SYNODIC ASTROLOGYWhen two or more planets move together through the sky, they form an astronomical configuration called a synod (from the Greek,synodos, which means a traveling together). The more slowly this synod moves, the more powerful its influence on human affairs. Synods, for good or for ill, exert a powerful force on history, introducing change and sometimes upheaval. They can bring about new forms of cultural expression in art, literature, and music, technology, and in new political structures.Synodic conjunctions, like a Uranus Neptune conjunction, exert a dominant influence, seen and unseen, on a world-historical level and upon ones personal life. It was a Neptune Uranus synod of 1989/90 that brought about the collapse of the Soviet Union and restructured most of the governments of Eastern Europe. Those synods involving Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Eris, since they move the slowest in their orbits around the Sun, are the most powerful. Those involving Saturn and Jupiter exert a more easily perceivable influence.It is always important to note in historical astrology where the conjunction becomes exact, the impact of the synodic cycle will be greatest at that point; the effect will be the most dynamic; I call it the dynamic impact point.

Planetary Synodic Cycles: The Triple Conjunctionin AstrologyOne of the most powerful known planetary synodic cycles so far in history (there may be planets beyond Eris to alter this) occurred in the sixth century B.C., and it was exact (within 1) at 8 through 11 Taurus, approximately between 577 and 574 B.C. (Eris during this period was traveling between 20 and 23 Gemini) This was when the outer planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, made a conjunction in astrological and astronomical Taurus. Since this triple conjunction occurs only every 120,000 years, it was the most powerful that has occurred in human history.

What Did the Astrology Triple Conjunction Do?The Triple Conjunction introduced something new into the human condition.The history of this era, especially in the few centuries that followed it, describes a birth of something fresh, original and undone before in the human experience. Greek science, the foundation of modern science, was born in this era. The rule of law emerged in Athens, later in Rome, and is still the basis of our freedoms today. A new level of human freedom emerged. This was the foundation of what we call today, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Spiritual belief began to center on a one God, but in different forms. The religion of Buddhism and the philosophy of

Taoism swept through Asia; Israel and Judaism, during the Babylonian Captivity (this was an era dominated by the prophet Daniel, a seer far greater than Nostradamus, whose gaze looked thousands of years into the future), literally went through a death and rebirth. The outcome: The Psalms and Proverbs and Isaiah and Job and the five books of Moses plus the books of the prophets were from oral tradition written down and would become what we today call the Old Testament. Later these teachings would seep into the Roman Empire, long before the arrival of Christ, beginning to form the basis of our Judeo-Christian heritage. If we review the historical events that took place in that century and in the following ones, we must conclude even today, some 2500 years later, that we are still reacting to the impact of that synod. During this era Buddha (563-483 B.C.) brought a new spiritual reality into India.Then it spread through much of Asia; Confucius (28 September, 551-479 B.C.) and Lao Tzu (born 606 B.C.?) revolutionized religion and philosophy in China; and it was at this time that Pythagoras (570-497 B.C.) grew famous as a teacher of many disciplines, and helped to bring about the flowering of Hellenic civilization.

AischylosHistorically, this configuration activated the development of high classical Greece. It heralded the beginning of our modern world. Some of the greatest philosophers and thinkers, poets and playwrights, artists and sculptors, warriors, statesmen and lawgivers in all human history appeared in this century and the two that followed. Their names are still well known: Solon (lawgiver, 638 BC 558 BC); Aeschylus (the playwright, 525 456 B.C.); Thales (mathematics and physics and astrology, 625 546 BC); Pindar (poetry, 522443 BC); Zeno of Elea (philosophy and astrology, 490c.430 BC); Anaximander (natural science, 610 c. 546 BC); Aesop (fables, 620-564 BC); Heraclitus (philosophy and lawgiving, 535 c. 475 BC); Parmenides (philosophy, born 540 BC). These names are just a sampling; many others exist. This was the time when the Oracle of Delphi, known for its profound

wisdom, became prominent in the Mediterranean world, and when there at Delphi the great temple of Apollo was constructed in the Sixth Century BC. The century

Pericles of Athensthat followed the triple conjunction was known as the Age ofPericles (his dates were 495 429 B.C.). Many of the ideas that lie at the foundation of our modern civilizationlaws and customs and traditionswere formulated at that time by philosophers like Plato, Socrates and Aristotle. During the triple conjunction, Rome was a small city-state ruled by a king, Servius Tullius (reigned 578-535 BC). He was not a bad king, but was succeeded by Tarquinius the Proud (535 496 BC), the seventh and last king of ancient Rome. Tarquinius was a selfish ruler, injurious to his people, and was overthrown in a conspiracy led by Brutus. Brutus and those who were with him enacted a whole new dynamic, a new politics, a new system of laws in which the ruling class made the choice to share its power and its privileges with the common men, called the plebeians. This separation of powers between the ruling class, the nobility, and the plebeians, established a dynamic creative tension, which led first to the founding of the Roman Republic (509 B.C.) and then, some five hundred years later, to the Empire (27 BC). The combined influence of those two institutions lasted for nearly two millennia. The Roman Empire imparted many good conventions to human civilization, including the concept of the rule of law, namely, that no man is above the law. When this principle is a part of the legal system, everyone is more disciplined, and all people are given the opportunity to express more creativity and freedom. It is around the time of the Triple Conjunction that the rule of law began to be practicedin Greece and Italy.

Temple of SolomonIn ancient Israel, the Babylonian Captivity lasted from 587538B.C. The First Temple had been burned to the ground, its stones overturned, and the city of Jerusalem sacked and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II (634 562 BC). The Jews were forced to pick up what they could take with them and move to Babylon, which was one of the great city-state empires of that era. Yet Babylon would soon fall as a power in the Fertile Crescent, as all the old empires were dying. The triple conjunction was occurring in Taurus, and all the old traditional customs, civilizations, empires were broken and scattered. The Triple Conjunction for Israel was a time of retrenchment, when everything but bare essence was stripped away; this was when an enlightened priesthood began to assume the reins of political power, and continued to hold it for centuries. It is when many of the greatest books of the Old Testament were written down from oral tradition, and scholars say it was when the Dutero-Isaiah (Isaiah 40-55) was written. In 536 B.C., Cyrus II, the Persian emperor who reigned from 553 to 529 B.C (as described by Herodotus), went to war against Babylon, destroyed its empire, and later in respect for services rendered, freed the Jews, allowing them to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. Israel was one of the few civilizations that made the transition from pre-synodic times, keeping its customs and traditions intact, possibly because it was ruled as a theocracy, possibly because much of the wisdom and truth found in its religious teachings and applied to its customs and laws was immune to time and synodic cycles.

The 6th Century B.C.The 6th century B.C. was a time of endings and beginnings. The endings had to do with the Taurus part of the synod. Taurus stands for the traditional, the stable, the long-lasting. That the triple conjunction occurred in this sign meant that the long duration of these traditional ancient civilizations and powers would now conclude. For example, the ancient and powerful empire of Assyria fell toward the beginning of the triple conjunction (605 BC) Sumer was by now already a distant memory; when Abraham emigrated (2000 B.C.) from Ur or Mari, the Sumerians were already being replaced by the younger Semitic races. Many of the Sumerian laws were codified by Hammurabi around 1750 B.C. Sumers arts and writing and mathematics and astrology had been passed on to the Babylonians and the

Assyrians and others. Babylon fell to the Persians in 539 B.C., as did Egypt in 525 B.C. Both civilizations were corrupt and decaying, living in the shadow of their former power and glory, low hanging fruit for the first organized military power to make the attempt. Power was moving from the Fertile Crescent to the West. Persia itself was an empire built on ancient practices and customs. Cyrus II, The Great, represented much of the best of deep antiquitybut it was the best of the past.

Herodotus, the First HistorianThe expansion of the Persian Empire, carried out by emperors after the death of Cyrus, was stopped by the Greeks in the Persian Wars (490-449 B.C.). This was the main theme of Herodotus Histories: the war between the ancient centralized empires and the new human spirit being born in Greece. The Persian Empire was later completely destroyed by the armies of Alexander the Great (333 B.C.). New art and science was all allowed to grow in relative freedom for centuries. The individual human spirit continued to learn and expand. Although I am not going to discuss it in detail, one can trace the same growth of the human spirit in China (which had entered the Iron Age at about this time). Confucius revolutionized political and philosophical thought in China. Up to the end of the last century, the bureaucracy that supported the Chinese emperor was still in place. It was essentially the same one designed by Confucius during the time of the triple conjunction. In Japan, the emperors trace their lineage back to the era of the triple conjunction. In Mesoamerica (Central America and Mexico) a people known as the Olmecs built pyramids and other massive structures and cities, many of which since have disappeared, some of which are still standing. This civilization developed sometime before 1000 B.C., consolidated its power by 800 B.C., built some of its greatest structures around the time of the triple conjunction including the Pyramid of the Sun. Many Olmec writings date from this era, and if they are ever deciphered, remarkable poetry and philosophy might be discovered. Israel, Greece, and Romein this era each embody the dawn of a new civilization, the birth of a younger people, more warlike, perhaps shorter-lived, but filled with overflowing vitality and the urge to push on into new realms of knowledge, new depths of spirit. In fact, most of their mythic tales concern freedom, independence, autonomy and the personal development of the soul. The story of King David (1040970 BC) historically took place around 1010 to 970 BC B.C., but was written down during the century of the triple conjunction. It is an Aries myth dealing with issues of freedom, personal unfolding, the interaction with a father figure, King Saul, 1079 -1007 B.C., who grew up under a Pl/NE conjunction of late Aries and early Taurus, and the alignment of personal will with Gods will, and the personal relationship of God with man. Pluto/Neptune moved in the years 1074 through 1072 BC from 28 Aries to 2 Taurus. Alexander the Great (21 July 356, Pella, Macedon, to 323 B.C.), whose birth followed this synod by a little more than two centuries, was an exemplar of the new individuality, personal freedom and creative drive that flooded

the mind of humankind in this era. As warrior, he was often the first soldier to climb the city wall. As high priest, he was the first to offer the sacrifice in the morning. He composed songs and poetry. As a student of

Raphaels Plato and AristotleAristotle (384 BC 322 BC), whom his father, King Philip, had hired as tutor, he disputed philosophy with the finest minds in Greece. He was an Aries exemplar, an individual who developed all his gifts and talents. In the Age of Aries (1943 B.C. to 213 A.D.), when the Vernal Equinox point was traveling through the constellation of Aries (from 1943 B.C. to 213 A.D.), the individual unfolding of the creative power of the human spirit found its way into human civilization. This new level of achievement in the expression of the mind was reflected in the poetry of Homer, the Psalms of David, the Proverbs and Ecclesiastes of Solomon, the Hellenic Flowering and the high civilization achieved by the Roman Empire. This unfolding placed its seal on all human endeavors: It was the beginning of our modem era.

Deeper Synodic FunctionsI hope you are beginning to understand that the synodos discharges an awesome power, that it has a substantial, transformative effect on the human race. Its energies can function in several ways. Those who are not born with the synod, but who are functioning at the height of their creative powers, when the two (or more) planets move into the alignment of a longitudinal conjunction, often use this energy to make tremendous contributions. Albert Einstein perhaps saw deeper into the physics of reality than any person since Isaac Newton. He had his profoundest visions about relativity when he was in his late teens and early twenties, when Pluto and Neptune were conjunct in the 1890s and early part of the century. One could say the same of Carl Jung (26 July 1875 6 June 1961), Maurice Ravel (March 7, 1875 December 28, 1937), Rilke (4 December 1875 29 December 1926), Thomas Mann (6 June 1875 12 August 1955), Hermann Hesse (July 2, 1877 August 9, 1962), and inventors like Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 January 30, 1948). They all did some of their best work under the influence of this conjunction. Others are born with the conjunction, and bring its power into manifestation, when in later years, they reach a maturity of creative expression. An example of this type of manifestation would bemoving backwards in history, Mary Baker Eddy (July 16, 1821 December 3, 1910), the founder of Christian Science, who was born with the Uranus/Neptune conjunction. Another would be Walt Whitman, the poet, also born with this synod (May 31, 1819 March 26, 1892). Of course, there was Adolph Hitler, born April 20th1889, who had the Pluto/Neptune conjunction in Gemini on his 8thHouse Cusp. Among other attributes, the

8thHouse rules war and occult matters. U.S. Grant (April 27, 1822 July 23, 1885) was born with the Uranus/Neptune synod ( NE5 Capricorn | UR 7 Capricorn). It gave him the unique ability to read the minds of his opposing generals, including Robert E. Lee (January 19, 1807 October 12, 1870). Campaign study had helped him develop the most valuable of all his aptitudes, that of seeing into the mentality of his opponents. We have his own accounts of how he began to trust this capacity he found in himself. More than that, he began to guess how they would react to his initiatives, and even how they would arrive at independent decisions. Lee, whom he respected and who respected him was more puzzling to read. General Longstreet, one of Lees subordinates, had warned Lee that Grant was a man we cannot afford to underrate. But, eventually, Grant entered his mind and anticipated one move of his after another. Appomattox was to prove as much a mental as a material victory! Each person born with this synod uses its energy in a unique and different manner.

Beethoven at Uranus/Neptune SynodWhen the conjunction of Uranus/Neptune was exact, between 1821 and 1825, Ludwig van Beethoven (born 16December1770,see chart) wrote and premiered his Ninth Symphony in Vienna (7 May 1824). This symphony about brotherhood and joy is, I feel, one of the greatest pieces of music ever composed. It demonstrates a combination of the Uranian and the Neptunian influences. (also, its 4th movement, the chorale, is one of the most difficult and least well performed).The three ways to judge synodic influence are: First, one can examine the person or nation born under its influence (e.g., the modem state of Israel was founded under a Saturn/Pluto conjunction). These individuals or nations will manifest their creative gifts in a unique and different manner, often introducing something new into human experience. Second, those individuals who are at the height of their creative powers will use this energy to enhance their inventiveness and originality, and often a synod will take them to heights they would have never reached otherwise, as I think it did with Beethoven and Einstein (14 March 1879 18 April 1955) and Jung. Third, a synod transmutes nations, empires, cultures, civilizations, as the triple conjunction destroyed the power of Babylon and Egypt and Persia and a little earlier that of Assyria. Within this framework I will continue the discussion of

particular synods.

How the Jupiter Saturn Synod Works

When one looks up into the sky at nightand for millennia astrologers did just thatone can easily see Jupiter, which shines at a maximum visual magnitude of-2.7,and Saturn, which shines at a maximum visual magnitude of+0.7The average human eye is capable of seeing objects in the sky up to a magnitude ofabout +5.5. If you were able to see Jupiter and Saturn with their magnetic fields, each would look as large as the Full Moon.

These two planets have been observed for thousands of years. It takes Saturn about thirty years to orbit the Sun, Jupiter about twelve. Since Jupiter has the faster orbit, there are periods, when they both appear at the same degree of longitude in the sky This is the conjunction. This is the Jupiter/Saturn Synod. The time it takes for these two bodies to move from conjunction to conjunction is about twenty years.This twenty-year cycle is perhaps the most important of all the shorter synodic cycles. It has a definite effect on the chart of every nation on the planet.The most significant circumstances in the life of a nation, especially a democratic republic offree institutions and the rule of law, happens when those in power, at the time ofthe conjunction and often at the time of the opposition, pass that power on to a whole new group ofpeople.At this time, during the period ofits new phase, or the full phase, a political party that may have been in power for years, or a group in government who followed a certain political philosophy, might simply go out ofpower, or be voted out ofoffice.Ifthis synod conjuncts a planet ofa nations chart, it will activate everything that planet rules for the next twenty years.Lets examine how this synod has worked in American history beginning with the

most recent.2001 2021Jupiter 22 6 Saturn 22Taurus 23 26 May 2000Early June 2000,23 and 24 TaurusJune 20 Jupiter at 27 Taurus | July 12 SA27 TaurusThis cycle will last to Dec 2020with Jupiter/Saturn at29 Capricornthru 0 and1 Aquariusin Jan 2021The year 2000 is an election year. Neither side has an incumbent running, which means the election can go either way. The nation is prosperous and at peace. Normally in conditions like this the party in power retains the presidency. However, it is the beginning of a new twenty year Jupiter/Saturn cycle. People are hungry for something new; the previous administration has been involved in numerous scandals, one of which a president has been impeached by Congress. An impeachment is a rare event in American history. Americans know this and are tired of all the sleaze; the election is very close, finally decided by a few votes in the state of Florida, with both sides crying foul, and the opposing party takes the presidency. The taint of scandal goes away. Voters breathe a sigh of relief.This 27 Taurus synod begins as a trine to the Declaration (1776 chart) Pluto and a trine to the Constitutional Sun (1787 chart), implying among other things war and economic issues and perhaps a more conservative time.Jupiter 1II 14 Saturn 24Taurus 5 Jan 20, 2001A new president is sworn in.9/11 happens on Sept 11, 2001: Jupiter is 11Cancer 31; Saturn is 14 Gemini 44. That is the war. The economy does expand and is prosperous for many years, but some of that rests on an overvalued real estate bubble, and that bubble bursts in 2008. This causes a panic. The politicians in power dont seem to be handling it too well. As in the Great Depression, everything they do seems to make it worse. The American people are dissatisfied andTen years after the Jupiter/Saturn synodarrives theJupiter Saturn Opposition = 28 March 2011: Saturn 14 Libra Jupiter at 14 Aries. This is a year when the people vote and they come out all year in large numbers to vote. Plus there is a:USA Saturn Return,another indication of deep change.On election day all over the US, Saturn on Nov. 2 is at 1140 of Libra, or 35 away from the conjunction to natal US Saturn, which becomes within 1 exact the 22ndof November; By Dec. 2, 2010 the conjunction has been made, and in early January new people begin to take control of elective offices in the land. The elections have been a tsunami for those in power, the elites. The elite have lost the House of Representatives. And they have lost their 3/5ths majority in the Senate, so in the Senate they can now be filibustered, meaning they have lost their absolute voting power majority in the Senate. The old elites have also lost a majority of governorships and legislatures around the USA. Government unions, an elite special interest faction, vow to fight any way they can to keep their powers;

yet in state after state their power begins to slip away: the sovereign vote of the people can still destroy the power of special interests. The presidents approval rate remains in the low 40s. Congress job approval rating at this time is the worst in poll taking history. Yet natural change is occurring everywhere.When the 2012 elections are done and finished, I will add more here.1981- 2001 JUSA 10 Libra in Jan. 20, 1981Nov 1980 thru August, 19815 Librathru12 Libraback to6 LibraAlso Saturn Return this yearAlso Eris exactly opposed natal Saturn of USA | Saturn opposed Jupiter March 1991Sa= 353 Auqarius| Jupiter 353 Leo RxThe Influence of Ronald Reagan

President ReaganIt does seem strange that one of the most important, successful and change-effecting leaders in the world history of the late 20thcentury, a two term president of the USA, one who further believed in and employed astrologers for the timing of events, would not have an accurate confirmed birth time. But such seems to be the case. There are rectifications and dowsings and psychic probes that cover times from early in the morning then moving all through the day. Perhaps some day we will get a definitive time. At present we dont have one. The chief problem seems to be that the birth certificate comes with thedateof birth, but not thetime.Another problem is that the historian, Edmund Morris, chosen by the Reagan people to write his biography, their decision based on his one good book, turns out to be a mediocre to poor historian. He wrote one magnificent book, the first half of a biography of Teddy Roosevelt: It was magnetic and readable and hard to put down, but he was never to write another book on that level. His biography on Reagan is filled with fantasy and actual falsehoods, including, most likely, fictional sources as to Reagans time of birth; as history, it is terrible; as a story, it is even

worse.In AstroDatabank, the Rodden Rating is DD, awarded for conflicting, unverified times. After reading their reasons in Sources, I agree. You can read about it hereReaganBeforeDawn

Reagan Ascent to Power Chart. Click for larger.

Reagan before dawn.I have included several speculative charts. I am using a favorite one, which probably means that it is not correct, as favorite speculative charts, when the true time of birth is miraculously uncovered, often demonstrate. I am maintaining discipline and employing only what can be used here.Reagan 2:00AM

Reagan 2:00 am. Click for larger image.When you analyze a natal chart of someone like President Reagan, the first thing you want to do is compare it to the core chart of America, the Declaration chart (July 4, 1776). This will begin to show you as an astro historian the kind of effect he had on the nation.

The first connection I notice is that partile trine of Jupiter in Scorpio to the USA Sun in Cancer (it is under 30 off of exact). So there is an element of belief and faith in the very heart of what the Founders were trying to create when they founded the Republic. President Reagan read and studied many books on the Constitution and the Declaration and about American history for years and years before he became president. When he entered office he knew generally what he wanted to do. His Jupiter trine to the US Sun was going to be highly beneficial for

the USA. Scorpio is renewal and he was going to renew the founding principles embodied in the Declaration, and he would renew Americas faith in itself.

Another very close aspect was the opposition of his Mars at 4 Capricorn to the US 3 Cancer Venus and 5 Jupiter in Cancer. This conjunction in the natal US chart rules the governing elites: the bureaucrats in Washington, the lifetime politicians in Congress, special interest groups, etc. Reagan would be challenging them for his full two terms in office.

The third major structure is Reagans Pluto/Eris/Uranus. His Pluto and Uranus are exactly inconjunct; Eris is sextile Uranus and square Pluto: This is a very tight structure. Reagans Uranus at 26 32 Capricorn conjuncts the US Pluto which is 27 Capricorn, which means the whole structure of Reagans Pluto/Eris/Uranus sits on the US Pluto. For purpose of our discussion here Pluto rules economics and war. Reagan was to have an enormous effect on America in both of these areas. Three of his planets impacted the US Pluto which means that he had an enormous effect on the Plutonian and Scorpionic functions of the US.William Casey, Reagans DCI

William Casey, Reagans DCIHow? After thirty years or so, historians are saying Ronald Reagan won the Cold War. Margaret Thatcher said he won it and not a shot was fired. A few shots were fired and some lives were lost but more or less she was right. Much of his success rested in his genius (Mercury conjunct Uranus in Capricorn) in choosing subordinates who would fight this war. His choice of CIA director, William Casey, if judged purely on effectiveness, on what was achieved, would mean he chose the best CIA director in American history. William Casey destroyed the Soviets in Afghanistan, and that was one of the actions that helped bring down the Soviet Union. Reagan destroyed Soviet reliance of oil incomes, thus limiting its fundings to conduct wars and revolutions around the planet. The histories of this are only now beginning to be written. Reagan helped destroy communism in the Soviet Union. Today there is no Soviet Union. This type of plutonian power was welded in conjunction with Eris, so the destruction was permanent and long term.The economy. Reagan had spent many years studying what made a people prosperous and what made them poor. He had always been fascinated with economics: He majored in it in college. Later, especially when he was reading and studying while traveling across America by rail, as a spokesman for General Electric Co., he studied Adam Smith, Bastiat, Milton Friedman, many others. He studied and read and thought. Practically, he noted, in addition to committing millions of political murders, how poor the Soviets were, how communism and socialism generally created poverty.By the time he entered his presidency, he knew, exactly what he wanted to do. He would dismantle those parts of government, the socialist parts, inspired by Keynesian philosophies, the progressive practices, the over-regulations that were choking the economy. He challenged the elites in the media, in academia, in the opposing party, and he won that argument with the American people. He changed the whole direction of government. His influence was so powerful that the next thirty years of America would be the most prosperous it had ever experienced.Renewal. Ronald Reagan was first and foremost a very spiritual person. His mother, who brought him up, was deeply religious; in her own community she was a spiritual leader, a prophetess, a healer, and she instructed her son in Christian teachings, in prayer, in connecting to that higher power that we call God. All his life he was deeply religious. He often practiced silent prayer: It is said that practiced silent prayer in cabinet meetings at the White House, or even when riding his Arabian horse at his ranch in California. This president was a deeply religious as Abraham Lincoln. This is found all over his chart: first of course is the Sun square Jupiter, then the Mercury opposed Neptune (the silent prayer), also the Uranus Mercury sextile Eris.Living in a secular age, he did not talk about his connection to a higher power, no very much anyway. Yet he believed as deeply as the Founders in that connection to a higher power, and he shared their values, especially as stated in the Declaration.

We are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness The concepts, the self evident truths in the Declaration were placed, after years of careful thought, into the Constitution. The Constitution was explained by the Federalist Papers. It was a magnificent way of creating a New Order of the Ages, something never achieved in history on this level. All this was Reagans philosophy, his faith.Much of this had been forgotten. In the 60s and 70s the Declaration and Constitution quit being taught in our schools. They were being forgotten. They were declared by progressives, even by President Wilson, to be out of date. Things are more complicated now, they reasoned. They said that it was time for highly educated bureaucrats to run things, and in order to be efficient, these bureaucrats needed to do away with separation of powers, even with representative government. Otherwise, you could not get things done. Of course we would need to hire more and more bureaucrats to do this, that is, we would always require more and more government.When Reagan became president, he faced a government that was larger and more permanent than it had ever been in American history, except during the 2ndWorld War. It was a crippling influence. The economy was dying; foreign policy was in malaise. It was time for renewal.He reversed a lot of it in his two terms, one reason for the extraordinary burst of prosperity that followed. More importantly, he brought back the original Founders ideas on how a free people can live in a republic. These ideas on human freedom and creativity actually go back thousands of years; these ideas are far more profound than the progressive, socialist, national socialist and communist fads that have occurred since the French Revolution. Part of his genius was that he made these ideas popular again.Reagan won the argument over whether the ideas found in the Declaration and Federalist Papers were out of date. He began to turn American government completely around. He did it of course with his genius for communication about politics and history, his Mercury Uranus conjunction in Capricorn. No one could match him in winning the argument, ever. When his influence is assessed by philosophical historians centuries from now, that may be what they credit him with most, that after more two hundred years of history, when it was all beginning to be forgotten, he reopened the wells of truth and freedom. Reagan was always interested human freedom. That was his chief interest in the political realm. He is one of those who have brought more freedom to the planet than almost any other.The fact that Eris is a part of this structure may mean that his influence on the economy and on economic thinking in general and on the philosophy of lasting human freedom in a republic will last for centuries.Astrologically, here is how it worked:On the day Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president, Jan 20, 1981, several major aspects were occurring in the US Chart.

1 Saturn was within 5 of the US natal Saturn, and a few months later would be making the conjunction.America was entering its seventh Saturn Return. Saturn Returns are always transformative for a nation. Those in power often go out of power: Sometimes, like in the Battle of Chattanooga, where Grant defeated Bragg (and where America wasentering its 3rd Saturn Return, November 2325, 1863, the Saturn Return can occur in the middle of a violent war; other times, like in the USA in 1981, are more peaceful, but the re-structuring of institutions of power can happen.

2 The planet Eris, at 14 Aries 07 was making an exact opposition to US natal Saturn (14 Libra 48). This was the first time in US history that had happened. All the influence and change happening now would be centuries long-lived. Whatever Eris touches is given a kind of immortality.

3 Ronald Reagan was sworn in on a new twenty year Jupiter/Saturn synod (Jupiter 10 Libra, Saturn 09 Libra). This synod was conjunct the US Saturn, making it doubly effective. And, yes, the synod was opposed by the planet Eris, making its effect enormously long-lived. Everything would change, and it would stay changed for longer than anyone living would realize. Americas oldest president, who in many ways seemed very young, and appealed to the young, was sworn in as president.

What Does This MeanSo the synod of Jupiter/Saturn conjoined the natal USA Saturn. This meant that America was nowalsobeginning a new Saturn cycle. Such beginnings are always a time of renewal. In historical astrology Saturn in the chart of a nation represents its standing in the world. The Eris opposition to that Saturn means its standing in the world will be connected with war. The type of war it will fight will be Erian rather than Arian. Erian war is just as forceful as Arian, but it is often fought covertly using every tool available. Reagan won the Cold War fighting with economics (destroying the Russian oil revenues while at the same time increasing US military expenditures) as well as covert war (destroying Russian dominance in Afghanistan by supplying shoulder fired ground-to-air missiles and other ordinance to the Afghan resistance).The opposition of Eris to US Saturn meant that the next thirty years would see US power in the world supported by this type of war.As part of the renewal, Reagan brought back the military power of the US, which had been in the doldrums since the withdrawal from Vietnam; he restored its confidence. Every battle he fought lost almost no lives, yet was a victory for America:Grenada (25 October 1983): The massive invasion of Grenada wiped out the installation of a new dictatorship there. It slowed the expansion of Cuban/Soviet influence in Central America.Afghanistan: Caused the defeat and withdrawal of Soviet armies.Libyan bombing (April 15, 1986): Stopped terrorism in Europe, and inhibited

Colonel Quadaffi from embarking on further terrorist adventures.Support of the British against the Argentines in the Falklands War (2 April 1982 14 June 1982): Stopped the invasion of British Commonwealth island by an Argentine dictatorship that no one on that island wanted.Fighting the Sandinista dictatorship in Nicaragua by supporting the Contras: Not as successful, but still slowed it down.Initiating the Strategic Defense Initiative (March 23, 1983), which would cost so much that the Soviets were never going to be able to pay to keep up with the Americans.Installing missiles in Western Europe (1982-83): This gave the Europeans security for the first time in years, and weakened the Soviets.Giving covert support to the Israelis in bombing the nuclear reactor in Osirak, Iraq (June 7, 1981).America would mostly win the wars it fought for the next thirty years. The synod conjunct Americas Saturn and opposed by Eris placed its stamp on the whole cycle, American expression of power, and on the presidency. Every president would be involved in a war. Even president Clinton, someone who did not want to be in any war, fought successfully in Kosovo and Bosnia.1961-1981.This Jupiter/Saturn synod began at 230Capricorn and moved to 28Capricorn, and in March of 1961was exactly conjunct the Pluto at 270Capricorn of Americas 1776chart. The dynamic impact point of Jupiter/Saturn that occurred on Americas Pluto placed its mark upon the next twenty years of American political life. Every president underwent some kind of Plutonian experience.President Kennedy was elected at the beginning of this cycle (and, remember, Pluto is anti-parallel the natal Sun of the 1776chart), after three years in office was assassinated, possibly in a conspiracy. The second president, Lyndon Johnson, was hounded out of office over the mis-handling of a foreign war (war is ruled by Pluto). President Nixon had to resign from office due to complications arising from a burglary scandal (burglary is ruled by Pluto), and also possibly from conspiracy. President Ford was humiliated in a presidential debate concerning his knowledge of foreign policy in particular and in general by his demeanor and clumsiness, and lost the election (Pluto can rule public humiliation). President Carter was humiliated by the events surrounding the Iranian hostage crisis (transiting Pluto was square his natal Sun), and also was accused of poorly handling the economy (Pluto is an economic planet) and of being afraid of the power of his presidency. In a somewhat humiliating defeat, he was voted out of office. Every issue and every event, during that twenty year period, was somehow Plutonian in nature.In1961,when Jupiter and Saturn were in their new phase, a whole new group of people came to power. President Kennedy entered office at the head of a party that had been out of power. He had a fresh political philosophy. So did Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. The Jupiter/Saturn influence dominated both political parties,

and it molded their philosophies. In foreign policy, they were all more conservative than later presidents would be. Richard Nixon, the third president of this cycle, came from a different party, one that was supposed to have a different political philosophy. Yet if one examines President Nixons actions as chief-executive, as opposed to the propaganda of his political campaignsthe opening of China relations, the support of all the civil rights reforms, the push to have an astronaut walk on the Moonthe agenda of this president much more resembled that of Kennedy and Johnson and Carter and their political programs than it did Eisenhowers or Trumans or Roosevelts.In this era America in its backing of currency went off the gold and silver standards: Johnson, the Democrat, removed the silver from coinage in 1967; and Nixon, the Republican, closed the gold window in 1971, taking the American dollar off the gold standard, forcing the currencies of the world to float. This action had a major drastic effect on the world economy. All these economic changes were Plutonian in nature. They followed from the synodic influence on the U.S Pluto.1941-1961. In the previous JU/SA synod, we uncover two dynamic impact points. One moves roughly from 11 to 15 degrees of Taurus, and then again from 6 through 9 degrees of Taurus. Examining the 1776 chart, we note no conjunctions to its natal planets.That dynamic impact point does make a sextile to the U.S. Sun (1776), and later, though not as strongly, to the U.S. Jupiter (1776). In that era, Roosevelt was president, and much of the civilized world was already at war. In 1940, the German Third Reich was the most powerful nation on the planet. By the November election of 1940, in which Roosevelt was re-elected for a third term, the Third Reich ruled of all Europe, parts of Russia, much of the Mediterranean and parts of North Africa. It seemed this totalitarian power was strong and getting stronger.Like much of the world, America had been for years caught in the mire of an economic depression. Roosevelt had come into power some seven years previously, as a reformer, perceived almost as a savior. He had inherited a deep economic crisis, one that was crippling the nation. He tried many solutions, mostly involving more and more government bureaucracies, and none seemed to work very well, though they did alleviate suffering.A case could be made that his political philosophy was liberal: His program for the American people was that government would take a much greater part in the private lives of its citizens than it had ever done before. New bureaucracies were created. Government jobs were given to the indigent. Securities markets and banks were for the first time regulated by government agencies. For a few years it looked as if the economy was going to be nationalized. However, the nation remained in depression.Roosevelt, like many other presidents, including Hoover who preceded him, didnt really understand how economics worked. And probably that is not why he was chosen by the powers of Providence.

In 1940, around the time of the third re-election of Franklin Roosevelt, a strange series of events happened: Many of the liberal, left-leaning people he had brought into government in 1933 were replaced by conservatives.Roosevelt was concerned about the spread of the darkness of Nazism, was worried about the war in Europe. He saw long before many others that America would have to enter this war, or else the world would become something very different than it was. He had already been secretly supporting Churchill and others in their crusade against Hitler.His work in the Second World War showed his genius for leadership; it was the stamp of his greatness. As much as any other single leader of this era, he destroyed the satanic princes of the Third Reich.This was a leader who saw far into the future. He required a different kind of person who could help him fight this war. The people he drew to him were more conservative, more traditional and orthodox in their thinking. Some were army officers with names like Marshall and Eisenhower, some were heads of corporations, who could assist in the effort to produce the tanks and guns and ships and thousands of other items needed to prosecute a war.The Jupiter/Saturn synod crossed Roosevelts natal Saturn (it was his second Saturn return), and then went on to touch his Neptune, making him one of the most powerful people in the world. Like everyone else, he had to align his exercise of power with the new synodic energies. With its Taurus emphasis, it brought to power many traditional, non-radical people. They ruled America and dominated the world for the next twenty years.This synods sextile to the American Sun(1776)thrust America into a level of world power and authority it had never previously exercised. During this twenty-year period the president of the United States came to exercise a vast power all over the planet.There were some years in this cycle when America was the only nation that possessed a nuclear capacity. During the years after World War II, many other nations were digging themselves out of the rubble of war. America had an intact and huge industrial capacity, which economically dominated the planet.Truman came into power on the crescent phase of the synod (SA4CA; JU 20 VI). At the beginning of his term he had to make a quick decision on an extremely important matterhe had to choose whether or not to use an atomic bomb on Japan. He too shared in the awesome power of this synod.Truman was just as much an anti-Communist conservative as any other political personage in America during this twenty year period. He was responsible for getting legislation passed in the Congress to assist Europe in its recovery. This was called the Marshall Plan. The monies from this aid enabled the fledgling democracies in Europe to inhibit the spread of communism. When North Korea invaded South Korea (June 25, 1950),Truman immediately responded by sending in American divisions. It was Truman who signed the National Security Act of

1947,which in addition to other acts created the Central Intelligence Agency.Even the political Left in the late Forties and the Fifties was concerned with fighting Communism. During that twenty-year period in America very little radical, leftist or socialist thought or politics existed either in government, or in the universities or anywhere else in American culture. For a while anti-Communism became almost a religion. It reached its most fanatic point around the conjunction of Saturn/Neptune in the early Fifties.Those in power, either in government or in the media or in the universities, promoted or espoused conservative ideas and philosophies of governance.Eisenhower was sworn in as president when Jupiter and Saturn were 15 degrees past their opposition, in the full phase (Jan. 20, 1953, 12:32p.m., Washington). For a party in power the full phase can signify a time of falling apart, or it can be a flowering of what was begun at the conjunction. In the ascent-to-power chart of Eisenhower, Jupiter is placed in the same position that it synodically occupied in 1940, sextile the US Sun (1776). If I had been an astrologer living at this time, I would have forecast a rather successful term of rule, a flowering of his ability to handle power easily and gracefully, which he began learning about in the early 1940s when he was called to Washington to work with General Marshal.Eisenhower was to carry that power right up to the time that Saturn and Jupiter conjuncted again in 1961. At that time, new people, new parties, new organizations, new groups took on the direction of government.By October of 1958, Jupiter and Saturn had entered the closing 450(JU 50SC; SA 200SG). Americas stability and total dominance of the world, militarily and economically, was beginning to erode. Eisenhower, who had hardly ever been criticized either by the media or by the congressional Democrats (in that era, they were known as the loyal opposition) began to receive disapproval and censure from these and many other sources.The Russians had initiated the Space Age by lofting into space a two-hundred-pound satellite, the Sputnik (October 4, 1957). This achievement caused consternation and fear in America. The problem of segregation of the races, a holdover from what was begun in the American Civil War, was entering mass consciousness. Eisenhower was not really concerned with either space exploration or racial segregation. These issues were to be addressed in the upcoming JU/SA cycle. People began to criticize him for this.Eisenhower began to seem inept to the American people. The media came up with the term missile gap: It was felt that America was vulnerable to a missile attack, that maybe the Soviet Union was ahead of America. Historically, this has been proven to be very, very untrue. While the Russians were able to construct a prototype rocket that would place a satellite in orbit, they simply lacked the technology to built rockets that would carry nuclear devices to American cities, or an astronaut to the Moon.Eisenhower had been using spy planes for several years to determine just how

powerful the Russians really were. In 1960, one of these U-2 planes was shot down by a Soviet missile, and the pilot taken captive. Eisenhower was made to look incompetent. A summit meeting was scheduled between the USA and the Soviets. It was canceled, and things looked even worse.However, the intelligence flights that Eisenhower had authorized over Russia gave him this knowledge: While the Russians were boasting of great military strength, in truth, their strategic military force was extremely weak. The president knew the Soviet Union could be destroyed as a nation in literally twenty-four hours by Americas invincible bomber force.This knowledge and power helped the next president, John Kennedy, stand up to the Russian Premier, Nikita Khrushchev, and made Khrushchev back away from a confrontation during the Cuban Missile Crisis three years later.It was believed and felt and talked about in the media, and by Eisenhowers opposition, that he was getting old. At the time he was one of the oldest U.S. presidents in American history, true to his Saturn archetype. It was said that he was inept, that he should retire, and that it was time to get the country moving again. People felt the winds of a new Jupiter/Saturn cycle approaching. Out with the old, in with the new.YetHad Eisenhower served for four more years (which was now not allowed by a new Constitutional amendment), perhaps America would not have gotten involved in Vietnam. I believe that no one else could have kept America out of that conflict.YetThe energies were changing. It was time for a new group of people to take power; they had to be given their chance. They had to make their mistakes, gather experience. This is how republics nourish themselves. In the cycle that spanned1961to1981,a man walked on the Moon, the balance of power changed on the planet (Nixons treaties with China), and a racial balance was achieved in America that confirmed all the gains made in the previous hundred years and finally began to heal all the wounds opened by the civil war.1921-1941.Here we see a completely different influence upon the American political process. The dynamic impact point of this synod occurred at230, 24, 25& 26of Virgo, in July, Aug. and Sept. of1921.

Constitution Chart. Click for larger.In this example let us use both U.S. chartsthe1776and the1787.In the1787chart, the synod conjuncts its natal Sun. The synod also exactly inconjuncts the Saturn of that chart, and exactly squares its Jupiter. In the Declaration chart there is a conjunction of its Neptune, and a trine of its Pluto, off by one degree.The conjunction of Saturn to the Sun of a nations chart would almost be enough to allow the astro-historian to forecast that the structure of power of the chief-executive of that nation would somehow change. With the synod, one can easily assume that the leader, his party, and all those around him who share the power, will go out of office, or assume power, or somehow that the nature of their power will be changed. This synod conjuncted the Sun of the Constitution chart.

SibleyDeclarationChart. For larger chart click on image.That is of course what happened. The president who went out of office was Woodrow Wilson. He had a stroke, he was so ineffective that his wife and an assistant ran the country for the last year of his office. The Democratic candidate who replaced him was easily defeated by the Republican, Warren Harding, a newspaperman and senator from Ohio who ran for office on a platform of peace and prosperity. The American people were tired of war and of Woodrow Wilson; they wished to pursue their own careers, to get on with their lives. Warren in his short time in office brought back that prosperityThis JU/SA period covers The Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and the birth of America as a world power, though it would only take its place as a power in the following cycle.In astro-history, the eighth house in the chart of a nation will reveal its finances, the state of its resources, its banks, its corporations, its brokerage houses, anything to do with shared assets, wealth, capital, property. Most of the Founding Fathers were themselves businessmen and capitalists. The Fifth Amendment of the Bill of Rights written into the Constitution was designed to protect private property.The position of the Sun, and Venus and Mercury in this chart has to do with risk, investment and hopefully a return of some kind. That is its economic meaning.A synodic conjunction on this point implies that these financial matters will all somehow be rearranged.The pursuit of prosperity is a major theme in American culture. It is a partial meaning of the phrase, written by Thomas Jefferson, the pursuit of happiness. This phrase, which is a part of the Declaration of Independence, still a legal document, is a legal right given to every individual in America. Each person has the freedom to develop creative ideas and make them work in the world. Each person in America has the right to pursue knowledge and wisdom.In the Twenties in America people were occupied with the application of this kind of practical philosophy. They elected a conservative Republican, who preached the benefits of peace and prosperity.Like any other human condition, a general prosperity can generate social problems: It can lead to a pride that blocks all expressions of the creative force. This financial hubris, expressed as a financial bubble, may be why the Great Depression was activated. With Saturn, either alone or in a synod, affecting the 8th house or Pluto of a chart, anything that is inflated will come crashing down.The Jupiter/Saturn synod, moving through the Declaration chart, was exactly trine Pluto, and it was conjunct Neptune. Synods apply reality checks to whatever energies they touch.The trine of Pluto to Pluto (1776) brought many years of prosperity to America. American presidents did not fare so well. Harding died in office in1923(Pluto was crossing the U.S. Sun). It seems that he was broken-hearted over the Tea Pot Dome scandal, which had to do with the sale of oil rights. At the same time, the

American economy was experiencing a burst of mega-growth. When he died (Aug. 2, 1923), America was having a Saturn return (its fifth), and Jupiter was 25 ahead of Saturn.Calvin Coolidge succeeded Harding, when Pluto was conjunct Coolidges natal Sun. In 1924, he was easily re-elected on the same moderately conservative platform of prosperity and peace. As a somewhat prophetic and sensitive president, feeling the economy heading into a major economic collapse, he chose not to run in 1928. Here is one description of those years:After nine years of Republican rule, prosperity seemed like a permanent condition rather than the upswing of an economic cycle. America was the spoiled child of history, with the greatest privileged class the world had ever seen. The number of shares on the New York Stock Exchange grew from 25 million in 1923 to 1,125 million in 1928. Every clerk and every postman knew what a margin account was. John Jacob Rascob wrote an article inLadies Home Journalentitled, Everybody Ought To Be Rich.Or this:But after the crash, the value of stocks was down by 50 percent and those depreciated stocks were the collateral for bank loans. The borrowers couldnt pay and the banks couldnt collect and the depositors withdrew their money. [from Ted Morgan, FDR, A Biography (new York: Simon and Schuster, 1985) P. 317]Herbert Hoover ran a political campaign espousing the same creed of economic security.Everyone was to have two cars, and a chicken in every pot. Less than seven months into his first term as president, the New York Stock Exchange experienced a complete deflation in its prices. The Wall Street Crash occurred on October 24, 1929.By Dec. 1st the value of securities had dropped by twenty-six billion dollars (1929dollars).When the crash occurred, Saturn was at25Sagittarius, and Jupiter was at 16 Gemini, about 9away from the opposition, which became exact in August of 1930at 6 Cancer/Capricorn, conjunct (1776) Americas Jupiter; later, the dynamic impact point of this opposition would also occur on Americas Sun (1776).This opposition represented the falling apart of a whole political philosophy of prosperity. It was the end of an era of speculation based on the belief in something for nothing.In this whole JU/SA cycle there occurred a major change in what party, what group of people had the power and managed affairs of state.When the economy collapsed, when the value of currency deflated, when the unemployment figures reached a quarter of the work force, drastic solutions were called forand yet nothing happened. President Hoover, a brilliant and successful engineer, was a hands-on man. He tried everything: Many new government programs. Nothing worked at all. Matters worsened.By the time of the next presidential election (Nov. 8, 1932),JU/SA had been in its full phase for a little over two years (JU: 18 VI; SA: 29CP).This Full phase

placed its seal upon Americas entire political process: The Republican party would become the minority party for many decades. The power that it held from the beginning of American Civil War fell apart during the opposition phase.The economic needs of the nation were such that its financial institutions had to be rearranged. The American people were thrown into circumstances of scarcity and hunger, and it was incumbent upon the government to show compassion and mercy.

President Roosevelt Ascent-to-Power chart. Click for larger.

President Roosevelts Ascent to Power Chart. Click for larger image.If we examine Roosevelts ascent-to-power chart, dated from the time he was sworn in as President, we note some interesting patterns. Mars and Jupiter and Neptune are in their strongest aspectsthe astronomic opposition, when the Earth and the Sun and these planets in their orbits line up in a straight line (see diagram). To have Mars and Jupiter and Neptune lined up in the sky together on the line of the nodes with the Earth between and the Sun on the other side is one of the most powerful political charts in American history. It is perhaps just what was needed to break the political and economic crisis and stagnation that threatened the nation in this era. This cluster of planets located in Pisces is roughly conjunct the Sun/Venus/Mercury of the Constitution chart, and the ascent Jupiter is within four degrees of a conjunction to the Declaration charts Neptune. All these placements indicate enormous activitythe Mars influence betokens a change of political and economic philosophy; the Jupiter influence, a change of Americas laws. Overshadowing all, in the Neptune/nodal axis influence, we find an enormous compassion for suffering.At JU/SA opposition, if a crisis of political philosophy exists, and if the skill to carry out the ideas born at the JU/SA conjunction is lost, and if those in power are not able to meet the demands of the predicament, then their authority will collapse,

and new group of people, often a new party, will come into power.In a democratic republic this principle of metamorphosis works more fluidly; in a highly controlled dictatorship, this process may require the effect of a stronger influence, like an outer planet synod, although sometimes the single Plutonian influence suffices.

1901-1921.William McKinley was sworn in for his second term as President on March 4, 1901, when Saturn was at 14 Capricorn and Jupiter was at 8 Capricorn. The dynamic impact point of this synod reached 130Capricorn in November of 1901.On September the 6th of that year, while standing in a reception line at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo N.Y., McKinley was shot by an anarchist. He died on Sept. 14,and Theodore Roosevelt, at age 42,the youngest so far, was sworn in as President.Thus began a Jupiter/Saturn synod that ushered in a new century. This synod opposed the Sun of the US chart (1776). Every president of this cycle was involved in an active challenge from the outside, often from foreign nations. Sometimes the president was actively doing the challenging himself. Theodore Roosevelt, or TR, as we will call him so as not to confuse him with Franklin Roosevelt, confronted the business interests and corporations, which by the turn of the century had grown extremely powerful. They had complete control of the legislative process, partly through bribery, partly thru belief of the elected representatives, both on a national and state level.TR was responsible for getting the Sherman Anti-Trust laws passed, and he made sure that they were enforced.He dissolved Northern Securities Co. and others for violating anti-trust laws; intervened in a coal strike on behalf of the public; obtained the Elkins law forbidding rebates to corporations in 1903;the Hepburn law regulating railroad rates in 1906; the Pure Food and Drugs Act, 1906; the Reclamation Act and employers liability laws.[Theodore Roosevelt, World Almanac, 1984 (New York: Newspaper Enterprise Association, 1984) p.257]As were all the presidents who served during this cycle, TR was a confrontational president. His administration attacked the power of large corporations, and to a large extent broke it. He reasserted the power of government over the factions of business and other special interests. The presidents that followed continued this process.TR desired to send the Navy on a round-the-world trip, as a show of force to other nations. Congress refused to pay for the journey. As a reply, Roosevelt said, I will send it around the world, let Congress bring it back. TR was always confronting his Congress.In 1905, the President won the Nobel Peace Prize for arranging a treaty between Japan and Russia. America began to be seen in the world as a peace-keeper; she began to take her place in the world as a power. It was during this twenty-year

cycle that America tipped the balance of power against Germany in the First World War, and in doing so, began to determine the destiny of the world historical order for the 20thCentury and beyond.After serving essentially two terms, TR decided not to run for office again, and was followed by another Republican, William Howard Taft. Taft, because of his philosophy and the way he governed, was soon opposed by TR and others in the Republican Party. In the election of 1912(Nov. 8, 1912),Saturn was at 20Gemini and Jupiter was 180Sagittarius. The synod had just a few months previously entered its full phase. Both Republicans totaled more popular votes than the Democratic candidate, but the Democrat won the most electoral votes. On March 4th, 1913,Woodrow Wilson became the next president, and finished out the JU/SA cycle.It can often happen at the full phase that one party, one faction, one interest will go out of office, and another will come to power. It happened in the Thirties, and it happened in 1912.During this cycle, the power of the presidency continued to grow. Wilson in his early years completely dominated his Congress. During his term, the Federal Reserve, a government institution that oversees the banks, was born. Government began to exert greater power over the economy than it ever had before. His was an activist government.President Wilson was Americas first progressive president. He appointed Bryan his Secretary of State. Wilson believed the Constitution was out of date, that it should be replaced with more enlightened laws. Government bureaucracies ruled by disinterested bureaucrats could get things done a lot quicker and easier than the messy legislative process as ordered by separation of powers and representative government. He was the first true socialist president in American history. America was now being introduced to the ideas of socialism that were born in the Uranus/Neptune synod. Every civilization on the planet, free and not so free, would have in its own way to come to terms with this new religion.America entered the First World War (April 6, 1917).President Wilson completely abandoned any isolationist tendencies. He joined in the war against Germany and later took on a prominent role in peacemaking. Wilson was a guiding influence in the formation of the League of Nations, his idea of the beginning of a one world government bureaucracy. It would be opposed by his Senate, and never ratified in America.During the JU/SA synod that lasted from 1901to1921,Americas role in the world grew larger and larger. In this cycle not only did a president arrange a peace treaty between two waning nations, but another president was forced into a war he didnt want to fight. Once forced, America fought quite well.Under Teddy Roosevelt, America introduced itself as a world power, under Taft, it became recognized as an economic force, and under Wilson it became a powerful defender of human freedoms. The synod entered its balsamic phase (JU 15 LE; SA 6 VI)in Oct. 1919.A breakdown of the energies of this synod occurred; its original

thrust was interiorized.At this time Wilson attempted to bring the U.S. into the League of Nations, and met resistance from Congress. He then suffered a stroke (Sept. 26, 1919)that left him incapacitated for the remainder of his term. This allowed the U.S. Senate to reject the Treaty of Versailles (Nov. 19, 1919),effectively killing the League of Nations.America became once more isolationist, pursuing its own private ends, and disregarding as long as it could the events taking place around it in the world.Not until the cycle that began in 1940did America return to the problems of the world. By that time the problems were critical and dangerous, threatening to destroy human civilization.As this twenty-year synod completed itself, presidents who were its major actors, either participated in different activities, or left the stage of history entirely. Of the three presidents who dominated this cycle, Theodore Roosevelt died in 1919,followed by Wilson, who remained an invalid in quiet retreat till his death in 1924.In 1921,Taft was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Courta position he craved more than the office of Chief Executivewhere he served with distinction till his death in 1930.1881-1901. The JU/SA synod of 1881,which moved from 27Aries to 3 Taurus, made a sextile to Americas Venus/Jupiter and a square to its Pluto (1776).This cycle contained the NE/PL synod that occurred on Americas Uranus(1776) in the 1890s.In this period, America experienced an Industrial Revolution. The rapid expansion of its production capacity and its foreign export began to make America a wealthy and prosperous land. With this prosperity came problems. A new class of industrialists had established itself, partly by destroying the old elite, the Southern plantation aristocracy. This new elite had gathered to itself too much power. They would buy and sell politicians. Votes could be manipulated; special interests could get their way, regardless of what was good for the whole.In a society whose members can vote freely for the representatives who form their government, a certain balance must be maintained. This is a balance between the private and the public sectors, where each constitutes a kind of faction. The private sector includes groups and organizations like corporations or small businesses or universities or even political parties out of office. If the private sector is so powerful that it can control the major decisions of government through bribery, graft or intimidation, then government loses its function of representing the interest of the whole. The result can be a descent into oligarchy, the rule of the few, a general stagnation of the nations economy, and if this condition lasts long enough, a living death of the general culture. This situation exists in many nations on the planet today.On the other side of the balance, government dominates everything, and no private sector exists. When the bureaucrats and politicians own it all, make all the

decisions, again, the civilization stagnates and decays. This condition is quite common today. To have a dynamic creative society, private and public need to stay in balance.In 1881, a whole new class of Americans emergedinventors, railroad magnates, industrialists and plutocrats, like J.P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. They had created some of the largest fortunes in the world. The riches that they were using to buy politicians wielded an enormous influence, weakening government to the point that the balance of the private and public sectors was lost.By 1881, the heroes of the Civil War, the Founding Fathers, the distinguished members of the Senate and House who served the nation so well in the early part of the nineteenth century had all become mythical figures. Lincoln had been dead for fifteen years, and General Grant, knowing that he had cancer of the throat and desirous of supporting his family, was beginning to write hisMemoirs; he would be dead within three years. Sherman was becoming a querulous old man. America as a constitutional nation, a democratic republic, was preparing to enter its second century.This cycle saw the end of the Indian Wars; railroads connected the East and West coasts; telephone and wireless communication was developed. This Jupiter/Saturn cycle was also the beginning of a Neptune/Pluto epoch. It marked Americas entry into a new age during which the world for the next five hundred years it was possible would be dominated by American ideas and inventions and styles and political philosophy.The first president in this cycle, James A. Garfield, had been a Republican Congressman, serving in both the House and the Senate for almost eighteen years. His record as Congressman was not very distinguished because of his connection with the Credit Mobilier scandal, and his acceptance of a fee in the DeGolyer paving contract case. After a deadlock in the Republican convention, he was nominated for president on the 36th ballot. He handily defeated the Democratic candidate, Winfield Scott Hancock, a general at the Battle of Gettysburg.Some five months after he was sworn in as president, on July 2, 1881 (JU 12TA; SA 070TA), he was shot by a disaffected patronage seeker, and after lingering for a while, he died on Sept. 19, 1881 (JU 26 TA; SA 12oTA).He was succeeded by Chester Arthur, another politician accused of political corruption and graft. This president surprised everybodyhe fought corruption by prosecuting his former associates. He also backed civil service reform (civil service was a form of patronage corruption at that time) and generally refused to have anything to do with the political machine which had originally nurtured his career.Not having the support of any of those machine politicians who backed him in the 1880 elections, he was voted out of office in 1884. In the 1884 elections the notion of reform was again in the air.The Democratic nominee, Grover Cleveland, ran on a reform ticket and won. Most of his presidential work was involved in restoring balance between public and

private sectors.He was followed in office by Benjamin Harrison, a Republican who also ran on a reform ticket. Harrison also failed to satisfy machine politicians in his party, and he served for only one term.On March 4, 1893, Grover Cleveland was again sworn in as President (SA 12`LI, JU 25AR), again showing how, on the opposition of Jupiter and Saturn, during their Full phase, control of elected office can pass from one party to another.In the 1896 election, Grover Cleveland chose not to run for office. William Jennings Bryan, the candidate of the Democrats, was for his day considered radical and liberal and not conservative at all (recall, the JU/SA occurred in Taurus, a conservative sign). Bryan was the nations first well known progressive. The nation chose an ethical but conservative Republican, William McKinley, who closed out the JU/SA cycle.To sum up, this cycle was a relatively quiet time of prosperous growth; a major struggle took place between reform and machine politics, which every president had to address. The one war that occurred at this time, the Spanish American War, was a small war, in terms of material expended and casualties, not at all comparable to the American Civil War or World War I.

1861-1881. This synods dynamic impact point, when it became exact, occurred Aug., Sept., Oct., and Nov. of 61 at 10 through 23 of Virgo, and again in Apr., May and June of 1862, at 160, 17 and 180of Virgo.

Constitution Chart. Click for larger image.

In our analysis we note that at 130Virgo it was aspecting the Sun of the Declaration chart by a sextile, suggesting a change of party, a change of president. When the dynamic impact point reached 220, it conjoined the Neptune of this chart, suggesting an exercise of power that has to do with Neptunian issues like

helplessness, the desire to assist helpless people like slaves, and the struggle to maintain the union of the states (union and oneness are ruled by Neptune). When this synod touched the Sun and Venus and Mercury of the Constitutional chart, it produced a major change in the way that the laws and exercise of power in America are structured. This occurs in the 8th house of the Constitutional chart, suggesting all those situations that the 8th house in a historical chart would rulewar and civil war, anarchy, conspiracy and assassination of the ruler (Sun is the Chief Executive), revolution, a kind of death and rebirth of the nation, issues to do with bondage. Above all, when a Jupiter/Saturn synod rests on the 8th house Sun of a nation, one can expect a major crisis in that nations affairs. This synod was square the Jupiter of the Constitutional chart, indicating changes in the laws of America. This synod was inconjunct the Saturn/Pluto of this chart, indicating change in the legislative branch of government.1861 marked probably the greatest crisis point that has occurred so far in American history. As with any other major crisis in a nations history, the astro-historian can uncover numerous indications pointing to that event. For example, when Franklin Roosevelt was sworn in as president in 1941, there were numerous indications that America would go to war, including a partile Pluto opposition to the ascent-to-power chart Sun that was occurring on the day he was sworn in. To understand the meaning of what is transpiring at any point in history the astro-historian must always examine the strongest aspect.In April 1861, the United States entered the Civil War. It is possible to come up with many interpretations of what happened, yet the determinant, activating historical factor of this war was the Jupiter/Saturn synod. All the other influences fit in around the energy created by this synod. For example, one could use Lincolns ascent-to-power chart or the firing-on-Fort Sumpter chart (April 12, 1861) which is the official beginning of the War; or perhaps the astro-historian could use the day the first Confederate State, South Carolina, succeeded (Dec. 20, 1860).The aspect that dominated this whole process was the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction that conjoined the Constitutional Sun.In the first years of the war, battles did not go so well for the Union: The First Battle of Bull Run (July 21, 1861)was fought ten miles from Washington D.C., and the Union was routed. This was followed in August of 1862by the Second Battle of Bull Run, where it happened all over again. There were many other losses by the Union. Later, the Union began winning all its battles. A major battle was fought on November 25, 1863.Called Missionary Ridge, it was fought in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the wars Western Theater. The Battle of Missionary Ridge was the real defeat of the Confederate Army. Its army continued to exist, and it was a year and 5months before the war would finally end, but this battle tipped the scales permanently in favor of the Union.At this battle Saturn and Jupiter had moved in the sky from their new phase to close to the first thirty degree aspect, where often what was begun at the new takes

on the firmness of reality. On November 25,1863,Saturn was at 14LI 45,and Jupiter was at 130SC 04.It was conjunct Mars, which was at 14 SC 47,so JU was almost at that thirty degree aspect. This thirty degree aspect is placed on Americas natal Saturn, with transiting Saturn conjunct Americas natal Saturn(1776).The Union was having its third Saturn return on the day of the battle.When Grant accepted Lees surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, April 9, 1865,Saturn was at 270Libra and Jupiter was at 28Sagittarius, making a precise sextile.The war was over; in less than a week Lincoln was assassinated. He was followed by a succession of mediocre presidents, the choices of an all powerful Republican party that dominated national and local politics for the remainder of that twenty-year cycle.America continued to open economically, the political influence of slavery and slave owners was totally destroyed, and America was able to get on with growing into the twentieth and twenty first centur

jup=plutoJupiter PlutoAug 6 5 Cancer 5 5 Cancer 57Aug 10 6 Cancer 6 CancerFeb 5 Cancer 4 CancerMay 21 31,1931 18 Cancer to 19 Cancer (5/31)628 July 1 Aug 1943(July 30, 1943)Jupiter Pluto6 Leo 35 6 Leo 52Nov 1-8 1955 Jupiter Pluto28 Leo 28 LeoJan June November 1956 Jupiter Pluto30 Jan 28 Leo 44 27 Leo 508 Feb 27 Leo 37 27 Leo 3613 June to17 June 26 Leo 31 26 Leo 29Oct 1968 Jupiter PlutoOct. 9 23 Virgo 00 23 virgo 33Oct 13 23 Virgo 39 23 virgo 39 (exact) Jupiter PlutoOct 29 1981 23 Libra 57 24 Libra 43Nov 2 24 Libra 53 24 Libra 53

Out of orb by the 7th.1994 Jupiter Pluto28 Nov 27 Scorpio 29 28 Scorpio 16Dec1 28 Scorpio 29 ScorpioDec 2 28 Scorpio 26 exact2007 Jupiter Pluto07 Dec 2007 27 Sag 18 28 sag 1111 Dec 2007 28 Sag 22 28 Sag 2215 Dec 29 Sag 15 Out of orb

How Jupiter and Pluto Work TogetherPerusing the table above, you might note that the Jupiter/Pluto synod comes and goes swiftly, as a peregrine falcon dives down onto the fleeing duck: first, there is a cloud of feathers, and within a few minutes, everything is ingested and it is all done.This synod lasts for a few days, not to return for eleven or twelve years, depending on the longitudinal speed of Pluto. Sometimes Jupiter in its retrograde cycle will make it last longer, as happened in 1955/56 when the synod was exact at 26, 27, and 28 Leo. Even here the exact conjunction lasted only a few days (see table above).These synods do not affect history in the same way that the longer lasting ones do. The Uranus/Neptune synod brought about the trial and execution of Charles I of England; it also brought about the collapse of the Soviet Union. These longer synods involve matters of astrologic influence affecting the vast structures of government devised by men.Jupiter Pluto is as strong as some of these, but it has to be judged differently. It is best to measure how it changes the lives of the players of history.

John F. Kennedys Jupiter Pluto Experience

Kennedy in the Solomons in 1943During World War II, on August 2, 1943, Lieutenant Junior Grade John F. Kennedy captained a torpedo boat patrolling the Blackett Strait between Kolombangara and Arundel in the Solomon Islands; he was searching for Japanese ships to destroy. It was about 2:00 AM on a moonless night, and many of the crew were sleeping, when a Japanese destroyer, theAmagiri, moving at possibly 50 mph, rammed his ship and tore it in half, causing its fuel to explode and burn.This was a Plutonian event. It came suddenly and was totally devastating. It was

war: two of his crew were instantly killed; two were badly burned. The survivors floated in shark and crocodile infested waters; and the destroyer steamed away, not bothering to search for survivors. The two other PT boats in the area thought no one could have survived this explosion, and they turned away without looking for anyone and sped back to base.A Jupiter/Pluto synod at 6 Leo lay within 1 of an exact sextile to Kennedys 7 Gemini Sun. How Kennedy handled this crisis would determine the unfolding of the rest of his life.

John F. Kennedy. Click for larger.After the smashing of the boat, Kennedy kept a calm mind. Those whocouldntswim he assigned to a floating timber from the broken ship. Kennedy himself towed a severely burned crewman, and he moved the eleven survivors to a small island some 3 1/2 miles away. It took them four hours to dog paddle there. It was a small island about the size of a football field, no water, no food. While his crew rested, he swam about 2.5 miles further and found an island with water and food (coconuts), returned to the first island, and got his crew to that island, where they were able to survive for about a week until they were picked up. This was a natural leader, who with a calm mind continued to give the right orders to his crew all through the hard days. After sending a message with some passing fishermen carved on a coconut shell, his crew was rescued within a week.This synod brought out the qualities of courage that only an event like this could bring out. That night he was not able to depend on a wealthy and powerful father, on influence and contacts, on his Harvard education, or on many other benefits coming from a family of influence. The only quality of character that worked in the burning water was courage, and courage was what he found in himself that night and the days that followed. The Jupiter did bring protection but the Pluto demanded courage. After that week he would be a different man for the rest of his life.That it happened on the synod meant that millions of people would affected by his courage, by the test that he passed; and this synodic influence raised him to the presidency.

Saturn/PlutoAn Approximate 33 Year CycleSaturn/PlutoAn Approximate 33 Year CycleThis cycle occurs fifteen times during the five hundred year Neptune Pluto cycle and three times in every century. I am not going to break this cycle down by moving backwards in time. There are simply too many.The average SA/PL cycle lasts about thirty-three years. I use the word about because both planets have rather eccentric orbits. Plutos is 0.248, Saturns is 0.056,

compared to the Earth at 0.017. In the 1850sand 1860s, Pluto moved relative to the Earth at a much slower speed than it did in the 1980s, when it was at perihelion, or closest to the Sun. Thus, the length of time that the two planets take to travel (measured in longitude) from conjunction to conjunction will vary. Also, if Saturn is in its retrograde phase at the time of the conjunction, as it was for example during the 1982/83conjunction, as much as two years can be added to the cycle.The dynamic impact point of this cycle can last for about two months. This point in the 1982/83conjunction occurred at 270and 280Libra, squaring the U.S. 1776Pluto. A severe economic recession was occurring in America at that time.

Adolph Hitlers chart. Click for larger.When Saturn and Pluto travel together, their influence can often work so as to bring about the catabolic destruction of all structures of government, statehood, law, custom. The destruction is then be followed by a rebirth into the new.These two planets are karmic in nature. In easily identifiable ways, they seek to balance unjust conditions, circumstances, and situations. Some examples:In August, 1914, when the First World War began, Pluto and Saturn were in their New phase, conjunct at around 0 Cancer. Saturn activated the Pluto 300Neptune, which as the first Crescent phase of PL/NE, was the aspect that activated this war. World War I destroyed the old Europe. It destroyed dynasties and class structures and models of government that had lasted for centuries.

Adolph HitlerOn September 1, 1939, Adolph Hitler invaded Poland and World War II began. Many historians group World Wars I & II as part of the same process, in that World War II was the conclusion of what began in August 1914. At that time, at the beginning of the Second World War, Pluto was located at 0 Leo, and Saturn was at 0 Taurus. They were making the closing squarethis implies, symbolically, an end of something. When this synod is in an exact aspect, its energies are dangerous and karmically volatile. It was out of World War II, and as a reaction against the Nazi nuclear research, that the Americans developed the atomic bomb.

WorldWarII. Click for larger.Historically, the Saturn/Pluto synod influence acts to purify structures of government. This influence seeks to eliminate the old and the worn-out; it eradicates evil when nothing else can. On the day the Second World War began, Saturn/Pluto was in a dialogue with Adolph Hitlers natal Sun, where Saturn conjoined it and Pluto squared it. The influence of this synod went on to wipe him out. Step by step, his power was stripped away, his provinces and conquered nations lost, his armies captured and destroyed, until finally he ended his days in an

underground bunker/cave.This war began on the third quarter synodic square, whose influence works differently from that of the conjunction or first quarter square. That it was a third quarter Saturn/Pluto war might imply some ancient karmic problem, a very ancient evil, whose origin traces deep into prehistory. This war might have been a mass cleansing.THE U.S. CONSTITUTION

Constitution chart.The best example of a historical Saturn/Pluto conjunction, or the New phase of this synod, is that found in the Constitutional chart of the U.S.A.This synod sits on the ascendant of the chart. In the astrology of history the first house represents the people of a nation. So this synod placed here indicates the will of the people.This synod also defines the nature of the originators and framers of this document, the Founding Fathers. Since the Founders were the chosen representatives of the people, this

Founding Chart for Israel. Click for larger.document represents the will of the American people. Any nation that has a Saturn/Pluto conjunction, like Israel, would have natural friendship and sympathy with the

American people. The founding chart for Israel also comes with the SaturnPluto conjunction.This synod addresses any problems related to the exercise of political power. When a people reach a certain high level of self-rule, they must face the dilemma of faction, which I have discussed elsewhere.Saturn/Pluto in its New phase is the Constitutional charts single most powerful focus. It rests on the ascendantthis implies that the American people have a past of dealing with the problem of faction, and points possibly to the karma of bondage and slavery. This chart also promises that this people will one day become wealthy (Pluto), but that the wealth will derive from hard work (Saturn).Both planets are located together in astrologic Aquarius, possibly demonstrating the power of the legislative branch of government, implying that it may be just a little more powerful than the other two branches. The Congress has always had the power of the purse, the control over government spending.I am assigning this synod to the U.S. Congress.Since astrology is in many ways an imprecise art, in examining this chart, one would also have to define Uranus and the Moon as secondary indicators of the U.S. Congress.In any historical chart the Sun represents the executive power, whether it be king or emperor, tyrant or dictator, president or prime minister. In the Constitutional chart, the Sun, Venus, and Mercury are located in a thirteen degree span in late astrological Virgo. The Saturn half of the synod exactly inconjuncts the Sun; while the Pluto half is loosely inconjunct Mercury and Venus, but in a partile inconjunct to their mid-point.The inconjunct or quincunx is traditionally in astrology an aspect of separation. In historical astrology, this quincunx in the Constitutional chart manifests as a separation of powers. In our example, the inconjunct from the synod to the Sun/Mercury/Venus grouping, it is the separation between the legislative and the executive.The judicial branch of government, represented by the Jupiter/south node/Mars conjunction in the fifth house, has a more subtle connection with the synod. Saturn trines Jupiter, implying that on some levels the legislative works in harmony with the courts, helpful because the legislative branch passes the laws. But Pluto makes the trioctile, another separation aspect, to the Mars/south node, thus creating a separation between these two governmental powers. The south node is often an indication of past experiences, past karmas. That Mars sits on the line of the nodes shows that the violence and mischief of faction was a major concern to the framers of the Constitution.Buried in the trioctile (135) energy of Pluto to Mars is the prohibition against Bills of Attainder. These Bills, which allowed legislative bodies to try and condemn to punishment individuals and other factions, are one of the more virulent misuses of legislative power found in the history of the rise and fall of republics. The Jupiter/south node/Mars in the 5th house has to do with legal guarantees of the right of the individual to pursue creative happiness.

Sun square Jupi