(A portion of this article is taken from an earlier post.) The date and time of birth of the American nation has been a matter of debate for centuries now. Most astrologers use the “Sibley” chart for the US, named after Ebenezer Sibley, a prominent American astrologer in the late 1700s.

According to Benson Bobrick’s excellent work The Fated Sky Sibley, a Freemason, was well practiced in the field of mundane astrology, known for his accurate political predictions regarding both the American and French revolutions. Sibley also predicted that America would one day “have an extensive and flourishing commerce; advantageous and universal traffic to every quarter of the globe, with great security and prosperity amongst its people,” and eventually be “a new Empire that shall soon or late give laws to the whole world. ” This is rather startling considering the fact that Masonic historian Manly P Hall has reported that the US has a secret destiny:

“Thousands of years ago, in Egypt, these mystical orders were aware of the existence of the western hemisphere and the great continent which we call America. The bold resolution was made that this western continent should become the site of the philosophic empire. Just when this was done it is impossible now to say, but certainly the decision was reached prior to the time of Plato, for a thinly veiled statement of this resolution is the substance of his treatise on the Atlantic Islands.” (from Manly P Hall’s Secret Destiny of America).

Suffice it to say that Sibley had a mystical and Masonic background, and since most of America’s founders were Masons and therefore very concerned with matters of the occult, Sibley most likely had direct information regarding the actual time for the birthchart of the United States, and his is the chart that is predominantly used today. Some astrologers prefer the Scorpio rising chart but I feel that the Sagittarius rising of the Sibley chart most accurately describes the spirit of adventure, expansion and entitlement that the USA has exhibited since its inception.
(Click chart to enlarge). The Solar Return chart for the US shows the Sun in Leo nearing a conjunction to the Midheaven, indicating that the drama of the United States political world will be played out very publicly on the global stage over the next year. With Libra rising there will be a return to diplomacy and an understanding of the need to build relationships with global partners, although Mars in the seventh house of alliances and open enemies demonstrates a continued fierce independence in those partnerships and a likelihood of attacks from enemies.

The Moon conjuncts Uranus in the sixth house of daily routine, work environment and health. The Moon rules over issues of emotional security and family and Uranus craves autonomy and radical change – these two are not natural partners and in the US chart suggests sudden changes that have a strong effect on the US job situation and healthcare systems resulting in a lack of emotional security and safety. Jupiter squares the Moon/Uranus conjunction indicating a relentless optimism that continues to drive the change despite evidence that things are not working as hoped.

Venus, planet of attraction and love, is conjunct Saturn (tenacity, responsibility) in the eleventh house of friendship and social groups. The alliances in the eleventh house are not the same as seventh house partnerships – these are connections that rely on shared ideals and a desire to find expression of those ideals. NATO, the G-8 – these are examples of eleventh house alliances that are likely to be strengthened over the next year by the conjunction of Venus and Saturn. There will be a renewed sense of responsibility to our alliances that will be a refreshing change.

Retrograde Mercury of this Solar Return chart falls in the ninth house of higher learning, exploration of other cultures and philosophy. In the Ninth House we establish our own ideology and Mercury there shows a keen interest in exploring the ideologies of others in order to formulate our own. The fact that Mercury is retrograde indicates that as a nation we will go back and revisit failed assumptions that are no longer working for us and reformulate new ones. A transformation in our understanding is also demonstrated by the presence of retrograde Pluto in the third house of communication and learning. Pluto enforces a sharp focus on the issues of the house it inhabits, and in the third house there is an almost compulsive need to understand what is going on around us.

All in all, it looks like a year of philosophical and ideological change for the US as a whole, fraught with a certain amount of insecurity but with potential to gain understanding which in the long run is the most powerful ally of all.