Libya’s Turmoil

 Um el Maa Oasis

photo credit: Michael Diederich (November 2005)

There are at lot of charts for Libya. For centuries it’s been ruled by treaty, partitioned by war and overrun by invaders. Not meaning this to sound cavalier, if your nation has been a power in the Mediterranean region north, south, east or west, its likely that at some point in history your nation has been in charge of the area we know today as Libya.

That nation – that collective/collected territory seem to have its roots in a peace treaty struck between the Allies and Italy which, as of February 10, 1947 has Italy relinquishing its command of Libyan lands.

February 10, 1947 - Italy relinquishes all control of Libya

in a treaty with the Allies (Tripoli)

This chart, in many a way – describes Libya as a nation as one which arose out of war (WWII) and which in that metaphysical formulation is created replete with the  groundwork for the Libya we know today, a Libya which is now painfully showing us its 'wartime-like' roots.

This concept starts with a chart which has 23 Libra on the 6th house of national health, work and service. Not only that, but this Libra 6th house contains the whole of the sign of Scorpio. Known as an interception, this ‘sign wholly encapsulated by a house’ is Scorpio. And in this intercepted pool of captive Scorpio energy is Chiron conjunct Niobe/Klotho and Jupiter conjunct Charybdis, Panacea and Eros/Hera.

The 6th house of any national chart is the nation’s ‘health’ as a nation plus its health care system, the general health of its people and the ‘health’ of its civil service and infrastructure, replete with whatever efforts are made to maintain the country in working order.

Modern Tripoli - Shari al Coiche

photo credit: Jaw101ie (June 2009)

A national 6th house also pictures the civil service, those who work to create or keep up the national infrastructure and – probably important here – the military.

One of Scorpio’s aspects is about death, conception and resurrection – hence the idea of the Phoenix being associated with Scorpio. So to have Scorpio intercepted in the 6th speaks of the war through which Libya was created, the warriors which created it and as a means of foreshadowing, the military man who would come to rule it.

The ruler of Libra (the sign on the cusp of this 6th house) is Venus. The Venus of this chart is in the 8th house of power, control, sex and joint finances – which in a national chart would be more like the nation’s use of credit and debt and/or what it uses money for.

Venus as a concept is about bringing things into being.

 We often think of Venus as the beauty of Aphrodite which inspires results. But the reality of Venus is more about what you earn, you have, what you have, you get to use as a resource. 

Which yes, would be why the concept of beauty is that ‘if you’ve got it, flaunt it!’ Of course that does sort of ignore how much work often goes into being that casually beautiful…

…But that’s another blog.

My point here is that the Venus of this chart is in the administrative/governing sign of Capricorn - is conjunct calculated Lilith. Calculated Lilith is either what we deny about our society or what our society denies (“refuses to know or acknowledge”) about us. And with this pair conjunct Scylla, there’s a whole stubbornness about this, plus a “whirlpool” effect – the ability to get ‘sucked in.’

In the 8th, this could easily be seen as Italy being…uh… ‘cajoled’ by the Allies into surrendering Libya. I mean, who thinks Italy woke up one morning saying ‘I want to set Libya free!!!’

 The ancient rock art of Tadrart Acacus bears mute testimony to

Libya's past as an area which was once far wetter - a land of

savannas which would have supported large animals like giraffes.

photo credit: Roberto D'Angelo (December 2005)

I don’t know about you, but WWII doesn’t strike me as a war which inspired such moods. As if any war does?

But moving on. In some houses (such as the 12th) Venus can indicate a free flow of creativity, no question. In the 8th however, it tends to be very controlling. And since it rules that 6th house (replete with its ‘impounded’ military) there’s the whole sense of ‘mandate’ to be associated with this Venus-Lilith-Scylla in the 8th. And that metaphysical essence would not only be part of Libya coming to be, but in what it is as it starts out.

No, not exactly what you would call a liberal start to national identity.

But we could go very ‘maybe yes, maybe no’ on whether this was going to be good or bad for the new nation…until we see how this 8th house is ruled by the Scorpio Jupiter intercepted in the 6th house.

It’s a closed circuit which turns itself a bit inside-out, right? The sign on the 6th is ruled by a Venus in the 8th with the 8th house ruled by a Jupiter which is intercepted in the 6th.

This ‘inescapable’ quality is what tips us off that the nation is not only controlled (Scorpio and 8th house) into being, but that the factor which goes into and comes out of this incarnating of the Libyan nation is a controlling (Scorpio) and probably charismatic (Scorpio/Jupiter) member of the military (6th house).

And no, I don’t know who negotiated for the Allies in WWII, but there’s no question but that Gaddafi – the man who will end of seizing and wielding Libyan power and power over Libya – he was widely known to have been a dashing, charismatic military presence when he took power.

Of course there is the other side of this Venus-Lilith-Scylla thing…that whoever would take power would do so without paying all that much attention to the people. And the people, in reality, would not be really honest with themselves about who this leader is.

If we had any doubt about this descriptor-description, we would look to the ruler of the Venus-Lilith-Scylla in Capricorn. That would be Saturn, which positioned in the 3rd house is in Leo.

Saturn in Leo is notorious for having…well, let’s just say a bit of an issue with arrogance. In the 3rd house of mentality and communiqués it’s a rather brilliant image of a nation created through treaty: you WILL give up these lands…they WILL become a country. On the other hand, this would also tend towards a country where those in charge would want (demand) to be right, and one prone to wanting to  dictate to others – including other governments. Making this all a little less comfortable is the idea that this Saturn is conjunct Eurydike and Atropos, making the newly freed Libya a place where the cost one is made to pay (Eurydike) equals and ‘end’ or ‘loss’ (Atropos) where the Saturn dictate is not adhered to.

Tripoli's 'Old Town'

photo credit: Franzfoto (November 2010)

At the risk of sounding a little like that old song about the leg bone connecting to the hip bone and the hip bone connecting to…. to have such a Leo Saturn-Atropos-Eurydike disposing the 8th house Venus (plus stubborn Scylla plus societal denying/disliking calculated Lilith) which in turn rules a 6th house with Scorpio intercepted therein replete with Jupiter…that seems to be the basis upon which the Libya we hear of today – a country ‘formulated’ less as a ‘nation’ as most conceive of it than a  hierarchal-tribal rule, leaving it apt to being not only run by a “strong-man” figure who comes to power through the 6th house military but who grows up thinking of this as the way the world should be run.

Children tend to formulate a good deal of their ‘view’ of the world between Jupiter’s first opposition (at about age 6)/Saturn’s first quarter cycle (approximately age seven) and the end of Jupiter’s first round (11.86 years), which is just shy of Saturn’s first opposition at about age 14.

Muammar Gaddafi was born in 1942. He would have thus been 5 when Italy relinquished its hold on Libya, and he would have been 9 when the Kingdom of Libya came into being on December 24, 1951.

 Kingdom of Libya: December 24, 1951 (Tripoli)

For a country to change charts, we would expect there to be some indicator on the original chart – in this case, the Independence (from Italy) chart. And indeed there is. Libya becomes the Kingdom of Libya as Pluto is opposing the Sun of the Independence chart – a challenge which comes from the 4th house of the populace and nationalism.

Interestingly, this is also what we saw with Egypt – as Pluto moved across the IC into the 4th house of culture, homeland, national population and tradition, Egypt changed. We see the same thing here. The new chart has Pluto at 21 Leo – the ‘exiting’ of the total opposition to the 20 Aquarius Sun of the Independence chart. This is Pluto picturing emergence…and in essence, the repercussions of transformation.

(LINK to the first of the blogs on Egypt. There are others linked in the sidebar Corporate, National and/or Political Kind section.)

In the Independence chart, shape shifter Haumea is at 18 Leo; Deucalion (finding the moral path) is at 22 Leo. Pluto runs over Haumea and ‘the shape of things’ begins to shift/change. Libya becomes a kingdom and then Pluto conjuncts Deucalion.

Considering that Pluto creates, denies or destroys, this is an interesting signal. Like as not, all three forms of this dynamic were felt in the new, young kingdom. But to fast forward to today, it would seem that the transformation into a kingdom which came to be ruled by Gaddafi ultimately denied the morality of the people and represents a ‘kingdom-format’ (as opposed to some other form of national governance such as a democracy) a format which is unlikely to work for Libya in the sense of giving the Libyan people their moral rights as a people.

That this is a negative and not positive call here is actually underscored by the idea that the Sun of the Kingdom chart is conjunct the Black Moon (calculated) Lilith of the Independence chart. Today we hear a Libyan people saying – if nothing else – that their kingdom’s ruler (Gaddafi as monarch) has ignored them and denied them their rights.

By this chart, their Independence would be denied. And since like all astrological signals this one swings both ways, the uprising of the Libyan people suggests some pretty serious consequences (a “dire” outcome) for Gaddafi. Black Moon Lilith can certainly represent a society or social standard which we want to ignore – but it can also represent the society or social forces coming to ignore everything about us. Considering that this statement is being made via the Black Moon of the Independence chart which is in the 8th house, the acts and attitude being displayed by Gaddafi towards his people (having them shot in the street) is absolutely 8th house.

Snow in Al Bayda, Libya

But as he has turned on his people, so also does this Kingdom Sun conjunct Independence 8th house Black Moon also says everything can be turned against him. Like attracts like…what we put out will come back to us. This is always true – and doubly potent when the symbols are 8th house oriented, which is to say either posed in the 8th house or in Scorpio.

As for the Kingdom chart as a whole, with Juno-Chiron-Sun conjunct in the 10th in Capricorn accompanied by Edisona, Medusa and Scylla, there is both a need to be strong and a likelihood that rulers of this Kingdom are going to be overly strong. Juno/Sun in Capricorn is the need and existence of dominant leadership – adding Chiron means one finds their own way in the doing of it, which in this case led to strength in Capricorn commerce (Edisona would be the ‘new idea’ which helped the country along) but Medusa/Scylla is a fearful stubbornness and ability to swallow others up which has been activated now as transiting Pluto is rolling over all these positions.

But why would Libyans explode now instead of continuing to tolerate their life? As viewers in a big world of events, we can easily say ‘that’s what’s going on in the Middle East – the turmoil is spreading.’ Yet astrologically, that doesn’t work – charts are more like data: they don’t react to external “feelings” or a world ‘mood.’

Instead, what we have is (let’s say it all together!) the January 4th Solar Eclipse at 13 Capricorn – an eclipse which occurring in Capricorn is easily ‘about’ government and commerce and what governments are doing with money and about commerce (their own and otherwise) …and this is an emotionally evocative degree.

In the Kingdom’s chart, this eclipse occurs virtually atop the Part of Fortune – Fortuna, as she is known. It’s something the Kingdom needs to go through and needs to know it will need to resort to (if necessary) time and time again until/unless things function correctly. That last part – the ‘functioning correctly’ comes from this Part of Fortune appearing in the functional 11th house. And since the 11th is about income, the marketplace, societal gatherings and operations of a nation in the world and a nation’s people in the national marketplace, all that we see going on and all that we hear from the Libyan people about their lack of opportunity and what is/isn’t allowed is entirely on mark.

That this Part of Fortune is conjunct Kleopatra says the people and Gaddafi know what they are doing and that they ‘speak with or in many tongues.’ Also conjunct Icarus, this Part of Fortune stands for actions taken in a sudden, headstrong and precipitous manner.

Jabal Al Akdar - Cyreraica in Eastern Libya

Photo credit: Barghathi

But does this have to be fatal? We would hope not, yet with Damocles and Vega at 13 and 14 (which makes Damocles exactly conjunct the Part of Fortune) there are perils to be faced…and frankly, Damocles/Icarus/Vega would spell an eloquently spoken ‘plunge’ which yes, could end in death.

(LINK to article on Damocles)

And there is another little pair ‘o’ points to be considered here. One is the 12 Capricorn Part of Fortune being semi-sextile Pallas (wisdom) at 12 Aquarius, which is an ego-bruising don’t bother me which mostly/greatly flows from the top down in this kingdom society. The Pallas portion of this also underscores a lack of regard for education of the people and use of their wisdom.

But there is that other little issue…namely that this Part of Fortune is in EXACT opposition to Uranus, aka Uranus conjunct Sirius, Ye Old Dog Star which teaches that little things (and “little people”) matter – and that sometimes we need to stick our ego in a box and do what needs doing instead of humoring ourselves.

Given how this Uranus is in the 5th house this is the quintessential ‘who gets to do what they want’ versus ‘no, you can’t do what you want!’ sort of energetic which the January eclipse went and set off, sort of like a heat-sensitive explosive encased in ice and left out in the sun.

With this all said, there’s also a teaching in astrology called progressions which, particularly with national charts functions best with a regimented ‘year-as-degree’ of movement. From 1951 to 2011 is sixty years, which in astrological terms is sixty degrees, or a sextile – equaling opportunity.

And if the Lunar Nodes represent society as a whole (which they do!)…a sextile backwards (by sign, which is how the Nodes move) would take us from the North Node at 2 Pisces to progressed North Node at 2 Capricorn. And 2 Capricorn is right smack conjunct Edisona and right between the 3 Capricorn Juno and 1 Capricorn Sun ‘ruler’s image’ of this Kingdom chart.

Oh, a new thing would be a brewing now, yes.

Being that Neptune is as of posting at 28 Aquarius about to move thru intense Aquarius 29 into Pisces as of April 2011, we have an image of Neptune in opposition to the Kingdom’s Regulus/Deucalion. Deucalion again being about ‘finding the moral path’ the people are saying their ‘morality’ is about having it be moral for them to have opportunities in life, it here joins Regulus – the royal star which promises success if vengeance is avoided.

With this combination situated in the 6th house of civil service and (yes,) military, it’s a very bad astrological idea (never mind political or humanistic!) for for Gaddafi to allow any military (particularly his own!) to fire on his own people. That several Libyan fighter pilots flew to Malta and asked to defect when asked to fire on the Libyan people is the ‘up’ side of this opposition. Neptune is opposing from the 12th house – a very strong position for Neptune. Still in Aquarius, the people will feel for the people’s plight – this is not going to be one group of Libyans saying another is out of their mind for protesting.

Moreover, all of humanity is going to object.

 The ruins of an ancient Roman theater in today's city of Sabratha

photo credit: dumidog

But this isn’t going to be easy. When Neptune reaches Pisces, the first thing it will hit in this Kingdom chart is asteroid Lilith – the cost of what one has done. This may be Gaddafi’s end, it may be the cost of revolt being paid by a people, either in human or societal terms.

This is one of those charts we could talk about for hours – the Mercury in Sagittarius at the top of the chart gives us a government (a king of the land) prone to hard-headed pronouncements. With the Mercury ruled by Jupiter/Eris in Aries, there’s an aggrandizement of the rights of the monarch with the now-being-seen willingness to serve out discordant treatment of the people (injury to members of the populace). With House and Typhon conjunct this Jupiter-Eris, there’s a comfort (House as ‘being at home’) with primal acts (Typhon), which coming from a military man turned national leader surely suggests a willingness to resort to military tactics and killing.

Plus with that Jupiter/Eris in Aries, one would surely look at the Mars/Saturn/Ixion/Lust/Medea in the 7th house in Libra. This is a weakness to entitlement (Mars/Ixion), a strong-arming (Mars/Saturn), a focus on what you love (Lust/Medea) and a craving for what suits your will even if it in time brings your downfall (Saturn/Ixion/Lust/Medea).

And for those not yet convinced, there is a 5 Scorpio Moon in the 8th – a fusion of money and power in the house of life or death, control or agreement – another underscoring of the potential for selfishness or violence. Or for that matter, terrorism or the sponsoring of same in any way, shape or form. Yes, this could be a great position for a government which really works with a people who earn being worked with. But Moon in the 8th OR Moon in Scorpio tends to feel what it feels. Combined, that becomes more of a given.

The final coup de gras here? That this Moon is conjunct Hybris and Byblis….not a pretty triad! Hybris is an arrogance to think you can get away with something. But eventually, it does come back to haunt you. And Byblis is wanting to justify something which on the face of it, should not even be argued for. But there’s something about it (namely that you want so for it to be okay) which makes you try and justify your love for whatever your Byblis quotient is.

That Libya erupted after Saturn took its station and went retrograde atop Ixion, backing into Mars as the ignition point says a lot. It both ignites the pent up feelings of the people as portrayed in this chart and all the propensities for how the ruler of this Kingdom will act in return.

 A mosque in the city of Ghadames - a protected

UNESCO world heritage site

photo credit: Roberto D'Angelo

 

So where is Libya going? The June 2011 Solar Eclipse at 11 Gemini will be right between fixed star Aldebaran (integrity) at 9 Gemini and fixed star Rigel (the teacher – 16 Gemini) at the 16 Gemini IC/Nadir point of this chart.

Because this eclipse is conjunct the Nadir of the Kingdom chart it acts to sort of ‘blast’ the base out from under this chart – implying that there is either a ‘teaching of a lesson’ to the country or a ‘greater wisdom’ which undermines the foundation upon which this Kingdom chart has stood now for 60 years.

That number – 60 – is in astrological circles a fairly automatic reminder of Saturn, by the way. Given that Saturn takes 29.46 years to go once around the zodiac, that’s pretty darn close to 60 years when you double it. The Saturn of this Kingdom chart being at 14 Libra with Saturn in retrograde going from 17 Libra back to 10 Libra tells us that this time...these weeks...this is the Kingdom chart’s Saturn return. It's going on right now. It's in progress. And it won't be complete until August, 2011.

Put in prosaic terms, Saturn is a symbol which says what you earn, you shall reap. This Kingdom chart seems to have earned a bucket full of trouble!

But why would that be? After all, the first go ‘round of Saturn didn’t create that kind of trouble, right?

Well, right. But that first Saturn return didn’t happen in conjunction with a Solar Eclipse squaring Saturn.

This brings up something which is important to understand: in astrological terms, one big transit can indicate a problem or an advancement. But catastrophe or achieving something over-the-moon fabulous requires more than one indicator. Saturn returns are something like a “payout” …or when the bill comes due. Some people have really great Saturn returns!

But in a chart like this where we see Saturn (at 14 Libra) square the Part of Fortune and Uranus – this is Saturn sitting at the apex of a t-square. The challenge of a t-square is to get “past” the apex of the “t”, which generally represents something difficult in your own (ego) nature to put aside. If you can manage it, then you reach the ‘other side’ of the “t” and everything falls together.

In this instance, as Saturn came to its (second) return at/as the apex of the Kingdom t-square – this is when the Solar Eclipse hit the “destination” point – the Part of Fortune.

And what do Solar Eclipses do, class? That’s right – first they show up all the worst positives, then they ‘black out’ what quality.

We are now officially in the worst of the positives zone, and that Uranus is at the time of this uprising and Gaddafi’s threatening (ordering?) of a ‘bloodbath’ of government against its own people, Uranus is at 29 degrees of Pisces – the last degree of the zodiac. The uprising began with Uranus at 28 degrees – conjunct Athena (knowing, wisdom) and fixed star Scheat, a point famous for rejection of ideas. The people rejected the rule of the leader and the leader (Gaddafi) rejected the right of the people to reject him.

(Oh – and by the way…the full name of the Greek Goddess is Pallas Athena. Her name has been parted into an astronomical two-ism with one asteroid being named Athena (or Athene) and another rather important astrological asteroid being known as Pallas).

Unfortunately, the combination of these symbols in this national chart (as opposed to a personal chart) suggests this is not going to be a quick process Libya is going through. Not only will June’s Gemini Solar Eclipse hit the Nadir of this chart but July 2011’s Cancer Solar Eclipse will hit the 5th house cusp of the Kingdom chart, rousing the full expression of that Scorpio Moon/Hybris/Byblis in the 8th.

This is an awfully long post. As I started, my intention had been to continue on into a discussion of Gaddafi’s personal chart. Born June 7, 1942, Gaddafi has a Sun which at 15 Gemini falls right at the Rigel/Nadir of the Kingdom chart.

 Muammar al-Gaddafi

June 7, 1942, Sirt (aka Sirte or Surt), Libya

Aries Wheel (no time known) - no Moon shown

With that point about to be ‘eclipsed’ come June, that seems enough to say.

Besides, the future of Libya as a nation which is home to millions of people seems far more important than the fate of one man who seems to care not at all for the values of his people – or the world.

News Flash: Chilean Mine Rescue

 Chile's national flag

As the people around the world watched on live TV, a rescue capsule painted in the red, white and blue of Chile emerged from the tube dug 2/3rds of a mile down into the earth.

One of 33 trapped miners had returned to Earth's surface.

The chart for that moment is illuminating...

The first miner's emergence 

(Copiapo, Chile/AST +4)

Positioned at 16 Gemini, fixed star Rigel is just behind the Ascendant - the degrees just behind each angle being known as some of the most powerful and potent in any chart.

Known as a position of 'knoweldge' (or knowing) and being 'under the foot of the teacher,' Rigel says a lot about this moment. Of course seeing the capsule and the living person in it allows us all to 'know' that the rescue was no longer an attempt - it was a reality.

Gemini is about choices. About finding the information and putting it together in order to 'construct' something in your life or in greater life itself. The specific degree of the rising being 17 Gemini, there is a lot of planning and enthusiasm, and...interestingly...a 'weakness of hands.' Things at this position cannot thus be done manually.

As they weren't. Drilling experts had been brought in by the Chilean government to help in the rescue and in this moment their cumulative information (knowledge) proved fruitful. And that the polarity (Descendant) degree (17 Sagittarius) is about one's the great and simple gratitude to God (or fortune or however one believes) also seems apt.

Going back to Rigel's image of 'being under the teacher's foot' for a moment, those who watched the live telecast will probably remember seeing one of the operators of the winch and cable rig literally using his booted foot to knock the guide pulley a bit back into position just moments before the capsule emerged. It seemed an odd gesture at the time - but apt when you look at the chart of the moment.

Any base of the chart represents the foundation and what we stand on. It's the 'innermost point' of the chart and thus in this picture, the mine, deep in the Earth, still holding the other miners far from light.

This IC/Nadir point is in Virgo, an earth sign to be sure! Pictured at 28 Virgo, this point is a degree which promises little more than hard work, unless 'enlarged upon' by some other force.

A mine? That is certainly one form of 'enlarging.' And that this chart is about breaking through from the surface to a chamber which might otherwise have been a tomb for 33 hard-working men? That's enlarging in many a positive sense. 

With Virgo ruled by the Mercury (in green) in the 4th and foundational house of the chart conjunct Sisyphus (knowledge used either to help or kill people) and Rhadamanthus (dispassionate fairness) we know that the miners understood why they were there. They had taken a job, there had been a disaster.

Pictured with this Mercury we see the Sun - life and human will. With both these symbols opposition Eris Discord conjunct inventive Edisonia in the elevated 10th house we are also given a really useful lesson about Eris as a symbol of celestial 'discord' which simply changes things. 'Discord' isn't bad! Fighting tyranny is discord, but is it wrong? Digging a hole in the Earth technically disrupts the Earth's structure, but in this moment, it was certainly far from a terrible thing to do.

But again, back to 28 Virgo, the IC/Nadir point of this chart. Standing at the Nadir was Typhon (primal forces) and Bali - the longed for thing. For those men pictured by Mercury, for their families and for many millions watching, was this rescue not the longed for moment?

The last 'note of note' to be cherished in this chart is the position of the Moon. Any time you we are looking for the 'picture of the moment' we look particularly to the axis points (as we have) and the Moon, which basically moves a full degree in about two hours.

Here the Moon was at 29 Sagittarius, a critical (intense) degree which speaks first and foremost to physical fitness. With the Moon stands Eurydike, an astrological symbol of personal rescue.

The first man chosen to be rescued was selected based on several criteria - one of the first on the list being that he was particularly physically fit.

So does the chart of a moment tell its tale.

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.