Stars, Planets and the United States

The United States was the first modern nation. Formed in a storm of revolution, determined to set a new course, created deliberately and by deliberation. No, the Founders didn't start off as revolutionaries (no one really does for the most part, for no one believes that the system really wouldn't reform), but they ended up as such. They were also children of the Enlightenment-determined to be free from what they called "superstition", but they were openminded about alternative beliefs, unlike more modern children of the Enlightenment. Many were Masons, who were definitely mystical without the demands of a state church. They were also Deists, who believed that God created the universe through intelligence and then set the laws in motion, and people to use their intelligence to handle the world. They also believed that state should have nothing to do with the enforcement of beliefs and opinions, which is why we have a First Amendment, freedom of belief and opnion.

Studying astrology by studying nations is fascinating and informative. Studying a person has the risk of reading a person through the lens of one's own opinions of that person, and of course, most people have facets of their lives that are hidden from even the closest friends and relatives. Nations will do what nations do regardless of our opinions and will act in certain ways as determined by their chart, and even the most hidden things eventually come to light through documents and testimony.

So,Just when was the United States "born"? While there are many dates (Founding of Congress, the Ratification of the Constitution, et al, the accepted date is July 4, 1776-and I go by the 4:47 pm time (Philadelphia) of author Barry Lynes (born October 13, 1942)

Chart Interpretation

The next 20 years: America, Russia, astrology & computers (Unknown Binding) Self-published in just a few places, I bought this book back in 1981.it gave a very convincing argument for a late afternoon birth for the United States. Years ago I did my own research (just the local college library in those days) that pretty much confirmed the possiblity that it was that evening. My colleague Nancy Waterman (Starlight News) goes by a later time that corresponds to the day the towers fell in New York City. Another Astrologer,Dane Rhudhyar, goes by an even later time. I believe Lynes is correct. Sometime just before 5 pm, someting was done-maybe just a group statement-that we are now going to be independent. Yes, there was something done on July 2-Adams said so-but I suspect a lot of people were having second thoughts on July 2nd and wanted to think it over before confirming through either statement or recessing for the evening, their decision to go along with independence. I can't blame them. It's one thing to be a somewhat loyal subject who could concievably renounce rebellion, another to commit treason openly. To do the latter was to subject themselves to what could be horrific consequences for themselves and their families and all who followed them. Even in more enlightened times, the penalty for treason and rebellion is death-whether they observe the formalities or not regarding such, and armies oftentimes don't bother with the formalities of a trial.

It took a lot of Sagittarius moxie and idealism to get over that particular hurdle. Sagittarius Rising makes us reach out in a brash, sometimes overly brash way, impatient with formality and sometimes too quickly for our own good. We like room to wander-our houses are big, we think nothing of traveling from state to state-the nations's motto is "Don't Fence Me In". But it also means we take in strangers readily (except when the shadow side of Sagittarius shows up-xenophobia and fanaticism, readily adopt traditions if we like them.

Studying Presidents? In the old days, the fate of the King was considered the fate of the nations-Kings were married to the nation, so to speak. Things don't change just because leaders of the Nation are now called Presidents. Studying a President, past or present, gives you a clue as to how they governed and how the nation fared under their watch. Some observations: all the Aquarius Presidents have been shot at. Perhaps its because America turns to barrier-breaking Aquarians in a great crisis: Lincoln and Roosevelt come to mind readily, Reagan does too: Presidents who come in such troubled times stir up much in already troubled minds. Both of the recent Democratic Presidents have been Leo-certainly an unanticipated side effect of new campaigning ways and rules that insist the candidate go out and greet crowds as opposed to lobbying Party officials over a poker game. Public campaigning requires a more ebullient personality who can also relate to the TV as well. More reserved Signs have a harder time of it-think Nixon or LBJ-they got in through the last of the smoke-room, but had to publicly campaign.

States have personalities as well, and manifest themselves through their SunSigns. Suprised to see that California is a Virgo? We dom't usually think of the home of show business as such. But Virgo controls the methods of creativity that Leo uses. Hollywood was intended to be a real estate haven where people would come to get away from the cold, damp East where several months out of the year you couldn't go outside. Virgo-aerospace, Silicon Valley, alternative forms of healing, the fruit and vegetable heart of the nation. That's California.