Uranus, Pluto and the Promethean Surge

"So, you say you want a revolution?"... John Lennon

Pluto entered Capricorn back at the beginning of '08 and will remain in that sign until it finally transitions into Aquarius in late 2024. Simultaneously, structures which have no integral purpose at their core began crumbling in 2008 and will continue to do so for at least the next twenty years, but we're witnessing it most intensely early in this decade because of the influence of Uranus in Aries. As Uranus moved from Pisces into Aries in mid 2010 and began squaring Pluto, growing popular unrest and an assertive revolutionary spirit demanding change has electrified the collective psyche in relation to these decaying structures.

Here are the forces at play:

1. Pluto reveals the buried shadow aspect of whatever it touches, bringing a laser-like atomic intensity that inevitably affects deep transformation. Pluto in Capricorn applies that energy to the fundamental underlying infrastructure, government, capital, authoritarian dictatorships etc.

2. Uranus electrifies, stimulates, and awakens with Eureka lightning bolt-like shocking revelation. Uranus in Aries demands freedom assertively, emphasizing the rights of the individual against any imposed authority. It sparks a wildfire in the mind, inspiring the catalytic birth of a new cycle.

3. Squares create tension that builds to a point of crisis, offering dynamic opportunities for growth. Capricorn is square to Aries in the zodiac.

Synthesize the above three principles and you get what we've been experiencing this past year. Witness in synchronicity with this cycle for example, the Arab Spring and subsequent popular revolutions throughout North Africa and the Middle East, the Tea (totaller) Party movement, the Occupy movement, the European economic zone teetering on the brink of insolvency, etc.

Uranus and Pluto will continue to remain connected in a tight square formation through the first half of 2015, so hold onto your hats. There will be plenty of fireworks for the next few years. Authoritarian regimes that curtail personal freedoms as well as economic institutions such as the world bank, IMF etc. that have unrealistic underlying economic models based on sustained growth rather than organic cycles and endless exploitation of resources are directly at odds with the emerging paradigm. The center will not hold for such institutions and it may not be pretty for anything or anyone identified with the old paradigm as it continues to unravel. The breath of life that has sustained these old forms has expired.

Complicating the energetic pattern of Pluto and Uranus, over the past year Saturn in Libra has also been connecting to both of them. Libra is opposite Aries and square to Capricorn, so Saturn in Libra intensifed but also stabilized the energetic dynamic between Uranus and Pluto into a T-Square. Saturn brings focus, necessary limitation and discipline to whatever it touches, also lending graveness and responsibility to the situation. Saturn says Get Real and pares it down to the bone. Saturn in Libra brings resolution of karma, creating fairness and equality, ie. the haves vs. the have-nots, an impetus toward the restoration of natural law, also focusing on relationships (Libra), honing them into essential structures that truly serve a fundamental purpose (Saturn) and are capable of sustained equilibrium.

Completing the picture, In 2011, during late June and July the Sun transited through Cancer. Every year or so, the inner inner planets do so as well, and the moon moves through Cancer for 2 1/2 days every month. Mercury was in Cancer this June, Venus in July and Mars in August and September.

Cancer is opposite Capricorn and square to both Libra and Aries. Together, Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn form the Cardinal signs. Cardinal signs are initiatory and mark the beginning of cycles, The equinoxes and solstices fall at the beginning of the cardinal signs. Every time one of these celestial bodies moved through Cancer earlier this year it set off the Uranus-Pluto-Saturn T-square and unfolded it into a Cardinal Cross, bringing the energies of those three planets into an even more stabilized cross pattern of direct manifestation.

While Saturn is stil transiting Libra until next October, it moved out of aspect to Uranus and Pluto earlier this year. Saturn in Libra was acting like the brakes in this energetic dynamic, lending some concrete objectivity and an awareness of the others perspective. Now the foot is off the brakes, the petal is to the metal and I predict that this urgent cry for change will continue to accelerate toward more assertively punctuated crisis points over the next few years.

Zooming out a bit, the current Uranus-Pluto cycle started with the Uranus Pluto conjunction in Virgo of 1965-66. Planetary cycles are similar to the lunar cycle. What we envision on the new moon becomes a crisis in action on the first quarter, fully manifest at the full moon and assimilated into consciousness at the last quarter. We are now in the first quarter phase of the Uranus-Pluto cycle that will develop into the Uranus-Pluto opposition in Virgo-Pisces of 2045 to 2048.

The Uranus-Pluto conjunction of the mid sixties coincided with the cry for civil rights, anti-war protests and the beginning of the counterculture revolution. Virgo is an earthy mutable sign, so some other pronounced themes of this configuration were disillusionment with the artificiality of modernism, and utopian ideals of a perfect world, the back to the land movement and frugal hippies.

Now that Uranus and Pluto have moved into a square formation in Cardinal signs, the impetus for iconoclastic transformation that was seeded then is coming forth even more dynamically. The dreams of those of us that grew up in the sixties took root in communes and health food coops. We then birthed children who for the first time in recent US history, have a lower expected standard of living than our own. The collective response from many of us and our children to the plutocracy's blatantly unequal distribution of wealth and resources and the resulting lack of economic opportunities and purposeful career paths within society is erupting as the revolutionary crisis of the 2010's. The 99% is cathartic and pissed off and they're not going to take it any more.

The collapse of the housing bubble and its associated collateralized debt vehicles hit people at the core of their personal emotional security. How many of us have lost our homes as a result of buying into a system that promotes greed, and excess, riding that bubble to the top? We collectively allowed a blatantly irresponsible misuse of the financial markets, creating completely artificial derivative investment scams with no intrinsic value. As Pluto in Capricorn unveils these shadows of the mechanisms of capitalist exploitation, the masses have recognized that they have given away their power and are re-asserting it individually. How willingly will the entrenched power structures relinquish it? Usually not so easily, therefore revolution, on whatever scale it takes for people to reclaim personal sovereignty.

At this stage the process is largely cathartic. It remains to be seen how much of this energy will translate into actual profound structural transformation. Once the old forms are destroyed and the smoke clears, how successfully are we able to craft new ones that embody something fundamentally different and more relevant to the emerging zeitgeist? Remember that painful decade in Iraq? What lessons will we have actually learned? The changes and transformations that do take hold now, or lack thereof, will greatly determine what our quality of life, our relationship to the planet, the oceans and each other are like when this cycle becomes fully externalized in the mid 2040s and from thereon through most of the rest of this century as this Uranus Pluto cycle runs itself out.

Enjoy the ride.

An opportunity for transformation and manifestation - The Capricorn Conjunction Dec 13, 2010

Pluto went into Capricorn in late 08 and January of 09 heralding the beginning of a major structural and financial reform. This last year's cardinal cross with Saturn in Libra, Jupiter and Uranus in Aries, Pluto in Capricorn and variously, the Sun and Moon in Cancer further set the stage for a dramatic and sustained series of deep reforms to re-establish equilibrium around wealth, resources and equity. Pluto will be in Capricorn for about 15 years until 2024 or so. So get used to it. On Dec 13, 2010, Mars, Mercury, and Pluto will all be exactly conjunct within the same astrological minute (a minute is a sixtieth of a degree). Mercury stationed retrograde (appeared to come to a stand-still and began perceptually moving backward) at 6 deg Capricorn on Friday the 10th and has now come back to join Mars and Pluto.

Here's a chart for the event:



What does this mean? Let's break it down: Although Pluto was recently demoted to a dwarf planet, it is still extremely potent in our psychic atmosphere. The archetypal energy of Pluto expresses itself in physical transformation, explosions, nuclear power, death, debt, taxes, the revealing of the shadow, atomic energy, the abyss, focused intensity, "plutocratic" authority due to concentration of power, lasers etc. Mercury is communications, the active busy mind, short-range transportation, errands, the contrasting polarity of opposites playing out in an ongoing dynamic interchange, the caduceus, the medical profession etc. Mars is assertion, aggression, boundaries, the expression of the ego, physical energy, the tendency to push toward an extreme expression of an ideal, etc. Capricorn is the infrastructural foundation upon which we build reality, mountains, goats, the knees, the elderly, age, the skeletal structure in the body, commercial real estate, authority, capital, enlightened wisdom, initiation, capitals, the "father", the initial cardinal earth sign. If you mentally and visually synthesize these energies in various combinations, you get an idea of the expression of these forces together. This conjunction will also be very close to the north node of the moon at 2-3 degrees Capricorn. This is a synthetic point where the moon crosses the ecliptic of the earth's orbit moving northward. When a lunation (full or new moon) coincides with either the North or South node of the moon we get an eclipse. The nodes relate on a mundane level to the zeitgeist of short-term expression in mass consciousness. Eclipses set the tone for a new cycle of unfolding and accentuate the effect of full and new moons. The nodes are an expression of the inter-relationship of the earth, moon and sun, symbolically manifestation, feelings and spirit. This extremely tight planetary configuration is at 4 to 5 degrees Capricorn. Each degree of the zodiac has a symbol. The "sabian" symbol for this degree of the zodiac is INDIANS ON THE WARPATH, WHILE SOME MEN ROW A WELL-FILLED CANOE, OTHERS IN IT PERFORM A WAR DANCE. For more info on the sabian symbols, check out:

http://mindfire.ca/The%20Sabian%20Symbols/An%20Astrological%20Mandala%20-%20Contents.htm

In relation to this symbol, witness the recent saber-rattling with North Korea and the focus on tensions with proto-nuclear Iran. Also the unique new denial of service attacks via "hackterism" last weak by anonymous on Mastercard etc. and the focus on Wikileaks revealing state secrets.

This conjunction will galvanize into action and bring to the forefront of communication many of the forces which have been building this year. Individually, this configuration is also an incredible opportunity for us to focus (Pluto) our energy (Mars) and communication (Mercury) on previously hidden (Pluto) aspects of our inner and outer world to affect some major structural (Capricorn) transformations. The truth will be told, or the form will get old and crumble. That which is not aligned to higher purpose will not survive the upcoming years or will be greatly diminished in power. The templates that we set at this time will provide potent direction for years to come.

The stellium in Capricorn is sextile Venus at 5 deg Scorpio, providing an opportunity for using this energy to also deal on a mundane, mass level with the shared resources and energies that come through relating. Personally, Venus in Scorpio can express as intense charm, sexual attractiveness, charisma etc. This can be an opportunity for tantra, or to focus on unrevealed aspects of relationship and deal with wounding around sexuality, abuse of power etc.

At this time tonight, the moon will be at 26.5 degrees Pisces, between Jupiter and Uranus at 24 and 26 degree Pisces respectively. This will lighten the mood somewhat in relation to this intense energy, providing an opportunity for compassion and feeling into the expansive possibilities inherent in change, a mystically visionary opportunity for innovation and benevolence to coincide. Neptune and Chiron are still conjunct at 26 deg Aquarius in intimate relation to the Moon-Jupiter-Uranus conjunction. This conjunction connected to the Uranus-Moon-Jupiter conjunction provides a mode of expression for compassion for collective wounding, the opportunity for us to relate in a true sense of brotherhood-sisterhood, perhaps even transcend partisan differences (wishful thinking?).

There's a lot of energy afoot for the new, it's even getting rebellious out there, rioting in countries where austerity measures are taking place. There is a culmination, new expression of the restless desire for change that was initiated in the mid to late sixties occurring now, at a more evolved level. The younger generation and the heralds of the new age have had it with the elders misusing and abusing their inheritance, the earth's resources and the collective capital and patience is running out. This is a time for restraint and focused use of this potent energy with also the possibility for an explosive expression of anger at perceived authority, witness terrorism. While the old structures are being reformed and composted we have the opportunity to not "toss the baby out with the bath water" but also respect the elders, to identify with and honor the legacy we've inherited and be grateful for the shoulders on which we stand.

This is also an opportunity to become completely empowered and manifest, in line with Purpose and Spirit, to reach into the depths of our psyches, heal shadows and turn that energy into gold, integrate, and wake up to the power inherent within our spiritual nature, claiming the compassionate powerful awareness of enlightenment which is our birthright and responsibility as humans.

Enjoy!

Whistling Upwind at a Wall

Whistling Upwind at a Wall

This article is in response to a thorough analysis of Pluto in Capricorn affecting power structures etc. by Lynn Koiner,

www.lynnkoiner.com/astrology-articles/pluto-in-capricorn

I'm writing this just as the financial crisis is emerging in fall of 08, and I see the Libra conjunctions of the weekend of September 7 and Pluto turning direct in late Sagittarius back toward Capricorn as having coincided with an initiatory activity (Cardinal signs) to create equilibrium in an overly-leveraged financial market, beginning the process of balancing the equation away from an excessively inflated financial structure. (Jupiter in Capricorn squaring the planets in Libra in Sept and trine Saturn in Virgo, exact trine the same week Pluto entered Capricorn in Jan ‘08).

The fundamental area being affected by Pluto’s transit through Capricorn is a re-evaluation of our relationship to basic resources and survival mechanisms; ie: homes, food, energy sources, water etc. with a particular emphasis on peoples’ insecurity around their structural foundation of the home etc. (Capricorn). This is affecting the emotional security (Cancer) dependent on this foundation.

With this fear is a constriction, as people are witnessing the transformation of fundamental structures that have been taken for granted in their lives.

At the beginning of Pluto’s sojourn in Capricorn, we are witnessing the catharsis and destruction of old forms and structures. The public will experience denial first and then emotional release as the depth of the transformation we are experiencing becomes apparent.

One potential manifestation of this transformational crisis of Pluto in Capricorn, if it is not brought to light and experienced fully by humanity itself, will be the increase of volcanic and seismic activity around the Pacific rim and elsewhere.

It looks however, as if America is releasing this energy in the economic spectrum following the September square of Mercury, Mars and Venus in Libra to Jupiter in Capricorn. That Monday, September 8, 2008, the government announced the bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

The following new moon on Sept 29 ‘08 at 6 deg Libra accompanied a further development of this configuration. That Monday the house declined to pass the initial $700 Billion bailout bill and set off the wave of declines on Wall Street. It is likely that Mercury stationing direct on 15 October at 8 Libra will set the stage for the next phase of the transformation. This is the date of the final presidential debate of the 2008 campaign.

Look for another dramatic event as the lead up to the election intensifies on Wednesday October 22. The Sun enters Scorpio that day and Mars transits 13 Scorpio, where the Sun will be on Election Day Nov 4. Mercury is also passing over 13 Libra on October 22 with the Moon at 13 Leo square Mars. The moon is transiting conjunct Barack Obama’s natal sun.

We have long since lost a great deal of trust in America in the administration. Yet it is a participatory democracy. Our lack of personal responsibility and continued empowerment of a corrupt system now has an immediate consequence in the limitation of availability and means of distribution of basic resources such as shelter, food, energy etc.

Under the pressure of the immediate crisis, Congress has now acted to consolidate a huge amount of property as a consequence of the financial bailout bill just passed.

One potentially unnoticed effect, at least initially, of the consolidation/socialization of Freddy Mac, Fannie Mae, mortgage-laden banks etc. is that the Government now owns a tremendous amount of fundamental structural resources. Many people have just had their mortgage acquired by the government.

The centralization of power, even with the likelihood of Barack Obama getting elected president in November, will continue. Obama's natal Jupiter at the beginning of Aquarius will be transited by Jupiter during the inauguration in January of 09. So I predict that he will be elected and with Aquarius rising, implement at least a glimmer of hope based on forward-thinking Aquarian ideas in the midst of this transformation.

A closer look at the horary astrology of election day November 4 shows the Moon in Capricorn during a long void of course cycle from 2:48 am EDT until 8:02 pm EDT when it enters Aquarius. The last aspect in Capricorn is a sextile to Mars in Scorpio. This indicates that the contraction of the economy and the wars over shared resources in the Middle East will remain as the popular emotional concerns for most of Election Day. As the election results come in from the East Coast and the polls close on the West Coast, the more futuristic Aquarius Moon becomes prominent. It will feel like the beginning of a renewed promise of hope for the American dream in the midst of a mess.

The larger theme at work in the Election Day chart is the T-square between the idealistic future of Uranus in Pisces and the practical necessity and constriction of Saturn in Virgo with enthusiastically charming Venus at the focal point in Sagittarius.

Whoever wins this election, the next president will be called upon to balance these two forces, steering us toward the future while dealing with a host of inherited limiting consequences in the midst of structural realignment. Chiron, the planetoid orbiting between Saturn and Uranus, holds a key to this resolution. Chiron is the teacher of heros, the wounded centaur Its current placement in Aquarius and approach toward Neptune indicates that the emphasis on progressive humanitarian ideals will trump the reliance on security in the game of politics. Chiron is also transiting Barack Obama’s Aquarius ascendant at 17 Aquarius through early 2009.

Obama has captured the imagination of the disillusioned and potentially rebellious US populace. This is also evidenced by his natal T-square in fixed signs with Mercury (Leo) opposing Jupiter (Aq) with Neptune in Scorpio in the 9th House at the focal point. The T-square by transit to Obama’s natal sun at 13 Leo on Election Day from the Scorpio sun and North node in Aquarius is activating a potential solution for the economic scenario that emerged with the September 08 planetary configuration.

Even so, John McCain will not be ignored. It is clear that in this case he represents the Saturnian pole of the Saturn-Uranus opposition on Election Day. He is perceived as the more folksy yet mature choice between the two candidates. His seventy-two years of age is accentuated by the proximity of Saturn in Virgo to his natal Sun in Virgo. His age however, is softened by his compassion gained through imprisonment in the Vietnam War and his naturally jolly demeanor. This is evidenced in the T-square configuration in his chart between Saturn (Pisces) and Neptune (Virgo) with Jupiter at the focal point in Sagittarius.

Just as Obama’s Sun at 12 to 13 degrees Leo connected with the above mentioned configuration and subsequent alignments at 13 deg of various signs, so does McCain’s Mars at 12 to 13 degrees Leo. In this case, however, he is perceived by many as the hawkish, assertive candidate who is coming on with a little too much rash energy to judiciously handle the economic crisis. His temporary postponement of the first presidential debate and subsequent photo op instead of astute negotiations prior to the financial bailout vote in Congress came across as ego-based and impulsive.

McCain does have the benefit here of appearing stronger in relation to dealing with terrorism and America’s enemies abroad as the honorable old soldier who has served his country. His reputation as a stubborn maverick is exhibited in the square between Uranus in Taurus and the Leo Mars. The Mars trine to Jupiter in Sagittarius gives him foreign policy experience and the wisdom of a tested veteran of the Senate. McCain should receive a spooky boost in popularity on October 31 before the election as Venus in Sagittarius transits his natal Jupiter.

As Jupiter is a natural in Sagittarius, so is McCain’s joviality a strong factor in his popularity. This pre-election bounce will tighten the race toward the White House but it will likely be a case of too little too late.

While McCain has a good deal of foreign policy experience, Barack Obama inherently has the capacity for international diplomacy by nature of his mixed racial heritage and the cross-cultural international experiences of his childhood. He will likely succeed in bringing the United States back into accord with its allies with a much more multilateral approach to foreign relations. His willingness to negotiate will be a case of the pen being mightier than the sword.

However, the hard stone walls of the hole we have dug ourselves, both militarily and financially, will confront the next president almost immediately. Obama’s idealism will be short-lived in the face of the entrenched structure confronting him and the necessities of the situation.

Pluto transiting Capricorn however, will eventually accompany the destruction of that very structure.

In regards to the war and the hangover from Pluto traversing Sagittarius, Obama will focus on relations with Pakistan (also Leo) and eradicating the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He will be frustrated in this initially at least, with his natal Mars in Virgo inconjunct Neptune's position in late Aquarius until mid 2009. Also Saturn is transiting conjunct his natal Mars at 23 Virgo in late August of 2009, not quite reaching it before going retrograde at the end of this year.

Afghanistan is fundamentally Capricorn in temperament. Dry mountainous rugged terrain occupied by an impoverished populace with a strong Neptunian influence.

With Neptune in Aquarius and Pluto entering Capricorn again, the drug trafficking and production of Opium, tremendously expanded in Afghanistan since the occupation by the coalition, will come into focus as an issue preventing substantial economic growth in the country.

It is possible that there will be a shift to a new economy in the region, but I don't see it anytime soon.

What will eventually happen, is that the US, exhausted and broke, will tire of invading other countries under the guise of liberation (Neptune in Aquarius again) for the purpose of control of energy resources (Pluto in Capricorn).

When a redistribution of wealth and resources begins occurring through a humanitarian response to world hunger and impoverishment, then terrorism will cease as a response to the inequity between the haves and have-nots. This unequal distribution of resources is more explicitly the motivation behind most revolutionary actions in history, rather than the specific agenda of a militant interpretation of any ideology.

After entering Aquarius in January of 09 near the inauguration, Jupiter is conjunct Neptune in Aquarius in May of 09 as Neptune stations direct at 26 deg. We may see with this alignment an initial move toward redirecting the energy of the “war on terror” toward the needs of the populace in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

It is likely though, that the privileged world will not experience a global shift toward compassion without experiencing limitation and the destruction of its consumptive foundations with more consumer-oriented populations sharing the pain of poverty themselves. Humans grow through crisis. For the United States, the paramount example of luxury on the planet during the last century, this will be felt as a severe tightening of the belt lasting at least until the Juptiter-Saturn conjunction at the beginning of Aquarius in 2020. Pluto doesn't finally transit into Aquarius until 2023.

One initiative embodying Aquarius solutions during the catharsis of Pluto in Capricorn will be an expanded investment in sustainable energy technology aided by the distribution of information through the internet and communications technology.

As part of the financial bailout bill, Congress passed and Bush signed the extension of the renewable energy tax credit for solar and wind. In the near future, investment in large scale renewable energy projects will still be hampered by the credit crunch.

We will witness however, a tremendous stimulus to basic research and development of new materials necessary to reduce the cost of renewable energy production and make it more realizable as a replacement for subsidized fossil fuel energy sources.

Once elected, Barack Obama will inevitably experience diminished support from his own liberal base as the shine wears off and he faces the necessity to balance futuristic goals and humanitarian concerns with the legacy of war, debt and economic constriction. A dramatic source of this disillusionment will occur if Obama persists in pursuing nuclear power as a viable energy source. The Plutonian shadows of Nuclear energy are nuclear weapons and nuclear waste. Addressing the challenges of potential Armageddon and toxic radiation of the environment are necessary before nuclear energy can be implemented safely.

It is likely that a new invention allowing cheap reprocessing of nuclear waste into harmless material will be brought to light within the next generation. However, we’re talking alchemy as perceived by the current scientific paradigm. It is not until humanity can accept certain Aquarian paradigm shifts such as a resonance-based understanding of vibration as underlying matter, and a heartfelt realization of sharing in international brotherhood/sisterhood that this will occur.

Note that in contrast to the symbolic earthiness of Capricorn, the glyph for Aquarius can be seen as two standing waves in resonance with each other, vibratory motion with the illusion of solidity. We are collectively experiencing a lightening of the heart and a loosening of the steel cables binding us to our material preoccupations. It really is getting better. This is just the necessary cathartic destruction of the old before the new can be born.

With a successful reorientation toward this new paradigm will come a world undreamed of as yet, including abundant energy and enough for everyone’s need, not everyone’s greed, as Gandhi would say. So again, the message of the Uranus-Saturn polarity is that while the lofty ideals of new era are possible, the basic requirement to focus on the details and get it done individually while staying grounded in practical reality remains a necessity. Think globally, act locally. The elders have their wisdom as well. In the midst of our collective folly, there is also human brilliance and kindness.