Back in March, at the Aries Ingress, I noted that the Ascendant was in Gemini, a mutable sign — and that as a result, that chart was only good for three months, up until the Summer Solstice. Tomorrow is the Summer Solstice, and so it becomes necessary to “update” the chart for the next three months, and see what might be in store for the United States between late June and late September this year. It would be a good idea to go review the Aries Ingress chart and see what I got right… and what I got wrong.
Unlike a natal chart or a horary chart, a Judicial chart doesn’t generate horoscopes — instead, we read the houses either clockwise or counterclockwise, and try to get a sense of the issues affecting the nation as a whole. If more planets are above the horizon than below (as we see here), then public political and macro-economic affairs take precedence over private and micro-economic affairs; what the government does is more important than what the citizenry do. With the Sun above the horizon in a day chart, the President’s public agenda tends to match his private one; with the Sun below the horizon in a night chart, we can use the metaphor of a duck on a pond — the President may be calm and composed on the surface, but madly paddling away just out of sight. We happen to have a night chart at the moment, and so it’s important to recall that Joe Biden is working like mad on something out of sight, even as he does things like fall off his bicycle in public.
The Sun’s position gives us the first indicator of what the President of the United States is up to. With the Sun in the first decan of Cancer in the second house, we’re seeing a president at work on problems that strongly correlate with maintaining the financial system of the US as a whole, and its ability to produce or buy goods and services. The first decan of Cancer is called Mother and Child — the formula and baby food crisis is the tip of the iceberg for him, but it’s an issue that concerns him personally. For those who know Tarot, this is the 2 of Cups: literally, how people get food and drink to one another, and the marvels that arise from that, is a focus of his attention.
The Moon represents that part of the population that can make their voices heard in the affairs of government. It’s in the Eleventh House in Aries, in the First Mansion The Two Signals. The Eleventh House is associated with state legislatures, local government, and the majority party in Congress — and we see that the Moon, the loudest part of the citizenry as a whole, is going to have to run past a series of challenges in the next three months to get their agenda addressed. Jupiter here represents the wealthy, both the billionaires and the gentry (the multimillionaire car-dealership owners, agricultural landowners, and family-run autoparts factory owners that tend to own and influence regional economies); Mars represents the military and law enforcement agencies (and quite possibly domestic-terrorist ‘militias’) and the asteroid Chiron stands for the medical professions, both wounded and yet still working. The implication to me is clear: state legislatures, the Democrats in Congress, and local government are going to be trying to pass a couple of issues that their own supporters are passionate about… and the economic interests of the wealthy, the needs of a profession ravaged by COVID, and the outright threats posed by militancy and conflict, are likely to frustrate, dislodge, or challenge that agenda in the next three months.
The Ascendant and the first house represents the larger population, the part of the citizenry and residents who aren’t able to make their voices heard in the counsels of government. Mercury is in their own sign of Gemini here, indicating that this population is going to have an easier time raising their voices than usual: Mercury is said to take their joy in the eleventh, giving people a chance to speak. Mercury is also in the first decan, called The Apple of Eden — a position associated with wants and desires, wishes and hopes. There are a lot of pent-up demands for options, held in check by the pandemic of the last two years, which are not being met… and voices will get louder for those demands to get met. At the same time, the Ascendant is in the decan called The Executioner’s Sword — and there’s a portion of the populace that think it’s time for some political heads to roll. Jefferson’s quotation, “the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of patriots from time to time,” may get bandied about by both sides of the aisle this time around; there’s now strong public evidence that a whole bunch of people in and around government broke laws, suborned and bribed officials, and committed sedition and possibly treason — and if you’re the one accused of treason, it’s historically true that your safety and life is best assured by destroying your accusers before they can wrestle you into prison or the hangman’s noose. We’re in an incredibly dangerous time, especially with the Moon square to the Sun and to her own sign, and waning toward the dark of the Moon; the issues in Congress and legislatures are a distraction for many from economic issues at home, which ought to be their first concern.
The Second House represents the financial interests and industries of the nation. With the Moon square, succedent, and waning (and in the Two Signals), there’s a suggestion here of an ongoing bear market that needs to be nursed back to health.
The Third House represents communications, highways, canals, and logistics — and the Sun’s inconjunction or aversion to Leo indicates that the President should be spending more time on transportation, communications, and media issues than he is. The Imum Coeli, the place of greatest happiness for the nation, is in the third decan of Leo called The Banner — there’s philosophical and ethical ramifications to the current state of these industries and issues, and they need to be worked out soon (and people need to understand what’s at stake). Pay more attention to these issues in the next three months.
The Fourth House is Virgo, and in a judicial chart this is about agriculture, flocks and herds, and land use particularly in rural areas. The Lot of Fortune is here, indicating that the nation has great freedom of action in this realm, and can make a number of useful improvements to farming and the lives of farmers without much difficulty in the next three months. The Lot is in the middle decan of Virgo, the Hammer and Anvil, suggesting that equipment, gear, and more-local manufacturing and repair services would be really helpful. Mercury’s rulership of this sign points to the communication aspect — farmers and agriculturalists need to be a LOT noisier not just about what the problems are, but what their needs and believed solutions are.
The Fifth House, Libra ruled by Venus, in a judicial chart is about media, entertainment, fashion: movies and TV are both part of this realm; as are the opinions of the minority party in Congress, and the wealthier families among the citizenry. Venus is in its own sign, but occupying the twelfth house, which is inconjunct to the fifth — there’s a disconnect between what these families and industries HAVE, and what they think they’re OWED. It must be admitted that fashion, entertainment, and media make up a huge sector of the American economy. But the twelfth house is the sign of justice and the courts systems, prisons, and the country’s secret enemies — and Taurus there is the house of material luxury and leisure. There’s a strong suggestion here that the entertainment industry is one of the places where America can “cut back” or restructure its economic dependencies — and that the wealthy are maybe not as in-tune with the American dream as they think they are.
The Sixth House, Scorpio ruled by Mars, is the realm of mine and oil well, machinist and assembly lineman, soldier with rifle and carpenter with hammer. Working class folks, enlisted army grunts, and the construction trades, are subject to the presence of the South Node — where the shit comes out, and where the troubles are. Like Venus, Mars is in its own sign but inconjunct to this place it rules — their issues and concerns are coming up in Congress and in state governments, but rarely are the concerns raised, actually solved (or even addressed) by the proposed remedies; the wrong problems are being fixed, or the right problems are being fixed in the wrong way. Mercury in the first house offers some solutions: talk more, and talk to the right people… but even so, recognize that there’s likely to be a rising tide of discontent from this category of US residents. Also note that Uranus — the planet of upheavals, including striking workers, angry mobs, street protests and union organizers — is in the twelfth house opposite: working class joes aren’t likely to be able to shift legislatures much in the next three months, but they can greatly inconvenience America’s secret enemies, its judicial system, and its correctional institutions.
The Seventh House represents America’s relationships to foreign powers in trade, diplomacy and war. Sagittarius ruled by Jupiter is here, with the Descendant — our most important peer on the world stage — in the decan called The Horse’s Skull. It’s possible that we’re beating our own dead horse, friends: we have political objectives that have to be accomplished, but we’re trying to ride an animal into negotiations that everyone else can see is dead. It’s worse than “the emperor has no clothes!” really: that’s merely embarrassing and foolish; a dry-bones horse suggests that we no longer have the high ground. Additionally, the rulership of Jupiter suggests that our negotiations aren’t really in good faith — on the surface, they’re generous and merciful, but backed up with the threat of Martial conflict waiting to be unleashed by Congress. The trine with Mars to the Descendant also makes clear that we’re in a war for the next three months, even if our guys aren’t directly shooting at their guys.
The Eighth House is the bureaucracy and the structure of the government’s departments. Practical and technical and logical Capricorn, ruled by Saturn, manages statistically and by the rules it’s been given; and amplifies its power over the government by means of Pluto’s retrograde in the decan called The Throne. The lengthy review of rules-changes that’s undertaken by every administration is currently underway in the US, and it’s likely to lead to a lot of small changes of relative ineffectiveness (given the sextile from Neptune in the tenth, which we’ll talk about in a minute).
The Ninth House is the realm of academia, publishing, tourism, air and sea travel, and long-distance cargo-hauling (such as transatlantic and transpacific trade routes). Saturn is domiciled here, suggesting ongoing and natural limitations on these industries. Aquarius is fixed air… oh, what is COVID? a disease that attacks the lungs first and troubles breathing and oxygen-exchange? Expect three more months of public challenges around COVID at least, and an ongoing review and revision of both what we know about this disease, and how to treat it. The decan here is named The Knot, suggesting that this is a challenging problem to unravel; expect no real solutions to the pandemic before September, and maybe go back to masking up.
The Tenth House is the place of the government itself, all of the departments of the executive branch, the courts of the judicial, and the legislative functions and existing laws, all together — and how the nation acts domestically and in foreign affairs. Pisces is a mutable sign, a two-bodied sign, and a contradictory sign: it’s literally two fish swimming in opposite directions but unable to separate themselves from one another since a cord with two fish hooks joins them at the mouth. We’re facing a three-month period in which our national story is two factions pulling in opposite directions and unable to solve any significant problems. Neptune is in the third decan, The Cup of Blood: both sides have drunk too deeply from the chalice of zealotry and frustration with ‘the other side’; compromise is nigh-impossible in such situations. I can hear the complaints from the commentariat rising, “the economy and gas prices and inflation and they want my guns!” on the one hand and “But Trump and sedition and an anti-abortion Supreme Court and January 6!” — AND THAT, my friends, is zealotry in a nutshell. Whatever else happens, unfortunately, we cannot ‘fix’ the foibles of ‘the other side’ while seeing them as enemies. Both parties live in the same borders and metaphorically under the same roof… and yet, while we swim in different directions, Neptune assures us that the riptide and cross currents will keep us from knowing if we’re swimming the right direction yet.
We’ve already talked about the cluster of planets in the Eleventh House, and what they mean, but it’s worth noting Jupiter’s inconjunction with Pisces, and its presence in Aries — symbolically, the forms and processes of the law are being obeyed, and the legislatures of states and nation will go through the motions of the norms, and obey the rigors of parliamentary process. But that fairness and generosity, that multivalent loving-kindness that Jupiter represents, will be missing from the counsels of government as a whole. Jupiter returns to Pisces later in the year, and we’ll see what the charts for Autumn equinox and Winter Solstice holds in time… but for now, expect a fair bit of effort to make rules and processes that don’t actually do much to bind up the nation’s wounds, but may aggravate or inflame them.
The Twelfth House is the realm of the courts, the penal system, the intelligence agencies, and the nation’s secret foes — those opponents, both foreign and domestic, who have not yet revealed themselves. Venus is present in Taurus, suggesting that everyone has a bit of creative leisure time to think through and plan their next steps: Venus occupies the last decan, called The Prayer Beads, so there’s a sense of leaning into a kind of routine of expertise and steady accumulation of merit. Venus is the connector, the assembler, the creative generator, so there’s a suggestion here that courts (lawyers, judges, prosecutors, plaintiffs, defendants) are steadily solving the material problems of their processes in the next three months — despite some negative news stories, there’s evidence that some reform-minded District Attorneys are fixing the problems they encounter, a little bit at a time. However, we have to note the presence of the North Node here, too — there’s a hunger here to rush a bit faster than necessary; and institute changes that haven’t been thoroughly thought-through; some mistakes are going to be made, innocent people will take an undeserved punishment, and more than a few guilty people may slip away in the principled and ethically necessary shifts in process. Try to delay judgement on these kinds of issues until after September 21. At the same time, we also have Uranus in play here — promising that all kinds of disrupting and usurping forces have greater autonomy and a suite of sweet new targets of opportunity to attack. In some cases this may be unionization drives that wind up afoul of the courts; it could be domestic terrorists or wayward ‘militias’ focusing on justices and magistrates. Whatever else, be aware that ‘surprise!’ is an important part of Uranus’s playbook. Uranus here in Taurus also suggests that food uncertainty and disruptions may be a ‘secret foe’ that’s difficult to escape from. Plan ahead. In general, do your best to imagine, speak your concerns out loud, and prepare for the worst… and be pleasantly surprised by the less serious but unimagined middling-case scenarios.
OVERALL — the message is that we’re in a dangerous three-month season of discontentment, ineffectual and contradictory government, and economic and political turmoil. Significant turning points remain 1) in the activities of the legislatures — nationally at the moment, it’s the Democrats’ season in Congress, and it’s their agenda to set and win or lose; the Republicans control the momentum in most of the statehouses. 2) There’s going to be considerably more chatter from the population at large in the next three months, as well, with more people active in politics than in a long while. 3) Travel, higher education, tourism and long-distance/overseas logistics continue to be tangled due to COVID. 4) Inflation and upheaval in food markets remains a continuing challenge through the summer.
