The 120 year cycle of US history

Pictoral representation of US history

The change of major periods in the SAMVA USA chart has been attended by sometimes a momentuous shift in historical emphasis in the national life of the USA. The changes depend on the functional and general nature of the planet involved and its placement and aspects in the chart. Below is a succint overview of the major periods so far, spanning two whole Vimsottari dasa cycles (two times 120 years), with the third cycle having begun this year. The period match with US history is one thing. However, the most convincing aspect of the chart is that it has been the basis of repeat accurate predictions for the national life in the past decade. Links to earlier articles offering astrological analysis of the events under discussion are highlighted.

What to expect in each period

The table shows the main indications of each planet, giving an idea of what trends or themes to expect during the operation of its period, which can range from six to twenty years depending on the planet. The functional indications are associated with the house that the planet rules, while the general indications show attributes of the planet irrespective of the house it rules. Normally, the functional indications are more prominent in their expression in the national life. The other influences are associated with the house of placement and the aspects on the planet or the house it is placed in or rules. All these influences are ever present, to one degree or another, but the period of a planet makes its indications most prominent. Each of the nine sub-periods within a major period also have a considerable influence. Moreover, the transit influences of the slow moving planets can bring a wide variety of significant events. Finally, the rising sign, Cancer, gives the overall tenor for the national entity and its expression in the world. 

First Vimsottari-dasa cycle, 1776-1896

1776: SUN major period (2L Sun conjunct 7H and aspecting 1H) brought to the fore a magnificent national leader, George Washington as the States declared independence from Great Britain at a time of war. In 1781, the USA became a nation with the 13th and final ratification by Maryland of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union on February 2. The USA gained victory over Great Britain in the Revolutionary war half a year later.

1782: MOON major period (1L Moon in 11H in mutual aspect with 10L Mars and 6L Jupiter in 5H). The US was in economic crisis after the Revolutionary War. George Washington came out of retirement in response to Shays rebellion of 1786-87, when indebted farmers in Massachusetts rose up in objection to higher state taxes. While the rebellion was put down with force, the States came together to create the US Constitution and a federal form of government to improve conditions in the new country. The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the new constitution were ratified in 1791, ensuring civil rights and circumscribing the powers of the new federal government. The Bank of the United States (central bank) is founded. 

1792: MARS major period (10L Mars in 5H in mutual aspect with 1L Moon) began as the fame of the new country was spreading around the world. The domestic debate was strongly influenced by the French Revolution, with the Federalist political party favouring order over anarchy, while Republicans favoured liberty over oppression. In 1794, the new federal government asserted its power by putting down the long standing Whiskey Rebellion against federal taxes. The action met with widespread popular approval and raised confidence in the government. In 1795, the US entered into Jay Treaty with Great Britain, to secure trade between the countries. This angered the French revolutionary government, which resulted in the Quasi-War in 1798 that prompted President John Adams to  approve legislation restricting civil liberties of Americans during wartime.

1799: RAHU major period (Rahu in 10H MEP) brought attempted fraud of the US government and a war over trade. In 1806, former Vice President Aaron Burr was charged with treason for organising a vast conspiracy to appropriate huge tracts of land in the south eastern part of present day USA. He was acquitted but his political career was over. In 1812, another war broke out with Britain over its attempt to restrict the foreign trade of the USA. In 1814, British forces sacked Washington DC and burned the Capitol building and the White House. Later that year, the US militias rallied and won the war. The charter for the First Bank of the United States expired in 1811 but it was replaced by the Second Bank of the United States in 1816.

1817: JUPITER major period (6L Jupiter in 5H in mutual aspect with 1L Moon in 11H) brought the era of Good Feeling after the USA won the War of 1812. In 1823, the US introduced the staunch Monroe Doctrine, telling European powers that any efforts to colonise in the Western hemisphere would be met with war. The Second Bank of the United States became a focal point of the Bank War following the election of Andrew Jackson as President in 1828.

1833: SATURN major period (8L Saturn in 5H in aspect to 2L Sun in 7H) saw the end to the Second Bank of the United States in 1836, acquisition of new territories but bad treatment of the native Indians and slaves, including the Trail of Tears in the 1830s. Anxiety in Southern states after bloody slave uprisings in 1831 and the founding of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833 to work for the abolishment of slave holding. Slave uprisings took place in 1839 and 1841. First attempted assassination of a US President, Andrew Jackson, in 1835, followed by first assassinations of US politicians in 1842 (Charles C. P. Arndt) and 1847 (Charles Bent).

1852: MERCURY major period (3L Mercury in 7H) began with the Perry Expedition in 1853-54, which opened up Japan. John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry to incite an armed slave revolt in 1859 and the election of 'abolitionist' Abraham Lincoln as President in 1860, caused the issue of slavery to come to a head, with civil war breaking out in 1861. Major technological advances in railroads, telegraph, photography and journalism took place. President Lincoln was assassinated a week after the Confederate Army of General Lee surrendered in April 1865. Reconstruction began in 1866 with an emphasis on securing the rights of freedmen in the South, leading to the passage of new (13th to 15th) amendments to the US Constitution.

1869: KETU major period (FM Ketu in 4H MEP) began with a backlash in the South to the suffrage granted freedmen with the emergence of State laws undermining their voting rights. In 1873, there were several reported cases in the South of black men being lynched by mobs after being accused of raping white women. A Supreme Court decision affirmed the legality of the Union. The Panic of 1773 began the Long Depression.  

1876: VENUS major period (4L Venus in 6H) saw Jim Crow laws being introduced to segregate the South. President James Garfield was assassinated in 1881. The Robber Barrons reigned during the Gilded Age and the Long Depression. Technological advances were mixed with growing inequities, such that a populist movement emerged in 1890, when also the Sherman Anti Trust act was passed with the intent to break up the monopolies.

Second Vimsottari-dasa cycle, 1896-2016

1896: SUN major period brought dynamic leadership with William McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt after McKinley was assasinated in 1901, which ushered in the Progressive Era, a dynamic period of manufacturing growth.The USA also became a major player on the world stage.

1902: MOON major period resulted in the application of legislation ending monopolies in the USA. New amendments to the U.S. constitution were passed.

1912: MARS major period brought the assembly line production to car manufacturing and the role of the USA to end WW I in Europe. The Federal Reserve system is created in 1913.

1919: RAHU major period brought a big stock market bubble, involving deceptive practices of stock selling to the general public, that exploded and created the Great Depression. Organised crime arose in response to the Prohibition and famous bank robbers emerged during the depression. 

1937: JUPITER major period brought fascist governments to power in Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan, leading to war in Asia and Europe, that pulled the USA in to WW II and made it the pillar of a new world order. The Federal Reserve worked with the US Treasury to ensure sufficient funds to finance the war effort.

1953: SATURN major period (8L Saturn in 5H in aspect to 2L Sun in 7H)  brought the Hydrogen bomb to the USA and USSR, creating death-like fear of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) during the Cold War. The failed Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis took place. Many prominent leaders were killed, including President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. The US Space Program took off with death-defying feats to place men on the Moon and bringing them back alive.

1972: MERCURY major period (3L Mercury in 7H) opened up with Nixon's trip to the Soviet Union and China, to normalise relations. The period brought independent news papers to the forefront with the publication of the Pentagon papers and the effort to expose the Watergate coverup, which brought down the Presidency of Richard Nixon. The personal computer and internet revolutions took place, heralding the advent of a post-industrial society.

1989: KETU period (FM Ketu conjunct 4H MEP) began with the fall of Soviet Communism and the US emerging as the sole 'superpower' in the world. Many terrorist attacks involving alientated people or groups took place. O.J. Simpson, a prominent black man, was charged with murder of his white wife in a racially charged trial.

1996: VENUS period (4L Venus in 6H) brought a major housing bubble that collapsed the banking system and created tremendous communal disharmony, including the Occupy Wall St. protests over bailouts of bankers and the growing inequality. 

Third Vimsottari-dasa cycle, 2016-2136

2016: SUN major period is bringing a political revolution by President Trump on behalf of the working people, to restore better paying manufacturing jobs, and to Make America Great Again.

2022: MOON major period

2032: MARS major period

2039: RAHU major period

2057: JUPITER major period

2073: SATURN major period

2092: MERCURY major period

2109: KETU major period

2116: VENUS major period 

Based on the information above we may have some idea what to expect in the coming 120 years, although the period expression is strongly affected also by the transits of the slow moving functional malefic planets, Rahu, Ketu, Jupiter and Saturn, through the different signs and houses, and making aspects that produce significant events that colour the trends. In the final analysis, astrology can show us the multivalent possibilities of evolving themes and events in any life as per its horoscope. However, the complexity of the reading can easily begin to approach the complexity of life itself. It is this insight that compels the astrologer to try to bring out the salient trends and significant events.

Addendum: How long will the USA exist? 
The USA has existed in its present form for close to 240 years, which is not old for a nation. That said, it has acquired a well-known identity, which has also evolved. Given the many strengths in the SAMVA USA horoscope, it will likely continue for a much longer time. This brings up the interesting question of how long we should expect a nation-state to survive? Let's look at the Vimsottari-dasa cycle in this regard. It was designed in antiquity for human life, when the maximum lifespan, for a strong and unafflicted chart, was judged to be 120 years. For the benefit of mundane astrology, author & astrologer V.K. Choudhry, has devised an astrological rule for timing when an aspect will be felt in the life of a native. The rules is based on the orb of the aspect, which ranges from 0° to 5°, before passing out effectiveness. The less the orb the more intense the aspect and the sooner in the life it is felt as a trend in the life. This is called a degree for a decade rule. This means the aspect is felt in the relevant planetary periods after about one decade in the life of the native for each degree of orb in the aspect. After the age of 50, the native should thus have experienced all aspects in the chart, the wide orb aspects last to be felt and with relatively less impact. The native may nevertheless continue for 70 more years of life, before reaching the ideal or maximum life span of 120 years, while also continuing to feel the aspects when triggered by transit or period. A similar rule for mundane or collective entities is called a degree for five decades rule. This means that an aspect with a 5° orb is felt after about 250 years in the national life. If the same logic is extended to the collective entity, a nation might thus continue for another 350 years, after the initial 250 years, before it would succumb to the frailties of old age, at the ripe old age of 600 years. This would be the equivalent possible maximum life span of a healthy collective entity. In history, there are not many records of states exceeding 600 years in their original incarnation. Dynasties and empires have come and gone but the local or indigenous people often remain in the same geographical area. In any event, we can assume that the USA has a long life ahead of itself. Hopefully, the future will be more rewarding and less intense than some of the events noted during the last almost two and half centuries. However, we cannot count on it.