The Karma of the United States

It feels okay to be on the edge of the continent right now, in the same way it feels okay to be at the edge (and not in the center) of a large crowd that is just beginning to get rowdy. Even though the Pacific Ocean is not much of a place to escape to, I imagine the center of the country bearing the full weight of the collective political and ideological tensions right now, like a person being pressed into the front of a stage while the masses press in from behind.

Here in the United States, the division that may have existed since the inception of this country is beginning to boil over, and it is hard to make sense of both the volume and intensity of hate making itself apparent in the last days, weeks and months.

Ideologies are examined largely from the sign of Sagittarius, which is the 9th sign of the zodiac and carries the dharma or ‘purpose’ along with the belief system. It is noteworthy that the symbol of this sign is a man with a horse’s body and he carries a bow and arrow—showing that fighting for one’s beliefs is an archetypal facet of the human species, not something unique to modern history.

Sagittarius is actually fairly well protected right now, which leads me to believe that the current conflicts are not actually about beliefs. This seems to be about destruction—a place to put the unconscious impulsive to obliterate what is not understood. Obviously this has much deeper roots than this week or this year, but it’s current manifestation can be seen directly in the sign of Pisces—the 12th and final sign of the zodiac, which indicates release from the body in the form of death, moksha (final liberation) and sleep. There is what’s called a Yama Yoga or “death” yoga influencing this sign right now, which may be contributing to the volatility. From what I have seen, the impulses driven by Yama Yogas are very difficult to control even when there is a degree of consciousness in the individual. When these yogas are not accompanied by any consciousness then they can be very destructive. This combination is at play until 12/24: Merry Christmas!

So there is a collective unconscious impulse to end life. This can manifest in large and small ways: from overt violence to self-destructive habits along with disregard for the natural world. Understand that this self-destructiveness is an echo of the larger pattern of intimidation and violence which we see at play right now. Making this connection can be an inlet in relating to collective malicious behavior which can seem incomprehensible. The patterns of transits are always operating on multiple levels simultaneously, but sometimes their impacts are so subtle on a personal level that we don’t take notice. Connecting our larger context to our “personal” lives is where the rubber hits the road, in terms of both agency and inspiration.

The United States (seen from it’s official ‘conception’, on 7/4/1776) entered a period in 2016 which begins an 18 year cycle of confusion in the realms of leadership, identity, purpose and ideology. It is a Rahu dasha, which always involves some degree of upheaval, and Rahu in the chart of the U.S. is creating a huge amount of disturbance, confusion, manipulation and misinformation. It indicates extremely negative karma related to desecration of natural environments and the sacred places associated with them. This is most certainly a dark sliver of the time for America. There is some hope in that there is a possibility for reversal of fortunes at some point during this dasha (possibly not until 2032) which would bring appropriate leadership and maybe even some respect for the land.

One of the fundamental flaws I see with this chart is that it is largely oriented toward comfort. This actually creates loneliness and separation (our American independence) which is a huge weakness of the chart. Those of us living in the U.S., because we are under the influence of this chart, must be on guard for this tendency in ourselves.

This is one of those places where there is really on rule-book, or the old rules don’t necessarily ‘work.’ It’s okay to flounder and feel confused and overwhelmed. In this times I usually try to focus on what life is trying to make out of me. I feel like a bunch of herbs in a pot trying to transform into something medicinal.