With talk of the Bush Administration leading the U.S. into an attack on Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein (and/or to acquire Iraq's rich oil reserves), I researched astrological patterns coinciding with past American wars. The planets most involved in wars are Mars and Uranus, and the U.S. was born with Mars and Uranus in Gemini. Depending on which Ascendant one chooses for a birth chart of the U.S., Gemini occupies the First, Seventh or Second House.

Uncle Sam's Persona

I use the Gemini Ascendant because I feel it best depicts Uncle Sam's persona in the community of nations. It puts Uranus conjunct the Ascendant, indicating an entity that is bold, headstrong, innovative, and by turns benevolent and violent. Also, the U.S. was "born" in the Revolutionary War of 1776 and this chart places Mars and Uranus in the First House, and one expects to find these two planets prominent during wars.

It takes Uranus 84 years to circle the Sun, and the U.S. has gone through its most destructive wars when Uranus has returned to, or near, its natal position in the U.S.'s birth chart: the Revolution, Civil War and World War II.

How Many Wars?

How many wars have there been in US history? Hendrik Hertzberg, writing in the New Yorker magazine's September 30, 2002 issue, took on this question:

There have been only five declarations of war: War of 1812, Mexican War (1846), Spanish-American War (1898) and the two World Wars of the twentieth century. Some of the bloodiest wars were fought without formal declarations by Congress. And some of the most decisive conflicts in terms of America's destiny were not called wars. So I have researched those which I think were the most influential in our history.

Pluto Behind the Scenes

Following the American Revolution, Uranus had returned to its natal position when the Civil War broke out in August 1861. Mars and Uranus were both conjunct Uncle Sam's Uranus at 9 Gemini then. But we should not overlook the lead-up to this tremendous transformation of America, for it is a classic example of Pluto's subtle, long-range effects. During the 1830s, Pluto was in mid-Aries, opposite the U.S. Saturn in Libra and square the U.S. Sun in Cancer. This is when the Underground Railroad came into existence, when the Southwest and California were being wrested from Mexico, and when Frederick Douglas and William Lloyd Garrison boldly and righteously agitated for the abolition of slavery.

Garrison produced the first issue of his newspaper, The Liberator, on January 1, 1831, with transiting Pluto square the U.S. Sun and opposite the U.S. Saturn. He wrote as though possessed by Pluto: "I shall strenuously contend for the immediate enfranchisement of our slave population....On this subject I do not wish to think, or speak, or write with moderation....I am in earnest, I will not equivocate, I will not excuse, I will not retreat a single inch AND I WILL BE HEARD."

The Underground Railroad was an elaborate network of secret routes established during Pluto's hard aspect to the U.S. Sun-Saturn square. From 1830 to the Civil War, at least 40,000 slaves followed this network to freedom. By 1840, there were no less than 2,000 antislavery societies with a membership of around 200,000. Pluto, we might say, inspired resistance to slavery and seeded the Civil War that erupted 30 years after Douglas and Garrison launched their philosophical assaults.

On December 7, 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese, Saturn at 23 Taurus was conjunct Uranus at 27 Taurus, with both moving toward a conjunction with the U.S. natal Uranus. Saturn and Uranus moved over Uncle Sam's Ascendant-Uranus between the tide-turning battle of Midway and the A-bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 which changed the nature of war forever.

"We are good..."

All wars are orgies of mass murder and wanton destruction instigated by those who have convinced themselves that "we are good, they are evil." But not all wars have been fought with military weapons. The first unconventional war fought on American soil occurred in 1610 in what was then the Jamestown Colony, two orbits of Uranus before the birth of the U.S. as a nation. Uranus was conjunct what would become the U.S.'s natal Uranus for this. In history books, it's called "The Starving Time." Local Indians, humiliated by the high-handed ways of those early colonists, withdrew their support, leaving the newly arrived English gentlemen to their own devices. Those interested in history will find the details of this time exceedingly gory.

Salem Witch Trials

The next time Uranus transited over what would become the U.S. natal Uranus occurred in 1694, coinciding with another nonmilitary war, the Salem Witch Trials. It marked the end of a thousand or more years of Christian persecution of pantheists and other non-Christians.

Those major wars and turning points—Jamestown, Salem, Revolution of 1776, Civil War and World War II—all correlated with Uranus returning to its natal position in the U.S. birth chart. Each was unique and different in detail, but all were primarily fought for ideals or ideas. The emphasis in other American wars has been on commercial or imperial interests.

The Mexican War, declared May 13, 1846, found Uranus conjunct Venus in mid-Aries making a t-square to the U.S. Sun-Saturn square, and Pluto conjunct Mercury forming a t-square with the US Mercury opposite the US Pluto.

The War of 1812, World War I, Korean War, Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf War show that for these, it was Uncle Sam's financially sensitive Mars-Neptune square which was receiving challenging aspects.

In 1812, Pluto was at 19 Pisces opposite the U.S. natal Neptune at 22 Virgo, with both square the U.S. Mars in Gemini. Transiting Mars was opposite transiting Saturn with both making hard aspects to the U.S. natal Jupiter-Sun conjunction in Cancer: the newly formed nation was feeling righteous.

For World War I, transiting Jupiter was at 22 Pisces conjunct Chiron at 18 Pisces and both were square the U.S. natal Mars. Pluto and Saturn in Cancer formed hard aspects to the U.S. natal cluster of Venus, Jupiter and Sun in Cancer.

Neptune and Vietnam

For the Korean War's outbreak, transiting Uranus at 5 Cancer was square transiting Mars at 7 Libra, forming a grand cross to Uncle Sam's Venus, Jupiter and Sun in Cancer. Chiron at 17 Sagittarius was opposite the U.S. Mars, and soon to join Jupiter and Saturn in a grand cross challenge to the U.S.'s Mars-Neptune square. The country's Sun sense of "I am" was aroused, but with the U.S. Mars-Neptune square under so much pressure, this was primarily an economically-motivated conflict.

There was no official inception date for the Vietnam War. It grew gradually after World War II when the U.S. came the aid of French companies and troops, faced with mounting resistance in what was then the French colony of Vietnam. With the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed August 7, 1964, the U.S. military became fully committed. Astrologically, Uranus, Pluto and Mercury were conjunct in Virgo at this time, with Saturn in Pisces opposite Virgo. In retrospect, this was a Neptunian war: most Americans were foggy as to why we were fighting it, or were deluded by the media into believing we were stopping communism and saving the shores of California from an Asian invasion.

By the winter of 1966 an unprecedented (Uranus) antiwar movement changed America for ever (Pluto), all the usual planetary suspects were implicated: Uranus was conjunct Pluto with both conjunct the U.S. Neptune, opposite a conjunction of Mars, Saturn and Chiron in Pisces, with all these warrior energies square the U.S. natal Mars in Gemini, which was hit at the time by a conjunction of Jupiter, enlarging the drama.

A TV War

Many investors thought we were in for another Great Depression in October 1987 when stocks did a record dive. But this turned out to be strictly a financial affair. It barely caused a ripple in the overall economy. For financial panics I look for adverse aspects to the US Mars-Neptune square. And sure enough, Saturn and Uranus were both in Sagittarius opposite the US Mars, with the Moon conjunct Neptune and Chiron conjunct Mars. Jupiter opposite the US Saturn appears to have inflated this panic.

When Saturn next arrived in mid-Capricorn, America had not suffered a Great Depression since the 1930s and no small number of economic theorists believed another was inevitable. Foremost among those economists was Ravi Batra, whose book The Great Depression of 1990 became a runaway bestseller, coinciding with the arrival in mid-Capricorn of Saturn, Neptune and Uranus.

But surprise surprise! No grand cross, no great depression. Even though those three heavies—Saturn, Neptune and Uranus—were opposite the US Sun and thus square the US Saturn, no heavy occupied mid-Aries and Pluto showed its power at 14 Scorpio, trine the US Sun and sextile the Saturn-Neptune-Uranus trio in Capricorn.

It was at this time that I came to the realization that every time Saturn anchors a grand cross to the US Sun-Saturn square, America suffers a Great Depression. Every time Saturn arrives in mid-Capricorn without being square a heavy in mid-Aries, historic events occur but no Great Depression.

The "Ideal" Month

As I write this, news shows carry talkers who speculate that February will be the "ideal" month for Bush to send American troops to Iraq. So I did a chart for February 24, 2003, and then compared it with the U.S. natal chart. Based on the astrological history of previous American wars, we look first for the positions of Mars and Uranus, then Pluto, Saturn and Jupiter, and whatever aspects these might make to the U.S. natal Uranus-Ascendant, and/or Mars-Neptune square, and/or the U.S. Sun in Cancer.

What we find is that Mars and Pluto (plus the Moon on February 24) are in Sagittarius opposite Saturn at 22 Gemini: a t-square affliction to Uncle Sam's natal Mars-Neptune square. Transiting Uranus at 29 Aquarius is soon to move into a square with the U.S. Uranus-Ascendant. Chiron at 15 Capricorn is opposite the U.S. Sun and also thus square the U.S. Saturn. And there is at this time an opposition formed by Jupiter and Neptune which, although it doesn't directly affect U.S. planets, is definitely not helpful.

Most interesting is that Pluto has moved 90 degrees or one-quarter of its cycle around the Sun and is now in mid-Sagittarius, forming a 90-degree square to where the Uranus-Pluto conjunction of 1966 occurred in mid-Virgo, and the antiwar protestors of 2002 are looking a lot like those of the Sixties.

Robert Gover's book Time and Money: the Economy and the Planets came out in late May, 2005. Euromoney Magazine reviewed it in late 2005. Robert has partnered with a fund manager in Florida, Mike Mansfield, to do a financial newsletter. Robert was the featured speaker at a conference of investors from around the world in Denver on September 24, 2005, He has a BA in economics and has studied astrology since 1965. By the mid-1970s, he had become interested in stock market astrology, and by the mid-1980s, with the advent of astrological software, his interest had expanded to the whole economy. Time and Money may be purchased from www.hopepubs.com, or amazon, B&N and other online vendors, as well as book stores. Robert is a memmber of the International Society of Astrological Research, the International Society of Business Astrologers, and the American Federation of Astrologers. He is also a novelist, and the latest edition of his most famous book One Hundred Dollar Misunderstanding can be purchased at most online bookstores. His other novels may be obtained from used or rare book dealers. He has written one other nonfiction book: Voodoo Contra, about the conradictory meanings of that ominous word.