On July 18, 1860, a total solar eclipse in the sign of Cancer enchanted the Western world. It was visible throughout the United States as well as France and Spain, where the first ever photograph of a solar eclipse was taken by astrophotographer Warren De La Rue. It was the most dramatic and scientifically important solar eclipse of the century.

But even more dramatically, two days later a major meteor procession burned across the night sky of the Eastern United States, recounted by witnesses from Catskill to Asheville.

During that cosmically eventful week, Saturn was at a direct opposition to Abraham Lincoln's Sun. Fittingly, Lincoln was keeping a low profile as the Republican Party stumped for his presidential campaign. From a broader astrological lens, the combination of the solar eclipse with this Saturn transit implied a major life chapter was about to unfold for him. The added ingredient of the country being grazed by a massive meteor lends an almost biblically prophetic feeling for what was to come. Four months later, as Jupiter crossed the exact same point where Saturn was during the eclipse, Lincoln won the presidency, the most significant election in American history. Five months after that, the country was embroiled in its bloodiest war on record.

The most dramatic solar eclipse, meteoric procession, presidential election, and subsequent war in American history, all occurred within less than a year of each other. Today we are, again, entering a cosmically profound election cycle whose outcome likely will determine the long term path of the United States.

While astrology cannot predict meteoric events, we can see that on April 8th, 2024, the path of a total solar eclipse will cut across the United States, up from Mexico, through Texas, and up through Maine. This eclipse is a kind of bookend paired with the US-centric eclipse that cut across the entire country in 2017. We may recall a presidential election with major political consequences occurred just nine months before, handing the presidency to a man whose Ascendant coincides precisely with the degree of that eclipse.

Major eclipses wipe away something from the past — a mode of thinking, a style of being, a social, political, or cultural paradigm — and initiate a new phase. Think of the 1860 solar eclipse's proximity to the war that ended slavery, or the 2017 eclipse's proximity to Trump's presidential term. Given the 2017 and 2024 eclipses focused on the U.S., along with a set of rare and politically charged upcoming outer planet alignments, we are clearly in the long-running throes of a cultural and political reboot.

The best keynote I can offer for this election cycle is: trust the unexpected. Whatever we think is happening is never the entire picture, and whatever does happen may be more positive for the future of the planet than we think. Taking in new perspectives is an important part of psychological health, and something astrology excels at giving us. Let's dig in.

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Editorial note: For the sake of keeping this article focused, I'm going to assume Trump as the Republican presidential candidate. There are good astrological reasons for this, but if that assumption turns out to be wrong I will revisit the astrological picture for whoever the new candidate turns out to be.

Some astrologers are already calling the election for Trump, given that on Election Day Jupiter and Venus will be at opposition in near precise alignment to Trump's Sun/Moon opposition (he was born during a Sagittarius Full Moon). Jupiter on his Sun implies great personal success and Venus on his Moon suggests a feeling of being adored (a feeling he desperately craves but struggles to take in, given his natal Saturn/Venus conjunction).

However, I think that kind of reading is a simple harvesting of low hanging fruit. It's also true that Uranus will be at square to Trump's Mars and Ascendant, as if a sudden disruption were to wrest victory from his hands. Here the imagination can begin to play — could it be that he thinks he won, but is ultimately ruled to have lost? What else might disrupt the overconfidence that can be Jupiter-Sun and the narcissism implied by Venus-Moon?

Another argument put forth for Trump is that there are no such signs of success for Biden. Indeed, with Pluto at square to Biden's Moon throughout the campaign, we are justified in questioning whether his health will be up to the task. Compounding this concern is that Mars fills in a highly stressful t-square to Biden's Moon on Election Day itself. This is enough to question whether Biden will have the strength to see the election through to the end. However, this does not at all obviate a Democratic win, which I will explain in a moment.

Speaking of Mars, the god of War is a key player in the election cycles of 2016 and 2024. On Election Day of 2016, within hours of the election being called for Trump, Mars crossed from the last degree of Capricorn to 0º Aquarius. Given Aquarius's penchant for rebellion and establishing a new order, combined with Mars's combative nature, it was the clearest symbol to me that, despite all of the astrologers predicting a win for Clinton, Trump could end up the victor.

Less than two days before Election Day in 2024 Mars makes a similar move, this time from Cancer into Leo, exactly opposite the 2016 transit to 0º Aquarius. At the very least, this synchronicity shows how linked these two election cycles are, but it also raises the question: Is this a boon for the Republicans, or a hindrance? Is Mars indicating a new era for Leo-obsessed Trump, or is it promising a fierce contender that can best him?

The solar eclipse of April 2024 adds to the picture. It is a North Node aligned eclipse at 19º Aries, within trine to Trump's Moon and sextile to his Sun. These are friction-free alignments, suggesting a boost to his ego and sense of assurance, or over-assurance, about his prospects. This eclipse shows no major alignments to Biden's chart.

Considering what's been presented so far, it can start to sound like the planetary momentum is powerful for Trump and weak for the Democrats. But an alternative view is quickly discovered when comparing the astrology of 2024 with the natal chart of Kamala Harris.

Almost everything we can say about planetary support for Trump also applies to Harris. This is because, quite astoundingly, Harris has a number of similar planetary layouts to Trump: She was born during a Full Moon, with her Sun and Moon at major alignment to Trump's Sun and Moon. Even more striking is that her Rising Sign (Ascendent/Descendant axis) is almost exactly conjunct Trump's Full Moon axis, at 24º Gemini/Sagittarius. And if that were not enough, her Lunar Nodes, another axis that strongly correlates with one's destiny, is also conjunct her ASC/DSC axis along with Trump's Full Moon and Lunar Nodes axes.

In short, Kamala Harris's chart reveals connections to Trump that suggest perhaps she has the right energy and experience to take him on, more so than Biden. Also given that, like Trump, the eclipse of 2024 is a tailwind for her ambitions, and that the Jupiter/Venus conjunction on Election Day falls right on her Ascendant/North Node-Descendant/South Node axis, there is strong momentum for her as a potential contender for the election.

I am also intrigued by the fact that Venus will be a bright evening star during the election, as if to show off the power of a woman leader. Ancient predictive techniques would interpret an evening star Venus as portending a loss for the incumbent. I would counter that as indicating a win for Trump by saying firstly that Lincoln won re-election during an evening star Venus, and secondly that it would be quite fitting if, after health or other concerns, Biden dropped out and handed the mantle to Harris — perhaps somewhere around the April solar eclipse. Loss of incumbency while maintaining the leading party by victory of a woman would fit the power of evening Venus rather nicely.

There is, as always, more to the story: Harris has her Jupiter return in 2024 while her progressed Saturn is closing in at an exact conjunction to her career point (Midheaven). On Election Day itself Uranus conjuncts her Jupiter, a planetary combo that astrologer Robert Hand has termed among the luckiest one can encounter. Overall, her progressed chart shows one who is stepping into some kind of limelight, with both Moon and Sun recently moved over her ASC/NN-DSC/SN axis.

The main takeaway from looking at these and other astrological surveys is that the outcome of this presidential election is anything but certain. Meanwhile, we can hold space for the unexpected while we do our best to work towards a future that matters to us. Personally, I'm optimistic for the future of democracy, given the outer planet shifts coming in 2024-2025, which suggest dramatic change while giving us the supports we need to see through the birth pains of a dawning world.

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