This 4th of July marks the 248th birthday for the United States of America. We are revisiting the podcast episode from last summer when Madi broke down some of the USA’s birth chart and what it means for us today.

Before we dive in, how is the birth chart of a nation different from the birth chart of an individual person? Casting a chart for a country, a company, an invention, an event, etc is known as Mundane Astrology. It can indicate themes and challenges that may show up for a single event or through the course of an entity’s history.

It’s important to acknowledge that the birth chart of the United States is reflective of the nation created by colonizers who claimed ownership over land that was taken from indigenous peoples. The culture of the United States is inherently influenced by this history, and the birth chart reflects that. The chart does not necessarily reflect the spirit of the land, the indigenous nations and communities who existed before colonization, or the individual people who make up the United States now. It is reflective of the collective culture and historical themes experienced by the nation as a whole.

Here is a breakdown summary of the USA’s birth chart:

Cancer Sun

Themes and values that the nation holds or that have shown up throughout history:

• The nuclear family and traditional family values
• Security and safety
• Hospitality and refuge
• Roots and ancestry

Think – the Statue of Liberty! The figure of a woman placed across from Ellis Island to welcome immigrants from Europe seeking refuge, freedom, and safety.

Shadows:

• Toxic family values that lead to hyper-traditional, conservative, and strict rules
• The idea of “my family over others”, or “my people over others”
• The USA’s long held belief that it must be the caretaker and steward for the whole world (which has led us to really get in everyone’s business when we were not welcome and in many cases not super helpful!)
• The tendency to put up that Cancer Crab shell against any criticism or perceived threats to these values and ideas. This can lead to defensive and retaliatory behaviors rather than constructive conversations. 

Significant aspects to the Sun:

• Saturn and Chiron both form Square aspects to the Sun
  • Can lead to a strong conservative streak upholding tradition and rules
  • Can get really stuck in our ways; can be authoritative and controlling
  • Can believe in perfectionism to the point of denying any and all imperfections; can be unable to accept any form of imperfection and flaw and must ignore or deny them rather than fix them
• The projected image contradicts those inherent wounds and flaws, which can be very frustrating and gaslighting for the people to see and experience. Without integrating these wounds of the past, there cannot be an authentic self-image for the nation

Sagittarius Rising

Themes and values that the nation holds or that have shown up throughout history:

• The Land of the Free!
• The Land of Opportunity
• Projecting the USA as a place of abundance and prosperity
• The American Dream, where visions can come to life and dreams can come true
• Religious freedom, freedom of belief
• The pursuit of truth and progress
• The importance of individual land ownership, the freedom and right to adventure and explore

Think – pilgrims coming to America to flee religious persecution in Europe; the Wild West; the Gold Rush!

Shadows:

• Becoming dogmatic and stuck in one way of belief, and believing that people must be converted to that way of belief
• Toxic optimism, delusion (i.e. “everything’s fine!”, when it’s really not)
• Indoctrination
• Being overly competitive with other nations and with one another 
• Keeping up with the Joneses, excessive consumption, and viewing all resources as unlimited
• Believing we have everything figured out and our way is the right way
• A “finder’s, keeper’s” mentality
• Valuing the individual’s experience over the collective experience

Aquarius Moon

Themes and values that the nation holds or that have shown up throughout history:

• Freedom, and particularly freedom of speech, communication, and press (3rd House themes)
• Thought leaders, innovation, invention, and novel ideas
• Social justice, freedom and equality
• Humanitarian ideals, valuing the greater collective and community on a local level

Think — the Moon Landing; the Civil Rights Movement

Shadows:

• Can be too fixed and rigid
• Can become detached emotionally, even apathetic
• Can forget the individual humans along the way to progress
• Can loses the details in the vision, which can make action and progress more difficult and can cause harm along the way
• Can be rebellious just for the sake of it
• Capable of self-awareness but choosing not to investigate oneself too closely

Other Significant Placements

Mercury (retrograde) in Cancer

• The government and organizations can get caught up in soapboxing, talking and debating without taking action. There can also be communication challenges between the government and the people and things can be secretive or not entirely transparent (8th House themes).

Jupiter and Venus conjunct in Cancer

• The nation can experience lots of luck and abundance! Jupiter in Cancer shadows can include some small-mindedness, while Venus in Cancer shadows can include a scarcity mindset and unhealthy attachments.

Mars in Gemini

• Mars in Gemini can lead to an abundance of ideas and opinions but can struggle to find direction and take action. There can also be an “us vs. them” mentality, and a prevalence for aggressive communication, bipartisanship, and divisiveness. The greatest action and progress can happen through communication and on the interpersonal and community levels, however!

Pluto in Capricorn

• The USA has been going through its exact Pluto return over the last two years, a process that began in 2008 when Pluto entered Capricorn. Since then, and especially these past two years, the USA has been experiencing a karmic reckoning and a call for transformation in the areas of secrets and shame, financial disparity, abuse of power, structures like corporations and government, unhealthy traditions, and values (2nd House themes).  

Chiron in Aries 

• The USA is currently in its Chiron return, which began in 2018 when Chiron entered Aries and will end in 2027. This period of time has been an identity crisis for the nation. We are being asked to reckon with our deepest flaws and limitations, shed old skins and embrace vulnerability, reckon with violence in the nation, and reconnect with our nature as defenders of the vulnerable.

Midheaven + Saturn in Libra

• Justice, equality, fairness, and compromise are all essential values for the USA. It is both our greatest challenge and our greatest responsibility to understand the “other”, to hold multiple viewpoints together at once and find a way to make them work, and to understand the balance between the individual and the collective.

Want to hear more? Listen to the podcast episode from last summer for even more information and insight into the birth chart of the USA and what it means for us in coming years!