Studies in Astrology
by
Elman Bacher
Volume V
Chapter VII
The American Astrologer
The horoscope of the United States of America: 10th--
14 Aquarius 11th--13 Pisces 12th--23 Aries Ascendant--7 Gemini 2nd--1 Cancer
3rd--21 Cancer. Planets: Uranus--9 Gemini Mars--21 Gemini Venus--3 Cancer
Jupiter--6 Cancer Sun--13 Cancer Mercury--24 Cancer North Node--7 Leo Neptune-
-24 Virgo Saturn--15 Libra Pluto--27 Capricorn Moon--18 Aquarius. Mercury in
Cancer is ruler of the chart and the numerical power five (the sum of
digits representing July 4, 1776) is the Mercury number. The three principal
planetary powers are, in sequence of relative value: (1) Moon in Aquarius; (2)
Mercury in Cancer; (3) Uranus in Gemini. All other planets are related, by
disposition, to Moon (Venus, Jupiter, and Sun in Cancer, Saturn in Libra,
Pluto in Capricorn, no planets in Taurus, Sagittarius, or Leo) and Mercury
(Mars in Gemini, Neptune in Virgo, no planets in Aries, or Pisces).
The "personal rulership" by Mercury designates this
nation as a "messenger of the gods" in the sense that the United States of
America has, as its evolutionary purpose, the fusion of races,
nationalities, and religions for gestation of the Aquarian Age. We have
incarnated here at this time--during the past 174 years--to learn more about
the principles of life in terms of our archetypal nature as humans. We are, by
virtue of our Gemini Ascendant and third house Mercury, a composite of
life students, a national epitome of basic brotherhood-sisterhood relationship
of humans. The chart's ruler focalizes the Ascendant-identity in the third
house-sign, Cancer; the third cusp is then the vibratory ascendant; its ruler,
the Moon in Aquarius, is the vibratory ruler, Cancer is "matrix," "seed,"
"nest," "mother," "enfoldingness," "protectiveness of the immature, the
unformed, and the growing." The Cancer-Capricorn diameter is the vibrational
diameter of parentage, and in this chart its rulers, Moon in Aquarius and
Saturn (exalted) in Libra, the fixed and cardinal of the air-trine, are trine
to each other. That which is being gestated--the New-Age Race--will be matured
in spiritual aristocracy of true, living democracy if, repeat if,
certain vital realizations are made by each progressing individual. The
pattern of Moon-trine-Saturn is amplified by Uranus in Gemini (conjunct
Ascendant) trine Saturn, and Mars in Gemini trine to both Saturn and Moon.
Here we have a four-planet-and-Ascendant grand trine in the signs of the three
octaves of fraternity as the "parallelity in human relationship."
Because the chart has a grand trine as its basic planetary pattern, it is
shown that this nation is provided with a distilled spiritual pabulum which is
to be used for progressive--and needed--regeneracies to fulfill its
specialized evolutionary purpose. The "pabulum" is the residue of democratic
consciousness of each individual who incarnates as an American citizen or who,
by evolutionary qualification, becomes a citizen through naturalization.
Since the "vibratory horizontal" (third cusp, ninth
cusp) of the chart is the diameter of education (third--learning, ninth--
teaching) it is shown that we are a composite of life-students and
life-teachers. This diameter is focalized by the opposition of Mercury
in Cancer and Pluto in Capricorn and the significance of this opposition--as
an "awareness-pattern"--is to reveal the timing for regenerating the
"practical mind" into an octave of "practical spirituality." This opposition
is "channeled" by Neptune in Virgo, since Neptune sextiles Mercury and trines
Pluto. Neptune is not only ruler of the eleventh house but it is in the sign
and house of its own polarity, Virgo, fifth house. It is felt by the author
that this position of Neptune, because the fifth house is in the lower semi-
circle of the wheel, is one of the most significant factors in the entire
wheel. It is disposited by the ruler of the chart and in sextile aspect (the
"mechanism of alchemy") to it. It is the fellowship ideal which must
be, sooner or later, realized by each individual American and expressed as a
factor of that which is implied in "being an American." The fifth house
placement of Neptune is personal radiation of love-power and in probably no
other country is the ideal of fellowship more stressed in the pattern of
family-life. Democratically minded Americans recognize and respect the
individuality of children and the fellowship-relation between members of
family-groups is definitely a transcendence of the "old picture" of rigid
family-hierarchy in which children are not companions of but subjects of their
elders. Because Mercury rules the fifth as well as the Ascendant we recognize
that as parents Americans make a dynamic contribution to the spiritual
evolution of our national plan in being willing to learn from their parentage-
experiences, to study their children and study with their children. The
upsurgence of interest in child psychology in this country is evidence of this
planetary aspect in action--and it is the democratically-minded parents who
comprise the vanguard of this activity. That American parents and children
shall be friendly companions to each other--as an expression of Love-Power--is
a foretaste of that which is to be established in the New Age.
We have been given information through occult
teachings that the progressive Americans of this age trace their evolutionary
descent from ancient Egyptian incarnations. A characteristic of this ancient
illumined civilization was that the initiate-priests and priest-kings were not
"just rulers" of their subjects--they were spiritual parents. Spiritual
instruction of the citizenry was available to all--at all times. Only
spiritual worth qualified a man or a woman to function as a spiritual guide in
those times--all aspirants were tested to the utmost to prove their
qualifications as teachers, seers, healers, "watchers," "warriors on the inner
planes," etc. All were fraternal in this respect, regardless of plane of
development; all were "life-students" who had to qualify by examination to
fulfill spiritual service-patterns. So, the fraternity of American parents and
teachers to children and students is the channeling by Neptune of the third-
house--ninth-house placement of Mercury opposition Pluto. Parents who are
focused on this relationship-ideal are those who most clearly qualify to give
embodiment to New-Age personalities.
The astrologer, as a contributive factor in the
spiritual life of this nation, is basically on the "ray of philosophy" rather
than that of "devotional religion." He may be Protestant, Hebrew, Catholic, or
a follower of any other form of devotion as far as his immediate "religious
mold" is concerned, but his focus of attention is the study of life principles
through symbols. The planet Uranus, ruler of the fixed air-sign Aquarius, is
the planetary significator of those elements of consciousness that enable a
human to "become an astrologer." As a fixed sign, Aquarius is one of the
structure-points of the square of resource; as an air sign, it is one of the
structure-points of the trine of fraternal consciousness. Its square is
initiated by its own polarity Leo (fixed fire), the principle of radiative
Love Power; its trine is initiated by the cardinal air-sign Libra, arch-
principle of reflective complementation. Dynamically, Aquarius is the love-
potential liberated for universal expression; reflectively it is the
perception of the love-potential of all people by what we call the
"spiritualization of Fraternity." The "Leo part of you" alerts you to your
attributes as an expression of divine love; the "Aquarius part of you" alerts
you to your capacity to express that potential boundlessly and perceive it
endlessly as an attribute of every other human. "Psychology" (which is also
designated by Uranus) is the "study of the soul" or the "study of the soul's
laws." What is the soul but the distillation of past love-expressions?
"Psychiatry" is the study of the effects from congestion of the soul's powers
in the desire-octaves--a Gemini-like function of studying a specialization of
the Law of Cause and Effect. The psychologist deals with the "Leo-Aquarius
part of you;" the psychiatrist deals with the "Taurus-Scorpio part of you."
It is interesting to note that in the chart of the
United States there are no planets in Taurus-Scorpio; this diameter is
intercepted in the twelfth and sixth houses. The chart contains, however, a
very pronounced emphasis on second house patterns: the ruler, Mercury, in its
own second house sign; Venus, Jupiter and Sun in the second house; Venus
dignified by position; the vibratory horizontal (third cusp and ninth cusp) is
duplicated on second cusp and eighth cusp, and the Moon, as vibratory ruler of
the chart, is the prime planetary significator; the other two vibratory
significators are, in order of significance, Mercury and Uranus. Venus
disposits Saturn in Libra which squares Jupiter and Sun in the second house.
The violations of the Principle of Stewardship of materials and money is one
of the outstanding factors which originate the psychiatric condition of
American individuals. The intense compression of attention on evaluation by
money-standards with its attendant complexes, tensions, anxieties, and
sex-neuroses (sex-consciousness is tied, hand and foot, to possession-
consciousness because the diameter of Scorpio-Taurus is a polarity) results in
the present high rate of mental-hospital population. Such afflicted persons
bring into the present incarnation congested residues, from many past
incarnations, of materialistic evaluation of life. But American incarnation is
indicative of a timing to evolve from that illusionary evaluation to prepare
for the fellowship evaluation of the New Age. It is in the hands of American
astrologers to alert clients, audiences, and readers to the meaning of
stewardship of materials and balanced exchanges as principles of life.
Whenever a person seeks guidance from an astrological reader or analyst
regarding "money, income, property and investment" he is, in his higher
motivations, actually seeking a clearer understanding of the equilibrium-
principle behind these things. Let every astrological practitioner who reads
this material refresh his awareness of this truth. We dare not contribute to
the weakness of others by catering to their desire for information regarding
"good and bad days for financial exercise." We aspire, rather, to
contribute to their strength by alerting them to the principles of life
which are chemically expressed through media of exchange, coinage, barter,
investment, and whatnot. All days are good days for the expression of
principle; when the Principle of Equilibrium is comprehended, financial
exercise becomes a life-giving channeling for the good of society, the nation,
and the race at large.
Because American citizens, as children, enjoy
interchange and mutual growth with children of many national backgrounds, we
recognize that the Aquarius-power in the United States chart points to each
American astrologer as a "structure-point" in the edifice of international
understanding. The astrologer who functions with White-Lighted consciousness
knows that "nationalistic traits" are temporary collective specializations of
human personality. Because so many people are congested on karmic patterns of
nationalistic and racial fears, animosities and frictions, it is the privilege
of the astrologer who is also an American citizen to alert the
consciousness of his brother and sister humans to the fact that no one's
identity is "national"--it is "vibrational." An interesting illustration of
alchemy is shown in the United States chart in this way: Neptune, ruler of the
eleventh house, is squared by Mars in Gemini but sextiled by the chart's
ruler, Mercury, which "disposits" both of these planets. When our
international sympathies are touched we open homes, pocketbooks, and resources
to those in need. When our localized national prejudices are touched we tend
to forget that all Americans are fellow-citizens and we give expression to
animosities based on external (Mars, ruler of Aries, the twelfth house-sign)
differences of "color, superiority, inferiority," etc. Since the ruler of the
Ascendant and fifth cusp is the alchemical agency for the Mars-Neptune square,
it is up to each individual American citizen to decrystallize the residues of
nationalistic and "caste-ish" prejudice and hatred. Each must do for himself
in this regard by very virtue of the fact that democracy--in the spiritual
sense of the word--recognizes the individual's right to exercise his
potentials, make his own mistakes and learn from the results of his mistakes.
The Moon in Aquarius, as vibratory ruler of the chart tells us that an ever-
deepening realization of our exoteric identity as "Earthians" is the key we
must use to disintegrate those negatives of nationalistic pride, destructive
rivalry, violation of exchange-principles and stewardship-principles, etc., in
order that the Uranian requirements of the Midheaven may be fulfilled. The
"melting-pot" quality of American citizenship and civilization is microcosmic
earthian identity in gestation. The American astrologer, who in his service is
the Uranus-power in action, can do much to help others clarify their awareness
of the significance of "nationality" as an evolutionary "molding mechanism."
In other words, because the ruler of the chart also
rules the fifth house and the sign Leo is on the fourth cusp (the
"psychological base"), the Cancer-position of both Mercury and the Sun
identifies the nurture-principle of the love-vibration as the esoteric
impulsion behind this gestation of "Earthian identity." Aquarius, with Uranus
trine to Saturn (ruler of eighth and ninth houses) is the esoteric objective
to be fulfilled. The Sun is squared by Saturn in this chart; blindness to
philosophic values impels over-attention on money-values as compensation.
Think about this in the light of historical fact. We "take pride" on being the
richest country in the world but in all justice we cannot feel anything but
shame in the way we have mis-stewarded our vast resources. Conversely,
however, adherence to the principles of intelligent and foresighted
stewardship would be a demonstration of true power because then the
White Light of Sun would combine with the White Light of Saturn as
"stewardship-responsibility-power" fulfillment.
Another most important factor in this chart is the
sign Libra on the sixth cusp; Venus, its focalizer, is in the second and
conjunct Jupiter which, with the Sun, is squared by Saturn. Libra is the arch-
symbol of the Principle of Exchange-in-cooperation so we see that cooperation
as a factor in our national work-pattern is a "must" if we are to realize the
ideal of true abundance. Venus is a result, a distillation of the qualities of
energy-expression; when cooperation between work-initiators (employers) and
work-instruments (employees) is not founded on a basis of mutual good
then the Venus-power is demagnetized with attendant depletion of Saturn-power.
Jupiter, as ruler of the seventh house, conjunct the Sun and both squared by
Saturn, then becomes the "opponent"--the illusionary satisfactions of material
greed. Negative Jupiter is "greed" as an intense focus on illusionary
compensations for the loss of realities. It becomes the establishment of false
security through illusionary abundance. We do not, individually or
collectively, own any material thing--we exercise our intellects and
consciousness as stewards.
Also, Neptune in Virgo squared by Mars pictures the
consciousness-defaults of both employers and employees in regard to the
principles of service. When Neptune, as ruler of the eleventh house, is
contaminated by negative Mars then the Aquarian objective of the Midheaven is
held back from fulfillment. As long as the slogan "Capital versus
Labor" is interpreted as a reality, this square--as a congestion in the
national consciousness--will prevail. The sextile by the chart's ruler Mercury
to Neptune, plus Libra on the sixth cusp, ordains that every American citizen-
worker, whether employer or employee, is evolutionarily committed to exercise
the principle of cooperative love-service in balanced exchanges. The employer
who is negatively based, in ignorance, on exploitation disqualifies for the
creative identity of "employer;" the employee who is based on the "un-
principle" of non-improvement disqualifies for further development--he
postpones the day for qualifying as a creative or administrative worker.
The astrologer in this country who is focused on the
ever-clarifying of his consciousness of life-principles has a specialized
evolutionary service to contribute to the race in this "modulatory, gestative"
time. In the United States, he can deal with almost every kind of evolutionary
social strata, every kind of karmic-return pattern and, because of the
repolarization of the archetype during the past century, he is able to
contribute a clarifying of relationship-principles through the extended
understanding of the principles pertaining to our sexual and generic nature.
He himself--through attribute as a "Uranus-identity"--stands as a microcosmic
Earthian identity not just because he is an inhabitant of this planet but
because the impersonality of his viewpoint, scope of perception, radiativity
of Uranus-love-power qualify him, in degree, to personify the New-Age
Human.