The phrase “The Shot Heard Around the World” most often refers to the Battle of Lexington and Concord, which was the opening battle of the American Revolutionary War. I’ve noticed that events in colonial America, before the “birth” of the country on July 4, 1776, also show up as relevant transits to the birth chart of the United States. I’ve even gone back as far as Columbus’ first sighing land and seen that that also shows up in the chart of the United States. But in this case the event in question took place a little over a year before the birth. This particular chart is an example of what I call “astrological cliché” since it appears to have been made up to fit the event in question. Another example of an astrological cliché is the life of that Libra President, Chester A. Arthur, who was called “Gentleman Boss”.
From accounts, it appears the first shots were fired shortly after sunrise, about 5 AM on April 19, 1775. The first chart is an event chart, set for the time of the event. We see that the sun has just risen and is about five degrees about the horizon, about 20 minutes after sunrise. The tightest aspect – Sun sesquiquadrate Moon – is almost exact, presages the Sun-Moon sesquiquadrate in the natal chart and thus the continuing conflict between the people and the government, as can be seen in many things such as the rise of the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists at the Constitutional Convention.
But what is really interesting is the second chart, the transits of this time in the natal chart of the U.S. Since this event is near the birth, the outer planets are already in the position or close to the positions they will occupy in the natal chart. The first thing you may notice is that the Moon is on the Ascendant and rising as this event happens. This suggests the beginning of a process, as the Moon is suddenly visible and its visibility will only increase. This event is a beginning of the Revolutionary War, which is the beginning of the country of America.
But notice the position of Mars opposite the natal Moon. Mars is literally gunfire – a shot – and its position opposite the Moon indicates that this is something that the people will be aware of. But then look at Mercury, representing communication, which can be read as “heard”. This is opposite the Midheaven, which represents the public impression of the country in the outside world. So the chart of the start of the Battle of Lexington and Concord, when looked at with the natal chart of the United States, says this event is the shot heard around the world.
Now I hear some critics asking could you predict what event happened with this chart before the event. Of course not. If you notice these minor transits at all – Mars goes around the zodiac every two years and Mercury in less that one year – this is not what you would have predicted. But of course the fact that both Marts is in that position and Mercury is in that position at the same time is much more rare. But not even if you did notice this could you predict the corresponding event. But is is very interesting that on hindsight the astrological conditions were so prefect that the event is called by what the astrological configuration suggests.