The US Pluto’s Return – Influence of the Neptune Opposition Part 1

Awhile back I discussed the History of Rome and Pluto Returns. This was to research how a similar country to the US handled its Pluto Returns. The results where very interesting. Revolution, change in government, the raise of dictators, and external threats to the nation littered Rome’s history during the Pluto Returns.

But the most interesting fact was that Neptune seemed to modulate the meaning of Pluto in a country’s return chart. This is because both planets are in an orbital resonance with each. Neptune can only appear in one of two places during a Pluto Return. Either conjunct the natal position or opposite it.

The first Pluto Return always has a Neptune Opposition based on this resonance. And since the US has already experienced this aspect once before, reviewing that time can give a clue to the meaning of what the US Pluto’s Return will be. The first Neptune Opposition for the US occurred in the years of 1857-1859.

Several major events happened during this time. In technology, there was first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable in 1857 which transmitted 0.1 words per minute. Cutting edge technology for the time! Communication technology will likely always be a theme for US because Neptune is in the 3^rd House of the US Natal Chart during its opposition. So 3^rd House theme issues for the country should arise.

Financially, two major events happened in during this time. First, the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company failed which resulted in the Panic of 1857. This recession was actually made worst by the new technology of the time the telegraph. This enable the news of failure of one company to trigger financial panics everywhere in the US much faster than before. Another 3^rd House issue, but also with added additional meaning of Neptune sowing market confusion.

Second, in either 1857 or 1859 the Comstock Lode was discovered which later crashed the global silver market. The Comstock Lode discovery is the more important financial event historically. Before this discovery silver was extracted out of the ground and rate of 12 ounces for every ounce of gold discovered. This rate was stable for the essentially all of human history or about 6000 years. After the discovery it was extracted at rate of 50 ounces of sliver for every ounce gold for decades afterwards.

However, modern science say that the actual amount extraction rate should be closer to the historic average. Because silver is is about 8 times more abundant in the earth’s crust than gold. But the financial markets today still trade silver thinking it 50 times more abundant than gold based on like it was based on this discovery. Here Neptune made everyone confused on the value of of money.

Politically several events stand out. These events set the stage for a little conflict now called the US Civil War. One of these events in 1857 was the Dred Scott Decision, regarded as one of the worst decisions the US Supreme Court made ever. In this decision the Supreme Court rule that a black man who is a slave could not seek freedom, even if he lived in a free state indefinitely, because he was originally from a slave state.

Amazingly at the time the Supreme Court actually thought this would settle the entire abolition of slavery debate that was gripping the country at the time. It obviously didn’t and most of the court’s justices were deluding themselves about the about how the population would react to this decision. Well, perhaps they can’t be blame too much. Neptune was opposing them in the US Chart!

The other event was in 1858 and it was the Lincoln-Douglass debates. Lincoln is thought to have out debated Douglass especially on the issue of slavery. But he lost the election because at the time US Senate elections were done by State legislatures and majority of them sided with Douglass due to party affiliation and defections from the Whig party a minor party at the time that Lincoln was counting on for support.

However this event raised Lincoln’s national profile enough he was able to run for US President in 1860. At the time no one could see how this defeat would lead to his future victory. So here we have another 3^rd House theme for the Neptune Opposition as major society level debates occur. And of course the big issue to debate at the time was the Abolition Movement.

This was a movement to end slavery in the US as an institution. While movement originated during colonial times, it really became more popular in the starting in the 1830s. Starting from that time onward, the Abolition Movement entered in political and social discussion especially among the population in the Northern States of the US, which ironically slavery was already illegal in most of them. The Southern States of the US remained very pro-slavery as most of the slaves in the country were concentrated there and they saw no reason to end the practice.

This was also the time when Abolition of slavery also became a popular topic in many religious communities in the US. Many churches saw the institution of slavery as ‘evil’ and pastors urged their parishioners to support candidates to end the institution at not just a local level, but on a national one too. The Abolition Movement was taking on some very religious overtones as slavery was increasing seen as ‘sinful’ by the Northerners of the US.

The Abolition Movement really became the driving force in US politics in the 1850s which coincided with Neptune’s transit through Pisces in the years 1847-1862. One of first big debates of this time frame on the Abolition was what to do with the territories the US won from Mexico. Would they be slave territories or free one? The Compromise of 1850 was thought to have settled the issue, but it didn’t

Four years later there was the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 which opened the territory of Kansas to slavery if the population there voted for it. The results of this were predictable in hindsight. Abolitionists and Pro-slavery supporters decided to launch a guerrilla war against each other that lasted for years. This time period became known as the Bleeding Kansas. Kansas eventually entered into the Union as a free State.

However, the biggest incident of the of the Abolition Movement came shortly after the last exact Neptune opposition in 1859. John Brown’s raid on Harper Ferry. John Brown was a leading abolitionist who also participated in Bleeding Kansas. He decided to raid the US arsenal in Harpers Ferry WV (at the time VA) to fuel a armed slave uprising in the Southern US. This was a very delusional action boarding on madness.

He didn’t succeed at the time, but his actions did convince pro-slavery political leaders in the Southern States that compromise with the Abolitionists in the Northern Sates was impossible. They viewed them as religious fanatics would were hell bent on killing those that opposed them. This may be not that far from the truth as the Abolition Movement at the time saw slavery as a “sin” that must be stopped at any cost. This is a very Neptunian way to view this time period.

All these events during this time set the stage for the US Civil War. The Civil War wouldn’t actually begin until April 12, 1861 at approximately 4:30 AM in Charleston SC with the Battle of Fort Summer. The approximate start time actually gives a very Neptunian chart for the start of the US Civil War too. Neptune at 29 degrees 57 minutes rising on the Ascendant at 27 degrees 6 minutes!

On the one hand this can be the religious fever of the Abolitionists boiling over at the last degrees of Pisces launching what they think is an holy crusade to end the evil of slavery. The other one shows that while the South may win this battle, they were very delusional about the entire war. Military historians think the Confederacy could not win the war under any circumstance.

And that is how the first Neptune Opposition of the US went. Next time let’s see what is happening for second Neptune Opposition, which surprisingly is already occurring!