The expected news came just before the weekend. Rick Perry has had ambitions to be President of the United States but until last week he had been keeping his gunpowder dry. Just before the Iowa straw poll, news came through that the Texas governor was entering the race to emulate his predecessor, one George W Bush. Is America keen for another gunslinger in the White House? I try to asses wether the Lone Star governor has got what it takes astrologically to make it all the way to the top.
Rick Perry was born on 4th March 1950 in Paint Creek, Texas. I do not have a birth time and this is where it gets tricky. Trying to second guess the angles on his chart, his Ascendant sign, Midheaven sign and the exact location of his Moon (which can move 15 degrees in one day) is critical in working out wether he will even stand a chance of winning the Presidential race. There has been a lot of focus on Mr Perry and as such he must have something special for the frenzy of anticipation in his nomination to be so vocal. As such I have been looking closely at his past, events in his life so far and I think I have come close to a predicted birth time. Remember what I am writing here is speculation, but all the factors in my eyes work, so far.
Ok What do we know about him?
Born in a rural cotton farm community where he lived and worked on the land with his family. The house of home and upbringing suggest Taurus on the cusp or Venus in the 4th house keenly associated with farming and the land?
As a boy we know he was an Eagle scout. Scouting is very much a Sagittarian pursuit so I would expect this sign on the cusp of the 11th house of groups and associations or Jupiter tenanted here in the 11th?
At school he studied animal science where he received a bachelors degree. Now on the 4th March 1950, Uranus associated with scientific studies was in emotional Cancer, here we have the aspect for compassionate science. The Virgo 6th house is the house of health and also of animals in general, surely Uranus must be located here?
We know that Rick was trained to be a pilot and flew military jets while serving in the US Air Force in the Middle East and in Europe until 1977, he also very nearly became a commercial pilot. Mars is the planet signifying the military, and Mars in May 1950 was in social Libra, he was a military pilot turned social one. Mars surely has to be placed in the 9th house of international affairs and of travel. Either that, or we should find Aries on the cusp of the 9th house or possibly Scorpio? Bringing Mars into the 9th house takes Scorpio onto the cusp of the Midheaven, killing two birds with one stone.
We know that Rick is an evangelical Christian, so one of the faith indicators on the chart Jupiter, Neptune, Sagittarius or Pisces should be prominent. Jupiter is in Aquarius and Neptune in Libra, very social but not naturally religious positions. The Sun is in spiritual Pisces, but for with one with such strong faith as Rick, I would expect to find a bit more astrologically to back this position up. We therefore have 4 options. Either Pisces or Sagittarius on the cusp of the 4th house, indicating religion at home which would take away from the farming upbringing, so I discount them as Venus is in Aquarius, or Neptune or Jupiter in the 9th house of faith. Neptune is close to Mars in the chart and bringing both into the 9th house confirms the faith aspect as well as the military service abroad.
We are now getting somewhere. Mr Perry’s appearance is always very clean cut, neat and sharp. Even at 61 years of age he looks like someone in their late 40’s which indicates someone who looks after themselves and their appearance, possibly a bit of vanity perhaps? Venus pulls nicely into the 1st house showing that streak within him with Mars and Neptune now in the 9th. I understand Rick is a larger than life character consistent with Jupiter in the 1st house alongside Venus. Jupiter here makes the issue of faith part of the fabric of his character and gives him a lucky streak.
Finally, here as they say in America “is the kicker”. Rick was encouraged to run for the presidency by his wife. By pulling all the evidence around together, Venus and Jupiter in 1st, Taurus on the 4th house cusp, Uranus in the 6th, Mars and Neptune in the 9th, Sagittarius in the 11th, we find Pluto in the 7th house of partnerships. Despite all the achievements so far in his life, Rick lives under the thumb of Anita his wife. She controls (Pluto) him!! As I will show, her decision affected the race for the Republican nomination.
Right to the chart. By careful process of elimination, I have come to a pretty specific projected birth time of between 04.02 and 04.18 for Rick. There is vey precise timeframe that allows all of the elements to be in the right places. Taking a midpoint time born of 4.10 will give Rick a Sun in dreamy Pisces, the Moon in critical, conservative Virgo conjunct to Saturn, a Capricorn Ascendant and a Scorpio Midheaven.
The Capricorn Ascendant and Scorpio Midheaven give us a man who is a born administrator, it is in his nature. This is someone who has a very hard line and severe public face. Rick is in favour of the death penalty, gun ownership, anti global warming and he wanted to go ahead with a $10 billion building programme of coal burning power stations, plans which were drastically reduced under the potential opposition of environmental litigation. All these issues, death, firearms, big business & heavy industry are intensely Scorpionic in nature.
The basis of this chart are a couple of powerful oppositions. We have the Piscean Sun, dreamy and elusive in a tight opposition to the Moon and Saturn which is retrograde in the 8th house. A lot here to discuss. This opposition is across the 2nd and 8th houses, the financial ones. Rick will have a good grasp of economics, money handling, trade etc. He deals with these issues in an imaginative, creative way (Pisces) Creative economics? Hmmm.. As I understand it Perry has managed to balanced the books in Texas, but according to the BBC, the state has lots of outstanding bills to pay and majority of the jobs he has created as Governor have been low paid ones. Perry is very conservative on tax issues (other people’s money), shown by the 8th house. Saturn in Virgo shows a hard line, critical edge to his economic views. Saturn is restrictive, Virgo accentuates the virtues of smallness and being thrifty, in essence, tax cuts. This is an ultra conservative aspect, with spiritual overtones. The Sun in Pisces shows spirituality and with Neptune in social Libra the 9th house, Perry uses his faith as an emotional (Moon) tool as part of the process to reach out to the people (Libra).
The Saturn/Moon combination tells me that Rick had a strict, hard working upbringing. Saturn and Moon together indicate a mother who was tough and critical on her son. Saturn retrograde shows that love was not forthcoming from his father either. Perhaps he was away a lot (unlikely as this was a family farm), or more likely he too was severe or maybe just cold on Rick as he was growing up. With the opposition to the 2nd house Sun, I can assume that Rick’s self worth was severely dented as a child. The Moon in Virgo opposite the Sun in Pisces is a very sensitive, even shy combination, prone to being hurt and very self critical. In his soul, Perry sometimes lacks motivation, sometimes he needs to be given a kick up the backside to force him into action. It also makes one over-react, to do too much to overcome one’s weaknesses. Being belittled as a youngster I believe forced Rick into action to join the forces, just to prove to his parents that he was worthy. It is telling that he held back in putting himself forward to join the race, almost as if that self-doubt in his chart was holding him back. It took his wife to push him forward to join the race. I believe that his charismatic nature we know is a front, a smokescreen (a very Piscean analogy) hiding a much more timid and deceptive personality out of the public gaze. That charisma comes from the other opposition on this chart. Jupiter and Mercury in Aquarius opposite to Pluto, forming a wedge with Neptune at the point. Jupiter and Mercury also make a trine to Uranus. This conjunction has great vision, big plans and Perry will be an electrifying, powerful speaker. Jupiter provides the scope, Pluto in opposition the depth, Neptune the grace and a poetic tone and Uranus in trine aspect allows sparks to fly. One thing to notice. This combination is great in rhetoric, but where is the detail behind it? Grand conservative social plans yes (Aquarius, Libra, Cancer) in a rather self-centred way (Pluto in regal Leo). There are no earth planets in this combination giving a grounding to the message. Uranus makes a tight quindecile to Rick’s ascendant. He will put across a radical, rather severe individual style. Will all this be enough?
The Sun and Moon opposition also contributes two more things to this chart. Firstly, Perry’s character and his emotions will work at cross purposes, so he will send out mixed messages, causing confusion in personal relationships. Secondly, the most obvious aspects often are overlooked on a chart as people are looking too deeply. We have Sun opposite Moon (conjunct to Saturn), a man versus a woman; a very powerful authoritarian (Saturn) one as well. Perry’s ultimate challenge will be to fight against Michele Bachmann.
I move to the transits and looking at what happened astrologically as Perry entered the race. Last week as Perry mulled over entering the fray, the transiting Sun and Venus were conjunct to Perry’s Pluto just before his announcement on Saturday 13th. A minor connection, but a significant one. With a Scorpio Midheaven as I suggest, the push from a female influence (Venus) on Perry’s Pluto persuaded him to enter the race. The Sun and Venus were traveling through the 7th house of his permanent partner and with Taurus on the cusp of the 4th, Leo on the cusp of the 8th and Libra on the cusp of the 9th house, this was a sign that his wife wanted him to travel (9th) to Washington and change (8th) his address (4th). I think she fancies 4 years in the White House? As he spoke, the Sun was exactly quindecile to his natal Venus again highlighting the female influence on him. Transiting Jupiter was opposite my predicted Midheaven, Mars trine to it and Pluto sextile to it. Mars, highlighting communication in Perry’s chart (Aries on 3rd house cusp) was square to the nodal axis, putting his actions squarely in the public eye (sorry about the pun). The transiting Moon was also opposite to natal Pluto again highlighting his wife’s influence (Cancer on cusp of 7th) and his Scorpio Midheaven ambitions.
How are things going to pan out. Well transiting Saturn is going to contact Rick’s natal Neptune in the middle of September which will be a debilitating influence. Finance is going to be an issue (with Pisces intercepted in the 2nd house) which may rock his campaign. At the same time, Saturn (if my assumptions are right) will square his ascendant. I believe this will be a critical time for him. If he has been fiddling any figures, then the truth will come out at this point. If he can get over this, then I believe it is plain sailing to a match up with Bachmann.
Looking at election day 6th November 2012 if Rick makes it that far, we have a mixed bag of transits for him. On the plus side, we have a nice sextile between transiting Jupiter and natal Pluto and a trine between Jupiter and Neptune. Jupiter will also square the Sun, Moon and Saturn opposition. I feel the effect of over-confidence on this aspect, and in the process he will get a hit to the self-worth profile. Transiting Saturn will also reaching a conjunction with my predicted Midheaven in Scorpio which is either progressive workwise in taking on more responsibility or restrictive and harsh – Nixon fell from grace under this influence. Transiting Saturn also will be square natal Venus, so emotionally depressing.
By progressions on election day, the progressed Moon will be square to the natal Nodal Axis and progressing through the 12th house. This is a self-destructive time and should my predictions be correct then it will enter the 12th house around late September/early October this year. If this is so, then I can’t see any way of Rick Perry getting through to take on Obama.
***As I have said, all I have written here is very dependent on the birth time of Rick Perry. I have tried to co-ordinate all the aspects of his personality we do know about onto the chart. If anyone reading this article does have a definitive time, I would love to receive it. I will then adjust the article to reflect the new information***
***Incidentally the match up with Michele Bachmann is fascinating, they will attack each other like cat and dog. Gonna be a war. I will expand on a future post… ***