Since I did a chart analysis for China, it seems important to look at the charts for the United States and Russia as well. All three don’t come out of analysis looking particularly rosy. Let’s have a look at the U.S. Chart. I’ll analyze Russia in another post.

While Mercury is the ruler of the 7th house (as the Descendant is delineated at 12 degrees Gemini), the ruler of the 7th is in the 8th house. Meaning, Mercury (ruler of Gemini) is at 24 degrees Cancer is in the 8th house. This opposes Pluto in Capricorn in the 2nd house at 27 degrees Capricorn.

Mercury rules communication. Sensitive Mercury in Cancer in the 8th house of secrets and shared resources opposite Pluto in the 2nd house of goods and finances illuminates why the U.S. has both a successful yet deeply manipulative record in domestic and international diplomacy.

As we’ve seen with China’s chart, 8th house issues can be about interdependence but also mysteries and secrets. I see this as the most demonstrative aspect of the U.S. chart.

Think of this analogy: the U.S. is like a child who stole the milk money at school and convinces his classmates he started a fund to buy a vending machine. He needs capital to start with in order to engender trust.

He asks them to contribute $5 each. As the money starts rolling in, he starts to feel more powerful. To avoid punishment, he returns the original milk money, but now he has a steadily growing pot of cash as each kid really wants that vending machine (mind you, this is their lunch money they are offering up).

It will seem like a great deal at first, but collecting a large sum of money for something that only houses the things they really want really isn’t a fair bargain. Mostly because it isn’t as though they are investing in something that will provide them with free candy-or even the profits from the sale of that candy. They may get the candy at a cheap rate, but they will never stop having to pay for it. With money they don’t really have, no less.

This Mercury-Pluto aspect explains an important psychological motivation. How nurturing can I appear to be to others (Mercury in Cancer in the 8th) in order to get the most of what I want from them that is materially valuable to me (Pluto in Capricorn in the 2nd). With Pluto in the 2nd house in particular, there is difficulty in letting go of physical value. It is rooted in materialism. 

This is partly why slavery was so attractive to the American colonists. Getting the most value out of labored goods in the 2nd house realm of farming and industry quickly became insatiable greed. The abolishment of slavery certainly didn’t change this either.  Pluto in the 2nd house thrives on seeing others labor for his benefit. And again, with little or no reward for those enslaved. It can be a very selfish placement for Pluto.

Mercury-Pluto in hard aspect is characteristically strong in communication (sometimes constantly talking), but in Cancer, the sign of home and domesticity, and Capricorn, the sign of responsibility and paternalism, it’s like a good old fashioned mom and pop concern with family values.

The nodal axis is also in the 2nd and 8th houses (though in Aquarius and Leo). The north node in Leo is about the need to feel adored and center stage; to be respected for its accomplishments. In the 8th house, that regality is rooted in shared resources.

The Aquarian ideal of “We the People” in the south node 2nd house shows an independent spirit; breaking away from the clutches of the British Monarchy to create a new paradigm. But the south node in 2nd house Aquarius respects the freedom that material value can buy more than the goods themselves. The goods are expendable you could say.

Also, having the Ascendant at 12 degrees Sagittarius means that Jupiter is the chart ruler. Sagittarius wants the freedom to expand beyond cultural borders. This is why so many people from all over the world flocked to the U.S.

On to the 7th house. Sun, Venus and Jupiter in Cancer, Mars in Gemini. Sun-Jupiter-Venus in Cancer seems pretty benefic in the 7th house of partnerships. Sun-Jupiter-Venus conjunct (even widely) is a combination that often radiates warmth and generosity. In Cancer, this can also manifest in extreme sensitivity and codependence.  In the 7th house of partnerships, creating enemies can be an issue.

With your identity, finances and higher ideals ruled by your relationships with others, it is a major letdown when your partnerships fail. And in Cancer, the obsession with creating a home and family become a central motivation. With Mercury in the 8th house, you want to understand others so intensely that you might appear too invasive or probing.

This leads us to Mars in Gemini in the 7th house. Mars in the 7th is known for having contentious relationships simply because it is motivated by relationships. Mars in Gemini is gregarious and socially versatile. What’s troubling is its tight square with Neptune at 22 Virgo in the 9th house of foreign relations. Mars in hard aspect with Neptune can easily feel victimized by the distrust of others. Their actions are easily misinterpreted. Are they motivated by valor or deception? Often times, they aren’t even sure themselves.

The sun at 13 degrees Cancer is tightly square Saturn in Libra in the 10th house of career and public reputation. Saturn is exalted in Libra, but in a tight square with the Sun in the house of relationships, it manifests as wanting to be taken seriously. Even with Jupiter as the chart ruler, Saturn square Sun can make the native seem much more Saturnian.

So many of our recent presidents have had Cancer in their natal charts: Bill Clinton (Cancer M.C.), George W. Bush (Cancer Sun, Saturn in Cancer), Barack Obama (Venus in Cancer) and Donald Trump (Mercury in Cancer, Venus in Cancer).

Looking opposite the 7th house at an empty 1st house reveals something worth noting. An empty house opposite the house of a major stellium like that indicates a lack of fulfillment. Even though it is ruled by Jupiter, there is nothing in the first house of appearances to foster a strong self-image. It as if the U.S. only exists because of partnerships. Without allies, its physical structure seems undeveloped.

Uranus in Gemini in the 6th house I’ll briefly mention. Whenever Uranus is in the 6th house of work and daily service, it usually means health problems. The stress of daily life in the U.S. has ruined collective health, not to mention an unstable healthcare system. It’s another indicator of slavery.

The childlike aspects of the U.S. chart make you almost feel compassion for its errant nature. But naive irresponsibility does not a good nation make. It is just too underdeveloped; too manipulative. Too dependent on others for its power.