Robert Trump, a short study in ‘The Great Transition’

On 15 Aug 2020 Robert Stewart Trump, brother of Donald J. Trump, passed on. The cause of death was not disclosed. However, a family friend stated that Robert had suffered a recent fall and was suffering from ‘brain bleeds’ (intracerebral hemorrhaging). Robert was called ‘the nice Trump’, understated and not in the limelight, unlike his older brother. Donald said his brother’s death was a great and sad loss to him. Was it shown in Donald’s chart? And was it shown in Robert’s chart as well? This post gives a brief overview of death as shown in horoscopes. But more than that, it gives a peek into Trump’s fortunes into the near future, given the election is just over two months away.

Robert Trump was born on 25 Aug 1948 in Queens, NY, no time of day given. His chart is below (bigger):

Since we have no time of day given for Robert’s chart, the classic indicators for his death – the 1^st and the 8^th houses both activated either directly or by their rulers – cannot be ascertained. What we would have is speculation, unless we have other immediate family members with timed charts, which we have. But, if the claim given in the opening paragraph is true, there should be some indicator in the chart that would suggest such a condition (hemmorhage), and that it would have been activated at the time of his death. And indeed, there is such an indicator: the Saturn=Mars/Uranus midpoint.

The general biological description on that midpoint is as follows: “An injury causing the loss of blood, the beginning of an operation (the cutting of the skin), the loss of blood.” With Saturn at the midpoint we have the following setup, then: “Violence, a lack of adaptability. – Energy concentrated on separation, a heavy injury, an operation, violent destruction.”

So, was that midpoint activated in the months immediately preceding Robert Trump’s death? The chart with directions and transits is below (bigger):

There was a direction of Mercury to Saturn by square at the time of Robert’s death. The exact midpoint is at 27°21’ of fixed signs. It was stated that Robert had been hospitalized several months before his death. We do not know exactly when the fall took place, but if we even take that Mercury direction three months back, it places the direction well within orb of the midpoint and Saturn, though separating. Were there other indicators?

There were not any other particular activations to the Sat=Mars/Ura midpoint, aside from a retrograde transit of Saturn quincunx to its natal position. However, when we go back three months and a bit to the first part of May this year, a rather telling set of transits emerges, below (bigger):

We see a typical setup for an accident or violent incident of some sort: transiting Pluto square natal Mars, transiting Saturn sesquisquare natal Mercury, transiting Mars opposite natal Saturn and just past the sesquisquare to natal Neptune. The latter combination also describes a ‘hidden midpoint’ (45° modulus, as described by Ebertin): Nep=Mars/Sat – “Waning powers and weakening efforts, self-torment, the undermining of the vitality (through poison, gas or an epidemic). – A mysterious death, a grievous and grave loss.”

The epidemic mention is interesting, in that May in the US was during the pandemic. It is speculation of course, but why the mystery around disclosing the cause of death? Why did Robert Trump experience the fall, and so forth. I have read such speculation to that effect, but for our purposes it is not a concern. The transit of Saturn to Mercury would suggest a fall while in transit or caused by some sort of nervous trouble inducing a fall. Saturn governs falls. Mercury rules transit and the nervous system.

Without a time of day for a chart it is more difficult to see death or to forecast it. We have to rely on the ‘tried and true’ directions and transits. Without a birth time, we also cannot rely on the degree of the Moon, either. Midpoints will fill in the gaps.

Looking back at Robert’s transits and directions at the time of death (above) what else is showing? Not much, really. The directed/progressed Sun was sesquisquare natal Uranus, the only progression that was in effect. There were no particular transits, except for the separating direction of Saturn at Robert’s south node. That direction is often seen with deaths, separations and tragedies. But that had been in full effect the year before.

There was a transit of Pluto opposite Robert’s Ceres, showing a turning point in his life (an understatement if there was one). The only other applying transit is one of Neptune square Robert’s Jupiter. That brings us to some rather interesting midpoints. His Jupiter is at the Mars/Pluto midpoint, the midpoint being at 20° of mutable signs, essentially. That base midpoint is indicated in cases of, “…the misfortune of having to suffer violent assaults, injuries.”

Neptune was transiting retrograde at 20 Pi 16 at the time of Robert’s death. The description of the combination is as follows: “Irreconcilableness or implacability, cunning and deceitfulness, the tendency to cause harm to others secretly and unobtrusively, (a disaster or catastrophe caused by water).” Initially that wouldn’t seem to fit with what we have examined so for, so we need to look a little further. When we look at Jupiter/Neptune combinations in a biological/medical setting, we get, “…A general lack of tone in the organs of the body, atrophy, the excessive increase of water in the blood (Haemolysis). – The wrong diagnosis.” Perhaps or perhaps not, there was a wrong diagnosis, but the bolded points were almost certainly in evidence, from the transit.

The main ‘death axis’ in any horoscope is the Mars/Saturn midpoint, with all the octal aspects to it (conjunction, square, opposition, semisquare and sesquisquare). Whenever that axis is activated in a chart there is often a death around a person. I see this time and again in practice, especially with directions or transits by outer planets. Whenever I see that sort of setup with a client, the response to asking whether or not there has been a death of someone significant to that person is often in the affirmative. In the case of the death of the person themselves, though, certain other factors have to be in attendance.

The main factors that have to be in attendance with death of a person are activations of the 8^th house (the ‘death house’) either by the house or its ruler, and to the 1^st house or its ruler. Directions by the ascendant are often shown in death. The 4^th house will show the conditions at the end of life. I had intended for this post to be a wider discussion of death in the horoscope, but due to time constraints it will have to wait for a later post. There are other factors, to be certain, but we will leave those for another time.

Directions to and by the ‘death axis’, when other factors are present, can indicate impending death. Transits by outer planets to that axis can also show a death if the person is in a critical state, as was the case with Robert Trump. The Mars/Saturn axis in Robert’s chart is at the 26^th degree of mutable signs/11° of fixed signs (by 45° modulus). Without a time of day for a chart, this axis must be examined for a death. And in fact, there was a transit of Uranus to 10Taurus41 on the day of Robert’s death. There were no directions to the death axis. The next question would be, were there directions by the death axis in his case?

The directed Mars/Saturn axis at the time of Robert’s death was at 6°47’ of mutable signs/21°47 cardinals. The directed death axis was within orb of his Ceres, which can be read as ‘death as a turning point’. However, Ceres is also at the Uranus/Pluto midpoint: “Changes in the rhythm of biological processes. The relationship or connection between pulse and breathing.” And transiting Mars had just transited square to that midpoint structure in the few days before his death. Thus, we have Mars=Uranus/Pluto: a state of precipitation. – “The stage of bending or breaking“

Not knowing his angles makes such a judgement as death inconclusive. But, it is worth mentioning there are other combinations that can show death in a chart:

• Pluto=Mars/Neptune (Mar/Nep is the ‘illness axis’)
• Uranus=Jupiter/Saturn: death due to shock or a sudden loss of consciousness
• Saturn=Pluto/MC: death due to self-sacrifice
• Neptune=Sun/Uranus: death due to disintegration of the body, in isolated cases

In Robert’s case there was a direction of the Sun/Ura midpoint just past his natal Neptune at the time of his death, still within orb (an orb of 1.5° is used with midpoints), showing the deterioration of his condition. And in addition, we find the directed Mars/Neptune axis at 88°54’, approaching within a degree of orb with his Uranus: “states of weakness emerging suddenly. – Sudden disadvantages caused through lack of energy, a crisis in life, an illness or an accident.”

The possibility of death was there for Robert Trump, without knowing a time of day. Was certainty shown elsewhere, then? To that, one has to look at family members. And for Robert Trump, we happen to have an accurate birth time for his brother – Donald Trump.

Donald Trump’s transits and directions for the time of his brother’s death are below (bigger):

In Donald Trump’s chart we see the classical setup for the death of a sibling. For the death of a sibling we have to look to the 8^th house and its ruler (Neptune in this case) and the 3^rd house (Venus). We find transiting Saturn opposite (Donald) Trump’s Venus, activating the 3^rd house and showing a separation and probable grieving. It is, shall we say, less than a ‘happy’ transit, but it is not in itself an indicator of death, unless it activates one of the necessary houses.

To the 8^th house, we find directed Venus and Saturn straddling Trump’s Neptune, both within a degree and at the Ven/Sat midpoint, thus activating the 8^th house: “Regained soberness, a slow cooling off of the affections. A separation caused by wrong ideas or by disappointments in love. Love-sickness.” In love matters between partners, that applies and is easy to see. In terms of brotherly love, it shows loss, disappointment and the loss of the brother. The italicised bit is interesting.

Robert Trump’s death has to have affected Donald Trump profoundly. We’ll get to why presently. Donald is 74 now. He is not young. I wrote the following in April of 2019:

Consider the following midpoints that are there in his natal chart and then by activation, starting in mid-September of 2020, and a few before:

• Pluto=Mars/Saturn: Uranus will square that by transit, starting in June 2020
• Directed Saturn to his Neptune: a ‘health direction’, plus the fact that Neptune rules his 8th house (death/transformation)
• Directed Uranus to his Ascendant, which is also the midpoint of his ‘illness axis’:
• Directed Neptune to his Uranus: this has been demonstrated in cases of heart attack and stroke, and in general points to a lack of control in the waking consciousness

Taking all of this together, what might it mean? The transit of Uranus square to Trump’s Pluto starts in the first third of June 2020, where it will stay within its one-degree orb until just before the November 3rd election. It makes its retrograde station square to Pluto on 15 Aug 2020. That is a powerful set of factors, and it will produce one of two (and maybe both) things: A real test of strength, meaning that he will be sorely tested, especially regarding his nerves, will be subject to explosive outbursts of temper (more than usual) and may commit the country to something quite violent – which can mean many things – or…he may be suddenly struck down by something. Illness is more likely with the latter…The implication with such a set of factors is ‘intervention by a Higher Power’.

The bolded emphasis was the date of Robert’s death. Pluto is the midpoint of (Donald) Trump’s death axis, recalling previous statements about activation of that axis. Robert’s death has had to go deeply into Trump’s mindstream somewhere, probably reminding him of his own mortality. I also wrote in the same post:

Let’s look at a few facts about Trump. He is not young. This June will be his 73rd birthday [written in 2019]. He is overweight. He does not eat well, instead eating a steady diet of junk food. He has perhaps the most stressful job in the world. Add to this the psychic atmosphere that surrounds him – the constant attacks on his character and policies and the vitriol directed at him – and we have a very toxic mix of factors, all of which weigh heavily on his health.

Robert’s death was a transitional moment in Trump’s life, shown by the directed Ascendant square Trump’s Pluto, with transiting Uranus opposite, on the directed Descendant. Further, directed Ceres was square Trump’s Saturn, with transiting Mars on the directed Ceres and transiting Pluto opposite Trump’s Saturn. All of this shows a time of crisis for Trump, quite aside from the pandemic, the crashing economy and the civil unrest in the US. And then there is the election, covered in the post from which the quoted material was extracted.

Aside from the death of his brother being indicated in Trump’s chart, it also shows the probable effects it will have on him, though the public face will conceal what goes on in private. In all, though, Robert Trump’s death makes for a good study in the indicators for death in horoscopes. Astrologers are called upon at times in cases of serious illness or advanced age to give some idea as to outcomes. People don’t necessarily want to hear bad news, hoping for the best. But death is as much a part of life as anything else and marks a great transition, as well as the start of “The Great Adventure”.

As to what Robert’s death will mean to Donald, who can say? One thing is certain – it has put a strain on him at a time when he really does not want it, and it has reminded him of his own mortality, as the death of a family member always does. As to Trump’s immediate future, the stressful directions and transits in his chart only get more intense from here to the election. I am not one to wish death on anyone. But if I were an advisor to Donald Trump, I would be strongly advising him to carefully guard his health. It only looks to be that much more stressful from here.

Midpoint descriptions are taken from The Combination of Stellar Influences, Reinhold Ebertin, American Federation of Astrologers pubs., Tempe, AZ, USA (1972)

Featured pic from Trieste All News