John McCain and Mercury Retrograde

Mercury stationed Retrograde at 24 degrees Libra on Sept. 24 and will Station Direct on Wednesday at 8 degrees Libra. I've already looked at how it has affected the alleged U.S. natal chart by tripping off a t-square of Sun-Saturn-Chiron. It doesn't seem to have affected Barack Obama's campaign but it sure seems to have affected John McCain's behavior which has been erratic and ahem, Mercurial.

McCain "suspended his campaign" in order to go to Washington to work on the Economic problems. This was unusual and he did it abruptly. At last week's debate he used the phrase "My Friends" something like 22 times which showed that he's very stressed and is a babbling Mercurial guffaw. He stood David Letterman up and has been the butt of non-stop jokes on that show. Well, he would have received that treatment either way. This morning I read an announcement that McCain will now appear on Letterman's show on Thursday, the day after Mercury turns direct. He was shown as his old self again over the week-end correcting an old white woman with serious bed head issues about some racist thoughts she was having concerning Obama's character.

Today, as well, the NCGR weekly bulletin came up with an interesting new tidbit about McCain's birthtime. Retrogrades are supposed to bring up old issues for review. The post comes from Pat Tagliatello over at Astrodatabank who was notifiied that some old newspapers have found birth announcements for McCain which indicate that the commonly used birthtimes of 9 am and 11 am are incorrect. The announcement says that McCain was born in the afternoon. This is interesting because a birth after 3pm would move his Moon into Aquarius. Astrologers will start to say nice things about him if that's true.

From the newsletter:

Shelley Jordan has kindly sent me an article from the Panama American newspaper dated August 31, 1936. Page four of the newspaper carries a birth announcement that says, "Lt. and Mrs. John S. McCain, Jr. of the Submarine Base are the parents of a son born Saturday afternoon at the Submarine Base Hospital." Although his mother is on record as giving two different times for his birth (9 AM and 11 AM), this article points to a time between 12 noon and perhaps 5 PM. Mothers' memories as we know from experience are often faulty; and sometimes newspapers make mistakes or are vague as this one is. In the absence of a birth certificate or other official record, his birth time is considered unreliable.

If you haven't already seen them, here are the two links (the first to the newspaper announcement) that Shelley sent me:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/mccain_announcement_041708.pdf and
http://americanpowerblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/mccain-birth-eligibility-remains.html

Sincerely yours,
Pat Taglilatello

NOT PART OF THE QUOTE, I just can't figure out how to undo the quote thingee:

Taking a look at his natal Mercury shows how important Mercury's influence is in McCain's chart. He has natal Mercury at 3 Libra, very close to an Aries Point. It is also the only planet squaring his Nodal Axis which is right on the Aries Points with North Node at 1 Capricorn. His Mercurial Qualities come out into public very readily.

McCain's natal Mercury is not Retrograde but it is at 3 Libra so one can see that it has also been receiving an extended visit from the Retrograde Mercury in Libra transit.

One knitting blogger who I follow said that his behavior seemed like some sort of PTSD. I thought the same thing. McCain's progressed chart may also indicate this as it shows similar Mercury Retrograde activity as at the time that McCain was held as a POW in Vietnam. Mercury rules the nerves and thinking processes and is known for moving in all directions at once when under stress. McCain was tortured to the point that he tried to commit suicide. His arms, ruled by Mercury, are permanently damaged because of what was done to him.

John McCain
b. Aug. 29, 1936 ((( 9:00am ????)))) Cocosolo, Panama

John McCain's natal Mercury is at 3 Libra and squares his Nodal Axis at 1 Capricorn (NN) / 1 Cancer (SN). So, this lends a strong Mercurial influence to his Destiny in life.

(((For the record, McCain's current Progressed Mercury is at 13 Scorpio. And McCain's current Solar Arc Mercury (Solar Arc doesn't go Retrograde) is at 14 Sagittarius.))))

This month transiting Mercury went Retrograde on Sept. 24, 2008 at 23 Libra. It will station Direct on Oct. 16, 2008 at 8 Libra. Keep this 8 Libra degree in your mind as you read this. This point is very important in McCain's Mercurial History.

McCain's prog. Mercury had gone Retrograde sometime around 1956 in his 12th House while it was conjunct his chart ruler Venus, which is natally in the 12th House. (House placement may no longer apply.). 12th House rules prisons and imprisonment.

McCain was captured by the North Vietnamese on Oct. 6, 1967 and was sent to the "Hanoi Hilton" where he endured extreme torture for about 6-7 years. The worst of the torture was in August, 1968.

At the time of capture, prog. Mercury was at 9 Libra Retrograde (remember this week's position of Mercury Station Direct at 7 Libra) and conjunct Prog. Sun at 7 Libra. The rest of his chart was going ape-face crazy as well but I'm trying to concentrate on Mercury here. With the work I'm doing on cycles I've been seeing how much a repeat cycle like this will influence a person down the road.

The whole time McCain was imprisoned Mercury was Retrograde and at one point was conjunct the progressed Sun in the 12th House (again, house placement may no longer apply) further emphasizing the prison theme. It also places huge amounts of stress on McCain for anything happening at early degrees Libra.

Mercury was conjunct within to a degree of its natal position when McCain was released on Mar. 14, 1973 and was conjunct to the degree with transiting Pluto at 4 Libra.

Right now, through the Retrograde, McCain's Mercury is having an extra long Return.

The theme of Pluto-Mercury-Nodes related to McCain's release date from the POW camps is repeating itself for McCain. When Mercury stations Direct this week it will be at 8 Libra. That's within wide conjunction to his natal Mercury and also wide square to his natal Nodal Axis. Transiting Pluto is at 29 Sagittarius conjunct his North Node and squaring his natal Mercury which repeats the Mercury-Pluto-Node aspect of his release date from prison.

McCain's progressed Mercury went out of Rx around 1977 at 2 Libra while it was conjunct the transiting North Node. This is the year that McCain entered Politics. This was his "real entry into the world of politics and beginning of my second career as a public servant." McCain's marriage was falling apart at this time. He met his current wife Cindy in 1979 and divorced his first wife in 1980. His wife said that he turning 40 and acting like a 25 year old. That's middle age of course but is also a very Mercurial behavior.