The Astrology of Gavin Newsom

With whispers of the 2024 presidential election within earshot, Gavin Newsom has come up in conversations in the Democrat Party. Certainly, nothing is set in stone, likely with Joe Biden to receive the nomination. But, in the spirit of speculation, let’s take a look at Gavin Newsom’s star chart just to have a better understanding of what drives him.

Fresh off of his win against the California recall of his governorship, Gavin’s name continues to catch wind in his sails. Albeit, not always for good reasons. But, I consistently try to give each subject the benefit of the doubt and come from a place of neutrality.

Newsom has been in politics since 1995 when he worked for Willie Brown’s San Fransisco mayoral campaign. Then, in 2004, Newsom became the mayor of San Fransisco himself.

Interestingly, Newsom has dyslexia and struggled with academics most of his life. However, this is not indicative of a lack of intellect, simply a condition. And we’ll look at this later in Newsom’s chart.

Without further ado, let’s kick things off with a bang because Mr. Newsom has a big one. Uranus conjunct Pluto, conjunct the ascendant! Wow. Either of of these conjunct the ascendant is quite potent on their own, but both at the same time is really a powerhouse. And quite honestly, they may make his life difficult in many ways, as these are considered “malefic.”

Pluto conjunct Uranus is a once-in-a-lifetime positioning of the planets, as these two are slow-moving and take a long time to rotate around the Sun. But when they do, they combine an intense need for freedom with an intense need for control. These are diametrically opposed, and so have a kind of push-pull effect on the native. Oftentimes, said control can come from outside forces as if one has no sovereignty over their own life. This can lead to outbursts and drama, controversy and scandal. Yet, the native also has a unique ability to build their life back up again from the ashes in a flash of sudden inspiration.

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When the two aforementioned planets are found on the ascendant, these experiences described above become very personal. They are bound up into the person’s utter being, possibly even related to their physical body and looks as well. Found elsewhere in the chart, this combo might not cause as much havoc. But here on the ascendant, it is front and center at every moment of their existence.

And if matters weren’t crazy enough, Gavin has Mars square both these previous two planets and the ascendant. A triple threat. Mars square Pluto, Mars square Uranus, and Mars square ascendant. Incredible, really. And each of these brings its own special set of problems are that considered difficult to possess all on their own.

Mars square Pluto is a whole thing. This position is often associated with violence, jealousy, anger, and intense ambition. It does not have to mean the person is these things, it could be any one of them, or even result in compulsions. But, it’s rough to deal with. Yet, it has its upsides as well. The drive to get things done, to endure harsh conditions, and maintain the strength and willpower to survive and even succeed are all part and parcel, too.

Mars square Uranus is someone who is imbued with an electric-like energy. They do shocking things, they can be explosive and unrestrained, and will surprise you at every step. But, until some maturity and learned discipline is applied to tame this energy, it can be dangerous with risks being taken for the sake of breaking the mold or gaining freedom.

Mars square ascendant is a little better than the other two. It gives abundant energy and motivation. However, the person can come across as a little aggressive in their interactions with people. So they just need to take care and tone it down a bit.

Now that we’ve established some of his more masculine tendencies, let’s move on to some positive things. And nothing is better than Venus conjunct Jupiter! In fact, this aspect is so good, it likely has a huge mitigating effect on everything we just went over prior. This is a beautiful, harmonious placement that causes love of non-conflict, softness, an appreciation of art, and especially attracts popularity and wealth. One easily rises to the top with this conjunction present. And when combined with the drive and ambition of the Mars, Pluto, and Uranus contacts, you tend to find someone that wants to climb the mountain in search of their goals.

Added to this, is actually Mars, again. But this time, in a flowing trine angle, rather than the square which is problematic. This gorgeous trine to Venus and Jupiter gives him good looks and luck in his endeavors. It’s a very nice addition to this already wonderful aspect.

But then there’s Sun opposite Saturn. And this has the effect of dampening self-esteem. Likely, the dyslexia we mentioned at the beginning of the article is felt here. He feels inhibited. And when we see that he has a great desire to be uninhibited by the Pluto-Uranus-ascendant conjunction, it’s easy to see a great pressure that builds within him. Sometimes, a father complex is present here as well.

Lastly, we see that Gavin Newsom’s Mercury, his thinking, only has one major aspect. This is a sextile to his Moon. It’s all in all a good aspect, having to do with being in touch with one’s feelings and the ability to verbalize them. But, it does nothing to strengthen the mind and give it great form like having aspect to one of the outer planets. However, there is one minor aspect that we don’t often talk about here called the “sesquiquadrate.” This is like a more complicated form of a square, making matters difficult to suss out. And it just so happens to make this aspect to Chiron, the wounded healer. Chiron rules over pain, and hopefully, transcendence of it. But Chiron himself was never able to cure his own pain, and thus merely learned to deal with it, turning his efforts to find a cure into great medical knowledge he passed on to others. This was what I saw in his dyslexia from the start.

Obviously, Governor Newsom has overcome huge personal obstacles to get where he is today. While I fear there is a dangerous undertone to his personality, he appears to control it well, outwardly. My opinion is that he must be watched to be made to harness these energies for good, rather than give in to them such as in his hypocritical scandal during the Covid lockdowns, where he dined with friends at an expensive restaurant, free of masks, while the rest of California sat at home, some even jailed for defying the lockdown orders.

I think this is one example of the potentially massive opposing forces of nature within a person. We cannot truly know them until we see Heaven’s blueprint and contrast it against our experience with the person. Yet, even difficult or dangerous-looking astrological aspects can be overcome by the human will. Time will tell all.