Post Election Analysis by Gary O'Toole

Eating Humble Pie ( yum )

What did I learn from getting my election prediction wrong? I'm not so proud as to be so upset about it, as we learn more from our mistakes, but I am concerned about giving astrology a bad name. The techniques work (as you'll see below); it's just I can sometimes be biased.

( JB: I TRULY admire anyone who can admit when they make a mistake and put it right as it takes guts and as most run from the responsibility, I take my hat off to Gary. )

I always try to get something out of a mistake. If I made the Trump prediction, I would have walked away and not thought about it again. What I've learned from my prediction is to recognise when I have a bias and to first keep the analysis simple to conclude something, before going on to more complex techniques.

I believe I got swept away by Kamala's surge in popularity in the media, and this ultimately influenced my final prediction, using various 'advanced' techniques to justify this bias.

To analyse where I went wrong, I decided to use the Skyscript list of 'Siderealists' who got the prediction right to see if I missed something. By the way, there were twice as many astrologers on this platform predicting Harris, which fed into my bias.

The Siderealists who got it right on this list were Kenneth Bowser (Western Sidereal), Edith Hathaway (Vedic), Christopher Kevill (Neo-Vedic), Joni Patry (Vedic), Mohnish Suri (Vedic), Amit Garg (Vedic), Kathir Subbiah (Vedic), Ashish Desai (Vedic), and Rama Astro (Vedic).

My takeaway from their analysis is that before I get bogged down in all the charts and intricate analysis, I need to focus on the main dashaa and bhukti (sub-dashaa) planets (major and minor 'Time Lords'). This is something I harp on about all the time but for some reason, I didn't follow this time.

It's clear in each candidate's birth chart, and the transits of these planets from their perspective, that Trump would be the victor when we use a three-step approach I've espoused in the past.

The three steps are 1) dashaa, 2) chart, and 3) transit.

Trump is currently in a Jupiter-Venus period. Jupiter is powerful in his birth chart, ruling his 5th house of political power, and is transiting his 10th house of career. I could have just stopped there!

I did point out that Jupiter's retrograde in his 10th house might suggest coming back (retrograde) into power and wondered if that has ever happened in American presidential history (it has happened once before).

Retrograde planets are more powerful according to Vedic strengths analysis, and he has a stationing Jupiter in his birth chart. This is another plus for him, as he's picking up Jupiter's strength by transit, as well as its aspect to his natal Jupiter.

Again, my bias towards Harris blocked me from seeing this as a straightforward win.

Venus was transiting opposite transiting Jupiter on the day of the election (something Joni Patry points out as a plus for him in her prediction video), as well as opposite his natal chart ruler, the Sun.

Jupiter and Venus both flank his ascendant (something Edith Hathaway points out in her article).

In hindsight, it all makes perfect sense.

Harris' Rahu-Venus period is not as strong. Rahu, although exalted in Gemini in her ascendant according to many Vedic astrologers, is something that blocks her. This is where something else came into play: my fear of offending someone watching by suggesting she wasn't a popular candidate. Rahu is an outsider. Let's be real, she was always going to be an outlier, but most astrologers, including myself, read that as her snatching the crown.

And just because Rahu is strong, that doesn't mean it's a good thing. Rahu is seen as the most malefic according to Vedic astrology, although Western astrologers typically view the north lunar node more favourably. Rahu is both an obstruction and something we are eager to develop, of course.

Rahu is currently transiting her 10th house, obstructing her path to the highest office, despite her intense desire to get there.

More especially, Jupiter, the ruler of her 10th house, is currently transiting her 12th house of loss. Rahu is not a planet and cannot function alone. It must express itself through the planet that rules the sign it's in. Again, an easy read - I didn't have to complicate it.

Venus, her sub-period lord, was transiting her 6th house on the day of the election. This is Venus' least favourite position.

I played into my bias once again when I suggested she was picking up Jupiter's strength in her yearly chart (Tithi Pravesha) while playing down Jupiter's transit to her natal 12th and Venus' transit to her 6th.

I was also looking at Saturn and all the other planets transiting in her 10th house next year (although I did not mention this in the video) and thought this must mean more responsibility professionally. Yet I failed to see the obvious: while Saturn can show more responsibility, perhaps this means she will need to take a step back as she takes responsibility for losing the election for the Democratic party.

Lessons learned.

I do think we're going to see more twists for Trump in the coming months, especially as Mars and Ketu conjoin in his rising sign into the summer. Even before then, we have a Mercury and Mars retrograde to keep things interesting.

Mars' transit shows another bias most astrologers, including myself, have. Most would say this must show a problem for him. But is it? Mars in the 12th may have helped him win! If we consider Mars as representing the male vote, its placement in his 12th house may have shown the hidden support, as opposed to the usual "hidden enemies" delineation. Yes, there are a lot of hidden enemies but Mars is a particularly positive planet for a Leo ascendant.

One last point: I failed to listen to a patron who emailed me a few days before the election to suggest I look at Elon Musk's birth chart, someone who has Sidereal Gemini rising and is currently running a Rahu-Venus period along with Harris.

In my mind, her Rahu-Mercury nature fit with the current American dashaa, but Musk, as well as Vance, also fit this mould. Vance has Mercury in his Leo ascendant.

Indeed, it does seem Musk played a pivotal role, albeit in the background.

But hey, that could just be another bias!

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