Ronald
Reagan was born in Tampico near Chicago, on February 6, 1911, at 4:10 in the
morning. Sagittarius was on the horizon.
The Sagittarius chart corresponds well
to Ronald Reagan’s life. He was outgoing and projected himself well. This was
true when he was a radio announcer, an actor, and a spokesperson for General
Electric. Not only did he serve as a host for GE theater, but he used to tour
GE’s factories for ten weeks out of every year. His outgoing nature shined at
this particular task. He used to plunge himself into it, wade right into the
mass of workers, speak with them and mix with them. He maintained no distance
and was not stand-offish at all.
Sagittarius is a
fiery sign. In Reagan’s chart, Mars occupies the ascendant and the Moon
occupies the sign of Mars, Aries. He wasn’t a passive man. Christopher
Matthews, an aide of Tip O’ Neill’s, remembers Reagan as being “ Tough and
confrontational, feisty and streetwise, more like James Cagney than Jimmy
Stewart.” Martin Anderson on Reagan: “ A nice, soft silky pillow … but if
you threw a hard punch, you would find a solid, steel bar in the middle. That
was the real Ronald Reagan. That was the essence of Ronald Reagan.”
His core values are
obviously depicted by the ascendant and the moon sign.
Throughout his life
promoted the values of autonomy, independence, strength and pride.
So much so, in fact,
that he felt disgusted with his own father’s alcoholism. The Sun sits in
Capricorn; a weaker, feminine sign. And the Sun is practically the sole
indicator of the father because it is the ninth lord. The Sun in Capricorn could
not exemplify what a strong-willed man like Ronald Reagan wanted to see in a
father.
He felt so repulsed
by his father’s weak-mindedness that he ended up attaching himself more and
more to his mother. The fact that the ascendant-lord Jupiter sits opposite the
Moon, both of them being friendly to each other, accounts for this special
attachment to a great degree. It’s obvious, too, that they were simply
like-minded; the Moon sits in a Aries, a warrior sign, warrior signs being
almost solely indicative of Reagan’s personality. In fact, she had auburn hair,
which the Moon in Aries accounts for since the color of Aries is red. His mother
was a very pious lady. This is another area where they were like-minded.
Her piety is
overwhelmingly accounted for by Jupiter’s aspect, too. She was more than a
church goer, she was very active in the activities of her church. And he took
part in these activities. For example, she organized church plays in which he
participated, he attended church meetings as an adolescent, he taught Sunday
school and even led church service on Easter in 1926. This part of his life
corresponded to the planetary periods of the Sun and Moon, both of them
extremely religious planets. The Sun owns the house of religion, and the Moon
receives the aspects of the indicator-of-dharma Jupiter, as we have already seen.
He took naturally to
church plays, almost as a future indication of his career in radio and films.
Reagan’s natural talent for acting is the effect of Rahu in his chart; quite a
unique Rahu. The Rahu-Ketu axis sits only a half of a degree away from the
ascendant lord, and only half a degree away from the Moon. Acting is often
thought of as relating to Venus, but the actual art of acting itself relates
more to Rahu. This is due to his dissimulative character; Rahu represents that
which is not; it is a planet of pretense, and things opposite of the norm,
opposite of reality.
The Puranic narration
goes that Rahu went to the assembly house of the gods to drink the nectar of
immortality. Being a demon, he disguised himself as a demigod in order to freely
mix with them and take advantage of the nectar. He was discovered by the Sun and
the Moon, of course, who reported this business to Vishnu. Shree Vishnu then cut
of the demon’s head with his discus. Since Rahu had already swallowed the
nectar, his head and hind portion survived in order to form the astronomical
axis of Rahu and Ketu. What interests us in predictive astrology is that, being
in the association of the demigods, he took on the qualities of the demigods.
Thus it is that the dissimulative Rahu and Ketu are the main planets responsible
for acting.
In the case of Ronald
Reagan, their proximity to both the ascendant lord, ruling his personality, and
the Moon, the planet of his emotions, indicated his acting ability and more.
Their intimate influence over him suggests that Reagan was the consummate actor, that his very role on this Earth as
Ronald Reagan was a consummate act. Perhaps his character fooled even himself.
The fact that the Moon is
the lord of the eighth, the house of secrets, mysticism and creatures such as
ghosts, combined with the Rahu-Ketu influence, suggests that he experienced
manipulation by subtle beings on a subconscious, astral level.
In spite of the fact that
he projected himself outwards to the public, he didn’t readily open up to
people nor permit much in the way of intimate relationships. One Washington
writer and a biographer of Reagan’s, George Will, wrote that “ He’s a
friendly man who has one friend and he married her.” Some musing by his own
son gives an idea of the secretive nature of Ronald Reagan, the way he held back
emotional access: “ He really does treat everybody, everybody the same way.
With the same kindness and the same generosity. Now, that’s a good thing on
one hand, if you’re anybody. On the other hand, if you’re a member of his
family and you realize that you’re being treated exactly the guy who just
filled up your gas tank, you begin to wonder, well, you know, what makes us
special to you?” It is the
influence of the Rahu-Ketu axis over the moon, representing emotions, which so
indicates the way in which Ronald Reagan “ held back “ emotionally. The fact
that even his son found himself outside of that emotional barrier just goes to
show the degree to which Rahu and Ketu held sway over the personality of Ronald
Reagan. One more example comes from Michael Deaver, one of Reagan’s long-time
aides: “ He is kind to everybody; he treats everybody the same way. I don’t
think that it would make any difference if you were Queen Elizabeth or the
gardener. Ronald Reagan would treat you the same. But … there are not a lot of
people to get past that original kindness or warmth.”
And kind he was. This trait
was contributed by the generous Mercury in the positive sign of Jupiter,
Sagittarius, and the aspect of the positive Jupiter to the Moon. These same
astrological dispositions made him a happy and optimistic person.
The fact that Saturn sat
with the Moon communicated structure, discipline, steadiness and endurance to
the man. His kindness was the kindness of a man with a structured personality.
In the beginning of his presidential term, he felt that his spending cuts were
necessary to help the economy. He realized that there would be a transition
period which would be hard on the average man, and he felt truly pained by this-
but his structure and conviction induced him to “ stay the course.”
His conservative and
traditional nature are a typical indication of Sagittarius on the ascendant.
Ronald Reagan exhibited a
sanguine nature and tremendous enthusiasm during his entire life. By fourteen
years of age, he had an athlete’s physique with, square, broad shoulders. This
is all attributable to Mars in the ascendant in a friendly, fiery sign.
Neil was his only older
brother. The existence of an older brother can explained by Jupiter in the
eleventh, a male planet in a male sign. And why only one older sibling? Because
the aspect of Saturn also falls on the eleventh, Saturn being the planet of
limitation and restriction.
From the time when he
was fourteen till the time when he was ten, the family traveled around quite a
bit. His father kept moving in search of financial betterment. This mostly
corresponded to the major planetary period of the Sun, who sits in a moveable
sign.
For seven summers in
a row, Reagan was a lifeguard at Lowell Park, where the Rock River flows. This
corresponded to the first seven years of the major Moon period. The Moon is a
watery planet in a Martian sign, so he engaged in a kshatriya ( warrior ) type
of activity- he protected people in the water and exerted appropriate authority
over them. ( By the way, he plunged into the water on 77 different occasions to
save swimmers from the strong currents of the river )
He entered Eureka
college in 1928. This was in the sub period of Jupiter within the major Moon
period. Jupiter is the karaka for learning, the Vidyakaraka, and he is the lord
of the forth house, too, the very house of learning. From the Moon chart, the
Moon itself is the lord of the house of learning, and receives Jupiter’s
aspect. He studied economics, in keeping with Jupiter’s dominance over the
factors which relate to studies.
He was quite a leader
at college, in keeping with the indications of the major planets in his
horoscope. Thanks to Mars in the ascendant, he was the number one swimmer and a
football player. Thanks to Rahu, he was involved in the school theater. He was
active in school politics- he was a school senator for two years, and the school
president for one. Notice that the tenth lord occupies the ascendant while the
planet of politics, the Sun, owns the best trine and occupies the second. Thanks
to Mercury in the ascendant, he was a reporter for the school paper.
He graduated during
the major and sub period of Moon-Ketu. Ketu sits right next to Vidya-karaka
Jupiter, only half a degree away.
In Moon-Venus, in
February of 1933, he got employed as a radio sports announcer. Jupiter was
running his good, fifth-house transit at the time, and the Sun was passing
through the tenth and eleventh houses, the best transits for the Sun. The tenth
relates to work.
Over the next five
years, Reagan became quite a big name in regional sports broadcasting in the
Chicago area. He was a radio celebrity. This corresponded to the latter part of
the major Lunar period, right on up to the end of the Mars-Jupiter sub period.
The Moon is the planet of public acceptance, and Mars occupies the ascendant as
the lord of the moon sign.
At the very end of
Mars-Jupiter, in June of ’37, he was hired as a studio actor by Warner
Brothers after a screen test. He reeled off a good twenty “ B “ movies in
the first three years, during the minor periods of Saturn, Mercury, Ketu and the
first part of Venus, all in the major period of Mars.
The year 1940
corresponded to the Venusian sub period. He was making good money by then and
had advanced his acting career quite a bit. Venus is the eleventh lord placed in
the positive third. He bought a nice home for his parents. He also married Jane
Wyman, a “ sharp cookie “ actress.
The year 1941 was a
year divided between the sub periods of Mars-Sun and Mars-Moon. He got a good
part in a film opposite Errol Flynn. The Sun was the ninth lord in the second,
and the Sun was obviously powerful in giving results. As the ninth lord, the Sun
was contributing an element of luck to his career. Not everyone starred opposite
Errol Flynn. But his father passed away. The Sun occupied a death-inflicting
house ( maraka ), the second, in a very negative sign for him.
His daughter Maureen
was born during 1941, too. Notice that the Moon occupies thehouse of children,
the fifth. The Moon is aspected by the karkaka of children, Jupiter, and is
fairly well situated. Since the Moon is feminine, a daughter was born.
In 1942, he signed a
7-year contract for a million dollars! That was big money back then. This
occurred during the Rahu-Rahu period. Rahu is reflective of several influences
which made it a bigger planet for Reagan than the previous periods, financially
as well as in terms of his general status and fame. Rahu occupies a trine in
mutual aspect with the lord of a quadrant, the ascendant-Jupiter. This is a raj
yoga to begin with, and carries great financial import as Jupiter is the planet
of financial development in the house of gains. Rahu is reflective of the
results of Mars, the trinal lord, by occupying his sign. Rahu reflects the Moon’s
karma because Rahu sits right next to the Moon. For these reasons it was Rahu
which finally big time, millionaire movie star karma to Ronald Reagan.
He spent the next
years in the Army making films for the Army and public relations appearances.
Notice that Rahu occupies Aries, a Martian sign. This mostly spanned the Rahu
sub period, as the first part of Rahu-Jupiter saw him released from the Army-
late summer of 1945. Saturn was running a good, third house transit at the time,
and Army-karma Mars had come to cooperate with the lord of the sub period
Jupiter by occupying the good third house, too.
The end of
Rahu-Jupiter saw him the president of the Screen Actors Guild. Ascendant-lord
Jupiter, opposite the Moon and the lord of the major period, Rahu, was largely
responsible for this.
July of 1949 brought
his divorce from Jane Wyman. This corresponded to the latter part of Rahu-Saturn.
Saturn is a negative planet to begin with and, in the chart of Ronald Reagan, is
the lord of a negative house to boot, the third. From the fifth, Saturn aspects
the house of marriage. The pressure had built up during the earlier part of the
period- Saturn is known for giving his the bulk of his results towards the end
of his periods. At the time, neither Jupiter nor Saturn were favorable in
transit. Reagan was feeling depressed and disoriented. He was no longer the
president of the Screen Actor’s Guild, and his acting career had gone downhill.
Notice that Saturn, the planet of melancholy, sits right next to the Moon- so
his depression, and all of these results were the effects of Saturn.
In 1952, the
interference of the sub period of Saturn had finished, and the Mercury sub
period saw Ronald Reagan marry Nancy Reagan. Mercury, as the lord of the house
of marriage, has gone to the first house, thus making the connection between
Reagan and his marriage karma.
Patti Davis was born
seven months later. This corresponded to Rahu-Ketu. Ketu sits right next to the
Putrakaraka, the indicator of children, Jupiter, and reflected this karma.
As a part of his
function, Reagan had to tour GE plants and divisions for six weeks out of every
year. He learned a lot about political campaigning by meeting with the workers,
shaking hands and giving speeches. He also typically met with management, and
was exposed to the problems and issues facing large companies. He became very
sympathetic to the business side of things.
In Jupiter-Saturn,
his work with GE Theater was finished as the program was taken off the air. The
program had been the most popular Sunday night program for a long while. The
Rahu major period, and the Jupiter-Jupiter sub period, as well as the planets
involved with them, had given him this. He made much money at it. This is to be
expected as Jupiter occupies the house of gains in his chart.
Still in the
Jupiter-Saturn sub period, in 1964, on October 27th, he was ushered
into national politics because he gave a speech in favor of presidential
candidate Barry Goldwater. The title was: A Time for Choosing. Saturn was in the
favorable eleventh, and Jupiter was about to pass into the favorable second. The
favorable impact for Reagan came just after the speech, so we can attribute the
effect to Jupiter transiting the second, even though Jupiter was not in that
house at the precise moment of the speech.
Shortly afterwards,
he was approached about becoming the candidate in the governor’s race in
California, which had been his home state for a while. He campaigned the entire
year of 1965. By this time the sub period was Jupiter-Mercury. He officially
announced his candidacy on January 4, 1966. Saturn was still transiting the
positive eleventh house. When he won the election in November of that year, the
sub period was Jupiter-Ketu; we have already seen how Ketu was a first-class
planet for Reagan, very reflective of the good planets around it. Saturn was
even yet in the favorable eleventh. A helpful transit of the planet of the
masses is extremely important for winning an election.
Reagan won
re-election in November of 1970. Now the minor period of Jupiter-Sun was
operating. The Sun is the political planet, and an umblemished lord, so it is
not surprising that he again won political office. Saturn’s transit was not
good, Saturn was passing through his debilitation sign in the ascendant. The
other major planet, the one who can neutralize a thousand afflictions from a
quadrant, was passing through a quadrant; we are referring, of course, to
Jupiter in the seventh, wherefrom he aspected Saturn and ameliorated Saturn’s
negativity. Jupiter also sat with the Sun in transit, and helped to buoy that
planet.
At the end of 1974 he
bought Rancho de Cielo, a 688 acre ranch high in the mountains of southern
California. This was in Jupiter-Rahu. Rahu occupies the sign of Mars and
therefore, must reflect the results of Mars to a large degree. Saturn occupied
the third transit, Jupiter the eleventh- both good transits.
On August 19, 1976,
he lost the Republican nomination for president to Gerald Ford. It was the
Saturn sub period within the Saturn major period. Jupiter was transiting the
second, which was fine, but Saturn as the lord of the major and sub periods was
not strong enough on its own to bring about a political nomination on that level.
By losing he won, though, because he had increased his standing greatly, and had
gained consideration, at least, as a political candidate of national stature.
He won not only the
nomination in 1980, however, but the presidential election as well. The
Saturn-Mercury period was operating, and Saturn was in the sixth in transit.
If we only look at
the planetary periods in this case, an objection may arise, that Saturn is not
the kind of planet to give a result such as a presidential election during its
period. Saturn owns an evil house, the third; is a rather negative planet; is
mildly debilitated; and afflicts the sixth. It was not the Saturn major
planetary period that gave Reagan the election results.
A few months after
assuming office, though, he almost lost his very life, twilight years and all. A
lone gunman, a deranged young man, shot him in an attempt at assassination (
John Hinkley Jr. ) . This was on March 30 of 1981. The Ketu sub period was
operating. Ketu mimics the qualities of Mars in that it is a fiery, violent
planet. Ketu is made more violent as he occupies Aries navamsha, a fiery one,
and sits right next to the ascendant lord, representing the native of the chart.
So it makes astrological sense that Reagan was shot in this sub period. The lord
of the major period was the Ayushkaraka, the planet of longevity. This planet,
Saturn, sits in its sign of debilitation with Rahu. With both the lord of the
major and as well as the minor period under such influence, the fact that there
was an attempt is not surprising.
Transit-wise, the
ascendant lord was in the sixth house with Saturn, the planet representing the
metal lead. The violent Mars was in the house opposite, the twelfth. The lord of
the sub period, Ketu, aspected the ascendant lord and sat with the Moon. What an
indication!
Although still not
fully recovered, Reagan had some strong karma running for him again by June 23,
1981. This is when the Congress passed Reagan’s historic budget bill. By doing
so, Reagan was really getting across one of his major agenda. Saturn was still
in the sixth, and the Sun was in the third. ( Even though Reagan was shot with
Saturn in the sixth, Saturn does quite well there, the influence of other
planets notwithstanding. ) On July 29th, Reagan’s historic tax bill
was passed. Saturn was still transiting the favorable eighth, but now Mars was
in the third.
In Saturn-Venus, in
the 1982 elections in November, Reagan’s Republican party lost heavily. His
popularity was down because of the recession. Jupiter was actually in a nice
seventh-house transit, but Saturn was there, in a bad transit for him, and
mucked things up.
On October 25, 1983,
Reagan invaded Grenada. It was a minor action in scale. Saturn-Venus was still
running. In transit, Venus was passing through Leo, a fiery sign, with Mars. The
Sun and Saturn occupied the seventh, with the third-lord Mercury ( neighbors ).
This suggests a fiery, authoritarian ( Sun ) and harsh (Saturn ) treatment
towards neighboring countries. I would not have wanted to be Ronald Reagan’s
next door neighbor at that time.
By the 1984 elections
the economy had picked up and Ronald Reagan won the election in a landslide. The
major and minor periods were still Saturn-Venus. The reader will note that Venus
receives that powerful aspect from ascendant-lord Jupiter from the eleventh.
Jupiter and Venus were transiting the ninth very favorable, and Mars was power
in the tenth.
In September of 1986,
it was the Reykjavik summit. The sub period had now passed to Saturn-Moon.
Reagan received a stern treatment from the Gorbachov, and walked away with no
agreements. This can be expected because the sub-period lord Moon sits next to
Saturn, the planet of socialism, in Aries. The harshest of Saturn’s qualities
was communicated to the Moon. He was popular with the military establishment and
with the business community for having stood his ground. Mars was passing
through the favorable tenth and eleventh-house transits, and Jupiter of the
business community was in the favorable eleventh.
On November 19th
of ’86 he took part in a rather unfavorable press conference in relation to
the Iran-Contra scandal. His ratings plummeted and he became very depressed.
Saturn was in the evil eighth, and the Sun had just joined him. Saturn indicates
depression and melancholy, while the Sun rules one’s heart and soul. Neither
the Iran-Contra scandal, nor the transits, were good for Ronald Reagan’s heart
and soul.
His daughter Patti
wrote two really, awful books depicting her family life as a child as being
quite dysfunctional. This occurred in ’87, while Saturn-Moon was still on.
Again, the Moon sits in the fifth, the house of children, and sits next to a
very harsh Saturn. The Moon is the lord of the most evil house, the eighth. The
luminaries are supposed to be free of the affliction of eighth-house ownership,
but this does not seem to be entirely so.
Reagan had begun to
noticeably display the effects of old age, mental confusion, even back in 1984
during the debate with Walter Mondale. It became more apparent in Saturn-Moon;
by 1987 it would be revealed to be the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease. The
Moon is the planet of the mind, Saturn of degeneration, and Aries is the first
sign of the Zodiac, representing the head. The Moon also stands for his mother,
or course; she had had Alzheimer’s as well as his brother Neil ( Third lord
Saturn ). So Saturn’s affliction, and its affliction of the Moon, was
definitely responsible for the disease in Reagan’s chart. And now, in his
Saturn-Moon period, Ronald Reagan himself was manifesting symptoms of it himself.
He still had enough
in him for another effort. The INF Treaty Summit was held in 1987. It was
heralded as a great step for peace, and was the last step towards giving Reagan
the legacy of a peacekeeper. In May of ’88, there was a reciprocal summit in
Moscow. The minor period had moved on to Mars for these summits, so all of the
focus on military matters was in keeping with the lord of the sub period. Since
Mars is the fifth lord forming a fairly strong raj yoga in the first in
Sagittarius, everything developed in a positive way for Ronald Reagan. He
cemented his legacy as a peacekeeper.
In January of 1989 he
left the White House. The planetary period and sub period were Saturn-Rahu. Rahu
“ eclipses “ the ascendant lord and brought an end to the Reagan era.
Jupiter was transiting the favorable second house, so everything came to an end
on a positive note. The Sun was transiting the ninth, which is the house of loss
in relation to the house of government.
On November 5, 1994,
Ronald Reagan issued a letter retiring from public life due to Alzheimer’s
disease. This was at the very beginning of the major Mercury period.
Mercury is a good
planet for Reagan in many ways, but Mercury does own the seventh, a
death-inflicting house, ( maraka ), so his end will probably take place in the
Mercury major period. The lunar sub period is a likely candidate for the deed as
the Moon is the lord of the house of longevity; sits next to Saturn, the planet
of death; and is practically eclipsed by Rahu. The Mercury-Moon period runs from
April 19, 2001 to September 11, 2002. Both Jupiter and Saturn pass through
unfavorable transits at this time.
His passing is
possible during Mercury-Mars because Mars owns the last house of the horoscope.
But Mars is the owner of a trine and too good to take responsibility for a task
like that.
The Mercury-Rahu
period, from September, 2003, until March of 2006, has all the indications, too,
because Rahu occupies the sign of Mars, whose indications he must give, and
exercises an eclipsing effect on the lord of the house of longevity, which is
the Moon.
No more comments on
the Gipper!
Copyrighted by Dean Dominic De Lucia
Dharmapad's
Astro Vedica List!
Feel Free to e-Mail Dharmapad