Thomas Canfield
Given the current upheaval in the country, it is appropriate that the Midheaven for the USA’s Solar Return chart is conjunct the Natal Eris in the 1776 chart. It may serve as a reminder of the discord that began the new nation. Aside from rebelling against King George III, the members of the Continental Congress also struggled against their prejudices towards their own countrymen. The thirteen colonies were divided by religion, social status, and economic levels. Despite their differences, they realized the conflict against the British government was a unifying factor, resulting in the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. (I am using the Wolfstar Scorpio Rising chart for the time John Hancock signed the document with his large signature.)
Transiting Neptune is moving towards a square with the USA Eris and the Solar Return Midheaven. This may be a time for breaking past illusions. Neither the Declaration nor the Constitution were documents of channeled higher wisdom. They were compromise documents that were edited and rewritten. Though Thomas Jefferson received authorship of the Declaration for posterity, he had to endure seeing whole sections of his work crossed out. At least the Congress kept his powerful arguments against the tyranny of King George III.
After 250 years, the United States faces a similar “Mad King” situation with confusion and malice being spread by a corrupt ruler. King George III did not go mad in 1776, but he had a means of dominating the British government. With Lord North’s help, the King could persuade members of Parliament to follow his wishes by offering sinecure positions. If a member of Parliament supported the King’s position, he might get a position such as “Keeper of the Royal Arsenal at West Wainscotting.” It did not matter if West Wainscotting had an arsenal; the faithful member of Parliament received the salary.
We have seen similar incentives worked with members of Congress, as supporters of the Trump Administration would receive donations and votes from Trump’s base. If anyone started questioning Trump, there would be threats of a primary challenge as well as death threats from Trump supporters. In a sense, Trump is more like a gangster than King George III, making personal threats towards his opponents. (At least King George III never threatened to wipe out a civilization.) The USA Sun at 13 Cancer is being squared by the Solar Return Saturn at 14 Aries. Transiting Saturn is also in opposition to the USA’s Natal Saturn. The times call for a restriction of power, similar to the way the Sons of Liberty wanted to restrain the King’s power. The USA Saturn in Libra brought about restrictions through compromise, and setting up a new government that would not be more tyrannical than the British government.
Similarly, writing the Constitution required going through committees that insisted upon compromise measures. Benjamin Franklin admitted it was a flawed document that needed to be amended, but he signed it because he did not think it was the worst government possible.To amend the Constitution, a Bill of Rights was added in 1791 to clarify citizens’ rights regarding government power. In spite of that, flaws remained in the document that had to be dealt with over the centuries.
One flaw of the Constitution was that it did not address women’s rights, and the right to vote was not given to women until 1919. In the 21st Century, we are seeing a resurgence of discrimination against women, especially in the military. The USA Moon in Aquarius opposes the Solar Return Venus in Leo. The USA Pallas is also in opposition to Venus, suggesting that women’s wisdom may be lost by discrimination. Transiting Venus falling in the Tenth House of the Wolfstar chart suggests that businesses and power structures may be hurt by a lack of women. With Venus in Leo, the women hired may be more for appearance than for talent.
Transiting Mercury is conjunct the USA Mercury in Cancer, and both of them are retrograde. This may account for miscommunication in American history, and an unclear position of who is in charge. Both Mercurys are in opposition to the USA Pluto, raising questions about power structures and who may be running the country. Transiting Eris is squaring both Mercurys and the USA Pluto. Eris squares indicate minor discord, and at present it may be limited to asking who is really running things. With transiting Eris trine transiting Venus, and sextile the USA Moon and Pallas, maybe it is a time when women need to take charge and start a movement to have their voices heard in protest. If there can be a “No Kings” movement, what about “The Queens Speak Out” as a movement?
The move towards a new revolutionary movement is shown by transiting Mars conjunct transiting Uranus, and both are conjunct the Eighth House Cusp of the USA. They are also in a wide conjunction with the USA Uranus in the Eighth House. Transiting Mars and Uranus are squaring the USA Ceres. Transiting Ceres is in a wide conjunction with the USA Mars. Part of the American mythology has been about the yeomen farmers who left their fields to stand against the British Army. Today, we are seeing discontent from Midwestern farmers because of the previous tariffs and now because of a lack of fertilizer due to the Iran War. Maybe farmers will take a leadership position, returning to the Jeffersonian ideal that farmers would be the ruling class in the nation.
Transiting Neptune is squaring the USA Venus and Jupiter. Financing the war of independence was tricky when there was no central banking system, and a lot of wealth had to come from France and Spain. We may see a shattering of illusions about how the banking systems developed in the nation. There has been some paranoia about the Federal Reserve System. Wall Street Banks showed how fragile they were in 2008 when Pluto entered Capricorn. It may be necessary to follow the message that Deep Throat gave to Woodward and Bernstein in 1972, which was, “Follow the Money!” There may be questions about the current vanity projects and the financing behind the Trump family.
Transiting Pluto and Juno are conjunct the Node axis of the United States. We may be seeing a shift of political values for the 21st Century. The North Node in Leo suggested values of leadership qualities and choosing people of high character. With Pluto and Juno on the South Node, we may focus on the lower character of leaders. More people may start asking questions about the nature of the people running, and whether they are mentally and emotionally capable of handling power. Some restrictions on character flaws, such as greed, racism, and misogyny, may prevent future candidates from gaining office.
Transiting Chiron has just entered Taurus, squaring transiting Jupiter in Leo, and sextile the USA Jupiter and Venus in Cancer. It may be a time for financial healing and rooting out business corruption in government. Following the money trail might locate public ills that have nothing to do with government leadership. Chiron is moving towards a sextile with the USA Ceres, and the farming community as well as the health care community may need financial aid. These may be areas where throwing money at the problem could work as a solution. The transiting North Node is sextile Chiron, and healing may be part of the values we need to promote. The transiting South Node is sextile the USA Venus and Jupiter. There may be more examination of the base values of the rich and famous, especially regarding the Epstein files.
The USA Chiron is conjunct the Solar Return Saturn, Ascendant, Pallas, and Vesta. This reinforces the need for national healing and better control of the medical system. The USA Juno is in opposition to the Solar Return Saturn, Ascendant, Pallas, and Vesta. I have regarded Juno as the ruler of politics, though the asteroid has a reputation for ruling marriage. In old time marriages, people did not get married for love, but for money, social status, and political connections. There may be a lot of questioning of political connections made through families or “the old school tie.” With USA Juno and Saturn in the Twelfth House of the USA, there may be a need for secret investigations into how money was made, how it was spent, and how laws were made. Bismarck once warned that, “The public should not know how laws and sausages are made.” It may be time for the American public to have a lesson.
