USA astrological chart

D Day

Seventy years ago this month Allied troops invaded occupied Europe in one of the greatest acts of bravery ever known. The leader of the Allied troops was Dwight D. Eisenhower. After he was President of the United States, he “rejoined” the Army because he said that in 500 years, no one would remember him as President but no one would ever forget D Day.

Where were the planets over Normandy on the amazing day?

There are so many interesting things about this chart. Look at all of those planets in Gemini, the sign of communications and the flow of information, tucked away in the ultra-secretive 12^th house. The false news reports fed to the Germans, the months of secret planning, the thousands of hours spent on reconnaissance all came to fruition on the day.

What really sends shivers up my spine was that tight conjunction of Mars and Pluto in the fire sign of Leo in the third house. The third house is my community, my brothers and sisters, my close friends (yes, “Band of Brothers”.) Mars is the god of war and Pluto is the planet of change. This was a grueling, bitter, tragic Mars battle to rescue Europe – our brothers and sisters – from the horrors of Nazi Germany.

Anytime Mars and Pluto are together, there are fireworks. Mars with any of the external planets is a cause for worry but Mars and Pluto sadly foretold the horrors seen on the beaches that morning.

This biwheel with D Day in the center and the birth chart of the United States also tells a stunning story. Look at our Pluto – yes Pluto again – in the eighth house right on the South Node! Pluto vibrates to the eighth house – it is the house of power and change. We were using our power to shift the balance of power and break the existing order in Europe. Not ironically, the South Node that day was in Capricorn, the stern taskmaster.

This is another one of those spine shiver-makers for me! Our Jupiter, Venus, and Sun were all in a tight conjunction in the sign of Cancer, the sign of motherly caring. Jupiter is the sign of expansion and growth and international service with our life force, the Sun, and Venus, the goddess of beauty and love. COME ON.

We can thank our lucky stars for that day but we really should thank these men, thousands of whom gave their lives in this amazing fight for freedom. Soon that generation will be gone but their deeds should live on in history and it us to us to be sure that they do.

Saturn in Scorpio – on the USA Chart

Last time I spoke about Pluto and the Pluto return America is about to undergo. There will be more on that and the Grand Cross of 2014 later but this week I promised a look at Saturn in Scorpio. Saturn moved into Scorpio on October 20, 2012 and will remain there until December 23, 2014. (It will retrograde back in for a few months June – September 2015.)

Saturn is called the task master of the zodiac. It makes us color within the lines. Generally considered a malefic planet, we often forget that without Saturn we would live in timeless anarchy. In medical astrology Saturn controls the bones and teeth. Indeed, where would we bewithout Saturn?

With it’s turn in Scorpio, Saturn will make us delve deeply into the houses it transits rooting out secrets and bringing the hidden to light.

“Natally the United States has Saturn in Libra in the 10th house (the house of government and authority and the natural house for Saturn) conjunct the asteroid Juno, the goddess of loyalty. It is no wonder we are known for stability but also for our tendency to tell others how to run their governments (Libra loves to meddle.) Right now, transiting Saturn is on our 11th house, the house of social contacts and interactions, conjunct another asteroid, Ceres, the mother nurturer. If that weren’t enough, Saturn by progression (how it has progressed since our birth) is also in the 11th and conjunct the Moon.

I see two manifestations of this placement. The first is the sudden acceptance of gay marriage both by the public and more surprisingly the Supreme Court. What was hidden is now socially acceptable – what is a better way to express Scorpio – and Saturn in the 11th brings that to public social and government arena.

The other manifestation is sadder, that is the Trayvon Martin death and verdict. To date the verdict has brought people out of their homes and onto the streets in mostly peaceful protests to say this is no longer acceptable – a young black man’s life has value and he can’t be targeted. The racial secrets must be brought to the surface in a public arena. Hopefully, these protests will be turned into political action. Then there will be some long lasting value to this death.

Pluto Return for USA

I have to admit I didn’t “feel it” this 4th of July…it was a pretty quiet day and I didn’t even think to put my flag out, something I do every year. Things have been in overdrive for me lately but there was something more. I just wasn’t in the mood to celebrate.

It got me thinking of our country and the general sense of ennui so many of us have. We can’t get anything done, the infrastructure is falling apart, we are at least ten years behind in cell phone technology, our immigration policy sucks, we are letting other countries beat us at renewable energy and all we hear about are fat old men talking about women’s bodies and people’s sex lives.

Then it hit me. Pluto is in Capricorn. American was “born” the last time Pluto was in Capricorn, we are in our Pluto return which will hit its apex in 2020. Any “return” of a slow planet is big because that energy returns to where it was at birth and asks the question, what have you done with yourself since I last visited. People never experience a Pluto return unless they are Methuselah’s grandfather. It takes over 250 years for Pluto to walk around the Sun. Any return is a time of stress, of reassessment

Of course, when the planet hit Capricorn in 2008, it did what we expected – cause big change in the structure of society like the banking system. Secrets of the rich and powerful were uncovered (i.e. Penn State, Catholic Church.) It also caused some other troubling changes such as the corporate personhood. Pluto brings change and Capricorn deals with authority, government – the fabric of society.

So what does this mean for the country as Pluto grinds through Capricorn? Frankly I don’t think anyone knows. I have read several articles on the subject. There are the requisite number of “the sky will fall and we will all go back to a nature-based people: America will be no more” articles. I expected that. Astrology has its fair share of alarmists.

My personal take is that government secrets will continue to come out and there will be more scandals and secrets. While I don’t think America will be no more, I do think it will be a vastly different place in 2024 – aware finally that we wasted almost 2 decades appeasing the lunatic right while the world marched on and we will realize what most already know – we are no longer number one.

Pluto was retrograded when America was born – perhaps we will right that backwards movement. Maybe our government will be more responsive to the people not just the rich ones? Perhaps we will head into Pluto Aquarius with a real sense of what is important and work together to catch up what we lost when asleep. I can always hope….

Next time – what does Saturn in Scorpio mean to the US?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA

Happy Birthday America. What? You thought a country can’t have a birth chart? Well, I have to admit some of them are hard to find. Some countries that have been around since before dust was invented have no real known birth time. I mean, when did Egypt become Egypt for goodness sakes? However, our chart – that of the USA – is easy because we had a defined time when people signed a document saying – we are now a nation. Those founding fathers were so organized.

The ascendant, rising sign, of America – our outward personality feature – is Sagittarius. Makes sense – Sag. is the explorer and expansionist sign. It is the sign that keeps reaching and growing. The downside of Sagittarius is not knowing when to stop speculating or taking risks that are too large and cannot be sustained. We have seen this in economics as well as warfare.

Sagittarius is the sign of spirituality – and we are often called a religious nation. It also makes us prone to the shadow element and that is the dances we do periodically with religious fundamentalists. Does it surprise anyone that when Pluto was in Sagittarius for the last 15 years we saw the rise of the religious right and the president who was wedded to them?

The ruler of our Ascendant, Jupiter, is the 7th house – the house of “the other” and is in conjunction with the Sun and Venus. So we expand to the other and make ourselves known in the world. Venus helps us spread our art and music….our greatest export are movies. Mars is also in the 7th house – and so our warrior strength is also spread around – remember the 7th house deals with other people on rather intimate levels.

Uranus, the quirky changeable guy, is also in our 7th house. We are the nation that comes to the aid of others, yet dropped the atomic bomb – twice. We are based on the great ideas of the Constitution but do things like Iraq and Vietnam. Get the picture?

It always cracks me up that we have Virgo on the Midheaven (career and social status) and Vesta, the burning heart’s desire and ruler of Virgo in Virgo’s 6th house – the house of work and health. Think of it – Virgo vibrates to the 6th house, and is ruled by Vesta. We have Virgo in the house of career – Virgo is all about precise work – being the worker bee – getting the job done. Vesta is in the 6th house – so our burning heart’s desire is to work! Gee, have we been the country of the worker? Are we known to be workaholics-italics? Did we invent the phrase “work ethic”? Too bad this astrology stuff is all hokum.

Neptune is also on the Mid Heaven. Neptune gives a person their spirituality but when it comes to the physical side of things Neptune creates illusion and delusion. So again, we have that very prominent spiritual aspect that we present to the world. However, how many times do we perceive ourselves in a totally different way than others do? To many Americans we are always the good guys with the white hats. We are shocked when we realize that in many parts of the world we are considered aggressors. We just can’t see it. Growing up in North Jersey, the NY Yankees were gods to me. When I go back there I always laugh at the level of Yankee mania. It was stunned when I left the area to learn that the Yankees are hated by the other teams. Remember the play, “Damn Yankees?” Well it is a bit like that – we can’t believe others see is in a different light than we perceive ourselves.

Now I am not really sure if a country can have a “past life” but take a look at our South Node. It is in Aquarius in the 2nd house – the house of self worth. Our North Node is in Leo the nightly lion in the house of power in the 8th house. I am not sure the purists would like this but I think a case could be made that this shows the change in the land that became America from a more Aquarian Native American society to the world dominating Lion American Nation. I am not one to buy into the idyllic concept that Native American society was utopia but you have to admit that they existed in a more laid back – less driven society than the white men who destroyed them. Their idea of what made a person worthy and ours is vastly different and while there were many inter-tribal wars, the concept of being a world military leader was not in their modes of operation.

Our Moon is in Aquarius – ruled by Uranus – the quirky guy. So we are rather touchy people. With the Moon conjunct Athena, the goddess of war AND healing (versatile lass) so again we are emotionally attached to this warrior and good guy image. Our Moon is also attached to Ceres, the ancient symbol of Mother Earth. Mother Earth – abundance – the breadbasket of the world — get it? These images are at our emotional core.

It is funny, our Chronic wound issue, is in Aries in the 5th house – the house of creativity. We are known for work and growth and movement. Do we give a lot of credence to creativity? Not so much – we fear we are not powerfully creative people – we are the worker bees. 🙂

Of course, my buddy Pluto was in Capricorn at the time of our birth – and because it is so slow moving it is just NOW returning to Capricorn again. Reread my entry on Pluto being the changer and Capricorn being the ruler of authority figures. Sadly, we also saw the French Revolution at this time and it was an example of changing authority run amuck.

So there you go America – this is who we are – one big confusing mass of work, growth, meddlesomeness and change that you just have to love. I know I do. Happy Birthday to us all!