Sequential Topic Theory: Tracing America’s Story Through its Presidents

In a previous article, I offered an introduction to derived house methodology. There is a unique rule connected to this methodology that many within the astrological community have been applying for years. There is not a name for this rule so I will refer to it as “Sequential Topic Theory.” Essentially, it involves finding the house within an astrological chart that corresponds to multiple iterations of the same thing. Take children, for example. The 5th house corresponds with children, but what if someone has three of them? According to Sequential Topic Theory (STT), the 5th house would correspond to the first child, but then we would count three houses over (including that initial house) to find the other children. In this example the 7th house would represent the second child and the 9th house would represent the third child. These additional houses are derived from the 5th house (the original starting point).

The rationale for counting three houses over is loosely based upon the meaning of the 3rd house. This area includes the topic of siblings. Since our siblings contain some relation to us and are located three houses over from the 1st house of self then this distance has been extrapolated to other situations as well. One area that is often explored using STT is the topic of spouses. For those who have been married multiple times, they will apply STT to evaluate the potential of later spouses (7th – first marriage, 9th – 2nd marriage, etc.). And STT has also been further extended to topics that are not even human. It has been used to evaluate career options for those who have changed careers multiple times (10th – first career, 12th – second career, etc.).

In the horary astrological community, STT has achieved some degree of usage[i] and appears to be popular within the Vedic tradition as well. Unfortunately, this theory does not have much support from ancient, traditional sources. You would be hard pressed trying to find one ancient astrologer that explicitly references this methodology. We can assume that the STT is more of a modern innovation, which is why its usage has not caught on with all astrologers.

Below are some various opinions on STT:

• Dr. J. Lee Lehman observes, “There is no evidence in classical astrology for any use of alternate houses to represent multiple cases.”[ii]
• John Frawley disagrees with the underlying logic of counting houses based on a “relation” between topics.[iii]
• Some horary rules on sequential assignments have suggested using the triplicity planetary rulers. The problem with this method is that it only allows for a maximum of three options.
• Rex E Bils applies STT in various areas of “The Rulership Book” involving step parents and children.
• Ronald Davison references STT as a method to assess multiple marriages.[iv]
• Astrologers Robert Blaschke, Carol Rushman, and Marc Edmund Jones all used different methodologies of identifying multiple marriage partners.
• In “Temples in the Sky” Deborah Houlding offers the following insightful observation with the 3rd house: “It not only implies our close environment, but also our everyday surroundings, and the tightknit community with whom we exchange ideas and viewpoints. Brothers, sisters, cousins, and lateral contemporaries are the principal concerns of this house…”(Italics emphasis is mine)[v]

“Lateral contemporaries” is an interesting way to envision the underlying methodology of related topics. It avoids the more generalized association of siblings that flies against conventional logic when trying to apply STT to entities that are not related through family. Overall, it does not appear that there is a consensus in the community on this topic.

Does It Work?

Still, none of these perspectives should be taken as confirmation or refutation of the theory’s validity. Which leaves us with pressing questions: Does it work? It so, how do we evaluate it? In my personal studies, I have noticed some evidence of this, but my examples are anecdotal. To investigate STT comprehensively, we would need to expand the theory’s scope and then evaluate each case individually to assess the accuracy of correlation between the derived house and manifestation. It would require a high volume of lateral contemporaries or entities.

Mundane astrology offers a way to test this theory using an interesting subset of sequential entities: the list of Presidents associated with the United States. The well documented and organized nature of their biographies and timelines makes these individuals good candidates for STT. By associating the role of the President to the 10th house of leadership, then applying STT would place later Presidents in the 12th, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th houses of the United States’ Sibly chart. Later Presidents would then be cycled further. The table below identifies the applicable derived house for each President.

Order	President	Party	Years	Terms[vi]	House
1	George Washington	Fed	1789-1797	2	10
2	John Adams	Fed	1797-1801	1	12
3	Thomas Jefferson	D-R	1801-1809	2	2
4	James Madison	D-R	1809-1817	2	4
5	James Monroe	D-R	1817-1825	2	6
6	John Quincy Adams	Rep	1825-1829	1	8
7	Andrew Jackson	Dem	1829-1837	2	10
8	Martin Van Buren	Dem	1837-1841	1	12
9	William Harrison	Whig	1841-1841	0	2
10	John Tyler	Whig	1841-1845	1	4
11	James Polk	Dem	1845-1849	1	6
12	Zachary Taylor	Whig	1849-1850	0	8
13	Millard Fillmore	Whig	1850-1853	1	10
14	Franklin Pierce	Dem	1853-1857	1	12
15	James Buchanan	Dem	1857-1861	1	2
16	Abraham Lincoln	Rep	1861-1865	1	4
17	Andrew Johnson	Dem	1865-1869	1	6
18	Ulysses S. Grant	Rep	1869-1877	2	8
19	Rutherford B Hayes	Rep	1877-1881	1	10
20	James A. Garfield	Rep	1881-1881	0	12
21	Chester Arthur	Rep	1881-1885	1	2
22	Grover Cleveland	Dem	1885-1889	1	4
23	Benjamin Harrison	Rep	1889-1893	1	6
24	Grover Cleveland	Dem	1893-1897	1	8
25	William McKinley	Rep	1897-1901	0	10
26	Theodore Roosevelt	Rep	1901-1909	2	12
27	William Taft	Rep	1909-1913	1	2
28	Woodrow Wilson	Dem	1913-1921	2	4
29	Warren Harding	Rep	1921-1923	0	6
30	Calvin Coolidge	Rep	1923-1929	2	8
31	Herbert Hoover	Rep	1929-1933	1	10
32	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Dem	1933-1945	4	12
33	Harry S. Truman	Dem	1945-1953	2	2
34	Dwight D. Eisenhower	Rep	1953-1961	2	4
35	John F. Kennedy	Dem	1961-1963	0	6
36	Lyndon B. Johnson	Dem	1963-1969	2	8
37	Richard M. Nixon	Rep	1969-1974	2	10
38	Gerald Ford	Rep	1974-1977	1	12
39	Jimmy Carter	Dem	1977-1981	1	2
40	Ronald Reagan	Rep	1981-1989	2	4
41	George HW Bush	Rep	1989-1993	1	6
42	Bill Clinton	Dem	1993-2001	2	8
43	George W Bush	Rep	2001-2009	2	10
44	Barack Obama	Dem	2009-2017	2	12
45	Donald Trump	Rep	2017-2021	1	2
46	Joe Biden	Dem	2021-	1	4

Initial Observations & Assumptions

There are a couple immediate observations from this list.

• Starting with Lincoln, every 10th house President has been a Republican. None of them have been Democrats. If we expand this to the entire list, there has been only one Democrat 10th President in the history of the United States.
• Only one 6th house President has completed two terms.

What do we make of these anomalies? Does Saturn’s placement in the 10th house and association with strict leadership and conservatism share an inherent correlation to characteristics of the Republican Party? Does Uranus’ placement in the 6th and association with disruption and chaos create a natural instability that makes it difficult for Presidents to achieve a 2nd term? Additionally, what does the correlation between a house and a President represent? To answer this, I think we will need a few guidelines to test. Based upon similar experiences with other astrological methodologies, I offer the following three observations:

1. The derived house associated with a President represents an area of life that will be a focus for their Presidency. It will be a pressing concern for the country. It may even represent the demeanor of the country for that point in time.
2. The ruler of that house will more directly represent the President and their actions and decisions.
3. Transits to planets in their house, to the ruler of that house, or to other planets while transiting through that house will further define the nature of their Presidency.[vii]

Using these parameters, we can target the analysis to better understand the inherent correlations associated with each house. While I would love to analyze every President in the list, that will probably be too much for this analysis. Instead, we will select one President from each house to evaluate.

The 10th House – Richard Nixon

By the time Nixon was elected, the country was deeply angry about the Vietnam War and desperately needed change. Despite all the legislative success from his predecessor, this war unraveled that presidency and was a factor in getting Nixon elected. So, it makes sense to see a Jupiter – Uranus conjunction aligned with the midheaven around the time of Nixon’s inauguration. This combination offered the promise of big change because of his leadership. Uranus’ archetype of radical change and innovation was on display through much of Nixon’s presidency. From freeing the United States from the war in Vietnam, to ending the reliance on the gold standard, to signing various acts that resulted in the creation of agencies like the EPA and OSHA, Nixon’s presidency expressed its desire to be an agent of change. Even his Nixon Doctrine highlighted the need for the United States to remain more independent (Uranus again) regarding the affairs of other countries. What is interesting is that all these things happened quickly at the beginning of his presidency as Uranus transited over the midheaven, went into square aspect with ruler Venus, and then conjunction with 10th house Saturn.

The problem was the looming shadow of challenging aspects that would arrive later. By 1972, transit Chiron went into opposition with 10th house Saturn and transit Pluto had arrived at the midheaven. This is when Nixon started to become more paranoid and insecure about his leadership and starting initiating actions that were a bit draconian and underhanded. Taping systems were activated throughout the White House and Nixon personally ordered a team of individuals to break into the Democratic Party headquarters to spy on them. These actions have a strong correlation to the perversion of authority that can occur with hard aspects from Chiron to Saturn combined by the power grab and nefarious intent expressed by Pluto when its energies are not used properly as well.

Unfortunately, Nixon continued to abuse this power in 1973. As Pluto went in square aspect with 10th ruler Venus, he fired multiple individuals on his staff after they refused his order to fire the special investigator who investigating him. With Nixon being a 10th house President with big time outer planetary energies rolling through that house he desperately needed some awareness that the abuse of Plutonic energies in this area of life carried an immense risk of backfiring. And so, it did. After he started firing people to protect himself the public recognized the abuse of power and authority and turned against him. As the transit South Node went into conjunction with 6th ruler Venus, he realized he could not escape from his actions from the past. In 1975, when transit Saturn arrived at conjunction with that ruler, accountability, punishment, and karma had arrived. The Supreme Court ordered him to turn over all taped recordings, Congress initiated an impeachment trial, and Nixon’s abuse of 10th house Pluto was on full display for the entire world to see. It had become a part of his reputation (10th house) and forever marked his presidency. He resigned in disgrace.

Would these planetary energies have manifested in this way had they not occurred during a presidency that was anchored to a house and ruler they were aspecting? For instance, if Nixon had been an 8th house President, would these scenarios have manifested? Possibly not. Nixon’s status as a 10th house President elevated the significance of these transiting energies specifically activating and targeting his presidency. They became a referendum on the appropriate use of Presidential authority and power because of his actions and character, personally.

The 12th House – Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)

FDR took over the reins of the presidency in the immediate aftermath of the worst financial disaster in the history of America. The Great Depression had brought the country to its knees. The population felt lost, were suffering greatly, and things looked bleak. The 12th house is symbolic for these dynamics and accurately reflected the country’s mood at that time. The major focus of FDR’s presidency would involve leading the country out of the wilderness of this house. FDR correctly assessed the moment at his inauguration when he famously declared, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” For a country that was mired into the darkness of the 12th house, this was exactly what they needed to hear.

From the transits that were already in place at the beginning of his presidency, he was ready to hit the ground running. In FDR’s first 100 days in office, he began enacting his sweeping New Deal program that would reshape America. During these 100 days he signed six acts into law, legalized the sale of alcohol, recommended the creation of the TVA, and started delivering the first of his “fireside chats” to talk directly to the public.[viii] All this reflected the high energy transits from Mars and Jupiter that were moving in square aspect to natal Mars, which is the ruler of the 12th house. Mars in Gemini was FDR and he was not wasting time. He was ready to manifest the energy of Mars – Jupiter that has a reputation for tackling huge projects and expanding as quickly as possible. Here, FDR was aggressively expanding the role of government because the country was going down. The fact that transit Mars and Jupiter were both retrograde at that moment of his inauguration tells us that the planning for his first 100 days had been in the works for a long time. Essentially, he was being shot out of a canon and that is why his first year in office was one of the most productive in the history of the country.

That breakneck pace carried over into 1934. In this year transit Jupiter and Saturn were forming trine aspects to 12th ruler Mars. FDR’s assertive and brave leadership on expanding the structure of government was even more successful because this grand trine configuration created a free flow of energy that made his efforts unstoppable. He signed another seven acts into law, created the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Housing Administration. It was also during this timeframe that FDR announced to Congress his intentions to provide a program for social security. While this landmark legislation was signed into the law the following year, the work to study this program was initiated under the energy of this grand trine.

But FDR’s efforts were not completely without resistance. During 1936 – 1937, 12th ruler Mars received challenging aspects from Jupiter (opposition), Chiron (conjunction), Saturn (square), the South Node (conjunction), and a long-range looming square from 9th house Neptune (judges). FDR was becoming increasingly frustrated with the barriers that the Supreme Court was creating for his programs. In early 1937, as many of these transits were agitating him, he announced his intentions to pack the Supreme Court to add justices that would be sympathetic his programs. The aggressiveness of this approach was interpreted as a dangerous overreach by many and his efforts failed around the Summer of that year as the transiting energy was waning.

By 1938, much of the heavy transit energy had dissipated, but FDR was still productive. By the summer he signed the Fair Labor Standards act and established the Federal Works Agency. These occurred while transit Neptune in Virgo was still in square aspect to 12th ruler Mars which also coincided with the Mars return.

FDR’s leadership was not just defined by his response to the Great Depression, but also his iron will in fighting Germany and Japan in World War II. Towards the end of 1941, 12th ruler Mars received aspects from transit Mars (sextile), the nodal axis square, and Jupiter (conjunction). With these aspects in place, Japan attacked the United States and woke up Mars’ other archetypal identity: the god of war. FDR’s response was swift, immediate, direct. He declared war on Japan and the United States officially entered World War II.

By January of 1942, with Jupiter still in retrograde conjunction to Mars, FDR called for a massive production of tanks, guns, and ships. The war machine had kicked into high gear.

The war became more serious in 1943 as transit Saturn joined 12^th ruler Mars by conjunction. By May FDR issued an executive order creating the Office of War Mobilization. If war could be organized and structured, FDR used the Saturn energy that was at his disposal to see to it. This conjunction was still in play by retrograde around November, but this time it was also joined by another Mars return. FDR met with Stalin the strategize the invasion of Normandy.

In the summer of 1944, as transit Jupiter formed a sextile aspect the 12th ruler Mars, FDR signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment act (G.I. Bill) into law. Later that fall he met with Churchill to formulate plans for postwar Germany and in early 1945 he met with Stalin to discuss postwar settlements. Both occurred while transit Jupiter had moved into square aspect to 12th ruler Mars. Unfortunately, transit Chiron joined Jupiter by retrograde in 1945 and by April transit Mars was also applying pressure by square to natal Mars as well. These last few aspects coincided with a stroke that took FDR’s life.

The 2nd House – Harry Truman

Truman is an interesting case because when he took over as President, the same Jupiter transit that ended FDR was also simultaneously aspecting Pluto in the 2nd house. This house would govern the focus of Truman’s presidency. While the 2nd house usually corresponds to the general economy in mundane astrology, here it was more literal. Pluto signifies power and this includes nuclear power. In the month FDR died, Truman was advised of the Manhattan Project. This is a surreal astrological “passing of the baton” in leadership from one President to the next by the exact same transit.

With Truman’s assignment to the 2nd house and Pluto, he was going to finish the war that FDR started. This transiting trine aspect from Jupiter was almost exact on the month when Truman dropped the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He had the power and he would be successful using it. Truman did not accept this responsibility lightly. When he famously stated that “The buck stops with me” he was expressing the responsibility of leadership he was feeling through the ruler of the 2nd house, Saturn in Libra.

Truman also shared FDR’s progressive urges. As transit Uranus went into trine aspect with 2nd ruler Saturn, Truman presented his ambitious 21 Point Reconversion Plan to Congress. Unfortunately, Truman was not a 12th house President and was also not receiving the strong transits in the same manner as FDR. As a result, many of his proposals failed to receive the sense of urgency that FDR obtained. In early 1949 this plan was changed into his “Fair Deal” proposals. At the time, transit Neptune had gone into conjunction with 2nd ruler Saturn and transit Jupiter was also square Saturn and in conjunction with Pluto. Truman was expressing his idealism through the process of government legislation and hoping that these changes would transform the economy. Unfortunately, there were no other supporting transits to assist him on his mission. He received much opposition and was moderately successful in implementing his proposals.

Truman did find success in implementing projects and initiatives that aligned closer to Pluto’s archetypal nature. In early 1947 as transit Saturn and Jupiter formed opposition and sextile aspects to Pluto, he signed his Truman Doctrine. This doctrine has been considered by many to have started the Cold War. It was inspired by Truman’s fears (opposition) of the growth of communism and the Soviet Union’s ability to obtain nuclear power (again, Pluto). These transits also corresponded to Truman’s signing of the National Security Act which created the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense. Considering that Saturn is a significator of defense and Pluto deals with secrecy, these manifestations align well to the type of presidency that Truman was embodying.

The Cold War further escalated in 1950 when Truman ordered troops to Korea and got the United States involved in that war. With transit Neptune in exact retrograde conjunction to 2nd ruler Saturn and transit Mars in trine aspect to Pluto, Truman probably thought that the Korean War was a good opportunity to enact his Truman Doctrine goals in stopping the encroachment of communism.

The 4th House – Abraham Lincoln

As a president tasked with holding together the foundation of the country in its most violently divisive moment, the 4th house of family is fitting for Lincoln’s presidency. Lincoln himself unwittingly foreshadowed his destiny when he famously declared, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

The dissolution of the union happened quickly. Within a month after Lincoln’s inauguration, Fort Sumter was attacked and the Civil War officially began. About a month later, states started succeeding from the union. All of this occurred as transit Neptune arrived at the Imum Coeli, the cusp of the 4th house. Neptune was dissolving the United States at its foundation.

In April 1862 Lincoln abolished slavery in Washington DC and then in September issued the famous Emancipation Proclamation. Transit Neptune had gone into square aspect with 6^th house ruler Venus. The 6th house represents an area that has been traditionally thought to represent slaves. So, Lincoln’s soaring ideals were not without purpose. He was called upon to fight (square) for the freedom those who had theirs taken away. September 1862 also experienced the highest one-day death count while transit Mars was moving through the 4th house and had gone into opposition to Saturn and square to the Sun. But it would get worse. In July 1863, as transit Jupiter went into opposition with 4th house Chiron and transit Uranus went into conjunction with 4th ruler Mars, the United States saw its bloodiest battle in Gettysburg. Around 50,000 soldiers died over that three-day period. Months later, as transit Neptune retrograded into exact square with Venus, Lincoln gave a speech that would achieve mythological status, the Gettysburg Address. His intensification and reflection of that violent moment unleashed the high ideals of Neptune as well as its mourning and sacrifice. Through Lincoln, it had found the perfect voice for its expression. Even though Neptune was eroding the foundation of the United States, it was also doing something else – raising a President to the status of an icon. He became the immortal symbol for the ideals of a more perfect union. In January 1865, transit Neptune would eventually reach Jupiter by square aspect as well and this corresponded with the passing of the 13th amendment, permanently outlawing slavery in the United States.

Unfortunately, transit Uranus’ long conjunction to 4th ruler Mars was still in effect on the day of Lincoln’s assassination. The instability and chaos that Uranus represents was activated by oppositions from transits Jupiter and the Moon. Additionally, transit Mars was also in exact square to transit Neptune, who was still moving through the 4th house. The convergence of these uniquely challenging transits aligned with the house and ruler ended his life. But for Lincoln’s enemies, killing him did not stop what he stood for. Neptune had already made sure of that. Lincoln had transcended to an ideal.

The 6th House – John F Kennedy (JFK)

In his inaugural address, JFK passionately explained the role of presidency when he stated, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” This statement resonated powerfully and became emblematic of his time in office because JFK was fulfilling the role of a 6th house President. Amongst many things, the 6th house is known for its service to others. That spirit of service was formally enacted when JFK signed an executive order the created the Peace Corps. This action came just months after his inauguration and occurred when 6th ruler Venus was receiving an exact conjunction from transit Mars and a trine aspect from transit Chiron. He was asking his country to roll up their sleeves and put in the work to help others. These were not just empty platitudes. He meant it.

The problem is that America’s Sibly chart also contains Uranus in its 6th house. While issues of service may be a component of any presidency linked to this house, so will characteristics connected to Uranus’ core nature. This would be technology, change, and innovation, but it can also include instability, chaos, and revolution. This is why only one 6th house President has been able to complete two full terms in office. For JFK, this instability was already in full swing as soon as he was inaugurated because transit Pluto was in square aspect to 6th Uranus. When the transiting nodal axis and Chiron joined Pluto in their challenging alignments (both square) to 6th house Uranus the Bay of Pigs fiasco occurred. This was an initial precursor to some of instability that would mark JFK’s time as President.

Fortunately, technological innovation also manifested quickly as well. One month after the Bay of Pigs (May) JFK challenged the nation to put a man on the Moon. Transit Jupiter was forming a soft trine aspect to Uranus. This urge to expand our boundaries by challenging the limits of our technology and ability to innovate was well received by the entire country. Everyone bought in.

One month later (June) the instability from transit Pluto to 6th house Uranus reared its head again. This time transit Mercury had retrograded into conjunction with 6th house ruler Venus. The talks with the Soviet Union’s leader were an embarrassing failure for JFK and led to an escalation of the Cold War in Berlin, Germany. The Soviet Union built a wall dividing the country. Had JFK been successful this outcome may have been avoided, but the transiting energies were working against him.

But transit Pluto was not done. One year later in October of 1962 the Cuban Missile Crisis exploded and brought the country to the brink of nuclear war. At that moment transit Pluto was still in orb of square aspect with 6th house Uranus, but it had been joined by a flurry of other planetary energies. 6th house Uranus was flanked by transit Jupiter (square), Chiron (square), and Uranus (square) as well. Transit Uranus’ initial movement into orb of alignment with transit Pluto was particularly concerning. Not only did it foreshadow the revolutionary atmosphere that was coming with the rest of the decade, but their square aspect to 6th house Uranus during a 6th house presidency intensified this threat of complete annihilation. These two massive gods were setting the tone in emphatic fashion for JFK. How would he respond? The transits tell the story. With transit Saturn dignified in Aquarius and forming a trine aspect to 6th house Uranus, JFK was able to bring stable, strong, and clear-headed leadership to this crisis that resolved without conflict. Over the years, many have relived their experiences of feeling so close to brink of nuclear war, but we do not need to have been alive to understand this intensity. We can feel it through the planetary energies. By seizing on the energy of that trine, JFK rose to the occasion and saved the country.

This leadership from transit Saturn would be called upon again. One year later (September – October 1963) transit Uranus had tightened its square aspect to 6th house Uranus to within one degree. Given what was experienced a year earlier, one may assume the worst with this tighter aspect. That was not the case. To understand why that did not happen we must first understand the nature of natal Mars in its connection to the dynamics of the 6th house. Mars is aligned by tight conjunction to the midpoint of the 6th ruler Venus and 6th house Uranus. This means that Mars has an inherent influence on 6th house matters. Again, Mars is the god of war. In the most literal sense, he is conflict. While Saturn’s transit to 6^th house Uranus one year earlier diffused a tense situation, here Saturn’s transit to Mars at the midpoint of the Venus and Uranus did the same. But Saturn was not operating alone. Transit Mercury had also retrograded into trine aspect with Mars as well. Essentially, there was a grand trine of energy from transit Saturn and Mercury to Mars that helped to broker a treaty with the Soviet Union that would ban the testing of nuclear weapons. This was a major victory for JFK and his administration. It was a clear expression of his leadership and communication that helped to alleviate tensions at the height of the Cold War. In terms of the timing of this event, transit Moon had arrived by conjunction with Mars on the day that JFK signed this test ban into law.

Unfortunately, JFK could not manage the instability and unpredictability of Uranus forever. Less than two months later transit Uranus’ square to 6th house Uranus had become almost exact. The potential of this large transit was further exacerbated by an opposition from transit Mars and Venus to natal Mars at that same midpoint that was activated during the nuclear test ban negotiations. These energies unlocked the wounding of grief and empathy that transit Chiron in Pisces represented in square aspect to 6th house Uranus. Earlier, JFK’s leadership helped to stop this Chiron from manifesting in the worst possible manner, but now it was coming directly for him. As transit Moon went into tight trine aspect with 6th house Uranus there was no stopping what was coming. A shot rang out and JFK’s life was over. Uranus had done its job and manifested accordingly as it has done in scores of instances in the past. In its wake, it left a wounded nation reeling in grief from the sudden and violent loss of their President who had saved them from destruction.

The 8th House – Lyndon B Johnson (LBJ)

One frequent criticism of JFK’s presidency is that he did not do enough to address civil rights issues. This was rectified in multiple ways with the 8th house presidency of his successor, LBJ. The 8th house is an area of life that includes a wide variety of interesting characteristics. At a high level, it represents shared values and resources. These can be financial in nature and include loans, stocks, insurance, debts, and taxes. The shared aspect of this house can also extend to intimacy and sex. The 8th house can also contain a host of problematic deep traumas and dysfunctions that require attention to be corrected or transformed.

One of the most obvious correlations to these 8th house dynamics is the fact that LBJ’s presidency coincided with the sexual revolution of the 1960s. Another significant example of LBJ’s status as an 8th house President was his direct confrontation with the historic and toxic practice of discrimination and racism. He wasted little time in addressing these dysfunctions shortly after taking over the office. In January 1964, the 24th amendment was ratified abolishing poll taxes, an historic practice used to keep African-Americans from voting. Six months later, LBJ signed one of the most significant laws of the 20th century, the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This law outlawed discrimination in just about every sector of society. And just a couple months later he signed into law the Economic Opportunity Act. This is a flurry of activity in such a short amount of time was propelled primarily by the conjunction from transit Saturn to 8th ruler Moon and the sextile from transit Jupiter to 8th house Mercury. In mundane astrology, the Moon is a natural significator for the general population so Saturn’s alignment offered leadership through structure from the government. Jupiter manifested through the law that changed a toxic practice that had been hurting others (Mercury is ruler of the 7th) for generations.

The Civil Rights Act was not just an ordinary law. It changed the culture of America and its timing is reflected in more than just standard transits. Secondary Progressions were also highlighted. When it was enacted, secondary progressed Mercury was in an almost exact opposition to 8th house Mercury, secondary progressed Venus was in conjunction with 8th ruler Moon, and a secondary progressed New Moon was less than a year away (which would eventually oppose 8th house Mercury as well). All these alignments reflect a major evolution in the character of this country and that corresponded with its readiness to support legislation that stopped the unequal treatment of human beings because their skin color was different.

The events that manifested because of the secondary progressions continued into 1965. But this time they focused on more practical matters. Towards the end of the summer LBJ signed into law the Medicare and Medicaid programs. These two programs guaranteed health insurance coverage for the poor, elderly, and disabled. As expected, the secondary progressed New Moon had arrived and joined Mercury in their opposition with 8th house Mercury. Additionally, the conjunction between secondary progressed Venus and 8th ruler Moon had tightened to less than half a degree. With these progressions moving through the 2nd house of resources, the full impact of shared resources on the other end was realized. People were able to better balance (opposition) their personal finances (2nd house) because of these shared resource insurance programs (8th house).

Despite this impressive array of legislative success, LBJ made one massive and critical error by escalating the nation’s involvement in the Vietnam War. As an 8th house President, this war became a reflection of his presidency, which in turn became a reflection of this house. It became a hell on earth. Children were drafted and forced into this war that offered little value to the country, but required the ultimate sacrifice, their lives. In that regard, being drafted into this war became tantamount to a death sentence.

By 1967 troop levels had surged to 500,000 and deaths were mounting. Fierce protests against the war were underway across the country and in many different venues and formats. Protest songs were everywhere. People were burning their draft cards and chanting, “Hey hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?” In April, anti-war demonstrations attracted 400,000 in New York City. All of this corresponded to transit Mars’ square aspect to 8th house Mercury. War had arrived through Mars and it had brought death to others (7th ruler Mercury in the 8th). In October, widespread protests in 30 cities across the country had sprung up and college campuses were opposing the war everywhere. Transit Jupiter had gone into opposition with 8th ruler Moon as the public was confronting the realities of this war.

By 1968, things got ugly. In January, the Tet Offensive drastically turned public opinion against the war and against LBJ. In March, the Mai Lai massacre of over 500 Vietnamese civilians deepened this disgust. The horror was palpable, visceral, and omnipresent. What in the hell had LBJ gotten them into? There was no coming back from this and he knew it as well. In that same month he announced that he would not seek re-election. For these events the transiting nodal axis had gone into square aspect with 8th house Mercury and revealed the true nature of the 8th house traumas he had unleashed. It derailed his presidency.

But its horrors were not done. In April, Martin Luther King Jr was killed. In June, democratic candidate Robert Kennedy killed. In August, the anti-war protest explodes at the Democratic National Convention, resulting in violence and brutality by protestors and police that is televised and visible to the entire nation. These events corresponded with transit Saturn’s journey through the 4th house and square aspect to 8th house Mercury. Even our leaders and law enforcement were not safe. And yes, with Mercury representing our observations, “the whole world truly was watching.” They were observing a country struggling to escape from the 8th house.

As much as we may try to paint the 1960s as a reflection of the major milestone conjunction between Uranus and Pluto, it was also a reflection of the horrors that the Vietnam War unleashed in correlation to this 8th house presidency. By going to war during an 8th house presidency LBJ created the types of traumas that he was also trying to heal, which is both ironic and tragic. It is often noted (vaguely) that the Vietnam War changed the fabric of the consciousness of our country, but I do not think many realize just how true they speak and how deep it goes. Had Vietnam not occurred LBJ probably would have sought re-election and won based upon the strength of his other 8th house successes. Instead, the country reversed course with Nixon. Because Nixon was a 10th house President with incredibly challenging transits to the 10th house and its ruler, he was not able to finish his time in office. The country then detoured to Carter. This also had ripple effects to which the country then over corrected again with Reagan, which ignited the conservative revolution and changed the trajectory of society.

Had the Vietnam War not occurred it would have radically changed the trajectory of every future presidency because it would have altered the alignment of those future sequential houses and Presidents. And the ripple effects of that change would have touched everything. We would be living in a much different world today. In that regard, the deep transformation that the 8th house offers actually did happen…just not in the way that LBJ could have ever imagined.

Where Do We Go From Here?

This can be a lot to take in. It is a radically different way at looking at history. Some may question the relevance of Sequential Topic Theory (STT). Would these events have manifested regardless of which house was highlighted for any President? That is possible, but I tend to think that the house highlighted by STT elevates its resonance, thereby intensifying the significance of the planets in the house as well as the ruler of that house. This analysis offers some evidence for the existence of STT. Of course, much more research will need to be done in this area. An entire book could be devoted to cross-walking the manifestations of all the other presidencies and their applicable houses and rulers. I leave that door open to other astrologers, but I would also be happy to partner with them on expanding the research. Of course, if this theory works as I believe it does then it can be applied to many other areas of life as well.

Most importantly, the value that STT has for mundane astrological work is immense. Similar to the way in which profections can prioritize a specific house and ruler for any given year, STT can also prioritize a house and ruler for any new leader. For example, current President Joe Biden is identified as a 4th house President. With the current election cycle, President Biden and Donald Trump will be competing for the next four years in office. If President Biden loses and Donald Trump becomes the next President then that presidency will be a 6th house president. The instability that was a focus during the presidency of JFK will once again be highlighted. Except this time the United States will also be experiencing its Uranus return. As such, it is only logical to expect that this major milestone will amplify the unpredictability of this 6th house presidency. Also, because of the prior trends with other 6th house Presidents, we may also expect that this iteration has a high probability of being only one term or incomplete in some manner. Of course, if President Biden wins re-election, then his 4th presidency will continue. In this regard, the dynamic of a 4th house presidency occurring during a Uranus return will echo the feel of what the country experienced during Lincoln’s presidency.

If we push out even further into the future to the following 8th house presidency, can we expect universal healthcare to be a major focus of that President’s energies? Given the program accomplishments from LBJ’s 8th presidency, it would have to be considered. As the timing of that presidency comes into focus, we will have to compare the current transits to better evaluate that possibility at that point in time.

Every President tries to learn and apply the lessons from their predecessors. But in doing so they are at a disadvantage because they are missing the context of those lessons. Because they are not evaluating the area of life that corresponds to those prior presidencies, they are not able to fully appreciate exactly what was required of those Presidents at that point in time. By using STT, all future leaders may have a better line of sight in which to lead.

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[i] William Lilly, one of the most famous and proficient practitioners of horary astrology, used a plethora of different rules for identifying multiple iterations of manifestation connected to one house, but never referenced counting three houses over as a viable method in any of his writings.

[ii] Dr. J. Lee Lehman Ph.D., The Martial Art of Horary Astrology, Whitford Press, 2002, p.293.

[iii] John Frawley, The Horary Textbook, Apprentice Books, 2005, p.252.

[iv] Ronald Davison, Synastry: Understanding Human Relations Through Astrology, Aurora Press, 1983, p.24.

[v] Deborah Houlding, The Houses: Temples in the Sky, The Wessex Astrologer, 2006, p.44.

[vi] For the purposes of this analysis, a term will only be counted if the President completed it. Simply being elected will not count here.

[vii] This analysis will focus heavily on aspects that were “triple pass” contacts.

[viii] FDR’s “fireside chats” are an interesting development that deserves closer scrutiny. His need to talk directly to the public is the epitome of the 12th house ruler, Mars in Gemini placed in the 7^th house. This specific ruler has a trend with great speakers and orators throughout the history of the presidency as well. Barack Obama was also a 12th house President and was known for his talent in giving speeches. Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan were 4th house Presidents, but Mars in Gemini was their ruler as well and both were known for their talent in public speaking and motivating others through communication. Of note, Reagan was often referred to as “the great communicator.” Theodore Roosevelt is also cited when noting Presidents who had a talent with speaking publicly. For FDR, his speaking ability was an essential component to his ability to make sweeping changes that saved the country.