The (not so) Great Awakening?
How was it for you?
We’re all in shock, right?
How could the polls be that wrong?
No, I’m not talking about the US Election Result. It was the fact that so many astrologers backed the wrong horse that took me by surprise!
Last week I linked to the Skyscript forum’s collation of astrological predictions regarding the US election result and almost two-thirds of them predicted a Harris win.
But maybe the astrology was right, and it was the astrologers that got it wrong?
As we covered last week, there are many methods to approach this, ancient and modern, and many astrologers employed a multitude of different styles and tools. Far from showing off astrology’s strengths, this could well have muddied the water.
Some astrologers like SJ Anderson asked the question – is astrology a useful tool for this kind of ‘either/or’ prediction?
He cited the recent ISAR’s United Astrology Conference panel entitled ‘Is Prediction Killing Astrology’ headed up by Steven Forrest (whose position on this seems to be, yes.)
Punchier comments came from astrologers like David Palmer celebrating having got it right by taking shots at the astrological establishment. He suggested that many manipulated or obfuscated their results to fit in with what seemed like the prevailing orthodoxy. He maintains that the charts as he read them pointed to an obvious win for Trump and seemed baffled by how many other professionals had chosen to state otherwise.
So is this discrepancy a result of bias, conscious or unconscious?
Perhaps some astrologers used the wrong method, some let their bias seep through, and others chose to fall in line to avoid taking flak.
OR is there something more sinister at play?
Having followed astrologer Lori Lothian for quite some time I can vouch for the fact that she takes an objective view on US party politics. She is Canadian and resonates with neither party.
Her first prediction using methods such as zodiacal releasing and solar arc directions previewed in an election panel she hosted last month, in which she (and her colleagues) all predicted a win for Harris.
The weekend before the election she released a video analysis on her private Patreon subscription using a Horary chart for the 5th of November. She concluded that this showed a clear win for Trump and debated on whether to make it public on YouTube.
Lothian is regularly trolled in the comments section of her YouTube videos by people of all political persuasions – as are most content makers regardless of whether they express a political opinion or not. So who can blame her for not wanting to invite more abuse, it must be pretty wearing week after week, when you’re making free content for fun.
Another YouTube Vedic Astrologer and Tarot reader Hogarth regularly makes unapologetically Democrat-friendly content for an overwhelmingly Democrat US audience base. But even he recently requested his viewers cease-and-desist with abusive comments after he objectively stated that Trump’s Vedic chart had undoubtedly strong aspects. He takes a vociferous anti-Trump position, personally and politically, but was trying to point out that the chart does not lie, however much those listening might not like the fact. He nonetheless faced a barrage of disbelief and denial from some of his viewers.
Meanwhile back in the non-Woo World, the actual polls were similarly skewed and well, batshit inaccurate. (As Emily Maitlis might put it.)
Republican pollster Richard Baris explained that erroneous results came about because many potential Trump voters were concerned about revealing their preference on phone calls with polling companies. They had genuine concerns about blowback in the form of being ‘put on some list’ or ‘visits from the feds.’
This might seem paranoid, but in a paradigm where their chosen president and his associates are being pursued through the courts via lawfare, and even their own family members, neighbours, celebrity icons, and news organisations consistently refer to them as Nazis, racists, and sexists – is this an understandable reaction?
Similarly, many Harris-stans are melting down faced with the decisive result and overwhelming inevitability of a Trump presidency, a Republican Senate, and possible Congress (TBC). Some (admittedly slightly unhinged) ‘Libs’ have taken to social media to disown and condemn their fellow Americans, some fearing that come January 2025, they will rounded up in camps, have their menstrual cycle tracked, and be deported. (not necessarily in that order.)
Has the heat of political discourse reached such febrile levels that people are starting to throw a fit? Commentators such as @lauramatsue often refer to psychologist Mattias Desmet’s phrase ‘Mass Formation psychosis’ hypothesis. A theory which builds upon Carl Jung’s notion of ‘psychic epidemics’ afflicting populations in times of crisis. Jung was referring to WW2 and Desmet to Covid 19 but it’s a compelling argument that credibly explains some of the extreme reactions and behaviour we’ve all witnessed since 2020.
While many of us small folk are in the throes of a full blown ‘menty B’, our leaders at least, know better. Harris herself has gracefully conceded the election, Trump spoke of a time for ‘healing’ and even President Biden suggested that it’s time to ‘bring down the temperature’. This is a clear improvement on his comments last week about ‘garbage’. So hey, we’re all learning and growing, and that can only be a good thing!
After some initial weeping and gnashing of teeth, even the mainstream US media news channels attempted to strike a conciliatory tone, presumably mollified by the potential hike in ratings that four years of a Trump presidency offers. That’s if anyone ever trusts them to deliver ‘the news’ again. And even the consistently MAGA-hostile ladies of The View, conceded sombrely that a win was a win, and this was evidently ‘what people wanted.’ All this while dressed in full mourners’ attire at an apparent wake for America. RIP Democracy #gonetoosoon.
My own experience in discussing the election result in some social and astrological forums: is that it’s really difficult to get people to consider the viewpoint of ‘the other side’ – even just as an objective intellectual exercise.
Something as simple as positing the theory that as Pluto prepares to enter Aquarius, the Uranian Trump can be considered Aquarian as much as the Saturnian Harris. If supposed masters of this subjective and interpretive tool are incapable of flipping the script and reading it back to front even occasionally, then what value does their experience and reputation really have?
Perhaps it’s just #TOOSOON? Many people are in the first stage of grief ie ‘denial’ Expecting objectivity and accountability in the immediate aftermath of a shock result is a fool’s errand.
Whatever your opinion on this week’s events, it seems that this is just the latest fork in the road in the ever-increasing bifurcation ploughing through our cultural and political landscape.
In recent years you must have noticed there is a definitive split happening and distinct polarities emerging with many living in oppositional realities.
Friend or foe, who goes there? There is no longer one objective truth, there are two: yours and mine, and never the twain shall meet, right?
But when did this schism start, why is it happening and what can we do about it?
TO BE CONTINUED…
(…in a forthcoming article ‘New Earth: The Split – pick a side or fall down The Crack!’) [working title - ED]
Please do let me know your thoughts in the meantime. I don’t get many comments in the comments section (cue tiny violins) but when I do I know it will be a safe space. Fragments of the whole; red, blue, yellow, green, pink and purple: all are welcome, and very much appreciated here at AstroTerica.
Have a peaceful and relaxing weekend x
Dear Maggie,
In the immortal words of Fox Mulder..."The truth is out there"! Whatever that is!
Open discussion and respecting one another's views is a vital part of humanity and without that repectful discussion how can we expect to connect?
I always enjoy your posts and perspective, thank you for the time and thought behind them :)