To me, the jury is still out on the void moon (the moon is said to be void after it makes the last aspect to another planet before entering the next sign), but today I received an email from a reader quoting a newsgroup post that said

“Please help me with the astrology of Obama’s campaign. He announced his run on Feb 10, 2007, 10:13am CST, Springfield IL. Asc 8TAU42. Source – BBC covered the event live with a local time ticker which froze at the moment of the announcement. I was watching.

At first glance there are serious problems. A voided waning Moon in Scorpio – void in the classical and modern sense. In fact, it is very seriously void, with the next ptolemaic being a square to radix Mercury 14 degrees later.

The V/C tables that I consulted indicate that the moon was not void of course until the following day, but looking at the chart of the event it certainly does appear that the moon had made its last aspect before passing out of Scorpio.

Astrological lore instructs us not to enter into any ventures when the moon is void of course. Astroprofile, a great resource for all kinds of data, says “It is a time of the minutes or hours of chaos, disruption, nothing works right…times when we make bad decisions.”

It’s interesting then that Obama, with an announcement chart that includes a void of course moon, has shot from last place into a strong lead in the presidential campaign. Perhaps what the void of course moon has done, rather than doom him to a bad decision, is to offer up results that have broken all of the rules of political campaigns.

There are a surprising number of exact (1 degree orb or less) aspects between the Obama announcement chart and the US Sibley chart:

• Neptune in the US chart exactly trines the Midheaven in the announcement chart, perhaps explaining the “mania” in “Obamania.”
• The Moon in the announcement chart exactly trines the US Mercury, suggesting that the emotional motivations of Obama’s candidacy (Moon) are in harmony with what the people of the US are thinking (Mercury).
• The Sun in the announcement chart makes an exact trine to the US Mars, suggesting that the essence of Obama’s candidacy (Sun) has the capability to energize (Mars) the American people.
• Pluto in the announcement chart makes a sextile to the Moon in the US chart that suggests that Obama will transform (Pluto) the way Americans feel about their country (Moon).
• Jupiter in the announcement chart make an exact sextile to Saturn in the US chart, indicating that Obama’s candidacy expands the optimism (Jupiter) of the established power structures in the country (Saturn).
• Mercury in the announcement chart exactly squares Uranus in the US, explaining the way Obama’s oratory (Mercury) creates a radical urge for change (Uranus).
• Neptune in the announcement chart forms an exact sextile to Chiron in the US chart, identifying the mystical fervor (Neptune) that Obama’s candidacy has inspired, and the hope that the nation can be healed (Chiron).

Perhaps Obama will lose, but there is no question that his candidacy has had a profound effect although not in the way that anyone could have predicted. And perhaps that is the lesson of the void of course moon!

Update 3/1: Sally McDonald, one of the web’s experts in mundane astrology (I am merely a dabbler; my specialty is people rather than events), writes that the Moon in the announcement chart makes it easier for Obama’s natal Saturn and Uranus to work together effectively and harmonize the structure that Saturn creates with the urge to overturn the status quo of Uranus. She adds that the the Moon and Mercury in Obama’s chart, which form a sextile in the chart, both are inconjunct (30 degrees) his Venus at 1 degree Cancer which is being opposed right now by Pluto, forming a perfect Yod in his chart. The Yod is the “finger of fate” aspect that indicates an important destiny of some sort. The transit of Pluto is clarifying that destiny and bringing it into fruition.