Belated Happy 246th Birthday to the U.S.A. on the 2nd Pass of Its 1st Pluto Return

Jasper Johns, Flag (1960)

It's been so long since I've updated this blog, I expected moths to greet me on this "Create a New Post" page. I'd been meaning to post about the U.S. Solar Return, which happened this year on July 5 at 4:29 a.m. EDT. But frankly, I was so depressed about the state of things in the States that I just didn't have the heart.

I use the natal chart that has 13'10" degrees of Sagittarius Rising (5:13 p.m.), Philadelphia, PA. The Solar Return (SR) has 29'32" degrees of Gemini Rising, with the chart ruler, Mercury, conjunct the Ascendant at 0'10" degrees of Cancer. Mercury harmoniously sextiles Mars at 0'04" degrees of Taurus (the sign of Mars's detriment) in the 11th house, indicating opportunity for "fixed" (stubborn and persistent) energy coming from reform-minded groups. Lots of emotional talk combining with lots of know-it-all action.

What's more worrisome is the 4th-house Moon at 22'39" degrees of Virgo opposing a retrograde 10th-house Neptune at 25'26" degrees of Pisces. By itself this is problematic, indicating confusion over both physical and mental health as well as a tendency to run from harsh realities and embrace a delusional dream world by any means possible. This opposition also pulls in America's worst natal aspect: a Mars-Neptune square from 21'23" degrees of Gemini (Mars) to 22'25" Virgo (Neptune). In other words, U.S. SR Moon is conjunct natal Neptune (more confusion, denial, wool-gathering, and self-medicating) while the natal Mars squaring SR Moon and Neptune, increasing anger, fighting words, and violence.

Most important of all is SR Pluto retrograde at 27'42" degrees of Capricorn, placed in the 8th (Pluto-ruled) house of sex, death, transformation, and taxes. This is almost exactly conjunct U.S. natal Pluto; in fact, it happened today (July 11) for the second time (the first pass was this February, and the third and final pass will be in late December). Heightening the emotional intensity of this Pluto Return is the trine from the U.S. SR Moon. At its best, this could manifest in deep-rooted transformation on a national level, particularly as it applies to women and domestic matters.

This whole year of 2022, then, is marked by U.S.'s Pluto Return. America is a relatively young nation; many other countries have gone through Pluto Returns around their 246th birthdays. It remains to be seen what remains of the U.S. after its Pluto Return, which I believe started with Pluto at the beginning of Capricorn in 2008-10 -- opposing natal U.S. Venus and Jupiter in early Cancer, with President Obama's "Obamacare" and the Citizens United case that determined corporations (ruled by Capricorn) had the same rights as people. The Pluto Return ratcheted up its intensity in 2020 with the Saturn-Pluto conjunction that marked the official beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, followed by the attempted coup of January 6, 2021. This year is the peak of the U.S. Pluto Return, and we can see that not only are the events of January 6 (including, unfortunately TFG) back in the headlines, but increased mass shootings (in schools, in malls, in a "nice" Chicago suburb during a Fourth of July parade), sky-high inflation, and the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, which had been the law since 1973. Now about half the States will treat women as second-class citizens, as chattel with no autonomy over their bodies, which came as a surprise to no one who understands that this is how Far Right so-called Christians roll, and that the die was cast in 2016 when Mitch McConnell (the most unevolved form of Pisces) denied Merrick Garland's nomination in the election year of 2016 and managed to push Handmaiden Amy Coney Barrett through just weeks before the 2020 presidential election. Between those two events, more conservative Catholics joined the Court. Many people blamed Ruth Bader Ginsburg for the sin of hubris, for refusing to retire when she had cancer; I would like to believe that she really did not know how much was at stake.

It remains to be seen whether America survives as a democracy. Pluto in Capricorn has manifested in the corruption, decay, and destruction of virtually every institution that exists, from banking to business to government. America has effectively turned into a plutocracy. Big Money, Big Tech, Big Pharma -- all forms of late-stage capitalism and commodification, in which the winners take all and then take some more. Infrastructure is ruled by Capricorn as well, and roads, high-rises, and power grids are all falling apart. The glorification of guns (natal Mars-Neptune square, with Mars in the 7th house of "the Other" so that there's a lot of projection involved -- it's not me, it's you!) is such an ingrained part of America's psyche, with cowboys of the Wild West celebrating their vigilante freedom, I don't see how any gun-control laws will be more than a Band-Aid to stanch the bloodbath. Who will voluntarily turn in their guns, their AK-15s capable of shredding flesh to an unrecognizable pulp? The massacre at Sandy Hook in Newtown, Connecticut, was almost 10 years ago; when nothing happened after that except for "thoughts and prayers," I knew that nothing would.

With Pluto in the last half of the last decanate of Capricorn, so many of us are tired, numb, and cynical. We are done with the pandemic, even though the pandemic is not done with us. We are seeing the effects of the climate emergency with increased wildfires, floods, terrible storms, and extreme temperature swings, but again, there is more fatalism than concerted, cooperative action. Will this begin to change for the better with Pluto's ingress into Aquarius next year? I can only hope so. In the meantime...buckle your seatbelts and stack up those sandbags. This may well be America's darkest hour.

America Turns 240, I Turn 39 Again with Progressed Moon at 29 Degrees of Cancer

I was out of town, with my sweetie, at an arts and music festival in Maryland over the long Fourth of July weekend. After a bumpy start, it turned out to be a great time. There was plenty of reconnecting as well as some interesting new connections.

Then we came home. It was America's 240th birthday, with my own birthday just 9 days away. And it seemed the news for the following week, and then the week after that, was all bad -- not just for the U.S., but all over the world. It felt overwhelming. I wished I were back at the festival and felt sad that I hadn't heard about another regional "burn," which happened this past weekend, until it was too late to plan on going.

For an introvert and semi-misanthropist like me, wishing I were back surrounded by people who look like characters in a Fellini film -- plus nonstop techno music, light shows, and other festival refinements -- says quite a bit about the validity of progressed astrology. Last month my progressed Moon entered my 11th House and conjuncted my natal Mercury, the ruler of my chart. Now with Moon progressed in the final degree of Cancer, I feel at the end of a 2.5-year winding underwater road, needing to come up for air and breathe in the fiery warmth of Leo. Needing change for the better. After about three years of being emotionally wrapped up in Making It (a 10th-House specialty), I am beginning to focus on other people and group activities. It's in my natal chart to be sure (a heavily aspected Mars-Mercury conjunction in late Cancer across the 11th-House cusp) but with a 12th-House Venus in Virgo, as well as Pluto exactly conjunct the Ascendant in Virgo, I need a lot more downtime than the average 11th-House / Aquarius / Uranian type.

My Solar Return and the U.S. Solar Return both contain rising planets, but to much different effect:

I have the Moon Rising at 28 degrees of Libra, with 29 degrees of Libra Rising, which I read as domestic and relationship friction involving my current progressed Moon, since it forms a square to it. I also see more surface vanity, which in my case may actually be a good thing, since it may finally motivate me to lose weight and do something about my rapidly graying hair other than a quick fix of fuschia highlights that washed out after barely a week.

The U.S. has Saturn Retrograde Rising in Sagittarius, with the Sun, Moon, and Venus in the 8th-House of death, transformation, taxes, and other people's resources. I refuse to predict at this juncture who will win the presidential election, but especially with the Sun closely opposing Pluto, there will be much school for scandal. Saturn Rising in a Retrograde position suggests that several harsh lessons will need to learned involving the law and religion. The self-identity of the US is definitely under strain and will need to be stripped away to its essence -- no mere face-lift will do the job. Remember, we are still in the Saturn-Neptune square, and with Neptune in the 3rd House of U.S. Solar Return, there will be a challenge to think and communicate creatively, not just rationalize, deny, and lie.

Stay tuned, I will try to be better about updating even if the news does not improve.

Solar Return Poem

Summer rain
may be the most evocative phrase
in the English language
(along with melted chocolate
parted lips,
total eclipse eyes).
Solar Return #42, 8:30 p.m., just after sunset--
how on earth did I get to this point?
I am still just a kid,
though when I was just a kid,
I was old as a prewar building.
Lost on Mercury Retrograde Lane
I come back to myself in the summer rain
and an equally delicious shot of St. Germain
poured into cheap champagne,
sipped in a cool bath
fragrant with "mermaid" bath salts
saved for a special occasion...
I let all tension and regrets spiral down the drain.

Post-Solar Return Musings

Despite my Solar Return's falling on Friday the 13th this year, nothing violent or even spooky went down. I spent the day counting my blessings, and the evening chowing down on homemade lobster rolls, potato salad, and "cool" slaw all put together by Chef Boyfriend. His daughters, cat, plus my bestie were on hand to help me celebrate.

That was the gourmand, cozy side of my birthday moon in Taurus; the musical side occurred two nights earlier, with the Moon just having entered Taurus and trining my Venus, and the Sun hitting the same degree of my natal Sun (20 degrees, for the curious). Mercury was squaring my Moon on Wednesday, yet it played out as healing energy between my little sister (a Sun in Scorpio) and me; she had very unexpectedly invited me up for a midweek visit to see the B-52's and Squeeze in Boston, at the seaport, and we had a wonderful time. Never before had I been in the front row of a concert, and it was magical. My sister and I dressed up, she in a silver dress and pink fishnets and me in a white sundresses patterned with pink flamingos, which I think both bands appreciated, as most concertgoers were casually dressed and a fair amount of eye contact occurred flowed between some of the musicians, me, and my sister. We barely sat down the whole evening, yet were not overheated by dancing due to being kissed by the Boston Harbor breeze.

During the Sun-Moon sextile yesterday afternoon, I swam at Brighton Beach and sketched. All in all, Wednesday and Friday more than made up for the fact that when my Solar Return was exact on Thursday afternoon, I was sending a fax instead of engaged in something less mundane.

Interestingly, although my progressed Moon is in Gemini, my SR Moon is at a critical degree (9) of Taurus, poised on the 7th House, and Mars is very close to conjuncting my Uranus. I plan not to play in traffic this year, and to do everything in my power to deepen and stabilize all my emotionally based relationships.

Happy Solar Return to Me

My Solar Return officially happened today at 2:58 a.m., and naturally as a Pluto-in-Virgo Rising native I had to not only see my 39th birthday in (for the second time), but also engage in a bit of ritual. I have a nice little collection of upscale candles, the subtly as opposed to overpoweringly scented kind that come in decorative tins, and I lit the pink magnolia one as I wrote in my journal.

How I wish I could share some choice profundities from that journal entry upon entering my 5th (!) decade in this life, a la F. Scott Fitzgerald in his "The Crack-Up" essay, which he wrote just days before turning the big 4-0. Yet I don't think I was waxing so wise late last night. It was more like I was in unexpected shock that the moment I'd been anticipating for the past 10 years, i.e., entering middle age, was finally happening. I was so reflective and conscious of passing time as a child and younger adult that I never actually felt young; now that I am definitely no longer young, I feel wistful at the same time I have zero nostalgia for it...

...except for isolated incidents, like walking on Lido Beach on the South Shore of Long Island with my grandparents' nearly untrained Lhasha Apso, feeling totally at peace with the world and with myself. Like believing with all my heart as an adolescent that I would grow up to be a SoHo artist and thus get my revenge on all my classmates who treated me like an alien or as if I didn't exist. Like having the energy and persistence to send out my short stories and novel on a regular basis despite the constant rejections because I believed so much in what I was doing...

Compared to most of the people of the world, especially in this worsening Global Recession-slash-Depression, I know how lucky I have it: an aesthetically pleasing roof over my gradually graying head in the so-hip-it-hurts borough of Kings; decent if not excellent health; work (albeit the kind that is erratic and not terribly lucrative, i.e., freelance editing, and all of the CVs I send out for salaried positions fall into a cybervoid); some real friends; a real love; family that no longer features the sort of drama that shredded my nerves on a regular basis; some validation for my creative work (today my audio book has been published on paper-bag-press.com, a very cool manifestation of Moon in Leo in my Solar Return chart's 3rd house, and sextile the SR Ascendant). And this evening I'm going to dine in very good company in an iconic restaurant that is fortuitously taking part in NY Restaurant Week.

Yet there is so much more I could be if only I could harness my willpower the way I used to be able to do. With my progressed Moon in Taurus, I've grown soft. Just as I predicted a year ago, I've gained weight (about 10 lbs., which is like 20 lbs. on a small frame) and creatively speaking, have been reaping more than sowing (the poems in my eBook and audio book are new to readers, but they are old hat to me...I feel like the Beatles must've felt doing "Twist and Shout" in 1965, but without the fame and fortune).

And just as I could not enjoy my youth when I had it, I worry that what I do have will be swept away in next year's Uranus/Pluto square. At least if such loss comes to pass, I will have plenty of company. I can't predict whether the U.S. is going to have a Civil War or a decade or so of uncivil scrounging, but with my progressed Mercury conjunct my natal Pluto/Asc., I doubt I'll be sitting quietly by the sidelines. I suppose that getting assassinated (a Plutonian activity) would do wonders for my career, since having a shady reputation (also Plutonian) hasn't done the job.

Interestingly, I learned last night that Julius "Et tu, Brute?" Caesar was born on July 13, not July 12 as is commonly thought. Apparently his birthday was celebrated a day early so as to avoid conflict with an ancient Roman festival, the Ludi Apollinares (the games that celebrated the Sun god, Apollo). You'd think that Julius, who basically made the Roman Empire, could've moved the festival to suit his schedule, but maybe he didn't want to press his luck. (Or maybe he just liked festivals. I wonder if he'd have enjoyed the one I went to over July 4 weekend? I can just see him cannonballing into the swimming pool wearing an LED-light-enhanced toga....)

Anyway, this bit of knowledge I just acquired gives me even more of a reason (as if sharing a birthday with Harrison Ford, Cheech Marin, and Cameron Crowe weren't enough) to refuse to rest on my laurels.