The date of February 20 2022 marks the exact point of Pluto’s return to the place it was when the Declaration of Independence was signed at Philadelphia on July 4 1776, in late Capricorn.

Back then, the United States, primarily because of punitive British tax laws, was trying to wrestle free from the straitjacket of imperial control.

Some might suggest that right now the USA is fighting a similar battle for independence from an even more insidious controlling power, where even money, the creation of it – in fact the very nature of it – is in dispute.

Certainly, few would argue that the country is not divided, culturally and economically in a way it hasn’t been since the Civil War in the 1860s. Can a lot of this really be seen symbolised by Pluto’s return?

Bad Star

First of all, I do not believe that Pluto is a bringer of anything good. Many try to sanitise it as ‘transformative’, a force for necessarily destruction and renewal. That these are some of the symptoms of Pluto’s influence is undeniable.

However, in reality Pluto is a bad star, it can bring disaster, which is a word literally meaning ‘bad star’ in Latin. Pluto, a bit like its mythology, undermines, distorts and usually in secrecy, behind the scenes – and in a mask.

Unfortunately for the US, Pluto’s presence in the second house of finance and security, has always been and will always be, problematic. The very security of the nation has undergone many economic disasters and is experiencing another right now, along with the rest of the world, where inflation and debt are spiralling.

Drastic

And in Capricorn, which is about similarly practical, material, business and political concerns, the drastic distortions and divisions of our time have reached absurd levels, where there is seemingly no common ground left between liberals and conservatives. This is true worldwide too because Pluto’s transit through the highly political Goat has been common to all.

What is more, because Pluto represents hidden enemies and fifth columnists, it is not easy to see who you are up against. The one benefit of Pluto’s return may just be that, however; in the current exreme distortions being faced, the enemy could be revealing himself in a way not seen previously, or at least not since Independence.

There are some conditions in the US’s favour. Firstly, in the 1776 chart, Sagittarius is rising. Freedom is a word very much traditionally associated with America, and the country is going to have to reappraise what that word actually means.

Freedom

Sagittarius is the sign of freedom, ruled by the Greater Benefic, Jupiter, which in the July 4 chart is in Cancer, conjunct Venus in the 8th house of inheritance and investments. Here is the love of home, family, of being in love with the homeland and investing a lot of effort in it. It is this traditional national trait which is now being reinvigorated and will need to be, to essentially save what America is – or was?

The Sun (identity) is also nearby to Jupiter in the 1776 chart, with the fixed star Sirius in between. Sirius has a guardian-like nature and Americans are going to have to resort to this approach, this love of home, with pride, honour and committment if they are to save the traditional essence of their country in the long run.

So Pluto’s return, is in fact a window in a long process of drastic, traumatic financial and economic change, which began way back in 2008 when Pluto entered Capricorn.

Green Shoots

Pluto enters Aquarius in 2023, when we should begin to see, with some perspective, just what has been happening in recent years, and especially from 2020 to 2022, when Pluto was so close to that point of return.

And right now, there is a conjunction between Venus and Mars in Capricorn in the second house of the US chart. If ever there was a time to begin again, financially, it is now.

But the north node of the Moon in late Taurus, close to Algol the demon star, also warns us of the dangers of this time. Always proceed with caution, but we will have to wait until the spring to see true signs of those green shoots.

Copyright Francis 2022