An astrological view of the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States starts by looking at the birth chart of our country. The chart many astrologers use is cast for July 4th, 1776 at 5:20 PM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In looking at our nation’s birth chart we would also want to include where the planets are currently placed in that chart. In astrology these are called transits, and the most significant planetary transit in the United States’ chart is Pluto. This is because Pluto is about to come back to the same position it was in the U.S. birth chart ,which in astrology is called a planetary return. For the planet Pluto, the orbital cycle is about 248 years. Because Pluto’s cycle is so long, when it comes back to a conjunction with its position in the birth chart of the United States, it takes several years to achieve the exact conjunction.
In the birth chart of the U.S. the planet Pluto is in the second house (values, resources, possessions and money), and in the sign Capricorn (governance, standing in the world community, big-business, political leadership, and currency ). Two-hundred and thirty-two years later in early 2008, Pluto again entered the sign Capricorn. In October of 2008 – we began what we now call ‘The Great Recession’ which had a huge impact on the U.S. in terms of money and governance. We are now entering the last phase of this Pluto return which is the exact conjunction of Pluto with it’s natal position. The reaction to the Covid-19 crisis has been coined ‘The Great Lockdown’ by the IMF (International Monetary Fund).
During the second half of 2020, Pluto was joined in the late degrees of the sign Capricorn by Jupiter, the great increaser and amplifier; Mars, the god of war and willful force; and Saturn, the Lord of Karma and the great teacher and evaluator. This signified major upheavals.
Let’s also look at the word crisis. It comes most recently from Middle English denoting the turning point of a disease. And the root is from the Greek word krisis, which means ‘decision’. The general use of crisis as ‘decisive point’ dates from the early 1600’s in England.
For a complete view of what the Pluto return means we need to look at the critical stations in the whole 248 year orbital cycle. After the natal position of Pluto in Second House and in the sign Capricorn, the first critical station was the waxing square, when Pluto was one quarter through the full cycle. A waxing square is a time of a sharp physical change of direction and it occurred in this Pluto cycle from 1848 to 1852 when the U.S. was in the Mexican-American War. This concluded with the Mexican loss of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, half of New Mexico, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. This time also included the California Gold Rush and in California becoming the 31st state.
Pluto then moved on to an opposition to its natal position which is a time of fulfillment and clarity. This was a period between 1935 and 1938, and was a time of beginnings for – Alcoholics Anonymous; the Gallup Polls; the WPA; the Rural Electrification Act and the Social Security Administration.
Pluto next came to a waning square, which is a sharp mental change of direction, from 1982 and 1983. This was when we witnessed the early 1980’s recession; the Uni-Bomber; the Tylenol Murders; the first computer virus; the early careers of William Barr, Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump.
This Pluto return cycle for the U.S. shows the stations of 1st) birth through a war of independence, 2nd) a sharp change of physical direction through expansionism, 3rd) a fulfillment through social development, and 4th) a sharp change of mental direction through cultural polarization.
In astrology the planet Pluto (Hades in Greek mythology) is the lord of the underworld. He is associated with radical transformation by way of drastic breaking down and/or reaching down deep inside to remove what is no longer viable and is in need of removal. Pluto at its most dramatic is a death and rebirth (resurrection) experience. As a planetary cycle of 248 years, Pluto is associated with issues that are usually experienced by the masses. This planet was discovered in 1930 by an American astronomer, which was the first year of the Great Depression; the first time the newly invented television was broadcast nationwide in the U.S.; the peak of underground gangster violence; the rise to power of the Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler; and the early development of the atomic bomb.
In astrology the conjunction aspect of a Pluto return is a time of crisis that is meant to expose sickness that needs to be cured. This crisis also indicates the need for drastic social changes for those who are in positions of weakness, especially in the darker unseen realms of our society, those hidden away, caught in dire circumstances, those we have given up on, restrained, locked away, imprisoned, the elderly, the old, and those who need a powerful force to level the playing field. This Pluto return for the U.S. also indicates an extreme transformation in our monetary system, (the second house rules values, talents, money and possessions- what we most identify as ours) and governance.
Capricorn is the 10th sign of the zodiac and is associated with social position, career, and standing in the community. For a country, Capricorn has to do with governance, rulership, currency the capital of a country or state, management, and ’big business’. Since late 2008 the U.S. has struggled to recover from difficult lessons where the shortcomings of governance and currency were exposed. Pluto has continued his decades-long journey through the sign Capricorn and is now only a few degrees away from an exact conjunction in late Capricorn with the natal position of Pluto in the United States birth chart. This planetary aspect that can only happen to an entity that lives long enough to experience the full 248 year cycle of Pluto. The last time the United States was at this aspect in the Pluto cycle it was in the birth process as a nation fighting for its very life against one of the greatest empires in the world !
Today, the United States stands in the shadow of a looming cultural war which is nothing short of a life crisis. However, as can be seen in the history of the U.S., all periods of crisis are for both breaking down what is no longer needed as well as for growing and building up what is needed now. These times are visited by both demons and angles. The U.S. will witness both villains who spread confusion as well as heroes who bring healing. If the country is able to come to terms with the scale of the change needed – then recovery could happen by the end 2021 into 2022. Pluto will finish its return by the end of 2023, but if the country is unable to see the scale of this crisis, and imagine the magnitude of change needed for recovery – healing the nation will take much longer than anyone is currently thinking.