In the Astrologer's Corner of the Oct-Dec 2012 issue of Venture Inward magazine, I noted the following:

Here we go again. Mercury will change direction, turning retrograde (Rx), on election day, November 6, 2012. Remember the Bush-Gore election in 2000 with the "hanging chads" and vote recounts? Mercury also changed direction on election day 2000. ... In the 2012 election there could be a possible breakdown in communications, even recounts, or irregularities that might eventually have some court involvement (Mercury will be in Sagittarius, ruler of the courts).

Well, the 2012 election is over, and the public did not see recounts or court involvements, but does that mean Mercury Rx was not an influence?

There was some definite confusion on Election Day, with long lines and some delays—especially with Florida's returns. David Letterman cracked a joke after the election about a 98-year-old woman who had voted for the first time in this election...but she had been in line since she was 78.

In addition, a little published fact about the actions of Mitt Romney provides an excellent example of how the use of the free will can change and negate the influences of astrology (although I assume that Romney had no knowledge of the Mercury Rx).

The Cayce readings emphasized over and over that the study of astrology can be helpful to everyone, but it never supersedes the power of free will. In the words of astrologer Dennis Harness PhD, "astrology is a 'choice revealer,' not a 'choice maker.'" Astrology shows influences only, but we still retain our free will to look at the choices that are revealed and make the most constructive choice we can.

An article titled "The Moment When Mitt Romney Knew He Had Lost" by Josh Voorhees was spotted by one of my clients and sent to me after the election. An excerpt from the article goes like this:

"Late Tuesday night, Karl Rove made quite the show of challenging Fox News' 'projection that President Obama had won Ohio, and thus a second term in office. Mitt Romney's staff was likewise ready to deploy to the Buckeye State and a trio of other battleground states to challenge the election-night tallies. For a moment, however brief, a prolonged political and legal fight over who had won the election appeared well within the realm of possibility... But then, Mr. Romney quietly decided it was over. 'It's not going to happen,' he said.'"

The possibility for this election ending up in court was clearly indicated in astrology by Mercury Rx in Sagittarius, and according to this report, the option was presented to Romney by Carl Rove and his staff. But Romney, using his free will, as the Cayce readings so often emphasized as the only way to work with astrology, made a different choice.

No matter what our own personal political beliefs are, we can recognize that an astrological influence was present, but the free will of a human overrode it.