Gerrymandering
Gerrymander
The Gerrymandering contest currently going on in many states is both unprecedented and unfair. Normally, voting districts are reallocated after the 10-year census. Texas Republicans however broke tradition setting off a tit-versus-tat redistricting fight in several other key states. Does astrology shed any light on this disturbing trend?
Realigning voting districts within a state is nothing new. The practice existed by the 1790’s. The basic motive—using district design to advantage a faction—was the same as today. But the structure, scale, and political environment were very different. The electoral systems in the 1790s were inconsistent from state to state. After the War of 1812, electoral systems saw more standardized districts, stronger party organization, and therefore more systematic and recognizable gerrymandering like we have today. Gerrymandering is basically an attempt by one party to gain advantage over the other. The tradition of an allotment every 10th year was made to smooth voting territories due to population growth. An argument was made that this was necessary to establish a fair state-wide election.
Governor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts signed a state senate redistricting bill February 11, 1812 that changed the practices’ original intention. Gov. Gerry, a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, wanted to weaken the Federalist influence. His bill was used as a tool, not to level the playing field but to gain political advantage. The ten year tradition appeared to tame if not weaken the inherent harm to a healthy democracy that redistricting poised. We might argue the need for redistricting in the first place. Let each county be a district. If some counties are larger than others as they naturally will be, so be it. Likeminded people tend to live in the same regions and areas of the country and vote similarly. So be it.
No matter what your opinion is regarding gerrymandering the Constitution empowers the States to regulate voting practices. The Federal government cannot decree a fairer system. So what we have is a jostling of power every 10-years – or in the current atmosphere of divisive political parties, an election year tug-a-fest that threatens the integrity of the entire election process.
The horoscope of the Gerrymandering law passed by Gov. Gerry contains two important planetary aspects. The Pluto/Venus conjunction is prominent and the Sun square Uranus is rather tight by orb. Symbolized is the governor (leader = Sun) attempting to radically change (Uranus) the system to gain favor for his party (Sun/Uranus = sudden disruptive advantage). Pluto dominates or influences Venus (‘overcomes’ in Hellenistic jargon). This means Pluto corruption and dominance affects the balance and fairness of Venus.
Midpoints in this chart are particularly telling. Saturn is exactly between Mercury and Neptune. Saturn represents structure, law, tradition, and integrity. Mercury/Neptune could be interpreted as voting deception. A weaker midpoint by conjunction is Neptune between Saturn and Uranus. Again we see the expression of democracy (Saturn/Uranus) dissipated and degraded by Neptune. Gov. Gerry and the Democratic-Republican Party were inventive and clever with new ideas. Reinhold Ebertin interprets the Uranus=Mercury/Venus midpoint in The Combination of Stellar Influences as, “A mathematician, a public speaker full of ideas and quick at repartee. …appreciation of the necessity for reform, rhythms, periods, numbers, symbols.”
I have warned of a great civil, cultural war that will tear this country apart. One means of this is the unfair practice of Gerrymandering. The Supreme Court got Louisiana’s redistricting correct when they voted that redistricting cannot be based on race. But why should redistricting exist in the first place?