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The Celestial Wheel World societal, economic and political forecasting since 2002
An In-depth Forecast
June 3, 2007
Doug Riemer |
#71
The Bush Presidency Update
June 3, 2007
Introduction
Since the October 24, 2004 In-depth Celestial Wheel, The Bush Presidency - Profile & Prediction, G.W. Bush's chart has not been comprehensively analyzed for specific future trends and events.
Celestial Wheel Commentaries have, however, touched upon Bush's planetary karmas. The most salient of these observations has been that of Bush changing Dasas (planetary cycles) last May from Saturn to Mercury. This was first described in the March 26, 2006 Celestial Wheel Commentary (emphasis added),
| First, this year's counter-culture movement will likely result in the Republicans losing Congress. With G.W. Bush finishing his nineteen year Saturn cycle May 15, the planet of retribution has certainly brought him to task this year and will continue to do so until its over. However, Bush's life doesn't get any easier, for then he begins his sixteen year Mercury cycle, which brings loss through impulse, deception and self deception, even more stubbornness and health sensitivities. Following the November 6 congressional elections, impeachment is a real possibility. At the very least, Bush is already the earliest lame duck President in recent history. |
This forecast examines Bush's planetary karmas from today through July 28, 2007.
Dasas As The River Of Life
The reason for the karmic preeminence of the Dasas change is that these planetary cycles are the underlying karma in the life's journey. The Celestial Wheel has often applied the analogy of a boat journeying down the river of life. Here, the Dasa planets signify the river's course and nature, indicating the fated influences for progress, benefits, limitations, challenges and lessons learned.
Because there are five levels of Dasa planets (each shorter than the next) that rotate through the nine planets in sequence, the Dasas give a comprehensive description of the life's karma -- mirroring a river's complexity, and often volatility, over its course. This example of G.W. Bush's Dasas for just four days demonstrates how variable and quickly changing the Dasa planet line-up is -- and thereby how it can effectively symbolize the life. |
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For nearly our lives, we live in one main (Maha) Dasa, for the Dasas are long, lasting from 6 to 20 years. Naturally, the subperiod Dasa planets keep changing, but these only flavor the Maha Dasa planet, which energies remain predominant during the entire Dasa. For example, during Bush's entire 19 year Saturn Dasa, he has been tough, unyielding and deceptive. This culminated in Bush manipulating his elections to President and misuse of Saturn's authority and death significations to scare Americans into allowing him to wage cruel destructive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and take away individual freedoms.
When the Maha Dasa planet does change, the person's basic energetics undergo a transformation, giving rise to the saying that Dasa changes are turning points in the life. So, Bush has left Saturn behind and is now paddling down the beginning of the Mercury Dasa stretch of his river of life. A related consideration is that Dasas are cumulative. Thereby, this new Mercury Dasa is made more difficult for Bush because he beat up his boat and himself during his Saturn Dasa.
{Note: taking Dasas together with transits, these represent the fated influences which constitute about 70% of the life.}
G.W. Bush is experiencing difficulties with the Mercury Dasa section of the river he's newly traveling, and transits, notably of Saturn, cause additional weather-like challenges. Further, coming into this Dasa in his weakened condition makes Mercury Dasa even more onerous.
Transits As Weather on The River Of Life
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Transits (where the planets are in today's skies) is Vedic Astrology's secondary predictive tool. Transit act much like weather events on the river of life. As shown in this photo, sunny and warm weather with a fair breeze is supportive, easing the journey through upcoming tough Dasa Mercury rapids. Conversely, a cold and stormy day would hinder progress down river. And, if there were heavy rain, the river would swell, adding further difficulty, even hazard, through the rapids. |
Free Will
Free will has so far not been discussed. To complete the river analogy, free will is expressed in how one steers and paddles the boat. Astrology, however, naturally focuses upon fate, for that is the only information that can be used for prediction. Yet, free will is not disregarded. The Vedic chart indicates the nature and extent of free will, and how it ebbs and flows in response to the Dasa planets, and to a lesser degree, transits.
In Bush's case, both of his mental planets -- the perceptional Moon and analytical Mercury -- are restricted by Saturn in his birthchart, which makes him stubborn and unyielding. During his Mercury Dasa, this Saturnian stubbornness continues, and it is aggravated by transit Saturn. Given this situation, free will is repressed and cannot empower the weakened Bush to steer and paddle his damaged boat successfully through the fated tough present -- and upcoming Dasa rapids and transit storms.
This analysis of Bush's chart, then, properly focuses first upon Bush's Dasa change. Next, it considers the influences transiting planets' influences .
Bush's Mercury Dasa G.W. Bush entered his 16 year Mercury Dasa on May 15, 2006. Although Saturn is slow to let go, and all Dasas take time to become firmly established, Mercury is now the determinative influence in Bush's life. Mercury Dasa, will, however, continue to gather potency until it's gains full force in the fall of 2008. There are five major qualities of Bush's Mercury Dasa to consider: First, although all Maha Dasa changes are pivot points in the life, Saturn to Mercury tends to be more dramatic for the differences in these planets' natures .Saturn is an old, slow, cold and stable planet, much like its astronomical equivalent as the farthest planet in the Vedic solar system. Mercury is the opposite -- hot, quick, variable and changeable, reflecting its nature as the Sun's close companion. Returning to the river analogy, Saturn is the muddy |
Mercury, the mind, is known as Buddha. |
Mississippi, and Mercury a gushing mountain stream. During Saturn Dasa, change is typically gradual, and Saturn's significations for organization and structure keep things in order -- like Bush's cadre of appointees. Success is gained by plodding along in a straight course. Mercury Dasa by nature stimulates change, often quick and unexpected. Success under Mercury Dasa can only be achieved by being flexible and adapting quickly to changing conditions.
Second, physical energy also changes dramatically from Saturn to Mercury Dasa. As Saturn is naturally tough and symbolizes endurance, during its Dasa, Bush exercised for hours at a time, first running and then later riding his bike due to Saturnian injuries to his knees. Mercury, however, is not physical but rather relates to the intellect and communications. When people go into Mercury Dasa, they either greatly reduce, or even end, hard exercise. Because Bush exercises to calm himself down, Saturn Dasa was good for him. Now, he continues to exercise because he's even more high strung under Mercury (the nervous system), but the body is rapidly losing strength and endurance. Injuries, perhaps serious, are inevitable, and illness fated.
| Third, in Vedic Astrology, planets are termed functionally benefic or malefic depending upon which signs/houses they rule. This quality is more important for Mercury because of its changeable and literally neutral quality.
Mercury rules the signs of Gemini and Virgo, and for Bush's chart, these are the twelfth house of loss and the third house of desires. Both are evil, that is harmful, houses in this chart -- making Mercury a malefic planet. This rulership basically means that desire brings loss. We can also understand third house desire as emotion or ambition, meaning that emotional impulse brings loss and ambitions fail, or worse, harm Bush. As Mercury is the analytical mind and planet of communications, it is naturally intrinsic to his job. Because Mercury is a malefic, Bush's analyses are wrong, and his positions and policies fail. |
G.W. Bush July 6, 1946 at 7:26 AM New Haven, Connecticut |
Fourth, Mercury's mercurial nature also makes it take on the qualities of planets influencing it. Mercury is thereby like a blank canvas upon which the chart's other influences upon it paint a picture. In Bush's chart, Mercury is conjunct both Saturn and Venus. Malefic Saturn stimulates deception, an unwillingness to listen and stubbornness. Venus, although a natural benefic, is a functional malefic in this chart for ruling the fourth house of emotions and the eleventh house of friends and goals. Venus's creativity, then, stimulates seemingly clever but wrong-headed solutions. Plus, Bush's legendary Mercury/Venus charm and wit fail to convince in the cold hard light of failures, ongoing lies and unending scandals. At best, he's perceived to be insincere and inept, at worst a self-serving, power mongering criminal.
We can also see in Mercury's associations how Bush demands and receives blind loyalty from his subordinates, who are his friends -- cronyism. This results because Saturn rules the 7th house of formal relationships, Venus rules the eleventh house of friends and groups and Mercury rules the third house of close associates -- and these planets are all placed together in the first house of the self. During his structured Saturn Dasa, Bush brought in Saturnian-tough friends and close associates, and he was able to control them and associated groups -- like Republicans in Congress, neoconservatives, and evangelicals. Now in Mercury Dasa, it's weakness, together with Mercury's signification for twelfth house loss, results in his still slavish appointees being discredited for the administration's inept and corrupt management. Too, formerly loyal groups break away.
Fifth, subperiod Dasa planets flavor, or color, the Mercury Dasa over time. Since Bush is still in Mercury Dasa's commencement, the second level continues to be Mercury, and it is the third level Dasa planet that changes. Third level Dasa planets last a couple of months, and are thereby analogous to distinct stretches on the river of life. They are thereby used for short term predictions.
The Sun commanded this pivotal third level position during April and into mid May. The Sun in this chart brings ineffective lies and harms to Bush's reputation in it's ruling the second house of speech and being placed in the twelfth house of loss. Next, and until late July, Bush's third house of desires Moon, that brings his thirst for power, holds sway. Mercury/Moon is intensely mental, but since Mercury is conjunct Saturn, and Saturn |
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aspects the Moon, Bush is even more stubborn, deceptive and self-serving. The great salesman has hit the credibility wall, and he can't talk himself out of it.
Transit Impacts
As transits are the weather on the Dasas river of life, accurate predictions are made when the Dasa planets and transiting planets coincide. That is, it's not the river's rapids alone that harm the traveler but rather convergence with a destructive weather event, like a thunderstorm, flooding rains... Transits are thereby like catalysts -- when they are added to the mix, a reaction results. Yet, this is not a hard and fast rule. For example, as discussed below, Saturn ending it's transit in Bush's first house is incredibly damaging, even though Saturn is not active in the first three Dasa planets. Of course, if Saturn is the fourth, or even fifth level Dasa planet during this tough Saturn transit, that would bring an event. Vedic Astrology is chocked full of these subtleties.
This analysis is for the Mercury/Mercury/Moon Dasa, from May 16 to July 28. It is fairly technical Vedic, but if you read it through, you'll gain the essence of the information, and the predictions section will gain more meaning for you.
We can see Bush's mental intensity and hard push for power in several ways, the most notable of which is Bush rejecting any controls in the Iraq spending bill. This must backfire, as has his support of the flawed immigration bill, Bush's announcement to supporting action against global warming...
That transit Mercury is in the twelfth house of loss throughout this interval indicates his communications are even more flawed. This extended stay in the twelfth house results from Mercury going retrograde from June 16 through July 10. That retrograde will surely bring even more confusion, and the entire interval is harmful to Mercury's close associates. (Note: The Moon, because it moves so fast, does not give reliable transit results unless its position is congruent with other impactive planetary influences.)
There are three fascinating transit impacts that must stimulate further harms. First, transit Saturn (formal relationships) is finishing its journey through Bush's first house (self, reputation...). This brings out Saturn's worst during this over two year transit, especially its signification for scandals and downfall. That transit ends July 16. The greatest and specific harm here is transit Saturn's crossing over birthchart Venus, which destroys Venus's signification for friends and groups. At the same time, transit Venus is also in Bush's first house. This doubles the transit impact. The most sensitive time is when Bush runs Saturn as a fourth level Dasa planet -- June 16 -- 28. This sensitivity peaks out June 27 and 28 as transit Venus approaches transit Saturn, which already sits on top of birthchart Venus. A final harm is transit Mars aspecting Bush's birthchart Mars June 19.
Second at that time, Bush's Sun (speech, body and reputation) will be transiting the twelfth house of loss right on top of transit Mercury.
Third, transit Ketu -- the otherworldly tail of the dragon -- will be crossing Bush's birthchart Mars. As Mars is Bush's career planet, Ketu acts to dissolve Bush's career and reputation. This transit harm is occurring now, as Ketu is just a single degree away from Mars, and considering the other afflictions to Bush's chart this month (June), Ketu will continue to harm Mars through the end of the month. Mars also rules Bush's fifth house of creative intelligence, and transit Ketu's influence there elevates his already high strung nature.
After the turmoil peak of June 28, Bush will continue through Dasa rapids until July 28. However, the most intense transit storms bringing severe events are in June.
That month long interval ending July 28 will begin with some continued roughness from transit Saturn and Venus in close proximity. Plus, Saturn will be finishing up its Old Broom Sweeps Clean karmic cleansing until it leaves Bush's first house July 16. (See March 8 Commentary). New significant events are unlikely from July 16 through the 28. However, all of July must bring consequences from earlier transit events.
Predictions
Putting this all together, predictions can be made:
Bush will lose further subordinates, primarily to scandals, for all three planets symbolizing them are harmed. Groups will also disassociate themselves from him.
Bush's ability to think clearly and speak coherently is completely blocked, preventing him from effectively defending his positions and uttering inane, even nonsensical statements.
Bush's approval ratings will dive further, even below his previous low of 28%.
Bush suffers further physical health issues relating to Mercury's skin. He has a history of skin lesions since 2004, the most recent being removing moles this past February.
There is also the possibility Bush will suffer a nervous breakdown, or a stroke. This prediction has been made several times in The Celestial Wheel, and the first time was in the April 10, 2007 Commentary,
| G.W. Bush enters his difficult 17 year Mercury Dasa May 15, and this will bring intense mental turmoil for Mercury being conjunct a terrible Saturn and Mercury itself ruling the third house of desires and twelfth house of loss. As Mercury is the nervous system, and Bush is a tightly wound fellow (which is why he must exercise two hours a day), I believe Bush will suffer a nervous breakdown sometime after May 15. A stroke is an alternative physical ailment. However, like Reagan's failing mind, Bush's mental restriction will also be hidden from the public. When the breakdown occurs, and how long the secret can be held, are as yet unknown. |
Additionally, since the heart is also impacted, Bush could suffer a cardiac event, most likely when he's overdoing his intense biking and other exercise he must do to combat stress.
Since Bush will enter this period weak with a battered boat, the above predictions are more likely to actualize and will be truly debilitating.
A Canoe Tale
I end here with a story from my second year of graduate school at Cornell. In May, I joined with fellow student Ralph Pearson in a two man canoe race down a pretty sizable stream.
With my family nearby, I found a very cheap homemade fiberglass canoe, and off we went -- the least likely of over 150 canoes to win. I don't think we even had matching paddles.
Ralph sat in the stern, which is the steering position for canoes. However, we disagreed, albeit with humor, about that, which resulted in an amazingly chaotic run through rapids fed by spring rains. We bumped into boulders, hit sandbars and crashed repeatedly into trees along the twisting stream bank. Passing under bridges, where spectators gathered, we were first greeted by cheers and then by derision and finally insane laughter.
Still a half mile from the finish, and continuing to argue about steering, the canoe hit a huge boulder head on, The bow crunched and then the canoe bounced off, turned sideways, hit another boulder and broke in two. We sat there like two fools, one each in a canoe half drifting slowly along. I think we even tried to paddle our canoe halves, but each slowly sunk.
This story ended on a happy note, for we dutifully picked up fiberglass shards, which the now raucous crowds insisted we do. No Littering they chanted. Then, each of us taking a half of the canoe, we dragged the canoe pieces down the stream's edge to arrive at the finish line in last place to a tremendous ovation!
Unfortunately, Bush will have no such cheers, only jeers, and his canoe is after all, the ship of state.
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