The U.S. Moon
Most importantly to Americans, the current triple conjunction takes place right on the U.S. Moon at 25º Aquarius, and so will have a dramatic influence over the American people and their collective mood. At the center is Barack Obama with his Uranus at 25º Leo, which is the ruler of his chart since he has Aquarius rising. Propelled by this triple conjunction (which opposes his Uranus), he has prudently been implementing fundamental shifts in the way Americans do business, relate to each other, and co-create our collective future.
In previous articles published by Dell Horoscope and in my book Political Astrology, I've described the value of the Scorpio Rising U.S. horoscope (set for 2:21 pm; July 4, 1776; Philadelphia). Other popular charts for the U.S. have all the planets in relatively similar places – accept the Moon.
Only in the Scorpio Rising chart is the Moon at 25º Aquarius. The Gemini Rising charts put the Moon at 18º Aquarius, while the Sagittarius Rising horoscopes (like the Sibley chart) have the Moon at 26º Aquarius. The different degrees of the Moon are significant, especially when it comes to electing presidents. All winning presidents since Eisenhower have had prominent planets at 25º in various signs – this is their vital contact between their personal dynamics and the American people, which is symbolized by the Moon. You can read about this vital connection at U.S. presidents.
Only in the Scorpio Rising chart is the Aquarius Moon found in the fourth house of domestic affairs. The powerful activation of the U.S. Moon by Jupiter, Chiron, and Neptune has been leading to the deep changes in the American homeland, originally concerning real estate and the construction industry, but now on such a broad scale that the entire nation is undergoing a fundamental make-over. One senses that the grassroots phenomenon that put Barack Obama into office is so historic that the entire world is watching and anticipating. This is at the heart of the U.S. Aquarius Moon – it's our vital link to a global movement that is re-shaping principles of national sovereignty for the sake of a more inclusive consciousness.
These Aquarian transits are urging people to recognize that the problems of today – global warming, international terrorism, and unreg-ulated leveraging of the world's capital – can only be managed with international cooperation. President Obama's Aquarius Ascendant stands in stark contrast to Bush's style, as projected through his Leo Ascendant. Obama has been promoting change domestically and internationally, change of the kind that builds consensus and then acts, as opposed to Bush's domineering doctrine of "you're either with us or against us."
Activation of the U.S. Moon energizes Americans' call for social justice. Over the past 20 years or so, wealth has become inordinately concentrated in the top one percent of the American population. Within the American collective psyche, there's a natural tendency toward rule by plutocracy – as symbolized by a prominent Pluto (the ruler of the Scorpio rising U.S. horoscope).
There's also a natural counter-movement toward social equality, as represented by the U.S. Aquarian Moon. Historians, such as Arthur Schlesinger, have tracked the cyclical movement between pluto-cratic and egalitarian eras, and they astrologically correspond to the activation of the U.S. Pluto and the U.S. Moon. With three outer planets hovering over the U.S. Moon, we can now expect a re-distribution of wealth. This might come through new government programs such as tax reform, universal health care coverage, and generous incentives for home buyers.
Activation of the U.S. Moon may well coincide with major weather events, natural disasters, or industrial accidents that severely challenge certain areas within the U.S. At this writing (in early April), transiting Neptune is exactly conjunct the U.S. Moon.
Neptune is the ruler of the seas, and so it wasn't surprising that the town of Fargo, North Dakota experienced the heaviest rains in its history. That region's Red River crested at 41 feet, breaking a record that stood since 1897. The Obama admin-istration (remembering the slow FEMA responders to New Orleans' experience with Hurricane Katrina) sent the National Guard to help build retaining walls and hold back the flood waters, which they accomplished with 4 million sand-bags. But this incident was only the first contact of transiting Neptune to the U.S. Moon. Neptune won't leave this area until late 2010, and when combined with Jupiter and Chiron, one can expect some spectacular weather events.
advertisements
Jupiter, Chiron & Neptune on the U.S. Moon
by Michael O'Reilly
... NeptuneCafe presents ...
While Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune coming together in Aquarius may very well bring spiritual or religious benefits, they also have very real geopolitical consequences – and frequently not as benign as many astrologers predict Yet even as crises grow, the ability to recognize long-term solutions also grows. Aquarius is about systems, democracy, and fellowship, and the activation by these three outer planets of 25º Aquarius – the location of the U.S. Moon – points directly to the American people as being central to coordinating global reforms.
Here's a look into a rare three-planet alignment, the last two of which have brought historic developments. This one is even rarer, as described in the September 2009 issue of Dell Horoscope magazine. The material on this page is from that article.
Today we see these people as pioneers, but then they were seen as outsiders and mavericks – keywords for Chiron. This year, many Americans feel psychologically wounded by Wall Street financiers, who risked the entire capitalist system for their own profit. As Chiron hovers over the U.S. Moon, watch for the mavericks who may be tomorrow's luminaries.
The activation of the US Moon by the idealistic planets Jupiter and Neptune has brought a healing process within American social interactions, especially signified by the election of the first African-American as president. As Obama tours the world, making arrangements with other countries and other cultural, religious heritages, he shows by his being who he is how different cultures can work for a common good.
Obama's unique ancestry makes him the ideal spokesperson to bridge the Islamic and Christian cultures. Under the Bush doctrine – which was largely informed by fundamental Christians – many Islamic nations became concerned that Americans viewed them as Satanic, which in turn inspired evermore terrorist groups.
During Obama's tour of Europe last March, his last stop was in Turkey, the only predominantly Islamic nation with wishes to join the European Union. Obama made a speech that was widely reported across the Muslim world. He concluded:
"I know there have been difficulties these past few years.... So let me say this as clearly as I can: The United States is not, and will never be, at war with Islam. ... The United States has been enriched by Muslims. Many Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country – I know, because I am one of them.
Chiron in Aquarius
While Jupiter's influence is largely beneficial, Chiron and Neptune have definite downsides. Plus, Jupiter's tendency to restore economic health is offset by the ongoing Saturn-Uranus opposition, which is a traditional marker for a downturn in the business cycle. So any recovery that Jupiter might inspire will likely be getting little traction due to the counter-prevailing celestial winds.
The Moon in Aquarius's greatest strength is its diversity. In contrast to the Aquarian Moon is the U.S.'s Scorpio influence, which includes four planets in the eighth house. These placements evoke control, domination, and rule by the strongest.
Scorpio and the eighth house influences are concerned with capital and ownership, which in previous times included the ownership of people as slaves. Each previous Chiron passage has corresponded to demonstrable wounds in the American psyche, especially where social inequality is obvious and painful.
Chiron in Aquarius aims at recognizing and fixing (healing) the most painful situations, including poverty, hunger and social injustice. Chiron's passage through Aquarius becomes exceptionally important over the next year, since the "Wounded Healer" will be hanging around the U.S. Moon through the end of 2010.
Chiron's message to the American people has to do with how its Aquarian ideals have left many people out, and how they feel wounded and outraged. Exploring Chiron's 50-year cycle reveals the nature of this transit.
Chiron was last conjunct the U.S. Moon from March 1959 to January 1960. At the time, American Blacks were beginning to stage sit-ins across the south to protest their exclusion from American society. The most explicit event along these lines took place on August 12, 1959 (as Chiron was exactly conjunct the U.S. Moon), when a hostile crowd gathered outside a high school in Little Rock, Arkansas to protest integration.
One Chiron cycle earlier – from March 1909 to January 1910 – a massive strike conducted by steelworkers erupted in violence. That event was one of many historic showdowns then that reflected how America was polarized between the owners of capital and the workers.
The strike took place on August 22, 1909 – the very day that Chiron was conjunct the U.S. Moon. Also, social unrest followed Emma Goldman's lectures on women's rights, while W.E. DuBois and Booker T. Washington organized for Blacks. In early 1909, Sigmund Freud toured the U.S. to promote psychoanalysis – a new way to treat the wounded psyche.
"HI, Folks, I just got my advance copy of the September issue and must congratulate you on the cover article by Michael 0’Reilly! It is surely one of the best mundane astrology articles you’ve published. I love the insights into the conjunction with the US Moon, and the historic trip through past cycles
is very informative. The whole piece is solidly researched and very scholarly without being over our readers’ heads. Kudos to Michael and to Dell."
Donna Cunningham, skywriter
Jupiter, Chiron, and Neptune were also in a triple conjunction in late 1881 and early 1882. This time they came together in Taurus, the very practical, financially-oriented sign. Many historians recognize this era as the birth of the corporate monopoly, which began on January 2, 1882 with the legal organization of the Standard Oil Trust. While not exactly a humanitarian or idealistic enterprise, economists argue that this was the beginning of America's plutocracy and capitalistic clout in the global marketplace.
Humanitarian Influence?
Astrologers have had a field day describing the wonderful influence of Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune coming together in late Aquarius.Triple conjunctions involving three outer planets tend to foster historic events, but the nature of Jupiter and Neptune in particular tend toward the spiritual and religious.
As Charles Harvey wrote about Jupiter-Neptune combinations in the classic Mundane Astrology, "This cycle has a strong idealistic, humanitarian, and ideological quality about it. It seems to be related to the unfoldment of idealistic and religious belief systems, and as such, its hard-angle aspects can often relate to sectarian quarrels, political differences and religious wars." Since Jupiter and Neptune are in conjunction, astrologers have dismissed the negative side of Harvey's interpretation.
Astrologers often think of Chiron as a healing planet (as the "Wounded Healer"), and so these three together have been seen as a group of harmonious benefactors to the public good. And if you look at the historic record, the last time Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune came together was in late 1945. The Japanese surrendered on Sep-tember 9, 1945, the United Nations was created on October 24, 1945, and the Nuremburg Trials began on October 18. Surely justice and humanity's higher ideals were coming into play under these outer planets' lofty influence. In Libra, their developmental trajectory was through diplomatic relationships.
Although these three planets can undoubtedly be credited with sponsoring favorable changes, they each have a dark side. And looking at the historical record, one will also find that the last two times of their convergence coincided with events that can be attributed to Jupiter's excessive righteousness, Chiron's lashing out in woundedness, and Neptune's delusions. A good example is President Garfield's assassination on July 2, 1881. The assassin was Charles Guiteau, a disappointed office-seeker who believed that God told him to kill President Garfield.
Likewise in late 1945 the Chinese civil war began over ideological differences between the communist leader Mao Tse Tung and the nationalist hero Chiang Kai-Shek, each believing that ideology and history were on their side.
More prosaically, tavern-owner "Billy Goat" Sianis bought a seat for his goat in Game 4 of the World Series, and when he was escorted out, he cast a curse on the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs have not played in the World Series since 1945, which is the longest drought in all four of the major professional sports leagues. So Neptune's rulership over the spirit world may also suggest evil spirits and curses. Even if you don't believe in curses, that the Cubs' fans and players believe it makes it a reality.
Search within NeptuneCafe
Custom Search
How will the world deal with global warming, nuclear proliferation, and predatory capitalism? For those looking for celestial signs of the Age of Aquarius, one couldn't find a more appropriate alignment. There's much more on this topic at Aquarius
To read Jupiter, Neptune & Chiron on the U.S. Moon in its entirety, go to Dell Horoscope and order the September issue (on sale now) or get a subscription. The November issue features an article by Michael O'Reilly on Dracula and the Eye of Medusa.
