Marcos Patchett

The Astrology of Donald Trump’s Health

Donald John Trump is sitting president of the USA at the time of this article’s writing. Despite his modest and unassuming character, he has Leo rising at birth, with the fixed stars Regulus conjunct his Ascendant and Algol conjunct his midheaven. These stars both have a fearsome reputation in traditional astrology: Regulus, because it was one of the four ‘royal stars’ of Persia (along with Aldebaran, Antares, and Fomalhaut), and Algol a.k.a. Caput Medusae because it is, in the words of Vivian Robson, ‘the most evil star in the heavens’.[1] Regulus on the Ascendant, according to Robson, brings

‘great honour and wealth, but violence and trouble, sickness, fevers, acute diseases, benefits seldom last, favour of the great, victory over enemies, and scandal […] the native shall die an unhappy death; or at least that all his honours, greatness and power shall at last suffer an eclipse and set in a cloud’. (Robson, 1923).

Bernadette Brady offers nuance, stating that Regulus grants power and status which may continue so long as the individual concerned does not stoop to revenge. Meanwhile, Algol on the midheaven promises ‘murder, sudden death, beheading, prone to murder and mischief’.[2] The Roman myth of the Gorgon Medusa, long associated with Algol, may be relevant here: the beautiful maiden Medusa either consensually hooked up with, or was sexually assaulted by (accounts vary by narrator) the sea god Neptune in Minerva’s temple, which so angered the chaste goddess that she punished Medusa by transforming her into the fearsome Gorgon, with hair of living serpents and a gaze that turned men to stone. Later, Minerva’s heroic sponsee, Perseus, cut off Medusa’s head with the aid of Mercury’s winged sandals and a mirrored shield, and utilized Medusa’s petrifying powers in a series of post-decapitatory escapades. The earliest Greek versions of the myths featured Medusa as a congenital monster; but later Roman adaptations of the myth are more interesting, depicting the youthful Medusa was a beautiful woman, inferring the ‘monsterization’ of the person involved in prohibited sexual activity by both external society and – perhaps more intensely - by the ruthless internal castigations of the logical mind (Minerva being a patriarchal goddess of civilisation, logic, and war) that can generate intense feelings of shame, rage, and guilt, sufficient indeed to petrify.

                At any rate, the presence of Algol on Mr. Trump’s MC is indeed concerning for the ultimate outcome of his role in any leadership position, and may also describe some interesting features of his relationship with his mother, and, by extension, with women in general, affecting his public image. If he were a client, I would ask him about his mother, and suggest speaking to a professional psychotherapist if he had difficult public relations with women. Medically speaking, the sudden loss of head suggested by an angular Algol is not metaphorical. This star was activated by a transit of Mars conjunct Uranus on Trump’s midheaven on July 13, 2024, when an apparent assassination attempt caused Mr. Trump’s ear to be clipped by a bullet. The internet is rife with speculation that this event was staged to garner favourable publicity for Trump, and certainly many events of the day seem suspicious or unclear; but the astrology suggests this was, if not a genuine assassination attempt, then at least something which endangered his life, to shocking and destabilizing effect - as befits the activation of a malevolent binary star which appears to blink on and off, ergo its distinctly malefic reputation, the symbolism of which is merely confirmed by Uranus’ co-presence at the time. Regulus, meanwhile, is a distinctly Martial star – hence Robson’s ascription of ‘sickness, fevers, and acute diseases’ to it – and in Trump’s chart, this indication is greatly amplified by the conjunction of Mars in Leo sitting on the president’s Ascendant.

                Angular planets, like angular stars, speak loudly in a person’s life. On the Ascendant, they shape the trajectory of the whole existence, and strongly influence both appearance and character. Mars is extremely ambivalent in Mr. Trump’s chart – it is the so-called malefic out of sect, indicating destructive factors of which the native may not be fully conscious; yet, placed at the end of Leo, Mars is also in two of its own minor dignities, both Term/Bound and Decan/Face. In astrological medicine, Mars is not ‘distempered’, meaning that Mars’ hot and dry nature is in keeping with the nature of the fire sign Leo, reducing Mars’ propensity to indicate pathology. Moreover, Mars is in a friendly sextile with the Ascendant ruler and Mr. Trump’s primary planetary avatar, the Sun in Gemini; Mars in Leo, the domicile and triplicity of the Sun, also has mutual reception with the Sun, which is placed in the Term/Bound of Mars. Mars is likewise harmoniously configured with Jupiter in Libra, the temperate benefic of the sect, likely to have a buffering or mitigating effect on Mars’ inflammatory incitements. All of this to say that the destructive heat of Mars represents phenomena that are somewhat harmful to Trump, and others from which he may also profit. This is borne out by Regulus’ assignation as a Martial star, meaning that Regulus is a ‘secret helper’ to Mars: Robson’s delineation for Mars conjunct Regulus emphasizes its potency, giving ‘honour, fame, strong character, public prominence, [and] high military command’.

                We may note that Mr. Trump has not, apparently, suffered many ‘fevers’ or ‘acute diseases’, despite the angularity of this fiercely overheated Mars conjunct Regulus, and we may in part ascribe that to the above named factors of Mars’ essential dignity, its mutual reception and easy aspect with the chart ruler, and mitigation by Jupiter’s sextile. Mars in a daytime chart is still problematic, however, and in Leo may give rise to excess heat, for example in the form of inflammation, injuries, or bleeding. These could occur in the head (because of the placement on the ascendant), in the heart and arteries (Leo), or even in the knees (because Mars in Leo is in the 10^th sign from Scorpio, Mars’ other domicile, thus being equivalent to the 10^th sign of the zodiac, Capricorn – follow me round the bend here, this is a genuinely useful technique in medical astrology, much used by both William Lilly and 17^th century astrologer-physician Richard Saunders). While Mars may be less inclined to cause overt damage in Mr. Trump’s chart, as the malefic out of sect it still represents destructive and less consciously-directed forces, so the effect of prolonged anger and adrenal activation – arguably a baseline state for Mr. Trump, as we shall see – may show up in these body parts eventually.

Mars also rules Trump’s 4^th and 9^th houses, suggesting both that intractably pugilistic elements of his character may originate from his father, family, and philosophy, and that inflammation affecting his body may likewise be linked to home/father/past (4^th house) and overseas/higher education/religion (9^th house). These parts of his life were experienced as centrally important and formative, stressful, challenging, and establishing through perhaps some cruelty or harshness a mindset with a ceaseless appetite for success (fixed fire Mars) and sowing the seeds of smouldering long-term inflammation as a consequence of this Type A excess which may affect the whole body, perhaps especially the heart and brain over the longer term.

Trump’s Temperament

                From a traditional perspective, Trump’s temperament is either pure Choleric, or Choleric-Sanguine. In translation, this means that he is predominantly hot and ‘fiery’ – impulsive, combative, ambitious, self-determined – with a side of ‘airiness’ or sociability, humour, forgetfulness, and charm. This was calculated short-hand using Dorian Greenbaum’s method described in her excellent book Temperament, and long-hand, using as a template William Lilly’s method in book three of Christian Astrology and streamlined by John Frawley in The Real Astrology Applied. Strictly speaking, in traditional humoral medicine, the combination of two hot humours – blood (a.k.a. the sanguine humour), linked to the air element, and choler or yellow bile, linked to fire – would reduce to the dominant hot humour, either choler or blood, making Trump, with a predominance of heat and dryness in his chart, purely choleric.

In more contemporary work, such as Ms. Greenbaum’s, it has been argued that the secondary humour of similarly active quality (hot or cold) isn’t automatically overwhelmed or subsumed by the first one, so Trump would indeed be Choleric-Sanguine. This has ramifications for both behaviour and physical health: cholerics are feisty, type A people and typically have stronger resistance to illness, but are also more prone to inflammatory problems and acute stress-related health issues, while Sanguine types tend to be quite robust but may, with age, incline to diseases of excess (such as weight gain and metabolic issues), and tend to be more easy going, charming and pleasant. Trump’s choleric dominance is plain to see, but he also has an affable side and glib wit which sometimes emerges in interviews, and famously claims to have a very strong constitution (more associated with the Sanguine type). The ramifications of his choleric dominance, from a health perspective, are that choleric types must discharge their excess of fire through activity, then counterbalance it with ‘cooling and moistening’ strategies such as meditation, relaxation, drinking plenty of water, or eating fruits and vegetables. They should limit red meat, salt, fried foods, hard cheeses, fasting for long periods of time, and hot environments. The issue with choleric types is that they are often resistant to advice, and may be drawn to the very foods and activities which exacerbate choler (as each temperament tends to naturally favour those things which support it, but for health purposes the temperament must be ‘balanced’ by things of the opposite nature too). If choleric foods and activities are not counterbalanced, inflammatory issues are likely to result – both medically and socially!

Physical vulnerabilities in the birth chart

                Planetary placements and aspects in the birth chart describe possible locations and varieties of bodily illness, insofar as they reveal weaknesses or liabilities in various ways (by house rulership or placement, by dignity, by aspect etc).   Trump’s Leo ascendant marks the heart and back as potential sites of illness, as the body parts associated with the rising sign are somewhat sensitised, and this is underscored by the aforementioned presence of the malefic Mars on the Ascendant, which also suggest the possibility of strokes, TIA’s (mini-strokes) or other forms of brain bleed, headaches or inflammation in the head, or head trauma as personal risk factors. The sign on his natal 6^th house cusp, Aquarius, also suggests that the ankles, and perhaps his circulation in general (air signs rule the blood), are potentially symptomatic sites – areas of the body where illness may show up. Likewise his 6^th house ruler, Saturn in Cancer, specifically denotes locations of possible age-related disease: age-related because it’s Saturn, the planet of senescence and decay, and disease because it rules his 6^th house. In Cancer, Saturn may point to stomach, liver, lungs, or breasts, the body parts associated with this sign; it may also signify the kidneys and lower back, and/or the bowels, bladder or private parts, because Saturn rules two signs, Capricorn and Aquarius, and Leo – where Saturn resides in Mr. Trump’s chart – is the 8^th or 7^th sign from Saturn’s own domiciles, which is therefore symbolically linked to the 8^th and 7^th signs of the zodiac, Scorpio and Libra, and the body parts they signify.

                Saturn is conjunct Venus in Cancer in Trump’s chart. Venus naturally rules the breasts, throat, and kidneys, so there is a doubling up of ‘kidney’ and ‘breast’ significations. Saturn also squares Jupiter, the natural ruler of the blood, the liver, and the lungs, and Jupiter is placed in Libra (kidneys, lower back) and rules the 5^th house of the liver and heart, and the 8^th house of death. When doing astro-medical diagnosis, as in all branches of astrology, the more a testimony is repeated the more likely the correlation is to manifest. Here, we have the ruler of the house of illness in a difficult conversation with the ruler of the house of death, with the ruler of the house of illness potentially signifying the kidneys, joined to the planet which rules the kidneys, while aspecting the ruler of the house of death in the sign which represents the kidneys. There is also a repetition of a ‘liver’ signature in this assemblage (Jupiter, 5^th house, Cancer). Saturn naturally signifies blockages and age-related decline, Jupiter may represent swelling, growth, or accumulation, and Venus represents sugars and fluids. This combination is therefore suggestive of potential age-related metabolic decline in kidney and liver function, perhaps with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease or similar.

One uniquely interesting thing about astrology is the symbolic linkage between apparently unrelated domains, providing invaluable clues to both aetiology and treatment. In Mr. Trump’s chart, Saturn also rules his 7^th house of partners and partnerships. Saturn is in detriment, conjunct Venus – natural ruler of romantic relationships – and placed in his 11^th quadrant house of allies, but in aversion to his ascendant (in the 12^th sign from the Ascendant). The Moon, essential significator of women, is eclipsed on the south node, in opposition to the ruler of the ascendant (the Sun). Altogether, these suggest that relationship difficulties, particularly with women and associated with coercion, callous behaviour, or disregard for feelings (Venus-Saturn, Moon on South Node opposing Asc ruler) may be linked to earlier experiences with mother, perhaps with some coldness, distance or unpredictably tyrannical behaviour (Saturn conjunct Venus, ruler of the MC, with Algol conjunct MC). Difficult experiences with female partners may precipitate physical illness, perhaps specifically showing up in the kidneys or liver.

                It would be remiss not to mention the mutual reception between the Saturn-Venus conjunction in Cancer, the sign of Jupiter’s exaltation, and Jupiter in Libra, the sign of Saturn’s exaltation and Venus’ domicile. Among a myriad of other significations, medically this suggests that struggling kidneys and liver, while mutually aggravating each other’s defects (the square with Saturn in the overcoming 10^th sign position) provide sufficient mutual support to labour on and effectively compensate for the declining function of both organs for some time. On a social level, perhaps gifts of communication (Jupiter in the 3^rd) enable relationship issues (Venus conjunct Saturn ruling the 7^th house) to be smoothed over or patched up. But this configuration also involves a mutual reception between the ruler of the 6^th house and 8^th houses: death and disease are linked via the the stomach, liver and especially the kidneys.

The Sun-Jupiter trine in Mr. Trump’s chart is also very interesting on a number of levels.   Superficially and generically, this is a life-affirming, vitality-enhancing signature – Nicholas Culpeper declared that, in any given illness, if a chart featured a trine between the Sun and Jupiter, the physician ‘need never fear for the life of [their] patient’.[3] In natal charts, all else being equal, this aspect likewise denotes a propensity to good health and long life if both significators are in fortunate places, and Trump’s Sun is placed in arguably the most fortunate house of all, the 11^th (known as the house of ‘good spirit’ to the Roman astrologers Marcus Manilius and Firmicus Maternus). The aspect is separating, showing perhaps that this lucky hand will be played out over time, and the Sun applies to the sextile of Mars, suggestive of a personal style which moves from early expressions of beneficent largesse (Jupiter in loud-voiced Libra in the 3^rd house of communication), to implacably pugilistic or punitive action in the name of personal conquest (flammable Mars in fixed, feral Leo in the first house), as the ascendant ruler moves away from Jupiter towards Mars.

But this Sun-Jupiter trine also has a hidden undertone of what I call ‘mutual rejection’ - the opposite of mutual reception): the Sun resides in Gemini, the sign of Jupiter’s detriment, and Libra, Jupiter’s abode in Trump’s chart, is the sign of the Sun’s fall. Medieval astrologer Al-Kindi referred to this as ‘not-reception’, and Guido Bonatti explicitly said that when

‘a planet were joined to any planet in its own descension, or [if] the one who is in the descension of the other is joined to him whose descension it is, it always tries to destroy the matter and annul it.’ (Bonatti, 1491, trans, Dykes, 2010).

Therefore, whatever these planets represent are in apparent harmony, but ultimately reject each other. As players in a drama, they may literally ‘amicably separate’; as signifiers of function, they represent things which seem to provide mutual support, but inwardly enervate each other. As Ascendant ruler, the Sun is Trump’s principal avatar in the chart, while Jupiter rules both the 5^th house of children, parties, sex, entertainment and gifts, and the 8^th house of inheritance, legacies, other people’s money, and death, and is placed in his 3^rd house of siblings, neighbours, communication, and the media. Being in loud-voiced air signs, Mr. Trump may be inclined to wax eloquent about his good fortune in these domains, and indeed will receive many social boons as the planets and the aspect will provide what they promise, but privately these areas of his life may be a source of diminishing returns and even harm over time – the Sun feels that Jupiter will bring it down or damage its reputation, Jupiter feels that the Sun may destroy or diminish it (fall and detriment).   

Medically speaking, the Sun is the essential ruler of the heart, and Jupiter rules the 5^th house of the heart and liver, and essentially rules the liver; the Sun is placed in Gemini, the sign of the arms, shoulders and hands, and Jupiter is in the 3^rd house, associated with the arms, shoulders and hands; air signs denote the circulation and the blood. So this aspect may signify generally good heart health, but with a tendency to atherosclerosis (thickening or growth of the artery walls) over time, high blood pressure as the liver gets more congested, signalled by issues such as swelling, bruising (because of Jupiter’s soft aspect to Mars, signifying mild bleeding) or mild inflammation in the arms, shoulders and hands appearing over time.

Healthspan, lifespan and timing of illness

                Health issues can arise at any time, and not all the positive or negative potentials in a birth chart may come to pass in one human lifetime – particularly not if life is cut short. The first priority of ancient astrologers was therefore to calculate the possible lifespan of their subject, not least because prior to modern sanitation and understanding of microbiology infant mortality rates were extremely high (though the average adult lifespan was often close to the Biblical ‘three score years and ten’ – you just had to survive childhood!) The second priority was to find out when any propensity to illness or injury in the birth chart was most likely to occur. The intentions behind doing this predictive work ranged somewhere between cultivating acceptance and prevention or mitigation, depending on individual circumstances and context (pragmatism) and the beliefs of the astrologer-physician and their cultural milieu.

Over-simplistically, Hellenic Stoicism and medieval Christianity leaned into fatalism or acceptance of ‘God’s will’, whereas Renaissance Neoplatonic philosophy, Hermetic Christianity and other less mainstream occult traditions believed more in co-creation, intervention, and the relative plasticity of fate, though nothing so close to the radical post-enlightenment notion of absolute ‘free will’ which fuels contemporary New Age notions of ‘manifesting’ (‘you create your own reality’ – this would have seemed absurd to pre-modern thinking.)  Broadly speaking, Neoplatonic and Hermetic philosophy recognised fate, but saw the possibility of improving or modifying it to varying degrees – a position which seems eminently reasonable, given that death is inevitable but its timing is not (or at least, not always, or not reliably so), as any medical person will tell you.

                Many medieval astrologers calculated the Hyleg, a planet in the chart which was used to represent the native’s life force, and the Alchocoden, another planet which would give an approximate length of life in years. They would then use techniques such as Primary Directions to see when the Hyleg aspected an Anareta or ‘killing point’ – usually Mars, Saturn, or the Descendant, together with other Primary Directions from and to important chart points such as the Sun, Moon, Ascendant, Part of Fortune and a few others, to estimate when death may occur and from what cause. Primary Directions are based on the earth’s diurnal motion (daily 24 hour rotation), in contrast with the less important Secondary Progressions, based on the solar year (the earth’s orbit around the sun) which assumed greater importance in contemporary astrology due to their relative ease of calculation. The alchocoden is unreliable as a predictor of length of life, but may have more utility as a predictor of healthspan – to determine an approximate age limit beyond which the body is harder to repair, as if one’s metaphysical health insurance has run out, so the cost of illness is greater and the body starts taking more damage.

In Mr. Trump’s chart, as a diurnal birth, his Sun is first choice to be Hyleg, and as it is placed above the horizon in the fortunate 11^th house, it remains so. The Alchocoden is any planet in aspect to the Hyleg which has some rulership of it – and in Trump’s case his Alchocoden is Mars, as Mars is in close sextile to the Sun, and, as described earlier, the Sun resides in Mars’ Bound/Term and Decan/Face. All the seven traditional planets have various years allotted to them, classified as major, medium, or minor years (for example, Venus’ minor years are 8, her medium years are 45, and her major years are 80). If we look to Mars as signifcator of Trump’s metaphysical health insurance, Mars gives its major years (66). Mars is angular, dignified, in sextile and mutual reception with the Hyleg (the Sun), and sextile Jupiter, all of which are sufficient boosters to preserve the major years of the planet, despite Mars being occidental and out of Sect. (Angularity by sign tends to give the planets their major years, and several positives here offset by a couple of negatives is insufficient to knock Mars down to its medium years.) Furthermore, Jupiter aspects Mars by sextile, and Jupiter is in his own Term/Bound in Libra and in Sect, so we may add Jupiter’s minor years (12) to Mars – bringing the total number up to 78 years of age, on the higher end of the scale (as befits a native with a Sun-Jupiter trine in fortunate houses), which Mr. Trump surpassed in 2024.

                Notably, Trump’s Mars – a potential Anareta or ‘killing point’ - arrived by Primary Direction at the conjunction of his Hyleg, his 11^th house Sun, in 2017, at the age of 69. Aside from representing increased conflict in his partnerships and alliances, particularly with other men, and challenges to leadership, perhaps especially associated with property or business overseas or higher education (the 4^th and 9^th houses, which Mars rules in Trump’s chart), this is a strong signature for a possible heart attack, stroke, or cardiac event. Certainly it is a strong inflammatory signature, and one associated with Trump’s dominant humour of choler from a traditional point of view. It should be noted that Primary Directions may operate a year or two either side of their exact timing, and for the purposes of client work precise events may be timed by looking for Profections and Transits which mirror the direction.   In fact, the period from 2015-2018 – the time of Trump’s first run for Presidency in the USA, and his first term in office – is marked by a cluster of highly stressful Primary Directions which, from the point of view of medical astrology, would be likely to activate many of the medical liabilities described earlier in this article, and, were the years signified by his Alchocoden to have elapsed, would have represented a significant threat to his life from an astrological point of view.

In 2015 the Sun’s sinister square arrived at Saturn and Saturn’s dexter square arrived at Mr. Trump’s Ascendant by Primary Direction. As ruler of his 6^th and 7^th houses, on a personal level these directions of Saturn would likely indicate significant estrangement from, or difficulties with partnerships – both business and personal – perhaps as consequences (Saturn) of earlier actions. On a health level they warn of possible obstructions, devitalization or age-related issues, or ailments associated with Melancholy, humorally speaking. These would benefit from ‘warm and moist’ remedies – broths, teas, small and regular cooked meals, keeping warm, and gentle convalescence, while avoiding sleep deprivation, coffee, or staying up late at night – so probably not an ideal time to be assuming command of a global superpower.  Heaviness, fatigue, depression, numbness or cramps may feature, as well as issues in one or more Saturn-in-Cancer body parts described earlier (stomach, liver, lungs, breast, kidneys and lower back, bowels, bladder or private parts).

Following the choleric and potentially cardiovascular complication of the Sun-Mars direction in 2017, 2018 saw the perfection of two more major stressful Primary Directions, Saturn’s dexter square to Mars and Mars’ opposition to the Moon. The first of these commingles Melancholy and Choler, a combination of two very ‘drying’ humours, and signifies a great increase in physical stress and challenge – I think of it as a potential ‘breaking point’ combination, as it does carry a risk of broken bones. In Trump’s case, it would correlate with more overt conflict or challenges from or with professional and personal partners, perhaps due to past associations and contracts, leading to stonewalling or ‘cold war’ – this is a pressure cooker aspect, liable to exacerbate both any age-related functional deficiencies and any inflammatory or cardiovascular issues. Mars’ opposition to the Moon stirs up Choler or heat, this time liable to have signified potential inflammatory issues or surgical intervention on Mr. Trump’s stomach and digestion and pelvic area (hips or sacral spine), as these are described by his Moon in Sagittarius in the 4^th house. This also emphasises conflict with women – perhaps the Stormie Daniels era.

Zodiacal releasing and health issues

Chris Brennan commented on The Astrology Podcast during Trump’s run for presidency against Hilary Clinton that Trump was in a 12^th house period by Zodiacal Releasing from his Lot of Spirit (discussed below), a period lasting from 29^th August 2000 to 20^th April 2025. At the time, Mr. Brennan speculated that this may not bode well for his success in the election, but stopped short of making a prediction. Trump won the presidency, but looking at the slew of highly stressful Primary Directions in that period – and, thinking of Algol on Trump’s MC and the conjunction of his MC ruler with the ruler of the 6^th house – it seems very likely that Chris’ analysis was essentially correct. As is often the case with a complex divinatory art that gives a thousand mile high aerial view of events, astrology often correctly articulates the true nature of events, which we may not be able to perceive at the time. It seems highly likely that Mr. Trump’s assumption of the office of president set in train a barrage of personal stressors and reputational calamities which, even for someone with such a robust constitution, are triggers for physical ailments that may only be becoming symptomatically visible to the outside world now that his Alchocoden has elapsed. Mr. Trump doesn’t have any more seriously health-challenging Primary Directions until his mid-90’s, but he does have a significant health alteration signified by both Zodiacal releasing and by the eclipses coming up in the next year and a half.

                Zodiacal releasing is a method described in detail in the anthology of Vettius Valens, brought to greater public notice and taught by Demetra George and Chris Brennan. Briefly, each sign of the zodiac is allotted a number of years, weeks, months, or days – e.g. Venus-ruled signs give 8, Mars-ruled signs give 15. Two Lots or Arabic Parts are of central importance in this method: the Lot of Fortune (Fortuna) and the Lot of Spirit (Spirit), calculated by taking the distance in zodiacal longitude between the Sun and Moon and projecting it in the order of the signs from the ascendant. By convention, Fortuna is calculated by taking the distance between the sect light (Sun in diurnal charts, Moon in nocturnal charts) and the other Luminary and projecting it from the Ascendant, whereas Spirit is calculated by reversing the Luminaries in the previous formula: taking the distance from the Luminary out of Sect to the Sect light and projecting it from the Ascendant. In Zodiacal releasing, Spirit is used to describe issues relating to life direction, public events, the psyche, and pursuit of goals; Fortune relates more to physical health, wealth, and circumstance. The sign in which a Lot is placed determines the first few years of life, then the next sign in zodiacal order is looked at. A sign containing or aspected by a benefic is made fortunate, conversely a sign containing or aspected by a malefic is unfortunate. There are many more nuances and details to the technique, but this gives the broad strokes.

                For medical astrology, we will release from Fortuna, which has greater signification of the body. Trump’s Fortuna is on his Descendant in Aquarius, which has 30 years; the count then moves on to Pisces (12 years), Aries (15 years), Taurus (8 years), Gemini (20 years), then Cancer (25 years). It is during his Gemini period that his Alchocoden elapses. The Gemini period appears to be relatively fortunate for health overall: Gemini is trined by Jupiter, but receives the sextile of Mars. Mars’ sextile may bring some harm, but the supportive trine from Jupiter would be much more significant. However it is unreasonable to expect that the whole twenty-year period should signify consistent wealth and health. Zodiacal Releasing has ‘levels’ – Trump’s overall 20 year Gemini period is Level One, and Level Two is a sub-division of Level One, counted in months, starting from the beginning of the Level One Gemini period – so the first 20 months of the Gemini period are Level Two Gemini, then 25 months belongs to Cancer, then 19 months to Leo, 20 months to Virgo, 8 months to Libra, and so on.

If a Level One period is long enough, the whole Zodiac can be traversed in Level Two before the Level One period expires. When that happens, rather than repeating the cycle and going back to the starting sign, it flips to the sign opposite the starting sign. This flip is called a ‘Loosing of the Bond’, and when it happens in Level Two from Spirit it indicates major events affecting career, life direction, and identity. When a Loosing of the Bond happens in Level Two from Fortuna, it indicates major health or wealth changes. Mr. Trump has a Level 2 Loosing of the Bond in November 2027 when his Zodiacal releasing count completes a full Level 2 circuit of the zodiac and flips from Taurus to Sagittarius, the sign of his eclipsed Moon conjunct the South Node. This is certain to indicate a major health event – because it is a Loosing of the Bond from Fortuna, because the Moon sensitises the body, because eclipses are themselves disruptive, and because the South Node is enervating.

 Eclipses

                Eclipses falling on sensitive points in a chart, such as the angles, Sun, Moon, Fortune, or Spirit, often indicate disruptive life changes. As Mr. Trump is himself born on a lunar eclipse – sometimes a sign that a person is a key player in watershed moments of their lifetime - it seems reasonable to assume that for him, eclipses are even more personally significant. The so-called Great American Eclipse on 21^st August 2017, visible all across America, occurred at 28 degrees Leo, close to Trump’s Mars return (Mars was at 20° Leo). This was a north node eclipse – all eclipses are disruptive, but the north node brings things in while the south node takes them out. Whether what is brought in or taken out is ultimately good or bad, constructive or destructive, depends on the context and the nature of the eclipse. Here, the luminaries were co-present with Mars on Trump’s ascendant, so in any case this eclipse would have been highly significant for him. At the time, both I and some astrological colleagues predicted that this could have negative health consequences for Mr. Trump, yet none were visible – however, as the astrology tells us, perhaps all these consequences were not publicly apparent.

                Claudius Ptolemy wrote in Tetrabiblos that the full onset of events related to a solar eclipse may not occur until up to a year later, depending on where the eclipse was located in the sky. If the eclipse was located on the Ascendant, events may begin immediately; on the Midheaven, six months hence, and the peak intensity of the effects would fall midway in the predicted duration of the events; and on the Descendant, full effects would be manifest a year later, and the peak effects would occur toward the end of the predicted period of effects.   The disruptive events would last, according to Ptolemy, for as many years as the eclipse lasted in hours    

The 2017 Great American eclipse occurred in the 9^th quadrant house over Washington, and, according to Wikipedia, the total eclipse began at 16:48:32 UTC and ended at 20:01:35[4], so it had a duration of 3.22 hours. Ergo the events could be expected to begin six or seven months after the date of the eclipse, in early 2018, peak effects would occur in 2019, and the events signified by the eclipse would persist for at least three and a quarter years, until late 2020. The Wall Street Journal reported on President Trump’s affair with Stormy Daniels in January 2018, which resulted in her filing her first lawsuit against Trump in March, and in January 2018 a federal government shut down occurred over a weekend, which presaged a 35-day shutdown later that year over expanding US-Mexico border expenses – appropriate for Mars’ involvement. Calls for impeachment of the president began in 2019, and he was first impeached later that year. Looking at the astrology’s intense activation of Mars, and the tough Primary Directions in effect, all of these events seem likely to have resulted in some health issues from which, at the time, he was to a large extent shielded (astrologically speaking) by his Alchocoden.

                Eclipses occur in 18-19 year cycles, so approximately nine years later another solar eclipse falls on Mr. Trump’s ascendant, this time occurring close to the South Node on 12^th August 2026, and lasting just over 1.5 hours (from 16:59 to 18:35 UTC). This eclipse, though, will not be visible in Washington – so its significance for the USA may be expected to be lesser than the eclipse that brought Trump to power. While this eclipse occurs earlier in the sign at 20° Leo, the node itself is at 29° Leo, exactly on Mr. Trump’s Ascendant, and – perhaps significantly – Mars, Trump’s Alchocoden, is at 0° Cancer, in the sign of its Fall and in aversion to Mr. Trump’s Ascendant. The new moon occurs just before midday in Washington, so conjoins the local MC at 25° Leo. This presages regime change – Washington being the political capital of America, and solar eclipses in general representing the fall of kings and leaders, and the MC being the seat of government in the chart. With the eclipse not being visible in Washington this may suggest only a partial regime change – Trump’s fall may not alter the political landscape wholly. With the strongly enervating presence of the South Node on Trump’s Ascendant at the time, and the weakness of Mars, this signifies a loss of personal power and influence, and this symmetry is apt for a man born on an eclipse, and who came to power under the influence of a solar eclipse in Leo.

Using Ptolemy’s timing rules, the full effects or consequences of the August 2026 eclipse may be expected in six months’ time, by early 2027, and its peak effects nine months later, in Q2 of 2027, with the full duration of its effects extending to 2028. This lines up neatly with the Level 2 Loosing of the Bond affecting Trump’s health in November 2027, and may signify his passing from power or shuffling off the mortal coil.

 Remediation?

                If Mr. Trump were a client, even lacking access to his medical history, certain conservative and generic recommendations can be made on the basis of his natal chart. As a primarily choleric person, he would benefit from cooling measures such as a diet with more fruit, vegetables and fibre, more water, and limited red meat, salt, fried foods and coffee or stimulants. So long as he remains physically strong enough, gentle exercise followed by brief saunas could be used to reduce inflammation, on the basis that brief exposure to heat or cold when in good health generate their opposite, and saunas are known to increase the production of anti-inflammatory heat shock proteins.   To help support his cardiovascular system, liver, and kidneys, some plants ruled by the Sun (his Hyleg and Ascendant ruler) and Mars (his Alchocoden, in mutual reception with his Sun) could be safely recommended.

The grape vine is a traditionally Solar plant, and grape seed (Vitis vinifera) flour or powder could be added to the daily diet to support microcirculation, as grape seed polyphenols are antioxidants which may assist with brain aging, lipid profile, and cancer prevention.[5]   Hawthorn, a Martial plant, also contains many oligomeric procyanidins (OPCs) which support cardiovascular function and improve blood lipid profiles[6], and the berries and young leaves could also be incorporated into the daily diet in a variety of ways, or taken as a tincture or extract. Both of these plants are food-grade, well tested by both history and contemporary science, and unlikely to interact negatively with most prescription medications. There are a myriad of other herbal and therapeutic possibilities, but more detailed prescribing would require a full medical history.

                Some ancient societies would sacrifice an animal in place of the king (a literal scapegoat) on the day of an eclipse to avert disaster, but such ‘magical thinking’ is anathema to contemporary sensibilities. It may be possible, though, for a Machiavellian ruler to avert personal disaster by deposing a significant subordinate while retreating to a safe distance at the time of the eclipse.  As an eclipse-born person with Mars rising on Regulus, Trump has been adept at averting personal disaster for some time, and, it may be argued, at finding (often willing) scapegoats, but it seems the cumulative effects of previous stressors – social and physiological – are catching up to him. The ‘fate gate’ of the south node eclipse this year, bookending the north node eclipse that marked his first year in power, may prove to be inevitable.  If he survives the next two years he may yet live into his late 90s, but it seems likely that the health ramifications of the previous decade’s stressful events are now catching up with him.

References

Al-Kindi (9^th Century), translated by Dykes, B. (2011). The Forty Chapters of al-Kindi. The Cazimi Press, MN, U.S.A.

Biel, W., &   Kępińska-Pacelik, J. (2026). Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna Jacq.): A Review of Therapeutic Potential and Applications. Molecules. Jan 9; 31, (2): 226.

Bonatti, G. [trans. & ed. Dykes, B.] (1277, trans.2010). Bonatti on Nativities: Guido Bonatti’s Book of Astronomy Treatise 9: On Nativites. Cazimi Press, MN, USA.

Brady, B. (1998). Brady’s Book of Fixed Stars. Weiser, Inc., M.E. U.S.A.

Brennan, C. (2017). Hellenistic Astrology: The Study of Fate and Fortune. Amor Fati Productions, Denver, Colorado, USA.

Culpeper, N. (1655; repub. 2003). Astrological Judgment of Diseases from the Decumbiture of the Sick. Astrology Classics, U.S.A.

Dunn, B. (2009). Horary Astrology Re-Examined: The Possibility or Impossibility of the Matter Propounded. The Wessex Astrologer, Bournemouth, U.K.

Frawley, J. (2002). The Real Astrology Applied. Apprentice Books, London, U.K.

Gansten, M. ( 2009). Primary Directions: Astrology’s Old Master Technique. The Wessex Astrologer, Bournemouth, UK.

Greenbaum, D. (2005). Temperament: Astrology’s Forgotten Key. The Wessex Astrologer, Bournemouth, UK.

Lilly, W. (1647; repub. 2004). Christian Astrology, Book III. Astrology Classics, U.S.A.

Maternus, F. trans. Rhys Bram, J. (4th century, trans. 2005) . Ancient Astrology in Theory and Practice: Matheseos Libri VIII. Astrology Classics, U.S.A.

Ptolemy, C. [trans. Ashmand, J.] (5th Century, repub. 2002) Tetrabiblos: The famous paraphrase by Proclus. Astrology Classics, USA.

Robson, V. (1923, repub. 2005). The Fixed Stars and Constellations in Astrology. Astrology Classics, Abingdon MD, USA.

Saunders, R. (1677; repub. 2003). The Astrological Judgment and Practice of Physick. Astrology Classics, U.S.A.

Sochorova, L., Prusova, B., Cebova, M., Jurikova, T., Mlcek, J., Adamkova, A., Nedomova, S., Baron, M., & Sochor, J. (2020). Health Effects of Grape Seed and Skin Extracts and Their Influence on Biochemical Markers. Molecules. Nov 14; 25, (22): 5311.

Zoller, R. (2004). Tools & Techniques of the Medieval Astrologer – Book One, Prenatal Concerns and the Calculation of the Length of Life. New Library Ltd., London UK www.new-library.com

[1] Robson, 1923.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Culpeper, 1655.

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_August_21,_2017 [Accessed 1^st May 2026]

[5] Schorova et al., 2020.

[6] Kepinska-Pacelik & Biel, 2026.