On the Eve of America's Pluto Return, Voting Creates Community
As we're now within two years of soul-searching Pluto's return to his position at the US Declaration of Independence, America teeters at the brink of chaos. The COVID-19 Pandemic, economic collapse, and over a decade of deep political strife have all put us closer to potential implosion. Even with the proliferation of "social" media platforms, we appear even less like the society that Thomas Paine writes about during America's founding. As Paine put it, society inspires intercourse and creates mutual benefit with our wants. In short, it's how we build the community we want to live in.
At whatever great or small level we choose, our participation is the magic formula that fosters happiness, growth, and prosperity in our lives. Government has the ability to cultivate these values, and the act of voting is one critical way to support a government that honors everyone.
Sprawling Jupiter couldn't be more different from shrinking Saturn
The nexus between building community while tolerating the necessity of government also seems the perfect way to describe this December's Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Aquarius. This conjunction foreshadows a significant reset, as it is the first in a cycle of conjunctions between the two planets in Air signs, which we will have every 20 years for the next (gulp!) 200 years! These types of conjunctions have mainly happened in Earth signs during the last two and half centuries. Air signs—Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius—are all about fostering communication, connections, and community. But sprawling Jupiter couldn't be more different from shrinking Saturn. Yet, this goes way beyond the idea of big versus small when it comes to our government.
It used to be that there were more localized and accessible points of control in our country. For example, neighbors would elect "co-residents," people they knew, to serve their children's educational needs through boards of education. Now, more cities have departments of education stocked with hired or appointed administrators who may not even live in the same area as the parents and children they serve. Most US citizens have no control over who serves in their local law enforcement, except with the centuries-old concept of a "sheriff's department," and these are just a few examples. As citizens, we've ceded more power to an untransparent government that makes decisions for us that we are unaware of and unable to participate in the discourse around them.
However, our surrendering of this power didn't happen quickly; it didn't even happen knowingly. We got busy; we stopped paying attention. Our cities got bigger and more complicated, and we tuned out. However, when we tune out, we not only lose our seat at the table, we lose access to the table altogether.
We can actively seek change
Funny enough, Jupiter is said to rule bureaucracy and government, considering the god Jupiter brought together the gods at Mount Olympus as the first celestial government. Maybe Saturn, especially in his home sign, Aquarius, signals how we learn to scale back and seize more of the power we've surrendered. That begins with our participation. Our city and county councils are microcosms of the national government, with decision-making power that affects us profoundly and daily. We can actively seek change in how policing works in our local areas and get to know our community boards responsible for how services and goods are distributed in our neighborhoods. We can support businesses who show interest in giving back to the area customers who sustain them and get to know our neighbors and care for their well-being. And the first and easiest place to claim this power and show up for our communities is through your vote.
Voting is only the first vital tool to express our power
It's become popular among many to say that your vote doesn't count. That sentiment might make sense if voting were our only tool for involvement with our government. It's not. Voting is only the first vital tool to express our power. But, following this November's election, we must be willing to participate bigger -- know your local officials, hold them accountable, and get involved yourself, like Jupiter and Saturn's broad and narrow dynamic, respectively. Otherwise, we all lose, and we've already lost too much.
