A couple of years ago I wrote a post entitled “John McCain will never be president,” and followed it up with “John McCain will never be president Part II.” I never posted a complete profile of McCain on my website because it never occurred to me that two years later he would be the Republican nominee for president. I don’t like to be wrong, but I sure called it wrong this time. So I have now posted that McCain profile on my site here.

Jill had a very interesting post yesterday about the psychology of John McCain’s legendary anger, citing this article in the UK Independent which quotes McCain:

Right up to his twenties, he remained a strikingly violent man, “ready to fight at the drop of a hat”, according to his biographer Robert Timberg. This rage seems to be at the core of his personality: describing his own childhood, McCain has written: “At the smallest provocation I would go off into a mad frenzy, and then suddenly crash to the floor unconscious. When I got angry I held my breath until I blacked out.”

Jill suggests that these behaviors point to a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder, a categorization of mental illness that has only been widely known since 1980 when it was officially classified as a disorder. Biographies of McCain have noted his extreme recklessness and rage going back to his school years where he was nicknamed “Punk” and “Nasty.” By entering the military he not only followed in the footsteps of his father, but also gave himself an outlet for his legendary anger.

I’ll refer you to the new article for the complete profile of McCain, but this is the part that is most relevant to the anger piece:

Mars in this chart is in Leo, a fiery and dramatic expression of aggression, and is square Uranus, the revolutionary. Difficult Uranus aspects often are an indicator of some kind of early trauma, and the square from Mars to Uranus can show serious conflict in childhood. The opposition from Pluto to McCain’s Capricorn Moon indicates additional stress and a sense of being overpowered by the nurturing parent, usually but not always the mother.

McCain’s Capricorn Moon is in the Fourth House of family lineage which is ruled by Saturn, the planet of discipline and responsibility. Saturn in McCain’s chart, retrograde and part of the Grand Cross that includes a square to Chiron where one’s obligations can have painful results, is both very powerful and yet without an easy mode of expression. So Saturn is ruling an extremely emotional Fourth House with a Capricorn Moon, and there is a strong sense of duty and familial obligation that is rigid and unbending. This combines with the innate emotional pain of the Moon/Pluto opposition and the radical fire of Mars square to Uranus to create a split in McCain’s personality. This is exacerbated by McCain’s Virgo Sun and Libra Mercury and ascendant which do their best to suppress his anger, making its eruption all the more dramatic when it occurs.

Had I noticed two years ago that McCain’s progressed Jupiter would conjunct his North Node, I might have hesitated before making such a confident prediction that McCain would never reach the presidency. Jupiter contacts are often harbingers of good fortune and opportunity, and the North Node reflects our destiny and evolutionary path. In 2009 McCain’s progressed Ascendant will join that conjunction which will align the more mundane path with the evolutionary path of the North Node, and that is an indicator of an exceptional period of success.

McCain’s will be going through a series of Uranus transits to both his natal Venus and his progressed Venus, which shows some unusual events resulting from his relationships and partnerships. At the same time, transiting Pluto will conjunct his North Node in January 2009 which is a scary (to me) indicator that something major will happen relative to his greater empowerment.

This election continues to be a roller coaster ride and a reminder of the Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times.