The Backstory…
In 2018, Michael Anton, a Claremont Institute senior fellow and fresh from serving as the Trump White House’s National Security Council spokesman, declared in the Claremont Review of Books that America had entered a “cold civil war.” A conflict he said would be waged through institutions, narratives, and law, rather than with live rounds. In that piece he warned that if we were to survive as a nation, we must “unite or die.”
The last time that kind of rhetoric was in the public discourse was in the late 1850s as the US was experiencing its first Neptune opposition, and running headlong into its (first) Civil war.
Anton made his name (ironically) as the pseudonymous author of the right’s defining “Flight 93 Election” essay, in which he compared the 2016 vote to 9/11’s United Flight 93. His argument was this: the right can either take a chance and storm the cockpit, or accept certain death. According to Anton, a Clinton presidency would mean the permanent empowerment of an unhinged leftist regime set to permanently hijack immigration, elections and the courts, and cement the socialist/communist/one-world-government utopia of the leftist elites.
Anton argued that this would be a Rubicon that, once crossed, the US (as we know it) would not recover. He also argued that while Trump was indeed a hazardous wild card, he stood as the last-chance gamble to halt that slide. The piece served as a wakeup call for fence-sitting conservatives to take the risk, and it established the intellectual scaffolding for his later “cold civil war” thesis.
What does this have to do with astrology? Come to find out, quite a bit.
Now, whether or not you agree with the specifics of how we got to this “fissured nation” status, we are here now. And not in the “be here now”, Kumbuya, Ram Dass kind of wayway, but in an up-a-creek-without-a-paddle kind of way. And to that end, Anton provided an astute observation for sure. Seven years on, the piece reads less like hyperbole and more like accurate prediction. Makes you wonder if Anton might not be a Functional Astrologer.
I’ve been an astrologer for quite some time now (25+ years), and if I were to one-word define the overarching theme of the astro weather during this long stretch, I’d say “bifurcation”. A bifurcation that, in truth, has been growing since the last Saturn-Neptune conjunction back in 1989. It’s one thing for a nation to be divided on the issues of the day. It’s quite another for it to not even agree on the rules of the game. That this bifurcation has reached a crescendo point with Saturn conjunct Neptune (during a Neptune opposition, no less ⸺ the last of which occurred during America’s first Civil War) is, I suppose, to be expected.
That it’s expected though, doesn’t make it any easier to watch.
This Saturn–Neptune conjunction (stationed, as it is, on the cusp of the US 4th house of “homeland”) is ripping through the collective and prying open two incompatible realities. On the one hand, Saturn (ruling the US 2nd house) is hard numbers, rules, and receipts; the iron fist of time, limits, law and consequences. In sharp contrast, Neptune (ruling the US 4th house) is mood, story, and the never-quite-there, dreamy-eyed utopian mist. Neptune is the play-pretend, borderless escape where everything is felt or imagined, and nothing is fixed. Force these two planets together and you have exactly what’s playing out in America today: a Civil War. Cold for the moment, yes. But for how long will it remain that way?
Every major issue in the US is currently a potential flashpoint. Federalized policing in D.C. (and more cities to come, you can be sure of that), lawfare ricocheting through deeply factionized courts, and an impossibly divided legislature are all signs that we’ve entered the crisis phase of a domestic cold war. And even minor issues are, thanks to the amplification effect of Social Media upon a fragile collective psychology, getting blown out of proportion.
Again, this is all simply energy seeking expression. And it’s going to express either “positively” or “negatively” depending on your ability to handle, direct, and ultimately integrate and transcend it.
If the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis was the pinnacle of the US-Soviet Cold War, this just might be the pinnacle of the Left-Right Cold War. A period of peak, irreconcilable differences. And the same outer planet players are involved.
Uranus Retrograde
Now, let’s add the next layer. The September 5th Uranus station (retrograde), followed in short order by the Lunar Eclipse of September 7th.
First, the Uranus station (retrograde), at 7° Taurus 14′, on September 5th, 2025.
Uranus begins its apparent backward motion through the early degrees of Taurus, remaining throughout his retrograde march within a subdivision of the zodiac known for its unapologetic clarity and truth. Uranus will remain retrograde until February 3rd, 2026, when he stations (direct) at 3° Taurus 14′.
In mundane terms, this retrograde span unfolds entirely within the Aries-ruled, late 5th house of the United States chart; the house of “creation, risk, and play” scaled out to the collective level. The 5th house defines what the nation births, bets on, and celebrates.
That the US 5th is ruled by Aries means that Mars (from his position in the US 6th) governs the nation’s “creation, risk, and play.” Which is why the US excels in combative, winner-take-all sports, entertainment, and all forms of capitalistic speculation.
It’s important to know that the area currently occupied by Uranus is an extremely blunt and to-the-point sub division of the zodiac, given to unceremoniously cutting away what is dead, stagnant, or false. With transit Uranus (ruling the US 3rd) retrograding here and we can expect:
violent whipsaws around “real-world value” (Taurus) themes; real estate, the stock market and crypto are in for a wild ride.
Expect a radical backlash against “progressive” movements in education. Both on the technology front (AI for example) and perceived woke / DEI intrusion.
As Uranus rules the US 3rd, we can expect a no-holds-barred attack on propaganda, fake news, fake narrative and intentionally misleading or wishy-washy (word salad) verbiage.
The issue with that last point being, by whose definition is an item "propaganda" or “fake”?
Which brings us right back around, full circle, to the Saturn-Neptune conjunction. The inability to even agree on the rules of the game is just that much more fuel for the Cold War fire.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Uranus gets very agitated in this subdivision of the zodiac. Every time he’s been here there has been live-fire conflict on US soil.
The Lunar Eclipse
Take note that in the US’s chart above this, the mundane chart for 9/7/25 at the time of the eclipse, Aquarius is the director of the 3rd-house stage within which this eclipse takes place. The third house represents the nation’s “central nervous system”: communication flows (press, social platforms, telecom), data pipelines and algorithms, roads/rails (bridges, boats and borders; ports and supply chains) and short-haul logistics, infrastructure (roadways, electrical grids, etc.), neighbors and local networks, the everyday chatter that becomes narrative… and propaganda.
Uranus, as Aquarius’s ruler, directs disruption, decentralization, electricity, networks, dissent, and sudden breaks with precedent. Things happen fast here (incredible innovation), and disruption can come about even faster.
And remember that Uranus will be retrograde for most of the 6-month period covered by this Lunar eclipse. So the volatility here will be even greater.
As well, this is a Rahu eclipse. And Rahu drives a forward-facing hunger, acceleration, and compulsive fascination; a tilt toward the future that rarely asks permission or fears consequences. And this particular subdivision of the zodiac adds heat and extremity. At best it grants independence, self-reliance, fierce integrity; the willingness to stand alone when the crowd wobbles. In shadow it swings toward anger, impulsivity, anxiety, and the drive to coerce others into one’s ideal. The mind runs hot here; worry loops and righteous certainty are the easiest (though, not the healthiest) outlets.
We can expect this Rahu Lunar eclipse to create “overnight” mass movements, iconic leaders who appear from “nowhere”, and narratives (including propaganda) that mutate at the speed of light.
That this eclipse will not be visible in the US (as it occurs during the day, US time) in no way diminishes its potency. Like all eclipses, it will pack a punch relative to where it hits in a chart. Personal or otherwise.
This combination of Uranus retrograde and the Lunar Eclipse are going to make for an intense next several months. Add a Solar Eclipse to the mix (September 21st - dedicated post forthcoming) and the fall equinox on the 22nd and, well… buckle up.
On a personal level, everything depends, of course, on where these alignments fall in your natal chart. But in general, be especially mindful of your nervous system during this period. If you don’t have a mindfulness practice, now is a really good time to incorporate one. If you feel inordinately compelled to bend others to your vision, check whether fear or anxiety is behind the wheel. This eclipse falls in a subdivision of the zodiac that favors a quiet resolve over manipulative conversion. The collective, though, is bent on “conform or be cast out”, and this is what we’ll see be played out over the next several months.
Overall, this is not an easy energy to deal with, and it will be a severe stressor to those who are already psychologically fragile. As I stated in the previous post, these transits and alignments (especially the current outer planet configuration that will run throughout next year) are offering up the opportunity to become, as Nasim Taleb would say, antifragile. That option is available to everyone. Unfortunately, the vast majority of those on the brink will be driven deeper into psychosis, further exacerbating the ongoing bifurcation.
This energy, like all the energies before it (and all those to follow), will finally run its course and exhaust itself. The only question is, what will it leave in its wake?
And, taking one more step back, the truth is that the only person you can control is you. Any semblance of control (Saturn) over another is nothing more than abject delusion (Neptune). Keep that in mind during this long conjunction of the two planets. Especially now as they’re being punctuated by Uranus retrograde and the eclipse season.
⸺Keith