An astrological perspective on the race to the White House - A tussle to the finish line

The US elections are literally days away and it's really getting heated up. The Republicans look to seize and win back the majority whereas the Democrats who are fielding their replaced candidate are looking to go all the way once again. It's a battle which has started to intensify and there is no two ways about it that history is going to beckon irrespective of the eventual outcome.

Donald Trump is looking to win a second term in 3 successive elections that he is contesting whereas Kamala Harris is vying to become the first lady president of the United States. This is the first time ever that a candidate has been part of the front running for 3 terms in a row and it's the second time that he would actually be taking on a women after successful quelling the challenge of Hillary Clinton back in 2016. Trump also could become the oldest elected President at the ripe old age of 78, a few months older than when Biden became President in 2020. Kamala on the other hand could end up becoming only the second black person to ever hold the prestigious post and perhaps become the only women president the nation has ever seen since the advent of Presidential elections which began way back in 1788 during the time George Washington was elected.

Let us look at it astrologically to dissect insights as to who has an edge in this race for President ship. Though there are multiple factors at fray worth considering, the first major affirmative happens to be that accurate birth times are available of both the competing candidates.

Donald Trump
Date of Birth: 14th June 1946
Place of Birth: Jamaica, New York
Time of Birth: 10:54 (10:54 AM)
Timezone: 4 Hrs West of GMT Day Light Saving

Kamala Harris
Date of Birth: 20th October 1964
Place of Birth: Oakland, California
Time of Birth: 21:28 (9.28 PM)
Timezone: 7 Hrs West of GMT Day Light Saving

We shall now look at their horoscopes from various dimensions be it the potential of the birth chart, the dasha timing of the planetary sequence, transits that will hold fort near to the election outcome date, running year success quotient, the impact of Panchang and so on and so forth.

First up taking a look at Trump's chart, it clearly depicts someone who is power hungry and craving for supremacy. He is a Leo rising Ascendant with the Yogakaraka planet Mars right at the tip of the Ascendant. Mars is a fiery and red hot planet which clearly personifies his character. Since it's also the most beneficial planet for this Lagna, it clearly is a terrific placement to hold. Also his Lagna Lord Sun goes into the most powerful house of the horoscope viz 10th place. 10th is all about power, position, fame and authority. The Sun though being placed in an unfriendly house it gets maximum strength in the 10th and being in a Venusian house, it clearly showcases his focus on reaching the summit. The Lagna is more of the inherent characteristic and with Mars being placed there shows his brash abrasive nature and the Lagna Lord placement indicates one's desires. The chart placements of Donald Trump clearly indicates fire in his belly. It should however be noted that his Sun is very closely associated with Rahu though it has crossed it in the zodiac belt. Rahu by itself also tends to show one's interest in the house which it is placed and in the 10th it again depicts wanting to be at the top and ruling. The planet of money & finance Jupiter is also very placed in the chart in 2nd place from Ascendant, 11th from Moon and 5th from Ascendant Lord Sun. The fact that it's also retrograde adds to the strength. The 2nd and 11th Lord Mercury being placed in it's own 11th house of Gemini gives that additional angle for craze of wealth. On the whole the outline of Trumps chart screams power and wealth in every way you look at it and what's greater in attaining this than being the President of the United States.

As per his planetary sequence he is running Jupiter Dasa currently as per the Vimshottari scheme. He started off his initial presidentship at the start of Jupiter Dasa, then suffered a setback and now again is competing for the post for a third time. At the time of result declaration, he would be running the sub period of Venus within Jupiter. Venus is placed in 12th in an uncomfortable sign for it but is 11th from the Dasa Lord Jupiter. This could indicate desires being fulfilled. Also a Venus sign Taurus happens to hold his Ascendant Lord and Rahu which in a way gains indirect strength. At the time of result announcement, the Dasa Lord Jupiter happens to be on the 10th from Ascendant and 7th from Moon which again showcases a strong factual indication of rise in power. As per Bhrigu Paddhati sequence, Trump will be running his 79th year which equates to 7 in the 12 year cycle. The 7th in general is a strong kendra house and indicates success. The house of Kumbha is also being seen by Mars from Lagna and is also placed 10th from original Lagna Lord placement of Sun. All these kind of shows that time is falling in place and seems to be on his side.

Coming to Kamala Harris horoscope, it's really tricky and quite a pitfall to decode. She is a Gemini rising Ascendant and has Rahu placed right there as a tail wind. The nodes are extremely hard to disseminate and any amount of analysis may prove futile as they can tend to be a mirage than can hoodwink in the opposite direction. Rahu can give enormous amount of success and at the same time is also completely capable of derailing. Rahu's dichotomy is hard to assess but Gemini which is a sign that's said to be favorable for Rahu can be said to be more positive than negative. Her Lagna Lord is well placed in the 5th house but is however combust by a debilitated Sun. 5th house shows one's creativity and inclination but not necessarily power driven. Also the Government related planet placed in a sign of fall does not bode well for the highest placement of power. The 10th Lord of power & hierarchy Jupiter going to the 12th also doesn't give much to write home about. Her 11th Lord of desires though being well placed in the 2nd indicates gains in wealth but again being debilitated gives a tinge that something that she's working tirelessly may end up being snatched at the last moment. The Moon is quite strong placed in the 11th house in Ashwini Nakshatra indicating someone swift and always on the move.

As per planetary sequence Kamala Harris is running the Dasa of Rahu at the moment. She did attain the post of Vice Presidency during it's tenure but whether it can go a step further and give her the ultimate hegemony of President ship has to be wait and seen. One can never discount Rahu and if it gives it can just shower unenviable level of success and power. She would also be running Venus sub period within Rahu and this certainly is a positive because Venus happens to be the most beneficial planet for a Gemini rising. As per transit, her natal 10th Lord Jupiter would be in the 12th sign of Taurus but however from Moon it would be in the 2nd which is beneficial. The roles get reversed with regard to her running Dasa Lord Rahu. It would be in 10th from Ascendant but 12th from Moon at time of announcement of winner. As per chakra sequence, Kamala will be in her 61st year marking 1st year into operation. She has her Ascendant and Rahu both within the 1st degree and at the time of results which is virtually within a fortnight of her birthdate they will be extremely active. Rahu can usurp her to greatness or can end up giving her a steep slide downwards. The Lord of the house Gemini however though placed in 5th is combust with a fallen Sun and may not connote positivity.

Looking at things from the Panchanga elements, there is a similarity between the two candidates as both of them are born in the full moon Tithi of Pournami and also in the same Karana of Bava. Many successful personalities are known to have a full moon birth and also the Karana is indicative of leadership trait. Their Nakshatra's are an anatomy of each other with Trump's Jyeshta being placed in 8th from Kamala's Ashwini. Also these 2 Nakshatra's are said to oppose each other and definitely not a good combination for working together. Kamala is born on a Tuesday whereas Trump took birth on a Friday and coincidentally both the rulers of these days viz Mars & Venus sit in Cancer in their respective charts. With regard to Yoga, Trump is born in Shubha Yoga where Sun attains prominence whereas Kamala is born in Vajra Yoga which makes Moon the planet of importance. Both Sun and Moon happen to be well placed in Trumps and Kamalas chart being housed in 10th and 11th place respectively.

Thus seeing at things from various angles:

Horoscope Potential: Trump seems to ace it here

Dasa Sequence: Advantage to Trump 

Transit in Operation: Better for Trump on the whole

Running Year: A mild fillip to Trump mostly because 7th house is stronger than 1st house

Panchanga Element: Quite neck to neck and evenly matched

Thus, from the outset it looks like Trump holds fort on most cards but however the underlying factor of Rahu can change things drastically. Rahu if it does turn in the affirmative for Kamala can see her horoscope potential getting a huge boost especially with it also being the current Dasa Lord and also the fact that it will be 10th from natal Lagna in transit plus also the fact that Rahu will get activated as 1st year will be running at the time of results. Now whether it works in the positive sense or negative sense we just cannot but have to wait with bated breath and see the eventual outcome. However since most of the factors seem to favour Trump and also the fact that in regular astrological parlance Rahu is generally perceived as more of an illusion and soaked in cynicism, one can expect that Donald Trump will just about be able to pip Kamala Harris to the post of US President in the race to the White House.

Problems Aplenty with respect to Uniformity in Astrology!

Astrology is a divine science. However one major drawback that it suffers is a lack of common standard and there is no uniformity when it comes to a number of factors. Listed below are some perennial problems or ever prevailing confusions with regard to astrology which don't perhaps look like getting resolved in the near future.

1) Lack of correct Ayanamsa:
Ayanamsa is defined as the angular distance between vedic first point and vernal equinox. The sidereal ecliptic of a celestial body is less than the tropical ecliptic longitude. But there was a point in time when the sidereal zodiac and tropical zodiac coincided which is taken as the starting point. Different years are taken in contention viz Lahiri (285 AD), Krishnamurthy (291 AD), Raman (397 AD), Yuktheshwar (499 AD), Vakya Siddhantha (522 AD) etc. The different Ayanamsa used results in different degrees of placements of planets causing trouble in reading horoscopes. For eg say Mercury is in 29 degrees 30 mins as per Lahiri Ayanamsa in Aries, but applying Raman Ayanamsa Mercury will end up being at 0 degrees 56 mins in Taurus.
Different Ayanamsas:
- Lahiri Chitra Paksha Ayanamsa
- Krishnamurthy Ayanamsa
- BV Raman Ayanamsa
- Yuktheshwar Ayanamsa
- Pushya Paksha Ayanamsa
- Fagan Ayanamsa
- Others (totally about 50 odd present)

2) No consensus on accurate birth time:
Sometimes natives don't have a birth time at all but even those who have it there are multiple reasons as to why it may not be correct. There are still views going on about whether birth time should be recorded as time of first breath, time of first cry, time of touching the earth, cutting of umbilical cord, time of break of placenta etc. Incorrect birth time can cause predictions to go awry.
Different Time of Births:
- Time of first breath
- Time of first cry
- Time of touching earth
- Time of cutting umbilical cord
- Time of break of placenta
- Others - time of forehead appearing, body part visible etc

3) Dasa Year Computation:
The Vimshottari Dasa system calculated based on Moon's longitude is a specific feature available in Vedic Astrology and most of the timing of events of life are matched with the running Dasa and sub periods. But there isn't a standard solution as to whether a Dasa year should be a solar year (365 point days) or a Savana Year (360 days) or based on a Lunar year (354 point days).
Different Dasa Years Used (Without decimals):
- Solar Year 365 days
- Savana Year 360 days
- Lunar Year 354 days

4) House Counting System:
Houses are of prominent importance when deciphering a chart. Which house planets are placed can give a very good insight about your course of life. But here too there are diverse views whether ascendant should start from where rasi starts which is whole sign, whether ascendant degree should be mid of first house or ascendant degree should indicate start of first house. Whole sign ascendant illustration: Ascendant Aries 29 degrees, Venus 2 degrees in Taurus and Mercury 27 degree in Aries. Venus will be counted as second house and Mercury as 1st house. Ascendant is middle of first house Illustration: Ascendant Aries 27 degrees, Venus 4 degrees Taurus and Mercury 10 degrees Aries. Here Venus will be counted as first house and Mercury as twelfth house. First house spans from 12 degree Aries to 12 degree Taurus and 27 degrees is mid point. Ascendant is start of first house Illustration: Ascendant Taurus 6 degrees, Venus 3 degrees Taurus and Mercury 1 degree Taurus. Both Venus and Mercury will be counted as 12th house. First house will roughly span from 6 degrees Taurus to 6 degrees Gemini.
Different House Systems:
- Whole sign Ascendant
- Ascendant should be middle of first house
- Ascendant should be start of first house

5) Aspects and Significator Usage:
There are some lingering confusions as to how much of aspect is really valid. Certain planets are said to have full and partial aspects. Also whether they influence a whole sign or just an extent of the house is also a point to ponder. And coming to the mysterious planets Rahu and Ketu, there are still doubts plaguing as to whether they aspect or not and even if they do tend to aspect, opinions are divided on which kind of aspects they possess. The significator or the karaka's role is also perceived differently as per various branches of astrology. For eg Mars is husband for females in one system whereas its Jupiter in another system. In some cases it is both Venus or both Jupiter.

Hence, with these kind of lurking issues prevalent in astrology it's safe to say predictions can never be cent percent accurate. There will always be a sense of vulnerability and the astrologer needs to consider a number of these factors before giving predictions. Being in the age of Kali Yuga, I doubt there will be a sure shot solution to any of the points and there are always going to be multiple views with or without logical reasoning as to which is correct. Perhaps these limitations are one reason as to why the field of occult is the way it actually is - extremely mysterious and always providing a scope for research and unraveling hidden treasures :).

Being Beautiful, Winning Beauty Contests and the connection with Aishwarya Rai!

There was a discussion about what makes one to be bestowed with beautiful looks and also on top of that make you win international pageant contests such as Miss World etc which are conducted on a global platform. Looking at it from an astrological POV, obviously the birth chart should have some correlation to suggest someone is breathtakingly beautiful but in addendum to that transits also matter a lot and perhaps even the running dasa period to put that beauty into optimum use and at the right time to win international honours.

The best bet native to study about this is perhaps renowned beauty queen Aishwarya Rai who not only possesses ethereal looks but also managed to win India a Miss World title after a really long period of time. Let's take her case since it's believed that her birth details are kind of accurate.
Birth details are as below:
DOB : 1st Nov 1973
POB : Mangalore, India
TOB : 4:05 AM
Ayanamsa : Raman 22-02-43.86

She is Virgo Ascendant, Poorva Ashada Nakshatra (Pooradam in Tamil) and her 4th house attains dignity with Venus, Moon and Rahu all placed in the fiery dual sign of Jupiter owned Sagittarius. These three planets individually are said to confer exceptional elegance and imagine all three of them sitting together makes her a timeless beauty. One must also notice Venus and Moon sitting in the 4th attains Dig Bal (Power). Her Lagna Lord Mercury is strong and retrograde in 3rd house and we do know she possesses exceptional communication skills.

Now let's come to the actual time when she won the event which took place in Sun City, South Africa on Nov 19th 1994. She had just finished her 21st year and stepping into her 22nd year. Looking at her solar chart 1st Nov 1994 (exact degree of Sun as at birth), you will find that she is Capricorn Ascendant with Mercury/Moon in 9th and Jupiter, Sun, Venus and Rahu combined in 10th house of Libra. And on the date of winning (19th Nov 1994) you'll still find Venus/Rahu together along with her natal Lagna lord Mercury and Sun has moved out of debilitation and closely associated with Jupiter alongside Moon being exalted in Taurus giving rise to an auspicious pournami yoga with the magical rays of Jupiter also overseeing proceedings.

Look at the glorious interplay of God. At birth Rahu/Venus conjunct, 22nd year solar chart also they are conjunct and on the day she won the title also it was conjunct. Moon which talks about the mental make up also attains impression in all these cases and on top of it the Sun was shining brightly coming out of debilitation at the time of her creating history. Her original Lagna Lord Mercury also is super powerful.

The icing on the cake was that the title was won when Moon Maha Dasa (planet in 4th house attaining dig bal in natal chart) and Mercury Antar Dasa (Lagna lord) was running for her. You could even go one step further and say the event happened in her Mars Pratyantar Dasa (8th lord in 8th house giving sudden overnight fame). Hence basically the 3 Magical M's (Moon/Mercury/Mars) working in unity to create world wide success.

Thus, in effect the universe did all it's tricks to make this event transpire. This is just from rasi chart without even going in to the divisional charts.

To cut the long story short, moral of the tale is you need to have the following planets strong for being beautiful and winning beauty contests.
Moon : Mind (Mental framework)
Sun : Grace (Royal radiance as it's a world event)
Venus : Beauty (The primary core for an event of this magnitude)
Rahu : Expansion (To expound the prevailing factors and give overnight success)
Lagna Lord (Mercury in this case) : Desire (The soul which is running towards it's desired path)

The Rise of Rahu!

Rahu is feared to be the most dangerous planet in a horoscope and it's Dasa is so dreaded that it instills and induces extreme fear among natives running it. It has destroyed many relationships and has literally crushed the confidence of people. But having said all this, Rahu can behave turbulently and can either make you reach the skies or literally pull you down to ground zero. When Rahu works well, the kind of success it can give is stratospheric and phenomenal. Usually Rahu is said to do well in the Upachaya (growth) houses especially 3rd, 6th and 11th.

I'm herewith listing the success stories of 3 of the greatest Indian batsman who achieved meteoric rise during their respective careers and the common Dasa which was running for them during the major period in which they achieved their cricketing laurels happened to be Rahu. All three of them happen to be world cup winners and have combined to score over 100 international centuries during their respective Rahu Dasa period.

The first name happens to be India's greatest test opener Sunil Gavaskar who was instrumental in winning test series abroad in England and West Indies and making India a force to reckon especially in the long form version of the game. He made his debut in Mar 1971 and retired in Mar 1987 and his entire career ran in tandem with Rahu Dasa (Dec 1970 to Dec 1988).

The second name is perhaps India's most loved cricketer of all time Sachin Tendulkar. Though the early part of his career was in Mars Dasa, it was during Rahu Dasa when his game trail blazed to an all together different level and he started accumulating centuries by the dozen. The pinnacle moment of his storied career was when he helped India lift the World Cup after 28 years. 1998 was the year when he shot himself to an elevated plane and which incidentally criss-crossed with the time Raha Dasa started. He debuted in Nov 1989 and retired in Nov 2013 and his Rahu Dasa ran from Apr 1997 to Apr 2015.

The third name is India's current cricketing sensation Virat Kohli, He was always known to be an up and coming talented cricketer but the levels he has reached in the last few years is nothing short of histrionic. His run scoring ability especially in the limited overs form of the game is tectonic and looks set to shatter more ODI records. He made his debut in Aug 2008 and his Rahu Dasa started running from July 2009 and will go on up to Jul 2027 when he may have already hang his boots. In this half period of Rahu itself, he has managed to make over 50 international centuries in his distinguished career.

Thus Rahu ain't all that bad when placed well and when it does perform, it can propel you to extreme heights that are totally unfathomable. Jai Ho Rahu!

P.S : I'm sharing the rasi charts alone of all these 3 cricketers along with some basic info. Ayanamsa used is BV Raman as it reflects the timing of events better however the planetary placements and ascendant remains the same even by using Lahiri or any other ayanamsa. Timing may be slightly off by a couple of minutes or so but the ascendant doesn't change.

Sunil Gavaskar: (10th July 1949, Mumbai, 20:42 PM) Capricorn Ascendant, Uthara Shada (Uthiradam) moon and Rahu in 3rd house of Pisces
Sachin Tendulkar: (24th April 1973, Mumbai, 13:00 PM) Cancer Ascendant, Poorva Shada (Pooradam) moon and Rahu in 6th house of Sagittarius
Virat Kohli: (5th November 1988, New Delhi 10:28 AM)
Sagitarius Ascendant, Uthara Phalguni (Uthiram) moon and Rahu in 3rd house of Aquarius