Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Happy Birthday, US Army and Contest!

Happy Birthday, U.S. Army!

On June 14, the US Army celebrated its 236th birthday. To honor all of those who serve, I’m giving some highlights from the Army’s astrological chart. I’m also giving away a full astrological workup as a prize! Read this over for the details.

For those of you new to astrology, what I’m doing is taking the Army’s creation date, place and time of June 14, 1775, in Philadelphia, PA, and casting an astrological chart for it. In other words, I’m looking at astrologically what was going on at that moment to get insight into the Army. You can do this for any event, but usually it is done for a person’s birth—a natal chart—to get insights into personality and other facets of a person’s life.

Here’s a quick look at the planetary setup at that moment. Since we don’t have an exact time, I chose noon. A summary of the chart is below. 

Planet
Sign
Element
House
Sun
Gemini
Air
9th
Moon
Capricorn
Earth
4th
Mercury
Cancer
Water
10th
Venus
Leo
Fire
11th
Mars
Virgo
Earth
12th
Jupiter
Gemini
Air
9th
Saturn
Libra
Air
1st
Uranus
Gemini
Air
9th
Neptune
Virgo
Earth
12th
Pluto
Capricorn
Earth
4th
Rising Sign
Virgo
Earth
1st
Signature
Virgo
Earth
N/A


So what can this tell us? Well, here are a few clues.

With so many planets in mutable (changeable) signs—Gemini and Virgo in this case—the Army’s flexibility is highlighted here. That’s great when things change on the fly, and the Army can take on many different missions well.  On the flip side, it’s not great over the long-term, since the potential is that the Army 1) could sent in too many directions at once (how many wars are we involved in right now, folks?) and 2) could become a “jack of all trades, master of none”. Lots of direction changes are possible with such an organization, and if a leader wants the Army to go in one direction, it can do that easily, but the changes are usually not long lasting. 

The elements of the signs where the planets fall also have an impact on the overall chart. Earth and Air signs rule this chart almost completely, which makes sense. The Army focuses on doing a job that is done on the ground, and that’s Earth, which also rules the physical body. The Air part deals with the objective way the job is done, and that you can see from military language, designed to communicate quickly and objectively. With the other two elements so weak, it can indicate a lack of drive and self-confidence (Fire), and a distinct lack of emotion (Water).

The great majority of planets in this chart are in Gemini and Virgo, both signs that are ruled by the planet Mercury. Let’s start with Gemini, a sign that rules communication and short-term trips. It’s interesting that the Army has the tanks, since Gemini rules the 3rd house, which rules all transportation matters. And communicating with the various Army elements is likely one of the most important parts of what the Army has to do well.

Virgo, the Rising Sign (the “glasses” through which the Army sees life) and the chart signature (overall flavor of the chart) make total sense: Virgo rules order as well as the 6th house, the house of SERVICE and RESPONSIBILITY.

The Moon rules our emotions, and our emotional security. For the Army, she is sitting in Capricorn, which is the worst possible place for it (opposite of the sign the Moon rules, which is Cancer), astrologically speaking.  This Moon placement is difficult—I have it in my personal chart, so I live it every day—because it can make you unemotional and seemingly unfeeling. It’s the ultimate “SUCK IT UP” Moon placement; emotions are de-emphasized, stifled, and not expressed. One danger for this placement is the lack of mercy that can come with it as well.

With that said, it’s great for ambition and getting ahead, devoted to DUTY above all things, and will succeed eventually because of its long-term view.  For mission completion without letting emotions get in the way, Capricorn Moon is your best friend.

As you can imagine, Capricorn Moon can be an unfeeling SOB. But add to it the fact that it is the 4th house, ruled by Cancer (again, its opposite sign), and that’s even worse. Cancer and the 4th house rule the family unit and home sweet home, and considering some of the burdens that are placed on our soldiers and others who serve in the Army, this makes way too much sense. So many people deployed over and over again, away from home and family.  You couldn’t ask for a more unfavorable Moon placement, but again, it does have its advantages in combat.

Mars is the planet of war and conflict, and in this case it’s very appropriately in Virgo. So that means discriminating, carefully thought-out and well-planned conflicts; in other words, being very careful to destroy your enemy and not everyone who happens to be around. And since Virgo rules the armed forces, once again we’re right on track. Virgo is also an Earth sign, which is where the Army does its job.

Anyway, that’s a quick overview of the astrology chart of the US Army. I’m just scratching the surface; a full chart is normally more than 20 pages and goes into detail into the entire chart, not just the planets and what signs they are in but how they interact and what that could mean for you. If you’re interested in having your own chart done, send me an email at hierophant@cox.net and we’ll chat. All you need is your date, place, and time of birth (as close as you can).

To enter the contest for a free birth chart and complete workup, you need to do two things:

1)   Follow my blog; and
2)   Post a comment here about your experience with astrology. If you only know your Sun sign, that’s just fine too!

Once I get 100 followers I’ll do a drawing and pick a winner. Thanks so much for stopping by! 

4 comments:

  1. This is so cool! It's fascinating how the different elements fit in with the Army mission. I love all the Earth elements in this chart.

    ---from a member of Team Taurus!

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  2. It's fairly obvious that Earth signs should predominate in the chart of a service that's land-based, but, in your opinion, does the number of Air signs presage the Army's success in battlefield utilization of helicopters?

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  3. Hi Bill...excellent question! With the Sun, Jupiter, and Uranus all in Gemini, which rules transportation and short trips--something helicopters do a lot of in combat--"the signs point to yes" as my magick 8-ball would say. Jupiter is the planet of good luck and expansion as well as new opportunities, so for it to be sitting in Gemini is a good thing. Jupiter also rules the 9th house where the planet is sitting so the Army has to embrace the helicopter "philosophy" and use it for foreign ops; philosophy and foreign matters are both part of the 9th house. With that said, Uranus is the planet of rebellion so I wouldn't be surprised if the Army had a vocal opposition to helicopters, at least at the start. And the Air Force probably balked as well. :)

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  4. wow that is so spot on and says quite a bit about the stereotypes associated with the Army. Puts some things I deal with at work into perspective. I'm just beginning to explore astrology. But have always known that I am a true virgo for better or worse lol.

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