Llewellyn Journal - Examining the Astrological Details of Cheney\'s Hunting Disaster

I seldom see so many exact aspects in event charts, but then the Vice President of the United States very rarely shoots a companion. This is a major event from any perspective we care to consider. So, let's cut to the chase: astrology.

We already knew that the issues death and destruction have been recently prevalent in Cheney's life. Astrologically we can identify this trend by looking at his 8th House solar arc / progressed Sun in Aries. Independent to the core, this Sun in the 8th speaks to the mental focus on issues of death.

With the solar arc Moon exactly conjunct the Midheaven, Cheney no doubt faced an emotional situation when this accident occurred. With the solar arc Moon trining Neptune, he probably didn’t even realize what happened for several moments, and then had no sense of the urgency of the problem.

The Vice President and his wife did go to the hospital to be with the injured Whittington. Solar arc Venus in the 7th House, sextiling the Midheaven and opposing Neptune, suggest the need to 1) find out details before releasing them to the press a full day after, and 2) figure out just how to present this grim piece of news to the American public.

In this author’s experience, the solar arc Mars squaring natal Uranus does suggest that the incident was an accident. However, greater foresight and planning could have prevented this accident. Experienced hunters suggest that when hunting quail, a bird that often flushes very close to the hunter, the group must have a careful plan about positioning themselves so as to avoid just this kind of accident. Hunters, for example, audibly announce their positions so each person knows just where the others are at all times.

Cheney’s solar arc Moon is extremely close to conjuncting the Midheaven – this suggests that the Vice President allowed the emotional charge of flushing the bird to take over, and was not cautious about the positions of his hunting companions. This is not a surprising thing, as the birds flush close to the shooter, and they fly faster than skeet, according to sources close to this author.

Transiting Mars is also exactly conjunct the Midheaven. To quote Reinhold Ebertin, this placement indicates “failures caused through wrong arrangements or instructions, or through premature action, quarrels, or disputes.” No one suspects that a quarrel or dispute were involved in this incident. That leaves wrong arrangement or instructions. The hunters did not have their signals straight about how to maintain awareness of each others’ positions! Combined with the Moon, we find “a lack of deliberation or thought, strong emotional excitability.” One might think that a man with a serious heart condition would not engage in sports that are very likely to cause emotional excitability, such as quail hunting.

The solar arc Midheaven is precisely conjunct Cheney’s birth Pluto. Here we find an explanation for the hunting trip itself. This combination, Ebertin says, indicates “foolhardiness and daring, the abuse of power, and a crisis, a turn in one’s destiny brought about by Providence.” In my personal experience studying the Midheaven in thousands of charts, when the Midheaven makes an aspect to a birth planet, the individual has a moment in which to take stock of the life up to this point, and to make a change in direction, based on the events that occur.

To top off the longer term aspects and the Mars to Midheaven transit, the transiting Moon was EXACTLY opposing Mr. Cheney’s Sun in the 6th House at the time of the shooting accident.

My Opinion

Could it be that Mr. Cheney needs to pay more attention to work, and spend less time playing with his friends in southern Texas? The metaphorical shooting of a hunting companion reflects onto the international scene as the actual involvement of our allies in armed conflicts where everyone gets hurt, and everyone loses. In this case the quail got away.

I somehow doubt if Mr. Cheney will give adequate thought to an accident that could have been prevented. If he does, he may reconsider other decisions concerning weapons and their use. The American public is tired of war, and unlikely to accept another conflict any time soon. Perhaps Providence intervened with birdshot to prevent the loss of lives in continued conflicts around the world...if we are paying attention to the signs. If only.

NATAL CHART

Dick Cheney
January 30, 1941
7:30 PM
Standard Time
Lincoln, Nebraska
40 N 48 96 W 40
Time Zone: 6 hours West
Geocentric
Tropical Koch

1068_cheney_571

Examining the Astrological Details of Cheney's Hunting Disaster

Stephanie Clement