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A portion of this article was taken from my 2016 profile which you can read here in its entirety. 

When Bernie Sanders ran for president in 2016 he was an unlikely candidate.  In 2020, however, he is one of the most widely recognized of the 22 Democrats running in the 2020 presidential race.  A look at Bernie’s astrological chart tells us a great deal about his personality.

Bernie Sanders (September 8, 1941, Brooklyn NY, time unknown) was born with the Sun in Virgo, the sign of service and humility.  His Sun is conjunct the North lunar Node, the point that shows us the way towards our future destiny.  Sun/North Node people typically have a sense from childhood that they have a special mission to fulfill – a particular path to walk.  For Sanders, this mission is exacerbated by a strong square from Jupiter, the planet of confidence and expansion.  When Jupiter is square to the Sun there is a sense of righteousness and potentially, entitlement.  This combination denotes an individual who is certain of their destiny and their right to fulfill it.

We don’t know Sanders’ ascendant (rising sign) without a time of birth (there is conflicting and speculative information out there, but nothing reliable), but his Aries Moon shows his fiery and passionate nature, especially since is Moon aligns with Mars, the planet that energizes and motivates us, but which also adds an aggressive quality to the chart.  This is especially true because Mars is in Aries, its own sign, which essentially doubles the intensity of the assertive quality.

The Mars/Aries dynamic quality is out of sync with the humility of Virgo, and finding a way to balance those two forces has likely been one of the themes of Sanders’ life.  Sanders’ chart lacks the water element which often suggests an individual for whom empathy and compassion is difficult.  Yet he has Mercury (communication) in peace-loving Libra, suggesting that he is easily able to see another point of view even if he is unable to feel it.  And his Venus (relating to others) is in its own sign of Libra, revealing that relationships and harmony between people is very important to him.

Like many second generation Jews, Sanders’ parents were deeply affected by the holocaust and the Chiron/Pluto conjunction in his chart suggests that he would have been very sensitive to the trauma of this event in a very personal way.

Saturn (achievement and insecurity)  in the chart is in the sign of Taurus which seeks wealth and comfort.  We can see from this placement that Sanders is uncomfortable with the idea of accumulating possessions and comfortable things which could have a bearing on his socialist values.  But Uranus, the revolutionary, is at zero degrees Gemini where it most powerfully seeks new ideas of change, is in a harmonious trine to Mercury in the chart, a double signature connecting thoughts and ideas (Mercury/Gemini) with the breaking away from shackles of the old ways of looking at things (Uranus).  Sanders is very comfortable with implementing new ideas, and the idea of social justice, also the domain of Uranus, is important to him.

Uranus, the planet of radical change, was significantly positioned at the time he announced his candidacy back in the spring of 2015, with several planetary cycles stimulating his interest in forging a new path.  (geeky astrological detail: transiting Uranus was triggering his natal Mars/Moon conjunction and his progressed Sun opposed natal Uranus.)  But why run again?

Sanders has been focused in one direction all of his life, and over the past year Pluto has been triggering that North Node point.  I suspect that he feels this is his last chance to do something really significant in the world.  He will be 80 in 2021 when he would be taking office – a time when most people are ready to unwind from the pressures of the world.

Sanders made his formal announcement that he was entering the 2020 race in February 2019 when Saturn joined Pluto to trine the North Node system in his chart – that sense of a special destiny.  Saturn helps us to create form and structure, and that would have given him a boost in his desire to make his final mark on the world.   In addition, transits of Jupiter to that system in January would have given him an extra boost of confidence.

Pluto (destruction and regeneration)  is in a challenging square to his Venus (relationships) this year which could create difficulty for him in his alliances and relationships with campaign staff and other people in his life. It could also potentially increase the power of his communication and ability to get his message across.  For powerful people, a challenging Pluto transit can be an aid in focusing that power.  However, beginning in February 2020, when campaigning becomes more serious, Pluto will square his Mars (aggressive force) which is a nearly universally challenging cycle of combat and opposition.  In addition, transiting Uranus (sudden change and electrical forces) is putting stress on his natal Chiron/Pluto (health concerns).  This cycle began in June of 2019 with a hit to his Pluto which will be in effect into the fall, and then hits again in April of 2020 in the midst of primary season.

In any case, the synastry (comparison) between Sanders’ chart and the US chart is not very compatible. (geeky astrological details: challenging aspects from Sanders’ chart to the US Moon and most important, a challenging square from Sanders’ Sun to the US Moon and Mercury as well as from Sanders’ Sun to the US Mercury).   Joe Biden’s synastry with the US chart is also not that compatible although less so than Sanders’.   Compare this with Donald Trump’s synastry to the US chart, in which his Sun is in a trine to the US Moon, evoking that (to me, strange) love that so many Americans have for this man.  And his Venus is aligned with the US Mercury, with the US Venus aligned with his Mercury.  He gets the masses, and they get him.

For all of these reasons, I do not see Bernie Sanders attaining the presidency.

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