- * As I sat down to publish this post, I saw that Chris Brennan released a full breakdown of the incident on the Astrology Podcast. I have not had the chance to listen to it yet but I imagine he has a very thorough, well researched, and much better analysis. He is a much more experienced and gifted astrologer than myself and I would refer anyone interested to listen to his most recent episode. That being said, I hope that I may have added some additional context.
On July 13th, 2024, at 6:11pm, former President Donald Trump was nearly killed in an assassination attempt while giving a speech during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A fateful turn of the head at the final moment when the sniper took his shot allowed Trump to avert a very public death and survive the attempted assassination. The grim image of Trump, bloodied, defiant, and raising his fist in the aftermath of the shooting, has generated an outpouring of sympathy for a historically divisive figure.
Since the incident occurred, I have wrestled with the whether or not to write about the astrology of this moment. I originally wrote this piece shortly after the assassination attempt but chose not to publish it. It felt somewhat tacky to comment so soon after a public figure was nearly killed and I was unsure if it was appropriate for me to add to the chorus of voices commenting on the attack. That being said, speculating on the lives and deaths of kings and queens has traditionally been a function of an astrologer and, in this instance, the former president survived the assassination. But, now that we are a few days out from the incident, I have reconsidered my stance. What follows is my best attempt to interpret the astrological symbolism of this moment.
At the time of the shooting, Mars, the malefic planet of war, violence, and aggression was applying a conjunction with Uranus, the planet of disruption and unforeseen events. In addition, as the astrologer Austin Coppock recently pointed out on an episode of the Astrology podcast, both planets would be conjunct the extremely malefic fixed star Caput Algol, whose image is the severed head of Medusa. When planets are conjunct Algol, there can often be themes of decapitations and losing one’s head.
This conjunction, between Mars, Uranus, and Algol, conjoined Trump’s natal Midheaven in the 10th house, which is the highest point in the natal chart and indicates one’s public life and reputation. Additionally, this conjunction formed a close square aspect to Trump’s natal Mars and Ascendant, located in the first house of the self, the body and one’s physical appearance. During this time, Mercury, the planet of speech, was transiting Trump’s 1st house and may indicate the campaign event in which he was speaking.
As Trump has a day chart, Mars is considered to be the most malefic planet and should indicate where one find’s the most challenges in the life of the native. In the Rising sign of Leo, we could say that the way in which Trump greets the world is in a fiery, brash, and combative manner.
Mars transits which square Trump’s natal Mars in the 1st house of the self/body occur roughly every 2 years, and in normal circumstances, we might expect an increased risk of cuts, burns, accidents or interpersonal conflict. But what makes this transit so notable is the Mars conjunction to both unpredictable Uranus and the extremely malefic fixed star Algol which brings an increased possibility of shocking violence. Algol’s presence also brings themes of beheadings, of which Trump narrowly avoided.
But Mars’ transit was not the only planetary movement of interest that may be symbolically linked to the assassination attempt.
On June 14th, Trump entered a 7th house profection year in which topics related to one-to-one relationships become of increased importance. Saturn, the ruler of Trump’s 7th house of Aquarius, thus becomes the ruler of the year and wherever he is placed within Trump’s natal chart and whatever transits he is currently making become of increased importance.
In Trump’s natal chart, Saturn is located in the 12th house of self-undoing, sorrows, and hidden enemies, as well as literal and metaphorical imprisonment. The threat of jail time for hush money payments due to an affair has been a very real possibility for much of the first half of this year but the case was recently dismissed. The attempted assassination by a “hidden enemy” might also be seen in the 12th hose location of the ruler of the year.
Saturn and Neptune’s transit through Trump’s 8th house, which represents death and shared finances, should also be of increased importance over the course of this year. As cold, unforgiving Saturn represents, amongst many other things, death, obstacles, restrictions, and endings, this would appear to reinforce themes of mortality. The court case, in which Trump was charged with sending hush money payments from a campaign slush fund to hide an affair would also appear to align with the 8th house significations of shared finances.
Saturn also represents hard reality, structure, and figures of authority. At this time, Saturn was within 10 degrees of Neptune, the planet of illusions, deception, and the blurring of boundaries. A cloud of mystery has surrounded the assassination attempt and the bumbling response of the secret service. How could a lone 20 year old with a weapon waltz past the best security on the planet? Questions abound about whether other actors were involved and this has led to online speculation about a conspiracy involving some of the three letter agencies. This tension, where one can never be entirely sure what is real appears to be thematically linked to the Saturn/Neptune conjunction. The Saturn/Neptune conjunction may also be seen in the dissolving of security boundaries and the way in which the would be assassin floated past the “walls” of the Secret Service. That this conjunction is occurring in Trump’s 8th house of death would appear to align with themes of illusion/reality concerning matters of mortality.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Trump rose from the ground, bloodied, and with half his ear shot off, raised his fist to the crowd, and repeated the words, “Fight, fight, fight!”. The iconic image, symbolic of transiting Mercury conjunct natal Mars in the 1st, was captured by news cameras and subsequently spread on social media. At this time, Venus, the planet of, amongst other things, art and aesthetics, was also transiting his 1st house of the self and body. As Venus rules Trump’s 10th house where the Mars/Uranus/Algol conjunction took place and was in a sign-based square to the conjunction, there is the suggestion of a relationship between violence and aesthetics.
Finally, at this time, Pluto, the planet of death/rebirth, power, control, and underworld matters is transiting Trump’s 7th house of relationships and opposing his natal Pluto in the 1st house of the self. (Remember that he is currently in a 7th house profection year, so this house and any planets transiting through it should be of increased importance.) This opposition is an adversarial aspect and here on the axis between the self and the other, indicates conflict and enmity. With Pluto opposite Pluto, there is the suggestion of deep, powerful, and traumatic experiences. The astrologer Richard Tarnas, in his book “Cosmos and Psyche”, describes Pluto as the “…violent, purgatorial discharge of pent up energies” and “the terrifying reality beneath the surface of things”. These significations may be seen the opposing forces of the would be assassin and Trump himself and, perhaps, some underworld, hidden adversaries involved in the shooting.
The attempted assassination of former President Donal Trump represents a clear turning point, not only in the Presidential campaign, but also in the history of the United States. We are at a point in the human timeline where there appears to be no one at the helm, the wheels are coming off, and we are heading straight for the cliff. I obviously hope that we can avert such a scenario but the trajectory we are on, and the astrology of the coming years, would appear to suggest such a fate cannot be avoided.