Certifiable

The Astrology of & History of Election Certification

On Monday, January 6, 2025, Congress will meet to certify the results of the 2024 election, an historically unremarkable event that usually happens without folks even noticing. In laymen’s terms, it’s always been boring AF.

All of that changed in 2021, when the then-president refused to admit his defeat, inciting an angry and armed mob to descend upon the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The mob overpowered security forces and forced their way into the hallowed halls, destroying property and threatening the assassination of government officials while trying to prevent the peaceful transition of power that has always been the hallmark of American democracy.

This was a watershed moment that should have been an uncrossable line for any politician, yet here we are. Just 4 years later, America has decided to get back with her ex who should be in jail, and he’s brought along his new broligarch buddies and Project 2025 puppeteers. Fantastic.

Grovel for the Gavel

However, before these votes can be certified, the 119th United States Congress needed to be sworn in for a new 2-year term, which happened on January 3. After a bit of a rumble from GOP holdouts that required a phone call from Dear Leader Donny to sort out, the House finally re-elected Mike Johnson as Speaker. We pulled the chart for the moment that gavel came down with the win and suffice to say, we don’t think he will have a long tenure. Let’s take a quick look.

A of all, both the Gemini ASC and Aquarius MC are on world points, meaning that regardless of how long Johnson has the gavel, his term as Speaker will have great significance on a global level. B of all, there is a LOT of mutable energy here: ASC, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune are all in signs of change. Everything feels like it will be over quickly, and GOP House members have already let him know they are ready to call for a motion to vacate at a moment’s notice.

C of all, Gemini likes to do things twice, so whether an ouster is successful or not, expect to see this Speakership come up for review. Ruler Mercury just left its post-retrograde shadow period on January 2, 2025, but will enter its next pre-retrograde shadow on March 1. The current budget Continuing Resolution expires on March 14. Watch this timeframe.

What will the energy of his speakership be like?

Gemini Jupiter in the 1st House just a few degrees from the ASC can be aligned with religious fanaticism. Johnson’s acceptance speech referenced Manifest Destiny, which modern Christian Nationalists plan to continue, and a prayer falsely attributed to Thomas Jefferson that was quickly proven to have come from a much later time. In other words, either he didn’t do his research, or he didn’t care - he just wanted to bring Big Deity Energy to the stage.

Mercury, our ASC’s ruler, is in the Sagittarius 7th House, which is not stellar for diplomacy. Mercury is in its detriment in this fire sign that is prone to saying the blunt truth, or at least their version of it. In the 7th House of foreign affairs, we may see him come down with a bad case of Foot-In-Mouth disease over Ukraine, Russia, Israel, or some other international quagmire, or there could be a “hot mic” incident. Mercury in Sag could also see the legacy media blow a situation out of proportion in the quest for a “hot story”.

Note that Jupiter in Gemini is also in its sign of detriment. Neither Mercury, nor Jupiter, are in their “happy places,” but ironically, they are in mutual reception, with each being in the home sign of the other. As such, they have open lines of communication and will play a major role in Johnson’s time at the gavel.

One final note: 4 of the 5 quincunxes that exist in the chart for the 119th Congress also exist here. Those are:

• Venus in Pisces quincunx Mars Rx in Leo (0° orb)

• Mercury in Sagittarius quincunx Uranus in Taurus (0° orb)

• Moon in Pisces quincunx Mars Rx in Leo (0° orb)

• Sun in Capricorn quincunx Jupiter Rx in Gemini (1° orb)

Expect to see lots of friction and challenges during his tenure, especially around just exactly who is giving the marching orders.

How does the party end?

Well, Uranus in Taurus is in the 12th House, which also has the entire sign of Taurus intercepted. This is going to come down to the budget and the efforts to avert yet another government shutdown. House GOP members have already said they will call for his removal if Johnson makes any attempt to work with Democrats, which is… ugh. Absurd. That’s literally the job of Congress and the Speaker, but welcome to obstructionist politics.

The fact that resource-focused Taurus is intercepted here gives the feeling that while the budget showdown may be the excuse, there is really another hidden financial or values motive at work. Compounding that is the Sun (Leader) in the Capricorn (Government) 8th House of national debt, taxes, death rate, and foreign resources. Uranus can be associated with far-right-wing politics and libertarianism. Do we know any folks like that who have strong foreign monetary interests??

BTW, this is also a great time to remind folks that a full 25% of the current $36.17 trillion national debt was incurred during The Former Guy’s administration. 25%! Let that sink in for a moment. Johnson will use the national debt and deficit spending as an excuse to cut services that literally keep people alive, but it won’t be enough to appease the GOP piranhas circling the waters.

Constitutional Controversy

Now for Monday’s events. First, let’s go through exactly what this certification process is and why it matters.

On January 6 of post-election years (or another declared day if the 6th falls during a weekend), Congress meets to count and certify the electoral votes from the previous November’s election. This is generally just a matter of procedure, but it is also the last opportunity that legislators will have to raise any objections to electoral votes.

We’ve hardly ever seen these objections raised (it only happened twice prior to 2021) and those that were, were quickly rejected. That is until January 6, 2021, when everything we’ve come to rely upon in American democracy changed. At that time, the objection of a single Congressperson joined by a single Senator was sufficient to challenge the validity of a state’s electoral votes, and it happened several times that day.

Since the Vice-President presides over the proceedings, there was the mistaken belief that they could reject or somehow change the results submitted by the states. This erroneous belief was a major contributor to the insurrection. In reality, the Vice-President’s role is purely ceremonial. They cannot change the election results.

Once those results are certified on Monday, only a court action or some other legal incident can prevent the transition of power during inauguration on January 20, 2025. That was confirmed by the passage of the Electoral Reform Act of 2022, which also raised the objection criteria from a single member of the House and Senate to one-fifths of each chamber. It is highly doubtful we’ll see any such contingent tomorrow.

This certification process is an important part of the checks-and-balances that keep our government functioning and allow for the peaceful transition of power. It allows the will of the people via the states’ electoral votes and their Congressional representative to be affirmed. The votes are unsealed and read for the public to hear, ensuring that the results reported on election night are the same ones confirmed prior to inauguration. There’s no bait-and-switch. This certification is an important pillar of our democratic system.

So, how will the day go? Let’s look at the astrology.

Retrograde Regrets

For this chart, we are going with a start time of 1:00 PM EST. That is when the certification process began in 2021, although for obvious reasons, they haven’t been too vocal about Monday's schedule for Congress. Many of the planets were discussed in our previous post regarding the Speaker election, so be sure to read that for a refresher. What changes here are the Moon and Houses.

One thing we do need to point out is that Mars, which is currently retrograde in Leo, will slip back into Cancer at 5:43 AM EST on January 6. Yup. An anaretic malefic Mars retrograde at 29° Cancer, the sign of its fall, just as we face the anniversary of one of the most violent days in our nation’s history. What could possibly go wrong?

Pre-retrograde Mars was at this degree on November 3, 2024 - just before the election took place. It will transit this spot again post-retrograde on April 17/18 (Mars enters Leo just minutes after midnight). Remember that retrogrades ask us to revisit, reevaluate, rethink, redo, re- everything, and they cover the same territory three times. Many people are now regretting their vote (or lack thereof), but there are no takebacks. This is why an informed electorate is so important!

Now, I’m sure you are thinking that with all of this retrograde energy, there must be some sort of political Hail Mary that prevents the return of That Guy and his fascism fuckery. The 14th Amendment? 18 U.S. Code § 2384 - Seditious conspiracy? EPSTEIN’S FLIGHT LOG????

Theoretically, yes, but at this point it is highly unlikely. Could there be some as-yet-unannounced national security concern that comes to light before inauguration? Anything is possible, especially with Treasury’s sanctions against Iran and Russia for their 2024 election interference attempts. Two things could be true - he won the election AND something prohibits him from taking office, but the reality is we must be prepared to fight for the long haul.

No Bullshit Need Apply

This chart has a 15° Taurus ASC, with both 23° Uranus Rx (Taurus) and 12° Jupiter Rx (Gemini) in the 1st House. Taurus rules resources, but it also rules values. With 2 retrograde planets here, are we seeing a rollback of our values? Are we simply rolling back to conducting ourselves like damn adults? Or are we seeing someone(s) be bigtime disruptive with their Christo-Fascist fuckery? TBD. This fixed sign doesn’t suffer foolishness, so expect any shenanigans to be dealt with firmly.

Taurus ruler Venus is exalted in Pisces in the 11th House of legislative affairs, an overall wonderful energy for this day! Proceedings could go quite well, with a focus on diplomacy and peace. However, we also have restrictive Saturn and delulu Neptune in the 11th, which can go a couple of ways. We could see folks play by the rules and stick to procedure, or we could see some bleach blond bad built cult fanatics try to muck up the works. What I do know is that with Cancer Mars quincunx Sagittarius Mercury, some spicy words could get served up. Good advice: Don’t start nothin’, won’t be nothin’!

The 27° Capricorn MC is no surprise, especially with 1° Aquarius Pluto in the 10th House of the Executive Branch. One administration is coming to a close and a new one is beginning based on the collective’s will. Government is transforming, but just how dramatically it transforms remains to be seen.

12th House Close-out

Speaking of the will of the people, that 12th House starts at anaretic 29° Pisces, the degree of decay. It’s quite busy with 1° North Node, 13° Moon, and 19° Chiron all in intercepted Aries. That Chiron is still conjunct the United States natal Chiron, so it is no surprise that we are facing unhealed wounds that go back to our founding.

This “hidden energy” of the day is heavy on anger, pain, and public sentiment, but it also says, “The only way through it, is through it.” These coming days are a challenge for all of us to step into leadership within our communities and take on the responsibility for healing ourselves, our families, and our country. We, the People, got ourselves into this mess and We, the People, will have to get ourselves out of it, too.

Pisces is the natural ruler of the 12th House. It is the sign of endings, dissolving what was so that something new may begin. Unfortunately, that “something new” cardinal Aries energy is stuck in the 12th House of hidden things. Could this be the unseen start of a resistance movement? Is this the wake-up call people need to start organizing and addressing the very real inequities that have existed through the centuries? Is this the moment that society realizes “no one is coming to save us, so we must save ourselves”?

All or none of these things could be true. With Aries Moon and Cancer Mars in mutual reception, the collective can tap into their will to fight. Let’s just hope that this time the fight is metaphorical and not literal.

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