Storming of the capitol & America’s PLUTO RETURN
The United States of America is currently at 24 Capricorn, approaching the exact degree of its Pluto return. When any nation (or person) experiences a planetary return it means that the planet at hand has completed its orbit and returns to the same position it was in at the moment of ‘birth.’ In this case, America’s ‘birthday’ is July 4th, 1778 and on this day Pluto was stationed at 27 degrees Capricorn. The events that occur while Pluto is the late degrees of Capricorn bring the values and manifestos of the Declaration of Independence into focus. Pluto is a very intense planet that oversees collective transformations and inflames tension with long-standing structures and the ideals that perpetuate their mainstay. Often, our collective reckonings with such themes arise out of violence and chaos on Pluto’s terrain.
On January 6th, when the capitol was stormed, Pluto was conjunct with the Sun and Mercury, and squared with the Moon and Mars. In the study of the astrology of nations (mundane astrology), the Sun represents our nation’s leader (Trump), Mercury represents our nation’s bureaucrats at the capitol, the Moon represents the public and Mars represents soldiers and war. Pluto was compressed between the Sun and Mercury on either side. This indicates that the planet’s battleground emerged with Trump (Sun) and our congresspeople (Mercury) on either side. The squares from Mars and the Moon crescendoed the chauvinism and illusions surrounding the election outcomes (which are also ruled by Mercury) and the sweeping, national attitudes that have brought someone like Trump to power.
The Declaration of Independence was a symbol of freedom for the American colonies and remains a symbol of freedom for our country’s nationalists. However, the colonies secession from the British oligarchs had nothing to do with liberation in the face of ongoing colonization, genocide and enslavement—it was a crude transfer of power. Collectively, we are inquiring into America’s national identity and our proclivity to conflate freedom and power. Phrases like “protect our liberty” “fight for our freedom” and '“make America great again” are designed to say nothing and compel people in despair to believe that something must be restored and protected. This collective delusion persists at the expense of understanding history. For those for whom the history is clear, touting these phrases points to a vile set of priorities.
Trump has become a symbol for the American tantrum. This tantrum shows up as the idea that we need to protect ourselves from abstract agitations and Boogiemen who are out to destroy the American way, while being turned off from the real crisis that we are in, which is white supremacy. The question that sweeps through the nations is— what is the American way? What are we protecting? What is the “freedom” that we are claiming to preserve?
To be honest, it makes sense that America is a Cancer—embodied within is a paranoia about the house burning down. Whenever we work with the cardinal axis of Cancer and Capricorn (which happens to be the exact opposition between the Sun and Pluto that occurred on July 4th of 1778) we observe our relationship to armors and their interiors— fortifying insecurity with unyielding structure. Cancer hides, while Capricorn builds. Eventually these walls will tumble down and the insecurities will be unleashed in a frenzy. The fears and nihilism that dwell within white supremacy will be squashed over and over again until they are completely abolished. Looking to nature makes us understand that nothing really lasts forever, and the people who have done everything in their power to uphold an illusion of separateness are in for a rude awakening.
*I want to disclaim that the birthdays of nations are entirely arbitrary. They are often marked by significant political events that set the tone for modern national concerns. The ‘birthday’ of a nation can change, and will continue changing, as the concepts of nations and borders are ever-evolving. It is our duty to grasp that indigenous genocide, the transatlantic slave trade, various diaspora experiences, and the interests of powerful, monied people have shaped the borders on Turtle Island.