Turmoil in the Second House – The U.S. Pluto Return (2021-2023) Part 3: History Rhymes (3)

Nixon Shock, The Aftermath

THE COST OF COMPROMISE

SHOCK WAVES FROM WASHINGTON

“…the dollar may be our currency, but it’s your problem…”
–Treasury Secretary John Connolly (Nitchter 2015)

Nixon’s announcement upended the international monetary system (Burns 2010), and caused mayhem in the currency markets. Countries that chose to hold their reserves in U.S. dollars suffered heavy losses and faced widespread economic turmoil. By mid-1973 the U.S. dollar had fallen by 25 percent on average, relative to the major Western currencies (Hammes and Wills 2005). “Shock waves from Washington’s decision to break the link with gold have rippled down the decades. The creation of the euro, the hollowing out of US manufacturing, the arrival of cryptocurrencies and the ability of central banks to print seemingly unlimited quantities of money can all be traced back to August 1971” (Elliott 2021).

I’m really very concerned about the way that things are shaping up politically in every one of these countries. Italy has a recession […] Germany has a recession […] we’re going to Moscow, but Japan is a mess. Western Europe is in a mess. We’ve given up our friends to our enemies.
—National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, November 16, 1971 (Nichter 2015)

In December 1971, after months of negotiations, the Group of Ten (G-10) industrialized democracies agreed to a new set of fixed exchange rates in the Smithsonian Agreement. U. S. dollar was devalued by 8.5% against gold to $38 per ounce. Europeans revalued their currencies by a similar amount and Japan agreed to revalue Yen by 16.9%.

Dubbed “the most significant monetary agreement in the history of the world,” by president Nixon, the agreement was doomed from the start. On February 12, 1973, U. S. dollar devalued by another 10% to $42 per ounce of gold. Speculation against the dollar pushed other major currencies to float against the dollar and rang the death knell for the fixed rate exchange regime. Gold rose to $90 an ounce in mid-1972 and reached $195 by the end of 1974.

Gold Price (per ounce) in U.S. dollars, 1970-1976. Sources: FastMarkets, ICE Benchmark Administration, Thomson Reuters, World Gold Council. Courtesy of https://www.gold.org.

Inflation, stagflation, and Price control

Having talked until recently about the evils of wage and price controls, I knew I had opened myself to the charge that I had either betrayed my own principles or concealed my real intentions. Philosophically, however, I was still against wage-price controls, even though I was convinced that the objective reality of the economic situation forced me to impose them. …

What did America reap from its brief fling with economic controls? The August 15, 1971, decision to impose them was politically necessary and immensely popular in the short run. But in the long run I believe that it was wrong. The piper must always be paid, and there was an unquestionably high price for tampering with the orthodox economic mechanisms.
–President Richard Nixon, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon

By all accounts, “Nixon’s economic package was a short-term success. Throughout 1972, the United States enjoyed the largest real growth (5.7 percent) and the lowest rise in consumer prices (3.3 percent) since the Johnson administration. Unemployment declined to 5.1 percent, and the American balance of payments deficit shrunk drastically from $29.8 billion in 1971 to $10.4 billion in 1972” (Nitchter 2015).

The 90-day wage and price control sought to “shield” the American people from the monetary shock and solve the inflation-employment dilemma. Such policy was supposed to allow the administration to maintain a loose fiscal policy without fanning inflation. However, inflation soon reignited after the election. In 1973 another round wage and price freeze failed to curb the inflation and was followed by stagflation.

When mandatory wage and price controls came to a complete end in 1974, the aftermath was far from pleasant. Energy shortages and high food costs contributed to an increase in inflation and to recession, and the pressure that built up after the period of controls lead into the destructive double-digit inflation that plagued the early months of the Ford administration. Three years after controls had complete [sic] ended, both unemployment and inflation hovered around 7 percent, and there was even nostalgia for the “good old days” in 1971 when we had only 4 percent inflation and 6 percent unemployment.
–President Nixon, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon

Unemployment hit 9% in May of 1975. Inflation reached double-digit in 1974 and 1979. The U.S. dollar price for a barrel of oil rose from $3.35 in January 1970 to $32.50 by the end of the 1970s. The U.S. consumer price index rose by 106 percent during the 1970s. The high interest-rate that followed brought on the recession in the early 1980s.

Unemployment rage, Prime Loan Rates, and Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), 1968-1987

“The U.S. and other western countries struggled to cope with the inflationary shock. Corporate profitability suffered, encouraging firms to move their production plants to parts of the world where labour costs were cheaper. By the time the US started to take draconian steps to curb inflation at the end of the 1970s, Deng Xiaoping was launching the reforms that would turn China from an economic backwater into an industrial superpower. Fifty years after the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, China has emerged as a bigger threat to the US than the Soviet Union ever was”. (Elliott 2021)

The current official price for gold stock on Fed balance sheet is at $42.22 per ounce (as of October, 2022, source https://www.federalreserve.gov/data/intlsumm/current.htm). By the end of the 1970s, gold had risen 1200% to more than $455. The open market price in 2022 is between $2091 and $1621 (as of November 25, 2022).

*Gold price data as of November, 2022. Source https://www.gold.org/goldhub/data/gold-prices*

THE CANTILLON EFFECT

Income inequality has significantly increased since the late 1960s, coinciding with the onset of the great inflation and welfare expansion. Since the Nixon presidency, richest Americans has experienced the fastest income growth while the real household income stagnated.

One often-downplayed consequence of monetary expansion is recognized by Irish economist Charles Cantillon (1680-1734). Cantillon observed that when money supply expands, those closest to the source of new money benefits the most, because they can purchase assets before the inflation occur. Those farthermost from the source of new money suffer the most, because they will bear the burden of inflation before their wages catch up with the price increase.

In other words, when massive amount of new money is created, not only does it lead to inflation but also chooses winners and losers. In our modern economy, the money expansion by central banks favors government, large corporations (that lobby the congress), and investors of these corporations. The accumulated effect leads to Plutocracy (government by the wealthy, of the wealthy, and for the wealthy) and Plutonomy (concentration of wealth), and threatens democracy. This effect is demonstrated by the stagnant real median household income over the past decades while asset price soared with the cost of living. When politicians advocate the “multiplier effect” of loose monetary policy “for the poor,” they conveniently leave out the fact that such policy exacerbates income inequality and worsens economic conditions for savers, people on fixed incomes, and wage earners, whose income increase persistently fall behind the inflation.

Consider the following recent headlines that demonstrate the Cantillon Effect in action, and how it bestows power and spreads corruption through central bankers, government insiders, and investment firms:

The New York Times, September 27, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/27/business/fed-rosengren-kaplan.html

Defense News, March 9, 2022. https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2022/03/09/bidens-ukraine-aid-package-is-getting-super-sized-by-congress/

Politico, April 11, 2022. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-influence/2022/04/11/business-booming-for-hunter-biden-linked-firm-00024459

Reuters, April 29, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/world/pelosi-hopes-pass-33-bln-ukraine-aid-bill-as-soon-possible-2022-04-29/

Reuters, August 8, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/exclusive-us-send-45-billion-more-ukraine-budget-needs-2022-08-08/

Defense News, August 8, 2022. https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2022/08/08/even-in-a-challenging-period-publicly-traded-defense-stocks-thrive/

Reuters, August 18, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/world/biden-administration-readies-about-800-mln-additional-security-aid-ukraine-2022-08-18/

Reuters, September 26, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-congress-negotiators-set-12-bln-new-ukraine-aid-2022-09-26/

Defense News, September 29, 2022. https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2022/09/29/republicans-push-biden-to-use-21-billion-ukraine-aid-set-to-expire/

The Wall Street Journal, Oct. 11, 2022. https://www.wsj.com/articles/government-officials-invest-in-companies-their-agencies-oversee-11665489653

Reuters, November 9, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/biden-says-he-expects-ukraine-aid-continue-uninterrupted-2022-11-09/

Defense News, November 15, 2022. https://www.defensenews.com/congress/budget/2022/11/15/white-house-requests-38-billion-more-in-ukraine-aid/

BlackRock press release, November 16, 2022. https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/newsroom/press-releases/article/corporate-one/press-releases/blackrock-financial-markets-advisory-to-advise-ministry-of-economy-of-ukraine

Reuters, November 23, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-authorizes-400-mln-new-military-aid-ukraine-2022-11-23/

The Wall Street Journal, November 21, 2022. https://www.wsj.com/articles/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-team-among-top-political-donors-before-bankruptcy-11668949205

The Washington Times, November 27, 2022. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/nov/27/hunter-bidens-dubious-business-dealings-raise-spec/

Reuters, December 6, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/world/us-lawmakers-authorize-800-million-more-ukraine-defense-bill-2022-12-07/

Reuters, December 9, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/world/biden-authorizes-new-275-mln-military-aid-ukraine-white-house-2022-12-09/

The New York Times, December 8, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/08/us/politics/lloyd-austin-pentagon-military-contractors.html

Bloomberg, December 12, 2022. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-12/ftx-bankruptcy-puts-73-million-of-political-donations-at-risk?sref=ZMFHsM5Z

Epoch Times, December 16, 2022. https://www.theepochtimes.com/more-than-80-cities-counties-using-federal-pandemic-aid-to-fund-guaranteed-income-pilot-programs_4927888.html

Reuters, December 21, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-announces-185-billion-additional-military-assistance-ukraine-2022-12-21/

Bloomberg, December 29, 2022. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-29/bankman-fried-met-white-house-aides-in-pre-collapse-crypto-push?srnd=premium

Bloomberg, December 29, 2022. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-29/biden-signs-1-7-trillion-funding-bill-that-includes-ukraine-aid?srnd=premium

IS THIS TIME DIFFERENT?

Money Supply Growth and Inflation, 2015-2022. Source: https://www.atlantafed.org/blogs/macroblog/2022/08/31/can-1970s-help-inform-future-path-of-monetary-policy.aspx

There are two leading causes of inflation we’re seeing today. The first cause of inflation is a once-in-a-century pandemic. Not only did it shut down our global economy, it threw the supply chain and demand completely out of whack…
And this year we have a second cause — a second cause: Mr. Putin’s war in Ukraine.
You saw — we saw in March that 60 percent of inflation that month was due to price increases at the pump for gasoline.
Putin’s war has raised food prices as well, because Ukraine and Russia are two of the world’s major breadbaskets of — for wheat and corn — …

Normally — normally, we’d have already begun to export them into the market. … But it’s difficult because, again, of Putin and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
– President Joe Biden, May 10, 2022

Housing Price Index and Consumer Price Indexes January 2020 – October 2022. Beginning of grey area indicates the start of Covid pandemic; end of grey area indicates the beginning Fed bond buying program (March 23, 2020-March 2022, including $87 billion in Treasuries and $34 billion in mortgage bonds); orange line indicates the start of Russian-Ukraine War (February 2022).

At the time of writing, the third and final conjunction of U.S. Pluto return is fast approaching. The difference between a Pluto trine in the 1970s and current Pluto return is that this time around, the transiting Pluto is both working for and against the U.S. The outward destruction and inner transformation –both constructive and destructive –work as one. The corruption (Pluto) in value (2nd house) is more intensified; so is the downfall and resurrection.

Pluto energy is both intensifying and transformative. Collectively, this energy rarely acts under freewill. What we’re presently witnessing (as of December 2022) is a strong and self-destructive force that will not quit until both fundamental change and significant collateral damage occur.

U.S.’s second house Pluto historically triggers money, currency and trade issue during important transits, this time is no different. Economists and market observers have come to the realization that the inflation/stagflation is resurfacing. This time, the Fed, caught between high inflation and high interest rate, is out of arsenals. “If the Fed runs down the SOMA (System Open Market Account. Fed’s asset portfolio containing the assets acquired and to be sold during open market operations) portfolio too much, they will break something in the market. If they don’t, we are stuck with inflation.” (Chavez-Dreyfuss 2022). Currently, the National debt to GDP ratio is at the highest since World War II. The debt servicing cost is at a steady up trend, and the treasury market liquidity is at crisis-level low.

Reminiscent of the great inflation of the 1970s, we are facing social and geopolitical tensions, overreaching government, volatile financial markets, and high inflation. In addition, we have unsustainable level of government and private debt, and a formidable geopolitical opponent to whom we continue to transfer funding, data, and advanced technology. In Nixon’s words: “the most formidable enemy that has ever existed in the history of the world” –China.

We won’t know to what extent and how this Pluto Return will manifest until the dust settles. If history is any guide, the inflation will not be transitory and the recession will not be shallow. Whatever temporary fix for structural problems will have long-lasting impact and unintended consequences.

It would be prudent to review major legislation and executive orders during the crucial Pluto return period (between March 2021 to December 2023). The policies that aim to solve long-term problems with political compromises –or worse, outright corruption –will not work as intended, and will likely carry pernicious consequences. It’s not too late to recognize the folly of our experts and officials, and the destruction the political class can inflict on our lives. The least we can do is to insulate ourselves as much as possible in the wake of their short-sighted and disastrous policies.

Federal government budget surplus or deficit (Green)
Government current expenditures: Welfare and social services (Blue)
Federal Government: National Defense Consumption: Expenditures and Gross Investment (Red)

Conservatives are always at a disadvantage when speaking about economics because their belief that some pain may be necessary now to save the patient later is conventionally interpreted by liberal politicians and commentators as “heartlessness” or “callous indifference to human suffering.”

It is unfortunate that the politics of economics has come to dictate action more than the economics of economics. Not surprisingly, when prudence clashes with political reality, the latter sometimes triumphs.
—President Richard Nixon, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon

ADDITIONAL READING

REFERENCE

Abrams, Burton A. 2006. “How Richard Nixon Pressured Arthur Burns: Evidence from the Nixon Tapes.” Journal of Economic Perspectives, no. Volume 20, Number 4: 177–88. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/journal-economic-perspectives-1167/richard-nixon-pressured-arthur-burns-evidence-nixon-tapes-2388.

Bordo, Michael D. 2018. “The Imbalances of the Bretton Woods System 1965 to 1973: U.S. Inflation, The Elephant in the Room.” NBER. National Bureau of Economic Research. December 2018. http://www.nber.org/papers/w25409.

Bordo, Michael, Eric Monnet, and Alain Naef. 2017. “The Gold Pool (1961-1968) and the Fall of the Bretton Woods System. Lessons for Central Bank Cooperation.” National Bureau of Economic Research. 2017. https://economics.ucdavis.edu/events/papers/copy2_of_417Bordo.pdf.

Bryan, Michael. 2013. “The Great Inflation .” Federal Reserve History. November 22, 2013. https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/great-inflation.

Butkiewicz, James L., and Scott Ohlmacher. 2021. “Ending Bretton Woods – The Economic Historian.” The Economic Historian. December 7, 2021. https://economic-historian.com/2021/12/ending-bretton-woods/.

Chavez-Dreyfuss, Gertrude. 2022. “Analysis: Nagging U.S. Treasury Liquidity Problems Raise Fed Balance Sheet Predicament.” Reuters. November 8, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/nagging-us-treasury-liquidity-problems-raise-fed-balance-sheet-predicament-2022-11-08/.

Eichengreen, Barry. 2000. “From Benign Neglect to Malignant Preoccupation: U.S. Balance-of-Payments Policy in the 1960s.” National Bureau of Economic Research, March.

Elliott, Larry. 2021. “Rise of Cryptocurrencies Can Be Traced to Nixon Abandoning Gold in 1971.” The Guardian. August 15, 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/aug/15/rise-of-cryptocurrencies-can-be-traced-to-nixon-abandoning-gold-in-1971.

Ferrell, Robert H. 2010. Inside the Nixon Administration: The Secret Diary of Arthur Burns, 1969-1974. University Press of Kansas.

Ghizoni, Sandra Kollen. 2013. “Nixon Ends Convertibility of U.S. Dollars to Gold and Announces Wage/Price Controls.” Federal Reserve History. November 2013. https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/gold-convertibility-ends.

Ghosh, Atish Rex. 2021. “From the History Books: The Rethinking of the International Monetary System.” IMF Blog. August 16, 2021. https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2021/08/16/from-the-history-books-the-rethinking-of-the-international-monetary-system.

Ghosh, AtishRex. 2021. “Behind Closed Doors.” International Monetary Fund|Finance & Development. September 2021. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2021/09/book-review-three-days-at-camp-david-garten.

Hammes, David, and Douglas Wills. 2005. “Black Gold: The End of Bretton Woods and the Oil-Price Shocks of the 1970s.” The Independent Review.

Hetzel, Robert L. 2013. “Launch of the Bretton Woods System.” Federal Reserve History. November 22, 2013. https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/bretton-woods-launched.

Humpage, Owen. 2013. “The Smithsonian Agreement.” Federal Reserve History. November 22, 2013. https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/smithsonian-agreement.

Lehrman, Lewis E. 2011. “The Nixon Shock Heard ’Round the World.” The Wall Street Journal. August 15, 2011. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904007304576494073418802358.

Lowenstein, Roger. 2011. “The Nixon Shock.” Bloomberg Businessweek. August 4, 2011. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-08-04/the-nixon-shock.

The Washington Post. 2019. “How Paul Volcker Beat Inflation and Saved an Independent Fed.” Washington Post. December 10, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/how-paul-volcker-beat-inflation-and-saved-an-independent-fed/2019/12/10/7e58d7ae-1b64-11ea-87f7-f2e91143c60d_story.html.

Mandelman, Federico, and Brent Meyer. 2022. “Lessons from the Past: Can the 1970s Help Inform the Future Path of Monetary Policy?” Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. August 31, 2022. https://www.atlantafed.org/blogs/macroblog/2022/08/31/can-1970s-help-inform-future-path-of-monetary-policy.aspx.

Manly, Ronan. 2021. “British Requests for $3 Billion in US Treasury Gold – The Trigger That Closed the Gold Window.” BullionStar. August 16, 2021. https://www.bullionstar.com/blogs/ronan-manly/british-requests-for-3-billion-in-us-treasury-gold-the-trigger-that-closed-the-gold-window/.

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“Money: De Gaulle v. the Dollar.” 1965. Time, February 1965.

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Turmoil in the Second House – The U.S. Pluto Return (2021-2023) Part 1: Astrology

William Blake. *America. A Prophecy* [Public Domain].

In this article, I will explain the astrology of the U.S. Pluto and the significance of the U.S. Pluto return. We will dive into the 27th degree of Capricorn, explore its hidden meanings through its antiscia degree, and discover possible solutions provided by the 27th degree of Cancer.

–Author

The long-awaited U.S. Pluto return is upon us. This is the period when Pluto completes a revolution around the sun and returns to the same zodiac degree in the nation’s birth chart. Based on the most commonly-used U.S. national birth chart, the exact U.S. Pluto return dates are February 19, 2022; July 12, 2022; and December 27, 2022. Using a narrow one-degree orb, the active period of this transit started in March 2021 and will stretch well into the end of 2023.

It is monumental because beside its rare occurrences (approximately once every 248 years), both participants of this event are equally powerful and unyielding. Natal Pluto symbolizes the entity’s survival instinct and nucleus of strength. Transiting Pluto, manifesting as external events, transforms everything it touches, destroying the frivolous and folly, mercilessly cutting down wastes and excess, and unifying the false dichotomy. Pluto transits force us to define and defend the crux of our existence, the spark of our souls. Failing that, we are zombies, lobotomized. We are a shell of our former selves. Our lights go out.

At the founding of the nation, the colonists presented the Declaration of Independence, stating:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

In reality, this credo has not held true. In this series, I will attempt to unpack the U.S. Pluto through astrology and history. Once we define our core strengths and our survival strategy, we have a better chance to find a clear path forward.

The astrology of U.S. Pluto

The most widely used U.S. Birth Chart was elected by British physician, astrologer, and occultist Ebenezer Sibly (1751-1799). Sibly’s chart placed the U.S. Pluto in the second house at Capricorn 27 degrees and 32 minutes. It is not the scope of this series to cover the U.S. birth chart in its entirety. Instead, I will focus on the astrology of U.S. Pluto and its cycle manifested in past and current events.

Meaning of the Second House

The second house of an astrology chart points to the resource at one’s disposal. Most commonly referred to as the house of money, it actually refers to value and resource in the broadest terms: judgment of worth, weighing of priorities (for deploying resources), money, time, energy, efforts, talents, personal properties, faculties, and freedom. Simply put, it is what we deem valuable and dedicate our resources to as a nation.

Meaning of U.S.’ Capricorn-Aquarius Second House

The second house in the U.S. birth chart spans from the 9th degree of Capricorn to the 13th degree of Aquarius. The Capricorn house cusp and the Pluto placement in Capricorn warrants heavy emphasis on Capricorn quality regarding the nation’s value and priorities.

The archetypal Capricorn is conscientious, responsible, insecure, and status-seeking. Driven by the underlining inferiority complex, Capricorn appeals to the authority and desires to present itself as the arbiter of reality. Predictably, Capricorn strives for stability and respectability, i.e. money and social status, and by extension, demands others to honor and conform to the social order it helps build, for it abhors the unpredictable and the deviant.

In short, Capricorn aspires to project success and order. Contrary to popular belief, Capricorn in the U.S. second house indicates that we as a nation value status and stability above all. Our collective pursue has always been wealth, power, and control.

The second part of the U.S. second house is in Aquarius. Innovation, revolutions, freedom, and Egalitarianism are also at our disposal. Pluto’s placement near the cusp of Aquarius hints at solutions that contain contradicting maneuvers, which I will discuss further.

Meaning of Pluto

Pluto in our natal chart represents the nucleus of our psychological and physical survival. It is what we cling to in our most perilous moments. It’s the part of us that digs deep and plays dirty for self-preservation.

Pluto is the fear of annihilation petrified into obsession, and the obsession eating its own tail. In the case of U.S. Pluto, our obsession with staying safe has turned a pent-up citizenry explosive. The interventions to stabilize domestic and international crises have destabilized the intended target in most cases. The need to control and manipulate our environment and relationships is sometimes so great that an off-the-rails Pluto will seek to alter the status quo by self-destruction. Despite its many negative manifestations, losing our Pluto, we lose the will to live and become frail facades.

Transiting Pluto shares the same quality and manifests through dramatic external events. During a Pluto return, the entity’s will to survive encounters the universal force to transform. Surviving and thriving during Pluto transits requires letting go of the status quo, –no exceptions. The more we try to stay the same, the more drastic the demolition. The only way through it is shedding all non-essential and pretense in every aspect of our lives. When we do, we’re indestructible.

Pluto in Capricorn

As these once-sacred institutions will simultaneously face the Plutonian purging and reform, seeking shelter from these establishment will be futile. Frauds exposed, credibility plummeted, the dismantling is unfolding right in front of our eyes. We share our fates with our nation, but that does not mean we face the same limited options as an overreaching and overstretched behemoth. It is worth mentioning that the U.S. Pluto placement also entails that the government and institutions will try the tools of control and oppression, even blatantly violate the social contract during their breakdown and transformation.

Pluto in the Second House, Ruling the Twelfth House

Pluto in the second house puts tremendous wealth and resources at U.S.’ disposal; it also clearly points to Plutocracy and Plutonomy. Destructive and weaponized Pluto signals dramatic rise and fall of fortune and unscrupulous policies that could rip the social fabric and undermine U.S.’ global standings. Pluto’s will to power and its manipulative, meddlesome approaches, in combination with misguided foreign entanglement and systemic corruption, could spell U.S.’ self-undoing.

Meaning of Capricorn 27^th degree

The 27^th degree of the zodiac is a degree of discontent and defiance; it is also a degree of exceptionalism. People under the influence of this degree acknowledge the deterioration of the institution and absurdity of the status quo. They also regard their peers as ineffectual when it comes to support and insights. To serve a higher calling, they depart from the social perimeter and blaze new trails.

The Sabian symbol for Capricorn 27th degree is “a large aviary”. We get the colorful image of chattering birds in confinement, but this hardly provides enough clues to flesh out our current predicament. My interpretation for this degree is twofold:

“Technocrats conspire with foreign agents to manage a discontent populace and disappointed international allies.”

“Disappointed truth seekers confront their peers who have resorted to underhanded maneuvers, and decide to remove themselves to take a higher ground.”

Lonsdale’s reading of this degree reminds us to rein in our follies:

“You need to drop the vast bulk of your voluminous self-indulgences in order to, after all, start to wake up and really remember purpose and the whole story.”

Capricorn 27 people are workaholics and truth-seekers who separate themselves from their peers to rise above groupthink and mediocrity. This degree reveals that the system has been corrupted and is breaking down. No help is coming from the establishment; they must break away from the consensus and convention to craft their exit plans. A small group of visionaries will propose solutions that seem impossible and unpopular, but soon will become the only viable option. At the founding moment, the energy of this degree was imprinted as the nation’s core strength and survival mechanism. We have come a long way and strayed far from the trailblazing business in many ways.

Another way to read a zodiac degree is to look for the hidden meaning derived from its shadow degree (antiscia). Antiscia is the zodiac degree that shares the same distance from solstice points as the degree in question, like a reflection in a mirror that stretches from the 0 degree of Cancer to the 0 degree of Capricorn. The Sabian symbol for Capricorn 27’s antiscia, Sagittarius 2, is “two men playing chess.” In uncanny synchronicity, Martin Goldsmith expanded the imagery and described:

“A young prince and his tutor concentrate on a game of chess. Around the board, an inlaid design depicts black and white dragons biting each other’s tails.”

The image brings in sharp focus inter-generational conflicts and geopolitical competition with China, frequently symbolized as dragons. Goldsmith further elaborates:

“Playing to win, no holds bars, vs. playing like a gentleman (dangerous opponents); making calculated moves; waiting for the right time to act, vs. rashly forging ahead; … bluffing by acting weak or bluffing by acting strong.”

This degree foretells coming geopolitical conflicts and inter-general competition for resources. Sagittarius 2 also hints at difficulty with international diplomacy, disagreements on beliefs and principles, and trusted elders turning on their young.

In the zodiac wheel, the opposite degrees are considered two sides of the same theme. Looking to Cancer 27 could propose a solution to our Capricorn 27th degree problems. The Sabian symbol for Cancer 27 is “a modern Pocahontas.” Later interpretations depict a Native American girl introducing her white boyfriend to the tribe. This degree points to breaking away from emotional dependency on one’s family, tribe, and race, and forging new connections outside one’s heritage and cultural identity.

Ellias Lonsdale, in is book “Inside Degrees” promised innate guidance to those involved with the 27^th degree of Cancer:

“Inwardly knowing where to go, what to do, how to do it, and where it all leads. You have a special faculty for karmic clairvoyance or sensing the individual and collective destiny-territory that must be navigated through. Placed strategically in the molten core of world dilemma to remember how to get it right. Driven by a force of will that is overwhelming. You are guided to be in the right place at the right time for catching the drift of the tide we all are swimming toward. Unconsciously and superconsciously in touch and in tune with what is happening. Consciously, walking a tightrope between the heights and the depths, and never sure while being sure. Given an engraved destiny invitation to participate to the utmost in collective cycles of renewal and to stay within your place of power throughout. For you have gathered considerable awareness toward this time of decision, and this vertical attunement is a welcome ingredient–one vitally needed.”

A Call to Awareness

Throughout U.S. history, national crises unfolded around Pluto themes, and the same themes will be the focus again during the Pluto return. Regrettably, second-house matters such as national prosperity and personal freedom do not mix well with Pluto energies. Moreover, a Scorpio twelfth house subjects our national psyche to subversive and deceitful stratagems, as well as a predisposition to misuse the transformative and weaponized energy. Pluto principle underpins our national priorities and permeates our collective unconscious. Call it the original sin or collective karma, this is a burden we have to bear as a nation. The Pluto return is a period when we must take our own medicine and ride out this once-in-a-Plutonian-year storm. Think of it as a storm that flushes out the stale and the stifled, the outdated and the unsound. Whatever remains will be consolidated and stronger than before, like a newly acquired superpower. I speculate that by the time this transit is over, the current system and our endless, divisive bickering will reach a conclusion, and the opposing positions and their hotly contested issues will be irrelevant. (To be continued)

Additional reading:

Reference:

Astrological Chart for USA [Sibly or not?] https://www.astrology.co.uk/news/USA.htm Archived /web/20220217201045/https://www.astrology.co.uk/news/sibly.htm

Lonsdale, E. (1997). Inside degrees: Developing your soul biography using the Chandra symbols. North Atlantic Books.

Klimczek, R. (1989). Degrees of the Zodiac: The Sabian Symbols. Self-published.

Goldsmith, M. (2015). The zodiac by degrees, extensively revised (2nd ed.). Red Wheel/Weiser.