Part 3: All Bad Things Must Come To An End . . . Or Not!
Let Me Tell You A Story . . . about a trial based on extensive documents and many witness statements that seemed doomed for the defendant from the beginning.
Paul Manafort is the first indicted person in the Special Counsel’s list of many indictees to come to trial in his investigation of Russian influence in the 2016 national elections of the U.S. Let us take a look at his t/Moon-opposite-n/Sun Return for August 14, 2018. This is for ‘next’ Tuesday, several days from now and will cover the following two weeks. We will be looking for key dates in this cycle for when Manafort may be found guilty or be sentenced.

This is not a striking chart in any way. There are no closely angular planets. t/Moon-t/Venus in the 7th opposes the n/Sun — far from the angles. So, what do we do with such a chart? We diurnally Advance it, day-by-day to see what will come to the angles. This chart represents the final stages of the presentation of evidence and the summation by the prosecutor and the defense lawyers that is expected early next week, possibly on Monday, more likely on Tuesday the 14th which is the date of this chart.

No one likes a story that starts with a whimper. Astrologers would not tell a client, “you have a quiet chart here, there is nothing to worry about.” Every storyteller has to find a point of tension, a challenge around which to organize his story. Reading a chart is like that — every chart has issues that are contained within it, no two weeks (the length of a Moon’s half-cycle) are likely to not bring up a tension point. By advancing the chart diurnally we can find those tension points which are often near the angles.
The process is to ‘step forward’ a day at a time and find any dates that seem more compelling and active. The first date I found that was highly active was Aug. 20th, a Monday. One would expect, that if the jury was sequestered, they would be eager to reach a verdict on a Friday so they could resume their normal lives. Yet, this is the active chart for that Monday.

- t/Neptune is just above the Asc.; lies and deception are now a personal burden for him — the claims he made are no longer valid to others. t/Sun conjoins the n/PoF; the ‘area of sensitivity to changes’ (n/PoF).
- Here we have the vertical axis active with t/Moon-MC and n/Uranus-IC; suggesting that Manafort receives an emotional shock regarding his career and public image.
- t/PoF conjoins his n/Asc.; he is personally upset on this day.
- In the 7th house, not closely angular, t/Venus conjoins n/Neptune; his values and self-assurance is undermined, the dream dissolves before him due to the wishes or actions of others (the Jury?).
So, this is one date. Another interesting date comes in the following week, August 26th, 2018.

This chart and date is interesting due to the following patterns.
- t/Saturn-MC; career, life-style, public image will be curtailed on this date.
- n/Uranus-IC; this planet of inner-change and surprises, opposite Saturn, points to a change in the status-quo brought about by others (the opposition pattern).
- t/Chiron-Asc.-n/Mercury-n/Venus opposite t/PoF-Desc.; this complex pattern shows that past issues have been opened up (t/Chiron-Asc.). This affects him personally (n/Mercury-n/Venus-Asc.). He blames the changes in his life on others (t/PoF-Desc.).
We might take note of supportive (non-angular placements) patterns such as t/Sun-semi-square (45 degrees) t/Venus, t/Sun-sesquiquadrate (135 degrees) t/)Pluto. The Sun-Venus pattern involves Manafort’s love of creature comforts and self-esteem, the Sun-Pluto pattern involves his sense of being involved in power=struggles that have overwhelmed him — a reversal of his normal exercising power plays that affect others and benefit him.
We need to think, as astrologers, about the timing of these charts and what context they may fit into for Paul Manafort. 1) The actual trial can be expected to complete the presentation of evidence and testimony by Aug. 14th, the date of this Return chart. 2) The summation of the two side’s lawyers may take only a single day, as the judge favors moving things along quickly and will not tolerate lengthy and verbose presentations. That should mean the Jury will be instructed on how to conduct their deliberations on Tuesday or Wednesday, Thursday at the latest (the 16th of August, a Thursday). 3) The chart for the 20th, the following Monday, could represent the Jury reaching a verdict. t/Moon over the MC would be consistent with that along with t/PoF-n/Asc.. 4) If so, the chart for the 26th could be a sentencing date. Since the 26th is a Sunday we have to accept that the earlier Friday or the later Monday would be chosen. Again, this is an example of ‘context.’ The judge will not work outside of the normal court-is-in-session dates. We’ll see.
These dates don’t fit my sense of how the trial phases should flow, but they do show the flow of astrological data. So, I will go with these, and will watch and comment on this third posting as events unfold. Right or wrong, we will learn from the early forecast of possible events. Dave.





