Reflections on the 2024 US Presidential Election Results
This article is a follow up to my two previous articles, Who will win the Presidential Election in 2024 according to Astrology? and The Astrology of Kamala Harris in the 2024 Presidential Election
Dear Friends,
The Collective has decided. Donald Trump has been elected as the 47th Us President, returning to the White House by storm. Contrary to most projections, it was not a tight race after all. Instead, Trump swept the battleground states in a landslide.
When I first set out to forecast the outcome of the 2024 US Presidential Election nearly one year ago, I approached it as an experiment: Could I forecast the outcome of the election using astrology alone? If astrology works, then it should be able to predict the outcome of an event which has a huge cultural impact.
Right?
I eagerly embraced the challenge of cracking this enormous predictive puzzle with endless techniques to consider. I approached it as an exercise in astrological technique. At this point in my practice, the astrological tools in my repertoire are too many to use in a traditional consultation. This was a chance for me to be incredibly thorough in calculating individual forecasts for each candidate.
At first, I only shared my findings with my students, but as the hours of research and writing accumulated, I carefully weighed the decision to share my research publicly. The eclipses in my Aries 10th house gave me the courage to be bold. I knew it was a risk, and yet, I knew I would benefit from this experience regardless of the outcome. Astrologers should try to predict – and if we miss the mark, it’s an opportunity to learn from our mistakes and improve our craft.
I aimed to be as neutral as possible in my predictions. Having seen Donald Trump win in 2016 and lose in 2020, I knew either outcome to be possible. While I certainly had my own preference of who I’d rather see win, I was not optimistic, and thus, it seemed easier for me to park my biases at the door. So what went wrong? As I look back on the charts of the candidates, it was indeed difficult to make the call. Based on their near-even favorability, it was natural to call a close race. I saw continued roses in power and influence for both of them. However, Trump’s solar return was abysmal and JD Vance’s’ time lord was really struggling. Though Harris’ wasn’t glittering either, there were a couple indications which tipped the scales in her favor for me.
I still haven’t processed this outcome personally, but as an astrologer, I’ve spent the morning wondering what I missed. If the astrology appeared neck-and-neck, why the landslide?
All I’m left with is this: I aimed to see if astrology alone could predict the outcome of the election. My neutrality mantra was “just read the charts.” Perhaps I didn’t lend enough gravitas to the impact of race and gender. In America, both women and people of color statistically must perform higher to receive similar pay, accolades and opportunities as white men. I’m genuinely consumed by this sad paralleling into the mechanism of astrology. Could it be true that No matter how favorable your chart looks, if the world isn’t ready for you, it’s only going to get you so far? This is not what I wanted to see. At all.
The astrological community extensively debated the concepts of privilege through the lens of astrology in 2020 and 2021. For example, you could have a stunning 10th house (career/advancement) in your natal chart, but it’s going to manifest relative to where you live, the economy you’ve been born into, your skills, drive and the resources available to you. A good 10th house can be extremely helpful in improving your circumstances in life, for example, but it doesn’t guarantee that you’ll become the CEO. No matter how favorable Harris’ timing looked, or how qualified she looked on paper, the majority of American people did not place their confidence in her.
I’ve also been more deeply contemplating the importance of the astrological terrain outside of the candidates’ charts. What’s happening in the world – in the collective – will also define who the world is ready for. Wade Caves and Dr. Lee Lehman have been sharing a cool technique which compares the candidate’s chart to the Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions, for example.
While I mentioned the incoming Saturn-Neptune conjunction frequently in my forecasting journey, perhaps I didn’t place enough of my own bets upon it. Saturn- Neptune conjunctions represent a collective disappointment. It also historically points to a rise in conservativism with a religious tone. I have frequently cited this as an indication of the rising Christian nationalism in this country. Now, with a republican senate majority, there is no question that this is the way the pendulum is swinging. Next time I take on this endeavor, I think I will allot more importance to the terrain versus the highly personalized experiences of individual transits, which can be a total toss up (for example, Saturn in Harris’ 10th House: crushing loss or taking the helm under difficult circumstances?).
While it’s highly unlikely Harris would find a path to the White House at this point, I am genuinely curious to see how the following months will play out against the backdrop of Mercury and Mars retrogrades this winter, leading us into March’s eclipse season and Venus retrograde. This spells a period of re-strategizing and reprioritizing for everyone. I felt strongly it would spell delayed election results and a second Insurrection. I was wrong about that. As astrologers, we do our best to gather the celestial messages before us and create a lifelike collage. Yet, we are not all-knowing. With humility, we must always make way for the divine, infinite creativity of the Creator/Creatrix and, I suppose, the influence of the collective creation model.
Another thing that is very clear to me as I reflect: Peak Pluto return material is the victory of a convicted felon, sex offender and insurrection inciter. Trump has returned to the White House on a platform of punishing threats, vindication and revenge. His Vice President and majority of his previous cabinet members refused to endorse him. He is America’s anti-hero. Systems crumble alongside him – both political parties in crisis. He has emblematically cast doubt on the very system which crowns him. The collective distrust in the American government has built this reality. Trump is the US Pluto return, embodied. Pluto returns are historically, always messy. I think many of us were hoping for a different Pluto return outcome, but as many Pluto transits go… just when you think you’ve gone deep enough, you suddenly you realize you need to dig even deeper. This is a rock bottom for many Americans. The key to surviving Pluto transits is often to surrender to what’s being shown before you can discover a new inherent sense of power. We need to confront the real brokenness before it can be fixed.
While I still wish things had landed differently, I do not regret going public with my prediction. I am proud that I approached this endeavor with professionalism, respect and humility. The feedback, fanfare and appreciation for my thorough treatment of the election was enough – as well as having the opportunity to flex some truly highbrow techniques alongside my colleague Mo Olufemi, who I deeply respect as a person and astrologer. My prediction was also nuanced and not all of it fell flat. I predicted the likelihood that Biden would endorse Harris for the DNC as far back as April, after all. I also predicted a continued rise in power for Trump and that he has yet to achieve what he will come to be known for in history. This new chapter begins in April for him.
Anyway, thank you all for joining me on this journey. I have appreciated the connection and dialogue. I hope we have all learned something valuable. I’ll have more to say on all of this in time, especially connected to the incoming Saturn and Neptune ingresses into Aries. In the meantime, please take care of yourselves.