The Vote for Independence July 2 1776

America's Nativity and the Current Presidential Election 

Part One

"The Second Day of July 1776 will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires, and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."

--John Adams to Abigail Adams, July 3, 1776

Bostonians Reading the Stamp Act

Introduction

The "birth chart" of the United States is a highly contested matter and for good reason. There is considerable ambiguity around the actual moment of separation between the colonies and their mother country; their beloved family and friends across the ocean.

So what would be the actual event that would be most symbolic of birth? The consensus in the astrological community is that of the 4th of July, the primary source from Thomas Jefferson's memoirs written many years later. However, countless documents, letters, articles, and the notes from the Continental Congress prove otherwise (Library of Congress). There was no group signing on the 4th of July, late in the day after a unanimous vote to approve the declaration, as Jefferson recalled years later. In fact, his own daily accounting had him shopping for women's gloves for his wife, purchasing seven pairs, then over to Sparhawks on 2nd street where he bought a thermometer and later donated a shilling and sixpence to charity. The actual minutes of the Continental Congress show that they convened in the morning, addressed a few unrelated matters and then approved the final wording of the declaration. It's assumed that Jefferson then took the document to be printed and left it there, where it was cut into sections for the convenience of the typesetters, which is why the original document was never seen again. All this is not to say that the fourth is not an important date, but, it is not the date of the unanimous vote, the moment filled with tension and relief that John Adams referred to in his letter to Abigail on the 3rd of July.

Because that moment reads so much like a birth, and having given birth (natural childbirth, so fully aware of the intensity of the moment) I can relate; therefore, I have chosen to go with the date and time that corresponds with historical records, which consist of articles, letters and notes made by those present, many of which contain impassioned references to the vote on the 2nd as a "birth" or "rebirth".

 "That the hand of God was involved in the birth of the new nation he [Adams] had no doubt. "It is the will of God that these two countries should be sundered forever." (Adams, 2001).


The chart below is for the vote on the morning of July 2nd 1776 shortly after 10 am. The time is an educated guess based on the notes from Congress combined with an account of the proceedings by David McCullough in Adams. To summarize, the doors to Congress were closed at "nine o'clock" just after Caesar Rodney made a dramatic entrance, mud-spattered, "booted and spurred." "Outside, rain and a cloudburst at 10 am, while New York continued to "abstain," after which South Carolina joined the majority and the vote went rapidly, making the decision unanimous in the sense that no colony opposed.

Discussion

This most compelling difference between this chart and the one that so many astrologers have adopted for the 4th of July is the Capricorn Moon in the shadow of Pluto. The other fundamental differences are the ascendent/descendent at Virgo and Pisces, and Gemini on the midheaven and Sagittarius on the nadir. My reasoning for this position of the moon is as follows:

The vote for independence was in every way a vote for revolution as the King had long since decided that the colonies were in a state of rebellion and that those responsible were guilty of treason. The Moon in Pluto's shadow is symbolic of the dark mother, whereas a Moon/Pluto conjunct, with Moon on the light side or waning would have a very different energy. Had the moon been leading the mother figure would be positive and encouraging. If we take the chart for the 2nd of July we see an entity struggling to throw off a devouring mother. This position of the Moon speaks volumes to what the colonists were struggling with. At the moment of the vote they knew full well that they had cleared the hurdle of declaring independence but the war for freedom and liberty was just beginning. They would have to win the power struggle with a dark and oppressive mother.

Pluto conjunct Moon symbolizes an evolutionary need to transform oneself completely, to eliminate all external forms of security, but with Moon in Pluto's shadow one finds a mother that seeks to oppress and limit the child. They had merely cut the cord, now they had to fend for themselves against a mighty and formidable opponent in what became a bloody and tragic war. 

For the sake of brevity and also to cut to the quick of what spurred this article this is not a full analysis of the chart of the Vote, rather a "transit" reading of an extremely profound and phenomenal cycle taking place for the US. And, because we are such an important player in world affairs, and the future of our planet, this transit reading effects everyone on earth. 

CURRENT TRANSITS: 2016 Presidential Election and the Revolution

This chart for the US bears considerable significance now as we are in the final months of the 2016 presidential campaign as transiting Pluto (17 degrees Capricorn) is slowly closing in on a conjunction with the natal Moon in Capricorn.  To quote John Adams "Revolution began in the minds of Americans long before any shots were fired or bloodshed." With the mounting support for the two most unlikely fringe candidates, Bernie Sanders running on the Democratic Ticket and Donald Trump running on the Republican ticket, the spirit of revolution has become more than a word tossed around the ring, it has evolved into a political action that has swept both parties along with it.  The movement for full reform has brought new waves of voters to the polls, hoping for radical change, for full transformation of the status quo. 

As transiting Pluto proceeds toward the Moon, a transit that began February 2015, we will hear more and more about the need for a re-volution, remember that re-volution is simply a turning or spiraling around a center, a return to a specific point or degree. We are coming full circle as Pluto is in the final stages of its revolution around the sun, a 250 year cycle, when it comes back comes back to the point or degree it was in during the American Revolution, in a conjunction with the natal Moon sign of Capricorn, and Natal Pluto in Capricorn. This conjunction will not lock into place until 2020. It is not a question of IF there will be a revolution, but WHO will lead us through it.