June 24, 2005
AMERICA’S CURRENT CHALLENGES

Do you feel as though something important in your life is coming to an end? That both the national and world situation are becoming increasingly difficult? Many people are pessimistic and depressed these days.

Bush’s approval ratings continue to sink, the news from Iraq is interminably depressing, Congress is squabbling and playing games in anticipation of an expected Supreme Court appointment. Newspaper readership is declining, TV programming is getting trashier, and people distrust the integrity of the media as well as the nation’s leaders. Uncertainty pervades The Economy and the Stock Market. The U.S. image abroad and the President’s approval ratings at home continue to plummet.

Astrologically, there are many indicators of this general “malaise”. URANUS, NEPTUNE and PLUTO, the three outer planets, are in RETROGRADE motion and continue to stress specific degrees in the U.S. chart (view chart). Characteristically, this is when past issues are being reviewed. SATURN, which has been in CANCER for the last two and a half years, has focused greatest attention on issues of security. Now, as SATURN transits the last degrees of CANCER, it seems as though we are all saying goodbye to some deeply emotional part of our lives and to the fears it engendered.

Astrologers, however, are trying to fathom something else which is occurring in the U.S. chart. MARS is the planet of action, confidence, and leadership. MARS also represents aggression and war. MARS is turning RETROGRADE by Secondary Progression*, in the U.S. chart. This is worrisome for successful U.S. leadership abroad and effective action domestically.

MARS is especially relevant to war and the Military. MARS RETROGRADE makes it harder to take effective action and get a job done. The conflict in Iraq seems bogged down, military recruiting is increasingly difficult, and the American public is losing more and more confidence in what is called “Bush’s war”. MARS RETROGRADE, in its negative expression, can fuel feelings of impotence and doubt, sometimes expressed as hostility and rage.

Since the degrees of MARS’ station (18 degrees of LIBRA) exactly conjoins President Bush’s JUPITER, it seems a fateful connection that he is President during this crucial time.

Are we entering a new era when U.S. leadership will diminish?

Astrological Notes:

* Secondary Progressions refer to developing internal changes within a chart over time rather than the external planetary motions occurring in the sky.

(See Article dated November 8, 2004 for more details:
THE CHANGING ROLE OF AMERICAN ASSERTION: Mars turning RETROGRADE in the U.S. Progressed Chart)

Back to Articles