How Mercury in Libra May Play Into the Presidential Transition of Power, According to an Astrologer

Just a few hours after Mercury retrograde ended on Election Day (November 3 at 12:49 p.m., ET), Donald Trump appeared to be taking the lead of the presidential race. It’s crucial to know that messenger Mercury rules not only transportation, technology, communication, and commerce, but it also rules the post office. In the days that followed, the planet stationed direct as the mail-in ballots were counted, and Trump ultimately lost his lead to Joe Biden, who would soon be declared president elect.

On November 7, at 11:25 a.m., ET, the Associated Press declared Joe Biden the victor while Mercury was transiting Libra. Mercury previously transited Libra at the end of September, when Trump was asked if he would participate in a peaceful transition of power should he lose the election. At that time, Trump answered “We’re going to have to see what happens…Get rid of the ballots, and you’ll have a very—there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There’ll be a continuation.” His answer was summed up as “a refusal to guarantee a violence-free transition.”

Libra—the sign in which Mercury traveled retrograde, then stationed direct in on Election Day through when Biden was declared the winner—is the peaceful, diplomatic, negotiating sign. That’s almost comical to remember, given how un-Libra-like in nature recent political conversations in the United States have been. Trump himself refusing to diplomatically concede and commit to a peaceful transition of power is a historical first.

What Mercury in Libra wants is for the tension of interrelated oppositions to spark ideas that will unite.

Given that Mercury rules language communication and Libra rules the balance and nature in polarities, how can we—everyone, including politicians—find ways to understand and grow mutually? We must first understand whether the problem at hand can be solved period or is more of an ongoing polarity, paradox, or dilemma that must be managed. What Mercury in Libra wants is for the tension of interrelated oppositions to spark ideas that will unite. As F. Scott Fitzgerald, a Libra, wrote in 1936, “the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”

So to find our way back to each other and understand the interrelatedness, let’s use the polarity management methodology of Barry Johnson, PhD, researcher, author, and founder of Polarity Partnerships consulting: Replace “either/or” frameworks with one that’s “both/and,” and also note the purpose of your perspective and your “deeper fear” that guides it. Doing so provides us with the language to discuss what we believe in and then dialogue about it. Then, we can be less focused on the opposition itself and more centered on finding connectivity and healing.

Mercury in Libra isn’t only about justice, either; Libra loves to love. So, could “love” be an antidote for the polarity? Yes. In a 1957 speech, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. noted that the biblical call to love your enemy significantly doesn’t command to simply like your enemy, meaning we can love those with whom we’re in disagreement.

It’s a tall and mighty order to go from fear and disgust to seeing, loving, and understanding. But we are incarnated in this moment because we are all equipped to take political dialogue, with the help of Mercury in Libra, from contempt to connection and polarized to optimized. The transition of power can happen, and peacefully so.

Oh hi! You look like someone who loves free workouts, discounts for cult-fave wellness brands, and exclusive Well+Good content. Sign up for Well+, our online community of wellness insiders, and unlock your rewards instantly.