Decision Time: Who Shall We Be?

Our identity as a democracy has been under attack before. With Chiron (the wound) transiting the sign of identity ( Aries), the question has arisen again. Who shall we be and what do we stand for? Democracy? Dictatorship? illiberal democracy? And what wounds in our identity must we heal to get there?

To answer those questions, let me paraphrase from historian Heather Cox Richardson’s excellent “Letters From An American”: Sometimes change comes suddenly. Just ten years before the American Revolution, the colonies in America seemed securely in the fold of Great Britain’s Monarchy. Then came the Stamp Act, and that lit a fire that resulted in the founding of our nation.

Just a few years before the Civil War, southern enslavers had control of all three branches of government. They did not believe in the Declaration of Independence; they felt they could control the country. Then the Kansas-Nebraska Act happened, and Abraham Lincoln was elected. A fire was lit. I

During the 1920’s big business was entertwined with government. Herbert Hoover wanted the markets to take care of the Depression and did nothing. Just a few years later, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected and made the government work for the people with social safety nets and programs to get people back to work.

We are again in a moment of decision regarding our national identity. In 2017, a huge number of women mobilized at the Women's March to protest the election of Donald Trump. The overturning of Roe v Wade has lit a match. Astrologically, women are not going to allow us to be a Christian Nationalist dictatorship. (I’ll be detailing more on this in a later post.) Certainly, wounds exist in our national identity but progress will be forced to accomodate our shifting demographics.

Women are a 51% majority now. And people of color will be the majority in 2030. The MAGA faction arose with Pluto in Capricorn, which exposed the dark side of our traditions - racism, misogyny, homophobia, wealth disparities (remember Occupy Wall Street?). But Pluto, the generational muckracker and transformer, is leaving Capricorn for good in late November of this year. (Although Pluto will get a lot of play in the months between now and the election.). Pluto is moving on to Aquarius - a sign of Congress (which could stand a little muckraking!). Pluto is not going back. The zeitgeist will have a decidedly Aquarian flavor. Aquarius is the sign of democracy. And the question of who we will be is still in play (Chiron in Aries).

Deciding who we will be as a nation is up to the people of America. So, once again, keep your vibe high and pure, and do not give in to fear. Chiron understands the pain of clinging to past patterns that have become hurtful to us. Transiting Chiron in Aries will be especially powerful as it stations, or stands still, at 23 Aries, then reverses direction to cover ground it has been over before (we have seen this movie before) from July 26 to December 28. So a lot of controversy similar to what we have seen during the Trump years will get played again.

So the struggle isn’t over. As Heather Cox Richards concludes her latest letter: “When President Joe Biden announced just a week ago that he would not accept the Democratic nomination for president, he did not pass the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris. He passed it to us. It is up to us to decide whether we want a country based on fear or on facts, on reaction or on reality, on hatred or on hope.”

We decide.