by Marilyn Muir, LPMAFA
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Uranus was discovered March 13, 1781, almost five years after the U.S. Declaration of Independence in 1776; even though our country was born earlier, it still has tremendous effect on us. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto were not visible and were therefore not available in an ephemeris (table of planetary positions). Invisible equates to unconscious. IF astrology charts were used by any of the Founding Fathers, and several of them were Freemasons so charting may have been possible, they would not have included the three outer planets. That would make a tremendous difference in the potential of the charts that would map their new, independent country. The concept of Uranus moved from unconscious in 1776 to conscious (discovered and identified) in 1781. Surprise! Taking the form of the Great Awakener, Uranus would herald the coming of age of the new country, the United States of America. One for all and all for one, opportunity for humanity, or at least the citizens of one country, to be heard and have individual freedom and value.
It is not surprising that Uranus of freedom and revolutionary thinking would be prominent by position or rulership in the chart. In the July 4,1776 Declaration of Independence chart (DI), Uranus was 8 Gemini 54. I prefer the Virgo Rising chart due to my own personal research. The Midheaven was 8 Gemini 52, two minutes from Uranus, still invisible but definitely formative and powerful, and right on the angle. Any Midheaven is the goal or mission of the chart native, whether that is a person, place or thing. In this instance, it was the formation of a new country, an entity formed of, by and for a coherent political group, what I call a humanity being. Neptune and Pluto did not get invented or formed later in time, but they were discovered and then lifted to consciousness in 1846 and 1930. In the Revolutionary War chart, they were unconscious energies, not showing on any viewable chart. They are critical to the chart dynamics, but hidden from view, unconscious.
Last night I was entering research information into my computer and came across the 1776 Cancer Ingress charts for Philadelphia and for London, separate charts. Several years ago, I had encountered the moment when Great Britain ended its protectorate for Egypt, which became independent, in charge of itself as a new nation. Curious about the simultaneous death of the protectorate and the birth of a new nation I cast a chart for each at that critical moment, one for England and one for Egypt. The physical locations were about two hours apart and what an amazing difference it made in the playing out of the energies. You could easily see the death of an existing order in the England chart and the birth of a new nation in the Egypt chart. AFA published that article in Vol 73#5 of Today’s Astrologer, May, 2011. Use the bulletin archives for a wealth of educational and research information.
With that in my background, I wondered if the ingress chart could be read in a similar way for the break with England and the independence of the U.S. The Cancer Ingress occurred about two weeks prior to the declaration, so some positions would not have changed much. Remember also that communication was literally by slow boat from one country to another. The news would not have hit England for some time after the missive was sent from the colonies. One chart should show the immediate fist-in-air impact, one probably not so much.
1776 Cancer Ingress, colonial Philadelphia, PA, to become the U.S.A.
7 Sagittarius 49 rising, but look at that overloaded seventh house… five planets within 25˚. The new country would show Sag rising. The open, known enemy would be the seventh containing five planets. Uranus is 21 minutes from that cusp. It might be invisible, unconscious, but it sure is dynamic! There is a separating Venus/Mars/Uranus conjunction, with Venus gaining on the July 4th DI Mars at 21 Gemini 10 and Uranus 44 minutes from the DI Uranus position. Separating reveals the history of any moment, experiences that have been encountered prior.
Ingress chart ruler Jupiter 2 Cancer 46 is at the end of that planet group conjunct ingress Sun. Big dreams! In the two weeks between the ingress and declaration, Venus advanced to 2 Cancer 43, conjunct within three minutes of arc!
Mercury, ingress seventh house and Midheaven ruler, is 23 Cancer 34 in the eighth: values of the open enemy, opposed invisible Pluto, unconscious, underground, transformative, power play particularly communication. During the interval between ingress and declaration, Mercury turned retrograde at 24 Cancer 20 on its way back to the ingress position. That Mercury/Pluto opposition has tremendous impact on us. We are experiencing that lesson now as we as a country wrestle with communication and information manipulation, and with honesty and integrity issues.
Mars ingress at 11 Gemini 45, squares the DI Ascendant 11 Virgo 46 – one minute of arc. That extremely wide ingress Mars/Neptune square tightens up in the interim as DI Mars 21 Gemini 10 squares first the ingress Neptune 22 Virgo 14 and DI natal Neptune 22 Virgo 25.
The ingress Moon at 25 Leo 41 opposes the DI Moon at 22 Aquarius 37, typical for two weeks of motion. Saturn and the Nodes have barely moved, but the DI Sun 13 Cancer 01 arrives at the square of Saturn, the teacher and guardian of our laws and values.
What about the London Cancer Ingress?
Is it as dominant as the Philadelphia chart? Remember with the Atlantic Ocean to cross, the Crown did not hear of the insurrection until August 10, 1776*. This ingress chart is much looser; dominance is not screaming at you. There are several planets in the angular houses, but the only one tight on the angle is Mars at 11 Gemini 45 conjunct England’s ingress I.C. at 11 Gemini 57; the homeland, the clan, the family has declared war on its parent.
The England Ingress chart ruler would have been Saturn. While angular it is within three degrees of the eighth cusp; they have a new open enemy, their child with conflicting values. Co-ruler Uranus doesn’t exist in their awareness but it is conjunct Mars in the house of communication. The planetary positions are identical to the Philadelphia positions, they don’t change, but the layout of the houses has changed: application to practical matters. The independent, freedom-loving Sun/Jupiter conjunction is in the fifth house of England’s child, the colonies. Since it rules the Midheaven of this chart, then freedom of the child was the mission and goal.
That Mercury/Pluto opposition in the sixth/twelfth houses now reflects the service aspect between England taking the goods produced and not allowing representation, with one foot in the house of England’s self-undoing. Initially the colonies did not intend to become independent. That developed over several years as the Crown refused to listen to the colonists’ complaints for fair representation. Communication broke down – by refusing dialogue the Crown did itself in.
The missive arrived
Since we know that August 10th is when the Crown became aware of the events, does anything leap out of that chart? The outer planets, visible or invisible won’t have changed much. The house positions will depend on time of day, which I could not locate, so noonmark was used. The Moon is at 5 Cancer 56 conjunct the DI Jupiter at 5:52, four minutes of arc or 8 minutes on the day’s clock. Jupiter at 13 Cancer 54 and transiting Mars at 15 Cancer 46 have just passed the U.S. natal Sun at 13 Cancer 01. There is a tight but applying Sun/Venus conjunction 18 Leo 08-17.
Look at the cluster of six planets between the Moon and the Sun – powerful. The seventh house clustering of the Philadelphia ingress dominates this chart. This clustering is centered on the ninth and tenth houses: foreign travel, other countries and cultures. Don’t get too comfortable. Remember, this is a noonmark chart. A timed chart might move that cluster into another house arena. Is Scorpio is actually rising? If so… the flea has taken on the elephant. The disorganized colonies have just taken on the most powerful nation in the world in that era. We all know the outcome. Look at the connections between those charts. And they say astrology doesn’t work!
Resources:
Cancer Ingress, June 20, 1776, 5:43 PM LMT, Philadelphia, PA (colony)
Cancer Ingress, June 20, 1776, 10:43 PM LMT, London, England
U.S. Declaration of Independence, Virgo rising, July 4, 1776, 9:36 AM LMT, Philadelphia, PA
English crown learns of D of I: August 10, 1776, noonmark, London, England
*http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/london-learns-of-american-independence
Published in AFA Today’s Astrologer Oct 2017 vol 79#10, republished with slight editing.
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