Wedding Day Astrology: McCain – Shepp 7.3.65

Would a few of my notes on the Wedding Day of John McCain and first wife Carol Shepp be of interest to you? If not, read no further!

On July 3, 1965 in Philadelphia, where Carol Shepp (born 1937 or ’38) grew up, John and Carol were wed when the Sun was in Cancer (’12Can’) and Moon sojourned in Virgo through day and evening.

The pair began dating in 1964 in Pensacola, Florida, where McCain was stationed at the Naval Air Basic Training Command, and after their wedding John adopted Carol’s two sons from her first marriage.

So let’s peek at the Sun (male)-Moon (female) blend of energies since the Sun-Moon combo relates directly to marriage, and remembering that their Wedding Day Astrology chart describes the relationship, and may give inklings about the two participants individually as well. I suspect you can identify which is which as you read.

Sun Cancer, sign of Home, Mother, and Family, and Moon in Virgo, the dedicated nurturer who tends to sacrifice–dare I say it since it was the 60s–for her man. (Virgo is also linked with ‘the virgin”, of course.) And if you know anything of their history you know she sent letters to him while he was a POW in Vietnam (some of which got through) and that she worked in the POW/MIA movement of the time.

Excellent lady, wife, and mother, I’d say.

Sun Can-Moon Virgo, a Water-Earth blend, together gives a practical and concerned nature, a sense of duty, and yet has a timid streak; it is proper but forgiving, loyal and self-controlled, and there is integrity and shrewdness. Domestic organization is important and caring attentiveness is a hallmark of this pairing.

In relationships the love nature blossoms when in a committed and happy relationship, and domesticity brings out the best. Yet there can be fussiness even though nothing will ever be as perfect as imagined. Relationships are not entered into lightly with this combo, and there is a deep fear of being ridiculed – humiliation is an almost physical experience.

What is wanted is continuity, and when feeling safe with someone trustworthy, the personality opens up and reveals many qualities such as insight, devotion, a pure heart, and a great sense of humor.

This is the imagination + efficiency blend which can serve with both compassion and common sense.

Weaknesses include a tendency toward nagging and worrying, self-criticism which results in depleted confidence, narrow-mindedness, and a proneness to self-righteousness which clings to rules and correct procedures in order to further its control and authority; there can be a weakness toward subservience and self-effacement.

Plus, change and challenge may be seen as threatening by all Water-Earth combos.

“Images for Integration: The ‘perfect’ mother…A health visitor weighs an infant with tender precision…A wine taster makes pointed comments, restrained accolades.” (‘Sun Sign-Moon Sign,’ Chas & Suzi Harvey.)

So…someone was self-righteous and someone was subservient? Oh dear. Well, it was the 60s…

As you may know, Carol was badly injured in a car accident while John was still a POW and she didn’t let him know because he was rather busy. Most wives would do same, I imagine. And Ross Perot paid for all her treatment–she had many surgeries and when John returned home, Carol walked with a cane (and kept a limp), had gained weight, and was 4 inches shorter than her 5’8″ swimwear modeling frame had been just a few years before.

I may add that the Sun’s Sabian Symbol degree for the McCain-Shepp Wedding Day (’12Can’) is: “A Woman Nursing a Baby with a Message.” And their Wedding Day shows a Mercury/Venus conjunction in early Leo–both planets conjunct asteroid Hygeia, possibly a reference to his health concerns from the war.

MCain has Mercury and Venus in mutual reception natally and his natal Sun (6Vir02–1965’s Moon conjuncted his n Sun early in the day! And at 6Vir57, his Secondary Progressed Juno, ‘the wife,’ was conjoined with his n Sun.) And natally his lusty, forceful Mars/Pluto midpoint was conjunct the Wedding Day Mercury/Venus midpoint…

Mars/Pluto = Mercury: tenacious pursuit of plans; seeing is achieving; effective salesmanship (Tyl.)

Mars/Pluto = Venus: passionate disposition; an affair; sexual adventure or even danger.

Ooh la la!

Well, there seems to be quite a kerfluffle about when McCain and his current wife began dating–apparently it was while he was yet married to Carol. Friends Ronald and Nancy Reagan were angry at McCain for years for his shabby treatment of Carol and I personally don’t blame them, do you?

As the succinct Ross Perot has summed it up:

“After (he) came home, Carol walked with a limp. So he threw her over for a poster girl with big money from Arizona and the rest is history.”

The only explanation Carol has ever given for her husband’s behavior and his rush to sudden divorce is Midlife Crisis…he was 40 when he met Cindy Hensley, so Carol is probably correct, at least in part. My intuition says that future political aspirations which require big money had something to do with it, too – and his experiences in Vietnam had to strain his emotions which are volcanic to begin with (natal Moon opposite Pluto.)

But these sudden midlife crisis changes happen thousands of times each day, don’t they? And John had been a philanderer prior to Cupid’s arrow piercing his heart for love of Cindy, the Hensley heir.

Is he prone to love affairs? Descriptively,  we see that *McCain has his Venus/Uranus midpoint conjunct natal Midheaven, and Venus/Uranus energy is famous for its separation (Uranus) in love (Venus) tendencies. There’s a certain flavor of ‘unusual love inclinations’ and ‘self-willedness in love’ which may be also be present. (Reinhold Ebertin’s ‘The Combination of Stellar Influences.’)

So with MC being the most visible point in a chart, we have…

Venus/Uranus = MC: getting involved with someone quickly; an affair breaking open to public view; a high degree of excitability in love; love adventures; engagement.

McCain seems to have purchased the second marriage’s license before his first marriage was over. Nice.

So I shall close this Page with a quote from suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst who natally shares the Sun Can-Moon Virgo blend. She observed:

“It was becoming clear to my mind that men regarded women as a servant class in the community, and that women were going to remain in the servant class until they lifted themselves out of it.”

And chauvinistically, millions of emotionally insecure men still do.

~:~

* see Pages list for John McCain’s natal chart with a few details. And for some reason, I published the John and Cindy McCain Wedding Day Astrology article as a post rather than a Page. Oops.