A horoscope set up for the time of the inauguration of a nation will define its underlying potentials and characteristics. The Transits and Progressions to that chart track the ongoing developments of the psyche of the populous identified with that nation.
The chart of the leader of a country is also taken into account, with the Transits, Progressions and Eclipses pointing to the issues of current concern for the people. The leader or president of a country is the surrogate of the people and in that way the citizens of that country experience the benefits and challenges that are marked off in the leader’s horoscope and its dynamic aspects.
August 21st, 26th and 31st are game-changing dates astrologically for the United States because of Aspects coming to fruition in The US chart and that of the chart of its president, Donald Trump. The four to eight years an individual spends as a country’s leader work together with the intricacies of the nation’s chart. Aspects active in both the surrogate and the nation’s charts are powerful indicators of the challenges and developments the country must experience for its ongoing sustainability. There are several upcoming planetary influences to consider as agents of the molding of America.
The shadow of the Total Solar Eclipse of August 11, 1999 darkened a path through Europe and Asia and the effects for Europe was the adoption of the Euro to tie the countries together monetarily. The Euro that now links those previously independent countries has an ease of more than open borders, but with common currency as well. The coming August 21, 2017 Total Solar Eclipse will send a shadow across the United States from the Northern Pacific to the coast of South Carolina. The question is, what will be the effects on mainland USA? Unlike Europe, can we expect that the United States as we know it will break up into separate States, since it is already united? Actually, the country is already divided in political terms, as the two major parties are at extreme odds with each other. Will the Republicans and Democrats join forces and coalesce to support what now appears a shaky administration? Or will we continue down the partisan trail toward ultimate self-destruction? The eclipse of August 21 will force these issues to a point of recognition and resolution, because the eclipse traverses the entire mainland USA.
What does the eclipse have to offer its people through the chart of its surrogate leader Donald Trump?
The congressional and independent council investigations continue to probe into the facts surrounding Russia’s involvement in the 2016 US presidential election. There is the question of the validity of collusion with Russia and campaign associates to effect a favorable outcome for Trump, and although information is dripping steadily out for public consumption, there is still the Total Solar Eclipse waiting in the August wings to take the stage and reveal more truth.
A solar eclipse has its greatest effects on an individual or nation when it conjoins a sensitive point such as a planet, node or meridian of a horoscope. In the surrogate horoscope of Donald Trump, the total eclipse, exact at 28 Leo 50 on August 21, 2017, will be positioned directly on his Ascendant if using his chart time of 10:54 am. If that time is not correct, the eclipse still has a powerful Conjunct with Trump’s natal Mars. An eclipse has a 5 degree allowable orb.
The Ascendant is the indicator of one’s physical stamina, specifically the head and the heart when Mars is in Leo. It also points to one’s personal horizon or perspective on life with a selective view toward all issues in general. Trump is at ease when allowed to express himself without restraint, which is a Leo trait. There are no Squares or Oppositions to natal Mars, so he finds no inner conflict to his own Indomitable approach, and very little direct confrontation from others concerning it. Leo is the sign of Assurance, and that can manifest as self-confidence to a fault. Trump’s dominating attitude overpowers any assault from without, and the controversy he deals with comes from indirect innuendo or statements through intermediaries. A strong Mars on the Ascendant then, protects his personal opinions and solipsistic approach to issues. Buttressed by a Sextile of the Sun and a Trine from natal Moon, it is likely he will fare well under most challenges to any hypocrisy or aggression he may display.
A mere 10 days after the eclipse, August 31, 2017, Trump will experience a Mars Return at 26 Leo 47. Natal planets on one’s Ascendant become High Focus and this changes the keyword for Mars from INITIATIVE to INDOMITABLE. What normally would indicate a person intent on just pushing ahead, has escalated their action into an unstoppable force. This is well understood by those who attempt to influence Trump in regards to his sometimes controversial behavior, activities and policies. The Mars Return could set off some sparks in a personal way days before and after.
There are some Achilles heels in the horoscope however, and he cannot escape the often conflicting inner drives set off by the Sun/Moon Opposition which has no planet in Square to the two to create a Point Focus of a T-Cross that would lead to a way out of constant conflict and inner turmoil. And then there is the important Jupiter/Saturn Square creating a Sharp Destiny* which leaves him ever subject to the public’s stark scrutiny over any hint of the least wrongdoing.
Besides the powerful eclipse, there is Transiting Saturn, shown at the bottom of the chart circled in red, in Conjunction with Trump’s natal Moon, and the red line pointing to the Opposition Saturn will be making with his Sun at the same time. These Transit Aspects foretell great emotional stress. Trump and others often refer to there being a cloud over the White House, and indeed Saturn is associated with feelings of overshadowing gloom and doom and dark depression. Saturn will also Station at those planetary positions as well, amplifying the factors associated with the Transit. These are physical and emotional sensitive points that promise to bring a crescendo to the long developing controversies plaguing the Trump administration caused by his own doing.
While Trump, as the US surrogate, is experiencing a very active chart during the month of August, it is important to take note of the extremely powerful US Mercury Progressed Direct Station, and the US natal Pluto Return. These two factors prophesize a transformation in the policies and culture of the United States on an epic proportion. The Progressed Mercury Station is currently active and the natal Pluto Return will be ongoing through 2023. Taking the US and Trump charts together, shows that this is an extremely important time in the history of the United States. It will be known as a transitional period and one that will teach the nation many lessons on governing.
Venus will be Transiting the US natal Mercury on the day of the eclipse. Venus rules money and Mercury in the US Progressions is in the midst of a Station going Direct. The “critical regrasp” may be revelatory during the Venus Transit.
If Russia has been financing anyone or anything for any reason, and it pours over into US politics, it can be used against us in terms of blackmail, much like the concern Sally Yates posed about Michael Flynn’s clandestine involvements with Russia. We know that ultimately led to his firing/resignation in April 2017. And it does seems rather benign for Trump to ask that good relations develop with Russia so that we can fight terrorism together, but truth is the Russian government under Putin has proven to promote terrorist tactics itself. And the question is, why doesn’t the Trump administration recognize this fact? He need only look at the degradation in Syria and Russia’s part in it. And the recent protests in Russia by its citizens revolting over its leadership. And then there is the annexation of Crimea and the continuing border disputes over Lithuania.
More about US Transits and Progressions: USA Natal Chart, its Retrograde Planets and Pluto Return
*From the Essentials of Astrological Analysis: “Jupiter and Saturn in a Square Aspect indicate an ordering of the life’s fundamental motives through which the native usually suffers immediate consequences of even the least neglect or abuse of his own potentials. He finds he must fight continually for the ideals in which he has come to take the most consistent interest, and also learns that his conscious well-being is wholly dependent on the moral struggles in which he becomes involved almost inevitably at every stage of his experience.”
Example: Early 20th century news commentator Walter Winchell (an American newspaper and radio gossip commentator, famous for attempting to destroy the careers of people both private and public whom he disliked.) Marc Edmund Jones statement about Winchell’s Jupiter/Saturn Square: “. . . . whose career has been marked from the beginning by endless controversy and bitter indictment of his personality.”
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