In a single moment, a mass of 50,000 settlers and pioneers on horseback, trains, wagons and foot sprang into motion for the sole purpose of claiming land for a homestead. The Land Rush of 1889 was on. As above, so below. Just how many planets were crowded together? Four planets and the asteroid Vesta with two more planets closely following. In the picture above, you can still see the line of the 10th house cusp as the settlers are starting to move into the 9th house. This is a stellium of planets by house (Mercury through Vesta) and also by zodiac sign (Sun through Neptune). Taurus on a normal day isn’t known for speed but, properly motivated, Taurean movement is excessively powerful and fast. This was not just fast motion but an intense and complete total possession. By sunset, there were new towns, new cities, and every inch of almost two million acres of land was claimed. They titled the photos of people sitting in makeshift campsites on their lots: “Holding It Down”. Taurus.
Structure of the Horoscope
Government troops restrict entry by the multitude until the stipulated time. They enforce a border and a border is a 10th house place. The border is in Aries. There is a martial feel to this border with troops acting as the governments agents. Then bugles, cannon and gun shot rings out and the race for land is on. The Taurean bulls explode into motion.
The fastest sprint out in all directions and spread to every corner of the land. The first are independent, youngsters on horseback carrying no supplies or martial minded liars. Likely teenagers and young adults on horseback or Sooners lying about their entry into the area and backing up their claims with guns. Aries Mercury. Behind them are prime age men alone driving wagons with light supplies. Taurus Sun. Behind them are young couples traveling together also driving wagons. Taurus Mars conjunct Taurus Venus. Close behind come the self sufficient single women staying close to the first married women in the race. Taurus Vesta. The 0° Gemini (30° Taurus) Neptune represent those settlers who cannot materialize their dream of land ownership. They are the disappointed.The wives of the prime age male settlers do not sprint. Aquarius Moon. They are far behind, partnered with the Taurus Suns, and they are bringing in heavier supplies, the very young and the very old. The Aquarius Moon is conjunct the Descendant axis of partnership and marriage and they are in the lineup as the 4° Gemini Pluto. Aquarius Moon wives trine Gemini Pluto.
The cusp of the 10th house marks Noon, the time the land could be claimed. This is very much a horoscope in motion. From government restriction in the 10th until all the land could be claimed at the 9th house cusp, there are four hours and 42 minutes.
Character of the Event
The Taurus Sun is ruler of the horoscope. Prime age married men define the character of the event. The Leo Ascendant dominates. First in accordance with its Taurean purpose, the Sun establishes possession of the land and then, reverting to its Leonine character, creates a fixed environment safe enough for their children to join them and be able to play. The event could have disintegrated into mayhem but Leo is represented by lions. While not completely without problems, recognition of living in the land of lions kept everything fairly civil.
There is also another key feature, the 9th house is rotating out of Pisces into Aries. Aries as the first zodiac struggles to survive and establish something new. Oklahoma’s journey to statehood is born in these few hours. The location of Aries in a horoscope designates the birthplace of the significance of the horoscope. Don’t confuse this with the birth of the chart which is always the 1st house cusp. In the cacophony of settlers rushing, the quiet unseen significance is the dissolution of Indian Country and creation of a new system based on the type of settlement created by those souls. Pisces is associated with victimization and criminalization. During the birth of new systems, the two are intertwined. Branding someone a criminal can occur for the purpose of victimizing them and victimizing someone can lead them to act against the new system making them a criminal. For many the dissolution of Indian Country and establishment of Oklahoma is unjust but it is a turn of the wheel and just as surely as the Indian Country system dissolved so to will the American pioneer system dissolve.
It was all over very fast. By 4:42 p.m., the land was completely controlled and legal registry was beginning. Although the start was as fast as a bull could run, the long term effects are still occuring. The first Neptune square briefly occurred in 1928 and then 1929, this led to major challenges for homesteading. The homesteading population generally declined until the Neptune opposition. Some homesteading elements will remain after Pluto has thoroughly eliminated all of the unworkable parts and Neptune will romanticize the dream of homesteading just as today it has romanticized the dream of Indian Country. The wheel turns.