CHART USA (Pt. 7): Transits and a Nation in Transit

A map of the United States and Terrirorites

One of the truly useful things about astrology is in the fact that from the time/space map which any natal chart is, we can then look at transits - prescribed angles being struck by celestial objects as they continue their orbital path around the Sun.

For those who wonder why this might be a valid consideration from a scientific point of view, the answer is fairly simple, if entirely metaphysical. Working from the concept that the entirety of Existence is energy (the 'E' in E=mc2'd), then we are each born as manifestations of energy - energy bundles, if you will (shades of kiddihood) - which are 'hallmarked' by the moment and position in that All of Existence-time/space in which we were born. And much like any other 'bundle' of energy, we would be reactive to harmonics as energy frequencies (time/space) marches on.

Those harmonics are created (physically and metaphysically) by the continuing movement and reorientation of time/space as a whole - in which celestial objects are a very convenient set of markers. They do not thus 'do' anything except what all celestial objects do: they move through space, they exude magnetic waves, they disrupt the general field of space-time by moving through it.

Astrology simply reads when those waves reach Earth. And for those who say 'yes, but astrology started back in Babylon' the answer to that would be yes. And obviously back in Babylon, people weren't all that up on Relativity and magnetic resonance and the like.

But we were still human. And one of the great things about human beings is their unceasing curiosity which, when coupled to the human power of observation often leads to great discoveries. (When we're in the mood to be observant, that is.) As it happens, people evidently started observing and correlating movement of celestial objects with things here on Earth back in Babylon. People probably would feel better about astrology if such observations had begun in modern times, but that's not the way it worked. Nor does astrology's origin in antiquity make it any less correct, as discussed in a different blog post touching on some correspondence I had with that most successful and open-minded of planet hunters at CalTech, Mike Brown (link).

In any case, despite the to-be-expected debates among astrologers about transit nuances (what, you think astrologers should debate less among themselves than  politicians, lawyers, clergy and doctors do? Why should we miss out on all the fun?)....despite that, transits remain an interesting and often dispassionately reassuring source of information.

How so reassuring? Well, one of the things about being an astrologer is that you tend to hear from people when they're having a really bad time. And when you're having a really bad time, that bad time is usually marked by a transit which has a beginning and ending date. By giving those dates to a client, I provide them with a sense of when they're going to see 'the light at the end of the tunnel.'

Not that the tunnel always lets out onto their land of milk and honey, mind you - but most people would rather be able to see what they are dealing with rather than stumble along in the dark.

So where are we with Chart USA when it comes to the big and wonderful world of transits?

 
Starting with the broadest of big brush strokes, the karmic and evolutionary powers of transformation (symbolized by Pluto) moved across the IC/Nadir (foundational bottom) degree of this chart in 2002. As discussed elsewhere in this series, the IC degree of the Appomattox chart (17 Sagittarius) is one which displays a native and innocent (rather purist) belief in God - or what one believes in, even if that is a belief in nothing.

That this time corresponds to when the United States began its recent, rapid and highly polarizing/polarized  radicalization with regards to religion(s) is notable. Given this idea, we can also say that this trend will continue until Pluto moves out of the 4th house that the IC serves as cusp to. That will not happen until 2019, so enjoy the debates. 

As of 2006, Pluto also opposed Uranus, a Uranus positioned in the governmental and most worldly house of the chart - the 10th house. For astrologers/readers who time a transit uptick when a major planet comes within the standard 5-degree conjunctive orb, that moves the date back to January of 2004, suggesting that domestic and foreign difficulties ranging from the war in Iraq to governmental disorganization when greeted with the ravages of Hurricane Katrina were part of a more karmic 'shakeup' of the nation.

Uranus - source: NASA

Uranus in the 10th asks a government not to be too rigid, points to the people's need not to allow their government to be too rigid, too inaccessible, too erratic, too detached from the national mood, or too polarized/polarizing in its politics.

By 2006, a lot of these challenges had become rather obvious. And with Uranus opposition Jupiter in the natal 4th, the division and divisiveness which began in the halls of government and all it was up to would then shift to the people, as Pluto moved on from 26 Sagittarius to 28 Sagittarius, conjuncting Jupiter.

Jupiter - source: NASA

As with all things astrological, there are pluses and minuses to everything. Depending on your politics, you saw the election of Barack Obama as either a big improvement or a wholesale detriment. Whatever it was on a purely political basis however, Obama's election (and the very serious bid Hillary Clinton made in that election) did represent a clear 'broadening' of the public view on presidential politics. With this being neither a  referendum on good or bad, it is wholly Jupiterian, since Jupiter represents 'expansion' and in the house of the people denoted the 'expanding' of the popular and populace point of view.

Currently, Pluto is in the process of opposing the national 5 Cancer Mars, a symbol fraught with disruptive energy when not used in a truly universal manner - the United States' 'We the People' credo. With this transit having ratcheted into full effect in May 2010 (and running through October of 2011) its 'orb effects' where witnessed as soon as Pluto entered Capricorn.

Interestingly, given Pluto's yearly retrograde patterns, Pluto first entered Capricorn in late January 2008, just after political caucusing had begun to greatly thin down the list of candidates. As Pluto turned direct during September in the midst of a crumbling economic situation, the nation prepared to head off to the polls in early November. Duly elected if not yet sworn in, Obama's team began taking over the reins of power as Pluto committed to its transit of Capricorn in late November and the GW Bush administration appeared to have all but left the field.

Cancer is ruled by the Moon, symbol of populace and economics. With the Moon of this Chart USA also at 5 degrees, it is no wonder that the people and American government are entrenched in a debate of economics and citizens rights. From immigration to health care to national debt and so on, we can expect these heated debates to continue through October 2011, and the discussions involved therein not to be even half-way sorted out until December of 2013. 

With all of this noted however, one thing is good to know: given how the IC of any chart represents one of its biggest tests, Pluto's passage over this point tells us the United States is moving through its most internally volatile period to be seen in the roughly 150 years since the nation was re-birthed, rising like a Phoenix from the ashes of the Civil War. (Which is a very 8th house image and thus much in keeping with a national 8th house Sun!)

Yet there is no question that the US is really hard up. The Appomattox chart shows a natal Saturn in the 2nd house of talents, abilities, resources and the national coffer. This is clearly a 'what you earn you reap' symbol. Not only that, but natal Saturn sits in a grand trine with Uranus in 10 and Juno in the 6th house of employees, jobs, health, civil servants and the military.

A computer-generated image-map of Pluto - source: NASA

This means that when Pluto first started afflicting Uranus, it also began afflicting the whole Uranus-Saturn-Juno system. So we shouldn't be surprised to look back and track the roots of fiscal (Saturn) problems which entangle everything from military expenditures to health care to Wall Street, big oil and the rest of it back to that time. Saturn moved across the national Vesta (service) potently placed behind the Ascendant as the economy collapsed and rolled across that Ascendant on November 2nd, 2008 (a day before the Presidential election).

That would make the election a Saturn call for dealing with the public's economy, recalling pundits tossing around the slogan 'it's the economy, stupid!' Beyond that, it would also say that everybody would be highly disgruntled no matter who was President during the period Saturn was to transit the national 1st house. This having begun on Election Day 2008, it will continue until August 2014.

Currently, the whole of the nation is highly disgruntled and about to get even more so: with Pluto squaring the national Moon and opposition its willful (loudmouth) Mars by long-term transit, Saturn is also posed to square Mars on September 8th and conjunct the Moon on September 14th. (Those who are political junkies may also want to mark their calendars for September 27 and 28, when the Sun reaches 5 Libra, setting these transits off.)

Having moved into the national 6th house of health-work/jobs-service in May 2007, Neptune's continuing presence in this house until somewhat after 2050 suggests the United States is in a period of long term discussion and development of its own understanding of what the term 'universal' means. And what it doesn't or even can't mean to a nation. Nations have boundaries - Neptune doesn't.

 Neptune - source: NASA

This isn't an easy question, though in time the United States is likely to invest in tougher standards for citizenry and foreign aid. Why? Both reasons come down to the Mars/Ixion/Uranus sandwich in the national 10th house. For one, no nation can be in all places. Secondly, other nations don't think the way the United States does. The US is likely to get very sulky as it concludes (reluctantly) conclude that they don't get to play (Cancer) parent to the world (amidst grumbles about other nations acting like ungrateful Ixion children). Yet in the end, the nation will either pull itself back within its own boundaries or like the mythic Ixion, get roasted for sticking its nose into something totally and entirely none of its business.

It rather gets back to the boundary thing: like many parents, the US wants to protect the whole world. This is emblematic and symptomatic; parents are supposed to be models of behavior which children emulate - a nation which demonstrates war-like behaviors should not be surprised that the world and its own youth pay more attention to winning than the quality of life.

More rough waters are expected in the short run as Uranus moves through the early degrees of Aries, squaring the Cancer Mars and opposing the national  Moon.

We've already felt the entrees of these effects as Uranus hit Aries in late May 2010; considering this is Uranus in action, the center of the dispute is governmental, whether domestic or international. These transits will come into full force as of April 2012 and extend through February 2013, suggesting among other things that the next Presidential election cycle will make this last one look like afternoon tea in the Queen's most secure, demure study.

These being only the most sweeping of broad brush strokes we could go on endlessly, defining and refining transits to this chart for the United States as a modern nation forged and essentially reforged at the end of the Civil War. Just to note that the calamity most people know simply as 'Deepwater Horizon' was marked to the day by a Venus return to the Appomattox chart shows how accurate the chart is.

As this series started out, between all the intriguing explorations of the chart has remained the essential question: what is the real chart for the United States of America? Astrologers have been debating this one for at least the thirty years I've been involved in astrology and probably for more than that.

It seems pretty astonishing to this researcher that no one ever stepped back and took the time to think of the nation not in terms of where it started out (working forward), but as the nation it is today. Starting from today, working back through the tale of years, there is only one point at which the nation came apart. That's what defines a national chart - a nation which comes together and is forged from disparate parts.

During the time these blogs have been being posted, I've heard from astrologers protesting that the Union never accepted the Confederacy's breaking away. To my thinking, that simply doesn't matter. The Confederacy was enough of an entity to have its own legal tender, it's own government, its own standing army, its own constitution and other nations recognizing its existence (though granted, they dallied with whether they wanted to go public on that score.) What more can anyone ask? So what if the North didn't like it - that's why the war got fought.

 Cemetery at Shiloh National Military Park

 
Ask a hard core southerner whether the nation fractured. You'll get chapter and verse on how it did - and by some, why that was a very good idea. 

As a researcher, the feelings can't matter. What has to be accepted are the facts. In this case, the South ceded and created its own nation. The North invaded, conquered, and subdued its former territories.

The chart which came out of that was the chart erected for General Robert E. Lee's surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant in a little borrowed farm house in Appomattox, Virginia. The date was April 9, 1865 - the time (as near as we can make it) was 3:53 pm, which produces the following chart for the United States of America as the nation which exists today.

Chart USA 

April 9, 1865 - 3:53pm - Appomattox Court House, VA

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CHART USA (Pt. 5): Planetary Picturing America

CHART USA

When astrologers refer to the term 'planetary pictures,' they're talking about 'pre-fab' images which appear in charts because planets fall into specific patterns.

For instance, look at Chart USA (above). See that equilateral triangle drawn in blue? That's a 'grand trine' - three interlocking 120 degree aspects which in joining, make an equilateral triangle more exact than those rather glorious pyramids of Giza. 

Pretty amazing, those pyramids. Though having been there, I'm not sure why travel agents don't feel the need to tell you how hot it is hot inside said pyramids even during Egypt's mild season.

Back on planetary pictures, the patterns astrologers refer to...the grand square, grand trine, t-square, yod, t-square, magic rectangle, etc. Whatever it is, it has a specific meaning which has specific pros and cons.

No, nothing is perfect - this is life, remember?


In Chart USA, we have several pictures, the most important of which (just an opinion) is the cardinal (proactive) sign t-square:

Most (like, maybe 90%) of t-squares connect signs of like modality...which is to say, the mode in which they operate. This one being in proactive signs indicates active energy on all sides - which yes, can be sort of leap before you look. Or think you know before you actually do know.

You know, that speaking before you have all the facts. Or in spite of them, even. The good, the bad and the outspoken, call it.

Considering this entire t-square is in early (1st decan) degrees, there's a who 'what I do' and 'who, me?' speak-or-do, then learn from the results sort of vibe too. Which when you're talking about a t-square (a construct all about accepting the full picture before you act if you hope to get anywhere)...that can be tough.

But then, the USA can be a tough little nation. See that Uranus and Cancer Mars up in the top of the chart - that 10th house? That - in part - is the US tendency to be one part hero, one part loud mouth and one part own worst enemy. But shy? Heck no - America stopped being shy when it got rid of its original be-wigged, politely intellectualized but hardly universally fair founding father's chart.

The Signing of the Constitution of the United States

by Howard Chandler Christy

With Neptune/Psyche in the USA's 7th 'what I put out there and get seen by' house, the nation is greatly blessed with altruism and highly cursed by its ability to confuse inspiration with actual ideas.

And then there's that issue of boundaries Neptune-Psyche suggests is such a problem. The 7th always being where we directly interact with 'others' (as a performer might do with their audience) this is the US' famous 'give me your tired, your sick...' along with its porous borders and a national neurosis entitled "there's a monster under my bed!" Periodically, the US just goes off on some tangent of group paranoia which apparently crops up with transiting Neptune affects the natal Jupiter-Uranus opposition.

And whether it's commies or those of Japanese descent or fundamentalist Muslims or anyone else, the sheer mass market(able) aspect of such national 'moods' is very 'the popular/populace mind' (Psyche) being under some illusion (Neptune). We know that since common sense says it's not every Muslim person who wants to blow up the World Trade Center and not every person of Japanese descent living in the US who might have been spying for the Emperor of Japan during WWII. 

But such dynamics are very much about this t-square. The 'ideal illusion' which is put out there and taken up in the national imagination (Neptune/Psyche) comes from a national altruism both about the nation as a whole and what the nation wants from other nations.

And that, of course, leads to a lot of (Neptune) confusion plus a lot of (Neptunian) disappointment.

Yet this isn't all about just Neptune on its own. Or even Neptune-Psyche being America as the 'let me help' nation - not to be confused with the 'let me butt in' nation, which Neptune/Psyche also says a lot about. Why? Because boundary problems aren't just one-way, and if astrology is good at anything, it's at laying out these polarities.

The 7th house is not only what what I put out there (the 'me' part) but also the 'how you see me' part. PLUS it's also the 'what you do/give to me' thing along with 'how I react to you.' Where we interact is where we interact whether I initiate and you react or you initiate and I react and thus how we are bound together. The audience enjoys the performer and the performer would neither have a job nor be able to succeed in their craft if there was no audience to play in. And when it works, it's magic - the actor feeds on the audience appreciation and the audience is moved and inspired by the performance. 

So it is with the US and its people: the government-populace dance. So it is with the US and other nations,  how the US responds with such charity in one moment and with bombs in a next. 

That the US is so polarized in its response to others - and even as it responds to its own is all about this t-square. Given that planetary pictures are always 'read' in zodiacal order (counter-clockwise), the last piece of this configuration - the 'pictured' goal if you will - is Moon/Quasar in egalitarian Libra, the very heart and soul of America's belief in equality and human dignity,  discussed in part two (link) of this series.

To finish up here before moving on - there is in this 7th house a Mnemosyne conjunct that US Neptune/Psyche. Mnemosyne being 'memory,' that would be the US' own history and the memory of its people. On one hand there is that American expertise in idealizing the past. You know, those good old days. That's about as Neptunian as the fact that we all know how memory tends to be incredibly selective.

And we know it when someone else is editing the mental tape, but let it be us....? Oy!

And while we're on the subject of selective Neptunian idealism, let's remember that with Neptune, when the real reality isn't your imagined reality, all sorts of rancidly disillusioned disappointment is the result. And this is not just about the US and its citizens - this is also about how other disappointed other nations can often be in America for not being what they imagine the US is. Or even that the USA doesn't always live up to its own ferociously altruistic PR!

And yet...with Neptune in the 7th opposing that brilliant (Quasar) egalitarian believe (Libra Moon) in the 1st house of national identity, the US does sound like it should be a pretty darn groovy place. Which it is - certainly comparatively. But there are a few flies in the national ointment...which is where the 't' in the t-square comes in.

Sitting in the middle of this configuration, way up high there in the 10th house we have Mars in Cancer.

Actually Mars in Cancer conjunct a couple of black holes (the "alternate reality" concept) and Ixion, ingratitude incarnate.

Mars in the 10th is all about dynamism. Mars in Cancer is all about being confined by the daily drudgery and the need to make a solid plan before you can go out and look heroic. So Mars in Cancer in the 10th is all about a government and the US commerce sector as a whole, which lives, dies, hisses, vows, spits, finagles, curses and argues by these precepts.

With this Mars squared (separate from the Neptune) by Sedna in the 7th, there's a whole test of maturity involved here. And with Sedna in the 7th, that means the rest of the world looks at the US as 'that kid nation' more than just from time-to-time. Like an irritated, anxious, hopeful family, nations of the world look to a  teenager-ish United States marveling at its lasting conviction of immortality (such as teenagers all have) and yet annoyed as all get-out at the US tendency to treat everybody else like they know nothing.

Yes, the US has youth on its side. With with youth does come that brash courage so typical of America. Like the teen who thinks nothing will ever happen to them, the US charges in to build the Panama Canal after other nations have written the effort off. It's so like the US to say 'okay, in ten years we're going to be standing on the moon' and do it. That's Mars/Ixion square Sedna and (separately) square Neptune used to the good. No, I'm not going to let you say I can't do it - it needs doing, and by gum, I'm going to figger it out and get it done!

Go big and go postal - very much a motto USA !

And without question, there's an older, wiser and somewhat more tired international family which appreciates the US vim, vigor and determination. But not so much the youthful arrogance which comes with same. Other nations love having the USA around to do the heavy lifting, but would like the US a lot better if this  young whippersnapper nation would be just a little more polite.

After all, they've survived a few thousand years and the US been around for a couple of hundred. And yet here's the US telling them how they should live? And all these Americans running all over the world criticizing people because that's now how we do it back home in America like there's nothing else worth anything?

Tsk, tsk...rather rude. And very Mars/Ixion in the 10th with all the attachments implied.

This is the heart of Chart USA's quandary: the difference between assertion and aggression. And the use of power as opposed to using the power of leadership. With two black holes hanging around this begrudged 10th house Cancer Mars, government and commerce are both driving forces for the nation and both responsible for the nation's health and well being. When either one gets aggressive instead of assertive or misuses power, the nation, its people and its reputation suffers.

And when both sectors get out of whack, that's when simple slippage turns into an avalanche, when the trickle of bad news becomes a flood.

If you're just the ordinary US citizen, this Mars/Ixion in 10 is the frustratingly annoying, often off-putting specter of watching your government and corporate sector act like Middle Ages royalty. And yet, at least all the worst of the arguing belongs to them. That there is so much bickering in Washington is highly symbolic of Mars-Uranus in the 10th. And since it's in the 10th, the rest of the nation - by implication - can go about its business more or less bicker-free.

The rule with a t-square is that when you fail the test posed by the 't', you get sent back to 'Go' without collecting $250. Also, when you fail you arrive at 'Go' on the ugly side of the dynamic.

So the US starts out wanting to do the good thing. Then everything hits the public sector - governmental or commerce - and faces the power/greed debate dynamic. All 10th house symbols always indicate a precept which must be earned...

And thus whether you're a company or a government or simply a US citizen wanting to get ahead in your career...in spite of, or maybe in addition to is a better way to put it...if you call yourself 'American' in any sense, you earn what you get.

And when you don't earn, the wages of your arrogance are - in time - public scorn. Disillusionment. Even banishment of sorts, though polite society seems to call that 'retirement' of late.

The issue with Mars in the 10th is not if you will fight, but why you fight and what you fight for. When the 'doing a service' part of earning becomes 'self-service,' it doesn't matter who or what you are, in time your very arrogance and self-absorption becomes either the means by which you are undermined or the blindness which prevents you from seeing you're doing down, baby!

And yes, then nine times out of ten there's a lot of disappointment and disillusionment to contend with - on all sides. For ultimately, this t-square which connects the 1st, 7th and 10th houses is all about a nation tied to its world, a people intrinsically tied to their nation and the fact that life itself is interconnected.

That's the message of this chart - and a fitting message it is too, coming out of the bloodiest of all US wars, the very uncivil Civil War which pitted kin against kin, country against citizen and countryman against nation.


To be American is to not be able to go it alone, that you shouldn't have to go it alone and that indeed, as a people, as a country, as a society...

United, America stands. Divided, it falls. Let all entities American take private and public note.

The Statue of Liberty, standing for liberty and justice for all -

the American ethic, ideal and ultimate necessity.

 

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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