Hillary Clinton – 2016 U.S. Presidential Campaign: Some Early Clues

HILLARY’S CAMPAIGN LAUNCH

On Sunday, April 12, 2015 – after months and years of speculation, Hillary Clinton finally declared her candidacy for U.S. President in the Nov. 2016 election. There is some confusion around the exact time of her announcement via Tweet, and from which time zone she was tweeting. The time and location has to be precise for purposes of astrological analysis. If 14:27 from Brooklyn, NY (her campaign headquarters) is correct, this gives a 29:11 Cancer Ascendant. The last 3:20 degree area of water signs is considered a treacherous one in Vedic astrology. It is also where Hillary’s natal Saturn resides. If this launch time is accurate, there are definitely mixed omens: 29 degrees of Cancer on the Ascendant is not a good indicator for smooth sailing to her presidential candidacy. In a Prashna (horary) chart, the 29^th degree rising typically indicates a situation that is about to change from its stated purpose.

However, tr. Jupiter in the Cancer Ascendant is an excellent omen, very strong in its exalted sign (18:32 Cancer on launch day), and additionally strong four days from having turned Stationary Direct. Hillary launched her campaign on a Sunday, ruled by the Sun – which is well located in the 9^th house in Pisces, receiving an aspect from Jupiter. The Sun is on the eclipse axis (with Rahu and Ketu), but is strengthened by being in an excellent house, in the sign of its planetary friend Jupiter, as well as Vargottama, i.e. repeated in the same sign in the Navamsha (9^th harmonic) chart. All these factors fortify the Sun, planet of leadership.

Using classical Prashna (horary) rules, tr. Moon at 6:20 Capricorn is out of the allowed Deeptamsha range to make a full aspect to tr. Sun or Jupiter. The upcoming two aspects are positive, a trine to Venus in Taurus (1 degree orb), and a sextile to Saturn in Scorpio (4 degree orb). This shows relative ease in the first four months, assigning one month as time unit per degree between planets. But Moon’s last aspect is a square to tr. Mars at 14:49 Aries in the 10^th house of status, not considered a positive result, showing an important obstacle/conflict – which could occur around the 8 ½ month mark from launch date: i.e. Dec. 26, 2015. Though it seems unlikely, if one week were the time unit, the result of the Hillary’s campaign would be apparent not in 8 ½ months but in 8 ½ weeks from its launch: ca. June 11, 2015. But again, we have to weigh how definitive an outcome can be gleaned from this chart alone, especially when the exact time and time zone may be in question. In addition, the charts of the complete roster of presidential candidates should be studied, when they all finally come forward.

Given all these factors, I returned to perusing Hillary Clinton’s birth chart for election viability, even if there is also controversy surrounding Hillary’s correct birth data, which is officially listed as DD (Dirty Data). However, I have some confidence in my preferred rectified birth time of 7:56 am CST, Oct. 26, 1947, Chicago, IL.

HILLARY’S BIRTH CHART

I have used this rectified time of 7:56 am CST extensively for my predictions for the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election. Several of the Source Notes at Astro-DataBank also support a time around 8 am CST. For my coverage of the 2008 Presidential Election campaign and election, please see the link below (90 pp.). Hillary’s chart is discussed in the sections titled “Review of the charts of Presidential candidates,” and later under “The Astrological charts” – 14 charts. There is more material on Hillary in this latter section, Chart #7. http://29eagles.com/election/edith/edith7_feb08_early_talk.html

In early Feb. 2008 I made a prediction at a public talk in north San Diego that Hillary Clinton would be defeated in the Democratic primary race by Barack Obama, and that this would occur by the first week of May 2008. My prediction was correct: Obama became the clear winner as of May 6, 2008, though Clinton did not announce her formal concession until June 7, 2008. (At the same talk I also predicted Obama would win the General Election in Nov. 2008.)

This 7:56 am birth chart has a Libra Ascendant. Venus is Ascendant lord and is strong in its own sign of Libra, alongside Mercury Retrograde and Sun, all of them creating important Raja yogas for success and status and Dhana yogas for financial wealth from both the Libra Ascendant and from natal Moon in Aquarius. Hillary has two Neecha Bhanga Raja yogas in her birth chart: Debilitated Mars in Cancer in the 10^th house and debilitated Sun in Libra in the Ascendant. They each receive correction by contacting either the lord of the exaltation sign (Saturn, for Mars in Cancer) or the lord of the debilitation sign (Venus, for Sun in Libra). This elevates Hillary’s status in spite of early setbacks. Mars is doubly corrected, as it moves to its sign of exaltation in the Navamsha, while Navamsha Sun remains strong in a Kendra house in Sagittarius, the sign of a planetary friend. Navamsha Sun and Moon both in kendras (opposite each other) reinforce the strength of Bill and Hillary as a couple to be reckoned with. Natal Mars pertains to husband Bill Clinton, as Mars rules the 7^th house of marriage partner and achieves high status in the 10^th house of the birth chart. Mars is Digbala in the 10^th house, i.e. in its best possible angle from the Ascendant and is karaka (significator) for physical vitality.

Also sharing rulership over physical health and vitality are her Ascendant lord Venus and natal Sun, both in Libra in the Ascendant. With natal Sun and Mars both in Neecha Bhanga Raja yogas, both planets are strengthened by being situated in angles of the chart. A Neecha Bhanga planet usually begins in a disadvantaged state and rises to a higher status in life after enduring a number of obstacles. This Mars as lord of the 7^th house certainly fits the unexpected rise of Bill Clinton from relatively lowly beginnings. In the Vimshottari Dasha system, Hillary finished her 20-year Venus Dasha on March 16, 2015, entering her 6-year Sun Dasha at that time. One month later, on Sunday, April 12, 2015, she officially declared her presidential candidacy for the 2016 election.

During a strong run of her 20-year Venus Dasha, from March 16, 1995 to March 16, 2015, Hillary served as First Lady (Jan. 20, 1993 – Jan. 20, 2001), won high office as U.S. Senator (Jan. 20, 2001 – Jan. 20, 2009) and served as U.S. Secretary of State (Jan. 20, 2009 – Feb. 1, 2013). She lost her 2008 bid for the presidency during Venus-Saturn Dasha, two planets that form some core Raja yogas from the Libra Ascendant. However, natal Saturn in the 10^th house at 28:11 Cancer can also cause problems, not only because Saturn in the 10^th house can bring a fall from a great height, but also because the last 3:20 degrees of Cancer are troublesome and the last 10 degrees of Cancer are Sarpa Drekkana (snake-like). Planets here can be volatile, unpredictable, and/or deceptive. Furthermore, during most of the 2008 primary race Hillary had another planetary obstacle.

MARS AT ZERO BINDUS – GEMINI & SCORPIO

We pay special attention when a planet is ranked zero bindus in the Ashtakavarga rankings. “Sarva” means “all” – thus, the total number of bindus from each planet in each house. In Hillary’s birth chart Mars is ranked at zero bindus both in Gemini and Scorpio. Ashtakavarga numbers are called “bindus” and represent how strong a planet is when transiting through each whole sign (and house) in the birth chart. Ashta = 8, and Ashtakavarga is an 8-fold way of measuring the strength of each planet. The highest bindu ranking is 8 and the lowest is zero. A planet will perform at an average level when midway between zero and 8. The latter can produce extraordinary results, while at zero the planet behaves badly and uncooperatively. In Hillary’s case, when Mars transits either Gemini or Scorpio it tends to create problems for her. This has an interesting history that we can follow, even somewhat dramatic at times – as we would expect from any planet ranked zero bindus. Obviously, the longer the transiting planet remains in that sign, the longer the period when it (Mars, in this case) creates conflict and/or weakness.

In the Libra Ascendant chart Mars rules Houses 2 and 7. As lord of House 2, it rules over matters of financial income; and as lord of House 7, it rules over matters concerning either her husband or her competitors or enemies. As noted earlier, Mars rules over physical strength, stamina and vitality as a karaka (significator). Hillary’s natal Mars is ranked above average at 5 bindus.

Let us look at some pivotal periods both past and future when Mars transits through either Gemini or Scorpio. Every two years Mars will go into retrograde, when it remains in the same sign for much longer than the typical 7 to 8 weeks. All planetary positions are given in the sidereal zodiac, Lahiri ayanamsha.

MARS in Gemini

1992-1993: Sept. 2 – Nov. 3 (U.S. Election day); Dec. 22, 1992 – April 14, 1993. In his first Presidential election bid in Nov. 1992, Bill Clinton won the election against then-Vice President George H.W. Bush. On Election day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 1992, tr. Mars was still in Gemini at zero bindus for Hillary up to 1:48 pm Eastern Standard Time for Washington, D.C., when it moved into the more favorable position of Cancer at the top of the sky in her birth chart, and a Mars return.

At 12 noon Inauguration Day 1993 for Bill Clinton, tr. Mars (representing him in Hillary’s chart) was retrograde at 19:10 Gemini in Ardra nakshatra, opposite tr. Moon. Tr. Mars remained in Gemini through mid-April 1993. Though overall the Clinton presidency can be credited with presiding over the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in the history of the U.S., it would also bring some difficulties at the start of his presidency. Indeed, according to authors Joe Conason and Gene Lyons in their book The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton, published Feb. 3, 2001, the Republican Party spent over $70 million in a relentless 10-year crusade to bring down Bill and Hillary Clinton. The authors document this process in great detail, perhaps hinting that tr. Mars in Gemini at Inauguration had major influence.

MARS in Scorpio

1995: Oct. 12 – Nov. 22. Monica Lewinsky became a White House Intern in July 1995 and began her affair with President Bill Clinton in Nov. 1995. Though she was transferred from the White House to the Pentagon in April 1996, the affair lasted through March 1997. It became public in Jan. 1998 after a colleague secretly taped Lewinsky, providing ammunition for the Republican Party in the subsequent and lengthy impeachment hearings against Bill Clinton, considerably weakening his presidency and straining his marriage and family life. He was acquitted on Feb. 12, 1999; and soon after, Monica Lewinsky gave a television interview with Barbara Walters on March 3, 1999. There were a record 74 million viewers, the highest-ever rated interview conducted by Walters in her decades-long career. Tr. Mars was in Libra, on Hillary’s Ascendant from Jan. 12 to Aug. 23, 1999.

MARS in Gemini

2000: June 7 – July 22. This Mars transit was during Hillary’s campaign for U.S. Senate from New York, where the Clintons had purchased a home in 1999. Hillary announced her candidacy for U.S. Senate on Feb. 7, 2000, the first-ever First Lady in U.S. history to run for office while still in the White House. She won the election on Nov. 7, 2000 and was sworn in on Jan. 20, 2001, the same day her husband’s two-term presidency ended. Fortunately for her, the tr. Mars in Gemini period came after May 19, 2000, when her strongest opponent – then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani – declared he was stepping down from the Senate race due to health issues and some personal revelations, including an extramarital affair and a divorce.

MARS in Gemini

2007-2008: Sept. 16, 2007 – April 27, 2008. Hillary declared her presidential candidacy on Jan. 20, 2007 for the 2008 Presidential election and was considered by far the front-runner Democratic Party candidate for at least one year. But her campaign was in trouble financially by Feb. 2008; and by May 6, 2008 it was finished in terms of primary votes she needed to win. It was officially over when she conceded to Barack Obama on June 7, 2008 at the conclusion of the Democratic Party primary races. Usually a great asset on the campaign trail, husband Bill Clinton was reported to be more of a liability during most of the primary races in 2008.

MARS in Gemini

2015: June 15 – July 30. This is a time to watch, in case the one-week time unit works for the Campaign launch chart of April 12, 2015. That would come due ca. June 11, 2015. But if it is a one-month time unit, as I suspect, and not much else is happening campaign-wise, this time period could pass without incident.

MARS in Scorpio

2016: Feb. 20 – June 17; July 12 – Sept. 17. This is a far more crucial time range covering both the Presidential primary races and the national Democratic Party convention July 25-28, 2016 in Philadelphia. The Republican Party Convention is July 18-21, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio.

To some extent, this 6-month long Mars transit in Scorpio echoes the 7-month long transit of Mars in Gemini during the 2008 Democratic Primary race for the 2008 Presidential election, when Hillary lost to Barack Obama. This 2016 transit of Mars in Scorpio also partially coincides for 2 ½ months with Hillary’s Sun-Mars Dasha: Jan. 2 – May 8, 2016, which once again is a decisive period in the primaries. We have discussed how Sun and Mars are both Neecha Bhanga in Hillary’s birth chart and should improve over time. But Navamsha Mars, even if exalted, is in the 8^th house with Rahu. And with tr. Mars in Scorpio at zero bindus at such a pivotal time, several outcomes are possible: 1) Her own health and physical stamina could take a downturn. 2) Her husband Bill Clinton’s health and/or political well-being could take a downturn, adversely affecting Hillary. Or 3) Her opponent could suffer a downturn. However, this last option does not seem to figure thus far in her experiences with tr. Mars at zero bindus, especially when reviewing the 2008 Democratic Primary Race. Will it shift to a different outcome in 2016? We will know more as the other candidates come forward and the race develops, though perhaps this early clue will reveal itself to be a critical factor after all.

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[This article appears in the May 2015 issue of Astrologic magazine, an on-line magazine, and also in excerpted form in various newsletters of NCGR, National Council of Geocosmic Research.]

Edith Hathaway is an international consultant in practice since 1980, author, teacher, and lecturer of Vedic astrology, and among the few contemporary astrologers trained and certified in systems of both East and West. She was a Founding member of the American Council of Vedic Astrology and since 1992 has served as a faculty and board member of both the American Council and American College of Vedic Astrology. She has received numerous certificates and awards from leading astrological organizations, including the Jyotish Brihaspati, the highest award given by the Council of Vedic Astrology (CVA). Her articles and lectures are available at her website www.edithhathaway.com, along with testimonials and reviews of her most recent book, In Search of Destiny: Biography, History & Culture As Told Through Vedic Astrology, 2012. It is available in both paperback and Kindle e-book versions at Amazon USA, Amazon Europe and elsewhere. See her website store for her lectures on video or mp3s along with accompanying PDF files.

In Search of Destiny is a winner in the category of Nonfiction E‐book from Eric Hoffer Book Awards for books published in 2012. The book is cited as “[bringing] an understanding of the astrological science via explanation and examination wrought through the lens of time and culture.” In Search of Destiny is also a Finalist in the San Diego Book Awards for books published in 2012 in the category of Nonfiction: Spiritual and Inspirational.