TWO U.S. CHARTS: TROPICAL AND HELIO

[This Commentary was written in early September, 2001, one week before the tragic events of September 11 which initiated a process of transformation predicted in the Commentary.]

Nobody knows for sure the precise time when the U.S. Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. Therefore, the Ascendant, house cusps, and house placements of the planets of the U.S. chart are a matter of conjecture. A number of alternative versions of the U.S. chart are circulating, with Ascendants in Gemini, Scorpio or Sagittarius. I use the Dane Rudhyar version, which puts the time at 5:14 PM, Local Mean Time, giving a 13° Sagittarius Ascendant.

However, in view of the fact that we don't really know which (if any) of the alternative tropical (earth-centered) charts are correct, I am also including and referring to the heliocentric (Sun-centered) chart for the U.S. Since a heliocentric chart remains the same for all birthtimes during one 24-hour period, this chart will give us clues as to the essence of the energentic pattern offered by the solar system on July 4, 1776.

US CHART COMMENTARY (TROPICAL)

September, 2001 This is to be a commentary on the U.S. chart, not a thorough reading. I am going to focus on just a few salient characteristics, especially as they describe and point to the significance of these years when we are entering a new century, a new millennium, and, if the U.S. chart is any indication, a possible transformation in the philosophical values and perspective of the U.S. government and its citizens.

(In my Weekly Updates, I also refer at times to the U.S. chart, highlighting events and current trends.)

How we view current events and trends depends upon the conceptual framework within which we view them. What I attempt here is to highlight certain aspects of the framework which I use to see where our beloved nation is, and is going.

A preliminary note: it is unfortunate but true that charts of nations can usually be read by looking at the lowest common denominator, i.e., the least evolved manifestations of any planet, sign, house or planetary aspect. Individuals are much more likely than nations to "work on themselves" and thus produce the evolutionary thrust to transform their beliefs, actions and way of life. Any transformation within a nation is usually forced upon it rather than generated by grace or inner desire.

However, since I am an everlastingly optimistic (some would say impossibly foolish) Sagittarian, I am betting that the U.S. will be able to transform during these millennial years. I say this because of several extraordinary current transits and progressions to the U.S. Chart. But first, let's get some background, by describing a few principal highlights:

• The Sun, in Cancer.

The U.S. is the melting pot of the world's human family: "give me your huddled masses, yearning to be free...." (George W. Bush was born on the birthday of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, giving him the same exact Sun sign and degree: his “election” may signify our nation's yearning to return to its Cancerian essence. Unfortunately, George W.’s public words and actions seems to exhibit the charactistics of unevolved Cancer: clannishness (his father's cronies back in the administration), insularity (the unilateral hyperpower foreign policy), and sentimentality (the resurrection of "family values.")

• Sun in Cancer in exact "square" (90° away from, in friction with)
10th house Saturn in Libra.

Sun square Saturn signifies an enormous engine for work and construction, work that is never done. We see this especially since the 20th century, where the technology spawned by science and industry entrained the U.S. population to spend more and more time at work, less and less with home and family. The Libra/Cancer square also signifies the competing values of justice (Saturn in Libra) and mercy (Cancer): cf. the arguments swirling around the death penalty; of law (Saturn in Libra) and compassion (Cancer): notice what happened to welfare during the Clinton administration. When one also takes into account the position of Pluto in Saturn’s sign Capricorn, it points to the the advent of corporate (Saturn, Pluto, Capricorn) pollution (Pluto) of agriculture (Cancer) through chemicals and the more recent introduction of genetically modified foods.

• Neptune, at the Midheaven.

The Midheaven signifies the path of an entity, and Neptune there symbolizes the imagination, dreams, illusions, deception, addiction, the Messiah Complex, and a yearning for redemption. We can identify here the glitter factories of Hollywood; advertising; celebrity culture; addictions to ego, money, greed, alcohol, legal and illegal drugs; political and media spin; the view of the U.S. as the savior of the world, its assumption of "Manifest Destiny;" and an idealistic yearning to model an ideal democratic system of government for all of humanity.

• U.S. Ascendant in Sagittarius.

Though Sagittarius is the sign of the higher mind, the search for meaning and a constantly expanding philosophical perspective, unfortunately, the Sagittarian personality of the U.S. government is currently, in its relations with the rest of the world, exhibiting the most egregious qualities of Sagittarius: it is righteous; convinced of the superiority of its own values; preachy, bombastic, and pompous; and seeks to expand its dominance not only to entire globe, but into space itself. This is no surprise, since the U.S. Ascendant is currently—for the first time in its 225 year history, being transitted by powerful Pluto. (More on that later.)

• Uranus and Mars in Gemini near the U.S. Descendant,
their midpoint opposite the Sagittarian U.S. Ascendant.

Uranus (planet of revolution, revelation, sudden changes, explosions, inventions, and all kinds of maverick behavior, from explorers to terrorists) is near Mars (planet of energy, courage or foolhardiness, athletic or macho force, assertion, competition, conflict and war). Both Uranus and Mars are in Gemini, the sign which governs science, communications, factual knowledge. The combination of these two planets and the near-exact opposition of their midpoint to the U.S. Ascendant is the fuel which has driven the formidable U.S. scientific and technological engine, and has led the U.S. into wars where it has usually proved its dominance. It is this combination of Gemini planets and the U.S. Ascendant which is currently being transitted by powerful Pluto. (More later, and also see CN #13, "Transforming Fundamentalism.")

• Pluto in Capricorn (2nd house) opposite Mercury in Cancer (8th house).

Pluto (planet of power, wealth, plutocracy, secret or underground manipulation) is in Saturn-ruled Capricorn, sign of industry, business and corporations. This concentration of power in plutocratic hands occupies the house of the "self-worth" of the nation and opposes Mercury, the mind, which is in the sign of Cancer (love, nurturance, vulnerability, home and family). Pluto opposite Mercury signifies the tremendous value put on secrecy in the CIA, FBI, Energy and Defense Departments of our government; Mercury also symbolizes U.S. citizens' suspicion of a shadow government, with black ops projects, including mind control programs, pre-planned wars and tragic events, and back-engineered UFO technologies. At this point in its history, Pluto in Capricorn seems to be winning the see-saw with Mercury in Cancer, given the ever-consolidating media/entertainment/military/ intelligence/acade-mic empires and the recently resurrected death penalty (32 out of every 1000 citizens is now either locked in jail or on parole or probation).

In the tropical US chart Pluto and Saturn are too far out of alignment to be considered square to each other, however, in the helio chart these two planets are within orb of being square (90°, in friction with each other), thus showing that this dominating and concentrating structural energy was present in the very essence of the solar system energetic on July 4, 1776. Since in the helio chart Saturn squares the sign which it rules, this signature is unusually powerful, and shows the power of Pluto in Capricorn, the seemingly inexorable corporate takeover of the US (and other) governments, not to mention its (and their) citizens.

However, however bleak the situation may look at this point in history, we need to remember that although powerful Pluto is alone in Capricorn, the U.S. has not only Sun and Mercury, but also Venus and Jupiter, for a total of four planets pulling on Pluto from the opposite sign of Cancer. Let us pray that Cancer’s human values of healing, mercy, love and compassion will ultimately prove more resilient and enduring than what has become the implacable mechanical control and rigidity of the technological forces arrayed through Pluto in Capricorn.

Ever since the Battle of Seattle in December, 1999, these more human values have been erupting from within the collective will, with millions taking to the streets in mostly non-violent protest at the site of every WTO/World Bank meeting since then. Their numbers and persistence are forcing the corporate powers to listen to ordinary people’s concerns about the ethical, environmental and human rights issues attendant to globalism, and to eventually recognize that as with all opposites, Capricorn must incorporate the values of Cancer in order to come into balance.

At the present time, there are two rare and significant long-term astrological events—one transit and one progression— which are applying unusual pressure to the U.S. chart. The character of these two events indicate that a massive transformation of philosophical values and perspective on the part of U.S. (and world) citizens is in process, which will become visible in our government over the next five years.

These are:

• Transit Pluto crisscrossing the U.S. Ascendant, then on to criss-cross Mars, for the very first time in our nation’s history.

• Progressed Sun crossing the natal Moon of the U.S. chart, for the very first time in our nation"s history.

Let’s take them in order.

Transit Pluto crisscrossing the Ascendant, then on to crisscross Mars. Pluto’s cycle is 365 years, so it moves very very slowly. This is the very first transit of Pluto over the U.S. Ascendent since our nation’s birth, 225 years ago. Whatever transformation Pluto starts, it takes a long time to finish, and the changes it enacts tend to move from the roots up, becoming visible only towards the end. Pluto is the planet of death and rebirth. It kills off what no longer serves life, to make room for life’s new flowering.

This extraordinarily rare and intensely powerful transit over the Ascendant (the persona, the self-image) of the U.S. actually commenced in 1998, when Pluto began to crisscross Uranus. It will not end until the final crossing of Mars in 2005. That’s eight years during which the egocentric and inflated self-image of the U.S. will undergo severe battering in order for it to recognize not only its own self-interest, but the value of listening to, cooperating and integrating with the interests of the Earth’s biosphere and all creatures upon it—and beyond.

The current situation of the U.S. vis-a-vis the rest of the world’s nations in regards to its flagrant disregard of the needs of the whole and its stated objective of “serving American interests” alone (besides the Missile Defense abrogation of the ABM treaty, there are now a total of eight global treaties which the U.S. either threatens to kill or refuses to join) is only going to increase in intensity as Pluto continues pummelling the US personality as presented by the Ascendant of its chart. This is bound to have an accumulating effect on the US government and its citizens. Hopefully, the realities of world politics will transform—moderate and even reverse—current U.S. policies.

I think we need to realize what the astrological stakes are here, for our individual and collective life: if we remain asleep to the effects of Pluto on the U.S. Ascendant, then we can expect only death, not death and rebirth. I predict that by the end of 2005, when Pluto will have completed its crossing of Mars, the planet of either courage or war, that either our civilization will self-destruct or have collapsed, or: we will experience the miraculous ramifications of how the transformed hearts and minds of millions of individuals in this country and beyond have begun to transform current U.S./corporate/military world domination and initiate a century of peace, freedom, and abundance for all.

So what, you might ask, happened in 1998, when this eight-year Plutonian period commenced? You guessed it: the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the impeachment of President Clinton. For the first time in its history the U.S. became the laughingstock of the world as our country’s puritannical (Saturn square Sun) and yet hypocritical (Sagittarius Ascendant) roots, played out by Republican zealots, clashed with most of the world’s more laissez-faire and realistic assessment of human foibles in high office. For the US, 1998 was truly a Uranian (transit Pluto opposite Uranus) year, with a thunder-struck citizenry glued to the tube as the Clintonian peckerdillo melodrama unfolded. And of course, behind the scenes (Pluto opposite Mercury) saw the usual power politics (Pluto in Capricorn square helio Saturn) as the Republicans tried through this farce to take the Democrats down.

We thought nothing could top the public intensity of that political drama, but of course it could, and it did, when Pluto began to cross the US Ascendant for the very first time in our history. This was in November, 2000, when we witnessed the historic presidential “election” as a Republican coup (see CN #10, “We are the Election Stalemate”), and opened our eyes to the political (Pluto) nature of all our public institutions (Pluto in Capricorn), even the heretofore sacrosanct Supreme Court (Saturn in Libra).

As soon as George W. took office he installed his father’s old cronies (his father, besides being president, had also been head of the CIA: Pluto opposite Mercury), and announced a massive missile defense project which would rip out treaties and establish U.S. domination of space. Pluto at work again. Pluto in Capricorn: corporate Pluto. Defense contracts are the biggest business around.

The fact that the U.S. Ascendant/Descendant axis is Sagittarius/Gemini, and the fact that transit Pluto is in Sagittarius, opposite the midpoint of Mars and Uranus in Gemini which surround the U.S. Descendant, is given extra emphasis because of the positions of four planets in the helio chart. For though in the tropical chart only the Ascendant is in Sagittarius, in the helio chart Mercury is in Sagittarius, widely opposing not just two planets in Gemini (Mars and Uranus, as in the tropical) but three planets (Mars, Uranus and Venus) there. The Sagittarius/Gemini axis is the most prominent axis in the entire helio chart. In other words, the opposition between philosophical values and scientific knowledge and the need for their integration was of the very essence of the solar system energy surrounding our Sun on July 4, 1776.

So far, it appears that these two signs are split. We go to work figuring out new ways to shoot down missiles during the week (Gemini) and then pray piously in church on Sunday (Sagittarius). Many of us do not question the truth of whatever religion we were born into, nor do we wonder whether our everyday actions contradict the values we espouse when we pray. Though we are learning to question information, and to ask where it came from and whether it can be believed, we seldom question the paradigm (the theology) called Science under within which that information gains its sense and is judged to be true or false.

In order to break out of the seemingly ironclad corporate grid now holding the whole world hostage, we will need to question all our assumptions, and learn to expand our ideas as to what is possible beyond all previous imaginings. Only radical alternatives will see us through the present catastrophic ecological mess. And only releasing old limiting assumptions about reality will allow us to dream up those radical alternatives.

I predict that by 2005 and the end of this eight-year period, the face that the U.S. presents to the world will be unrecognizable—either for good or ill. Whether the U.S. engenders death or death and rebirth, it is up to us, We the People. We must remember that we are citizens first, not consumers; that we, far more than any people on earth, enjoy this planet’s abundance. To whom much is given, much is expected.

The second indication that we are currently in an extraordinary window of change: The Progressed Sun is crossing the natal Moon of the U.S. chart. As with Pluto crossing the Ascendant, this New Moon is also the very first one ever for the U.S. since it’s inception 225 years ago.

New Moons symbolize rebirth, new life. The Progressed Sun of the U.S. chart is currently at 26°48 Aquarius, the natal Moon of the U.S. chart is at 27°13 Aquarius. Progressions of the Sun move at the rate of one degree every year. This means that within six months or so, we will be fully into the period of the New Moon.

Meanwhile, for the last few years, we have been in the throes of the old, tired, waning Moon. The light has been dying, and though old solutions to old problems are being publically touted as what will save us (cf. Reagan-era echoes of people and policies in the present administration), we the people know that these solutions are part of the problem which got us into this mess.

But never mind, and never fear! Of course these old ways of life would be trying to make a comeback now, at the dying of an age. We must remember that the world looks darkest just before dawn. And just now, NOW! the Sun is closing in on conjunction with the Moon in preparation for the new dawn.

Both Sun and Moon are in Aquarius—sign of radical experimentation and group processes promoting change which benefits the many at the expense of the one. Moon in a nation’s chart represents the people, the public. That old plutocracy is about to fall.

In this context, look again at the onset of today’s new global social movement, the Battle of Seattle, which took place in the month before the millennium moment and during which the comet Chiron, symbol of wounding and healing, was approaching a conjunction with Pluto. (The conjunction was exact at 11° Sagittarius during the millennium moment.)

Was there ever such an Aquarian uprising! Diverse, loosely structured, decentralized, networked by the Internet and fueled by new perspectives and new values (Pluto in Sagittarius), we are surely already experiencing the vanguard of our collective Initiation into the Rights of Humanity.

Yes, let us turn our swords into plowshares, set our shoulders to the plow, and work (and sing!) for our children and our children’s children, so that they will enjoy the fruits of our joyful labor during the next 1000 years.

We invite you to add your comments to the US Charts below.