Here is the next installment in my on-going interpretation of the Astrological Karma of George W. Bush. See my April Column and May Column for the first two installments of this series.

There is an additional rather heavy element in the karmic experience of George W. Bush. He has the planet Saturn in the Astrological sign Cancer and this Saturn is also in the Twelfth House. If I were with a client now, I would normally say at this point, “And unfortunately, everyone has Saturn somewhere.” The location of Saturn in a birthchart indicates where you have to experience karma through a certain heaviness, weight, limitation, or restriction. It is the planet related to the metal lead.

Saturn in Cancer indicates a certain heaviness or restriction in the early childhood. Saturn in the Twelfth House relates to Bush’s memory of his most recent past life.

This is what Hilarion says about Saturn in the Twelfth House:

"The placement of Saturn in the twelfth points to a burdened previous life, usually one marked by illness and loneliness. As a result the present personality will bear scars in the subconscious, and these residues may well program him to react to events and people in certain negative ways."

At the time of Robin’s death the Saturn in his birthchart was experiencing simultaneous tense transits (squares) from Saturn and Neptune, and a conjunction from Uranus. This heavy Saturnian past life memory was being especially activated at this time.

In another perspective on the Twelfth House, noted Astrologer Liz Greene explains that the Twelfth House represents the inherited family ‘daimon,’ that is the inherited family unconsious which you then somehow become programmed with. My personal feeling is that the past life memory and the family unconscious are both valid interpretations. With his Twelfth House Saturn, George W. was carrying within him this heavy, difficult, past life memory. It was then arranged for him to incarnate into a family where it was known that there would be a similar heavy Saturnian weight in the family unconscious as well.

Suspended above the family table was a portrait of Robin placed by her father. Her presence was always there, but virtually never spoken about. That the elder George Bush suffered greatly from the loss is revealed in a letter he later wrote to his own mother where he said:

"I sometimes wonder whether it is fair to our boys and to our friends to ‘fly-high’ that portrait of Robin which I love so much; but here selfishness takes over because every time I sit at our table with just our candlelight, I somehow can’t help but glance at this picture you gave us and enjoy a renewed physical sensation of closeness to a loved one."

This letter was apparently written before the birth of Dorothy for in it he pines for a little girl, for some, ‘soft blonde hair to offset those crewcuts.’ That the elder George Bush would feel these deep feelings but again, not express them, especially with his sons, would, again, relate to the Moon in Libra’s tendency to have an appearance of calmness masking more turbulent emotions underneath. That these unexpressed feelings were in fact heavy, deep, and painful would resonate with the Saturn in the Twelfth House, ie. Saturnian heaviness in the family unconscious.

On a more positive note, George W. has his Neptune in the Third House of mind and thinking in positive aspect (sextile) to his Mercury. This aspect would give George W. the capacity to open his mental perspective to the positive aspects of Neptune. These aspects include spirituality and compassion. In addition to being a caring, nurturing Cancer, George W. has, with this Neptune aspect, the ability to express sensitive comments to those around him. These factors also relate to his capacity to open to a religious spirituality. It has been noted that in his childhood his family practiced what has been referred to as a ‘Christianity Lite.’ It was George W.’s encounter with the Reverend Billy Graham which really helped him to access the potential of this positive Neptune aspect. This opening of himself to God in this Neptunian way positively aspecting his Mercury helped George W. to tone down the arrogance and self-absorption of his Mercury in Leo.

The other factor which would help him greatly in toning down some of the abrasive qualities within his Astrological make-up would be his marriage to Laura. An indication of the destiny for this, by all accounts, happy marriage is Bush’s Jupiter In Libra for which Hilarion says, ‘In Libra, ruled by Venus, Jupiter always promises an eventual happy marriage (or marriage-equivalent). ‘

This happy marriage and opening to spirituality also helped George W. to finally get a grip on another problem which comes under the influence of the planet Neptune. This problem was George W.’s alcoholism. Neptune, it is to be noted, rules drugs and alcohol. Neptune in difficult aspect will bring lessons relating to confusion, illusion, delusion victimhood and martyrdom. This Neptune in the Third House, the house related to the sign Gemini and to mental thinking, would also resonate with George W.’s tendency to mangle the English language and to be himself vicitmized for that. Additionally, it would relate to his tendency to use alcohol to buffer himself from the rough edges of life. Some say that George W. was not an alcoholic. His wife Laura said he never drank during the day. Yet, in that time period when George W. was asked when was the last day that he didn’t have at least one beer, he couldn’t remember. Later, he has stated that his alcohol imbibing days were simply “When I was young and irresponsible.” His period of being young and irresponsible, however, lasted until he was 40 years old.

This Neptune is in wide conjunction with his Moon in Libra, the Moon in Libra representing that part of his childhood experience where things appeared as calm on the surface even though they were not underneath. The Neptune is also in tension with (square) his Sun in Cancer. Looking at this complex of factors objectively, with no prior knowledge of the biographical details of the subject, factors involving Sun, Moon, Jupiter and Neptune, I would suspect a very complex relationship between father and son, and perhaps between father and mother, and mother and son.