As an outsider looking in, it feels more turbulent right now in the United States than any time I can recall. The political, sociological and epidemiological causes of the turmoil and conflict seem self-evident: Covid-19, lockdown, soaring unemployment, financial worry, growing debt, socio-economic inequalities, protests against structural and overt racism, and starkly opposed political parties. But what role are the stars and the planets playing in this most interesting time in US history?
Well a number of big events have taken place in the skies recently – and that always corresponds to higher levels of drama unfolding here on planet earth.
Lunar and Solar Eclipses
By the end of this week we will have had three eclipses in two months. We had the Lunar eclipse in Sagittarius, a Solar Eclipse in Cancer and this Sunday and Monday (5 July, 5:23 am UK time) we will go through a Lunar eclipse. Eclipses just add ANOTHER LEVEL OF INTENSITY to everybody’s experience. At the national level, they tend to bring up crises and revelations that rock governments and public opinion. There is no doubt that the strain US politics and society is going through right now has been heightened by the Eclipses.
But there’s been something even bigger going on in the skies.
Let’s talk about Jupiter-Pluto
I have mentioned in previous blogs that we are going through a very rare Saturn-Pluto-Jupiter Triple Conjunction which started in January of this year. Triple Conjunctions herald radical change for the entire planet. The closer the outer planets come together, the more dramatic and radical the impact – especially for the more powerful economies on our planet.
By the end of March, all three planets started to move away from each other, offering hopes of some respite from Covid. However, in May, both Jupiter and Pluto began moving back together again. As they have been getting closer, the potency of the conjunction has been increasingly felt globally, and particularly by the world’s greatest power. By 5 July 2020, there will be zero degrees between Jupiter and Pluto, an EXACT conjunction. So this very charged atmosphere we are all feeling, and especially the US, is going to be here to stay for some time.
Jupiter is the archetype of expansion, optimism, empire, and spending. Pluto, the dark lord of the underworld, is the archetype of intensity, upheaval, power. Merge the qualities of the two planets into one, and a new archetype emerges: The CONQUEROR. This archetype acts out obsessive self-righteousness, fundamentalism, coercion, ruthlessness, power-trips and greed. Isn’t that cluster of adjectives and nouns an accurate description of the polarisation we are seeing right now in the US? No one is listening. Everyone in the public space or on social media seems to be screaming at each other. For the Conqueror energy, there can be no Buddhist Middle Way.
Sometimes we need a little bit of Conqueror energy just to galvanise change in the face of inertia. But if unchecked, it can rapidly become poisonous and disintegrative.
There is a second, more elevated, Jupiter-Pluto archetype: the IMAGINEER. This archetype combines harmony and law (Jupiter) with deep understanding (Pluto). The Imagineer drives individuals and societies to harness imagination and amazing determination to visualise any goal and achieve it. It also finds expression as powerful faith in one’s own society, and in social and religious regeneration.
Can America rise up to the level of the Imagineer? When will America restore its sense of self-harmony?
Looking Ahead
It is going to take some time.
Looking at the Triple Conjunction: Saturn is currently rejoining Jupiter-Pluto and by November all 3 planets will be within 5 degrees of each other. So at least until then, things are going to stay contentious and challenging politically within the US. Looking at the economic situation, Saturn is going to be passing over the Ruler of America’s 8th House of Debts in February 2023. Saturn is cash shortages and bankruptcies, so expect fears about the health of the US economy to build up to a peak around then.
The chart below shows the Triple Conjunction reforming, and the Eclipse on the 5 July 2020:
America’s Progressed Chart confirms that things are going to take a while to calm down.
The Moon (the General Public) are currently in the Second House, Capricorn. They are having to cope with Capricorn concepts of self-control (social isolation, face masks etc) and Second House fears about their personal finances. Mercury, representing the manner of communication within US society, is sat in Aquarius. At its worse, Mercury here expresses ideas in an erratic, fragmented, way. The connections between ideas and topics being expressed publicly may be unpredictable or completely unclear.
At the end of October, the Moon goes into Aquarius just before the US Presidential election. Moon in Aquarius is not the easiest of fits. On the plus side, there will be more fresh thinking, more ideas about bolstering individual sovereignty and diversity. Positive change is being birthed. But the headlines will be captured by the drama: more unpredictable behaviour and rebelliousness by sections of the population (Aquarius) and a disregard for the feelings and opinions of those “not of our political stripe”. Among many there will be a sense of alienation.
The Moon finally moves into Pisces in December 2022 where it will be far more comfortable. This will signal a change of mood. The economic picture might not be better then, but the nature of the protests and activism will change. There will be a shift to more creative and less confrontational ways of achieving lasting change.
