By Isabelle Ghaneh
John Rowland, Republican Governor of Connecticut, or as it is being referred to in the Nutmeg State, Corrupticut, appears to be going down the same path, on a much smaller scale of course, that Richard Nixon Republican President of the United States did 30 years ago, in 1974. Every day new allegations against him are being reveled in the news media and a state commission has been selected to begin probing the possibility of impeachment proceedings. What is the Governor accused of ? Basically taking bribes in exchange for jobs, in short. Rowland’s version of bribes came not in cold hard cash, but in “presents“. Trips to exotic places, repair work on a summer cottage, dirt bikes, camping equipment, expensive wine cellars, and furniture are just some of the items accepted by Rowland over the years. In return, Rowland gave many state construction jobs to these gifters, and changed laws to benefit them and their companies. Allegedly. In addition, many members of his team and in high official positions in the State of Connecticut have been accused of either being the ones to make the bribes or of taking bribes themselves. The Commissioner of the State Public Works Department resigned, the State Treasurer was put in jail for taking bribes and the list goes on and on. One item in particular caught my interest; a public official given gold coins that he buried in his backyard. Did it come with a treasure map, I wondered? Considering all the brouhaha going on in Connecticut now, I thought it would be interesting to look at the astrological aspects of both Rowland himself and also the State of Connecticut.
The State of Connecticut was born on January 9, 1788, when the Convention of Hartford voted to accept the Federal Constitution. It thus became the fifth state of the new nation. Since I haven’t been able to find the exact time the actual vote took place, I will use a noon chart. That makes sense, since 2 degrees of Taurus is on the ascendant at noon. Assuming the vote was held between 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm, Taurus is on the ascendant. Earlier in the day it would be Aries, later on Gemini. So I can’t say for sure but I consider it likely. Connecticut has a reputation as the insurance state with Hartford being known as the insurance capital of the U.S. Wallace Stevens, the famous poet and insurance agent, hailed from Hartford. So let’s look at this chart.
Connecticut was born a Capricorn, the sign of the steadily climbing mountain goat. Capricorn, which is by coincidence Richard Nixon’s Sun Sign, is a sign of ambition, greed and business acumen. It represents status and longevity and coldness. The hard-hearted business man with his eye always on the bottom line is the epitome of the sign of Capricorn. Money, status and power can be the main focus of the Capricornian. The tenth house, the house of where one’s career path lies and how others see us, is also in Capricorn, assuming of course the voting took place between the hours of 12:00 pm and 1:30 pm. This would reinforce the staid, solid, family oriented way many people view Connecticut, along with it’s gold coast, the lower Fairfield County area.
Just a few more words about the State of Connecticut astrologically speaking. At it’s birth, Pluto, a generational planet, dealing with the dark underside of life, was in 15 degrees of Aquarius, and Chiron, the wounded healer at 8 degrees of Gemini. Saturn, the great taskmaster was at 26 degrees of Aquarius and Neptune, the planet or illusion and lies and yes bribes was at 21 degrees of Libra.
Right now, transiting Chiron is at 19 degrees Capricorn, directly on the State of Connecticut’s Sun. I think that speaks for itself, considering Chiron shows us where we most need healing. Transiting Pluto at 21 degrees Sagittarius is exactly sextile Neptune. Transiting Saturn going retrograde at 8 degrees Cancer came close to conjuncting natal Mars at 16 degrees Cancer and will do so over the early summer. When Saturn sits on Mars' energy things begin to go into stagnation. Transiting Jupiter at 18 degrees Virgo retrograde is square natal Jupiter at 18 degrees of Gemini and will re- trigger that aspect once it goes forward again. Jupiter square Jupiter is the aspect of too much is never enough and can never be enough.
Now for Governor Rowland. Not having a birth time, I have to use a noon chart, so I can only use the aspects and not the angles of this chart. Even without that information we can still glean some information on where Governor Rowland is now, and what lies ahead for him. John Rowland was born May 24, 1957, time unknown. He is a Gemini Sun/Aries Moon individual. Aries Moon is very volatile, emotional, sharp, fast and aggressive. And boy do they like to fight; even if a reasonable person would back down, Aries Moon emotionally doesn’t back off, they just don’t. Gemini Sun is charming, witty and yes they can be manipulative and as the sign of the twins two faced. They can be liars. It does happen. Also with the Governor’s Moon square Mars the anger quotient is increased in his personality. The Sun, squaring Saturn, would give him a cold side and a grasping side, again since Saturn rules Capricorn.
Transiting Pluto at 21 Sagittarius is squaring Rowland’s natal Jupiter. All that dark energy squaring all the need for abundance. Transiting Neptune at 12 Aquarius is squaring his natal Mercury at 11 degrees of Taurus and has been for some time now off and on, as Neptune goes retrograde. That should again speak for itself; Neptune the planet of lies and illusion and deception fogging up the logic of Mercury, the planet ruling the mind and communication. Transiting Neptune is also inconjunct his Mars at 12 Cancer, and sextiling his Saturn at 11 Sagittarius. Thats a lot of Neptunian flog floating around the Governor's chart. Interestingly, when Pluto was conjunct his Saturn several years ago, all this scandal surrounding his administration started with the State Treasurer’s indictment. Transiting Saturn at 8 degrees of Cancer, as I mentioned before, conjoined the Governor’s Mars last year, and will come forward to conjunct it again this spring, around his birthday, which will correspond to his solar return, his once yearly birthday chart. Both transiting Saturn and transiting Mars will be conjunct in Cancer and conjunct the Governor’s Mars. The Governor has a Jupiter return coming up, the 12 year aspect that conjoins the transiting Jupiter to the birth, natal chart aspect. That won’t be until later in the summer of 2004.
Will the Governor overcome this time of scandal and revelation and keep his job? I don’t think so. Transiting Saturn will be conjoining the State’s Uranus towards the end of the year signaling a change of government administration. Uranus equals change, Saturn equals administration. Since the Governor is coming into his Jupiter conjunct Jupiter return later this year, his downfall will not be has hard as people think. I expect him to run off to a rather lucrative job somewhere someplace, and not to be damaged as much monetarily as people might believe, or even want. Jupiter is the lucky planet and it bestows protection on its owners. Also, Rowland’s Mars conjoins the State’s Mars, since they are both about four degrees apart in Cancer. This gives him a strong tie to the State and I think his future business endeavors will come from those who are beholden to him. He has the pragmatic Taurus Mercury, he possess the fighting Aries spirit and with his Gemini charm he has a lot to look forward to believe it or not.
So in short, I think based on the aspects above, the state of Connecticut will suffer much more than the Governor will in the long run. But he will leave, I expect, by mid-summer, or at least by election time in November.
Copywrited By Isabelle Ghaneh