Rick DiClemente’s

Astrology Newsletter

Volume 53, June 2010

(Download a printable .DOC version here)

The Sibley-Rudhyar Chart

No one knows exactly what time the USA was “born.” As for that matter, no one actually knows what day either. Some astrologers use July 2, 1776 and others that use July 6, 1776. Others still use the date from the signing of the Articles of Confederation, November 15, 1777 at 7:52 a.m. local mean time in York, PA. In my experience, each holds their own truths.

It surely is the chart American astrologers would like to have, along with the natal for one Jesus Christ. Because of much debate, astrologers argue over 7 basically different charts for this country. Each has its point. However, the “Sibley” chart seems to be the most accurate. This details very closely the wars this country has been involved in, including the Civil War, and most notably symbolizes what happened to our land on 9/11.

British astrologer, Ebenezer Sibley, came up with the chart for the USA, “born” at 5:10 p.m., July 4, 1776 in Philadelphia. Later on, the famed French-American astrologer and pioneer of transpersonal astrology, Dane Rudhyar, rectified the chart to precisely 5:13:55 p.m. Thus the chart at the top of this document entitled the Sibley-Rudhyar chart for the USA. Chart rectification is achieved via reverse-engineering backwards from significant dates in our national experience.

Hint: When ANYTHING important happens to you, write down the time

I could spend hours and hours discussing this natal chart, but this is not the place or time. Keep in mind, in 1776, the planets Chiron, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto were unknown. The point of displaying this chart now is to very briefly show what is in store for the country and us individually in the next 2 decades or so.

A note: these outer-planet transits travel so slowly and represent broad periods of time; therefore I’m only going to be general when identifying their time-spans. Their effects go on long before and after the time of precise geometrical astrological “line-ups.”

Pluto in Capricorn, 2008-2023 – Pluto will be opposing our Cancer planets from what is called the solar 7^th house. That house is known for “open enemies,” meaning enemies of which we are aware. Pluto = Plutonium which means nuclear threats will grow more and more “real.” This is no playground. This does not mean that we’ll have nuclear war, but it does mean that nuclear issues will be pushed to the very edge involving our “known” enemies. Time span: the next 14 years.

About 250 years ago, the British lost “the New Land” to the Americans when Pluto was last in the sign of Capricorn. Ultimately, it was their misuse of power that cost them. The very same threat is endangering us now and for the very same reason. Pluto = Power.

Don’t tell me Pluto isn’t a planet….

Isn’t Pluto always in one sign or another? Yes, but in the sign of Capricorn, it symbolizes the structures, government, laws, political parties, institutions, and organizations of our society. Are they solid? Do they work? Are they corrupt? Much has been written about this subject already and I refer you to past newsletters to learn more.

How long will Pluto be in Capricorn? From 2008 until 2023 in general, the US will be going through great transformation. The focus is on becoming more courageous. Disease has been found in abundance, and the “ill patients” (our society as well as the world’s) are on the table and are under the knife. Pluto insists on integrity and will even sacrifice itself if it finds itself to be “impure.” No kidding.

The initial premonition hit before this with the Enron scandal, among others. Since then, it’s been one entity after another, digging up corruption and exposing the shadow side of American life. Keep in mind while reading about Pluto in Capricorn – that’s going on for the whole planet.

I am no social expert or a sociologist. So, I don’t know what the answers are. I will offer a few. As a professional astrologer who has coached hundreds of people through “Pluto transits,” I will give you some key points. In order to go through this transit successfully, we’ll need to:

· Let go of the old

· Unearth and heal corrupt activities

· Don’t live on memories or past laurels

· While being respectful of, do not try to preserve the “way things used to be”

· Be honest about who and what the country is and who and what we really are

· Do what is right

· Let old, antiquated, corrupt structures die – bury them

· Be honest and courageous about what we rebuild – if we decide to

· Be compassionate and patient

· Quit screaming for the patient to heal faster when the operation has just begun

· Fight for us as a country and individually to use our powers appropriately

Pluto is opposing the USA’s Venus in the 8^th house – From approximately 2008-2011. At 2 degrees, early in Capricorn, and representing money, this is why it initially hit our banks and financial institutions. Venus was sitting near the door when the Plutonian door opened – slam! - right in the wallet. Pluto did not “decide” to bring our banks and financial systems down – they were already corrupt and collapsed of their own weight. That’s what Pluto does: it clears the decay after it exposes it. One can’t run from this massive archetypal dark night. Pluto = “decay”; Capricorn = “societal forms held up by pillars.” Put 2 and 2 together.

Venus and the 8^th house represent so many things: from bonds to banks; from loans to derivatives; from debts to filibustering. The 8^th house represents shared liabilities and debts. Mostly, it symbolizes how we as a country deal with other countries and expect our self-respect to remain intact. Pluto causes others (other countries) to call us on our improprieties.

In order to go through this transit successfully, we’ll need to:

You already see it underway. New regulations are coming into play. It is not because someone or thing has to have control of Wall Street as many fear; it’s that we have seen what happens when children are left to play alone with no chaperones. BP is just another example of rampant greed.

Uranus and Jupiter are crossing the nadir of the USA’s chart now – As of 5/27/10, Uranus started its trek across the bottom of the chart. This is very critical. The nadir, or bottom of the chart, represents our roots. When one looks at a map of our country, it is easy to see our country planted at the Mississippi delta. Just like a large tree; and see what’s happening to our root system? It’s being uprooted. There are good ways to do this and bad. This even goes back to Hurricane Katrina which tried to unclog the drains. The system failed; it had been too backed up for too long. I kid you not; you simply wouldn’t believe how common it is for clients of mine to report significant plumbing problems when they are going through Pluto entanglements.

When a plant’s root system is suffering, it’s time to lift it out, examine it, trim it, and nurse it back to health by repotting it. That’s precisely what Uranus is doing. Along with Jupiter and what Pluto is doing, the repotting means that we have to remove our impediments, toxins, and any system that contributes to our ill-health. Pluto-time means time to purify.

Uranus will not put up with existing tedium. Change it or blow it up; that’s what it does. Reacting to Uranus with rigidity and stubbornly defending the “old ways” is the sure fired way to stir up Uranus’ explosive side.

This is a marvelous opportunity to renew ourselves on multiple levels. Uranus, ruling the Water Bearer Aquarius, symbolizes fresh water feeding and giving back to the earth. O, how they yearn for that in the Gulf. In order to go through this transit successfully, we’ll need to:

· Welcome change

· Be flexible

· Be open to new ideas and technologies

· Invest in science and exploration

· Free ourselves of old habits

· Be more tolerant of each other as well as other countries

· Be inclusive rather than punitive and restrictive

· Base our nation on true education, not lip-service

· Identify more on a global scale; we earthlings are all one family

Note the Aquarian and Sagittarian themes.

Neptune and Chiron are sitting on the USA’s Moon in Aquarius now

This is hard to discern because no one knows exactly what time the US was born. Since the Moon moves 1 degree of zodiacal longitude per 2 hours of clock-time, we can only guess its exact degree on July 4. If in fact the Sibley-Rudhyar chart is accurate, it places today’s transiting Neptune and Chiron on our Moon exactly right now. This is EXTREMELY major because the Moon, not only being the second most important planet in a chart, is the ruler of Cancer, our Sun sign! This is also why so many people are untrusting and uncertain of our national leader. Neptune tends to make us feel unsure as we navigate away from old, ineffective ways – even if they “seemed” to be safe.

Neptune is famous for making things “foggy.” And the Moon, in all of its multifarious aspects represents our borders. It’s no wonder that after all of these years, that we’re now READY (or being forced to) deal with illegal immigration. As with most things Neptunian, we seemed shocked, “How did all these aliens get into our country?” And we act surprised. We knew it was happening all along and yet we ignored it – that’s Neptune.

Now we have to deal with it.

Neptune did not “come down upon us” to affect our borders – it’s never that simple. Here is the key to Neptune: it strips the entity down to its bare bones and tests it spiritually. What are we really made of spiritually? Neptune shows no respect for boundaries of any kind and will only accept oneness.

We only have corrupt answers with which to respond to such questions:

We benefited from cheap labor
Many politicians benefited by the Latino vote
We ignored the problem and didn’t complain to our politicians throughout the last 40 years or so

Look at how it has backfired on all of us ever since plantation owners used “free” or low-cost black slaves to work the cotton fields. It eventually catches up with you spiritually – Neptune.

As with all Neptune transits, it leaves one high and dry wondering how we “lost so much.” “Where did it go?” “Why are we now having to learn Spanish?” “How did we lose our single-language country?” When a country loses its language, it starts down the road to its decay.

In order to go through this transit successfully, we’ll need to:

Embrace oneness, which is always the answer. I’m not suggesting that we agree to massive amnesty. I’m not a law maker but I am expressing the archetypal patterns that must be followed if we are to remain in sync with universal law. We need to be consistent with laws that are already on the books and not just turn a blind-eye, which Neptune is famous for.

Remember, brand new Chiron is also involved. If Chiron (which we are still learning about) is truly representative of our “wound” and is sitting on our Moon with Neptune….

The Moon is difficult to talk about even in an individual’s chart; it’s much more difficult to delineate in a country’s chart. Lunar problems have to do with codependency. “I’ll scratch your back, but you’d damn well better know that you’ll have to scratch mine.” That’s the Moon’s M.O.

Lunar problems are also the most difficult to solve because the Moon is so far away from left-brain activity. Any entity suffering from threats to the natal Moon can react with great panic and insecurity as to its very well-being. Lunar people commonly want to back to good ole days, back to the days when everything was safe and OK. - even though it wasn’t. They want to crawl back inside the womb.

Chiron will help us muster up the faith to access our deeper selves in order to address these very personal and visceral challenges.

In order to go through this transit successfully, we’ll need to:

· Find true spirituality and stop trying to satisfy same with a church attendance report

· It’s very simple: make it our intention to get real with our own spiritual development

As Einstein said, “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”

In other words, only a spiritual answer based on true oneness and inclusion will solve these massive global challenges.

Pluto will oppose the USA’s Jupiter – From approximately 2009-2011. This combination will challenge our desire for power and how we go after it. Jupiter rules expansion of one’s society, though many times Pluto acts in a heavy-handed manner.

Jupiter also rules our laws and education. Look for the long-standing complaints about our educational systems to lead to break-downs as well as breakthroughs. Educators will begin to focus on what really matters in schools, what really works, and will be encouraged to remove outmoded, ineffective systems.

Little needs to be said of our laws; they are under attack from every direction. The main area that will come under fire will be the power of lobbyist and their financial contributions to our “law-makers.”

I have a total solution to improper campaign contributions:

only allow anonymous “contributions”

In the long-term, we’d be better off funding the candidates with tax-payer money than allowing this sophisticated BRIBERY to continue. Remember, and I’M VERY SERIOUS here. Pluto will NOT allow this to continue. It’ll bring us down first. Look at the British lesson.

Since Jupiter and Sagittarius represent such a wide array of social entities, we must also watch hi-tech matters. Jupiter lining up with our nadir will indicate more homes being totally run by computer systems, thus greater the peril of cyber-corruption. All-in-one-computer-controlled-home-theatres will become the norm – all controllable by your cell phone.

One of the main problems with Jupiter working together with Uranus is that both planets are somewhat wild and loathe being controlled. We must watch the tendency to try to change everything overnight. Drastic changes are what Uranus calls for when unchecked by the voice of reason – Saturn.

In order to go through this transit successfully, we’ll need to:

· Follow the spirit of the law, not the bottom line

· Be inclusive and eschew bravado

· Don’t underrate our own use or misuse of power

· Attempt diplomacy first

· Back up our talk with facts

· Be careful before declaring that everything is better in America

· Be eager to open up new lines of dialogue with other countries

· Be optimistic

Saturn will return to Saturn’s native spot – Approximately 2011. As if all of these stresses weren’t rough enough, the USA is facing its eighth Saturn return in its history. This happens about every 28-29 years. The last one was during the Reagan administration. Saturn returns for countries can be just as sobering as they are for individuals – they have a way of “setting you straight.” Usually, financial crises rise to the surface, but mainly we ask ourselves “are all of our systems working?” Wow, what a question. Coinciding with all of the pressure from Pluto, et al, Saturn wants us to get things working properly. Happening in its sign of exaltation, Libra, much emphasis will be on our laws as the symbol of “the Scales” comes forefront.

Look for major changes in our Supreme Court and within the legislative branch in general. The Libra paradigm is all about fairness and leveling the playing field. Balancing of power is the key phrase here. Libra is intolerant of inequities and does its best to tactfully compromise a mediated solution even in the midst of extremely complex negotiations.

Saturn returns are about “growing up,” maturing, and facing the facts with responsibility. Here are the approximate times when the previous 7 Saturn returns occurred in our country:

· 1805

· 1835

· 1865

· 1894

· 1923

· 1952

· 1981

Swings to the “right” are very common during these times as Saturn “takes over” for at least 28 months. Saturn is noted for its conservative nature.

In order to go through this transit successfully, we’ll need to:

· Face the facts

· Look for realistic answers

· Step up to the plate and be responsible

· Not look to government to solve our problems

· Renew our laws so that they are truly effective and just

Pluto will oppose the USA’s Mercury – From approximately 2019-2021. The country will be challenged in terms of how it “thinks” – Mercury. An 8^th house Mercury in Cancer tends to think too much via its heart. That means that we tend to make quick, irrational decisions. There is nothing at all wrong with involving the heart more in our decision-making process, but a Cancerian Mercury is too quick to line itself up with the “old-ways.” Well, hell, that’s how we did it back on Okinawa… The tendency of this placement is to be too defensive and self-protective. This is just one attribute that Pluto will address.

With Mercury, deposited the 8^th house of large-scale financial systems, put two and two together. Death and rebirth (Pluto) combining with how we think (Mercury) about large-scale business, debts, and assets. We will be “overhauling” (a word you’re hearing much about these days) our financial approaches and systems. Wall Street and the US Treasury think they’re the ones coming up with these ideas. If only they had some good astrologers! (They probably do!) We saw this coming many, many years ago. As Pluto digs into these systems we’ll not only be unearthing our past blunders but we’ll be exposing and putting a stop to much of the corruption. Larger penalties and hefty remunerations are guaranteed.

Heck, that’s a scary thought: Having lawyers correct the ways of other lawyers. O well, someone has to do it – and they do need to make a little profit.

I also think that since the 8^th house represents deep mysteries and hidden forces, that we’ll make great headway towards healing cancer and other deadly diseases ruled by Pluto, such as A.I.D.S. We’ll probably make tremendous progress with revealing the powers of the human brain, and dealing with life-after-death issues too. Don’t be surprised at all.

It’s not always trouble, or “bad” - as all of these planets combine; they also bring wonderful new manifestations that could not have occurred beforehand.

In order to go through this transit successfully, we’ll need to:

· Think deeply to find new resources

· Look beyond the surface

· Consider combining our talents with others

· Pay off our debts

· Become less suspicious of others, including other countries

· Lead with courage

· More bonding between our Universities will lead to a closer world

· Encourage psychic-development in all, especially our children

· Start teaching the art-of-all-arts, astrology, in grades 1-12 and beyond

Pluto will oppose the USA’s Sun – Approximately 2013-2016. LARGE-SCALE IDENTITY CRISES. This is heart of it all with our main planet, the Sun, being opposed. This will be one of our largest threats. There’s no simple way to put this:

Pluto will strip us naked to see what we’re really made of

It already started in the fall of 2008

The good side of this is that it will be a renaissance in this country. The bad part of it is that if we’re not ready and willing to face this, it could be our very downfall - our demise.

This is extremely tough on any country but even more so on a Cancerian country (July 4^th, remember.) The reason why is that the archetype of Cancer is not always willing to expose itself to the light of truth coming in from the outside. The temptation towards provincialism is great. The more we are truly open to self-analysis and seeing ourselves as we truly are, the more we are inclined to survive and prosper at this time.

Since the Sun represents the country’s core identity, this will be a major time of reshaping ourselves in a more expansive enlightened gestalt. Gone will be much of the old identity as we acclimate to new challenges. Our level of stress will be precisely proportional to how much we hang on to the old (Cancer.)

I cannot stress enough how much of a turning point this will be. To give you an idea, let’s look at the last time Pluto squared (made a right angle) to our Sun which was during the years of 1964-1966 – certainly revolutionary years that reshaped us from top to bottom.

Since Pluto is opposing us from the opposite sign of Capricorn, it will be a very testy time period. We’ll find out very clearly that much of the world (open enemies) does not care for us “having all the power” and will insist on more of a balance.

To succeed during this time we must face deep and true introspection and be willing to oust our wrongdoers as well as develop new self-regulating policies to keep ourselves on an evolutionary track.

In order to go through this transit successfully, we’ll need to:

· Get real with other countries

· Become true leaders

· Be willing to introspect and “clean up our act”

· Be courageous

· Dig up problems that have been shoved under the rug for decades

· Purge our own “demons”

· Restore respect for one another

· Put an end TO ALL THE DISINFORMATION that abounds

Pluto will return to its native spot – Approximately 2020-2022. This is a rare occurrence and only happens to entities that have reached their 250^th birthday or so. When any planet returns to its native spot it is an extremely important completion of an old cycle. Much will be written about around this time as we bring to an end this cycle that started in 1776. The theme of Pluto is always one of rebirth – like the snake shedding its skin. If I were a historian I would point you back to countries and their story around their 250^th birthday.

Look at the year of 2004 when the city of Pittsburgh experienced its Pluto-return (at age 246.) The city went bankrupt and had to look to Harrisburg to save itself financially. Also, the city came close to losing its hockey team. Plutonic eras are often symbolic of “hitting rock bottom.” Fortunately, Pluto is also famous for the phoenix that rises, reinvented, from the ashes.

With Pluto crossing all of these planets including this Pluto return, not enough can be said about putting to bed our old ways of doing things and honestly recreating ourselves. We can do this and it could bring us phenomenal results, but make no mistake, it will be very trying.

In order to go through this transit successfully, we’ll need to:

· Truly learn the lessons from our entire history

· Learn how and why other countries fell from power

· Remember, it can and may very well be happening here and now

As was referred to in Eckhart Tolle’s fabulous book, A New Earth: “We now have to evolve or die.”

In Summation

Why has this suddenly become so critical? - because we’ve reached critical mass. I hate to tell you, but we’ve been warned over and over since the famous Dwight Eisenhower admonishment in 1961. He tried to make us see the dangers of the out-of-control military-industrial-complex. Most of our problems today are because big-money owns our politicians. That’s why, in my opinion, the drastic problem of the BP oil leak in the gulf is front and center in our collective consciousness right now. They can’t “slip” out of this one.

We’re now truly going to see what our congress is made of. Will they stand up to big business or continue to treat its citizens as paltry serfs relying on one denial after another. Not all of our problems emanate from Washington though. As a Cancer country:

We can no longer afford to simply hear what we want to hear

and try to turn those things into “warm-fuzzies”

6/3-5 Mars opposes Neptune and Chiron – Look for tempers to flare and aggression to surface in regards to border issues with the illegal aliens. Mars has been traveling with pent-up energy since December and now it wants ACTION. It doesn’t want to hear fluffy statements or fill its gun barrels with flowers. It wants true, decisive results. Temptations towards violence and force must be avoided at all costs. Look for ego-clashes all around you too. It will “chill out” in a few days.

6/6 Jupiter enters Aries – 2:29a – Massive Jupiter joins Uranus in Aries! Jupiter was well-suited in Pisces for the past year but now comes to life big-time next to its partner, Uranus. It will bring many of us a great new sense of renewal, self-assuredness, and an overall feeling of “being on the right track.” This is the “other shoe dropping” paired up with Uranus’ ingress into Aries on 5/27. Don’t be one bit surprised if gifts fall into your lap! That’s how Jupiter works; out of nowhere, your good karma gets special-delivered. Good luck, and yes, do buy a lotto ticket.

6/7 Mars enters Virgo 2:11a – Since last October, Mars has been very irritated and stalled in the sign of Leo. Mars doesn’t know what to do with itself when it encounters delays or obstacles. Now, he’s flying, and don’t be surprised to see tempers flare with it. Overall, it should be a very good transit as we will become OBSESSED with being productive! Mars will say, “OK, enough of all this dilly-dallying, let’s get to work!” Watch carefully as busy-bees start to abound. It’s time to do all those projects you’ve been talking about for 8 months.

Mars will also stimulate the huge Cardinal Tsquare we are involved in. Translation: The large Tsquare has had us face so many difficult issues that have been haunting us for 2.5 years now. Recently, with the new “revolution” we’ve been feeling from Jupiter and Uranus, now, Mars will want to produce results from the new “us.”

6/8 Jupiter conjuncts Uranus 7:25a – Thelma meets Louise here as was discussed last month. Phenomenal energies will be released as we will FEEL like, yes, let’s DO IT, NO MORE HOLDING BACK. THIS IS BIG, BIG, BIG! Watch it over the next few weeks as you will see this theme play out. One warning though: these two planets are wild and undeterred. You SHOULD go forward keeping all focus on breaking the old crust, but unless you want to really end up like Thelma and Louise, you might want to use a little bit of wisdom too.

6/12 New Moon 21°` 24’ 7:15a – This light-hearted New Moon will give us new IDEAS! Emanating from all of the powerful energy just released from Jupiter aligning with Uranus in Aries…. Weeeeeeeeeeeee…!

Let your mind fly now, never mind how practical your ideas are now; let yourself dream like crazy. It’s time to “blue sky.” Seriously.

6/21 Sun enters Cancer 7:30a – THE SUN FORMS A GRAND CROSS WITH TRANSITING PLUTO, SATURN, URANUS, and JUPITER. I don’t even think I can explain how momentous this one is. This is the one we’ve been waiting for. Too big to really discuss, the entire new “revolutions” that are cropping up are going to become embedded into our consciousnesses. This means that during the next few days, we’re going to realize that the future they always told us was coming – is now here. It’s really that big. This is THE gateway to all shifts of energy that have been mounting for 2.5 years.

There is every reason to believe that the outcomes from this construct will be every bit as great as it could be dire. This really represents to me a beginning of how the New World is going to shape itself. And, it’s a precursor to our coming “birthday.”

6/26 Lunar Eclipse 4°g46’ – As if we needed something else, now we conclude June with a Lunar Eclipse in Capricorn, right on the planet Pluto. The possible results of such an enormous lunation are beyond speculation. This eclipse will trigger all the new tensions between Jupiter, Uranus, Saturn and Pluto. We will become vividly aware of how all of these energies have to work together if we’re going to stand a chance of facing all of these challenges. Thankfully, Americans are resourceful and respond to challenges.

The USA will take a new, stimulating, shocking, and invigorating stance among the other nations of the world.

To receive a monthly reminder of my free newsletter, simply