August 17, 1998 - As I noted in my September column in American Astrology, Clinton's "solar return" chart for his birthday on the 19th features transiting Neptune rising, with Moon and Mars setting, added to which is Kenneth Starr's Sun and Saturn right on the Descendant for Washington along with that Moon-Mars-Neptune combination. Added to this is the fact that Clinton's Saturn is setting and his Moon is on the IC of the chart. As most users of such return charts will tell you, those with strong combinations of angular planets tend to kick in a day or two before the actual date of the return, which means that Clinton's testimony before the grand jury today will not be the "piece of cake," one astrologer said it would be in a recent Time article. Far from it, it will not be easy for either of the two adversaries in this situation, Starr and Clinton. This is particularly true as the current opposition between Neptune and Mars highlights Starr's Sun-Saturn - very much a "thrill of the hunt" aspect, but also one that could cause the Independent Counsel to go too far.

This return chart lasts for a whole year, as does the relationship between the angles of the chart, transiting Neptune and Starr's prosecutorial combination of Sun and Saturn. There are, however, other factors involved in this series of events, some of which we've already laid out here for the reader, but the most interesting of which we'll discuss in the next installment. Why are they the most interesting? Because they relate to the astrology surrounding past Presidents in similar situations, and allow us to consider the differences between those who surmounted their difficulties and those who did not. And, as we have already noted, not only the President is involved in such considerations, but Kenneth Starr as well.