(12 July 2017)
The ongoing Russia controversy involving President Donald Trump has
taken center stage again this week. Following a story by the New York
Times, Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. released emails that revealed that
he had met with a well-connected Russian lawyer before the election in
order to obtain damaging information about Hillary Clinton. The details of the emails make the strongest case yet that the Trump campaign had knowledge of the Russian hacking efforts intended to get Trump elected. While this may or may not not qualify as a clear case of collusion, it raises more questions about the legitimacy of Trump's presidency, to say nothing of his political viability as the head of the executive branch. And if these emails have come out as the result of an investigation by the NYT, one can only imagine what the ongoing FBI and Senate investigations may find down the road.
This is a clear setback for the Trump administration. Not surprisingly, the planets were negatively aligned against the key players here: President Trump, Donald Trump Jr., himself and yes, even Vladimir Putin. Let's take a look at these horoscopes one at a time.
As I suggested in a June post on Trump, I thought the entry of Mars into sidereal Cancer on July 11th would likely bring bad news for him. Well, that's definitely come to pass given that the NYT story appeared on Tuesday, the 11th. The reason why the entry of Mars into Cancer is stressful for Trump is that the sign of Cancer is in his 12th house of loss and sorrows -- among other things.
Mars is a malefic planet and it is said to be debilitated during its seven-week long transit of Cancer. It's most negative attributes of anger, frustration, and mistaken actions are believed to manifest more readily during this transit. And in Trump's chart, it just so happens that he was born when Saturn was at 0 Cancer. That's exactly where Mars is this week, along with the upcoming conjunction with Venus at 2 Cancer on Friday. Mars-to-Saturn transits usually coincide with very stressful situations that can be frustrating and involve a lot of hard work. They aren't always bad, but in Trump's chart, the likelihood of bad news is greater because Saturn is in Trump's 12th house. All other things being equal, it's considered a bad house in Vedic astrology, as it is in traditional Western astrological systems.
Donald Trump Jr.
While Mars is not prominent in the horoscope of his son, Donald Trump Jr., the chart is nonetheless clearly afflicted this week and indeed, for much of the summer. We don't know when the son was born but even an approximated chart shows that transiting Mercury (15 Cancer) was conjunct natal Mars on Tuesday (=frustrations, intense situations, angry communications).
But the deeper problem with the chart is that the upcoming Saturn station in late August at 27 Scorpio will exactly conjoin his natal Mercury (27 Scorpio). Saturn-Mercury aspects imply slow or blocked progress, especially in business or communication-related matters. Setbacks are also likely more common with this pairing although it often depends on other factors. We can also see that Saturn is forming a difficult square aspect with his Leo Moon. Depending on how close it really is, which is birth time dependent, Trump Jr. is likely feeling depressed and isolated and may well be on the defensive for the duration of this transit.
Without his time of birth, it is difficult to say with confidence that Trump Jr. will remain under pressure for the rest of the summer. And yet, the transit alignments do tend to lean towards that conclusion. The transiting Sun-Mars conjunction in late July and early August will line up with his natal Mars suggesting a very intense and perhaps conflictive situation. Perhaps he will be called to testify in the Senate investigation at that time. It's one of many possibilities.
Vladimir Putin
Perhaps the most intriguing chart of the three is is that of Russian President Vladimir Putin. After Putin's apparent PR win at the G-20 meeting on the weekend, revelations about the Russia meeting with Trump's son could be a big embarrassment. Outside of the Trump White House, there is already a broad consensus within Washington that Putin and Russia were involved in meddling in the US election with the aim of electing Trump. Now there is evidence that links members of Trump's campaign to the Russian government.
Mars (0 Cancer) is again very active in Putin's chart as it was exactly squaring his Mercury (0 Libra). Mars-Mercury transits are typically involved in stressful situations involving bad news, especially involving sudden events where intentions and plans unexpectedly fail. Of course, it hasn't been all bad for Putin, as last weekend's G-20 summit occurred just as the Jupiter-Sun conjunction was approaching exact at 20 Virgo. But Putin will still have to contend with the approaching Rahu-to-Ketu conjunction which is due to be exact in the fall. This will coincide with the return of Saturn to its own conjunction with Mars (3 Sagittarius) in October and November. Both of these patterns suggest significant obstacles. But just to be clear, Putin's chart looks much less afflicted than President Trump's in the coming months.
Another unusually telling chart is the Putin swearing-in chart Putin took the Russian presidential oath for his third term as president on 7 May 2012 at noon. We can see how the discovery of the Trump Jr. emails is apparently manifesting in this chart also. Rahu (2 Leo) is just one degree from the Ascendant and indicates disruptions of order and expected events. The Mars entry into the first degree of Cancer also happens to hit the cusp of the 12th house of loss and disappointment. The bigger problem with this chart is that the retrograde Saturn (28 Scorpio) is sitting opposite the Venus (28 Taurus) and will continue to cast its affliction for the rest of the summer at least up until its late August direct station. Venus may only be indirectly related to Putin's political fortunes, however. It may also relate to renewed weakness in the Russian economy.
Saturn and the solar eclipse: the uncertain path ahead
August 20-23 will see Mars align with Rahu (North Lunar Node). This will also align with the nasty Moon-Ketu conjunction in Trump's chart and therefore also bring in the Saturn station. To matters even more weighty, the August 21st solar eclipse atop Trump's Ascendant could further intensify the importance of events at the end of August. It is definitely a very serious alignment of planets here that speaks to some kind of highly stressful situation where Trump will likely feel the burden of presidency very heavily.
That major alignment of Mars, Rahu and Saturn will also be very close to the Ascendant of the Putin oath horoscope. Whatever is happening at the end of August will likely create some problems for Putin and Russia. Overall, it seems likely that the pressure from the Russia investigations will intensify for Trump and Putin over the next 4-6 weeks.
Weekly Market Forecast
Stock markets pushed higher on Wednesday after Janet Yellen indicated that the Fed would follow a cautious path towards normalizing interest rates. The Dow is at new all-time highs now above 21,500. India's Sensex is also making new highs this week above 31,500 on lower than expected inflation data. In last week's forecast, I thought we might have seen more downside this week on the Mars-Ketu aspect.
The rest of this week could see some gains on the Mercury-Jupiter alignment. The first half of next week also offers bulls some hope for some upside as Venus aligns with Jupiter. Things could get more interesting after that, however. Some of the alignments noted above in August look unfriendly to financial markets. I would be surprised if stocks remained at these lofty levels.
For more details and analysis on market trends for this week, this month and this year, please check out my weekly MVA Investor Newsletter. The newsletter is published every Saturday and includes extended discussion of US and Indian stock markets, as well as gold, oil and major currencies.
