by Erik Roth

This month of May is continuing that trend of development from the past 2+ years of time from the guidance of the planets and archetypal energies.  We saw the latest impact from the recent Saturn-Mars conjunction in the FBI’s investigation of Trump’s personal lawyer and the very recent verdict in Bill Cosby’s abuse of sexual power over women.  The latter event being in the midst of Pluto-Mars conjunction in the sign of Capricorn.

Powerful men are continuing to be called into accountability for their actions.  There is a tightening of the grip that of the masculine has dominated for thousands of years even as the last impulses of that power truly begin a noticeable fade.

The astrological climate is changing along with the shifting of what is taking place on our planet.  Major planetary alignments have been taking place in recent years one after the other after the other and so on.  What I’ve found is that it isn’t the exact alignments that are the most intense, but the aftermath of those alignments.  The article I wrote last month about Saturn and Mars shows that aftermath with the events that took place immediately following the alignments.

However, like in the case of Bill Cosby’s verdict, it took place within a day of the exact conjunction of Mars and Pluto, which is shamanic terms, is still a conjunction.  But shortly after the exact conjunction, the leader of North Korea crossed the DMZ to South Korea.  This is the first time in modern history that this took place and is a sign that cooperative forces are still strong within humanity even as the tension was high.

US Cycles in the Now

If there was ever a time when a concentration of cycles will assist in ushering in a shift in the current paradigm, we are in it.  The United States, like anything else has a birth or starting point.  That birth is easily measured with the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776.  I use the birth time that the late astrologer Dane Rudhyar used of 5:14 pm in Philadelphia.  This ends up showing 4 personal astrological points in the sign of Cancer for the USA with Saturn squaring them all at the time of birth.

It’s always a big deal when an outer planet (Saturn and outward in orbit of the Sun) enters a new sign.  In December, 2017, Saturn ingressed (moved into) into the sign of Capricorn.  Chiron ingressed into Aries on April 17^th and Uranus will move into the sign of Taurus on May 15^th.  In looking at the most important aspects (Conjunctions, Squares and Oppositions) when it comes to the planetary transits, Saturn and Chiron really show up strongly for America.  Here is a list below of current and future transits for Saturn and Chiron aspecting the US’ natal astrology chart.

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Chiron conjuncts IC – May 9 2018 – Feb 14 2020

Chiron squares Venus Jun 7 2018 – Mar 3 2020

Saturn squares Mc/Ic Dec 29 2017 – Oct 3 2018

Saturn Opposes Jupiter Jan 6 2018 – Oct 20 2018

Saturn Opposes Venus  Feb 1 2018 – Nov 22 2018

Saturn Opposes Sun Jan 8 2019 – Oct 10 2019

Saturn squares Saturn Jan 21 2019 – Nov 5 2019

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If one is looking for a nation to have an opportunity to come to terms with how it defines it’s “tribe” and the wounds around inclusion of rights for all people.  Most particularly, that of the feminine being a focal point of Chiron and Saturn at the same time beginning in June.  The time has come to write a new chapter of healing the crimes over the millennia by the patriarchal forces that have dominated.

The US is in a vulnerable position around these issues.  It is a crossroads that is leading up to the future triple conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in 2020.  The elections of 2018 and 2020 will be largely the result of these incredible cycles and alignments in ways that are the “offspring” of the seeds we planted decades ago.

More and more women are empowered than ever before and the toppling of the old guard that has perpetuated for many centuries is nearing an end and the astrology cycles bear that out.  However, we have of choice of coming together in a way we’ve never done to allow for the grieving of the past to be honored.  We have a choice to not prepare for a violent change and instead create a more balanced approach collectively in government and culture.  That involves what (one of the things that) human beings excel at and that is cooperation.

Perhaps the Chiron-Saturn combination will allow for greater vulnerability and introspection as to who we are.  Our identity as a people of compassion and generosity (or that we like to think of ourselves in that way) is represented by those planets in Cancer at the time of the US birth.  Can we utilize the Cancerian qualities of compassion, nurturing love, providing in a responsible way all the while creating a safe space grow and evolve each person’s authentic nature?  That is a question Saturn is posing to us.

Can we reach inside our beings to understand how to love and nurture ourselves?  Can we heal the wounds of not allowing enough love to be received within?  Abandonment, lack of love, abuse of intimacy, betrayal and perfection are wounds in the eyes of Chiron that most possess.  Is it finally time to do a collective healing around it?  These are questions Chiron asks of us.  Is the mother/father image that leader and government is there to take care of everything and protect us?  Do we give up our power and responsibility to ourselves and communities/families?  In my view, a balance in all of this is called for to help with the healing.

Saturn is also about systems, lows, rules and managing all of it.  The systems themselves are likely going to be shed in varying ways so that ne systems can be put in place and the intent is for those systems, laws, etc., to be in harmony with the people.

Ultimately, these cycles are to assist us in co-creating a new way of being part of this beautiful planet we live upon.  Can we do it with minimal reactionary and judgmental forces?  It is a difficult task, for sure!

Lunar Nodes, Jupiter and Neptune . . .

Of course, it isn’t just Saturn and Chiron that are activating the US natal chart.  The Lunar Nodes return back to the same place (on June 13^th) they were in a few weeks before America’s 242^nd birthday.  This is a particular set of instructions for the US in combination with Chiron and Saturn.  The evolving.  This Nodal Return initiation would be the beginning a process for America for ideas to come down intended to bear fruit in the future.  It is a re-visioning of the original intent set forth in 1776 but in a completely new context.  Who are we and what are we intending to become?

Confusing the issue of America’s identity is the rare Neptune square of it’s natal Ascendant / Descendant axis initiations.

Neptune squares As / Ds Mar 14 2017 – Jan 4 2019

This represents a combination of the illusions we’ve adopted as a nation recently and even in the past about what we truly represent and our relationship to humanity as a whole.  What are we holding onto that isn’t real or can realistically manifest in our lives or that as a collective?  What ideals and truths do we hold as a nation like “freedom of speech / of the press” that are being re-ignited in debates from coast to coast?  This is a time to open up to our cosmic truths and see what we can bring into more solid form by the end of the transit in January of 2019 or even sooner.

Are we operating under an illusion?  Do we act upon or dream upon the possibilities of ourselves into the future.  The US has a Sagittarius Ascendant and it is about exploring new truths without holding onto the stagnant beliefs, truths or identities of the past.  It is intended to be an open approach to truth but Sagittarius is susceptible to its shadow of fundamentalist holds of only one set of truths.

Jupiter conjunction of the Ascendant Jan 2 2019 – Aug 11 2019

On the heels of Neptune’s square of the Ascendant / Descendant axis, Jupiter moves into a conjunction of the said Sagittarius Ascendant.  Jupiter, on its own, has a natural resonance with the sign of Sagittarius (other schools of astrology would call that a “rulership”, but I stay away from the hierarchical language as much as possible).  This initiation of Jupiter acts as an expansion of the original intent of Sagittarius Rising.  The country was originally intended to explore the new frontiers of truth and meaning, blazing new trails and embracing the journey itself, for its own sake.

That mindset of America as explorers is rich and deep, especially in the area of space exploration and the river of knowledge that flows infinitely from that frontier.  The danger or shadow side of that is believing that our truths are the only ones and the ones that are in the right.  This shadow showed up during America’s “Manifest Destiny” phase in the early to mid-1800s and still has echoes of that residing within us today.

That Manifest Destiny approach created the destruction of many throughout North America due to the ignorance our country had in the face of people we considered “below” us.  Those wounds still haven’t completely healed, but progress has been made since then.

Overall, a Short Synastry of Initiations

What we are facing today and in the next year is leading up to the time of the triple conjunction of Pluto, Saturn and Jupiter.  It appears that more turnover and “pressure cooker” events will unfold in the next several months.  However, it won’t be without beacons of insights into how we can truly be in balance and harmony through working together to heal instead of covering it up with the deflection of responsibility and accountability onto others.

We can show up for ourselves and have dialogue through processing and clearing, but with limited reactive forces to keep that dialogue going.  Long before the US was formed and the Romans ruled a portion of the world, cooperative forces were what forged the early tribes and cities many thousands of years ago.  It wasn’t necessarily ideal or without fear, but it showed what building together can co-create in harmony with other and our planet.  The US is in a unique position to draw from humanity’s lineage in that way by using cooperative tools instead of guns or threats.

We can choose to plant the seeds of educating ourselves through the new truths we learn to create new or revamped systems in the case of Saturn.  As a nation, and as new knowledge comes in, we can (continue to expand) also create new spaces to allow for self-healing to take place in the case of Chiron – directing our priorities to not only acknowledge our wounds but face them directly, integrating them in healthy way.

With Neptune, we can gain from being lost and directionless within to appreciate the stirring of new forms to drop into who we choose to be on a soul level.  With the Lunar Nodes and Jupiter, it is time to listen, see and feel into a new vision for the exploration of diverse and infinite truths that reside within each of us and beyond even our imagination.

It is time to look up and recognize the sky, the rhythms of the Earth, stars and planets to gain the wisdom that is ripe for the taking.

A Note about Uranus in Taurus

For the first time since the 1934-1942 period of time, Uranus is moving into the sign of Taurus on May 15^th.  Uranus typically spends about 7 years in each sign.  This is also a part of the sky that is at the edge of the Fish constellation and Uranus will eventually move into the Ram constellation in the next few years.

Like this time period, it was also shortly after a Pluto-Uranus square was taking place (only with Pluto in Cancer instead of Capricorn as it is today – The recent Pluto-Uranus square took place between 2011-2017). Uranus is about the unexpected, unpredictable events of great novelty.  A uniqueness always follows Uranus but also major breakthroughs typically take place with that planet.

Taurus energy is seasonally linked to the middle of spring in the northern hemisphere where the songs of courtship fill the air, the softness of new leaves and grass cover the ground and trees.  It is a time to receive the pleasures of Earth’s bounty and the ancient pagan time of Beltane (April 30 / May 1).  Sensuality and Pleasure are the words that describe Taurus best.

This is a much softer astrological energy than that of Aries, which Uranus is leaving now.  But it won’t be without its drama or sudden changes globally.  Uranus, of course, is always with us, it is just a matter of knowing where it is and what is the intent of the sign its in (or affecting us personally).

While I intend to write more about this transit (and will be talking about it in-depth with Daniel Giamario in this online class here on May 24^th), there is one major issue that continues to build and build strongly, especially over the last 10 years: legalization of marijuana.

In 1937, the US passed the first bill to control the sale (through taxation) of marijuana and related plants, including anything derived from it.  Uranus was in the sign of Taurus at that time.  In October of 1970, the US government placed marijuana on a controlled substance list at the highest level possible as a schedule 1 drug, which made it illegal (fully the government’s reaction to the revolutionary movement of the youth during the Uranus-Pluto conjunction).  The War on Drugs was now in full force, shortly after the Uranus-Pluto conjunction.  Uranus at the time (in Libra), was nearing Saturn and squaring the Sun on the US natal chart.

Uranus will come back to the same degree of where it was in 1937 in 3 years’ time.  This means that the initial impulse of the taxation of marijuana is now coming full circle.  I feel a part of Uranus in Taurus’ intent is a much greater opportunity to legalize marijuana on a national level sometime between 2019-2021.  The momentum has swung to make this happen but I think it is going to take some unexpected turns to get there with Uranus setting the table.  While I don’t personally take part in using it, marijuana has typically been related to comforts, pleasures, relaxation and pain relief and so it makes sense that this plant born with Earth’s bounty is a major part of the Uranus in Taurus transit.

More on Uranus in Taurus transit later . . .