Trump’s Transits During the Assassination Attempt
I was inspired to take a quick look at Donald Trump’s transiting planets at the moment of the recent assassination attempt and offer some of my observations.
What are transits?
Transits are a timing technique that looks at the configuration of the planets in motion against those of a static radical chart such as a nativity or an event chart. In the case of natal astrology, we are looking at the planets as they transit the nativity, applying conjunctions and aspects, over the course of a lifetime. The planets begin in their natal positions and we set them in motion to a future date; then, we interpret the relationships between the natal and transiting placements.
This figure was cast on astro-seek.com
The inner ring (blue planets) are Trump’s natal placements at the moment of his birth on June 14th, 1946 at 10:54 AM in Queens, NY. The outer ring (orange planets) are the transiting planets on July 13th, 2024 in Butler, PA.
Basically, we are looking for astrologically meaningful conjunctions, aspects, and house placements between two points in time – in this case, Trump’s birth and the assassination attempt.
Some technical details…
I cast the chart in both whole sign and Porphyry houses; the house placements are quite different between the two. Both seemed to reflect the situation in their own way, but I opted to go with Porphyry houses because that has been my go-to house system lately and I want to sort of advocate for it. [Porphyry houses are believed by some to be the oldest quadrant house system and they add an extra level of detail you can’t access using whole sign houses.]
I also wanted to apply a technique called annual profections, which will give us further insight into his 78th year of life particularly. I’ll explain below.
Let’s get into it…
I was a little disoriented at first because I’m accustomed to seeing Trump’s Leonine Mars in the 1st whole sign house, but Porphyry houses moves Mars into the 12th house, which is actually more interesting. The 12th house is the house of secret enemies and self-undoing, so Mars’ presence there is on point, I think. His aggressive and argumentative nature has gotten him into trouble over the years and hasn’t always served him, and it has obviously inspired at least one anonymous detractor – his would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks (always three-part names with these guys, right?).
I’ll give the technical placements first (in bold italics) then give my interpretation.
Transiting retrograde Saturn conjunct the Part of Fortune in the 7th house (profected 1st house). The 7th house cusp is in Aquarius, which is ruled by Saturn who is essentially dignified here, despite the accidental debility of retrogradation.
Ptolemy says that Saturn rules the right ear. The Part of Fortune signifies things that happen to the native (the subject of a nativity) due to chance – not their volition. This conjunction is taking place in Trump’s profected 1st house. At 78 years old, Trump is in a 7th house profection year. His 7th house cusp is in Aquarius, so Saturn is the chronocrator (time lord) of his 78th year of life. The 7th house, for this year, most represents Trump; his body, temperament, and disposition. Saturn rules lead. Trump’s right ear was damaged by a presumably lead bullet. The astrology reflects this.
Aries, signifying the head in zodiacal melothesia, on the 8th house conjunct North Node.
The 8th house is the house of death. Most of the 8th house is in Aries (Trump’s head). The North Node in the 8th house tends to increase or amplify matters pertaining to mortality. Trump’s head was the assassin’s target and he was aiming to kill the former president. This is pretty straight forward.
Transiting Mars conjunct natal MC in Taurus on the 10th house.
Mars signifies violence, bullets/guns, assassins, etc. The planet is in the fixed-earth sign of Taurus conjunct the MC, which is the cusp of the 10th house representing status, reputation, and the native’s profession. The 10th house represents the office of president. An assassin tried to kill the president. Again, the astrological symbolism accurately reflects the event.
Natal Mars in the profected 6th house.
Because Trump is 78 this year, the 7th house is his derived 1st house. So, his profected 6th house is the radical 12th house. The 6th house is the house of illness and injuries. The 12th house is the house of secret enemies. Mars, as we said, represents the assassin, his gun/bullets, and the act of killing someone. Trump was injured by an anonymous assassin in an attempt to take his life. Very clear – this dovetails nicely with his profected chart.
Transiting Lot of Spirit in Virgo on the 1st house.
The Lot of Spirit deals with the native’s destiny; the path and distribution of their life force. This transiting lot was dead center in Trump’s 1st house. It’s in Virgo, a mutable-earth sign, suggesting the variability of his fate at that very moment. This was a pivotal and defining moment for the man.
Transiting Sun conjunct natal Saturn (debilitated) in Cancer on the 11th house.
The Sun shone its spotlight on Trump’s natal Saturn (signifying the right ear, death, time, etc.) in the cardinal-water sign of Cancer (signifying, in this case, immediate emotional fervor) on the 11th house (signifying his base, the rally attenders, and all spectators. This was indeed a spectacle. This event was televised live (the presence of his natal Mercury in the sign/house) and inspired a collective outpouring of intense emotional response. Love him or hate him – the sight of a bloody Trump raising his fist under the American flag seconds after having part of his ear blown off was kind of badass.
In summary…
It’s pretty clear that the celestial transits to Trump’s nativity at that moment accurately reflect the events as they transpired on the terrestrial sphere. I only isolated a few of the more obvious features of this chart – there’s a lot more going on – but this should suffice to show the value of this most popular of astrological timing techniques.