“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Abraham Lincoln, 1858

When CBS aired the first episode of Norman Lear’s “All in the Family” in 1971 almost no one was watching. Network officials were so nervous about public reaction to the show’s controversial content that they skipped the pre-release advertising campaign and opened the program with the following disclaimer: WARNING: The program you are about to see throws a humorous spotlight on our frailties, prejudices and concerns… hoping to show just how absurd they are”. The jitters were unfounded. A year later, the audience had grown to 50 million and the show went on to garner 48 Emmy nominations in its 12 seasons.

In the twenty years since the show’s last episode in 1983, yesterday’s controversies have been joined by whole new crop of issues, same sex marriage, cloning, sex abuse scandals in the churches, etc., adding even more weight to Archie Bunker’s lament for the good old days when “girls were girls and men were men.” Society is so much more complex today, while our search for solutions is becoming more simplistic. Our house is divided. Americans are enslaved by black and white thinking, the increasing polarization is dividing the country into warring camps and no resolution is in sight. Even in the last American Civil War, one side wore gray uniforms.

Dramatic and radical social, political and spiritual change is mandated by the times in which we live. We have entered the Age of Aquarius and we are being dragged (some among us kicking and screaming) into the future. The breakdown, dissolution and destruction we are witnessing, much of it on an unprecedented scale, is a necessary preamble to the growth of new structures. This country, in particular, is feeling the squeeze because the USA is currently experiencing a difficult challenge aspect known as a Saturn square. Every seven years in the life cycle of an individual or a nation, the transiting planet Saturn orchestrates a crisis designed to catalyze a shift in consciousness. Transiting Saturn in Cancer is now squaring America’s natal Saturn in Libra (while also conjunct both the country’s and George Bush’s Cancer suns). The square will be exact in mid-June, almost exactly a year to the day after Saturn’s ingress into Cancer (6/3/04).

Americans have been struggling with Saturnine conflicts for the past year and can look forward to yet another year of escalation. Saturn is the planet of lessons, priorities and responsibilities. The sign it occupies indicates the issues under scrutiny, both literally and symbolically. For example: America’s natal Saturn in Libra, in the 10th house of the USA chart, is a reflection of this country’s stated commitment to “justice for all”. What we are observing, since transiting Saturn entered Cancer, are restrictions on the civil liberties of certain individuals, i.e. those who are outside the dominant “in group”--immigrants, non-Christians, liberals, minorities, gays and lesbians, etc. Cancer rules families, tribes and clans, and at its worst can be clannish and exclusionary—attitudes which are a by-product of its security mindedness. America’s house is definitely divided—along racial, ethnic, political, religious, economic, social, and class lines. One of the society’s big lessons is about getting beyond the rigidity of these positions. Hopefully, we may yet discover that our national security (a major Saturn in Cancer issue) depends upon our solidarity.

America does indeed have a mission in the world. A tenth house Saturn in Libra calls upon our nation to be an arbiter, diplomat, coalition builder and peacemaker. Also, the USA’s Sun, Jupiter, Venus conjunction in Cancer in the seventh house (now also conjunct transiting Saturn) prescribes America’s relationship with the peoples of the world as a compassionate caretaker. Foreign aid is our true stock in trade. Squares resolve when ways are found to balance and integrate the highest expressions of each. We can best accomplish this by embracing our destiny and beginning a healing process within the family of nations.

Since I began writing this column, six months ago, I have been watching more network news, reading “Time”, “Newsweek” and the local paper (in addition to PBS, NPR and “The Nation”) and mining them for cultural trends that reflect the planetary pulse. Many stories on my radar screen this month involve Saturn in Cancer themes. Some key Cancer issues are mothers, children, home and family, security, emotions, intuition, caretaking, nurturing, food, genealogy, immigration, tribalism, etc. Saturn’s domain includes fathers, work and career, authority, the government, restrictions, structures, inflexibility, time and money. Divisive issues dominate many of these areas. As my own mother often said “there are two sides to every story”. While this message (however unwelcome) may have resonated well in the context of childhood training, it is troublesome that many adults have not progressed past this limited vision to the point of being willing to see MORE than two sides.

Mother’s Day, celebrated recently, is always a focal point for taking stock of the changing roles of women. Work/life balance issues lead the pack this year. Beginning in the 70’s, Feminism gave rise to a “you can do it all” mentality. Now, this myth is crumbling. Many working mothers are exhausted, disillusioned and faced with difficult “career vs. family” choices. A spate of new books takes sides on the issues (“Maternal Desire: On Children, Love and the Inner Life”, “The Mommy Myth: the idealization of Motherhood and How it has Undermined Women”, “The Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work”). Time Magazine’s cover story (March 22) “The Case for Staying Home: Why more young moms are opting out of the rat race” gives an inclusive picture of the conflicts facing mothers, the choices they are making and the bind in which many working women who don’t have choices (single mothers and those from lower socio-economic classes) find themselves. Unfortunately, structures in the workplace (another Saturnian reflection) do not support a variety of options. Proposed reforms such as job sharing and family leave have not materialized; part time work pays less while excluding benefits and the latest government proposal to reduce over-time pay would further cripple the ability of working families to get by on the salary of a single breadwinner.

“What ever happened to childhood”? might be the next American epitaph. Kids lives today are so heavily structured that customary activities such as play, relaxation, creativity, school recess, lunch period and summer fun (even camp is academic) have been marginalized. In a “Newsweek” editorial (May 17), Ana Quindlen apologizes to the class of 2004: “Life has been a relentless treadmill since you entered preschool at the age of 2…Your college applications look like resumes for midlevel executives…How exhausted you must be”. Sociologist, Betsey Taylor, President of the Center for the New American Dream (www.newdream.org ) has written a book, based on her original research, entitled “What Kids Really Want that Money Can’t Buy”. The number one request? More free time!

Saturn rules time…and restriction. The evidence of “no time” is everywhere--so much so, that a backlash has sprung up. A worldwide movement “In Praise of Slowness” (named after a best selling book by the same title) is challenging the “cult of speed” (www.inpraiseofslowness.com ). The Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy (CRESP) at Cornell University is even sponsoring a national “Take Back Your Time Day”. An official handbook and t-shirt are available at the website www.timeday.org.

Here are some additional trends that made it into the pages of “Time” and “Newsweek”: Gay marriage—a feature story “How Oregon Eloped” (Time May 17) documents how the city of Portland beat the state of Massachusetts to the punch by legalizing same sex unions. The five page feature story explores the ramifications of legal and political maneuvering at the civic level and is embellished with personal stories of “real women” and “real men”. Also--designer babies, sex selection, DNA and cloning, and designer births—from underwater birth to an increase in elective C-sections, in order to accommodate schedules at the office (“Have it Your Way: Redesigning Birth”, Time, May 10). Home ownership, the American dream, is now out of reach of most Americans thanks to spiraling costs and evidence of economic polarization in “the two Americas” is growing. Even apple pie is under fire! Too many “carbs”! (Is nothing sacred?) With an obesity epidemic on its hands, the National Institutes of Health are re-building the food pyramid, from the bottom up. We are a society in transition.

Saturn squares are pivotal points. They are times for turning a corner and heading in a new direction; times for balancing and integrating conflicting agendas, re-ordering priorities and building new structures to support new choices. Looking metaphorically at the life cycle of the crab, the symbol of Cancer, can help to explain what is happening now in our individual and collective lives. The crab has a hard protective shell because it has soft insides. Yet, in order to grow, it must periodically molt. At those times it is most vulnerable. America is now at that time in its life cycle when we have outgrown our old shell. It has cracked open and is falling away, leaving us feeling exposed and insecure. Instinctively, like Humpty Dumpty, we try to repair the damage and retreat back into the past. However, we are faced with the inevitability of change. It is time for a larger more expansive vision, a larger shell that leaves us room to grow. First, we must be with our feelings, our sense of vulnerability and insecurity. Our feelings will guide us towards the building of new structures that respond appropriately to our values and priorities. We must strengthen our minds, bodies and spirits, rather than hardening our hearts. New structures, both in our individual lives, and in our institutions, must meet our needs without holding us back. Because we are entering the New Age we are called upon to honor the tenets of an Aquarian society, one that is inherently inclusive and progressive. Emerging trends are our hope for the future. We can best utilize the gifts of Cancer by nurturing and protecting these still vulnerable infant ideas and attitudes. They are the invaluable legacy we will leave to our children, to our children’s children—and to our sacred Mother Earth.

All material is copyrighted by Judith Goldberg and may not be reproduced without permission.

Judith Goldberg, MFA is a Vocational and Karmic Astrologer in Baltimore, Maryland. She earned her master’s degree from the Maryland Institute of Art, and is a graduate of the four year astrology internship program offered by “Creative Choices”. Information is available regarding private career consultations. Judith also welcomes your questions and comments. You may reach her at judith.goldberg@verizon.net.