” amongst astrologers. He says that transiting Saturn moving into the Scorpio ascendant of the US chart indicates a shift towards conservatism, and thus the conservative candidate winning. He pays particular attention the Midheaven and Pluto in the natal charts of the candidates, and he sees Romney’s progressed Pluto trine his natal Midheaven on Election Day as particularly auspicious, while the lack of progressions to Obama’s Midheaven on Inauguration Day is negative. He also cites a number of other factors of lesser importance, which are too numerous to cite here. He essentially concludes his piece by accusing those who predicted an Obama win of being biased, and turning “…a blind eye to a possible Republican win.” Citation: “Who Will Win?”, Dell Horoscope (magazine), November 2012 issue (was on the newsstands by September 2012), pgs. 6-12.
2. Bill Meridian (New York, NY) – Mainly known as a financial astrologer. Employs modern natal astrology in his delineation, as well as inception charts for the Democratic and Republican parties. Progressions, eclipses, stations, solar arcs. A few transneptunians from Uranian astrology. Had an excellent hit already in his article where he predicted that Romney would have a major boost in his popularity just after the first debate due to the Jupiter station conjunct his natal Uranus in the 1st: “Beginning with the October 4 Jupiter station, we see that it is closely conjunct his natal Uranus. This will likely boost his popularity as the election approaches.” (pg. 14) “November’s Planets and You”, Dell Horoscope (magazine), November 2012 issue (published September 2012), pgs. 13-15.
3. Madam Charlene Lichtenstein (New York, NY) – Modern western astrology. In her blog article she looks at the transits to the composite chart of Obama/Biden and Romney/Ryan on Election Day, although ultimately the main emphasis of her prediction rests on the fact that Obama was nominated at the DNC in September under a void of course Moon: “…the nomination and acceptance of the nomination during the Void of Course moon is the clincher for me to call the election for the Republicans.” According to Astrology, The Next US President Will Be …, Madam Lichtenstein’s Cosmic World (blog), September 10, 2012.
4. Ema Kurent (Ljubljana, Slovenia) – Modern western astrology. Primarily focuses on eclipses, especially the prenatal and postnatal eclipses of the candidates, as well as the eclipses in May and November 2012. She sees the May eclipse in Gemini on Romney’s ascendant as being extremely important and auspicious, while she considers the eclipses in Obama’s 10th house/4th house axis to indicate changes at work and at home, and thus his leaving the White House. Also looks at secondary progressions, transits, and the chart of the Republican party. She hedges a bit at the end, saying “this is not a straight prediction” as the “indications are mixed”, and thus the purpose of her article is primarily meant to be educational in nature. Nonetheless, she says that she “wouldn’t be surprised if he [Romney] won the election.” Prediction published in the August 2012 issue of the ISAR Journal, Vol. 41 #2, the digital version of which was sent out via email on August 16, 2012. Also published on her website under the title Who Wins the 2012 USA Presidential Election?
5. Jaime Partridge (Woolgoolga, Australia) – Modern western astrology. Only discusses Romney’s chart in the article where he makes his main prediction, although discusses Obama’s elsewhere. Used natal chart, transits, eclipses, secondary progressions, solar return (relocated and corrected for precession), and some fixed stars. Towards the end of his delineation he says that Romney’s progressed Moon conjunct his progressed Midheaven on Election Day “means a high and favorable public profile with the ability to come across as emphatic to the needs of the public and especially women. In tune and intuitive about the public mood.” Mitt Romney Horoscope, Darkstar Astrology (blog), May 8, 2012.
6. Maria Rinehart (Gainesville, Florida) – Financial astrologer who uses modern western astrology. Looks at natal charts of the candidates and points out some notable transits, progressions. She contrasts some progressions and transits for Romney that she says seem more “publicly oriented” with some for Obama that seem “more personal.” Progressed Moon conjunct MC for Romney, versus progressed Moon conjunct Ascendant for Obama. Contrasts transiting Jupiter in Gemini in Romney’s 1st versus Obama’s 4th. Not a strong endorsement, but she does conclude by saying that “the astrological picture indicates Romney may be able to overcome his relatability issues, tip the balance in his favor by bringing the 40-somthings to his camp and, in turn, be elected president.” Mitt Romney the Next US President?, www.mariarinehart.com (website), early August (?) 2012.
7. Alex Miller (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) – Modern western astrologer who uses some standard techniques like natal charts, transits, progressions, and solar returns, but also uses several non-standard things like black holes, quasars, and a lot of asteroids. The integration of these non-standard factors makes his delineation kind of unconventional. There are too many factors mentioned in his analysis to summarize here. Prediction published in a 2 part series, with the second containing the final prediction: Election Preview II: The Case for Romney, Daykeeper Journal (blog), October 1, 2012.
8. Doug Walker (California) - Modern western astrology. Blogger who usually writes about planetary cycles and history. He focused on major configurations in the birth charts, synastry between candidates, Saturn cycles, and the Mercury retrograde on election day as a transit in each candidate’s chart. Emphasizes Romney’s first quarter Saturn square that is close to exact on election day, saying that when this transit occurs “you see these people rise to levels they never previously achieved,” but warns that “if this is not what he [Romney] is supposed to be doing, he will crash and burn here.” He sees the Mercury retrograde over Obama’s Midheaven around election day as indicating a reversal, or at least a “very difficult time in matters of career.” Who will win the 2012 Election? President Obama or Governor Romney?, The History of Astrology (blog), October 13, 2012.
9. David Hernandez (Miami, Florida) – Medieval astrology. Correctly predicted the 2008 US presidential election on his blog. Applies Medieval rules for war from Bonatti to inception chart for the “start” of the election, using midnight on November 6, 2012 at Dixville Notch, New Hampshire. Assigns Romney to the 1st house and Obama to the 7th. Also uses distance between Lot of Fortune and Exaltation to determine length of Obama’s reign based on natal chart, which he says comes out to about 3 years.  The Demise of the Presidency 2012, Imprimatur Stellarum (blog), October 15, 2012.
10. William Stickevers (New York, NY) – Uses what he calls “mundane political contest horary,” in which he asks himself a question related to the election and then casts a chart for the moment of the question. Has cast multiple horary charts regarding who would win the electoral votes of certain states in the past year, as well as other matters related to the election, such who would win certain debates, posting the results either on his blog or his Facebook page. As of October 29, 2012 no final prediction about the outcome of the election has been published on his blog, although he gave a lecture at the Astrological Society Connecticut on Thursday, October 18, 2012 in which he predicted that Romney would win, and this is consistent with several predictions he made publicly on Facebook in the months leading up the election.
11. Christina Rodenbeck (Oxford, UK) – Only employs solar arcs. Directing the US Sibley chart by solar arc, and comparing it to Romney’s current solar arc placements, especially the Sibley SA Midheaven to Romney’s SA Sun. Says that there is nothing comparable in Obama’s chart at the moment. Acknowledges that this all depends on the Sibley chart being correct, especially the time, since she focuses on the MC, although the correct chart for the US is a highly debated topic. Putting My Foot In the US Election, The Oxford Astrologer (blog), October 19, 2012.
12. David Goldstein (Austin, Texas) – Vedic astrology. Emphasizes at the outset that the astrological indications are very close, which forces him to resort to more minute distinctions and techniques. He looks at the natal charts of the candidates, the transits on Election Day, and the chart of the US, where he uses the James Kelleher rectification (July 4, 1776, 6:30 PM, Philadelphia). Both candidates running strong Vimshottari dasha periods, activating very important yogas in their charts. Looks at 10th harmonic divisional chart placements, where Romney’s comes out stronger. Deciding factor for him is what he sees as compelling connections between Romney’s chart and the US chart, according to Kelleher’s rectification, with Romney’s Midheaven conjunct the US Moon, and Romney’s ruler of the 10th (Saturn) conjunct US ruler of US 10th (Mercury). Most importantly, according to the chart he uses, Romney and the US are both running nearly identical dasha and bhukti periods on the day of the election. He hedges at the end and says that it is still very close, and he might be wrong. He is the only Vedic astrologer on our list who predicted Romney. The U.S. Presidential Election Prediction, www.dgoldsteinphd.com (website), originally sent out to mailing list on October 25, 2012.
13. Ed Tamplin (Sydney, Australia) – Modern western astrology. Issued delineations for Obama and Romney in October 2012 on an astrology column on his website, and earlier in the year he issued some statements about different transits that each candidate was having at various points. In some of his earlier columns he seemed to imply  that he favored Romney as the winner, although he doesn’t appear to have explicitly stated that Romney will win the election until very recently. His strongest statement from earlier in the year occurred in the September 2012 issue of the Federation of Australian Astrologers Journal (Vol. 42, No. 3, pgs. 23-38), in an article titled ”Eye in the Sky: The US Election 2012.” There he said that the eclipse in Scorpio in mid-November will be near Romney’s Moon-Jupiter conjunction, which he said “…may be the single most powerful indicator for a Romney victory.” More recently, in a column on his website on October 28, 2012, in a section titled “Saturn Aspects and the Presidency,” he strongly implies a Romney win, saying “The Midheaven is calculated via the birth time. If Romney is born at 9.51 am, as widely published, it is little wonder he is polling so surprisingly well. On past evidence Saturn is well positioned to deliver Romney the ultimate responsibility.” This is based on his observation that transiting Saturn is often prominent in the charts of presidents when they assume office, and Tamplin notes that on Inauguration Day “…Romney will have Saturn squaring his Midheaven, Venus and birth Saturn.” When contacted directly, Tamplin confirmed that he is predicting that Romney will win the election. Political Astrology Mundane Musings, www.edtamplin.com (website), October 28, 2012.
14. Sandra Weidner (Michigan?) – Highly idiosyncratic form of modern western astrology. Uses natal charts, relocated solar return charts, conception charts (apparently rectified), sidereal zodiac (Fagan-Bradley ayanamsha), harmonics (7th and 10th?), and only tight applying aspects. Acknowledges at the outset that her approach is non-standard, which is a bit of an understatement, because it is so idiosyncratic that most astrologers would have difficulty following what she is saying. On her home page she says that her method represents a new form of astrology, and she characterizes her articles as provisional research papers, including the election article. Astrology of The 2012 Presidential Election (website), August 12, 2012.

Inconclusive

This category is for astrologers who wrote articles on the election and ultimately came to the conclusion that it was too close to call, largely due to the Mercury retrograde on Election Day, which is similar to what was happening during the contested 2000 election.

1. Susan Miller (New York, NY) – Modern western astrology. She writes a popular horoscope column called Astrology Zone. She was interviewed by Business Insider, and her prediction appears in a brief article on their website. Her methodology isn’t explained in the article at all, although it appears that her conclusion is largely based on the Mercury retrograde on Election Day. The prediction: “Miller predicts this race will be much like the Al Gore/George W. Bush mess back in 2000, with a ‘too close to call’ race.” Famous Astrologer Gives Us Her Predictions For The Presidential Election, Business Insider (website),  June 27, 2012.
2. Lynn Hayes (Chapel Hill, North Carolina) – Modern western astrology. Wrote a 2 part series on the election, and initially she seems to lean towards Romney in Part 1, but then at the end of Part 2 she concludes that “It looks likely that once again there will be no clear winner in the 2012 election…” Astrologers predict the outcome of the 2012 election: Part II, Astrodynamics (blog), July 2, 2012.
3. Joni Patry (Dallas, Texas) – Vedic astrology. Towards the beginning of the article she says ”I believe there will be a stale mate on Election Day. There will be mass pandemonium over this.” Later she concludes the article by saying  “From my synthesis with all the deliberations of analysis we will not know the exact results of the elections initially because there will be chaos, and many events are due to happen between Election Day and the Inauguration Day. Rahu and Ketu change signs between November and January. So the results will change, expect the unexpected. This will be a turning point in history!” Politics in America the 2012 Election, www.galacticcenter.org (website), early September (?) 2012.

Mercury Retrograde on Election Day

Virtually every astrologer who issued a prediction about the election mentioned the fact that Mercury will turn retrograde on Election Day. Most of the statements were very similar in nature, so I didn’t mention them in the summaries above. Mercury retrograde periods are generally associated with delays, miscommunication, uncertainty and technological snafus, and so the fact that one occurs on Election Day this year led most of the astrologers to predict problems and delays. Below I will list a few articles that were specifically written about the Mercury retrograde on Election Day:

• Chris Brennan (Denver, Colorado) – The Political Astrology Blog’s official article on the subject is titled Mercury Retrograde and the 2012 Election. We explain in this article what it means for Mercury to turn retrograde, and talk about instances in the past when Mercury has been retrograde on Election Day, such as during the 2000 and 1960 elections.
• Jessica Adams (Sydney/London) – Excellent discussion about the Mercury retrograde and its implications, and in particular some good coverage of predictions that several astrologers made prior to the 2000 election involving Mercury retrograde that turned out to be true. Astrology Prediction – 2012 Election, JessicaAdams.com (blog), September 18, 2012.
• Michael Lutin (New York, NY) – Popular astrology columnist, and former astrologer for Vanity Fair. He was one of the astrologers who predicted that there would be problems during the 2000 election due to the Mercury retrograde then, as Adams discusses in the article above. He has a couple of articles on the November 2012 Mercury retrograde and its implications for the election in his mundane astrology column on his website called The Horoscope of the World: one on June 4, 2012 titled “November 6, Retrograde Mercury and Martial Law?”, and one on October 23, 2012 titled “Election Day in America: Electile Dysfunction.”
• The Associated Press produced a video about the United Astrology Conference in May 2012 where they talked to a few astrologers, and in the beginning it briefly covers the Mercury retrograde on Election Day and the parallel with Election Day in 2000. Michael Lutin makes a few statements about the retrograde in the video. Astrologers Predict Outcome of Presidential Race, May 24, 2012.
• Alex Miller (Philadelphia, PA) – Wrote a piece for The Mountain Astrologer magazine’s blog on October 1, 2012 titled Election Day’s Mercury Station. His discussion about black holes is kind of non-standard, since most astrologers don’t take them into account, but he does mention weather as potentially being an issue, which is interesting at this point in late October with the formation of Hurricane Sandy.
• Anne Ortelee (New York, NY) – She was interviewed by Now This News, and they did a video on Mercury retrograde. At the end she predicts that Romney will win, although she almost seems to do so based on Mercury being retrograde, and it isn’t clear what other techniques she applied. Astrology Predicts Election ‘Chaos’, October 10, 2012.
• Eric Francis (Kingston, New York) – Wrote a piece on Mercury retrograde for the Huffington Post on October 3, 2012 titled Mercury Retrograde Election Day. Points out that Mercury has never stationed retrograde right on Election Day before in the US.
• Chase Cain of Fox 35 News, a Fox News affiliate in Orlando, Florida, did a piece on Mercury retrograde in mid-October. At one point they interview an astrologer/psychic named Ginny Stern. Astrological signs point to ‘disastrous’ election, October 17, 2012.

Other Roundups

I’ve been working on this roundup article for a few months now, and in the meantime a few other roundups have been published by other astrologers. In some instances they came across predictions that I hadn’t, which I subsequently included in my list, so I would like to acknowledge those other roundups here, in the order in which they were published:

1. Jessica Adams – Astrology Prediction – 2012 Election, JessicaAdams.com (blog), September 18, 2012.
2. Jaime Partidge – 2012 Election Predictions, Dark Star Astrology (blog), October 15, 2012.
3. Lynn Hayes – More Predictions on the US Election, Astrodynamics (blog), October 17, 2012.
4. Kepler College –  Prediction Techniques and the 2012 Election, October (?) 2012.

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Conclusions

Based on this survey, it appears that the majority of astrologers who have issued public predictions about the outcome of the 2012 presidential election believe that Barack Obama will be reelected to a second term of office in November.

However, nearly every astrologer who has issued a prediction, either for Obama or Romney, has also made a point to mention the Mercury retrograde on Election Day, and there is near universal consensus that this will coincide with some problems and potentially some delays in the electoral process next month.

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