The higher purpose of Americans

While Americans as a nation may exhibit a war-like tendency by "not backing down from provocations", they have many other important characteristics.

Conflict (a 6th house issue), losses (a 12th house issue) and obstacles/death (an 8th house issue) are integral parts of the human condition. All countries, like individuals, will have some form of such tendencies in their history. They may experience conflict either as instigator or recipient. However, those who adhere to a fixed position are more likely to experience conflict than those who seek to avoid it through flexible adjustment or compromise. While all have negative traits to some extent, some exhibit them more prominently than others. In yestedays article it was noted that the USA has a 6th house element more prominently placed in its national chart than many other countries. This means that the USA has a tendency to feel sufficiently strongly about its own point of view and is less likely to adjust to the others point of view such that armed conflict is the result.

To round out the pictue of what America is all about let us consider a few other placements.

First, let’s consider the strong and powerfully placed Sun in the 7th house of foreign affairs in the SAMVA USA chart. This placement suggests the country has an evolved collective soul. Not surprising, the country has become a powerhouse in international politics. It has a natural tendency and strong status to rule based on its authority (a feature of a strong Sun). The placement of major international organisations in New York (UN) and Washington (World Bank, IMF) and US military bases around the world are a testament to the country’s global influence. This placement, along with the 3rd lord Mercury in the 7th house, makes the participation and initiative ofthe US in international affairs quite pronounced and could partly explain the involvement in wars or their resolution. The placement of Rahu, an indicator diplomats, in the 10th house of government in the chart, also helps to explain the presence of major international organisations near the seat of power in the USA.

For instance, the recent effort of President Bush, who has gained some reputation as a war-President, to mediate and resolve the critical and tragic conflict over land in Palestine, is a great example of the strong Sun in the chart. President Bush is there expressing the highest nature of the American people and what gives the nation a stong sense of identity due to the Sun’s aspect to the 1st house of self and its purpose or mission in the world with the Sun influencing the 7th house. This sense of purpose was prominent in WWII, in the fight against Nazism and fascism and during the cold war in the fight against totalitarian communism. This collective sense was lost in the Vietnam War and in recent years, especially when the country succumbs to being adamant or feeling very strongly about the righteousness of its views. That, however, is a necessary ingredient in getting into so many wars unprovoked (dubious Gulf of Tonkin incidient and Vietnam, bogus weapons of mass destruction and Iraq) or provoked (Pearl Harbor and WWII, 9/11 and invasion of Afhanistan).

A second factor to consider are placements in the SAMVA USA chart that explain the dynamic of social injustices and their removal in American national life:

• (5) the early maltreatment of indigenous peoples and imported slaves and subsequent racial tensions and civil rights turmoil,
• (6) the thrust to a more humane society resulting in a bloody civil war and human rights battles to improve the life of minorities and ethnic groups

The affliction of Ketu to the 4th house of communal harmony and the affliction of Rahu to the 10th house of executive government and the placement of 4th lord Venus in the 6th house of conflict explain the above problem (5). The strong Sun and Moon in the 11th house of ideals and its mutual aspect with Mars as 10th lord in the 5th house of creativity, explain the struggle to resolve these problems. Abraham Lincoln and John F Kennedy became such revered and much loved Presidents because they activated the higher sense and mission of the American identity in the sentiments of the general populace (6).

Please also consider that a national chart, which the SAMVA USA chartis, offers a birds eye view of a collective dynamic, which many may or may not agree with at the personal level. While many people in America oppose wars, social injustice or violence on the streets, the US still finds its way repeatedly into military conflict, even assembling and spearheading international coalitions in the invasion of Kuwait (1991) and Irag (2003). Integration of different races, ethnicities or nationalities, especially illegal aliens, is still an ongoing process. Violence and drug use still run rampant. Young people still die in wars. These problems take time to solve, and when one problem is solved (abolition of slavery) another pops up (civil rights of African Americans). While such problems are being addressed they will never disappear for good.

Interestingly, in the Cancer rising chart of Bush, the 6th lord Jupiter is placed in the 3rd house of initiative and the 3rd lord Mercury of initiative is placed on the ascending degree of self. He is a decisive man that feels strongly about his views, including the need to punish opponents that violate his sense of justice. Although he has many good qualities, with Sun placed in the 12th house, he may not be as easily tuned into the highest sentiments of American people as some earlier Presidents have been concerning the use of state authority to inspire compliance. This may explain why some view him as a poster boy for war rather than an inspiring leader. However, he is now making a major effort to restore his legacy by trying to resolve a major source of contention in the world, the festering decades old conflict over land in Palestine. Let’s wish him success in that effort. There is a saying that "an improving man has the best life."

While the USA has Presidential candidates talking the way they do towards Iran (2008) and the crowds cheering them on, as the excerpt from a news story yesterday described, then the war-like tendency would still appear to be strong among many "red-blooded" Americans. In this regard, the sense of righteousness of the American politicians is partly explained by the mistakes of the Iranians.

In the 24° Cancer rising chart for Iran (3 PM, April 1, 1979, Teheran), the country has major problems in dealing with other countries, due to Rahu's influence on the 2nd house of relations with neighboring countries but also due to the influence of 6th lord Jupiter in the 1st house, aspecting a conjunction of Mars the 10th ruler of the executive and 3nd lord Mercury ruler of initiative in the 9th house of higher thought. This latter configuration explains a theorcratic form of government that tends to be dogmatic (adherence to finite views). The situation is supported by a strong and well placed Sun in the 9th house. While 1st lord Moon is exalted in the 11th house, boosting idealism to protect others, it is afflicted by Saturn as 8th lord of obstacles and endings. Along with the Rahu affliction, this placement suggests the regime is prone to making wrong decisions that lead it down a dangerous path of confrontation and losses.