JOURNAL
by Nalini Dasa
Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah
Om Sri Siddha Saraswataye Namo Namah
Om Sri Sad-Gurave Namah
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare
USA Presidential Horoscopes
I’ve selected some notable charts from American history which will elucidate some astrological principles for us.
George Washington
The Sun is the natural karaka of kingship or leadership, so his position in the tenth house of work and one’s status is clear. All Vedic books speak of the Sun in the tenth house as indicating one who can accomplish his tasks or ambitions, rise to a managerial position, or run his own business.
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In our first president’s chart it’s also notable that the Ascendant lord, Venus, is exalted—a great thing to have in any horoscope. That lord, Venus, is with the ninth lord Saturn and in the house of influence, the eleventh. This conjunction causes, of course, a “raja-yoga,” and raja means the boss or king. Besides this, the strong position of the fifth lord in the ninth house of good fortune, along with Jupiter in the fifth and the raja-yoga of Saturn and Venus aspecting the fifth, made him greatly popular until this day. A fifth house so graced gives fame or an elevated reputation.
The warrior or ksatriya planets, Sun and Mars, indicating military or police, are both prominent in quadrants. An obvious weakness is the Rahu-Moon situation in the eighth house, with vyatipata-yoga. George Washington experienced extremely distressing situations in his life.
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Rebellious Rahu with the Moon, who also governs the solar nakshatra, Shatabhisha, indicates the revolutionary war situation. Obviously, it also causes mental stress, which perhaps contributed to his death in his late sixties. A waning Moon in the eighth house of longevity can also bring on anxiety that causes disease.
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The war ran in his Jupiter maha-dasha. Jupiter is lord of his eighth house. Subsequently in his Saturn major period, he was elected twice to the presidency, as Saturn is ruler of his ninth house of political work and part of his raja-yoga combination. Saturn is also affected by the natural planet of promotion, Jupiter, which signifies one whose words are listened to. And Saturn is affected by the good lord, Mercury, who resides in his ninth house, owned by Saturn.
Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson also had the Sun in the tenth house and served as President. He’s perhaps more known as the writer of the Declaration of Independence. Gemini, the third sign of the horoscope, rises, and often signifies writing and books, or at least, communication. The ruler of his ninth house of good fortune, Saturn, is also in the third house embellished by Jupiter. (We look for multiple links in a chart which emphasize the planetary and house significations).
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The ruler of the Ascendant in the ninth house of leadership and government, aspected by the ninth lord, is very strong, a raja-yoga signifying a position of prominence. Of course, the Sun in the tenth house didn’t hurt. Jefferson served two terms as President from 1801–1809, during his Venus and Sun periods of life. Venus is the best benefic when Gemini rises.
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He had a number of children, as the fifth lord is in the eleventh house of gain, and as the ninth house (fatherhood) lord aspects the fifth house and Jupiter, the two karakas of kids. He was also a rich landowner who lived in a mansion. The waxing Moon is in its own sign Cancer in the second house gives strength to the affairs both of the second and
fourth places, which signify domestic happiness, wealth and home. The fourth lord in the ninth of good fortune adds confluence to this theme.
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As in the previous case, the Sun in the tenth house, surrounded by benefics (subhakartari), helped him get to this rare position. The strength of Saturn under the influence of his first lord, Mercury and Jupiter, with Venus in his eleventh house, contributed to his fortunes. Venus and Jupiter are Brahmin planets, and they both blessed him, probably due to learned and righteous activities in his past lives bringing wealth and good longevity. He lived to age 83.
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In general, it was his communicative, educational planets Jupiter and Mercury, and the flair of Venus, that brought him to a high position in work. Generally we would not want one with a debilitated Mars as a commander in chief. The dark worker planet Saturn hitting the planet of children, Jupiter, and the fifth house, is also questionable.
Abraham Lincoln
The chart of “Honest Abe” has a strong Jupiter and Venus in the second house of speech. This chart is also strengthened by the Ascendant lord’s placement in the tenth house, meaning that he (1st house) gets a good position (10th house). In addition, we see the tenth lord is in the ninth house of bhagya or good fortune and of rulership or of “being the boss”.
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The fifth lord Mercury in the first helped make his writing and speech influential, as the Gettysburg Address---still the most famous speech in American history—indicates. Natural benefics surrounding the Ascendant and Sun is also a great yoga to have, as it fortifies the strength of body and character or the “position of the body”.
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Kalasarpa-yoga and the waning Moon in the twelfth house, aspected by Mars and Saturn, are big problems, and our country went through its most traumatic, destructive phase during his presidency.
We can notice from these first three horoscopes that Rahu’s position is detrimental. Indeed, in these earlier years of history, as in the immediate present, the Rahu or “demonic” influences are strong. A Vedic scriptural injunction states that where there is allowed the random slaughter of animals and other living beings (Rahu-Mars-Saturn), there’s a severe karmic reaction to be suffered. Indeed, Lincoln himself was a butcher for money when he was younger. He was the leader (ninth house) of the country, and his kala-sarpa helped cause the whole country to be affected by death and misery (civil war).
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Lincoln was assassinated at age 56 during his double-Saturn period. Of course, Saturn is in Scorpio, sign of the eighth place, and perhaps combined with other factors—such as the Moon in the twelfth house aspected by Mars and Saturn, a weak yoga for longevity. The Sun in the Ascendant with the 8th lord, and the fateful kalasarpa yoga, caused his death in middle age. Although the birth time is approximate, his possible varsha chart in 1865, the year of his death, showed the Sun in the eighth house aspected by Rahu, the MUNTHA point with Rahu and the lagnesh Moon in the sign of the Sun and aspected by Ketu in Aries. He was shot in the head (Aries sign) from behind. He could not see his assassin, as Ketu is headless, eyeless. So when Ketu dasha is activated, “look twice before you leap.”
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It can be mentioned that when Saturn and Mercury are dominant, the lower modes of nature known as “tamas”, ignorance of the real Self, are activated by these planets. All of us are born into consciousness of false ego, that is, body identified AS the self. One nice thing about one President, JFK, is the combination of the “Brahmin” planets Jupiter and Venus, in the ninth house of dharma. And in the early 1960’s under his presidency, the USA was moving into a more receptive attitude towards spiritual thought: the “torch” of the new generation, as Kennedy proclaimed in his inauguration speech.
Jimmy Carter
Also, in the case of Jimmy Carter, his mother had visited the Bhrgu Ashram I frequent in Hoshiarpur, India and was told that “soon your son, who was My devotee in his previous birth, will get the highest post in the world.” As Governor of Georgia at the time, Carter was relatively a non-Presidential prospect.
President Carter’s chart, with Libra ascendant, has the Ascendant lord Venus in conjunction with the ninth lord of dharma, indicating a righteous person with a bosses’ position, since the conjunction falls in the 11th house of gain and influence over others. Yogakaraka Saturn, lord of the fifth house of prayerfulness and intelligence exalted in the lagna, adds confluence. But SUN in the twelfth house contributed to his “ineffectiveness” as President.
Ronald Reagan
Reagan’s chart has Gemini rising under the aspect of its lord Mercury, the planet of communication, and Reagan was known as the “Great Communicator”. In addition, any chart is strengthened by the placement of the Ascendant lord in a quadrant or trine.
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The Sun in the eighth house is not ideal for a kingly post, but you will notice that it falls tenth from the Moon as well as being in the tenth sign. Dr. Raman, for one, always considers the lunar lagna chart. Plus the Moon, a most influential placement in a Vedic chart, is in the solar star of Krittika. Therefore, the Sun is more influential in this chart than its eighth house position would suggest. The eighth governs longevity, and Reagan lived a long life, having survived one assassination attempt. Moreover, Reagan was born shortly after the Sun moved into Capricorn, or into its auspicious six-month northern course called “Uttarayana”.
I did want to mention other Panchang factors with this example. Reagan was born on a Monday, and the Moon, lord of that day, is in the influential eleventh house. His planetary yoga is brahma, and Brahma is known as the lord of this universe. The planetary karana was bava, and the tithi was the eighth day of the waxing (auspicious) phase of the Moon, the planet which often signifies influence over the public. Different Panchang texts (including the one by Komila Sutton) speak of birth on a Monday as, for example, “a good-looking person liked by the people, with a jolly face and working for the public benefit.” Bava-karana is described as “a sense gratifier who is kindhearted and good-natured; this person possesses wealth earned in different ways, and is blessed with good fortune. This is a strong person who walks quickly.” Birth on the eighth day of the Moon makes one “valorous, good-looking, quick-tempered, sadistic, absorbed in his work, and having power over females.”
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Looking at the Panchang factors is important in the study of any horoscope. When the lord of the day is well placed, as in the case of the lord of the birth Ascendant, and when the two planets of blessing, Jupiter and Venus, are both in auspicious, trinal houses, you can respect the power of the horoscope. His detrimental planets include Mars (one divorce, illegal weapons to the Sandanistas) and the fact that the tamasic planets, Rahu and debilitated Saturn, lord of the ninth house, in conjunction can signify weak spirituality. In his case, he was an enemy of the “consciousness expansion” influences. He fought against these as governor of California, but these influences opened the gates of the divine sciences of India, which arrived on the shores of the USA in the 1960s.
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In conclusion, any rare soul who rises to a high post deserves it, and their horoscope will reflect their good karmas as well as their negative ones. I hope this article reiterates simple principles our readers must already know, but also gives individual perspectives.
Jaya Sri Krishna to all!
Live long and prosper
Nalini, May 2023