Welcome to the American Revolution 2.0. It is not, as some have suggested, the Civil War 2.0, despite the stultifying polarization that has insinuated itself into almost every facet of daily life and makes us view ourselves as hopelessly divided. No, what we’re in the midst of is a reassessment of our foundations—every pillar of principle that has supported our government and every baked-in flaw that’s been eroding those very ideals. In 1776—or the days of yesteryear, as the justices of the Supreme Court probably like to call them—not even the most well-off and well-loved women were considered equal.
Women have been fighting for their rightful place as equals ever since. Those of us long-in-the-tooth enough to remember when a girl couldn’t wear pants to school, when periods weren’t mentioned let alone monitored on an app, and abortions were whispered about with apprehension, look at the overturn of Roe v. Wade, banishing our hard-won rights as fully entitled citizens, with disbelief. Five right-wing conservatives enforcing their limited view of reality are returning women to archaic laws. I remember when every woman, regardless of age or experience, was called “girl” in the reception area. There were very few females in executive positions prior to the sixties and seventies, those decades of turmoil and transformation that made men so uncomfortable.
Ambition came at a precious personal cost for many young women who were only just becoming aware of the depths of prejudice that infected how they were seen and categorized. Those of my generation surely remember the consciousness-raising that took place and drove lots of people crazy—men and women alike—with accusation and realization. Women are still not free to experience life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We are being pushed to do what old men—men of my generation—would like us to do: have babies and shut the fuck up about everything else. Of course, we are not about to shut up about anything, especially when we are told that our constitutionally proscribed place is barefoot, pregnant, and chained to the stove, not the phone.
Here’s an interesting quote from the Dalai Lama about the power of women:
dalailamacenter.org/blog-post/western-women-can-come-rescue-world.
Of course I agree with him, and I have often felt that the women of the West, who have so much access to power but much of it still unused, would eventually marshal their forces and create a powerful unifying presence that would educate society to appreciate the value of compassion and care, diversity within unity, and the value of knowledge and wisdom, not just of information.
In dealing a swift blow to gun control laws, the Supreme Court has also ensured guns have more rights and protections than women do.
Soon, anyone who disagrees with the radical Christian agenda embraced by the majority of Supreme Court justices will face the arduous challenge of defending how they choose to live—Clarence Thomas has made that clear. (He was Senator Biden’s choice in 1991 and he is President Biden’s problem thirty years later.) But we may not have too long to worry about that given that the EPA, according to the Supreme Court, won’t be able to regulate pollution and thus won’t be able to continue its fight to diminish global warming, thus shortening the life span of our species and every other species on planet Earth.
Unfortunately, this week we are in the throes of a Mars/Pluto square, which is a pernicious interaction that once again pits us and all of our oppositional points of view against each other. Mars symbolizes muscle and might; Pluto symbolizes power; and squares symbolize fractious interactions. When might and muscle clash with power, violence often ensues. This square is exact and separating on July 1, which means the air is alive with the sound of arguments, just in time for the 4th of July. Be careful about the fights you pick this week and next because they could easily morph into full-scale battles with no easy or obvious resolution available. The influence of this Mars/Pluto square finally ends on July 9—just in time for the second exact hit of the United States Pluto Return on July 11.
A Mercury/Saturn trine is exact on July 2, and although we’ve been under the influence of this positive combination and its potential to support clear thinking and the practical application of that clarity since June 29, you wouldn’t know that from the Supreme Court decisions just handed down. (Unless you think that Saturn Retrograde, which began on June 4, is the force of retro-judges’ backward glance.)
A Venus/Jupiter sextile is still operative, which translates into a slightly lighter air for the next several days, but a Sun/Jupiter square turns that Jovian bent for laughter towards gallows humor and that could be upsetting for many of our fellow travelers. Try to keep your internal compass set on a positive path that will keep you from falling into the pernicious winds of the Mars/Pluto square.
Every week I try to end on a positive note. This week it’s about turning the tables on the men who would make women manageable again by controlling women’s reproductive choices. The more you try to restrict women, the more likely they are to rebel against that control. Men and women must unite to make the world a better place to live, but especially women. Because if women don’t unite and fight for their rights, soon we won’t be able to get an education, and most importantly, we will lose the right to vote and effect further change; we should consider any freedoms not ordained by the Constitution at risk under this power grab by regressive forces.