Astrology of the 1888 Presidential Election

This is the third in a series of articles examining clues to the winner of the U.S. Presidential elections in Aries Ingress horoscopes. Click on the Presidential Election tag in this post to see all articles in the series. We are examining all U.S. Presidential elections from 1880 to 2016, each time adding to our list of rules to determine the winner.

1888 Presidential Election Horoscope

We cast the Aries Ingress horoscope set for Washington, D.C. in the given Presidential Election year.  The Aries Ingress is a horoscope set for the moment the Sun enters Aries, the start of the astrological New Year.  It is a long-standing tradition that the moment of the horoscope predicts major events for that location in the upcoming 12 months.

1888 Aries Ingress, 3/19/1888, 10:55:59 PM EST (-5), Washington, D.C.

Assumptions for Each Aries Ingress Horoscope

The incumbent party is portrayed by the 10th house of the “king.”  The challenger party is the 4th house and its ruler. This is because the 4th house is the 7th from the 10th; the king’s opponent. In our Aries Ingress horoscope, we examine what is happening to each candidate’s house to see who wins. The Aries Ingress shows which party wins the White House, not the specific candidate.

I use traditional planetary rulers of signs only (no Uranus, Neptune, Pluto).

1888 Horoscope Analysis

1. The Incumbent Party: The 10th house is ruled by Virgo, and its ruler is Mercury in Pisces, applying to conjoin the cusp of the 4th house. There are no classical planets in the 10th house, so we look exclusively to the testimony of the ruling planet. Mercury’s next aspect is a square to Jupiter in Sagittarius stationing direct (dignified in its own domicile).
2. The Challenger Party: The 4th house is ruled by Jupiter in Sagittarius. The Sun in Aries is in the 4th house, but it is far from the cusp and thus lesser in importance.

Conclusion: The challenger party wins the Presidential election.

Lessons from the 1888 Presidential Election Horoscope for Predicting the Winner:

If a planet on the 4th or 10th house cusp applies to aspect to an essentially dignified planet or if it receives the other planet, the planet on the cusp becomes the significator of the house in question. This is true even if the planet on the cusp rules the opposite house (i.e.: the opposing party). Here, Mercury rules the 10th house, but is on the 4th house cusp and applies to square to a dignified Jupiter. It was the challenging party (4th house) who benefited from the Mercury-Jupiter square, not the incumbent (10th). Mercury is received by Jupiter, but Jupiter is not received by Mercury.

Note the great similarity between this chart and that of 1884. In both cases the ruler of the 10th house conjoined the 4th house cusp and thus became the significator of the opposing party.

Possible factor to investigate in future articles: If the ruler of the 4th or 10th applies to the cusp of the opponent’s house, does it symbolize that party entering that house? That is, if Mercury applies to conjoin the 4th house cusp, does it mean the current White House party will be “brought low?”

Outcome: What Actually Happened in the 1888 Presidential Election

The Democratic Party held the White House before the election, with Grover Cleveland as President, who was seeking re-election in 1888. The Republican candidate was Benjamin Harrison. The Presidential election of 1888 was notable in that it is one of four United States presidential elections in which the future president won the electoral but not the popular vote.