Welcome to the month of February and Part 3 of the astrological assessment of the United States of America.

The United States of America, has the Sun (the will of the people) and Mercury both in Cancer. Mercury    however, it is retrograde!  Cancer is the sign of self-protection and strong patriotism.  Good for us! So the Sun in Cancer represents a very strong willed nation!  We are going to protect ourselves at all cost.  It is where the strength of our country resides.

These two energies are located in the astrological chart, in the 8th house.   There are two other influences in this house as well, the part of fortune in Cancer and the North Node in Leo.  These four influences make for a sort of genius with the qualities of Cancer and issues of the 8th house.

The 8th house is a house of re-doing, of power (guerilla warfare), power plays and lifestyle changes every so often.   It is also the money of other countries and debts we might owe!  Oops!  Oh, yes, this house also represents hidden things and the mucky mucky of the world!  We as a nation, might like to ignore these things but it is just not in the stars!

Let’s consider Mercury retrograde for a moment, especially since it is also in Cancer and resides in this powerful house.  Most of the time, with the retrograde motion, the United States has the ability to see problems existing before other countries see them but we also know the solution as well.  The problem comes in when other countries are not able to see the problems at the same time.  It is almost like this country has x-ray vision.

The part of fortune is what makes us happy and that can be giving advice to other countries.   Our destiny is to find a balance between our own money and borrowing money from other countries.  Here in the 8th house, we are continually paying off debt from the “ancestors” decisions.   In other words, every four to eight years, the decisions by any current administration will be re-evaluated over and over again.  On the bright side, we will never be bored and it can stop us from becoming complacent!

Finally, we come to the North Node.  Leo in this house says several things. Besides looking at the difficult problems in the world, we are learning to have only a few close allies.  We can find new and better ways to protect ourselves and other countries as well.   Leo loves to play and do things because they want to!  In this house, playing is intense and since this can be the house of obsessions, we can be quite determined to have fun!  Addiction can also be part of this expression!  Hmmm!

Each time a transit (or the moving energy of the universe) touches one of these planets, we see some issues of the 8th house surface up.

Right now, the transit of Uranus is touching the part of fortune for the rest of the month.  It is a time when we can actually want to be shocked with unexpected things.  It is a rebellious time when Uranus comes along. On the 11th of February, Jupiter, the planet who brings exaggeration will join Uranus.  It will be like we are under a magnifying glass, making things bigger than life!  Not a time to hide. 

Saturn is the planet we look for when we want stability.  It is touching off the Mercury retrograde in this house. Mercury is all about communicating and decisions.  It is breaking up patterns now through the 14th.  It is a time when Saturn says “be clear and define” communications.  Saturn is about to push us to evolve, especially with how we communicate and network.  Saturn is in the 4 major areas of the United States chart and asks for balance.  Here the four major areas are the physical wellness, our status in the world, our partnership with other countries and the very foundation of our country.  We have to define where we are off balance regarding each of these areas.  It is a testing time for the foundation of this country.  Saturn says we are about to reap in each of these areas, whatever we have or have done!

This energy of Saturn right now is just the “preview of coming attractions” since this configuration returns in the summer.

One last bit of information before I go. The transit of the Sun conjuncts the Moon of the chart, on February 14 and 15th.  It is an indication of the new beginning for the United States and energy can be at a low point.  It is a new moon time for the USA.  Not a lot of light at this time.

Blessings!