Note: I just returned from a precise and potent solo-performance of the theater play “Grounded” — depicting a female drone operator’s mental and emotional disintegration while sitting with a joystick inside a trailer in the Las Vegas desert. The tiny theater was not even half full. Though brilliantly enacted, only a few of us stood during the ovation, and I was not alone in needing to sneak out at the end. Our collective response reminds me of victims of abusers who inappropriately take on the shame of the abuser.

America Has Been At War 93% of the Time — 222 Out of 239 Years — Since 1776

My question: Will the U.S. ever NOT engage in endless wars? Or was war seeded into its very DNA.

While thinking about this question, I came across an article by esteemed depth psychological astrologer Liz Greene, an American who chose to live in England decades ago and tends to see through any glass darkly. And yet, in 2005, Greene uncharacteristically pointed to what was then the coming Pluto in Capricorn era (2008-2024) as one during which the U.S. might possibly return to its original founding ideals.

The national chart of the United States:

Pluto in Capricorn: 2008-2024

by Liz Greene

astrodienst

View chart

In the horoscope of the United States, Pluto, as it moves through Capricorn, is opposing the Sun in the natal chart, reflecting major and irrevocable changes on many levels. This aspect has occurred only once before in American history, during the period of the Revolutionary War. Although it is not intrinsically an aspect of war, it challenges the deepest definitions of what constitutes nationhood, and raises many issues of autonomy and the way in which the government is structured and how much authority it may or may not exercise.The deeper issues underlying the Revolutionary War concerned not only human rights, but also the autonomy of the individual states comprising the nation, and these issues may once again rise to the surface as new ways of defining the national identity are proposed.

The national Sun in the 7th house also places great emphasis on the nature of the bonds America forms with other nations, and here too Pluto’s transformative energy may require many changes and a re-evaluation of the ways and reasons why particular nations are sought as partners and others are excluded. This could potentially be a time of great renewal and a re-establishment of those high ideals on which the structure of the nation is based.

Pluto, as it completes its transit through Capricorn, will also return to its own natal place: in other words, the United States is experiencing its Pluto return. This suggests the completion of a great cycle, and a cementing of the fundamental values on which the Constitution is built. There may also be a serious reappraisal of issues concerned with the environment, as Capricorn is an earthy sign, and the use or abuse of natural resources may become a cause for not only profound concern but also profound change and a more enlightened attitude. The enormous resources available to the United States are reflected by Pluto in the 2nd house of the national chart, and it is possible that these will be approached with greater respect and care than ever before.

Whether or not you favour these changes personally, it would seem that a time has arrived when there is a great new opportunity to affirm the values and ideals of the original founding of the nation, applicable not only to government and to foreign relations, but also to the land itself and the resources inherent in it.

Liz Greene, 2005

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Greene wrote that article ten years ago. I wonder what she would say now about how the U.S. is enacting its Pluto in Capricorn drama.

In my view, given that explosive, revolutionary Uranus happens to be located on the Descendant of our national chart, it’s important to recognize that America tends to project onto the “Other” those qualities that it unconsciously fears it can’t control in itself. Moreover, to the extent that this nation does exhibit its own Uranian energy, it is expressed as constant, startling, and yes, uncontrollable innovation, experimentation, invention. All of which is a good thing, yes?

Not when it’s harnessed to the engine of predatory capitalism (see Naomi Klein’s devastating book, Shock Doctrine). Given that the plutocratic (Pluto in Capricorn) economic system still rules the world, we realize with a Uranian jolt of awareness that THIS is why most of our nation’s Uranian brilliance has always been wasted on war, destruction, blowing things up — the “newest” and “best” weapon systems — elsewhere, and increasingly, here at home. Indeed, though this nation self-identifies as Hollywood’s glamorous and deceptive “American Dream” (Neptune at the Midheaven), meanwhile, it appears that the longstanding actions of this nation are more accurately depicted via its Uranus at the Descendant signature.

That said, then in order for this nation to shift in the direction Liz Greene cites during the Pluto in Capricorn era, it would also need to shift the goals of constant innovation from the dog-eat-dog, winner-take-all tenets of predatory capitalism to — to what? Is this kind of thoroughgoing transformation even possible? Better: Is there any point in continuing as a nation state?

Be advised: I’m certainly not advocating a global “New World Order” to take its place!

Instead, I, and many, many others, are from this moment forward, activating our vision of localization, decentralization everywhere. Rather than giving even more power “up” to the disintegrating matrix, we intend to move deeper “down,” back into communion with Mother Earth, right here and now, in our own bodies, gardens, families, neighborhoods, communities, bioregional watersheds. In this process, we invite our dear Mother to tell us how to proceed so that not only do we not deplete what remains of her precious limited resources, but that we embrace and enhance the Plutonian aliveness that still surges up from within her infinitely fertile and mysterious depths.

Yes, THIS is the revolution we are calling for, during the final phase of the explosively primal Uranus/Pluto square (2012-2016). And THIS is the long-term Pluto in Capricorn (2008-2024) transformation we are determined to see and participate in.