Happy Birthday, USA!

It’s our birthday, USA! And here comes another solar eclipse to add to our 4th of July fireworks. From the perspective of those of us on Earth, this eclipse will take place in the sign of Cancer. Of course, this is the USA’s Sun sign (our nation’s collective ego and will). Good thing we have a long holiday weekend to chill out and not stress about the tension in the heavens around us. Let's consider what this eclipse might mean for the Good Ole' USA.

The eclipse will take place in 9 degrees of Cancer and that falls in the USA’s 7^th house of partnerships including marriage and business partners as well as matters dealing with diplomatic relations of all kinds including known enemies.

This eclipse will be in a position to oppose Pluto, currently in 6 degrees of Capricorn.  Pluto is the dark planet of transformation, destruction, creation, regeneration, healing, renewal, power struggles and upheaval. Plus, it rules taxes. This charming celestial body is moving throught he USA's 1st house of self, which represents ego, beginnings, initiatives and how the world sees us.

The eclipse will also be in a position to square unpredicatable Uranus, sitting in 4 degrees Aries. This is the planet of rebellion, indepdendence, invention, surprises, liberation, disruption, awakening, and my personal favorite, bolts out of hte blue. This blue bolter planet is moving through the USA's 4th house of motherhood, early foundaiton & environment, home, and cyclic end of matters.

The eclipse will ALSO be in a position to square Saturn, which happens to be in 10 degrees of Libra. Saturn is the big Kahuna. Dad. Father with a capital 'F'. Saturn is all about restriction, limitation, discipline, rules and regulations imposed on us by authority figures. It's also known as the Great Teacher for the limitations and lessons of Saturn actually help us to grow. This taskmaster is moving through the USA's 10th house of ambition, career, motivation, status, government...and how the rest of the world sees us.

Now that we have mapped out the heavens, how is this playing out down here on Mother Earth? Which headline should we look at, hmmmm? 

 "New York & Rhode Island Passes Civil Union Bills"
Same-sex couples can officially union just like the union of the Sun & Moon in an eclipse. Talk about 7th House of Partnership Stuff! Talk about a Uranus in our 4th House of Foundation Moment! Pluto in the 1st House Renewing and Healing us ! And there sits Mr. Conservative Saturn frowning down  from his perch in the"State of the Union," Big Government 10th House.

"Fireworks, Tears at Casey Anthony Trial"
This one has captivated us, hasn't it? The eclipse in the 7th House of Open Enemies opposite dark & destructive Pluto in how we see ourselves in the 1st House. Uranus, the unpredicatable, is sitting in our 4th house of Mom. Casey Anthony has not behaved the way we expect a Mom to behave. And how about that power struggle with Dad in the 10th House of Reputation? Watching the Anthony family undergo very public therapy by trial is showing us that our family might be (gasp) normal. DNA tests to determine if Dad is the, well, Dad/Granddad? Yuck.

                                          

"Floods, Tornadoes, Earthquakes, and Fires"
The destruction continues. Floods spring from Cancer, the water sign. Tornadoes spun from Libra, the air sign. Earthquakes shaking it up out of Capricorn, the earth sign. Fires flaming up out of Aries, the fire sign. The Cardinal Gang is shaking it up. And oh yeah, those nuclear plants? Talk to Pluto. He rules that stuff.

"Debt Ceiling: Do or Die"
Hello there Mr. Saturn moving through our 10th House of Government. Mr. Meanie holding us to our limits. NO. MORE. SPENDING. He means it! Credit cards are maxed. Yes, our 4th house of home foreclosures has disruptive Uranus stirring up our very foundations. Gotta raise taxes, says Pluto in our 1st House. Can't keep putting out without taking in. During the eclipse, the emotional Moon will blot out the willful Sun, but when the light returns...what will have slipped out from the shadows? Methinks we will have met the 7th House (known) enemy and he is most definitely us.

What will be the headlines occupying us post eclipse?



June 21: The Summer Solstice

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, the Summer Solstice is just a moment in time. It’s when the Earth’s axial tilt is at 23 degrees 26 minutes and the Sun is in the sign of Cancer. 

The word “solstice” is derived from root words that mean “stoppage”  or “stand.” The Sun appears to stand still in the sky when it reaches its maximum distance north of the celestial equator. 

June 21 is the day of the year with the longest period of daylight and is known as Midsummer. Originally a Pagan holiday, Midsummer is a time of fertility. 

It was believed that mid-summer plants like Calendula (Marigolds) had healing powers and they were picked on this night. Bright yellow marigolds look like small representations of the Sun.

Bonfires will be lit through out many nations, especially in Nordic countries like Sweden, on Midsummer’s Eve. Traditionally, the bonfire (another representation of the Sun) was meant to “wake up” the ground to make the fields fertile for another season. 

In Austria, a procession of ships will make their way down the Danube River while fireworks erupt from the banks and hill tops and bonfires blaze, lighting the vineyards of the wine-growing Wachau Valley.

In Denmark, the solstice has been celebrated since the time of the Vikings by visiting healing water wells and making a large bonfire to ward off evil spirits. 

In Poland, young girls and women will dress in white wearing wreaths of yellow and white wildflowers on their heads. They will set candled wreaths afloat in rivers in hopes that young man will find the wreaths while fishing and fall in love with them. The rite is known as “Rzucanie Wiankow” (throwing of the wreaths)...much like brides who toss their bouquets to their unmarried friends.

It’s no accident that June marks the beginning of “wedding season” in our modern culture. 

The New York City Swedish Midsummer celebration has been celebrated in Battery Park City in lower Manhattan since 1996. 

The Seattle neighborhood of Fremont puts on a large Summer Solstice Parade and Pageant.  

Santa Barbara has hosted an annual Summer Solstice celebration since 1974 with a festival and a parade. 

Tucson will host its first every Earthwalk Solstice celebration his event features a walk through a giant labyrinth, musicians, healers and a ceremony. 

In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the large number of Finnish and northern European descendants will light a beachfront bonfire.

Celebrations will be held June 21 through June 24. Then we begin to ease into shorter days and we slowly slide southward into Autumn and Winter.

July 1, 2011 Partial Solar Eclipse

Usually, eclipses come in pairs, but this summer, we have three.

We’ve all heard that “things” come in threes. Good or bad. There is an idiom that says the third time’s the charm. No one can say for sure why that phrase became popular.  Some believe it alludes to the belief that, under English law, anyone who survived three attempts at hanging would be set free. Whatever the reason, we’ll have to see if the third eclipse of the summer of 2011 brings luck or not.

The July 1, 2011 partial solar eclipse will occur in 9 degrees of Cancer and will be visible to anyone who happens to be off the coast of Antarctica.  The June 1, 2011 partial solar could be seen only from the Arctic.

We have had a series of eclipses in Cancer or its opposite sign of Capricorn since July 2009. Those eclipses have been:

July 7, 2009: Lunar eclipse in 15 degrees Capricorn
July 22, 2009: Solar eclipse in 29 degrees Cancer
Dec 30, 2009: Lunar eclipse in 10 degrees Cancer
Jan 15, 2010: Solar eclipse in 25 degrees Capricorn
Jun 26, 2010: Lunar eclipse in 5 degrees Capricorn
July 11, 2010: Solar eclipse in 19 degrees Cancer
Jan 4, 2011: Solar eclipse in 14 degrees Capricorn
July 1, 2011: Solar eclipse in 9 degrees Cancer

Needless to say, those with strong Cancer or Capricorn signatures will be very happy to have this last eclipse out of the way.

The Sun represents our will. The Moon represents our emotions. The Moon is the natural ruler of the sign of Cancer. During this solar eclipse, the Moon will pass between the Sun and the Earth and will be visible from what we consider the “bottom” of our world.  This is a New Moon and like all New Moons, this is the best possible time to start something new. A new relationship of any kind that begins at this time will be a keeper. However, one of you may behave as more of a mother-figure if a new relationship should begin. This time could signal a change in feelings. Or you could begin a new creative project.

I say this because Cancer is the archetypical sign of the mother. Cancer is sensitive, emotional, sympathetic, security-conscious, maternal, protective, calm, imaginative, conscientious, and traditional.

Where the signs of Cancer & Capricorn are in your chart is where the effects of the July 1 eclipse will be felt in your life. If you have natal planets in 9 degrees of any sign, chances are you’ll feel the eclipse more keenly than others.