The Birth and Remaking of America – Mercury-Pluto Opposition and Pluto Return

In recent years, Americans and observers worldwide have been captivated by the turmoil within the United States (US) concerning its intense partisan politics. At the same time, media pundits have failed to adequately explain the nature and causes of the political power struggle that continues to challenge the principles of democracy.

Astrologers, however, understand the uniqueness of our times when noting several dynamic aspects1 that have been activating the potentials of the July 4, 1776 birth chart of the United States. The aspects are the April 5, 2017, US progressed Mercury station that synchronized with the commencement of the Trump administration, the present transit of Pluto now well within the parameters of its 248-year pilgrimage-return to its natal degree, and the progressed Moon aspects from 2021 to 2024.

THE UNITED STATES HOROSCOPE

The horoscope of a nation carries great weight in comparison with the chart of an individual, because of its broad reference to the masses, and by its symbolism contributes to a comprehensive understanding of an entire culture. This enduring effect brings with it the responsibility to create a national horoscope with a favorable resonance between the promise of guiding “stars” and the goals of the society in the making. A fortuitous date, time, and place should be chosen with the best planetary configurations that will support the collective’s desired ideals and objectives. During the establishment of the United States, some of the Founding Fathers were Freemasons and involved with metaphysics, yet it is unknown if their practices included the use of astrology, and if so, whether Electional horoscopy was used in the choice of the inaugural time for the Declaration of Independence. Whether the union was formed with a consideration of celestial factors or by chance, the planetary patterning on July 4, 1776, contained the seeds that would determine the nation’s destiny.

The origin of American thought took its cues from Europe’s Age of Enlightenment, whose thinkers believed they could “create better societies and better people.” Intellectuals from both continents traveled between the old and new worlds during America’s mounting revolution. In his pamphlet, Common Sense,2 published six months prior to the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Paine proclaimed, “The birthday of a new world is at hand.”  The Englishman’s philosophy played an important role in creating the new paradigm that clarified the benefits of a republic versus monarchy. His widely distributed writings helped prod-to-arms the tattered soldier on the colonial battlefield, and when reaching the common citizen, gave them reason to rally to the revolution in lockstep with the Founders’ intent to form a union based on the protection of human rights through democratic elections and legislation.

The most revealing astrological factor defining the stark transition from monarchy to an emerging democracy was Mercury in station-retrograde at the time of America’s establishment. The station nurtured the extraordinary mental activity required of its leaders for the development of an American ethos and for laying the ground for inestimable levels of achievement to be reached by its free and aspiring populace.

Virginia’s Thomas Jefferson, who incidentally had a transit of Pluto passing over his natal Uranus in 1776, was tasked with drafting the Declaration of Independence. This was simply a Mercurial function, and with his eloquent narrative style, he definitively explained, point by point, the causes that provoked the Patriot colonists to revolt and engage in battle against the Loyalists to Great Britain’s King George III. Jefferson’s writings introduced what he considered to be “an expression of the American mind.” Not born of originality nor a derivative of established thought, the American perspective, he explained in later years, simply reflected the needs of the time.3

The inner ponderings of America’s Founders materialized objectively with the Second Continental Congress’s approval of the Declaration of Independence at 1:52 am4 on July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With this decision, the colonists officially severed ties with the British Crown to reach their goal of establishing separate yet united states in accordance with the heavenly configurations of the moment. Dr. Marc Edmund Jones, in his Mundane Perspectives in Astrology,5 based his US chart’s time on the popular use of Gemini rising by several notable astrologers of his day, and by the authorization of the American Federation of Astrologers. With a bit of rectification Jones settled on a 3 Gemini 34 ascendant.

BIRTHING A NATION UNDER A MERCURY STATION

In the segment on Collective Nativities in Mundane Perspectives, Jones designates Mercury in his US chart diagram as stationary-retrograde. However, the ephemeris for 1776 shows the station to be exact on June 28, just days before the announcement of independence in early July. Planetary stations, whether in transit or progression, point to a crescendo in the development of events that facilitates a psychological shift in perspective resulting in a dramatic transformation of existential affairs. Jones explains the virtual phenomenon in his Scope of Astrological Prediction as a pivotal period demanding “a critical regrasp of experience.” 6 Unlike transit stations, which need to aspect a natal planet by conjunction or opposition to be effective for chart interpretation, a progressed station need not make an aspect with a birth planet, and is often associated with events somewhat in advance or some time after their pause to change direction.

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King of the Fairies Meets the Queen of England – President Joe Biden, Queen Elizabeth

When the King of the fairies meets the Queen of England they need no introduction. President Joe Biden met with the Queen Elizabeth of England on June 13, 2021. It was amidst his first international trip since the Covid pandemic and was dotted with other important stops along the way.

The comparison chart for the monarch and president show two interesting bonds between them. Although unaware of the astrological connections, they both share a zodiacal degree with the Sabian symbol rounded to 1 degree Taurus, A clear mountain stream. The Queen’s Sun lies in 0 Taurus 12, applying in a conjunction aspect to Biden’s Moon at 0 Taurus 59.

Taurus 1 A clear mountain stream This is the symbol of the individual spirit in its irrepressibility, and of the purity and excellence of its real sources of strength. Here man is freed from any necessity to meet the superficial limitations of life in any particular way or to conform to any pattern of events except as there is genuine contribution to an overall consistency in its self-expression. The keyword is RESOURSCOUFULNESS. When positive, the degree is high achievement through an unswerving fidelity to some definite course of action, and when negative, a tendency to waste the potentialities of being by endless self-ramifications.1

Tragedies have loomed over both of their lives, and so they may find solace in each other’s sensibilities as well as sharing a sense of dignity and care for others. The mutual connection of their Lights proves a tie between them that is personal, which figures into their interaction in a way that must go beyond political interests.

The Bidens were advised not to bow to the Queen as they are not her subjects. This well suits a surreptitious king of sorts, since his Sun is in the Sabian symbol The king of the fairies approaching his domain. Biden’s Sun lies in the spiritual and karmic 12th house where none but the deep-of-soul can penetrate into the inner sanctum of his psyche. Here is a man of spirit who wished to practice his beliefs through the vehicle of political philosophy and practice. Finally, he reached his desired goal to “rule” as President of the United States when elected in 2020.

Biden said of the Queen:2 “She was very gracious,” the President told reporters Sunday at Heathrow Airport after he and First Lady Jill Biden held a private audience with the Queen at Windsor Castle. “She reminded me of my mother,” he added. With the Queen’s Sun “tapping” on Biden’s Moon, it is no wonder she reminded him of his mother.

Biden’s Sun degree is among a limited number of images in the Sabian series which express an otherworldly energy described by fairylike or elfin sort of creatures.3

SCORPIO 28 The king of the fairies approaching his domain This is a symbol of the eternal promise underlying all inner self-realization, since any actual fullness of life is altogether independent of the passing state of affairs in a world of time and space. Implicit in the symbolism is the futility of man’s common reliance on people and things through some mere accident of contact. Outer reality takes the form with which he endows it as he exercises his sovereignty over its various potentials in the creative realms of his own imagination. The keyword is ALLEGIANCE. When positive, the degree is a special competence of inward vision and a consequent outward perspective of high effectiveness, and when negative, capricious self-indulgence.

The Queen’s Saturn is close to Biden’s Sun in the 12th house, although not within the 1 degree orb Jones uses when comparing horoscopes. The Queen Saturn is the Point Focus of a T-Cross and is squared by Jupiter and Mars on one side in opposition to Neptune on the other. Saturn’s presence and meaning is magnified by its position as the Reins planet of her Splay Temperament Type. It is her most important planet because it is both In High Focus as well as Point Focus of the T-Cross just mentioned.

The Queen’s Saturn Degree:

SCORPIO 25 An X ray This is a symbol of man’s organic integrity, or of the unvarying structures of nature on which all intelligence depends. There is here an emphasis on the wellbeing of each individual as a foundation for his self-realization in the world he shares with his fellows, and on his responsibility to keep himself fit for the performance of his part in the common functioning. He recognizes himself as the measure of all effective reality, and sees everything around him as a continual revelation or validation of his own capacity. The keyword is INVESTIGATION. When positive, the degree is an exceptional power of analysis, and when negative, uncritical over-sensitiveness to both the condition of self and the state of society.

The Queen was a royal by bloodline, the King of the fairies by Sabian calling. The astrologer sees something more than what would otherwise be just a meeting of allies.

 

  1. Sabian Symbols in Astrology by Marc Edmund Jones, Stanwood Publishing.
  2. People.com