We finish up the natal series on Ted Kennedy with a look at the testimonies in progressions and returns for his death on August 25, 2009.

As a reminder, we start with progressions and focus on progressed Asc, MC, Sun, Moon, Fortuna, and Spirit to start, comparing these points against the radix to see what the progressions pick up on. The progression is not a chart, per se, so it is not included in the gallery below. You can cast it using your astro-software, progressing Mr. Kennedy's natal chart to January 1, 2009.

1980 was the year of Ted Kennedy’s only bid for the presidency, challenging incumbent president Jimmy Carter for the Democratic nomination. Running for the nation’s highest office is a heavy undertaking; surely this was a difficult decision, made with great care and understanding the burdens it would involve. But being a Kennedy of his generation, he was expected to run at some point; and so the time had come.

Ted Kennedy was first elected US Senator from Massachusetts on November 6, 1962 at the age of 30. Fourty-four years later he would be elected to his eighth term, serving a total of 47 years in the Senate by the time of his death in 2009.

What might we expect to see in Mr. Kennedy’s charts for this first career achievement? Along with the lights or super-lights, surely Lord 10 Mars will be involved in some way. Jupiter in its role as natural significator of statesmen might also speak up: Senators are the noblemen of Congress, serving for six rather than four years and generally holding more stature than Representatives.

Ted Kennedy was 37 years old at the time of the Chappaquiddick incident. This sounds young--to my ears, at least. But consider that by 1969 both of his more famous brothers had been assassinated; misfortune was no stranger. Whatever actually happened that night leading to Mary Jo Kopechne's death, Mr. Kennedy was haunted by the incident for the rest of his life.

When Ted Kennedy died I felt a great sadness; his death seemed to signal the passing of an era. I grew up in a staunchly Democratic family for whom social justice was very important. The Kennedys fought for social justice in the national political arena, and we loved them dearly for that.

Here is a beginning study of Ted Kennedy’s natal chart (below), originally undertaken after his death and recently updated to reflect my evolving knowledge and understanding of traditional natal astrology.