The Vedic Astrology Karmic Timeline for the USA makes a shift in October 2023: the USA will be leaving the Saturn sub-period of the Rahu Major period, and begin the Mercury sub-period of the Rahu Major period. The Vimshottari Dasha, or Planetary Period System, is a well known technique in Vedic Astrology for determining which parts of a natal chart will be ‘activated’ during particular years of the lifetime of the individual. Through the analysis of the major period and sub-period, Vedic Astrology determines where the owner of the chart is on their personal karmic timeline, where they are going in the coming years, and what sorts of events will occur. This technique works well for the charts of nations as well.
In December 2020, the USA began the Saturn sub-period of the Rahu major period. In Vedic Astrology, the combination of Saturn and Rahu is considered problematic. Since both Saturn and Rahu are ‘natural malefics’, their combined period and sub-period has a bad reputation. For the USA, this manifested as Donald Trump’s anti-democratic efforts to overturn an election, the subsequent “Insurrection,” and resulting chaos, trials, etc. But now the Mercury sub-period begins, so let’s take a dive into analyzing what it signifies and what to expect in the coming years.
Mercury is the planet of the Rational Mind, Linear Thinking, and Making Reasonable Decisions. Mercury is the planet of Communications, therefore: Speech, Writing, Media, Computers, and Messaging. Mercury is the planet of Business Transactions, Commerce and Mercantile activities. In Vedic Astrology, Mercury is considered the weakest of all the planets, because it can be easily influenced by other planets.
In the USA’s Sagittarius Rising Chart, Mercury becomes the ruler of the 7th house and 10th house, where its signs, Gemini and Virgo, are placed. The 7th house of a nation’s chart represents countries with which the nation is in partnership with. But that includes any Direct Enemy, since a direct enemy is another type of ‘partnership.’ The 10th house represents the Ruler, or in the case of the USA, the party in power and its leader, presently President Biden. The 10th house is also the country’s Power, Status, Reputation, Renown and / or Notoriety. In the USA chart there are quite a lot of planets in Mercury’s signs: Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Sun in Gemini, and Neptune and Saturn in Virgo. Therefore Mercury is the Dispositor of several of the USA natal planets, lending a great deal of importance to Mercury.
Natal Mercury is placed in the USA’s 8th house. The 8th house is one of the so-called ‘Bad’ houses, because it represents a lot of undesirable things, like Death and Chronic Problems. In a nation’s chart, the 8th signifies Death of the Ruler, End of Existing Government, Peril through War, Natural Disasters, and Epidemics. The 8th house generally is the house of Secrets, Clandestine Activities, Scandal and Humiliation. The 8th also represents the Resources of Other Countries, as well as Financial Relations with Other Countries.
Thus, having the ruler of the 10th house of the Ruler in the 8th house of Death, is a signification of things like Assassinations, of which the USA has had a few. The ruler of the 10th house in the 8th house also indicates that the Leadership engages in Clandestine Activities, putting Status and Reputation at risk. A strong connection between the 7th house and the 8th house shows a lot of Financial Involvement with Other Countries, which is quite obvious, especially now with the US dollar being the dominant currency in the world. These significations will get additional emphasis during the upcoming Mercury Sub-period.
Having natal Mercury in the sign Cancer, and Retrograde, is somewhat detrimental to Mercury. Cancer is one of the Water Signs, based in the Emotions. The planet of Rational, Linear Thinking in an emotional sign is not a good thing for Mercury. The retrograde condition of Mercury also distorts the functioning of Mercury: retrograde planets don’t operate normally. Thus, the Mercury sub-period will be both important (due to so many planets in Mercury’s signs), weak for manifestation (due to Mercury’s distorted condition), as well as problematic (due to Mercury’s position in the 8th house).
Note that the USA is currently in a Rahu Major Period. Natal Rahu is also placed in the USA 8th house. Therefore during the Mercury sub-period, the 8th house gets double emphasis. The connection between Rahu and Mercury will be front-and-center during this sub-period. Rahu is one of the eclipse points, therefore indicating Darkness, Distortion, and Confusion. In Vedic Mythology, Rahu is one of the Demons; demons are ambitious and don’t play fair, demons are Tricky, Deceptive, and Corrupt. But Rahu in Vedic Mythology is a smart demon; he’s Innovative, Inventive, and capable of causing Transformation. So the Rahu Major Period, which began back in November 2015 (just when Donald Trump first announced his candidacy for president), has been both a period of constant Deception, as well as Innovation and Transformation.
Mercury combined with Rahu puts the planet of Communication in contact with the significator of Corruption. The most obvious manifestation of this is “Fake News” which we have been seeing plenty of already. The most recent iteration of this is A.I., artificial intelligence: Communication and Messaging, combined with Innovation and Invention, sprinkled with Deception. Fake News and A.I will no doubt be playing a big part in the upcoming presidential elections campaign.
In Vedic Astrology, Mercury represents Youth; Rahu signifies where the soul is going and what lessons need to be learned. The 8th house is not only Death, but also Rebirth. Rahu represents Destiny and The Future. So another prediction for the Mercury Sub-period of the Rahu Major Period would be a Rebirth of the Youth in the country; a Transformation by way of a Youth Movement.
The USA’s Mercury Sub-period will last for 2-1/2 years, from October 2023 until May 2026.