by Robert Wilkinson
For the past 4 years, astrologers have all been weighing in on “the Pluto return of the United States.” There are 2 problems with this: 1) Pluto moves so slowly that a Pluto return of anything is a years-long event, and 2) What time is the Pluto return actually marking? In other words, what is it the “Pluto Return” of? What time in history is Pluto now echoing?
Remember that a Pluto return is exact for 2 to 3 years, so I take the view that a Pluto return involves a multi-year period. Given that a partile (exact) conjunction is considered to be the span of 1.5 degrees approaching and 1.5 degrees separating, that gives us a three degree span of a Pluto return being “exact.” And if we consider that we usually experience a conjunction forming as far away as 6 to 10 degrees, then a Pluto return could be as long as a decade. Horseshoes and hand grenades and all that.
So what historical events are related to where Pluto is at present? Right now, it’s been cruising between 30 Capricorn and 3 Aquarius all of 2024. The last time Pluto was in this exact zone was 1778, when it began the year at 30 Cap, went up to 2 Aquarius, and then retrograded back to 30 Cap.
In 1779 it began the year at 1 Aquarius, went up to 4 Aquarius, and then back to 2 Aquarius. In 2025, it begins the year at 2 Aquarius, moves up to 4 Aquarius, and returns to 2 Aquarius, thus mirroring 1779. So this year we’re having the Pluto return of 1778 and next year we’re having the Pluto return of 1779.
As noted yesterday, when hostilities broke out in April 1775, Pluto was at 27 Capricorn. It transited 27 Capricorn between 2021-2022, so those years were the Pluto return of the midnight ride of Paul Revere (and others) and the birth of the revolution. Which leads us to the Pluto return of “the birth of the United States.”
When was the US “born?” Establishing the beginning of our nation is complicated, with the only sure thing was that it was NOT July 4, 1776. The initial vote was taken on July 1 and passed by majority (with some delegates yet to arrive). Still, it was passed just after 7 pm that day. Adams took a second vote on July 2 with several more delegates but not all of them, and it again passed resoundingly. He thought we’d be celebrating July 2 as our independence day.
So Pluto was between 25-27 Capricorn in 1775 (just like 2021-2022), and went stationary retrograde at 29 Capricorn in early 1776. By early July 1776, Pluto was exactly 27 Capricorn 36. It began 1776 at 27 Capricorn, went up to 29 Capricorn, then retrograded back to 26 Cap, where it went direct. In our era, Pluto began 2022 at 27 Capricorn, went up to 29 Capricorn, and then retrograded back to 27 Capricorn, after which it went back to 28 Capricorn by the end of 2022. So 1776 was revisited in 2022. Here I’ll note that Pluto made it to 27 Capricorn in April of 1775, heralding the events of 1776.
That puts 2022 as the Pluto return of the Declaration of Independence. That leads us to the question of whether the United States was actually “created” in early July 1776. I don’t really accept that was the founding of our nation, since I believe the creation of a nation is when it accepts the legal framework that governs the entire nation.
The beginning of the Revolution in April 1775 was between a group of colonists and the British government. The formal declaration of war in July 1775 and declaration of independence in July 1776 were actions taken by 13 separate entities and neither involved creating the framework of a nation.
July 1, 1776, was a gathering of the delegates of 13 colonies stating they would no longer submit to the authority of the British Crown. Neither the outbreak of hostilities nor an agreement not to be governed by a foreign sovereign has anything to do with laying out how a nation is to be governed. Yes, they marked acts of independence by 13 entities but did not have a central government in any way. July 1776 did not make us an independent country governed by a unifying set of laws we call the Constitution.
The next important day would be the ratification of the Articles of Confederation, since that was the first formal effort to codify a set of laws governing the compact between states. A lot of astrologers believe this was the founding of the prototype of our national laws, even if they didn’t create a strong central government and each state could choose to abide by those laws or not.
The AOC were approved November 15, 1777, and came into force on March 1, 1781 after ratification by all the states. At the ratification, Pluto was at 28 Capricorn 01, and came into force when Pluto was at 5 Aquarius 50. However, it quickly became evident that “the limitations placed upon the central government rendered it ineffective” at actually governing the states. As more states agreed changes were needed, they met in a Constitutional Convention and agreed that the “entire Articles needed to be replaced.” So I do not think either of the AOC charts are applicable to our nation except as a temporary experiment in writing a national compact.
When learning political astrology many decades ago, traditional knowledge states we must use the charter, or incorporation papers, or dates of acceptance into the union for the city and state charts, and that nations are “founded” on a specific set of laws we call a Constitution. When governing laws are first voted on and ratified as a national legal structure, I consider that to be the founding of the nation.
Over the years, I’ve been persuaded that there are a number of important points in the founding of any nation. The problem is which one to use to find the chart of a nation? I believe the ratification of a Constitution (or some similar framework) is the time to use to “found” a nation, as it stipulates the structure of government, the law stipulating the powers of government and the limits on those powers, and is the determining rule of law in all disputes in and between states.
I've been convinced by years of discussion that the "birth" of a nation means many things; birth of a sense of independence; birth of a sense of how to make things work together; birth of a set of laws; birth of the implementation of those laws. However, having practiced electional and horary for over 50 years. I have noted inceptions are when things begin, not when subsequent actions derived from those are put into play.
For example: a court action begins with the filing of the papers, not when the court schedules the hearing or makes a determination, though those too are important. But they are all derived from the initial action. Sept 17 was the date when the Constitution was ratified. Without that event, no subsequent event would have happened. I post our Constitutional chart every July 4 in our “unbirthday” article. It was ratified on September 17, 1787, with Pluto at 14 Aquarius 12 and Saturn at 23 Aquarius 23.
Some think we should use March 4, 1789, which is the day it officially took effect. To me that’s subsequent to the initiation point which marks the “birth” of a thing. While the implementation of the Constitution is obviously important, to me that’s the time when the “judgment” – the legal stipulations in the document – are to begin being executed. “Going into effect” is a subsequent event, but not originative, because that is not the agreed-upon creation of the national laws to be enforced.
In the interests of a broader perspective, there are many possible “Pluto returns” for our nation. The period of 2021 through 2024 paralleled 1775 through 1778, and 2024-2025 parallels 1778-1780. We’ve been experiencing the Pluto return for the beginning of the Revolutionary War through the first years of the revolution, the Declaration of Independence, and the approval of the Articles of Confederation.
We now move into the Pluto return for the period ending the war, the Treaty of Paris (Sept 3, 1783), and the disputes over the AOC which eventually led to the ratification of the Constitution. We’ll get the Pluto return of the Constitution in 2032-2033.
On a final note, Pluto rules the long term seeds of transformation in the lives of individuals and nations. Clearly at this time we can see we’re going through an evaluation of what peace and justice might mean to the United States, and our democratic republic has many fascist authoritarians challenging our government and rule of law. We are in a time of social and political revolution and have the future of America on the line, since the Constitution is under assault by those who want to re-write it to create unequal justice and a set of laws favoring the oligarchs and punishing the poor and minorities.
While the Constitution is being threatened, and thus our framework of nationhood is threatened, I have no doubt in the wisdom and truth of Gandhi’s adage that “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
This experiment in democratic self-government in a republic will not fail. We will survive and go on to better things despite the chaos of the dying order and repudiation of the authoritarian model. Vote like your nation depends on it. We all have that mandate to fulfill.
© Copyright 2024 Robert Wilkinson
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