“We forget that, although freedom of speech constitutes an important victory in the battle against old restraints, modern man is in a position where much of what ‘he’ thinks and says are the things that everybody else thinks and says; that he has not acquired the ability to think originally — that is, for himself — which alone gives meaning to his claim that nobody can interfere with the expression of his thoughts.”
~ Erich Fromm, The Fear of Freedom
Most people equate the word freedom to having individual autonomy and somehow “owning” their own life, which is to say not being under the thumb of some outside authority or answerable to a sovereign ruler? Sometimes however, freedom represents the idea of being ‘free’ of compulsive desires, or at least not chained to the desires which drive aberrant behaviors.
What did freedom mean to people who were about to sacrifice their lives during the revolutionary war? Was it any different from the way people thought about freedom as the country hurtled toward Civil War? What about World War II? Did freedom mean something separate and distinct from what it meant 84 and 168 year earlier?
In 1776, people in the United States rejected the idea of monarchy. The fight against tyranny began on April 19, 1775 when the first shots of the revolution were fired, in Lexington, MA at sunrise. The colonies organized themselves, eventually “ratifying” the Declaration of Independence. The legal act of declaring independence happened on July 2, but the public birth of the nation-its statement of identity and purpose-was finalized and announced on July 4. The actual, ceremonial signing of the “engrossed Declaration” took place on August 2, 1776 and was signed by 56 delegates who traveled from the 13 colonies to Philadelphia at what is now called Independence Hall. The notion that the signing occurred July 4th is largely a myth. John Hancock, as President of the Continental Congress, proceeded over the assembly on July 4th and the Declaration of Independence was voted on and ratified on that day, but the printed version wasn’t signed for another 29 days.
Astrologers have argued about which chart best represents the birth of the nation. A few support the Gemini Rising Chart which symbolically represents the nation, but most astrologers accept what is known as the “Sibley Chart” which is timed for 5:13 PM in Philadelphia, P.A. The Sibley chart is back up by the historical record that describes the assembly voting on the final version of the declaration before it was sent off to the printer and reproduced for the August 2nd ceremonial signing.
In the grand debate there are other references which point to the first public mention of the declaration, a newspaper announcement for example on July 2, which likely described the “Lee Resolution,” i.e., the “legal act” of declaring independence, but this vote would not be final. The vote still needed to be “ratified” which did not occur for 2 more days. The legal act of declaring independence happened on July 2, but the public birth of the nation-its statement of identity and purpose-was finalized and announced on July 4.
Symbolically the Gemini Rising chart is fitting for a new nation announcing to the world its right to separation and freedom. Just the “idea” of declaring independence was revolutionary never mind the part about the inalienable rights of the individual or the pursuit of happiness. The Declaration of Independence was an attempt by Thomas Jefferson to express the American Mind.
As big of a shift as these seminal events were in the trajectory of the world, here we are again precisely 250 years later. Uranus was at 00 Gemini when the “shot heard around the world” was fired at Lexington, and will be again on July 7, 2025. Uranus is about rebellion, and revolution, separation, and the unexpected. Gemini sets the stage for change, uncompromising change that is intense and replicated by others. We already sense similar rumblings in the Air, and have felt the vibrations going back as far as the most recent Uranus-Pluto square (2012-2015).
Uranus also entered Gemini on May 15, 1942. Six months before the Uranus Ingress into Gemini, the U.S. declared war on Japan in response to their attack on Pearl Harbor.
Uranus orbits the Sun roughly every 84 years, but Uranus enters Gemini on intervals that are slightly skewed from the average cycle length due to the elliptical shape of its orbit, and retrograde motion. Nevertheless, we can easily see the correspondence at play from 1775 (The American Revolution), to 1858 (The Marais des Cygnes Massacre followed by The Harper’s Ferry Raid, which preceded The Civil War), to 1942 (America’s entrance into WWII), to this year, 2025 (TBD). Each of these conflicts involved acts of war that were in part or wholly driven by “A Cry for Freedom,” motivated by what FREEDOM meant to people during each of those epochs.
The Declaration of Independence originally rebuked slavery but it was stricken from the document to protect the interests of the south and make the path easier for unanimously declaring independence. Slavery was a powerful institution at this point in time, so the declaration obviously didn’t speak for ALL people. However, the wording does suggest an ideal or aspiration that country continues to strive for, although the highly sought after “more perfect union” is far from perfect.
I share all of the above because the history is interesting, and because the astrological debate brings a touch of mystery as well as fascination. But also to suggest that the deeper principles represented in the document echo the Kantian ideals-freedom, equality, autonomy, and government by consent-that Kant would articulate in his political philosophy sometime after the revolutionary period ended. Conceptually, the Declaration was born of the Enlightenment, which was more about Nature’s God (John Locke), than rational moral law (Emmanuel Kant). But in either case, slavery was not in keeping either with the ideals espoused by enlightenment, nor considered moral.
True Freedom has to include a spiritual component, but the political realities during the revolutionary period, the Civil War and World Wars, and today seem void of true spirituality. There is plenty of religious bias and sectarianism but courage to align with The Divine beyond our “individual” rebelliousness and desires has not broken through our superficial (Gemini) minds.
I do not believe the world as yet knows what Freedom is. I think freedom means not being beholden to the thinking of other human beings who are intent on control and power over others. But freedom also means not being beholden to the minds of men, or their ideas, no matter how rational those ideals might be expressed. Freedom then, in my mind, is an invention of the spirit, a separation from the past into something new, unique, and exciting. Freedom cannot be merely ego driven appetites fulfilled with superficial longings.
HVA
💚🍀
Hudson Valley Astrologer 
Leave a comment