Like
Father, Like Son
It
is difficult to see George "Dubya" Bush without seeing his father—the
forty-first president and once head of the CIA—standing, or perhaps
I should say crouching, behind him, and his father before him as well.
The father image in George W.'s horoscope—Saturn in Cancer—is represented
by a large, maternal Kronos.
Kronos—who
is the astrological Saturn—was a Greek deity, the eldest of the Titans,
and is famous for devouring his own offspring as they birthed. In
turn, Kronos/Saturn's own son, Zeus (Jupiter), liberated the swallowed
offspring, instigated the war of the Titans and ushered in a new social
order. This mythic dynasty seems contemporaneously reenacted in the
Bush legacy.
It
is hard to see George Jr. without the template of his father, but
this is unfair to him. His father saw him as an extension of himself—and,
even though they are individuals, they are enmeshed as only a DNA
print and a horoscope can illustrate.
Two
Suns Entwined
George
W. Bush's progressed Sun is at 5 degrees Virgo this year. So is George
Bush Senior's. This means that when George Jr. was born, the Sun was
in the same degree as his father's progressed Sun, 13 degrees Cancer.
Because of this, their solar purpose is enmeshed for as long as both
are alive.
The
Lunar Bond
Also,
George W. has his natal Moon at 16 degrees Libra, and his father's
natal Moon is 17 degrees Libra. This is why they look so much alike,
and have so much affection and genuine love for each other. This has
its serious drawbacks in the maturation and development of the younger
George, however. The problem that arises with this kind of familiarity
in parent/child dynamics (conjoined Moons) is the parent oftentimes
cannot see the child as being separate from himself. Hence the metaphor
of "devouring" one’s own children—fundamentally stealing their creativity
and individualism—represents the parent crafting the hapless child
in "his own image.”
George
Jr. would like to cut the ties—his planet of raw identity, Mars, is
on his father's Ascendant (persona, image)—and move on toward this
“new social order,” as Jupiter did in the Greek myth. However, it
would wound both, so George is running both himself and his father
for president, which is a little weird for most voters.
Mercury
and His Image
Part
of the media speculation that is plaguing George Jr. in his candidacy
for president is that he is not very bright. Well, he is, but his
intelligence is not the kind that is generally effective in political
rhetoric. He undergoes a process of layering meaning, and then having
to unlayer meaning. By the time he sorts this out, the moment has
passed. As a result, he is not good at quick repartee unless he is
comfortable and in a social environment.
He
has Mercury (the agent of perception and articulation) exactly with
Pluto (our deep unconscious reservoir of knowledge) both rising in
Leo, and Venus, the charmer, there too. This combination is played
out in George's inability to “think fast.” The Leo Ascendant gives
him charm and charisma, and what psychologists call the "entitlement
complex"—he sincerely feels that he is entitled to the ruling class.
His
mind is deeply complex and works in layers. In fact, he not only double-thinks,
he thinks in webs, links and layers. It likely comes from the subterfuge
in which he was “trained” in his childhood. Nothing would have been
straightforward, especially with his father, where communication required
strategy. The background of
secrecy that laces through the family shows in his Twelfth
House Sun, in the territorial, family-oriented sign of Cancer.
The
Neptune Influence
The
quantum enmeshment between father and son prevents George W. from
fully individuating away from his father, whom he idealizes. This
is confusing for both George W. and the voters. George Jr.'s Venus
in Leo is conjunct his father's Neptune, thus it is unlikely that
he resents his father's instinctive control over him. Rather, he sees
him as a kind of god or guru (Neptune). This has its positive side
in their relationship, but it is hard for the son to act independently.
He doesn't want to hurt his father's feelings.
George
W. has the Moon, Jupiter and
Neptune in the sign of Libra, all in his Third House of
communications, perception and understanding. He intellectualizes
his feelings (Moon in the Third) all the while idealizing grand schemes
(Neptune, Jupiter). He comes across as a "fuzzy thinker” and a dreamer
(Neptune); but most importantly, though unconsciously perhaps, he
is dangerously easily deceived and capable himself of deception.
Hidden
in the Twelfth House of institutions (government) and self-undoing
is his natal Sun, which in turn, is square to Neptune, the planet
of fantasy and dreams. His core life-force (Sun) is not grounded in
tangibles (Neptune), but in theoretical potentials, and thus he can
succumb to inflated self-importance. Conversely, he could lay his
trust in aides who enact his dark side for him, and he would not know
this until too late.
The
feeling one might get from an encounter with George W. Bush is an
uncomfortable sense that there is “something” unsaid and hidden, something
lurking in the background that tacitly informs all his overt actions.
Time will tell what this might be, because the bloodhounds will be
on him as he slides closer to the main event.
Author’s
Notes
This
characteristic of secrecy
and mystery has also to do with George Jr.'s stellium (cluster of
three or more planets) in Libra in the Third House. His natural mental
vacillation was likely exacerbated by his father expecting clever
answers immediately and training his son to be like him intellectually.
His “hidden” Sun position, in square to Neptune, is lethal in times
of politically sensitive circumstances—basically, he could lie and
not be concerned about it. His capacity for rationalization and self-justification
is vast.
Neptune
(vague, foggy, unclear, possibly even deceiving, although not necessarily
consciously) found in the house of the mind and communications, is
a planetary placement for a dreamer, not a logical thinker. Also,
Neptune is an agent for spiritual or religious thinking. To confuse
religion with the state is part of Bush's problem—he is very unclear
about just what role religion plays in politics, and indeed, if it
should play a role at all. In addition, with the Moon there, we have
a man who believes his feelings are coming across as clear thoughts.
Jupiter simply exaggerates this grandiosity and inflated concept of
what one is thinking or saying and its anticipated impact on others.
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