CHART USA (Pt. 6): Solar return 2010/2011

Once a nation gets used to something it's a little hard to break the habit. The United States is used to celebrating it's national birthday on July 4th. But according to the USA(ppomattox) chart...

April 9, 1865 (3:53pm/LMT) - Appomattox Court House, VA

The Civil War ends, the United States is again united as one nation.

 ...the birthday or maybe re-birthing day for the US should fall on April 9th. And maybe that's just what US citizens should call it - Rebirthing Day, sticking with July 4th as Independence Day.

And if this is the chart for the modern US of A, then we should be able to see images of the yearly doings in every solar return which rolls around.

Don't know what a 'solar return' is? Well, basically it's the 'birthday' thing. Every year when the Sun returns to the degree and minute it was at when you were born - or in this case, where it was when Lee surrendered to Grant there in that farmhouse in Virginia - we cast another chart.

Your natal chart (the chart above for the US) doesn't 'go away' or anything - that natal chart is the metaphysical 'map' of time/space you are and which unfolds through your life, over the course of that life.

But the solar return chart gives us a picture of what will happen that "birthday" year - from one birthday to the next. In your story book life, each solar return tells the tale of one chapter.

So here's the 2010/2011 solar return for Chart USA....

Chart USA(ppomattox) Solar Return 2010  

As always, we start with the Sun - the will and 'life force' of it all. Remembering the 'interactive' qualities of the US Sun and that its native position in the 8th house is all about what the nation choose to risk/invest itself (and its values) in replete with the balance of power and exposure which goes with, to see this Sun now positioned with Eris (discord) just under the 7th house cusp is a very clear picture of the US causing discord and experiencing discord in this world.

Eris being a slow moving dwarf planet with an orbital period of 557.438 years, it's obviously been on this US Sun for some time.

How long? Well, laying aside the question of 'coming into aspect orbs' (meaning how long before it actually hits the US Sun does it begin to affect the US Sun), the date of exactitude to the Appomattox Sun was June 4, 2001. Considering this is Eris and that close works in the case of nuclear blasts and distant dwarf planets (and in some senses those two things being related), it's interesting to note that on June 5th, Tropical Storm Allison hit Houston, causing great damage and initiating what has been a string of troubles along the Gulf coast.

On the 7th of June, President GW Bush signed into law the now-famous 'Bush Tax Cuts' which in combination with the Iraq war not having been built into the US budget served to decrease federal income while vastly increasing outflow. The result is today's huge deficit, and it could even be argued that this destabilization of income/expenses at the governmental level contributed  to the entire borrow/invest rondo which come 2008 not only threw the American but the world economy into a tizzy, bankrupting entire nations.

Lastly, on June 11 of 2001, home-grown terrorist Timothy McVeigh was executed.

These things are emblematic of what has gone on since - discord financial/fiscal, issues with terrorists and terrorism and natural disasters, particularly along the US Gulf coast. Mind you, this is not saying that nobody else had any problems - the floods and famines elsewhere are terrible and painful reminders of how ill-managed human life is and how powerful the forces of nature really are. But in the United States, as Eris hit the US Appomattox Sun, these theme erupted.

And they are again with us in 2010. We have the BP Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. From that has come an entire slew of economic woes specifically to the whole of the Gulf coast region given the fall-off in fishing and vacation dollars. The US has moved its core fighting efforts from Iraq to Afghanistan and things are deadly there - as at home the question of security has oozed back towards the immigration debate in all its many-headed hydra-like distressing glory.

The way solar returns work, what we do is track the movement of the Sun from house to house. So as the year began on April 9, the Sun hit the 7th house cusp on April 13th. From there until May 11th the Sun traversed the 7th house, a house colored by this Sun/Eris Aries Descendant in a 3rd decan degree.

This 3rd decan degree would indicate that the subject matter had to do with things which had been done and what came of that. Or maybe more pointedly in the sense of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, what flowed from that.

 Fire fighting vessels attempting to put out flames 

erupting from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig blowout

April 20th, the date and time of said disaster had the Sun at 0 Taurus, directly opposite Kassandra - symbol of those truths which are never believed until it's just too late.

On May 1st, as the Sun stood at 11 Taurus conjunct solar return Venus, the Times Square Bombing attempt was made.

New York's Times Square on a normal busy evening

But wait, you say...isn't Venus supposed to be all good and then some?

Not necessarily. Venus can only bring us what we have earned; in the Appomattox USA chart it stands in a 3rd decan Taurus degree and the 9th house. The 9th is nothing if not  emblematic of foreigners. Thus this 3rd decan national Venus is very much about what others (foreigners especially) think of or 'see' as US (Taurus) values.

Given that this is the 9th house, a house well known for its dogmatic and education-versus-indoctrination (propagandist) nature, the US will always trumpet its moral and fiscal values. And others will react to same. It's just part of the national charm. And construct!

Also to remember here also when we look at something like this bombing attempt: this is a cosmic-karmic world stage we are looking at here, so we are not looking at individual people and their individual motives. We are looking at the broad sweep of themes as they rise and evolve throughout time.

That this bombing attempt failed (was only an attempt) is interestingly noted in this return chart by Polyhymnia (muse of happiness) and Phaethon (headstrong haste) standing with Venus.

And so we proceed. By the time eyes turned to the G-8 and G-20 Summits in Canada, the Sun was in the return's 9th house - of things foreign. So President Obama does that 9th house thing and travels abroad to get more (9th house) 'educated' on what others think and are doing in their own countries. The time span here being June 25 through 27, the Sun was at 3, 4 and 5 Cancer - conjuncting first Kalypso, then Atlantis/Sphinx. 

An informal shot of world leaders at the 

G-8 Summit in Huntsville, Ontario (Canada)

As it conjuncted Kalypso it opposed Ceres, an interesting combination seeing that Ceres is the 'good steward' called upon to think long term, not just for the moment and Kalypso is the lesson that love has to be about the other person, not just yourself and that sometimes that means you have to make a sacrifice.

Apparently not in Obama's case, considering that the national chart shows him acting on the basis of Atlantis-Sphinx.

The Sphinx part is easy - we all know the Sphinx either as the passive 'wait all things out' symbol from the sands of Egypt or the riddling sphinx which queries Orpheus - a warning against many things, most of which Orpheus would end up doing.

 Oedipus and Sphinx by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780-1867)

And yet...the astrological Sphinx is an interesting symbol. On one hand it seems to be yet another one of the smattering of orbiting rocks which point out what we may be prone to...well, stumbling over. Or stubbing our toes on to be sure! Sometimes its to our undoing, and sometimes it's just a lesson in how blind we can surely be.

Fortunately, with the bruising side of this lesson comes also a suggestion that if we wait, if we persevere, we can stand the test of time. Yes, even if some army does blow our nose off (a whole other kind of blowing the nose, for sure!).

 Egypt's Sphinx of Giza

As a symbol, Atlantis is a bit more complicated - for many reasons. We all know the 'idyllic civilization' version of this tale, certainly. But our tendency is to linger on the ideal part and forget that in the end, that fabled land of Atlantis sinks away, never to be heard from (or apparently found) ever again.

For those who find this version of the 'Atlantis concept' a bit hard to grasp on a personal level, there is another version of the story. This one is told as a folktale and starts with a person on the fringe of a troubled town (society) being asked to 'give up all hope' that things will get better for them or anyone else given their resources and what they're doing - or even just seeing.

The answer presented is that they should risk all through an apparent sacrificing of their own life. Will this person leave the land they love and long to live happily ever after in and walk into the ocean - where of course no human can breathe?

This is a metaphor for those moments in life where we have to walk away from the thing known and loved and which we want to fix, but can't. In the story, the person does as asked, walked into the water and lo - is not only able to breathe but finds they fit right into this new world. And they are welcome. And their life in immeasurably bettered for not having held onto what didn't work. (here's a link to the folktale in question)

In Obama's case, the whole matter was made a little tougher by this Sphinx/Atlantis being positioned in the exact same degree as the US natal Cancer Mars. That's one feisty 10th house Mars, telling us the man was sitting on a hot seat with hands, feet and back held to separate fires. He had to represent US interests, despite those interests being under fractious fire at home. The President had to face a world which (let's face it) loves the US just a little less than it's irritated with it.

With all this standing in opposition to Charybdis in the vocal/idea-driven 3rd house there was nothing for Obama to do but keep talking, keep discussing and keep shaking hands. And - oh yes - get home to Washington. He had no answers for the G-8 and G-20 and even if he had some, they hadn't been approved back home. So what's a President to do?

Skipping forward to current date, the Sun stands today at 25 Leo - putting it in the 10th house of the solar chart and 12 house of the natal chart. Things are tough and getting touchier. US citizens - and the world are far more likely to hear bad than good, especially coming out of Washington.

There has been one recent point of note: when on August 8th, California's Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage was struck down by Judge Vaughn Walker of the US District Court for Northern California, the Sun conjoined Child (at 13 Leo) in the return chart. That said, asteroid Child is positioned atop a 13 Leo Kassandra in the natal chart speaks to the aura of disbelief about the whole matter as yet; everyone in the US expects this matter to eventually end up in front of the Supreme Court and they're probably right.

Cassandra by Evelyn de Morgan. Considering that

the Greek prophetess by this name (being she for whom the

asteroid Kassandra is also named)...that she knew the truth

but was never believed, this may be a portrait of her pulling

her hair out in exasperation!

With the national Sun/Eris ruling Leo at the Descendant, this is going to be an issue which is put out there and hotly debated. This year, the question of children (Child) is going to be part of that discussion - as is the sense of national immaturity being displayed on the national stage.

(Don't ask me, I just report on these things.)

All such issues plus those of social functionality and the economy come back into high focus once the Sun rolls into the solar 11th house come August 22nd.

By September 21st things calm but only on the surface. Serious things are going on in the background and with Saturn opposing Uranus pointing by sign rulership back towards May, matters concerning BP, the Gulf, oil in general and energy as an entire matter come back up for discussion. Expect 'costs' to be discussed across the board during the period between September 21st and October 29th, when issues shift back towards questions of national security and US presence/influence around the globe.

As of November 13 the nation is highly involved in its internal affairs and how to do what needs doing. This looks like a lot of factious discussion about budgets, in the US Congress and with regards to various programs and departments. Stand by with your pork barrels, waste collectors and budget-slashing knives.

Between December 14 and January 16 there is much talk but not much gets done. National welfare is on the table and some sort of charitable need appears which gains attention. This evolves into a health-system/system overhaul discussion and operational dissection beginning in January and extending on to about the 18 of February, replete with many ugly moments and societal gasps of disgust, dismay and disavowing of responsibility...which is probably the problem to begin with. Those who won't take responsibility to begin with (or along the way) are those who stand horrified by what results.

Granting that what horrifies one person seems like 'yeah, well, what did you expect?' to others, this may be a time for sensitive Americans go get on their standing shoes so they can be properly horrified and attempt to run away yet again. Which yes, they will - don't think otherwise. This solar return is not a chart about America fixing it's problems - America is at the moment still grappling with the idea of admitting serious problems actually exist. And that yes, it could be the cause of some of them either through its tolerance (but isn't tolerance good? Not always!) and position as a wealthy world power - which has bred sloth, indolence, crime, debt and greed to the umpteenth degree.

It's an amazing country America - so gallantly able to do wrong and yet so totally capable of turning itself around and putting things to right. The issue which divides this, as previously discussed, is motivation. The US cannot do what it does for its own good. It has to do the right thing because that is the right thing, regardless. Only then does the nation truly prosper.

A tricky business in a time when people have grown so used to measuring success by personal pleasures.

To finish up here...at February 18th the nation enters a period of work obligation typified by its own desire to get out of its own doghouse, said period lasting until the national re-birthday rolls around.

Then we get a whole new solar chart with a whole new set of parameters, challenges, achievements and 'takes' on ongoing problems.

In the meantime, considering that there's a native influence of Juno in the mix here, during this lengthy February-to-early-April stretch we are likely to see those who feel compelled and those who know how to lead both seeing problems.

And yes, a few will see those problems through their sticking points, while others will just complain and (Eris/Sun) disrupt. This isn't any cotton candy period, but we will see the US facing up to its dirty problems (and possibly a few dirty little secrets) not merely with gusto, but in many ways with a sense of national charity and national service.

But still...scrubbing the national cosmic floor with a fingernail brush is darn hard work. Maybe the nation can learn to whistle while it works?

One last note here: Eris will not complete its conjunction effect with regards to the USA(ppomattox) Sun until June of 2023. Those who yearn for easier times will have to hold on at least until then.

And yet, even then things aren't likely to be peaceful; the United States as pictured in the Appomattox chart is not ever going to be totally tranquil. Why? Because the nation as a whole is too dynamic. It's born to evolve!

So let's just look on the bright side here...as someone I once dated put it to me, you are many things - boring is not one of them. That's probably pretty close to what the United States is as a national entity, too.


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CHART USA (Pt. Three): Delineating America

CHART USA

When delineating a chart, one of the first things to do is to just look at it. Is the Sun is above or below the horizon?

Here the Sun is above the horizon, which means this is the chart of a country which thinks before it acts.

Or maybe not. Given that the 20 Aries Sun of this chart is positioned in an Aries-ruled house with a second decanate/emotional degree of Aries on the cusp, that directs us to look at Mars - ruler of Aries.

And where is that Mars? Mars is sitting way up high in the chart - in the 10th house of government, governance and worldly/world opinion. That's a very public place, and in this position Mars would represent the national ego, the national drive to achieve, attitude of goings on in the government, how others see the US government and how well the nation as a whole and its citizens act in '8th house situations.'

At this level and because Mars is always an symbol of how you feel about getting things done (or having to do things), this makes the whole Mars/Sun relationship one about power: what one can do. Or, what one can demand, require or get because you have the ability to demand, require or throw your weight and power around. 

At the very least this makes the US (and its government and its people and its style of governance) assertive. Not always right, but assertive. And when it's not being assertive, that Cancer Mars suggests conflict - often internal to the government and often made public. With Mars in an early degree of Cancer, the indication is that this conflict is often about what people do. Or what the government wants to do - the 'wanting' part coming from Cancer being a water/emotional sign.

To have the national Sun and the house that Sun is placed in ruled by an emotional Mars in a sign its not known for always being either polite or patient in, that produces selfishness and some pretty childish behavior. Think, I'm taking my toys and going home! or maybe the ever unpopular if I can't have things my way I am going to stop you no matter how right you are simply because i wanna go first! 

Remind anyone of America's congress? Considering Pluto went station/retrograde at the oppositional point to this national Mars this past spring, 2010 and 2011 is likely to be rife with this behavior. But with that will come moments of stunning lucidity when the US government (and its people) begin getting that a nation cannot be run like a high school clique. Given how such transits work, there are likely to be some outstandingly bad moments, but once Pluto gets past this transit things should shift. Probably dramatically.

But that still leaves the United States with a dynamic and nationally egocentric Sun in an interactive house being ruled by a touchy, water sign (emotional) Mars in the public sector. So there's an instinct to think on a national level. There's also an instinctive emotionality which can undermine or thrown off rational conversation. The nation should work things through by thinking of things using intellect and facts. But emotions seem to often (if not always) get in the way.

 White Sands, New Mexico                                                                                           

While we're discussing this government/public profile 10th house, the very highest planet there ('highest' meaning its closest to the top of the chart) is Uranus. Positioned here, Uranus displays the genius of the modern United States as a nation of innovators and innovation, a nation which may be seen as somewhat erratic, but which is proud of its ability to tolerate dissent. And with this Uranus in communication-oriented Gemini, this is absolutely the mark of a free speaking nation.

Yet...there's another side of this (isn't there always?). With Uranus in the last ten degrees (3rd decanate) of Gemini - the 3rd decan being where you 'do' before you know whether something works, that says America makes plenty of mistakes. And that the nation (along with its citizens, institutions and products) is/are prone to sticking it's own free-speech foot in its mouth.

No wonder Americans believe so much in nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? And why it earns so much scorn on the international scene. This Mars-Uranus in the 10th is sort of a national blessing-as-curse: when the country is doing well, other countries are going to knock it. When America and its native elements act badly, everybody else does the big 'See? I told you so!'

Yet whatever else it is, Mars and Uranus at the top of this chart certainly tell us that the US of A will never go stagnant. The nation which came out of the Civil War, is a nation which has learned that when something doesn't work, you actually do have to try something different. Doesn't mean it won't hurt making the shift. And that there may not have to be a bloody struggle (physical, emotional, financial or governmental) in the process. But sometimes a nation and its people or its government or  its institutions just have to do what they truly have to do. Or what they're told to do. Or are responsible for doing in a manner considered ethical, even when that's terribly - even horribly inconvenient.

Therefore, though the US may have to learn things very, very hard way (as it did with learning slavery - formerly thought okay - is simply not tolerable), the good news is that this is a nation well-equipped to come out of the other end of such battles actually more clear on what national beliefs really are. The US born of the Civil War will at times need to learn its 8th house interactive values lessons through dire, hard times - like through war's death and deprivations. Or through economic collapse. Or through a giant oil blowout which endangers its coastlines.

But that's the chart. That's the way the US tends to learn. The same Cancer Mars, Aries Sun, Gemini Uranus which manifests as governmental bickering, free speech, standing up for the oppressed, a dynamic engine of innovation and discovery is also a magnet for karma in the form of giant problems when America gets petty, smug, stubborn or dug into bad behaviors, old points of view or resistant to change. So it has been and so it will always be: the 8th house Aries Sun of this modern Chart USA is just that kind of Sun.

And yet this self same Sun also speaks of a nation and national ability to not just learn from lessons, but capitalize and move on from them into a potent new phase. The US pretty much needs difficulty as a motivation. It just can't manipulate difficulties for that purpose. The US of this chart is destined to always be a world leader when it's just a hair's breadth behind the curve. Blissful secure serenity, in other words, is not this nation's friend.
 

Grand Tetons Park, Wyoming

With that much said, a next simple thing to do with any chart is to just look at where planets fall.

Most of the planets in this chart fall on the right (receptive-reactive) side of the chart, as opposed to on the left, directly pro-active side. This describes the United States (and its people) as being responsive to things which happen in this world. So we know the US will always offer to help in situations of international disaster.

This also tells us that Mars-Uranus in the 10th is about the instinct and need to always be reasonably prepared and to learn how to actually respond to a crisis and not get into an internal governmental dither about response when disasters happen.

 Sunset off Kona, Hawaii

Another form of this would be as we saw when thinking of the national reputation: when and where the US cuts back or becomes lax with regards to keeping up standards, those are exactly the resources which are going to be called for. It's a karmic thing - as if fate itself requires that the US remained focused on the realities of life instead of falling back on petulant bickering and infighting.

Yet for those who would suggest this is a call for the exercise of military might, that's not indicated by the chart. The 8th house Sun speaks to the ability to call on might, but not necessarily use of same - leading us back to that intellect-versus-emotion conversation. When there's good reason to fight, the US can fight the noble and ethical fight. But the US cannot campaign based on emotionalism or for manipulative (or political) gain. It's simply against the thoughtfully altruistic rules laid out by this chart.

And which pretty much echo the precepts of the nation's founding fathers, yes.  

Counting only astrological planets, five out of ten (half, in other words) are in one particular quadrant - the  upper right hand quadrant. Known in the horoscopic world as a chart's 3rd quadrant, this is where receptive/responsive (the right hand side of the chart) meets worldly (the 'above the horizon' upper half of the chart)...which means it's all about things public and interactive if responsive to information, circumstances, input, etc. 

This tells us that the US and all things American function most positively when being part of or 'in' the world, as the expression goes. It's not a hermit country - and if you live in America and are the hermiting type, you're bound to know that society thinks of you distinctly as the minority.

Another way of seeing this is through that old expression 'no man is an island' - which reiterates yet again why the United States is such a participant in world doings. Anywhere where you see a lot of planets in a chart is where the 'weight' of the chart (individual, corporate or national) is going to focus. With the US, that's in things worldly and interaction - small wonder America has such a tradition of power productivity,  power mongering, manufacturing and consumerism - replete with all the sector institutions which go along with all that.

A rather famous New York City street corner...

As an offshoot of same, with Sun, Pluto, Mercury and Venus all in this quadrant we have the signature of a place where not only does opportunity (Sun-Pluto-Mercury) abound, but it's expected  (Pluto-Mercury-Venus) that people should create (Sun-Mercury-Pluto) and take advantage (Venus-Pluto) of those  opportunities.

And when we leave Venus out of it, given that the other three are in the 8th house? Then we get a picture of the US as that nation which cannot help but be 8th house obsessive about everybody else's life (Sun) and what they're doing, saying or buying (Mercury) and all the scandals, sex and money wielding (Pluto). This triad in the 8th house so describes the US as a place particularly prone to valuing others in terms of bank account...and 'other assets.' With such weight in the 8th, America is absolutely obsessed with all things sexual, all people who are good at being bad and of course the US is a world leader in any PR being good PR - even when the news is totally despicable.

It's a country fascinated with being fascinated. But hey, that's part of the American charm. See it, marvel over it, talk about it, be grateful it's not you then go back for another helping, please. (Got any with whipped cream, maybe?)

And yet...this really isn't America's finest attribute. In fact, it ultimately doesn't even work. With the South Node in this rather 'loaded' 8th house, all the  obsessions (not to mention governmental bickering) destroy some, distracts from the reality of things and ultimately undermines a lot of real success. This North Node says it's easy to mistake acquisition for success; there's a national indoctrination of quality over quantity. Measuring people by such yardsticks is easy and prevalent in US culture, but not always productive either for the nation. 

According to this chart, the real 'answer' is Saturn/North Node: to contribute to the society in a manner in benefiting/being available to everyone benefits you. And that 'you' is America first and foremost. The USA cannot therefore remain secure in its internal national assessment unless it opts for actual quality, not simply a 'grand stand' as pictured by Venus (values) + Algol/Capulus (force of will being used for good versus  selfish reasons), replete with - since this is all positioned in the 'let me just broadcast this' 9th house - all the rhetoric, spin, media manipulation and advertising blitzes.

Sounds sort of like the history of America's politics, doesn't it? And well it should: a nation reflects its chart!

Given that the 9th house is also the house of law, religion and education, this also very much points to the strength of belief in and issues with same in the United States.

US Supreme Court Building (western facade)

Yet let's not forget - law is different from justice (the punishment or exoneration part), religion is not spiritualism and education is neither putting your smarts to good use or the job market.

Commerce as a source of jobs is 10th house - as is public justice. Since all 10th house matters carry with them a whiff of Saturn as Saturn rules Capricorn, native sign of the 10th, we look to Saturn in this chart and find it is in the 2nd house of values, resources and self worth. Conjunct the North Node, the US plainly knows what it should do.

But because this national 2nd house is delineated by an emotional degree of Libra, there's a whole Libra story here about what others think or will put up with/respond to. And with that Libra cusp being ruled by the 9th house Venus we're back in the world of special interests, who can yell most loudly, get the word out most effectively or 'buy off' (whether with money or otherwise) the competition.

And yet, the solution is also well implied here too. The solution to what may appear to be a devolution-prone  Mobius strip is a nation and a people who are willing to know better and in doing so, become dedicated to holding themselves as people and their government - and the government as an entity in its own right - to higher, cooler, less emotional standards.

A Mobius Strip: a one-sided piece of paper

(directions: cut a strip of paper. twist one end over once, then attach

to the other end. Put a pen on one spot and gently pull the paper

along so the pen makes a line without ever being lifted from the paper.

When you get back to the point where you started, you will find that

the pen has drawn a line on "both sides" of the paper. Voila - a piece of 

paper which you have just proved has only one side.

Remember...this is a chart which defines a nation which functions best when thinking rules the emotions - not vice-versa. Same goes for its people and other entities.

All this, and to think...we haven't even gotten to the Ascendant of this Chart USA.

Yes well...there's always tomorrow's blog.

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CHART USA (Pt. Two): The Sun, Moon and Economic Collapse

Having established why the Appomattox chart marking  General Lee's surrender to General Grant at the end of the Civil War should be considered the working chart of the United States, what does that chart say?

Chart USA(ppomatox)

First of all, not one of the standard astrological symbols is in retrograde. This describes the United States as a direct and assertive nation. And boy, that fits. For good, bad and questionable, that fits.

The Moon positioned in the physical 1st decan of airy, conceptual, relationship-oriented Libra works too: the United States is a country all about its international relationships and on an even more basic level, build on the idea that all humans are created equal.

That this Moon is positioned in the “I Am” first house of the chart is the very embodiment of this idea and the “We the People” slogan which is so very American. Libra is a sign about the 'idea' of relationship, specific ideas which bond a group (or a people) together and that ideas can actually be binding. So that this Libra Moon is ruled by a Venus sitting in the (9th) house of law? That totally works. Positioned in the 'public' third decanate of Taurus, that Venus very much embodies the idea that the nation and its people are held to palpable standards.

Interestingly, given that this Venus is in concrete, tangibility-oriented earth sign Taurus and in the 3rd decanate where symbols operate once something is 'put out there' into the public realm? That also says a lot about the United States as a country which holds and is held by the precept that what you think cannot be a crime.

Many people are horribly upset by the fact that people who pose a threat cannot be dealt with on that basis. Yet in the US - as signified by the Libra Moon ruled by the 3rd decan 9th house earthy Taurus Venus, you cannot be prosecuted for potential, only for the real and concrete thing. Which by the way has to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt...In other words, it the crime (whatever it may be) has to be made 'real' (tangible) in the minds of a jury.

Conjunct fixed star Diadem (the crowning glory), this Moon also describes that very foundational American ideal: that the United States is a nation of the people and for the people. Libra is the 'us' here, the Moon in any national chart is always the citizenry (thus 'the people') and the first house of any chart is what the chart holds it natively is or is about. Thus, we (Libra) the people (Moon) are this nation. It is our nation and it exists through us and for us. We the people ARE America!

For-and-against this we have the chart's 20 Aries Sun, making April 9th the nation's ‘birthday’ (anyone for hot dogs and fireworks in April?)

More to the astrological point here though, 20 Aries is another third decan 'in the public' (out of private control) symbol. And given that any symbol (in any sign) appearing in a 3rd decanate (degrees 20-29) describes something which the good/bad, success/failure of cannot be known until it's put out there into practice? That paints a picture of the modern United States as a nation which only learns through doing.

And since Aries is a pro-active (cardinal) sign, doing is totally a given. But what that Aries Sun does? Positioned in the emotionally based 8th house, we combine Aries courage and 8th house emotionality and get a lot of fervent conviction. The 8th also being interactive and about making an investment through commitment and risk, that tells us a lot about the US willingness to dive right into things - even where it doesn't belong. 

Given that the Aries is all about the physical body and life itself, when set against a "standard" list of 8th house matters (debt, war, sexuality, investments, control, honor-collusion, power-helplessness, death-birth-resurrection, dominance-submission,  destruction-reconstruction, decay-rehabilitation, surgery, digging things out/secreting them from others) it's no wonder the nation has produced the Federal Reserve system, credit cards and debt as a lifestyle and Wall Street. It's not astonishing that the US is a nation where people critique sexual this and sexual that and then we find out that very people talking about something are the one's doing it.

Psychologists call this 'projection,' by the by - and the 8th house is the house of psychology, so with the Sun here, that fits too.  

An Aries Sun in the 'others are going to see' 3rd decan in this 'emotionally aware of others' 8th house makes it also very easy to why the US has been a nation addicted to 'what things/people look like' (to others). And yet the real solution for this is to focus on the Self. Aries is "I/Me." So the solution for the nation - and for its citizens and native corporations is always, always, always about 'who you are being,' not 'what it looks like to others.' If you're moral, honorable, honest, responsible, reliable and in general, not a selfish pig, chances are that you'll be seen as such.

From this evolves some of the truly wonderful things the US does. It's a leader in medical and surgical fields. The US is among the first to volunteer help when some natural disaster strikes some other nation - though yes, it has been (ahem!) known to trump up reasons to go 'help' someone who doesn't need US help.

That would be the honest, honorable (etc.) part. No one says this has to be 'to others'; the US is as capable of lying to and manipulating its own people as anybody else. And when it does, it suffers.

Following on this we come to the question of foreign aid and the US military as a force stationed abroad.  It's all about purpose. Where aid or the US military is actually there to support and supplement, that would be defined as a positive - the 8th house dynamic here is to meet need with only an equal amount of support. When the US oversteps this bound or does what it does for some hidden reason, the whole thing will eventually go kaput.

That goes for the financial sector too, from Wall Street to the mortgaging of national debt to any other federal instrument or system which the federal system is involved in. And since that would include federal law, hardly anything is exempt.

And in the realm of seeing how this chart actually functions, did you know that the concept of national financing (and thus national debt) evolved in the wake of the Civil War? It’s all in this chart, folks.

With asteroid Lilith at 21 tightly conjunct to the 20 Aries Sun we get a fusion of will and life drive which is so very American and all those things one doesn't want to see, admit to or deal with (Lilith). Isn't that so very like US  national behavior? 

Its an interesting fusions of degrees, actually. The Sun is in a degree all about a search for the 'right' thing which sometimes leads to a 'fools rush in' situation, though sometimes rushing in is exactly what's required.

Against this we have Lilith in a degree which promotes openness and effort because you want to be noticed and get all the applause through demonstration of your willingness and ability to 'get the job done.' 

No nation is very big on admitting it does what it does because it wants to look good, and certainly the United States would far prefer that people think in terms of the dignity of human need - moral and ethical - as the basis of its choices. But let's be real here...we're talking politics. Who really thinks this isn't an international demonstrations of lions on the veldt trying to defend their turf and scare off the lion with the scrawny mane? 

This is all very 8th house - the 8th being all about power struggles. It could be about powerful agreements, but with human society, such things tend to crumble into disputes, only to be resurrected again and yet again. And since the 8th house is also all about rebuilding, rehabilitating, and resurrecting - that fits.

In fact....here's a sobering thought: the US as pictured by this chart may in good times need to create some fracas through which to improve itself. 

And let's not forget: these precepts apply not just to the nation. They also apply to its citizens, organizations, practices and various types of entities - such as corporations or financial or health systems. America is  'inbred' with the instinctual desire to ‘be seen’ as the either the magnanimous hero or the biggest, most powerful dog on the block.

And when possible. But it's not particularly good at admitting to or owning the inevitable dark sides which come with same. And when you bring it up? Then America and its citizens and entities get tested – and maybe more than a bit testy!

Moving on...with 'love is about the other' Kalypso at 16 Aries (four degrees behind the US 8th house Sun) there's an understanding that the United States should do what it does in the spirit of the emotional ‘joint assets’ 8th - the nation and its people does best when the nation (or person's) gain comes through caring about others in the terms defined by those others. When the United States/Americans function(s) from that sense of universality, things work and in the end, the US earns respect. When that's not the emotional motivation, things suffer. And in time, people and the nation suffers.

In recent times we've seen this issue beginning to be stirred up for both plus and minus as Pluto (the great  generational pot stirrer!) moved into Libra back into 1971/1972 (retrograde makes this shift a year-long process).

For those who know their US social-economic history, you will recognize this as when the US began moving away from local and ‘mom/pop’ businesses towards corporations. As transformational Pluto then moved into financial investment-oriented Scorpio in the mid-80's, corporations began a festival of merging. And when Pluto reached 'dissemination/things foreign' Sagittarius in the mid-90's, corporations went international.

It was a very Pluto thing to do: Pluto creates and destroys. So as Pluto moved from sign to sign it destroyed one facet while recreating the whole. 

Unfortunately this had repercussions for the nation, not all of which were so good. Pluto traversing through the USA 2nd house of values coincided with the movement towards corporations - an interesting reflection of the Libra 'theoretical' (not tangible) theme. Theoretically, that was fine: people could protect personal assets (a plus with corporations). But when you take the personal threat away, human nature being what it is, often with that goes responsibility, ethics and human morality.

And why should a corporation care about human beings? A corporation is, by definition, a business entity. It's not human.

So why did this evolve under Pluto in Libra? The astrology is simple: Libra (the amorphous 'us') opposes Aries (the physical, individual person). There’s an entire generation (Gen X) born under Pluto in Libra and ultimately their global generational ‘task’ is going to be to wrestle with what will be (or maybe already is) an excessively polarized nation. Gen X, in being a driving force in computers, internet and impersonal systems of data collection has set the stage. And well it should: no generation begins to right a wrong until they experience the wrong which needs righting.

That began happening as Pluto moved into Capricorn in 2008/2009 (again, retrogrades) and the global economic collapse was set off. It's an interesting Kalypso sort of dynamic, what with Kalypso symbolizing the fact that love cannot be only self-oriented: if you love someone only for what they can give you, that is not love  - that is narcissism.

So we see an entire nation (indeed, a world) being tested by various forms of narcissism really given ‘voice’ as Pluto moved through righteously opinionated Sagittarius during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.

Remember: the order of signs we’re concerned with here is Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn. No matter where you start in astrology, the third sign from any starting point is always its ‘voice’ (the official term is  'derivation').

So what Pluto stirred up in its passage through Libra (sign one) was given 'voice' under Pluto in Sagittarius (sign three). And I think most of us remember those years between 1996 (when Pluto entered Sagittarius) and 2008 (when it began shifting into Capricorn) as a period of high flying excess, entitlement, much preaching, less than enough listening and thinking...and everyone trying on that Sagittarian 'give me/I want MORE!' theory.

And yet...in this little progressive derivation thing, the fourth sign in any sequence (this being Capricorn) is where foundations get tested. So when Pluto entered Capricorn, the ‘foundations’ of attitudes begun under Pluto in Libra way back when in the 1970’s got tested.

And there is a very good reason to be thinking very specifically about Libra as a starting point: it's the first sign above the horizontal axis in the natural zodiac (above). Signs in the lower half of the zodiac are personal and private - they would be about how people live. Pluto entered Aries (the first in that group) back in the early-ish 1800's, setting the conditions for America's Civil War, a war all about values: the second step tested in any derivative sequence. 

Just to finish up here on the Libra concept: with Saturn having just committed to its own transit of Libra in July 2010 (after initiating its shift in late 2009), we can expect a lot of shakeouts. Where Saturn goes, problems get shown up and virtues get rewarded: Saturn symbolizes what you reap, you shall sow. Being Saturn is the planet at the limit of human vision, its cycles represent our ‘limits beyond which we cannot see’ or know what we are doing. Within the bounds of what we can see, we can built. This is all about proportion and recognizing our limits and responsibilities.

And where we overstep those bounds? Then the waves of motion and rippling affect we don't see coming (as represented by anything beyond Saturn) hits and cracks our sense of personal stability and safety. With the Saturn of this modern US chart positioned at 27 Libra in the 2nd house of values, resources and assets? That's a strongly marked, if vulnerable statement about the nation's economy - especially in the areas marked by the two signs Saturn rules: Capricorn and Aquarius (where Saturn co-rules with Uranus).

Capricorn (business) is on the 5th house - the house of enjoying taking the risk. Risk plus business = the stock market. Aquarius is on this chart's 6th house of health, work, service. Think: medical, jobs, civil service, government programs, federal systems/networks and the US military.

This all began shifting when obsessive Pluto rolled over the Nadir-IC - the chart's bottom/foundational point - back in 2002/2003 as an echo of what happened (all those changes in corporate structure and swelling of credit and debt) back when Pluto rolled through 21 Libra in the early 1980’s. That was the US sowing seeds.

And one Saturn 'earning' cycle later? As Saturn entered Virgo (sign of responsibilities and jobs) and Pluto moved into Saturn’s primary home sign (Capricorn), it all mushroomed into a financial explosion of fairly atomic proportions. Saturn's precept of 'build or lose' turned into massive job losses. Then came Saturn's 'be responsible for or suffer the consequences' issues with the health care system. And changing attitudes towards, inside and regarding use of the US military.

And that this economic collapse also coincided with Pluto rolling over Chart USA(ppomattox)’s Jupiter/Chaos in the 4th house of the citizenry, real estate and families?

That also tells us why housing, immigration, inheritance taxes and all such (on theoretical, financial and personal levels) suddenly became a crisis, put the US and its people into crisis mode and beyond all the facts, created a classically Pluto-obsessive power battle over control. (Never mind what works - it was so totally all about control!)

Just to finish here…the reason 21 Libra is sited in this equation is for two very good reasons. The most obvious is because 21 Libra is the chart position of fixed star Spica, a symbol of knowledge and what we come to know, learn, or rediscover.

Secondly, Spica is the brightest (focal) star in the constellation of Virgo. You know...the sign that Saturn began to transit as the economic collapse came upon us all? With Spica in Chart USA's 2nd house it is all about national wealth, be that what's in the coffers, what's in the ground (or offshore, as in mineral rights) or of course in terms of its citizens - that which is any nation's greatest resource.

Theoretically then, the US and its people are thus being asked to remember the conceptual basis upon which it was founded – the truth of the values of the nation, which are not hands off, but very much hands on.

Or didn’t we learn that from the Civil War? Those who think people should just go their own way and that a government and its citizens are not two sides of the same coin might do well to take a hard look at history.

Not just that of the US – pick any country you like; freedom is not anarchy – it is an agreed upon set of standards which actively (not passively) protects the rights of each person to grow, excel and be included in the whole. The astrological Aquarius – which in the US chart is recognized as a (6th house) required necessity which like health is either cared for or the whole falls apart.

The astrological Aquarius is all about finding a place for everybody - not just telling them to find their own place. This is a worldly, social, societal and interactive public responsibility sort of sign. So everybody tries and everybody cares and everybody helps everybody else... or in time all only comes undone, but undoes everything everybody so values.

Aquarius – particularly as presented by this chart – does not support elitism, discrimination, dishonesty, corruption, or perversion of the concept that no one is holy if we are not all holy; that no life is worth any more than another and that justice must exist truly for all whether you be powerful or weak, human, dolphin or bumblebee.

But then, isn't that really just a restatement of the 8th house Sun/Lilith of this chart? AND its Libra Moon?

Yet never fear - there is good news! When Pluto rolled over that Nadir/IC (the bottom point in this chart) and rolled forward over Medea (corrupt love which undermines your own cause) in 2002/2003, a proverbial ‘low point’ was reached.

And it's really just a warning which echoes what the US and its people actually know: whenever the US or anything founded under its flag rank personal desire (the 'what I'm going to get out of this') above the good of all, that leads to bad times.

Plus let's not think the nation would do better to break up and glue itself back together again, either. As astrologer Marion March once observed with great wry definition: there are no perfect charts.

In other words, this is life. Reality always includes the possibility with the test, the ability to lose with each opportunity to succeed.  

As for IC of this chart (17 Sagittarius), the degree is  described in lore as one about ‘naïve optimism,’ a ‘childlike innocence which may not be strong enough to support reality’s needs’ and ‘immaturity’ as the legacy of hardships which have created an ‘unpretentious faith’  which both supports and cripples one’s ability to act with decisiveness. And with Jupiter ruling this point, what would have been ‘set off’ when Pluto rolled over the IC surfaced with Pluto went on to conjunct Jupiter (and sextile Saturn) at the time of the economic collapse.

And as Obama came into office, Pluto moved into Capricorn and hit Chaos – the astrological version of Chaos being about an eternal resource which is endlessly full of possibilities. 

President Obama taking the Oath of Office

As Pluto then rolled over Klotho (new beginnings) and Orcus (accepting consequences for that which cannot be changed) Americans and their government were asked to accept, repair, rededicate themselves to something better and move on. With regards to Obama, this is also how astrology works: when the moment is ripe, someone takes up the call.

That this chart so exactly mirrors what is going on in the US of A is again, the astrological demonstration of why this is actually Chart USA. Or Chart USA(ppomatox), if you prefer.

That's all for today, but we're not done looking at the chart. In fact, we've only begun to scratch the surface of what this chart has to tell us about the USA and it's future. And thus (by implication) some of the future of our world: the whole world and nothing but the world.

And since that's well worth further discussion, said discussion will continue being posted here at astroPPM.