In my year in review pieces for 2020 and 2021 I covered some of the major astrological transits as a “cosmic correlation” model with events on the ground.
The 2021 review looked at the Uranus-Saturn square, which was inflamed by a Mars transit near to the January 6th 2021 US Capitol riot. There was severe tension (square) between the old guard (Saturn/Capitol), and the energy of revolution (Uranus/protestors) resulting in belligerence and bloodshed (Mars/riot).
At that moment, Saturn was in Aquarius (sign of its rulership), bolstered by a conjunction with Jupiter while the Sun was in Capricorn (also ruled by Saturn). Hence Saturn came out on top (Biden was transferred into power). There’s also a fascinating look at the natal chart (cornerstone laid) of the US Capitol itself and the transits in relationship to it here for true astro nerds. I’ve also covered my thoughts on Trump and Trumpism is previous pieces. I should note that I view astrology within the larger theoretical frameworks of ontological flooding and high strangeness/weird naturalism, that are at the core of this site. All those pieces act as backdrop to this one.
In this piece I want to use Human Design to explore the astrological symbolism of Trump’s speech on the day of the Capitol Riot. Human Design combines Western astrology with the ancient Taoist divination system known as The I-Ching (aka The Book of Changes). This combination allows the use of astrological transits to correlate with the archetypes of the I-Ching, which are said to represent the meta-patterns of creation itself. The I-Ching consists of 64 archetypes, each consisting of 6 lines (aka a hexagram). The whole numbers (1-64) are what concern us here; they are called Gates in Human Design. I’m not going to go into the 6 line variations of each.
360/64 = 5.625 degrees of the zodiac per I-Ching hexagram.
Human Design then maps those 64 hexagrams into 9 energy centers—akin to chakras or the sefirot in Kabbalah—with channels connecting those centers (36 channels). Human Design further draws two charts—a natal chart called a personality chart and another called a design chart. The design chart looks more at ancestral and lineage influences (drawn up when one is in the womb).
First I’ll start with Donald Trump’s own Human Design Chart:
A few things to note.
In the personality chart (right hand column) the South Node of the Moon and the Moon herself are in the 26th Gate. The South Node looks like a horseshoe (4th from top), and then the crescent moon underneath (both at 26.5).
The Lunar South Node represents karmic tendencies (among other things). The English term for the 26th Gate/Hexagram is Accumulation. The shadow tendencies of this Gate can be manipulative and boastful pride. That sounds pretty accurate to Trump. Please keep the 26th Gate in mind as it is going to make another appearance in the chart for Trump’s speech on Jan 6, 2021.
Also interesting in Trump’s chart are some of the channels. The channels looks like arteries connecting the various geometric shapes (the centers). As mentioned, the numbers on either side of a channel are Gates, numbered 1-64, which are the 64 archetypes of the I-Ching. When a person has both numbers highlighted on either side of a channel, the channel is fully active and major theme in their life. (Filled in channels also determine which centers are colored in, i.e. self-defined).
The 21-45 Channel, i.e. The Channel of Money.
A part of the tribal circuit, money and its influence has deep roots in Trump’s family lineage (as I detailed in my previous piece on Trump’s ancestry). Additionally, Trump’s (literally) trademarked habit of naming everything after himself/his family, as well as his heavy promotion of his children in terms of running the family business.
The 35-36 Channel: Channel of Versatility
The theme of this channel is a life full of wild adventures and the desire to live life to the fullest, usually burning through life paths in relatively quick succession. Trump’s life fits that theme to a t with his early career in housing, the tabloid press of New York City, to failed casino magnate, to The Apprentice/wrestling, to promoter of Birtherism, to becoming President of the United States. Think of all the different business ventures he’s been involved—including plenty of ill-conceived and ill-executed ones—licensing, hotels, real estate, casino, personal growth/leadership seminars, steaks (!!!), etc.
The 6-59 Channel: Channel of Connecting
This channel often brings a charismatic energy to it. It also can have a very strong sexual component as it connects the Emotional Center with the Sacred/Gut, which can manifest as intense levels of desire, craving, and potential attachment (in the shadow form at least).
Furthermore, I think it’s interesting that so many of Trump’s self-defined centers (the ones colored in) connect up to the Throat Center. The Throat Center is 3rd from the top (square). His emotional solar plexus center (triangle facing inwardly on the right hand side) connects via the 35-36 Channel to his Throat. His Ego Center (small triangle between Emotional Solar Plexus and diamond-shaped Self) also connects to the throat. His Ajna (2nd from top, downward facing triangle) also does as well. And his Sacred (2nd from bottom, square) connects to the Throat via his Emotional Solar Plexus.
The Throat Center in Human Design is the key center of manifestation. The significant number of connections to this throat indicate the strong manifestation energies at play with Trump (amplified by the 6-59 Channel). As I’ve detailed previously, the tradition of New Thought/Mental Science, via Norman Vincent Peale, had a massive influence on Trump. Here we can see why that type of thought appealed to him so naturally.
Lastly, there are no active Gates in his Self center—the diamond-shaped one in the center of the chart—not a single one. The Self brings in the energies of love, direction, and guidance in life.
Trump’s noted near complete lack of empathy and rather oafish touch on sensitive matters shows itself in his chart.
We could look at many other elements in Trump’s chart—his profile, type, and so on but for now this I think is sufficient.
Now to the chart drawn up for Trump’s speech on Jan 6, 2021 (chart set for 12pm EST/Washington DC, which wikipedia says was the start time of his talk).
A number of really interesting points jump out of this chart.
First thing that I note, is that 3 of the 4 Gates in the Ego Center are lit up: 26, 51, and 40. The Ego Center is about willpower and also, when threatened, a place of self-survival. Trump was clearly threatened in that moment; he correctly perceived that both his public image (ego) and will to assert itself were under duress.
The 26th Gate is highlighted due to the placement of the South Node of the Moon—in the exact same Gate as it was at the time of his birth! South Node, again, is karmic. It’s where Trump wanted to remain, where he felt safe—in the energy of Accumulation. But the North Node—pointing to where he would have better put his energy and attention—is in Gate number 45.
Chetan Parkyn, a Human Design teacher and author of The Book of Lines: A 21st Century Version of the I-Ching names the 45th Gate/Hexagram as Gathering Together/Rulership (King or Queen):
“Firm alignment with that which supports everyone best brings together a strong community.”
Trump and his supporters would likely point out that that was precisely what he was doing in that speech. Those in the opposed camp might point more to the shadow version of the 45th Gate (Dominance/Pomposity).
The 26th Gate is part of the 26-44 Gateway which is fully active in this chart. The 26-44 channel connects the Ego with the Spleen (inward facing triangle bottom left side of image). The Spleen Center is an instinctual center merged with the self-protective identity of the Ego. Parkyn calls this channel the channel of Enterprise. Others call it the Channel of Surrender interestingly enough. The 26-44 channel is about persuasion and salesmanship, a key theme of Trump’s entire public image (i.e, his Ego). Think Trump’s (ghostwritten) book The Art of the Deal. In this speech Trump was desperately trying to persuade the public that the election was stolen from him. He was defended (Ego) and instinctually (Spleen) lashed out in a diatribe against his enemies.
The 42-53 channel is also fully activated. This channel is the Channel of Cycles. The 42-53 channel is one of three channels known as format channels in Human Design. These channels have a powerful, formational influence over a life (or in this case a specific moment). The Channel of Cycles indicates things must happen in cycles—as in US presidential 4 year cycles. The Channel of Cycles here indicates that what was begun was now ending (i.e. Trump’s presidency).
The 3-60 Channel, aka The Channel of Mutation, connects the Root (bottom square) to the Sacral (square, 2nd from bottom). It is another of the three format channels, like The Channel of Cycles (42-53). It’s quite fascinating that two of the three format channels are found in this one chart. The 3-60 Channel of Mutation means that life will take intense, often chaotic, pendulum swings in multiple directions. The 35-36 Channel of Versatility in Trump’s birth chart speaks more to the unending energy and push and hustle characteristic of his life. The 3-60 Channel of Mutation speaks more to the wild swings in all kinds of weird directions that his life took—specifically in this moment that he was headed out of the presidency into a period of some temporary lull. But the 3-60 Channel is also a warning to his enemies who might gloat too quickly that he’s done for as there can always be a rebound/comeback for such a character.
The last fully activated channel is 61-24, connecting the two uppermost centers (The Crown & Ajna). The 61st Gate is about Inner Truth, epitomizing the whole strange path of Trump’s pathologically slippery relationship to truth. Both Saturn and Pluto were in the 61st Gate. Pluto in both the personality and design charts (61.4 and 61.2 respectively—last number on both columns). In the Design Chart, Saturn is located at 61.6 (4th number from bottom). The 24th Gate is highlighted due to the presence of the planet Uranus in the design chart (24.2, 3rd from bottom).
We have yet again the Saturn-Uranus tension that I mentioned at the beginning of the piece. Saturn being the old guard conservatism and Uranus being the revolutionary energy. Trump, in that moment, was in the very strange juxtaposition of being both simultaneously. He was the old patriarch Saturn (president) being overthrown, just as Saturn was mythologically by Zeus. And yet Trump was also Uranus in his identification with the protestors. Astrologer Richard Tarnas argued persuasively that the planet Uranus should have been named Prometheus and here Trump was attempting to steal the Promethean fire for himself.
Pluto in the 61st Gate speaks to Trump’s dream (or “inner truth”) of looking to completely demolish and bring down the system (Pluto) in order to remake it. That was a them of Trump’s entire presidency and here in the last moments he sought literal expression of that impulse. The Pluto-Uranus connection in the realm of his mind gave a very impulsive (Uranus) and spontaneous compulsion to express whatever was on his mind (Pluto), even if it came across as fever-dreamish or rather nightmarish (Pluto/underworld).
Lastly, with respective to the centers in this chart, the Ego, the Root (bottom), The Sacral (gut/2nd from bottom), the Spleen (bottom left) are all very active or perhaps reactive in the moment. But there’s not a single Gate is active in the Self (diamond-shaped, middle). Also only a few Gates (and no channels) active in the Throat (Square, 3rd from bottom). Remember in Trump’s natal chart the high degree of channels connecting centers to the Throat, the manifestation energy. Here Trump has very little manifestation energy. And in a pretty spooky parallel, there are again, just as in his birth chart, no centers active in the Self (energy of love).
Recall that the 45 Gate—the North Node in this chart—reflects a theme of virtuous leadership and the desire to lead through finding common ground. The North Node is the way forward (north star or north point on a compass) which Trump was unable and/or unwilling to give voice to in that moment as he had a weakened Throat and no access to The Self-guidance.
The 45h Gate of the North Node was in the exact same position during the Jan 6 events as it was for his birth. A, if not the, core theme of Trump's life (the North Node) was one he failed to operationalize. Through all the various twists and turns of his life (Channel of Versatility), the long history with wealth (Channel of Money), and the immense energy around image-based profile and sexual energies (Channel of Connecting), he was still unable to learn to bring forward his North Node, i.e. his dharmic path. Instead he fell pretty to his karmic South Node path of accumulation (26th Gate). Amazingly both his personal chart and the chart for his last speech as president point to all these factors.