This newsletter will be the start of a serialisation of a chapter from the new updated version of my book. The new title of my book will be: The Astrological Karma of the USA. The chapter I will be serialising is about the Astrological birthchart of George W. Bush. I will follow with a series based on the Astrological birthchart of John F. Kerry. The book itself should be available in May.

The Astrological Karma of
George W. Bush

President George W. Bush, perhaps more than any other in recent history, has polarized our nation into nearly 50/50 opposed camps. Those who approve of George W. Bush and all or most of what he has done and those who approve of little or nothing of what he has done. This polarity in the national psyche reflects what the U.S. is experiencing now in its own Astrological birthchart as a nation. Examination of Bush’s Astrological birthchart reveals that he and our nation are both confronting similar challenges of identifying with our self image at the expense of our true natures and immersing ourselves in Neptunian illusion and deception at the expense of our compassion.

In this discussion of the Astrological birthchart of George W. Bush I will first look at him as an individual. Behind the social persona of every individual there is a matrix of factors which influence the choices and decisions we each make in the performance of our social obligations. The Astrological factors evident in the birthchart and reflected in the formative experiences in his childhood and later life give a more comprehensive view of this man. I will then review the influence of these factors and others on how George W. Bush functions as President and conclude with the dangers I see ahead for George W. Bush and our nation.

George W. Bush is a Cancer. He thinks he is a Leo. He pretends that he is an Aries. In his childhood he had to bear the influence of the sign Libra. All in a manner of speaking. These are prominent basic Astrological influences in the drama of George W. Bush’s life.

As stated earlier, the Sun in a birthchart represents your soul essence. It is who you really are. George Bush has his Sun in Cancer, born on July 6 two days after our own U.S. birthday of July 4th. This means that the soul essence of George W. Bush has developed qualities of caring and nurturing in previous lives. He would be a good man to represent ‘family values’ and a traditional, patriotic stance. It is this Cancerian part of George Bush which would resonate sincerely with his stated mission of ‘compassionate conservatism.’

I previously explained that the United States is not always in touch with the caring, nurturing potential of its Sun in Cancer. Our nation often tends to identify more with our self-righteous Sagittaritan self-image. Similarly, George W. Bush’s Sun in Cancer qualities of caring and nurturing are often overwhelmed by the smug superiority of his self image (Ascendant) which is Leo.

This sign as well as the Sign Aries, his projected image to the world (Midheaven), are both feisty fire signs. Aries on the Midheaven will show a tendency to present oneself as ‘headstrong, willful and dynamic’, with a tendency to appear as ‘hot-headed.’

The self image of Bush is better understood by analyzing Hilarion’s description of Leo Ascendant:

When the sign Leo rises, there will be a tendency for the self-picture to be colored by the notions of elegance, specialness and superiority. A proudness will often be felt internally.... The reason for giving this Ascendant to an individual is to prompt him to think better of himself than he is in the habit of doing when in incarnation. The rulership by the sun thus lends to the individual certain bolstering influences in terms of how he sees himself, which are intended to teach him not to underestimate his own worth and not to feel inferior to others.
So, the Leo Ascendant is given to an individual to bolster their self-esteem as a counterforce to their own self-doubt. Thus George W. Bush’s self image protects him against feeling inferior to others so as to appear stronger that he is.

In addition to the Leo Ascendant, Bush has Mercury in Leo in the First House close to the Ascendant, of which Hilarion says:

Mercury here [in Leo]......will aggravate feelings of pride, superiority and arrogance. The thoughts will revolve ever and only about the self, and the person’s life will seem to him to be a magnificent play in which he himself is the main actor, and has written all the parts. The main lesson is to see others as whole persons in their own right, living their own life-plays.

This Mercury is conjunct to Pluto in Bush’s chart, which indicates that the soul’s tendencies for arrogance and self-absorption have been slated for major transformation in this life. The dichotomy beween a caring, nurturing father and an arrogant, smirking, party boy is a basic theme duly noted in all of the biographies I have read about George W. Bush. In his own auto-biography, ‘A Charge to Keep,’ Bush speaks in great detail about the reasons why he refused to commute the death sentence of Karla Faye Tucker, a reformed murderer turned Christian who had asked for the right to live so that she could aid and counsel other young women in prison who had also been led down the path of drugs and violence. She had appeals on her behalf coming from sources all the way up to Pope John Paul himself.

George Bush explained that he did not commute the death sentence of Karla Fay Tucker, while at the same time he did commute the death sentence of an unrepentant serial killer, Henry Lee Lucas, because facts revealed that Lucas was innocent in relation to the specific murder he was convicted of, whereas Karla Faye Tucker had never professed innocence for what she did. He admits being heavy of heart at the time. Indeed, his wife Laura said that she had never seen George so anxious and that he was having difficulty falling asleep. After the execution, however, a journalist asked Bush what Karla Faye’s response had been when CNN’s Larry King had asked her what she would say to Governor Bush if she had the opportunity. Bush mocked and mimicked Karla Faye by saying, ‘Please don’t kill me,’ in a whimpering voice.

Which of these reactions is more truthful? That reported by Laura Bush, or that by the journalist? Admittedly, George W. thought that his comments with the journalist were off the record. I believe that Bush’s caring, emotional, Cancerian Self was sincerely tortured by the death of Karla Fay Tucker on his hands. His inability to access, own, and consistently express that caring emotional side, however, is a major dilemma for him in this life. This is the same dilemma faced by this great nation of ours.

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Steffan Vanel