US Politician John Edwards is back in the news after finally admitting what everyone has known for two years, that he fathered Rielle Hunter’s child during a seamy affair that occurred while he was running for president and his wife was being treated for terminal cancer.  (Can you tell this is not an impartial article?  Living in North Carolina, I’ve known John Edwards for a long time.)

I have a complete profile of John Edwards posted on my site here.  Edwards’ astrological chart includes a challenging square from Mars to his Midheaven, the point that represents career and public life.  This shows a strong drive (Mars) to propel himself into the limelight (Midheaven) which includes the potential for reckless behavior as we’ve seen.

Transiting Saturn began a series of challenges to his chart beginning in 2007, coinciding with the revelation of the affair with Rielle Hunter by the National Enquirer.  The story was not picked up by the mainstream media until July 2008 when transiting Saturn formed a square to Jupiter in his chart.  Jupiter is the planet that gives us confidence and a sense that anything is possible, and a transit of Saturn, the planet of limitation, corrals that confidence and can create restrictions anywhere there is an excess of confidence.  

Last year transiting Uranus (radical change and surprising new events) traversed over the Midheaven in Edwards’ chart between April and September within one degree, and last fall Saturn (challenges and restriction) crossed the Nadir of the chart, the point of home and inner life.  During the early part of this period Edwards was investigated for campaign finance improprieties at which Ms. Hunter testified, and he evidently purchased a home for her near his family’s North Carolina beach house.  The Edwards’ apparently separated in the fall as Saturn crossed the Nadir of his chart, 

Now John Edwards is on his way to Haiti, hoping to reconstruct his battered image.  Transiting Saturn is stationing in an exact square to Venus in his chart, signifying challenges (Saturn) in his relationships (Venus).  To make matters more difficult for him, transiting Pluto (death and transformation) is conjunct Venus at the same time.  It’s a terrible shame to see a family self-destruct so publicly, and of course the real victims are always the children.  Hopefully they will find the stability that they need to survive the fallout of this debacle.