Ever wonder which state has the strongest chart? Consider that of Texas:

1. All the planets are in the eastern hemisphere. Admittedly, Mercury is 2 degrees and 18 minutes west of the M.C., but hence its principal influence is actually in the eastern half of the chart.

2. It has three clusters of three planets each. Emerson, the New Age sage of Concord, said, "Concentration is the essence of genius." Genius is mental strength; concentration in any activity produces strength.

3. All ten planets are within less than 118 degrees of each other-another pillar of power.

4. It has Pluto on the Ascendant, in the same sign, conjunct the Part of Fortune.1

5. The two lights are in the same sign at the dominant top of the map, with the increasing Moon ahead of the Sun, involved in several applying aspects: a strong New Moon chart. Mississippi also has both lights near the M.C., but the waning Moon is behind the Sun. Also Nevada has Sun and Moon on top, but the lunar orb does not make any regular planetary applying aspects.

6. Three planets as well as the Part of Fortune straddle the Ascendant.2 Quality is as important as quantity: all planets are fiery in a fiery sign. Unfortunately, there's a negative side. They're all malefics: a great deal of the violence we refer to as the old "Wild West" has occurred in Texas, and not all in the "old days." Will America ever forget the "cult standoff" in Waco of 1993? No doubt all this "fire" is also responsible for its great summer heat.3 No doubt this is exacerbated by the strength of the earth signs, and the absence of water signs may contribute to droughts. Texas faces the "likelihood of a water crisis before the end of the 20th century."4

But Texas became what it is because of its positives. Aries is the sign of the pioneers on the mundane level; Texas was built by the very toughest of them. After Mexico was freed from Spain in 1821, Americans drifted in, lured not only by the abundance of land but also by the belief that there would be absence of law enforcement. Mexico City is far away and Aries loves liberty. But eventually Mexican magistrates appeared and in 1835 war broke out between them and the Americans. Texas became a republic for about a decade; its seal featured a branch of an oak tree-symbol of strength!

Texas' chart has something to say about how it joined the Union. The Moon's previous transit was over the Sun in the 10th house, symbolic of the head of state. He, John Tyler at the time, wanted credit for adding Texas to the Union, so he did all he could to achieve this, and succeeded, despite much opposition.

Entry into the Union did not end Texas' pioneer activities. When it joined the U.S., its people lived in the eastern part of the state; then their pioneer spirit drove them west. When the late President Kennedy was asked why he wanted the U.S. to go to the Moon, he replied, "Because it is there." That's the true pioneer spirit-the joy of a challenge!5 The early Texans didn't head west because of gold or glory; West Texas seemed less than inviting. But the Texas pioneers "stuck it out" and "made a go of it": Texas' chart is a bundle pattern, all planets being within 120 degrees; natives of this configuration can go a long way on limited resources.

But life is good to those who are good to it and love it. The pioneers' payoff came when the rewards-bringing Jupiter-Saturn conjunction transited its M.C. on January 10, 1901: oil-"Texas Tea"-was struck at Spindletop, and eventually in 240 of its 254 counties.6 Ah, the great law of compensation: those parts of earth not especially blessed with beauty are blessed with bounty; is it mere coincidence that so much of earth's oil comes from the barren Middle East?7

No, we don't know how much Texas' early pioneers knew about the cosmic law of compensation, but we know that they helped fulfill destiny. E Pluribus Unum, out of many, one, the motto on the Great Seal of the U.S., calls for this nation to become a nation of nations. As long as Texas and the rest of the young nation hugged the East Coast, this would not be. There had to be a move west. In doing so, Texas absorbed the Latin, or Hispanic, culture and also that of the Indians. The amalgam of the three produced the Texas of today and pioneered the way for the nation's regeneration as a whole.

In the U.S. chart, Pluto of regeneration is in the 9th house. Geographically, that is the southwestern part of the country; it is singled out as the center of regeneration. History has vindicated this. As the famous U.S. historian Frederick Jackson Turner stated in his famous lecture, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History," delivered in 1893, "The frontier made America!"8

We find also this: Texas' 8th house of destiny is ruled by Pluto of regeneration, the benign North Node conjunct its cusp. The 4th house in a chart has to do with endings; the 4th from the 8th is the 11th. And in Texas' chart that sector is tenanted by three planets in the New Age sign Aquarius. The end, or purpose, of Texas' destiny is to be New Age! In moving toward this, it is also helping the nation as a whole to move in this direction. Surely by fulfilling its own destiny, the Lone Star State is helping the other states' stars on the U.S. flag shine more brightly!

Source of Texas' chart: Horoscope of the U.S. States & Cities, Carolyn R. Dodson, p. 154

1. The Part of Fortune on the Ascendant greatly enhances the power of initiative; conjunct Pluto encourages protest against the old; regeneration. The Lunation Cycle, Dane Rudhyar, pp. 95, 116.

2. The Ascendant's degree symbol: "The president of the country." Who is the country's strongest person if not the president? The Sabian Symbols, Marc Edmund Jones, p. 160.

3. Pluto on the Ascendant produces extremes. Texas' highest recorded temperature was 120 degrees Fahrenheit, August 12, 1936, in Seymour; its lowest, 31 below zero, in Julia, February 12, 1899, World Book Encyclopedia, Volume 19, p. 186.

4. Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 26, p. 546.

5. It has been said that talent does what it can, genius what it must. Motivated by an irresistible inner urge, pioneers are like geniuses-at the cutting edge.

6. Collier's Encyclopedia, Volume 22, p. 190.

7. Texas' closest planetary tie to the U.S. natus is that of its Jupiter to the nation's Venus and Jupiter in the latter's 2nd house: Texas has added to U.S. wealth.

8. The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, p. 865.
— A Probationer
— Rays from the Rose Cross Magazine, January/February, 1996