The State of the Union -- Continued

Last week I started to talk about the progressed chart of the United States because my acupuncturist asked me, "What in the world is going on with the U.S. right now?"

One really fascinating placement is our progressed Chiron, our wound issue, is in the 1st house in Sagittarius. Chiron is where we carry a wound so deep that we don't want to go near it - it is like a nagging pain we don't want to aggravate.  With Chiron in Sagittarius in our first house - the house of who we are it is a good time to come to reckoning with our spiritual truth. I happen to think this is the last hurrah of hard right spiritual forces in our political arena. Yes, it might be wishful thinking but this Chrionic wound issue will soon be in the 12th house - and while it will be even stronger it will once again be "underground." The 12th house is the hidden house - the first house is the house of how we project in the world.

Chiron is loosely opposed to Mars in Gemini in the 7th - as these two pull away and Chiron recedes into the 12th house - the vocal, vigilant and some cases violent hard "religious right" should have their power weakened. However, don't for one minute think they will go gentle into that good night.

I tend to be a pessimist when it comes to the future of this country. However, I am happy to see that Sun and Venus are transiting the 8th house - that is actually a good sign for us. Sun and Venus in the house of power and personal transformation are transiting over our progressed ascendant and our North Node. Venus was the goddess of beauty and love but she also dealt with money. We forget how much of an influence Venus has on money. (Mercury is the flow of money - Venus is the personal gaining of money.) Hopefully, President Obama will hang strong and force Congress to make some good long term financial decisions.

The stars are working in our favor - that doesn't mean we won't still screw it up! Perhaps if more people call and crash a few websites on the House they will come to their senses.

The Progressed Chart of the United States - What in the World is Going On With Us?

My wonderful acupuncturist, Kate, asked me a question that I frankly wish I had thought of. "What is going on with the progressed chart of the United States?" Eek - after I thought for a second, I replied, "I don't know but I think I am afraid to look."

Well, life is all about conquering of fears so I finally looked. What I did was a triwheel - with the birth chart of the United States (the moment the Declaration of Independence was signed) in the middle, the progressed chart of the U.S.next and a current transit chart on the outside. A progressed chart shows the movement of the planets from the time of the birth chart to now. The final transit chart is just showing where the stars and planets are now.

There is so much here that I think it is going to be two blog entries - if not, you may all start snoring. The first thing that grabs me is that progressed South Node is conjunct progressed Pluto in the 9th in the cusp of the 10th house. The 9th house is the house indicates where we go out into the world and search for our larger truths, the 10th house is career and social status - and the house of government.

Any individual who has this combination - progressed South Node and Pluto in conjunction - will be facing a time where past karma must be addressed - and where they must change because of it. Is there much of a stretch to think of past karma coming up with us now? Race relations, hideous debts built by people who now must get our "budget in order" -- these are a few issues coming to a head now. We didn't have to get our budget in order when the GOP destroyed the economy - now it is high priority for them! I think it is hysterical that this conjunction is happening in the house of higher truth. I have a feeling the truth will come out during this whole mess and that is the truth that some people will do anything even destroy the country to make sure a black man won't win re-election. Sad but true, no?

To make this more interesting, this combination is over the natal Neptune of the U.S. Our natal Neptune is in Virgo in the 9th. Neptune is where we can rise to spiritual awareness and brilliance - but it is also where, when we are in shadow, is where illusion takes over. Happily America is known to come to people's aid -with food and care (very Virgo) when countries are in trouble. However, we are also in illusion about our place in the world and have a hard time reconciling some of the negative things we have done with our foreign policy.  So we swerve from savior to illusionary super power because of our Neptune 9.

Our standing in the world will be effected by this Pluto/South Node - karma issue. This goes beyond the economic catastrophe that will be loosed on the world if we default - it is a matter of how much of a banana republic we appear if we allow a handful of ideologues to NOT face their past accurately and live in Neptunian illusion.

Pluto demands change - if you don't head Pluto's call you are headed to a big downfall.

More later......

President Obama at 50

On August 4th President Obama will turn 50 years old. It is so depressing realizing that for the first time in your life the President is younger than you but I will have to deal with that later.

One of the big things that happens around our 50th is our Chironic return. Simply put, that is why Chiron returns to the same position it was when we were born. For the President, he has Chiron at 5 degrees Pisces in the 1st house and right now Chiron is hovering at 4 degrees Pisces. It is almost back where it was when he was born.

Chiron is where we carry a deep, deep wound. Chiron in Pisces creates a wound issue around our connection to source, God, the universe - whatever word you want to use. Pisces Chiron people fall into two basic archetypal patterns - either they firmly believe that they are the ONLY way we can connect to source - they know the actual truth or they feel unconnected to the God-source, believing they don't know or don't have the right to know how to be a "child of God."

With Chiron on the first the President's wound issue and this disconnect directly to his self assertion, his basic aggression and focus values. With his natal Mars in Virgo (Mars vibrates to the first house) he kind of has to battle the Virgo-Pisces - victim/martyr syndrome. In other words, it is easy for him to have had problems about who am I, how do I fit in here on Earth and in the whole cosmic picture. As you can imagine, it must have been hard for a highly intelligent, highly ambitious bi-racial man, raised in various parts of the world to put all of his parts together.

One left over of his learned behavior of fitting in is his desire to round off the edges, make himself invisible not to offend (Virgo-Pisces.) Let's hope that after being kicked around by the lunatic fringe or the lunatic base I should say of the GOP, after years of trying to meet them in the middle when the middle keeps moving right, he will experience a Chironic awakening of his own power.

His North Node is Leo - the ego centric sign (and I don't mean that in a critical sense.) His South Node is Aquarius (which is also his rising sign.) It is very easy for him to try to come to some center point to bring all people together - to find results that will be happy for all. But, Mr. President, please - that is your South node - your past karmic identification.

Embrace your Leo - embrace your Lion energy - take the return of Chiron to realize you have found your rightful place. Now roar like the Lion you need to become!

Happy Summer Solstice

The Summer Solsitice is here but what does that mean? Simply, it is when the Sun moves into the sign of Cancer, or Moon Child, if you are more PC.  What does that mean exactly? Well let me illustrate this with a few charts. The symbol for the Sun is the circle with the little dot in the middle. OK, on the first chart, cast for 1150 AM Eastern time today shows the Sun 29 degrees into the the sign of Gemini. (Each sign is 30 degrees.)

The second chart is cast for 2:00 PM Eastern today. Look! The Sun is now at 0 degrees Cancer. The Solstice will take place around 1: 15 PM  - when the Sun moves into Cancer.  Anyone born this morning will actually be a Gemini Sun person - this afternoon will see the birth of Cancer Sun people. This only happens on the Solstices and Equinoxes.

So you ask, if there are twelve signs why do we get so involved in just the 2 solstiices and 2 equinixes? Well, because that is when the Sun moves into Cardinal signs. Astrological signs are divideed into Cardinal, the movers and shakers, Mutable, the more complaint -some say vasilating signs, and Fixed, the stubborn more stable signs. Cardinal signs, Libra, Aries, Capricorn and Cancer, because they are the more active ones - because they are leadershup signs, if you will, contain a great deal of energy and thus give a boost to the whole chart.

So when you start to enjoy the summer remember that it all starts with the Cardinal energy of Cancer.

Group Charts! Think of the possibilities

I have to tell you about the cool new project I am undertaking... group charts!
By combining the charts of several people into one new relationship chart I can tell alot about the dynamics of that group. For instance, if I combined the charts of you and your spouse and children I would get a new chart that details how you interact as a group.

I recently did this for a spiritual book club I belong to and it showed how we are feeding each other's needs provide security through knowledge. It also pointed out some human faults that we were guilty of that if not addressed could cause disharmony in the group.  It was great to look at and talk about our pluses and minuses.

These charts are often doors to discussion on issues we sometimes don't know how to approach.

So get your family chart done -  or your office chart - or book club...whatever. Awareness is the stepping stone to understanding after all!

Happy Birthday to the Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama is celebrating his 76th birthday today by coming to Washington, D.C. (It is a good thing he is used to warm weather.) He has such an interesting chart as you might expect.

One of the most fascinating aspects is his South Node. As a karmic astrologer I always look at the South Node first - it is one of the largest indicators of our current personality because we carry over so much from our previous lives. His South Node is in Moon Child in the 10th house - the house of society and government. Moon Child is the sign most linked to the Mother and our emotions. Therefore, he has a karmic memory of being a nurturing figure in society. He provided for people's food, housing - or even could have been a counselor.

Here is the really neat part. The ruler of his South Node, the Moon, is in the 12th house in Virgo. Virgo is the sign of duty and service and the 12th house is the house where we connect with the universe, God, the Source.

So in a nutshell he was known for caring on a deep emotional level for members of his society. This society was in service to God. Hmmm, do you think they got something right when the Buddhist leaders claimed that he was the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama? It seems he has done this before.

His North Node (a current soul desire indicator) is Capricorn in the 4th House - so this lifetime he has to be more of a father figure to people in his immediate family - his immediate neighborhood, if you will. With the Tibetan Diaspora he has had to become the center figure, the father figure, of his people.

In the past he was able to be the emotional, nurturer of his people - now he has to hold them together - be a beacon.