The Rising Star: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

The Rising Star

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

by Bob Mulligan

On January 3^rd, 2019, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez assumed office in the US House of Representatives.  She is 29 years old. Until recently she was working as a waitress in the Bronx.  How did this person, seemingly coming from nowhere, get elected?

Let’s look at her chart.

She has Sun in Libra in the 10^th with Mars rising before and Conjunct the Sun.  This could indicate a rise to a position of authority.  She is clearly a fighter (Mars as the vocational indicator)[i], and charming (Libra) at the same time.  Venus, the Sun’s ruler, is in Sagittarius so she is focused on the big picture, and in the 12^th house, she has concern for the less fortunate.  Her vision is far away (Sagittarius) and is truly inclusive; this is the chart of an idealist.

She has Sagittarius rising with the ruler, Jupiter, in Cancer in the 7^th.  People with the ruler of the first house in the seventh have a knack for putting other people’s needs before their own.  Jupiter is expansive and in Cancer (sign of his exaltation) she focuses on basic issues: family, survival, food, clothing, shelter, social services, things that directly affect people in her constituency.  Jupiter is confident, expansive, and in Cancer is empathetic.  Sagittarius rising is by nature adventurous.  With Jupiter in the 7^th house she is very attuned to other people’s needs. Her chart describes her life experience of seeing the injustice in the socio-economic system.  She is a democratic socialist who worked on Bernie Sander’s campaign.

Cortez’s Moon is in Aries, in the 3^rd house on the cusp of the 4^th showing a spirited fight for her roots and family.  She and her mother worked fairly menial jobs after her father died without a will; they were tied up in court for a long time to get what inheritance was due them.  They had to fight to keep from losing their house in foreclosure.

The Moon is part of a T-Square with Mercury in Libra and Uranus in Capricorn in the 1^st.   This combination shows the ability to communicate (Mercury) unusual and progressive ideas (Uranus) to the general public (Moon).  Although Libras are often noted for diplomacy, Mercury Square Uranus is often far out front of where other people’s minds naturally go.  With Uranus at the base of the T-Square, progressive, even revolutionary, impulses can lead to risk taking. And she has clearly taken risks, valuing truth, principles, and the idea of fairness, more than expediency.

A second cardinal and angular T-Square has her 10^th house Mars in Libra as the central focus.  Mars is Squaring the Jupiter on one side and the Neptune/Saturn Conjunction on the other.  Marc Edmund Jones once said in a lecture back in the 70’s “a T-Square is like a bicycle, it is easy to be balanced as long as you are in motion…”  After Bernie Sanders lost the primary election to Hillary Clinton she continued to stayed in motion;  traveling first to Flint, Michigan she listened to local people to understand how the community resolved the difficulties with drinking water. Then, while talking to Native Americans at Standing Rock, she had an epiphany; your local community can benefit through a political process.  She decided to get directly involved; returning to her neighborhood in the Bronx, determined to change the system, she decided to run for office.

With eight planets in Cardinal signs she has a strong drive to succeed.  With  six planets angular she has ample opportunity to go to the top of her class.  She graduated cum laude from Boston University’s College of Arts and Science in 2011, majoring in international relations and economics.  Of course, Sagittarius rules international relations (her Sun ruler and Ascendant) and economics is ruled by Capricorn, which is on the cusp of her 2^nd house with Saturn in his own sign in the 1^st.  Higher education is ruled by the 9^th house;  Mercury is in the 9^th and rules it while Sextile Venus in Sagittarius (foreign relations) and Square Saturn (economics). At the time of her graduation, transiting Saturn was in her 10^th house (recognition) and exactly Square her 1^st house Saturn/Neptune and her 7^th house Jupiter.

Joe Crowley was to be the next speaker of the House and Cortez beat him in the primary on June 26, 2018 receiving 57.13% of the vote,  defeating the 10-term incumbent by almost 15 percentage points. (The accompanying chart is progressed to this date.)[ii]   She was outspent by her opponent 18 to 1.  Her opponent was endorsed by both New York senators, the mayor of NYC, 11 US Representatives, 31 local elected officials, 31 trade unions and lots of liberal groups (like the Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, etc.)   Yet, she was victorious by going door to door after her daily working hours as a bartender and server at a local taco restaurant.  She was trailing in the polls right up until election day.  But she pulled a victory out of the jaws of defeat.  A close look at the timing in her chart shows us how.

This happened in the middle of her Saturn return (starting March 13^th and lasting until December 4^th, 2018).  Saturn (lord of karma) returning to his natal spot, we reap what we sow; for her this was a time of reward.  Saturn materializes and he is Conjunct Neptune (ideals) Natally.  Her progressed Ascendant is Conjunct Natal Saturn/Neptune and Opposite Natal Jupiter. Jupiter in the natal 7^th being Conjunct the progressed 7^th house cusp shows her ability at the time to attract people to her cause.  Jupiter in Cancer made her cause seem like their cause.  Cancer is the sign of “common” people, and she sold people on the idea that they could take their power back from the rich, corrupt insiders of the power elite  by electing her.

At the time of the primary, transiting Jupiter is Conjunct her Natal Pluto.  This is doubly important because Pluto is Trine Jupiter in her natal chart; Pluto is Semi-square Uranus and both are on the world point (Zero cardinal/ 15 degrees fixed)[iii].  Progressed Venus and Progressed Mars are both Semi-sextile her Natal Venus.  This is important because Venus rules her Sun and Mid-heaven.  Also, Venus is the principle planet[iv] aspecting the Midheaven (a Sextile 43′ away from exact).  Mars is the closest aspecting planet to the Ascendant (a Sextile 8′ away from exact).  Progressed Mars is Conjunct her Progressed MC.

After winning the primary she became a media sensation.  Many appearances came on TV and such (Stephen Colbert, the View, etc).  Uranus at the base of the T-Square with Moon and Mercury/MC shows involvement with television, social media, the internet, etc. Venus plays a moderating role being Trine the Moon (public), and Sextile MC (public standing) and Mercury (communication).  People with the Sextile between Mercury and Venus are often gifted at knowing how to turn a phrase and bring people along with a line of reasoning; she is a good listener (Mercury in Libra) and a real visionary (Mercury in the 9^th house.)

Like Donald Trump, she is a master at controlling the narrative on social media, even when the facts she presents don’t check out.  As of February 2019 she has 3.1 million twitter followers,  Nancy Pelosi has less.

The General election was November 6^th 2018…she won 78% of the vote.  She ran on a very strong leftist agenda, being a self proclaimed socialist. This was accomplished by engaging local people on the real issues that directly affect their lives.  This is an expression of her Jupiter in Cancer, in the 7^th, ruling her Ascendant.  Having won the Democratic Primary, winning the general election was not as difficult because she lives in a heavily Democratic district, and other democrats supported her, including Joe Crowley who lost the primary to her.

She “hit the deck running” when she arrived in Congress; she instantaneously ended up on several committees because of her extreme popularity with the general public; this is unheard of for a freshman in Congress; she co-authored,  “The  Green New Deal” which is legislation in the House and Senate, but more importantly a mission statement, a call for transformation.  A call to heal the earth by eliminating carbon emissions; a call to heal relationships through a fairer distribution of money, goods, and services. She wants to set the world on a more loving path.  Venus (goddess of love, beauty, and social justice) occupies such a prominent position in the chart.  She aims at a very practical manifestation (three planets in Capricorn in her 1^st house) of her vision of a better world through all of us acting more honestly and more consciously with each other. Cortez is promoting a powerful social agenda; with the overwhelming amount of cardinality and angularity, she is apt to stay active and involved for as long as she is on the planet.  She is a polarizing public figure.  People love or hate her, not because of who she is, but because of what she represents. With Pluto in his own sign Scorpio (life and death) in the 11^th house (hopes and wishes), she becomes easy for people to project their ideals and fears on to. Pluto rules the collective unconscious, because Pluto is Parallel the MC (public standing) in this position he operates as a shadow magnet, pulling on the deepest aspects of our shared experience.   But with her Pluto Trine Jupiter and Sextile Saturn/Neptune, she brings hope that one individual can make a difference, that we can unite to overcome our weaker selves.  We can move beyond fear, blame, and cynicism.  This is what she stands for; this is why she is a rising star.  Regardless of the particular outcome of events ahead, –  she will make her mark on people’s consciousness.

2019©

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[i] Marc Edmund Jones used four planets as vocational indicators: Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars.  He has said that whichever one of these planets rises before your Sun will indicate the person’s  function within society:  Moon is the prophet,  Mercury is the scribe, Venus is the artist, and Mars is the soldier.

[ii] This chart was calculated using  Kepler 7 from Cosmic patterns.

[iii] It is said by many astrological schools (most notably the Uranian) that the world point effects everything in our society.  People with important placements here effect change involving everyone.

[iv]  Jackie Slevin contends in her book, “Finding Success in the Horoscope” that the planet making the closest  Ptolemaic  aspect to the MC is the principle planet for bringing success to the person.