Governor of California Gavin Newsom has certainly been stirring the pot lately. Instead of taking the usual cautious, buttoned-up Democratic approach, he’s fighting fire with fire by brilliantly mocking Trump and turning TACO’s trademark hubris and pomp right back on him. For those of us who’ve been frustrated watching Democrats play it safe as Trump shreds America’s founding safeguards and gambles recklessly with the economy, Newsom’s willingness to strike back offers a sense of relief.
I had to take a look at Newsom’s natal chart. Fortunately, we have an accurate birth time. Here are the highlights which I’ll break down one by one:
- Virgo Rising with the Ascendant conjunct Pluto & Uranus
- Eclipses occurring across the 1st and 7th axis
- Saturn in Aries—2nd Saturn Return
- 10th House Profection Year highlighting career and public reputation
- Libra Sun
- Capricorn Moon
- Three planets in Fall and one in Detriment
Virgo Rising conjunct Pluto & Uranus—A Catalyst for Purification and Power
Gavin Newsom’s chart carries the signature of someone born to shake things up. His Virgo Ascendant is tightly conjunct Pluto and 5° from Uranus signifying someone who came into this world to disrupt, liberate, transform, and restructure systems so that something more refined can emerge. He does this through Virgo’s devotion to public service, Uranus’s revolutionary drive for change, and Pluto’s call to return empowerment back to the people.
Eclipses—1st & 7th Houses
From September 2024 through February 2027, many of the eclipses fall across the Virgo-Pisces axis. For Newsom, this axis energizes his 1st House of self and the 7th House of partnerships Eclipses bring fated openings and dramatic turning points, often ushering in a new era of life, especially when they land in angular houses (1st, 4th, 7th, 10th).
With Newsom’s Ascendant in Virgo, every eclipse along the Virgo-Pisces axis pulls him further into his life path, activating his personal identity while pushing him to step more fully into who he is and how he presents himself. These eclipses can feel fated, creating moments where his visibility increases naturally. The pressure to align his outer behavior with his inner truth forces growth, compelling him to assert himself more boldly. As we step into eclipses season in September, we can expect Newsom’s drive to disrupt and transform amplify in ways that feel fated and impossible to ignore.
Saturn Return
Saturn in Aries widely opposed his Libra Sun is another key signature in his chart. With Newsom’s Saturn at 8° Aries, he’s entering his second Saturn return, which will be exact in April, November, and December of 2026 and January of 2027. Saturn’s slow, disciplined, and structured nature often clashes with Aries’ impulsive, assertive, and Mars-driven energy, creating tension between caution and action. People with Saturn in Aries often struggle with authority, resist being controlled, and feel compelled to stand up to bullies; but through experience, they learn to channel their boldness with strategy and patience.
In Newsom’s chart, this placement functions as a structural check on raw, reactive power, particularly the kind Trump exudes. Saturn provides restraint and long-term accountability, while Aries gives a courageous, direct, and assertive style. Together, they allow him to confront, limit, and redirect aggressive energy in ways that uphold rules, boundaries, and responsibility, making him a stabilizing presence in moments of high-stakes conflict.
Interestingly, the second Saturn Return is a kind of reckoning. While the first Saturn Return is about laying foundations such as establishing the structure of our adult lives, careers, and responsibilities, the second Saturn Return asks us to assess, consolidate, and perfect those structures. It’s a time we reap what we have sown. We can directly link major life events and themes back to our first Saturn Return.
Newsom’s first Saturn Return in 1996 coincided with his entry into politics, when San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown appointed him to the city’s Parking and Traffic Commission. In Dairy of a CEO, he explains that his foray into politics was unplanned yet transformative. The appointment changed his direction from business to public service. The ensuing learning phase was critical in shaping his future political career. And now, as he nears his second Saturn Return, it will be interesting to see if he steps more fully into a greater political role.
The second Saturn Return often brings clarity about what is truly ours to carry, what we have outgrown, and where we need to exercise more discipline, patience, and strategic foresight. It is a moment of accountability and realignment, where experience meets ambition, and we are called to step more fully into mature authority and self-mastery.
10th House Profection Year
This year, at age 57, Newsom is in a 10th House profection, a year that amplifies themes of reputation, ambition, and leadership. In a 10th House year, public standing, professional achievements, and the exercise of authority come to the forefront, often bringing both opportunities and heightened scrutiny. For Newsom, this is a time when career decisions, visible actions, and how he is perceived by others carry extra weight, and when the choices he makes can have lasting impact on his legacy. It’s a year for stepping into responsibility, asserting leadership, and aligning personal goals with public expectations.
Libra Sun
Newsom’s Libra Sun adds another dimension. Libra at its best seeks justice, fairness, and balance. Diplomacy is the sign’s gift, but Newsom shows that diplomacy doesn’t always mean passivity. His Sun energizes him to fight fire with fire, yet with a sense of style and dignity. In interviews, Newsom has shared he enjoys engaging with people who hold different viewpoints, reflecting Libra’s talent for weighing multiple perspectives, seeking fairness, and appreciating nuance. This openness to dialogue illustrates his ability to balance competing interests and make measured, considered decisions, even in complex or contentious situations.
Capricorn Moon
Then there’s his Capricorn Moon. The Moon describes our inner world, our instincts, and our emotional drive. In Capricorn, the Moon is pragmatic, grounded, and disciplined. It does not flinch from hard realities. This placement gives him emotional toughness and the ability to keep going when others might fold. It also lends a seriousness that balances out the more performative qualities of his chart.
The Moon often describes our mother and her nurturing style. Newsom’s Moon in Capricorn vividly reflects his mother, whose determination, discipline, and resilience shaped his early emotional world. In Diary of a CEO, He describes her as having “sacrificed everything for two kids,” raising him and his sister largely on her own after his father left, while “grinding” as a part-time waitress. She “came from no wealth, no real privilege,” and struggled with her own identity and confidence, yet became the “anchor, the rock,” a “rockstar single mom.” Newsom credits her influence with instilling his work ethic, noting that “everything that finds the best of me—grit, hard work—is reflected in her” and that she taught him “nothing’s going to be handed to you.” Emotional responsibility, self-reliance, and practical ambition: all hallmarks of Capricorn.
Even though Newsom’s Moon is said to be in detriment in Capricorn, it helped cultivate the disciplined, persevering, and achievement-oriented qualities Newsom exudes.
Planets in Fall and Detriment can shape Magic Moments
Besides his Moon in detriment, Newsom has three planets in fall. These placements are not easy, but they often forge resilience and resourcefulness. Such placements give rise to an underdog quality, requiring the individual to creatively work with limitations, and sharpen their will through adversity.
In Newsom, this scrappy edge is evident in his humble beginnings, self-reliance, and relentless work ethic. He “didn’t come from any wealth,” grew up witnessing his mother “grinding” across multiple jobs, and learned early on that “nothing’s going to be handed to you.” Academic struggles, including severe dyslexia, forced him to develop inventive strategies to succeed and shaped a mindset that embraces perseverance, adaptation, and “failing forward fast.”
In fact, the Fail Forward Fast method is a great example of planets in fall and detriment! To encourage this mindset in others, Newsom implemented a “failure award” in his businesses, giving a bonus each month to the employee with the “biggest screw-up” because they had “tried to solve a goddamn problem.” Later, renamed the “magical moment award,” it incentivized initiative, experimentation, and smart risk-taking, much like planets in signs contrary to their nature which are challenged to act creatively and resourcefully beyond their usual tendencies.
This combination of challenge and determination helped Newsom transform early obstacles into the grit, hard work, and entrepreneurial drive.
Altogether, Newsom’s chart is alive with the signatures of transformation, responsibility, and public visibility. The eclipses, Saturn Return, and 10th House profection year converge to create a turning point that could catapult his career and his legacy.