A Lunar Eclipse at 6 Gemini

 

 The above image is adapted from a photograph made by Juan Iacruz

of a lunar eclipse in progress.

Where solar eclipses tend to strike awe in the human heart, lunar eclipses seem to fascinate us. And perhaps that’s a reflection of the difference between our relationship between Sun and Moon.

We depend on the Sun for our very life and survival. But the Moon? We love our Luna Moon. We love to canoodle by moonlight and dream our finest dreams while the Moon seems to smile down on us from above. We love walking along sandy beaches playing tag with the tides, feeling the Moon’s tug on our hearts as we reflect on the lunar-like pulse of  everyday life.

November 28th is a lunar eclipse. Occurring at 2:34 in the afternoon, UT/+0, this eclipse is positioned at 6 Gemini. Like all lunar eclipses – all of which are a form of Full Moons – this eclipse will mark an emotional ‘high tide’ moment. For good, for ill, for the delight or the angst of it, feelings, hopes, the very sense of sensation now rides high.

It also fades fairly quickly – in celestial terms, that is. While solar eclipses evolve over three years with their ‘purpose’ (what we are finally led to understand about life) not often understood until very near to the end of that time, lunar eclipses are not only immediate, but short-lived. By three months from now this moment – though not forgotten – will have evolved into something else.

As a degree, the broad brushstrokes on 6 Gemini would involve ideas, mentality, transportation, communication, organization and schedules. It will also involve a choice. As life has taught us certainly of late, sometimes the ‘obvious’ ability to choose is taken out of our hands. But the choice of how to deal with whatever life hands us? That often remains ours even when someone (or something) else has already checked all the boxes.

Narrowing the Gemini field a bit more, 6 Gemini is one of those degrees which is very divided. With some degrees the Gemini choice is ‘do this…or do that?’ or ‘this first…or that first?’. But here the choice is far more stark – it’s simply between feelings and what we might refer to as ‘thoughtful’ or ‘intellectualized’ mentality.

Interestingly, this degree also speaks of a tendency to understand the ‘surface’ of a subject, but not go into it with all that much depth. There is a desire here to ‘just get on with it’ and to ‘get it done’ which can cause a great deal of trouble simply when that very lack of depth which manifests as a drive for analytical functionality actually ends up destroying relationships.

Lacks exhibited or experienced at this time are likely to feel like dim-wittedness or stupidity. But they’re not. They’re simply a result of lack of integration…which brings us back to that age-old story of the Gemini Twins, Castor and Pollux.

And maybe that's also been a choice. Then again, maybe not.

The full tale of the Gemini Twins is told HERE, as part of the May 2012 Solar Eclipse post. In case you're short on time, we'll cut to the chase here and just go with the idea of how Pollux – the intellectual and immortal twin (Castor is emotional and mortal) gives his own life to save his brother by trading that life ‘in reality’ for an eternal life among the stars.

This isn’t an easy lesson or idea. And though many of us are more comfortable with intellect or emotionality, the Gemini ‘choice’ (and Gemini is all about what we choose to do-or-be or not to do-or-be) only reaches ‘immortal status’ when we sacrifice a bit of one thing in the creating of the whole something which lasts…and which we can forever admire.

And this isn’t about ‘me versus them.’ This is about our regulation of our Self and of our own mentality and emotions.

6 Gemini points out the flaw in being one thing or the other. It brings out the flaws in putting all our emotions in one place and all our intellectual, rational thinking in another.

It brings out the challenge in integrating the want and the idea, and how that means there things about being a human being which are just downright tough.

All these issues – garbed in the guise of whatever is going on in your life (and life in general) – are what is likely to come to the surface now. So what’s likely to happen? Answer: anything which provokes these tendencies on each of our parts…and everything which has become problematic because of our tendency to act in this manner.

If you have any planet, axis point or node within five degrees of 6 Gemini or any of the ‘hard’ aspects to 6 Gemini (which would be between 1 and 11 degrees of Gemini, Sagittarius, Virgo or Pisces) this eclipse will hit you hardest. But remember – this is not a solar eclipse. So even if you find it changes your attitude or hurts your feelings way deep down to the core, this is not something which is necessarily life changing…merely attitude changing.

 Lunar Eclipse of November 28, 2012 at 2:34 p.m. (UT/+0)

 - Aries Wheel, Location Not Specific -

That doesn’t make it easier to deal with, absolutely not! Lunar eclipses sometimes live to become our most ‘infamous’ moments simply because as people we tend to ‘live’ in our emotions…which is true even for those who think they’re not into emotionalism. Such people are often so sensitive that they can’t even deal with emotions – so they run from them lickety-split!

But the essential difference between lunar and solar eclipses certainly stands. Lunar eclipses tend to be about ‘the human experience,’ if you will. Solar eclipses – particularly when they strike your chart with any acuity – mark changes which will change your life. The failed promotion, the romance gone sour is one thing - the lunar eclipse thing. The illness which cripples you, or the loss of a family member – that changes your life and your orientation towards life. That’s a solar eclipse.

That as this eclipse occurs the Moon (at 6 Gemini) is conjunct Atropos (endings), Hybris (arrogance) and Scheherazade (the story told) on one side and Black Moon Lilith and Aldebaran (integrity) on the other is also interesting. The Atropos-Hybris-Scheherazade side of things sounds very much like the ‘end of some self-serving tale’…but is that the end of the tale, or is that our ending our belief in something we’ve been told?

Certainly with Black Moon Lilith and Aldebaran at 8 and 9 Gemini respectively, this can go either way. Black Moon Lilith is being denied by society (or social groups) or denying some truth you’re being told by society or some group. Either way, the Black Moon has to do with some sort of rejecting or rejection – that’s the Lilith quality. But with the (Gemini) choice here being ours, this may be something we choose to reject, or which because of our choice we get rejected for.

Or maybe this happened in the past, so we choose to think that, or in that way. Or we thought some choice was the right choice…which maybe hasn’t turned out to be true.

Now that we have that much down, let’s add in the eclipse’s subtext and complications…

They come to us in the form of two planetary pictures, the first of which is a t-square.

Because t-squares always go in a zodiacal “forward” direction placing the ‘hurdle’ of the t-square in the middle, this one begins with the Sun – our consciousness, our conception. With this Sun being placed in Sagittarius, the ‘theme’ here would be ‘how we think things work’ or ‘how things work,’ depending.
With the Sun (by degree) we have Tantalus, an emblem of what we’re tempted by…or tempted to try and get away with, knowing on both counts that whatever it is, we probably “shouldn’t.”

But we’re pretty fixed – or maybe fixated, even obsessed with what we’re doing, our opinion, how we want things to be or with some notion that we can make it work and have our ‘tantalization’ work in our favor. All of this comes courtesy (if that’s the word!) of Antares, one of those infamously famous royal stars.

With Antares, the lesson is that we succeed ONLY when we don’t get obsessed. But with Tantalus in this mix…?

Right away this begins to suggest that anything which has (past tense) been based on what we thought we could get away with, or what we wanted to be true, or what we wanted to feel we were entitled to do regardless…anything we’ve done or set in motion to be built based on this sort of headstrong premise hits a bump in the road now. Your whole apple cart may even get overturned.

But that doesn’t mean we don’t want what we want, as someone once put it to me. And many of us are going to make that choice now – apparently with the division of feelings from rational thinking contributing to the mix.

The ‘t’ in a t-square being that thing we need to get past or get ‘over’ in ourselves (generally at an ego level) is composed of Lilith (emotional denial), Fomalhaut (success only where the process or goal isn’t corrupt, corrupted or corruptive), Chiron (vulnerabilities of the ‘healer, heal thyself’ type) and Niobe, the emblem of ‘pride goeth before the fall’ and all that.

In this grouping, Chiron stands out as Chiron symbolizes all those things which we don’t want to do even though not doing them is hampering us or otherwise getting in our way. Typically, when we see other people doing our Chiron thing we think they’re idiots. Let someone else quail from doing our Chiron thing and we’ll tell them ‘that’s what you SHOULD be doing!’ with nary a qualm.

Chiron is where we stumble over our own ego and our own reluctance and our own vulnerabilities and insecurities. So to have Chiron at the ‘t’ of a t-square makes it pretty obvious that there’s a reluctance to do something we know (deep inside) we really need to do. In Pisces, the overall definition is ‘not just feeling your feelings, but feeling how you feel ABOUT your feelings and getting in touch which where and how your feelings came to be.’

All of that is dangerous emotional ground. After all, many of us flinch at the whole idea of changing emotional course. What will people think? Or how about that tendency so many of us have to not want to question anything about our parents? Or our children? Or our spouse? Or our faith? Or our culture?

Pisces also represents long term and end-of-life situations. How many of us are able to deal at all well with death? How many of us have dealt with the loss of people we’ve loved all that well? Even when we simply ‘lose’ someone in the sense of a broken marriage or a treasured friendship which has somehow gone awry, that can hurt in ways many of us can’t bring ourselves to face.

Again, because this pertains to the lunar eclipse, the question here is whether you have dealt with both the rational and emotional quotients. Discovering where they may have parted ways and dealing with that would be a really good way to solve this t-square. As would be the letting go of whatever (Niobe) pride defenses you may have put up. After all, who are they really limiting?

The ‘goal’ in this t-square is what we talked about initially in terms of this lunar eclipse. Combining the (Pisces) t-square with the eclipse, this suggests that compulsions or feeling you ‘had no other choice’ was really your not wanting to deal with the emotions which would have gone with some other choice.

And then we come to the Yod.

The Yod which goes with this lunar eclipse appears to be particularly challenging - and potent so. Known as one of the most ‘fated’ feeling images in all astrology, which is interesting in and of itself seeing that Yods are composed of two 150-degree aspects which focus on a single point (in this case, the Moon and Black Moon Lilith, the denying of others or society...or to be denied by them).

In operational terms, Yods tempt us to remain at the ‘point’ of the ‘Y’. And seeing that 150-degree aspects (known as 'inconjuncts') denote "adjustments" which need to be made, while there's an argument to be made for people not liking being made to do anything (yes, well...we are human!) the Yod pictures a singular sort of understanding that we've been....well, maybe 'cornered' is the best word.

Hence the 'fated' part. Some people feel life is 'fated' because they don't want to make the effort (or deal with the emotional fracas) which standing up and being your own person involves. Then again, sometimes life really does lead us to a place where we don't have any other choice but to change.

Both are very Yod-like. 

As for this Yod, the factors which are with us now are delineated by the two points (or here, groupings) which form the ‘cup’ of the ‘Y’…which here is Pluto-Mars-Facies in Capricorn on one side and Venus, Hebe, Medea and Saturn on the other side in Scorpio.

Being that Gemini is an assertive (yang) sign and Capricorn and Scorpio are both responsive-receptive (yin) signs, the (Sun/Tantalus) temptation here will be to (Gemini) choose to negate or deny what others say, what the (Capricorn) rules and standards are, what others (Scorpio) need or want…even the (Scorpio) right of others to be treated as equals and a participant in the conversation.

And even when we go to the “solution” for a Yod – which involves going to the midpoint between the two ‘Y’ points, what’s that? That’s Sagittarius. In fact…isn’t that the Sun-Tantalus-Antares position we just talked about?

Yes, as a matter of fact, it is. With the eclipse at 6 Gemini the technical opposition is 6 Sagittarius, a degree all about being of service. Anything else goes unrewarded or is – ultimately – unrewarding.

Which in a sense does give us an answer here. If this ‘service is the path’ is the solution to the Yod, that means the solution to the Yod …AND whatever quandary we face now is found through starting with an attitude of service, even if you interpret that as ‘do yourself a favor…’ or being of service to yourself.

Once there, then we work through the t-square.

And if you think about it, that probably truly does describe the difference between the original choice to deny what others say and what we don’t want to hear and…will I stop holding on to some form of denial about what I need to be in this life? Will I let go of the stories I’ve been telling myself?

It’s an interesting moment, this eclipse. Hopefully it brings you some insights and ways to get hold of your challenges, becoming more productive in the process.

Whatever happens, at least enjoy it. Lunar eclipses are fascinating. They give us a moment to reflect – and moments to reflect on.
.
.
.

Circe enters Aries: Who’s Casting a Spell on Who?

Odysseus and Circe

by Bartholomäus Spranger (1546-1611)

The tale of Circe is another one of those thoroughly vile-if-pathetic Greek stories – you know, one of those which is rather fascinating to hear but oh boy, aren’t we glad it’s just a myth?

It starts (as all things do) with who Circe’s parents are. Her mother is Persis, an oceanic nymph and father is Helios, otherwise known as Hyperion. Who was he? Well he-Helios was the god of the Sun in the ‘burning,’ ‘animated/alive’ and ‘heated’ sense…but not the ‘enlightened’ or ‘enlightening’ Apollo sort of sense. Helios is the Sun as primal energy where Apollo is all about harnessing that energy and doing something with it.

(Okay, so good or bad doesn’t always figure – Apollo had his bad, bad days, to be sure!)

That Circe’s mother is a sea nymph automatically means we are dealing with ‘the offspring’ of either emotions or instinct….and probably even more often the emotional outcome of things which are ‘born’ of instinct.

So Circe grow up and marries a prince…who in time becomes king. And once he’s king she murders him in order to gain power, control, obeisance from everyone from hither to yon – the usual tyrannical stuff.

Oh – and along the way she had become an herbalist celebrated for her ‘magical’ abilities…which once she started really getting into poisonous substances got her dubbed ‘sorceress.’

So she marries...kills her husband...then begins tormenting and torturing the natives.

(Had there been a court astrologer one would have supposed s/he would have told Circe that she had one heck of a sucky Ixion. Or maybe not. But that’s another matter…)

Rather like in the story of Ixion (LINK) the citizenry rises up against Circe’s psychopathic immortal-ness and it gets sufficiently bad that dad shows up to haul his daughter away to a private island (Aenea) where she won’t get in any more trouble.

Well, at least allegedly. See…remember that ‘who’s the mom?’ thing where the answer is ‘a sea nymph’? Circe has needs. Stuck on an island all by herself she gets lonely. So lonely, in fact, that she begins working on every sailor whose ship happens to end up wrecked on her shores (doesn’t say much for navigational charts in those days, but…) …she wants them to stay. She wants them to love her. She uses all her charms (herbal and otherwise) to try and woo them, becoming ever-more  increasingly freaked out by the 100% desire to check out of Hotel Island Circe. (Which may just prove how much we all hate negative feedback, not to mention really bad Zagat/Michelin ratings.)

Tilla Durieux als Circe

by Franz von Stuck (1913)

Her answer to this predicament is not to deal with herself but to amp up the ‘spells she casts upon these men, turning them finally into animals which could not leave her if they tried.’ 

To be more specific here, she turns the men into swine. (Okay, so there are some cheap laughs here and there in Greek mythology...)

This is about when Odysseus (Ulysses) shows up – he being why we apparently know this story to begin with. Being the witty clever hero that he is, Ulysses avoids becoming enchanted, causes Circe to fall in love with him, gives her a child (or two, according to Hesiod) and then demands she turn all her victims back into men – at which point he says his toodle-loo’s and is off about his Odyssean way.

---

Mythically described, Circe is thus one of our more primal instincts. And a potent instinct at that, one which can drive us to do things we plainly know are wrong simply because we don’t feel secure enough without them.

Also implied is how before all is done, Circe energies come to a point where they are dealt with calmly and in being given a more appropriate outlet cause us to ‘relinquish’ our urge to be so incredibly needy as to be damaging to others…and ultimately, ourselves.

And where does the astronomical Circe hang out? In the main asteroid belt…between Mars (inception, pro-active assertive ‘doing’) and Jupiter (reaching understanding and/or competency in the how-to-do department). Interestingly (to be sure!) Circle aphelion (farthest point from the Sun) at 2.685au’s sits right between Kassandra (she who knows but is never believed) and the inner orbital point of Eos.

Remember Eos? Well if you don’t, here’s the link to a bit of blognaciousness about her: LINK. What’s interesting here is that Eos is linked to Apollo and thus is the instinct to know…having an instinct which allows you to run at the forefront of knowing (or to know you should!)…or just to plain run away from enlightenment.

So once again, if we think of the solar system as having the Sun-as-the-core-of-our-life at the center and everything around it that we encounter as we move out into our lives (or the world), asteroids are challenges to our understanding of self – who we are and what we do things – which we encounter as we learn how to get from our ‘initiation’ starting point (Mars) to a level of competency in whatever (Jupiter).

And that means the inner rung (or one of the inner rungs – surely there are more, seeing as there are oodles, shoals and schools of ocean nymphs!)…the inner rung or ‘test’ in our quest to master our instinct is the Circe (born of Helios) level…and where that ends, there picks up the tale of Eos and our search for actual enlightenment (Apollo).

Oh yes…at the closest – the perihelion point – Circe is at 2.3956 au’s and thus just inside the outer point of Atropos (fated endings, finality, severance).

Having a hard time there? Let me try again…our natural ‘cut off’ point (Atropos) – at it’s fullest extent, it’s farthest reach goes just beyond where Circe ‘starts’ (and yes, where it ends its cycle) in coming closer to us…then moving away – which may or may not be less of a threat.

And what would tell us about that part? Where Circe is in your chart, of course! By sign and house – and especially if Circe is conjunct, opposite, square or inconjunct some planet, axis, nodal point or whatnot…this describes where we encounter illusions and disillusionment which in the end are not about the “road blocks” but about our own ability not to be overthrown by our needs, possible neediness or out-and-out desire.

Circe is a distraction – not the end or object in itself. But boy, what packages some distractions come in!

At the moment, in entering Aries at 6:04am (UT/+0), Circe will attempt to ‘distract’ us with physicality. Or that there will be demands which seem to say we have to only focus on ‘the now’ or focus ‘right now’ or make a decision ‘right now’ based on details which some (many?) of us are going to get sucked right into, ignoring the bigger picture.

As anything enters Aries it right away faces off across the zodiac against supermassive black hole (Messier) M87. Black holes having the effect of taking us to ‘an alternative reality’ the Aries ingress of the Sun, for instance, always seems to get people thinking about the change of seasons. With Circe, the issue is not the Sun (ongoing time as seasonal changes) but emotions and thus our place in our life – where we are along our way. Those who have been dawdling will probably feel a need to get on the road. Those who have been silent may decide to speak up. Those who have held their tongue and been ‘good’ may well now let everybody know what they really think of them!

(And boy, are a few people going to be surprised, or what?!)

 Helios as portrayed on a silver coin from Rhodes

- Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon (France)

From May 11th through May 23rd Circe will be moving through Uranus/Black Moon Lilith space – be prepared for a lot of general life haywiring.

Then...come June’s Solar Eclipse? Let’s just say I hope you’ve been good..and are planning on being good. Otherwise you may well find something other than coal in your stocking this Cancer solstice season. And from what I hear, Helios isn’t whisking bad folks off to deserted islands any more, so there isn’t any mythic respite.

So I guess we’re going to have to deal with Circe ourselves – and with the Circe within us, each and all. If we can get past the (Helios) primal to the human and thoughtfully (Apollo) directed, that’s probably most of the challenge right there.

I’m telling you…watch out for those astronomical points named for members of water nymph families – they’ll get you every time!

Mercury enters Scorpio: The Power of Thought

 Frozen ice lake in Ulriken-Bergen, Norway (cropped)

photo by Sveter

As Mercury moves into Scorpio at 9:20 (+0/UT, adjust to local time) it's time to start thinking in Scorpio terms and to recognize those Scorpio mannerisms which are now all around us and in the minds of others.

Scorpio is a water sign. It's thus all about our emotions. It's a fixed sign, too - and fixed signs are all about our ability to understand and in learning to tolerate however much we don't understand, to operate productively in spite of whatever insecurity or fear that provokes.

In opposition to Taurus, sign of security, values and self worth, Scorpio tests where we are with regards to those very issues.

So now our thoughts turn to our security, and what we value. Others may question our self worth or do things which amount to tests of our self worth.

Given that, you may ask why the photo of a frozen lake. The answer is this: when emotions (water) become 'fixed'...what does that equal? It equals ice. And this image of Scorpio as ice is an important one to keep in mind. So powerful is this image that when an astrologer finds a horoscope which has no planet set in any earth sign, Scorpio's sheer strength of durable, devoted  feelings and rock-solid loyalties are what they look to next.

This starts with the idea that ice can be thick enough to bear our weight - thus Scorpio is a sign which represents an opportunity. If and where we are able to rise above (and stay above) our own level of fear and/or whatever negative emotions are at hand (symbolically, all the water below the ice) we will be able to literally 'walk on water.' 

Certainly Scorpio is known for passion. But it's also known for feelings which are 'cold as ice.' Decisions arrived at under a Scorpio influence, provided they are arrived at through a 'conviction of correctness' which is not corrupt...those decisions can 'bear weight' - the 'ice' of Scorpio will support them.

At the same time, Scorpio is the plus and the minus of passion: it is dominance and control, it is vulnerability and surrender. Yet on either side of this equation lies the responsibility to own what you do. Being knowingly vulnerable is very different than simply giving up. Domination as a display of arrogance and desirous power is very different than the power of the guardian protector and 'take-charge' leader.

Remember, we're talking Mercury here. So we're talking about our mindset and our ability to think. So during the three weeks or so of Mercury's transit through Scorpio, maintaining control of ourselves and knowing 'what lies below the ice' - in our lives, in our minds, in situations and in the intentions and actions of others - that's  important.

During any Scorpio transit there's a marked tendency to project or focus on 'the other side' rather than to think through one's own rationale and dynamic.

And yet, the key to this sign is like that of all 3rd quadrant signs...whether a planet is transiting Libra, Scorpio or Sagittarius it is the process of interaction which is actually at stake. You need to know your own side, yes. And understanding someone else's point of view is vital too. But it's where and how the two sides meet up which is now the focus. What happens there will define success or setback, advances or costs.

That Mercury enters 0 Scorpio in the company of asteroid Lilith (that which we don't like facing in ourselves) and Panacea (making peace) gives us a clear picture that first and foremost, we need to cope with ourselves. Who we are and what we bring to any moment is all about how we deal with being who we are, how well we understand ourselves and the level of emotional responsibility we take for ourselves.

By implication, some level of peacemaking needs to go on now...and in all likelihood, we will need that in situations of the moment.

Left behind at 29 Libra is asteroid Child; it's apparently time to do a little more growing up.

In opposition stands Kallisto - a literal 'bear' of an image which represents our ability to go through and get past our own 'beastly' or 'animalistic' qualities (past or present) to the point where we can become a star and stand as a constellation in the sky by which others can guide their lives and future.

 The myth of Callisto, for whom is named the asteroid Kallisto,

ends with Callisto being turned into a prominently placed star in

our night sky. Is this a warning or inspiration? Probably both. 

Ursa Major - the Big Bear/Big Dipper - is the constellation which is

now Callisto's home. As photographed from Kalalau Lookout in 

Hawaii's Kokee State Park by Wikipedia contributor Gh5046,

the Great Bear's 'dipper' reminds us to 'contain' ourselves even

while realizing that given earth's precessionary cycle, everything

changes. Today's 'hard solution' may have to evolve - as life does

- slowly but surely, in time becoming something totally different.

 

 Whatever these next few weeks hold, they depend on us - on our ability to tolerate and even grow through those things which challenge us most, including how those things are tested by our interactions and society at large.

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.