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I’ll begin with America because even with the problem over
the time of birth, at least there is agreement about the day and
therefore we can see what the Jupiter-Saturn transit in Libra will
do to the natal planets. I am personally convinced by Rudhyar’s
chart because it seems to me to describe what I see very accu-
rately. Saturn is in the tenth house in Libra, and the midheaven is
around two degrees of Libra. Saturn falls in square to the natal
Jupiter-sun conjunction in Cancer in the seventh house, which
deals with the other whether it’s another person or another
country. The tenth house in mundane charts always refers to the
style of government, the leader, just as in an individual chart it
is the person’s image or persona in the eyes of the world, the
thing which rules him in terms of external standards of behaviour.
Now, the Jupiter-Satum conjunction lands on the midheaven-
Saturn midpoint, and hovers around Saturn for quite some time.
That suggests some turmoil in terms not only of the present gov-
ernment, which would be very unlikely to survive another term
in office after a transit like this,* but it also suggests to me that 106 —-
the basic psychic pattern which the transiting Jupiter-Saturn
conjunction will trigger. There are implications of an overesti-
mation of something in relation to another country, and a blow
to the image or the national pride, and a re-evaluation of stan-
dards and goals as a result.
The Jupiter-Saturn conjunction falls on the ascendant of
Israel’s chart. It also conjuncts the natal Neptune, which is in
ten degrees of Libra in both Carter’s and the AFA charts. Saturn,
I should mention, will be hanging about in the first half of Libra
long after Jupiter has moved on, so the effects of this transit will
probably last for quite a while, through the first half of 1982 at
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least. Jupiter and Saturn moving over the ascendant suggests to
me that it is the personal identity of the nation which is being
affected. The ascendant is the thing toward which we aspire, the
myth which we try to live. We may not be equipped to live it very
well because the rest of the chart may contradict it, but we will
try nevertheless. The Sagittarian ascendant in America’s chart
seems to me to be much more descriptive than the usual Gemini
ascendant given, because the dream of the American is the life of
the free individual with space to roam in and his own autonomy
over his own lifestyle. Sagittarius is a cowboy at heart, whereas
Gemini is a cultured intellectual—not the thing I would associate
with the image of the typical American as he presents himself to
the world.*
So Israel sees itself as either a Libran or a Scorpio, depending
upon which chart you prefer. I can’t really assess this, because I
have never lived there and have no direct experience of the nation.
Libra is an idealistic sign, and despite the various encounters
Israel has had with its neighbours in the years since it was founded,
I think there has always been an attempt to present itself as a
place where a formerly persecuted people can live in peace and
without threat. The ideal of Israel is a great dream, and I think
there is a case to be made for that Libran ascendant with its hope
of an orderly, beautiful, harmonious life. The transit of Saturn
over this point, which means over Neptune as well, suggests a
disillusionment, a recognition of the fact that the world might
not be like that. Saturn transiting over Neptune in an individual’s
chart has a very disillusioning effect, because some great dream
or fantasy that has always been cherished tends to take a batter-
ing from material reality. If the fantasy has any truth in it, it is
left more realistic, and if it’s just wild, then it collapses altogether.
Jupiter makes things want to grow, but Saturn curtails the growth
through harsh reality.
The effect of this conjunction on a country is going to be
much the same as the effect on an individual. If you have an
ascendant somewhere within orb of the seven or eight degree
point of the conjunction, then Jupiter will bring out the need to
open up your life, to develop yourself either through relation-
ships or through separating from relationships. But Saturn pro-
motes the realisation that you are limited by circumstances and
by your own fears and blockages. Saturn forces a confrontation
with responsibility, with what hasn’t been done or sorted out. The
108 —-
vision of a free future arises just at the moment when you are feeling most inadequate and least able to manifest it. The reaction of course-varies. You can try to put the two things together, and use the vision as a goal toward which to work, taking care of what needs to be looked at internally or externally. That would be a more creative way of reacting. Or you can overcompensate and get terribly restless because of the feeling of restriction, and start blaming everything and everyone in sight for the fact that you can’t have this beautiful thing you suddenly realise you want.
Of course an individual has options which a country doesn’t, because an individual can bring his consciousness to bear on a problem. A nation must react, because the mass is a very unconscious organism, and the less individual the people are in a nation, the more wildly it will react to planetary pressure. If I saw the squares between Saturn and Jupiter conjunct sun in America’s horoscope in a person’s chart, linking the seventh and tenth houses as they do, I would probably suggest that the person try some analysis to get at the root of the insecurities that make him behave so compulsively. But a country unfortunately can’t go into analysis. The blinder and more indoctrinated the people are in a country, the more hysterical their responses are likely to be when a sensitive point gets triggered. But a people don’t become more conscious except by each individual coming to terms with his own issues. That is very difficult, and is the thing most of us would rather avoid dealing with. It’s far easier to go along with whatever is happening and then get very angry when a country like Iran misbehaves. Or, on the other hand, if you’re Iranian, to get very angry if America misbehaves.
The chart for Iran which I have put up on the board is set for the collapse of the Shah’s government and the establishment of the Islamic Republic under Khomeini. I have no idea whether it’s a correct chart or not. That’s the problem with many of these mundane horoscopes, because sources conflict. This chart gives an ascendant of seven degrees of Cancer, with Venus in seven Capricorn on the descendant. The Jupiter-Saturn conjunction would therefore square both the ascendant and the natal Venus, A square to the ascendant is much like a conjunction, but it’s more aggressive and unpredictable. So the things I said about the Jupiter-Saturn over Israel’s ascendant would apply here, about the urge for sudden expansion and perhaps rather inflationary ideas about the country’s own importance, coupled with a sharp backlash