Happy Election Day. Here we are again, exercising our individual will to elect the leaders of our nation. No matter if it is just a game between tweedle-evil and tweedle-eviler, there is something sacred about election day, taking a moment out of our work schedules to join the crowds and make ourselves heard by engaging in the most essential ritual in a democracy — voting. The very act empowers us and reminds us that we all have a responsibility to our society and nation, no matter if we agree with its politics or not.

In astrology the planet most aligned with the process of voting is Mercury, which rules our communication, speaking, listening and the gathering of data. Counting votes is a very Mercurial process, and it is interesting to note that Mercury is on this election day at stationary retrograde, which means that, from our point of view on Earth, Mercury has stopped moving in the sky and will appear to move backwards for the next three weeks.

In general, Mercury stationary retrograde indicates indecision at the last minute. Am I certain the guy I'm voting for is the guy (or gal if you vote Green) I want? What if he blows it? A sense of no clear winner is in the minds of most. Whether or not this will translate into actual voting count uncertainties remains to be seen.

The Moon in Leo squaring the Sun in Scorpio gives the feeling of a kind of hollow stage presence, that much greater forces than the guys on TV are in control. In terms of the presidential candidates, the suggestion is they probably feel their last minute theatrics belie their anxieties around the truth of having to give their fate over to the power of others. Is that the power of the people or the power of the Plutocracy? We'll leave that topic for a future discussion.

Saturn presses on through Scorpio while Pluto moves in kind through Capricorn. There's a message here about the actual "winner" of the election not really mattering at all. Change is going to happen no matter who is "in charge," there are forces at play in the world (and the U.S. in particular) that go far beyond any human power, let alone the president's.

Another strong theme is the continuing square aspect between Uranus and Pluto. This aspect is a check-in with our progress on the issues that were up during the last Uranus/Pluto conjunction, which occurred during the 60s. Square aspects bring crises as we resolve the tension between the goals and desires set at the conjunction (free love, world peace, social justice) and the old ways we're still clinging to. These crises are meant to help us let go of whatever old ways no longer serve — even if we kick and scream along the way.

The big story here is not the surface level attention we give and are given about who is going to lead our country. Whomever gets elected, the big story revolves around the question of who truly controls the strings of power in the United States. Saturn, Pluto, Uranus and Neptune are all working at revealing the truths (and lies and delusions) of who and what really runs this country. No matter who we elect, they will be tasked with handling some big bombs that are going to fall over the next few years. A smart delegator and diplomat will be key. America is about to lose her "super" status in the world, and a welcome breath of humility will sweep over us.

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