Every 80 to 90 years in American history there has been a crisis. These crises started very small and local but each succeeding crisis was larger and involved more people, not just in the United States but in the rest of the world. To astrologers, the year range of 80 to 90 should ring a bell: The period of Uranus is 84 years and that of Neptune — at 168 years — is exactly double that. As we will see the motions of these planets interact with the chart of the United States in ways such that there are five different cycles that all come due within a period of 5 to 10 years. These cycles are Uranus coming to its natal position — called a Uranus Return — and Neptune coming back to either its natal (return) or opposite (demi-return) its natal position. These two cycles occur for any chart drawn for a birth in 1776. The next two cycles are transiting Neptune coming to or opposite to the Midheaven in the Sibly natal chart for the U.S. and Uranus coming to the Descendant of the Sibly chart. These two cycles involved a certain chart of the United States. The fifth cycle is Neptune coming to the Aries or Libra point; this cycle does not involve the United States at all, but holds for the world at large. I’ve also noticed — as you will see from the graphical ephemerides shown below — that there is also a hard aspect between the Pluto and the natal North Node of the Moon each time these other transits are happening. I’m not sure what to make of this, but Ebertin’s description of the principle of these two points is intriguing. Ebertin says the principle of these two points is the common destiny of a large mass of people.

The first crisis in American history is called the Starving Time. This took place in the recently founded colony of Jamestown. The colonists weren’t on great terms with the people that already lived on this land that was new to them and also the colonists made many mistakes. The winter of 1609-10 was for them the final reckoning. They didn’t have enough food to make it through the winter and so almost 90% of the population died over that winter. Some were so desperate that they removed bodies from their graves for food. The required supply ship from England was late in coming so they were not rescued until the following spring and it took years to finally recover from the Starving Time. So while the severe crisis only lasted the season the recovery took years covering the period when Uranus and Neptune were making the appropriate aspects.

Here is when the various transits mentioned above played out for this crisis. You can follow all these in the above graphical ephemeris. Neptune was conjunct its natal position (one full Neptune cycle before the birth of the country) in 1610-11, Neptune was conjunct the Midheaven of the not yet formed United States in 1615-16. Neptune crossed zero Libra in 1614-15; Uranus conjoined its natal position in 1608-1609; and finally Uranus crossed the Descendant of the not yet born United States in 1609-10. In this case the transit of Uranus over the Descendant was the closest in time to the actual crisis, but since it took several years to recover from the damage and the almost loss of the colony important actions related to the crisis were occurring when Neptune crossed those points.

The second crisis was called in the colonies King Williams’s War and other names as well; this was just the North American part of a larger war called the Nine Years War. In North America this war involved England (including the English colonists), France, and Native Americans. This was the first of several wars in North America involving those same parties. In North America, this war was fought from 1688-1697.

Many other things were going on in this period. For the British — and America was a colony of Britain at this time — 1688 was a very important year for what is called the Glorious Revolution. This was a non-violent change to the governing of the country, which at the time meant the king. The king of England at the time was James II, younger brother of Charles II who was the restored king after his father, Charles I, was executed during the English Civil War in the middle of that century. James II of England was Catholic and was hard on the Church of England which had been established by an early Tudor king. He was replaced in this Glorious Revolution by his daughter Mary and her husband William, who was also King of Holland and a Protestant.

Four years later an event happened in America that is still talked about today: the Salem Witch Trials. These occurred in 1692 and 1693 in the village of Salem, Massachusetts. Two hundred people were accused of witchcraft and 19 were eventually executed.

Also in this period the slave trade experienced a big boost. Perhaps it was the elimination of a Catholic king in England that allowed this expansion to take place. This is discussed more fully in the book Freedom’s Debt by William Pettigrew. Of course, this meant a big increase in slaves brought to America. Perhaps those who support the 1619 Project concerning when slaves were first brought to America should pay more attention to this milestone.

Starting in 1689 there were a number of rebellions in America that in ways presaged the Revolution that would happen at the next crisis. The book to read about this is The Glorious Revolution in America by David Lovejoy.

Here is when these planets made the appropriate aspects for this second crisis. Neptune was opposite the natal Neptune in 1693-94. Neptune was conjoined the Aries point and the IC of the United States in 1697-98, just as this war was ending. Uranus returned to its natal position in 1692-93; Uranus crossed the Descendant in 1693-94. So here we can see with a longer event — not just one winter as in the first crisis — that all five of these planetary indicators line up with the crises.

The third crisis was the American Revolution. This war went on from 1775 to 1783. By definition, Neptune was conjoined the natal Neptune and Uranus was conjoined the natal Uranus at this time since the birth chart is set for a date shortly after the start of the war, which is said to be the Battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. But both Uranus and Neptune crossed the angles that they are close to in the natal chart while the war was being fought. Note that other countries than England and its colony were involved in this war, most notably France that may have saved the bacon for America and indirectly caused its own revolution.

The fourth crisis was the American Civil War, which is sometimes called the second American Revolution (e.g. historian Charles Beard). It officially started with the firing on the Federal Fort Sumter, a military base in North Carolina, by the Confederates. This happened on April 12, 1861. But events leading to that civil war had occurred for years if not decades before that event. One important occurrence was the raid by John Brown and his followers on the Harper’s Ferry military depot in the middle of October 1859. The Dread Scott decision of the Supreme Court, announced by incoming President James Buchanan in March of 1857, was another prominent forerunner.

The American Civil War did involve more than just the North and South. The nationals from many other countries enlisted and fought in the Civil War, which was seen as important by them for the causes of anti-slavery and state’s rights. Both England and France were considering recognizing the Confederacy but the timely intervention of the Russian Navy prevented this from happening. The crises was already becoming international.

As can be seen in the above graphical ephemeris, here is when the appropriate transits took place. The Neptune demi-return occurred in 1857 and 1858; the Uranus return was in 1860 and 1861; Neptune was positioned at 0 Aries in 1861 and 1862; finally Uranus crossed the Descendant of the United States (Sibly chart) and Neptune crossed the IC of the US in 1861 and 1862.

The fifth crisis was World War II. The official start of this war was on September 1, 1939 when the German forces invaded Poland, but there were many events in the years before that that presaged a world-wide war, such as the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and then their invasion of China in July of 1937. For Americans the war started when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, an American military base on the American colony of Hawaii, in December of 1941.

These were the appropriate transits: Neptune returned to its natal position in 1938, 1939, and 1940 — it was exactly there in early September 1939; Neptune was at the Libra point in 1941, 1942, and 1943; Neptune was at the Midheaven in 1943 and 1944; both the Uranus return and Uranus crossing the Descendant were in 1944 and 1945.

After this war there were many changes, the most in American history. We will discuss this more fully in the next post. This time is considered the start of the Anthropocene, that geologic age that is determined by the force of human beings. Also this time was the start of the Atomic Age. The use of plastics, which was fairly limited before the war, exploded afterwards and has grown immensely since: as a result women could finally wear nylon stockings and the plastic ball-point pen proved popular.

For the sixth crisis, the one we are starting now, the Neptune demi-return is 2021 and 2022; Neptune crosses 0 Libra in 2024 and 2025; it crosses the Sibly IC in 2025 and 2026; the Uranus return is in 2027 and 2028; finally Uranus crosses the Sibly Descendant in 2028 and 2029. It appears that this crisis will last most of the decade.

Dedicated to Enid R. Leonard who has been an editor for many of these blog posts.

Thanks to Doug Kellogg for this article, originally posted at https://500yearparty.wordpress.com

We have had a whole lot of Neptune over the last few years, and it is not going to end any time soon. I’ve previously written about the Neptune transits to the Ascendant and the Sun of the United States. The last of those transits has just about finished. But coming up is the Neptune demi-return, the return of Neptune to be opposite its natal position. This occurs at almost the same time as the Pluto return. This is not too surprising, since the period of Neptune — 168 years — is almost two-thirds the period of Pluto — 248 years — so there is a certain resonance to their periods. This Neptune demi-return will be followed soon after by Neptune hitting 0 Aries and Neptune crossing the IC — opposite the Midheaven — of the US, so soon the whole world, and especially the United States, will have more than a touch of Neptune.

Neptune the planet — who was in Roman mythology (Poseidon in Greek) the god of the Seas (and also earthquakes) — covers many ideas. In the best sense it can relate to spiritual matters, but also deception and illusion in a mundane situation or for those who are not spiritual adepts. Neptune should be strong in actors (witness Elizabeth Taylor’s birth in Neptune-ruled Pisces) who need to behave like someone they are not. But it is difficult to manifest the spiritual side of Neptune when we are talking about countries (e.g. US) or many people in their mundane existence. In such cases Neptune can represent lies, deception, dissembling, but also vapors, poison gas, and illness, especially when the causes are not well known. In particular, with the current COVID-19 pandemic that is engulfing the world, Neptune is a fitting symbol. But remember Neptune symbolizes many things, so don’t get caught up in assigning it just one meaning, as Neptune is more difficult to tack down than other planets. Though it seems a little too obvious, Neptune can easily be associated with plagues or pandemics. More fundamentally Neptune can represent invisible or at least unclear things, as in the term “Neptunian” fog. So things now are very Neptunian — the situation is unclear, and it is almost as if everyone has an opinion of what is happening, and some quote “experts” but in a more general sense, no one really knows what the future will be, but it wouldn’t be “more of the same”.

Let us briefly look at previous times Neptune made hard aspects — conjunction, square, opposition — with its natal position. There are relatively few of these, since Neptune moves slowly around the Sun. In a human being with a limited lifespan, the stages of a life can be measured with the aspects of Saturn to its natal position, most commonly labeled with the term “Saturn Return” though other aspects are important also. But with a country, and especially the United States, the progress of the country can best be measured with the aspects of Neptune, as I indicate in the following paragraphs.

The first opening square of transiting Neptune to its natal position was in 1817. This was an interesting time even if there were no stand-out events. The last of the “Virginia Dynasty” Presidents, all of whom came from the state of Virginia, James Monroe, had just been elected. It is known as “The Era of Good Feelings” when past animosities were ended. The War of 1812, which had seen the burning of the nation’s capital city, had ended two years earlier. The Federalist Party, those who had essentially started the country before there were actually political parties, and had been represented by the first two Presidents, was for all intents and purposes dead. This time represents the end of the “childhood” of the country and a time when it moved into adolescence. Not only were Presidents elected that were different than the first few, for example Andrew Jackson in another ten years, but the contentious issue of slavery was about to become very obvious and could no longer be ignored with the Missouri problem that was solved by the eponymously named Compromise.

The first time it was opposite its natal position was in 1858 and 1859. We all know what was happening then: This was the final run-up to the American Civil War, which had been developing for at least forty years since the opening square, but by the time of that demi-return the war was almost here. This Civil War marked America’s entrance into young adulthood after it “solved” a problem that had been with the country since its founding.

The closing square of Neptune was in 1898. It is noteworthy how often several important transits happen at the same time — the current decade is a hallmark example of such a phenomenon. But this Neptune aspect was also an example; this period saw the Spanish American War and the beginning of the Philippines War while there was a Saturn Pluto opposition. America was now passing out of earlier adulthood which was marked by the Civil War and was becoming a full adult and, wanting to be considered a “successful” country, became an empire. This can be seen as the beginning of the “American Century”.

The first complete Neptune cycle, which involved Neptune returning to its natal position, was 1938 and 1939; in the same way that that first demi-return was a run-up to the American Civil War, this return was the run up to the Second World War, though most Americans at the time were just happy that the worst of the Great Depression was over. Those who paid attention to what was happening in Europe or the Far East knew something was coming down. By the end of the War, America had achieved the promise that had been set in motion at the closing square: it was truly a world-spanning empire.

The second opening square, which also corresponds to a Saturn-Pluto conjunction and much else was happening in 1980 and 1981. As has been mentioned before, this is the beginning of Neoliberalism, that branch of extreme capitalism that has dominated the world for the last forty years, and, I believe, is coming to an end with the Neptune demi-return. This closing square represented elderhood for the country, but not in a good way — the country has become older without becoming wiser, like an elderly teenager. This upcoming decade represents hopefully a maturing out of that difficult stage. Unlike a physical human being, countries can have more than one “lifespan”. In this sense the upcoming Pluto return (symbolically, since Pluto can represent death) is the end of that stage most represented by the promise of the first Neptune return.

Since in the US chart, Neptune is close to the Midheaven, it is not surprising that the Neptune returns and demi-returns correspond closely to Neptune at the MC or opposite the MC, which has been shown before to correspond to a crisis in America. The first such crisis was the Revolutionary War, then the Civil War, then World War II. This next crisis is coming up, and one indicator is the Neptune demi-return that also corresponds to the Pluto return, so one might guess that this return/demi-return of two outer planets will be more impressive/significant than either by themselves. But these returns also correspond to Neptune on the Cardinal axis, either at 0 Aries or 0 Libra so they also represent major changes in the World.

US history in textbooks is often divided into four periods — before the Revolutionary War, between Revolutionary and Civil Wars, after the Civil War but before World War Two, and after World War Two, that is today. So American history is conveniently demarcated by those the events, though all signify ongoing events to which those turning points — Revolutionary, Civil, World War — are significant. And it should be obvious that life before the Revolutionary War, when people were British citizens, was different than life after when they were citizens of a new country. After the Civil War, those who were slaves were now free and could, theoretically at least, vote and travel about. And after World War Two so many things changed that it is often called the Great Acceleration or the start of the Anthropocene — literally a new era in world history. We are soon to reach another one of those turning points. The time after this Neptune demi-return (and many other events which I have talked about before) will be unlike the time before (i.e, now). The history of the world, when looked back at from the future, will show that there was a major change that happened in the third decade of the Twenty First century. Neptune is a big, but not the only, part of this, symbolized by the only outer-planet midpoint configuration with Neptune at the apex in 500 years and Neptune crossing the Cardinal axis at Zero Aries, the start of things.

This future could be determined by the same forces that made the last 70 (or 500) years what they have become, or it could be determined in a more democratic way. I believe it was the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume who said that in all societies the people are the ones that truly have the power, but they have been convinced that they don’t, so it does not matter. In authoritarian societies like the former Soviet Union, it was obvious that the media and the government were lying to citizens and so they paid attention to the samizdat (unauthorized newspapers), but in more “democratic” societies people don’t know they are being lied to, so it is almost a harder problem to convince them that they have the power. What we need to see now is that the individuals come to believe that they are the powerful ones and not allow themselves to be controlled by the government and that handmaiden of government, the mass media, all of whom are owned by large corporations that do not have the interests of individual citizens as their prime concern.

In the chart of the US, Neptune is square Mars. This is an extremely problematic aspect for a nation. The country in question is deluded about its use of power, which in the case of a nation is military power. It — the country — tends to believe that all uses of force are only for the benefit of others and military operations are done with the best of intentions: Deception is paramount. When transiting Neptune is conjunct/opposed the natal Neptune it is also squaring the natal Mars, further emphasizing the ingrained Mars Neptune square. This demi-return could be the time of another crusade to save the world. In the current US this crusade comes in two flavors: straight neoconservative, often the favorite of Republicans, and the responsibility to protect (R2P) which is favored by Democrats (also called “the cruise missile left”). In practical application, there is not much difference in outcome, but the R2P crowd (Samantha Powers is a good example) are often cheered in elite publications. That is the “respectable” type of intervention.

In the fourth harmonic graphical ephemeris we can see how close the lines for Mars and Neptune are, near the bottom of the image. Neptune first comes close to Neptune-Mars in the summer of 2020 and first exactly contacts both planets in Spring of 2021. Both planets are contacted throughout the remainder of 2021 and 2022 and the last exact opposition to natal Neptune is at the end of 2022. Also visible in the upper half of the graphical ephemeris is the progress of the Pluto Return which starts and ends a little later than the demi-return.

But I don’t want to be all negative. This Mars-Neptune emphasis could be a time for self reflection (in the country) and a realization of how much the National Security State (aka Military Industrial Complex or Deep State), that was born shortly after World War II, has come to influence and even determine what the United States does. The current media mindset with Russia, Russia, Russia (they’re going to hack our 2020 elections also!) shows how much an enemy is needed. And before Russia the enemy was terrorism, and before that drugs, and before that Communism, and before that Germany, and before that Spain, and before that the South (from a Northern perspective), and before that the British.

Neptune indicates the very fluidity of the situation. It is at such a time that the maximum amount of change can be made, or else we can fight among ourselves and let our “Masters” control the situation and its outcome. But one thing is certain: with Neptune so involved, don’t accept anything at first impression, always look beneath the Neptunian surface.

Thanks to Doug Kellogg for this article, originally posted at https://500yearparty.wordpress.com

Molasses is a product derived from sugar cane and few are familiar with it anymore, though it is often used to make brown sugar and rum. It can be a sweetening agent and it is more nutritious than for example honey. But an interesting historical event happened one January in Boston where molasses took center stage.

I’ve previously written about all the things that happened in 1919 but here is one that I did not mention, and it is not signified by what I said was the major astrological configuration of that year: Saturn opposite Uranus, the staid versus the new. But perhaps if you squint your eyes and try real hard you can see this case as the structure of the vat against the changeable molasses.

On the afternoon of January 15, 1919, at 12:40, a huge vat — 50 feet tall and 250 feet around — of molasses gave way, flooding the city of Boston, or at least the surrounding blocks on Commercial Street, with molasses. The tank was owned by Purity Distilling Company, a subsidiary of U. S. Industrial Alcohol which used the molasses stored in the vat for war purposes. That day was relatively warm for January in Boston: the temperature got to 45. The vat was on Boston’s North Beach between what is now a skating rink and a park. The location of the vat is now a baseball diamond. The 2,300,000 gallons of molasses, weighing 13,000 tons, spread in all directions in a 30 foot wave. Tenements in the region had their basements filled with molasses, and it was difficult to clean. Molasses was tracked around Boston over the next few weeks as cleanup proceeded. Fresh water from fire hydrants proved unable to dilute the sticky substance, so finally salt water from the bay was used, resulting in much molasses being dumped into Boston’s harbor. The situation would have been less serious if it had happened in July. But in the colder temperatures of January, the molasses was slow and hard enough that some people and animals were trapped in it, and it was difficult to rescue some since the molasses, which had previously been warmed, was initially as fast moving as it would have been in summer months. An estimated 21 people died as a result of the molasses flood; there were 150 injuries and 14 buildings were destroyed, including a two story brick firehouse that was almost dumped into the Boston Harbor.

Later scientists built scale models of the vat to determine what actually happened. Using these measurements, they were able to estimate the speed of the molasses at 35 mph. So now we know the speed of molasses in January!

It is fortunate that we have a time for this incident, so that the angles — the MC and the Ascendant — are somewhat accurate. And the MC-IC axis definitely tells a story. As we can see from the chart for this incident, not an especially big one like the start of a major war, but something definite, that Venus, the planets of sweet substances, was at the Midheaven, and opposite Neptune at the IC, a planet suggesting a liquid or lack of clarity or uncertainty at the foundation of the subject. And if you are familiar with the planetary patterns of famous astrologer Marc Edmund Jones (who also gave us Sabian Symbols) this chart is an obvious see-saw, suggesting the theme of opposition and conflict. There is also the Saturn opposite Uranus that was talked about previously and also Mars sesquiquadrate Pluto, suggesting transformation through motion (even if only at 35 mph), and the North Beach was certainly transformed, and an opposition of Mercury and Pluto suggesting the spectators that for several weeks gathered on the North Beach to marvel at the changes in that part of the city. There is even a loose conjunction of Mars and Uranus in the tenth house, that almost stereotypal astrological signature of an accident.

And yes, it was later decided that the foundation of the vat holding the molasses was not especially sturdy. Proper trace minerals that would have hardened the steel used for the vat were not added, the sturdiness of the vat was never tested with (for example) water before it was filled, and this time the vat held more molasses than was usually the case. Some warm molasses was added shortly before the accident.

The molasses, imported from the Caribbean, was used to make alcohol for the First World War, and it had been a profitable business for U. S Industrial Alcohol (USIA). But then this accident happened two months after the war ended. This incident was a major source of litigation over the next years – one of the biggest set of legal cases in the history of Massachusetts, as families of people who were trapped or of animals that were lost sued USIA. There were 119 claimants involved and 25,000 pages of testimony were produced from all the trials over a three year period. U. S. Industrial Alcohol was the company that had owned the vat of molasses so important to the war that had just finished. Since there was a Red Scare happening at the time with much accusations of anarchism and communists under the bed (the crime that Sacco and Vanzetti were accused of happened 15 months later in Braintree, Massachusetts, a dozen miles south), USIA initially accused saboteurs of destroying the vat. But in the end USIA had to pay out $600,000 for the lack of technical supervision in construction of the vat.

Thanks to Doug Kellogg for this article, originally posted at https://500yearparty.wordpress.com