2011 was the year everything changed, according to the news. But I wasn’t really paying attention to the planets till a friend told me the world was definitely going to end in 2012. Why did she think that and do the planets show it’s true I wondered? No. But what they do show is this really stubborn stand off between two very powerful planets, Uranus and Pluto, from 2011 to early 2016 (ish). The last time we had this exact aspect, Uranus square Pluto, was during the mid 1930s, although the mid 1960s was also a Uranus Pluto time. Because this seems to be shaking things up it’s natural to feel that anything could happen. And a lot of unexpected things have been happening so… there you go.
Uranus being square Pluto now shows we are at a turning point, and that the choices we make are critical to where we go from here as a planet, and as individuals.
Astrologers use formulas to interpret, or predict, what might occur when planets interact in specific, geometric, ways. The formula for Uranus square Pluto indicates that a strong force for change will be opposed by another equally strong force that works against that. And the clashing is forcing people to move toward extremes, to take sides.
So that is the formula that repeats itself whenever Uranus square Pluto occurs. But every time it comes is different because things in the world, and the sky, are arranged differently. So best to just look at the world itself, what the big themes are, as these show more clearly what people are experiencing and feeling, and also maybe what the planets are telling us it’s now time to do.
Uranus square Pluto is also seen as a time when the vision of utopia is in conflict with day to day reality, and the dynamic that creates. Altruism versus survival. It’s also about progress and the cleansing process. Finding new ways of doing things, new paradigms. It presents us with so many opportunities to change and redefine things, even if it seems things are being forced on people, and that there are also lots of obstacles preventing easy change. Uranus square Pluto occurs about once every 50 years.
This graphic shows the paths of the planets in different areas of the sky through 2012. Each colored line is a different planet. And to think that these planets could be anywhere, it shows how the variations are infinite. So even though these major change inducing influences arrive according to a schedule, a cycle, it’s true each time they come is astrologically unique.
And relative to the major cycles of change we do get, the Uranus square Pluto combination is about as big as it gets. Understanding how it works will show how it might be influencing you and the people around you. Also how it ties in with world events. At the very least it helps to know that this is a major period of transition, and many will be forced to adapt. Of course no one knows the future and change comes no matter what… but this is a more accelerated global kind of change.
So now we have new things coming up and finding themselves in conflict with the structures already in place, that’s the formula. And 2011 showed how and where this was playing out in reality with fights for freedom, serious confrontations and protests, economic instability, and conflicts around economic inequalities. We also saw corruption and inefficiencies in government and business being challenged in ways that haven’t happened for some time.
Our economic instability is also encouraging people to look to alternatives. Leaders are starting to use terms like “responsible capitalism” “redesign” “reinvent” “renovate and bring forward” and apply them to the economy. Global unity and agreement on some issues seems, if not close, at least closer than before. We are becoming one world no doubt.
But it was like the economy knocked the global warming agenda, post tsunami, off the radar. But big natural disasters are also part of the theme. Mother Earth is protesting too.
For individuals the themes are similar but more personal. Grand realisations. Breaking from the past, past habits or repressive situations. Freedom of self expression. Claiming ownership for the direction of one’s life. How to adapt and live and work with other people who share a common, or not so common, goal?
One of the characteristics of this influence is that unexpected and unprecedented things will take place, as the vision for change clashes with reality, and then the vision, which has become the new reality, clashes with reality. True. In 2012 we are still not even in the thick of it yet. Is this (early 2012) the calm before the storm?
How it works
Astrologers see Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, the slow moving far away planets, having a strong influence over global, macro affairs. These big planets are also seen as responsible for imprinting generations with shared behavior patterns and values, i.e., those things we share with others of a similar age.
And because these planets are so macro, any big stress between them transfers down to the world in a macro way, bringing about global periods where certain things are “in the air” collectively. It’s an interconnected thing, people change, the world changes, people change some more, and so on… Some people feel the effects of global stress very strongly, whereas others don’t so much.
And what the planets and the formula helps us understand is the nature of the stress during a process of change.
Uranus and Pluto are now at right angles to each other which means “in conflict”. Those who follow mundane astrology (the linking of planetary cycles to political-historical trends) see this as a dark time, one of disintegration and chaos, though others will say its about rebirth and enlightenment. Of course it’s both. Whatever we make of it, it becomes.
The formula says we are in a process of change, purification even, instigated by conflict between what has been and what is to come. The “new” is rising and challenging the “old”.
But whether the “new” is better or worse than the “old” depends. We could be evolving, or devolving. Some say “old” things have to be discarded (or challenged) because they are out of date, because they have not stayed up to date, or in balance or in tune with the times. But on behalf of the “old” I would like to quote someone even older who says “it’s all moving too fast for me”. Why doesn’t someone challenge the “new” you wonder? Read on… because as the energy of Capricorn (instead of Aquarius) increases that time is about to come.
Yawn… but in the meantime back to the conflict at hand, which may be necessary, or useful, because it forces people to act. When people are happy they don’t challenge much. Conflict can also be useful for purifying all the new ideas flying about.
So 2011 was a precarious year filled with conflict and change, resulting in large groups of people, whole countries even, experiencing big change all together. Some came together to fight for a shared ideal. Others suffered the consequences from the disorder and chaos arising from things happening unexpectedly, the violence, protests, wars, natural disasters, which changed life for many worldwide.
So… even though about every 50 years we get one of these Uranus Pluto periods, the current one is more challenging than the last in the mid 1960’s, at least theoretically. What we have now is the same type of Uranus Pluto period we last had in 1932-34, the worst years of the great depression. On the telly I heard someone say we’re “facing a 1930’s moment because things have stayed so bad”.
Normally this Uranus-Pluto period lasts about 2-3 years, but this time it’s lasting about 5, during which there should be some method to the madness as so:
At the start (2011-2012) stuff gets churned up, which tells us something is going on and sets the stage for what’s to follow. As we get further toward the middle of it, say by 2013-2014, it could be less about protest and uncertainty and more about making decisions, resolving conflict and trying to reconcile everyone’s differences. (That’s the positive prognosis, it could also be about really clashing it out).
The last part of the phase should be about adapting to the new things that get put into place. Trialing things. That’s 2015-16 and beyond.
So in 2011 we saw a huge desire for change but little evidence of change resulting in anything more stable yet. Whenever you are closer to the start of an influence, it can be very difficult to feel things are are being resolved, or feel sure about what’s ahead because the energy of being “in flux” is so strong. But some good things did come out of 2011.
To look back, 9/11 was also a period when some big planets were not getting along. On the 10th anniversary people were reflecting on that event. Some saw 9/11 as a major turning point, whereas others said it hadn’t really changed anything but rather exposed something that had been brewing for some time.
What now and 9/11 have in common is Pluto. When Pluto is strong hidden elements are forced to the surface, usually dilemmas that demand an action or response. 9/11 forced us to start this “war on terror” against the “anti western” Islamic fundamentalism that had been there for awhile. Now it’s the last dictators, I suppose, or the greed of capitalism. Anyhow whenever Pluto is strong so the theme of people battling for survival.
Uranus Pluto archetypes in conflict
Astrologers see planets as each representing a universal archetype from our world. When two planets are in conflict then whatever one represents will seem at odds with what the other represents.
It becomes like an either-or situation with people feeling they must side with one way or the other.
In 2011 through early 2016 (ish) the Uranus way is at odds with the Pluto way, which is why the conflicts seem quite extreme. It’s the left wing (Uranus) verses the right wing (Pluto) for example, the new (Uranus) verses the entrenched (Pluto). The transparent (Uranus) versus the hidden (Pluto).
It can also manifest within individuals, when a person feels torn between different options, or choices, in their lives. The freedom versus security dilemma for example.
Uranus represents something different coming up, something innovative and new. Uranus is very progressive, the modernizer, so this is the side that works for freedom and change.
Pluto, on the other hand, is a more subtle and mysterious energy which can be difficult to categorise because it works under the surface. Judging from recent events the Pluto energy seems to be manifesting as embedded power structures that are determined to maintain control. Pluto doesn’t gracefully adapt to sudden or unexpected change. It may appear to be going along with things but underneath its goal is to endure and stay in the driver’s seat, sometimes through a show of strength, or by keeping hidden and out of harms way.
So the incompatibility of these two styles are more exaggerated now. The old way versus the new way. The slow way versus the fast way.
A good example of the Uranus versus Pluto dilemma is Libya, there were the rebels (the Uranians) and Gaddafi (the Plutonian). The rebels were visible and obvious, they had mobile phones and they were everywhere. On the other hand Qaddafi was mystery man – where is he now? In mythology Pluto is a god of the underworld, aka Hades, underground and unseen. So then Qaddafi was found lurking in a drain pipe. Saddam Hussein was also found underground. And Assad?
Anyhow… there are many examples of how “authority” is being challenged by the new trying to invent itself now.
Also there are both positive and negative manifestations of both Uranus and Pluto. One positive effect of Pluto is that it exposes things we must deal with in order to move ahead.
In 2011 there was also something very Uranian, spontaneous and new in the air. This was how uprisings in one part of the world seemed to be encouraging the energy of others, almost simultaneously, especially since the new methods for digital/global collaboration has been increasing the speed of events. Even Aung San Suu Kyi said “the universal human aspiration to be free has been brought home to us by the stirring developments in the Middle East.The Burmese are as excited by these events as peoples elsewhere.”
So social media is playing a strong Uranian role in all this, because societies, people and organizations become agents through which the energies of Uranus or Pluto can be expressed. Now the internet and technology are acting as agents for the modernising force of Uranus. Maybe before it was the free press and individual human revolutionaries that people followed.
Previous (recent) Uranus-Pluto periods
The interactions of Uranus and Pluto through time is called the Uranus-Pluto cycle. Each cycle lasts between 113 and 141 years. Whenever they are in the same place in the sky it starts a new cycle and most recently that happened in 1965-66. People born at that time are said to have special skills for reforming things.
Within every cycle there are a few critical junction points. Now is one of those.
Every Uranus-Pluto period shares common themes; human equality and civil rights, the battle for free thought and expression, issues around racism, sexism, religion, migration/immigration, inequalities between rich and poor. Imprisonment verses freedom. In 2011 we also saw conflict leading to many people being released, or held captive, as the case may be.
In the mid sixties we also saw lots of battles around civil rights. We also had the cold war between western democracy and the evil dreaded communism, i.e., open societies verses en mass control.
There is often an “us verses them”, racial purity theme in action too, as when Hitler was elected to power in 1933 and polarized opinion by emphasizing differences. Even globally people were pushed apart by being forced to take sides. Now similar things are happening politically, off and on.
The instability of the systems that support us, i.e., economic or governmental, is another clear theme. The European debt crisis. Occupy Wall Street. Two party elections. Also the instability of our physical support, the planet, with the increase in natural disasters and man made environmental problems.
Ordinarily Uranus is a force that encourages people to join together to pursue a cause to benefit everyone, human/animal rights, the environment, scientific breakthroughs, free speech, transparency in government, universal brotherhood. These causes are there all the time, but when the energy of Uranus is being challenged, it seems the breakthroughs come more through confrontation and conflict.
At the moment it also makes sense that the big problems are taking time to be solved. Big planetary conflicts only unfold over time, and all the contradictory elements have to be worked out. Trial and error, discussion, negotiation, war, whatever… all these take time.
Uranus is about bringing us together as one human race. Pluto at the moment seems to be exposing the many things standing in the way of that.
People also want to break from the past during Uranus-Pluto periods. Because its also about deciding what should be taken into the future, and what shouldn’t.
So now it’s like the whole world is being pushed to face reality, to accept what is possible, and discard what is not. 2011-2016 (ish) is like a big global reality check.
Luckily 1932-34, and the conflict that followed, was during the previous Uranus-Pluto cycle. That indicates that whatever we were working out then should be finished now but who knows. Power and the atomic bomb, scientific progress, en mass destruction and resurrection, all Uranus-Pluto themes.
It could be the current Uranus Pluto time may relate more to the unfinished business from the mid 1960s. Not sure if that makes sense, but that fits with the astrology.
How 1965-66 started our current Uranus Pluto cycle
2011-2016 (ish), according to cyclic theory, is the period where we face our first major test, a turning point, after any new beginnings of the mid sixties. This time is supposed to be a period of purifying and improving (or discarding) the new things that started then.
So what started then? Flower power? Youth power? Anti war protests? Equal rights for women and black people? The battle to protect the environment (yes sir). Rampant consumerist materialism, brainwashing through advertising (in western countries) and totally trashing the planet? Overpopulation was a huge theme. Soylent Green, a film about the future was based on a mid sixties book called Make Room Make Room. From Wikipedia:
“it depicts the investigation into the murder of a wealthy businessman in a dystopian future suffering from pollution, overpopulation, depleted resources, poverty, dying oceans, and a hot climate due to the greenhouse effect. Much of the population survives on processed food rations, including “soylent green”.
From the internet: People who missed the Sixties may have seen pictures that seem awfully groovy, with everyone sitting around on campus wearing granny glasses, smoking reefer and strumming guitars. But the groovy image says nothing about the enormous strides in music, consciousness, art, social issues, science, philosophy and politics that were made by highly-energetic, forward-thinking people during those years. The era was quite literally a time of mass-renaissance of the human spirit following long decades that were the cultural equivalent of novocaine.
So… whatever imbalances we don’t fix now will return to haunt us later, as they do.
The mid sixties was a time also about choosing sides. Democracy verses communism, black verses white, Ireland’s civil war. The purging process of the Chinese cultural revolution also began in 1966.
And prior to this people must have felt a building up to something. In 1962 Dylan wrote A Hard Rain is Going to Fall. In 1963 it was The Times Are a Changing. In 1963 also Martin Luther King gave his I have a dream speech though by 1968 he was dead.
Actually if you look at 1932-33 and the mid sixties it seems the worst destruction comes just after a Uranus Pluto period, as if things get stirred up during the influence and set stage for the stand offs that follow. The Eve of Destruction, the controversial protest song, was written in 1965:
Yeah, my blood’s so mad, feels like coagulatin’,
I’m sittin’ here, just contemplatin’,
I can’t twist the truth, it knows no regulation,
handful of Senators don’t pass legislation,
and marches alone can’t bring integration,
when human respect is disintegratin’,
this whole crazy world is just too frustratin’,
and you tell me over and over and over again my friend,
ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction.
Sorry that’s a bit grim. But not a bad song.
More on how Uranus and Pluto promote big change
Uranus is a sky god, electronic, experimental, moving through the air. Anything moving through air can move faster so Uranus pushes through change fast… people get radical and innovative ideas for change and reform, people look toward utopia, a brighter future, a brave new world. Uranus encourages breakthroughs in science and technology along with groups coming together to make progress toward a common universal goal. Uranus is the ruler of Aquarius, and when Uranus energy is strong people tend to predict the coming of a new age. It’s optimistic, futuristic, ideological and liberal/political.
Pluto, on the other hand, is more about what already exists. Not the future but stuff in the world that may not be obvious, things that are hidden, buried, but not necessarily bad. It attempts to purify and/or control what is already there, it’s not about ideas. It’s earthbound, the god of the underground, taking refuge, seeking security, maintaining control.
So now people seem to be siding with one extreme or the other. Even Jimmy Carter said recently “there is a polarisation in my country that is totally unprecedented.”
Someone else said they “I feel a polarisation process between conservatives and reformers on substantive political issues and fundamental orientations is going on. The big uncertainty is whether something creates a showdown.”
You could also say the ideas about how we want our future to be are in conflict with the limits of reality at the moment. And perhaps our stability and security.
A news reporter also summed up the dilemma eloquently in referring to the Arab Spring “it’s the idealism of democracy versus the pragmatism of stability.”
But what’s different about now (as opposed to 1933 for example, or even 1965) is our connectedness. People can quickly contribute to the mix and that is making different sorts of changes possible. It may be also preventing some of the most extreme and negative ideas from taking hold unchecked.
Uranus works through electronic networks and communications. It’s forward thinking and unorthodox, valuing free exchange and innovation. Some say it’s the planet of enlightenment, but its more about mental enlightenment than a truly spiritual experience. That’s more of a Neptune/Pisces thing.
In the Sahaja Yoga subtle system it’s like the collective right side.
Uranus energy finds its voice through global organizations and movements promoting progress and development, including organized or disorganized protests or revolutions against things that are out of date. It’s an energy like electricity, intermittent, off on off on. When Uranus is strong things can change direction at any time. It’s unpredictable.
At the moment real democracy is important for many that don’t have it but its also possible that all “isms”, when new, rise through Uranus activity.
In 2011 the Middle East got fired by the energy of Uranus and the hope of change. But when spontaneous Uranus acts as a catalyst, the baby can be thrown out with the bathwater. So what is usually needed, afterwards, are earthy and constructive energies to stabilize the new reality.
But the vision conflicting with the reality is inherent in the process of this thing. The conflict. So whenever I see factions who could fight but instead are willing to discuss and work it out I give a little cheer. Hurrah.
Because the danger during this is that disagreements evolve into conflicts that escalate beyond the point of compromise or solution. The conflict pushing the extremes into being more extreme. In order to solve Uranus/Pluto conflicts there needs to be some synthesis, or compromise, between the two sides. If we look back to the start of WWII or Vietnam compromise did not occur, in fact each side went more extreme. Both sprang from disagreements that began during Uranus Pluto periods.
So the line of least resistance now is conflict.
Although people have been working together and breaking through some very heavy things, through conflict. But just because someone has a vision of something new, it doesn’t mean it can become the reality. Sometimes it doesn’t. But maybe you get halfway there.
During times when the differences between two conflicting sides are more exaggerated people try and resolve the tension by either siding with the energy of Uranus (the new) or Pluto (the embedded) and so people move toward extremes.
So there is likely to be more bizarre expressions from people during this time also, extremists with ideas that really clash with reality.
Anyhow whatever it is, the tension is pushing some people way off the edge.
But it actually the Uranus-Pluto conflict can be as simple as our modern lifestyle and changing world clashing with traditions, structures, rulers. Or young people clashing with older ones. But whenever you get these periods where a new way and the old way is very different then the tension and disagreements seem more pronounced.
Extreme Uranus, extreme Pluto
Extreme Uranus is like science fiction, aliens, cold, heartless or inhuman. Maybe when working hard to establish a new idea, or faced with an obstacle that won’t negotiate Uranus goes to extremes, relentless in pursuit of its ideology.
But some say its the chaos of Uranus which allows for the truly original to spring forth.
Extreme Pluto is also a powerful agent of change but with a very different approach. Pluto rules Scorpio, it doesn’t like surprises or being caught off guard. Pluto being from the depths, hides underneath things, plotting its next move, which is often quite deadly.
Uranus is like nuclear power, Pluto is like fossil fuels. And it’s true these are more at odds lately.
Extreme Pluto is really primal, like our self preservation instinct. Maintaining its own security is critical to its survival. If it perceives a threat it tries to annihilate it, like a stealth bomber, it sneaks in and strikes. Actually it can be very paranoid when extreme, dropping bombs on threats that aren’t really there.
But when Pluto works to expose and cleanse things it does so in a very thorough way, kind of like a volcano, things brew underneath the surface for a very long time until things finally explode, and then there is a huge mess. So Pluto builds up energy and then makes massive changes all at once. First comes death, then a transformation-purification thing, then a rebirth. Apparently. Like reincarnation. The intensity of finally giving birth to something is very Plutonian.
The Middle East at the moment serves as a perfect example of these two energies meeting, with its outdated but somewhat “stable” power structures and dictators. You don’t understand how they are hanging on but they do. That’s Pluto. Till death do us part. And suddenly Uranus springs in and challenges them through the more progressive young protestors (brought together through technology) saying get out of our way cause we want new stuff NOW.
Though many Uranus versus Pluto battlefields are not as clear cut as that.
And Pluto can be a positive agent of change too. When you see someone publicly exposed, their past catching up with them finally for the whole world to see, that’s like a Pluto action. The exposure destroys them. But sometimes they can resurrect themselves… because Pluto, like Scorpio (the sign it rules) is known for reinvention. Its the phoenix rising from the ashes, survival at any costs (think Madonna or Cher) – I will survive. It will hide underground till the coast is clear, then it comes out and does its bit.
On the positive side Pluto can really get to the bottom of things and expose negativity that no one wants to face. Think psychiatrist, Scotland yard, health inspector, surgeon. It’s intense, probing, intimate.
Pluto also likes to lock things away, so putting someone in jail, detaining them, is a Pluto thing, as is going into hiding, whereas being set free is more Uranus.
Some also say Pluto works like alchemy, burning off tarnish on the surface, changing dirty things into gold.
Extreme Pluto also has a more passive or negative expression, i.e., a tendency to ignore what it doesn’t want to see, out of fear or a need to protect itself.
I thought about this in relation to the rise of the Nazi party during out last Uranus-Pluto square. Obviously there was this polarization going on “ you’re either with us or against us”. Maybe some Germans were just afraid to look, or to know about it, because then they would have to act, thus jeopardising their own security and survival.
It’s that feeling we all have when seeing something awful, “its too terrible, I can’t look, I will deny.” In America I feel this all the time.
Its can be very unconscious this Pluto business. The survival instinct. Not logical.
And it can drive people underground. Deny and hide. Plus the illusions it weaves, the camouflage confuses people so it’s often difficult, if not impossible, to see what’s going on. Think Syria. North Korea. Saddam Hussein.
So this could be one of the pitfalls of the coming time, people looking the other way, just trying to survive. And people being more easily manipulated because they don’t want to know. Pluto is not an easy energy to manage, not everyone has the courage to stand up and fight baddies full on.
Also all planets have a positive and negative expression, a kind of mundane hellish gross expression and a higher, divine, more subtle expression. And because of that no planet is better or worse, it just depends on how the energy is being expressing. In some cases Uranus (spontaneous, radical protest and change) may be what’s needed, but in other situations Pluto (maintaining security/control, survival, exposure) may be more cleansing or helpful.
Marjorie Orr, a British journalist turned astrologer, wrote a book called The Astrological History of the World. In that she said the following about Uranus Pluto contacts:
“The meeting of Uranus, the sky god, and Pluto, god of the underworld, is a potent combination of disparate energies. The Uranian tendency to disrupt, to set free, to undermine the status quo, to rattle prison bars, and to aim for creative chaos rather than stability is one half of the equation. The other is Pluto, determined to keep control at all costs, to repress, suppress, and maintain power in the hands of the autocrats and dictators. Uranus is an energy of electrifying light, while Pluto’s realm is one of darkness. Uranus explodes into life with sudden shocking movements, is honest to a fault, tears down the veils of hypocrisy, shines light on hidden places, insists on full disclosure, and demands that the past be consigned to the dustbin. Pluto, on the other hand, battens down the hatches, thrives on secrecy and subterfuge, wields fear as a weapon against any attempt to undermine its control, and hangs on with grim determination to what has been.
Uranus, the firework, mating with Pluto, the scorpion, understandably creates a build-up of tension which can detonate into revolutions, rebellions, even earthquakes, or can ring established political structures crashing down. Pluto’s darkness, hatred and connection to the shadow energies is often projected onto society’s scapegoats. The Jewish story, and black African American history from slavery to Martin Luther King’s civil rights movement, have strong connections with these conjunctions. The inherent tolerance and humanitarian ideals of Uranus cause a toxic chemical brew when mixed with Pluto’s need to annihilate separate identity as a threat to the power base.
Essentially a destabilizing influence, the end result of Uranus-Pluto conjunctions (at the moment we have a square not a conjunction but the conflict is the same) is not always constructive, progressive or helpful in laying new foundations that will stand the test of time. In the great universal war between stability and creativity, there needs to be a balance. Uranian creativity needs a degree of chaos to flourish, but too much anarchy leads to demolition, not to lasting achievement; Pluto often leads to its own downfall because of its inability to adapt. The transitions of change are impossible to negotiate if total control is demanding at every stage.”
Now to add the missing ingredient, the signs:
Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn
The young ram versus the old goat.
Uranus is now moving through the sign of Aries. Pluto is moving through Capricorn. These signs also show a lot about what’s going on just now. Aries and Capricorn are very different energies, which just exaggerates the clash.
Aries is young (eager), Capricorn is old (experienced). Aries, in April, marks the start of spring while Capricorn, in January, the darkest part of winter (unless you are in the south). Uranus (radical change) being in Aries (spring) amplifies the impatient, futuristic quality that is finding expression through protests and demonstrations.
And Pluto (lay low, control and survive) in Capricorn (authority structures) amplifies the power structures resistance to change and handing things over to a new generation, especially if they don’t have a plan. It’s the “just do it” verses the “wait and see” thing.
In western astrology there are four elements, air, fire, earth and water.Air and fire are the positive, extroverted, action taking yang elements.Earth and water are the feminine, introverted, nurturing yin ones.
Positive Uranus (air) passing through Aries (fire) is air + fire = wildfire. A double positive, spreading things fast.
Negative Pluto (water) passing through Capricorn (earth) is water + earth = mud. Very physical, heavy, doesn’t move much. But stable and fertile, you can build with it.
So its fire versus mud.
Different decades, different signs. Where are we now?
Different decades and times can be defined by the signs the big planets are moving through then. These also, according to astrology, influence the characteristics of the different generations of people born during that time. Here’s where we are now:
Uranus in Aries 2010/11 – 2018
As Uranus (the revolutionary idealist) travels through Aries (fresh starts) that’s what its all about. Springs and also fires.
When journalists asked people in Middle Eastern countries, or the young on the streets of London, why riot now? They said we don’t want to miss our chance. It’s now and it might not come again.
The cycle of Uranus is 84 years, meaning every 84 years it returns to the same place. But when it moves into Aries it is like starting from the beginning of the zodiac again. Our last Uranus in Aries period was 1927 – 1934. Astrologers have tied Uranus in Aries to periods of socioeconomic and civil unrest, scientific advance and revolution.
It’s very progressive and very reactionary. An instigator, a fighter and activist. It’s designed to start things.
Uranus rules technology, science and progress. So now we have many using technology to inform people and get them involved in new movements.
Using social media and electronic networks to speed up the transmission of ideas, even trivial ideas, is so Uranus in Aries.
And ideas are unlimited, especially new ones. It doesn’t mean they will work though. That’s part of the conflict.In western astrology Aries is Mars, the god of war.
But in Hindu mythology Aries is connected to Ganesh, the protector and remover of obstacles, worshiped at the start of anything new.
So when Uranus is in Aries its important we try to remove the big obstacles, the bad ones. It’s also important that we chose correct and sustainable ideas to support.
On the plus side Uranus in Aries is refreshing, inventive and fearless. On the negative side its reactionary, destructive, unrealistic. Inciting violence and trashing stuff that may be needed later.
Pluto in Capricorn 2008 – 2024
Pluto is the planet of death, purification-transformation, rebirth, and a very powerful force for cleansing. And one way it cleanses is by exposing things that are not working, that won’t stand the test of time. In Indian mythology Pluto is Kalki.
We destruct then reconstruct.
Earth bound Capricorn is a builder and engineer of business, banking, government and politics. It represents authority structures and also the rules that we live by.
So when you put that with Pluto you get a period that exposes, challenges and cleanses the structures of authority that aren’t working.
It also encourages us to cleanse our relationship with “the rules” of physical reality, with the rules of matter and material security. Capricorn thinks a lot about matter and the physical limitations of matter.
Austerity measures… more austerity measures… protests against austerity measures…
Pluto in Capricorn is very brown.
Pluto in Capricorn will also amplify the culture of fear around people loosing their security, and their control. It tends to focus on limitations, like the pooper at the change party, the creaking voice from the corner saying actually it’s not a good idea to bring down the government because you’ll end up with high blood pressure… It’s constantly dishing out the reality checks will of course be very annoying for Uranus in Aries, who is saving the world NOW.
Pluto goes into Capricorn about every 250 years. Last time was 1762-1777 when the steam engine was invented, which laid the foundations for the western industrial revolution.
America had its revolution and became a country then also… and now we are seeing the American devolution har har har. Sorry maybe it’s not really funny.
And big challenges to the central systems of control. Political, business/financial, monarchies, the elders, religions even.
Actually Pluto in Capricorn is a very interesting combination and not to be underestimated. It’s strong like a buffalo, built for endurance not speed. Duty. Work. Its also skeptical, suspicious and slow to adjust… dreary… heavy. But it plods along and ultimately survives, like a tough old person. It gets the job done. Eventually.
And potentially, because it’s so realistic and practical, problems can be fixed by this sort of energy.
Actually Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, i.e., Chronos, the god of time, or Krishna, the lord of karma. Hence the reality checking
.
One possible positive outcome of Pluto moving through Capricorn is that we rebuild our systems so they are more sustainable. Though there is also the danger it may be too slow to jump on the “this needs to be done now” boat (unless it’s a slow boat). And the solutions it proposes won’t be as flashy or idealistic as some would like.
Or maybe it will just delay facing things, head in sand, and then the world will end too late!
But it is what is promoting our return to simplicity, a sort of post war mentality. Necessity is the mother of invention, use your stockings as… baklavas maybe… to rob a bank. It’s prehistoric compared to Uranus in Aries. It doesn’t use Facebook (no privacy) or Twitter (too fast).
Actually it’s a very introverted energy, as are some of the other big energies that lie ahead. You might have noticed there has been a bit of backlash recently, people (even young ones) saying we don’t want frivolous, superficial and fast (like tweets) but rather substance, quality and quiet. And there is even a book climbing the best seller charts (quietly) called Quiet, The Power of Introverts that says introverts are to extroverts as what women were to men 50 years ago, second class citizens in an extrovert world. It’s a quiet revolution.
Pluto in Capricorn is very introverted.
Extreme Capricorn is the bloated self pompous bureaucrat posturing as authority because it knows absolutely everything and is always right. Also happier with bluffing instead of admitting “I’m drowning here help me” like the Japanese governments’ “whatever we do lets not lose face” response to Fukushima. Secrets and mysteries are useful for averting a panic, helpful when trying to stay in control. So Pluto in Capricorn will go off and quietly think about things and then very carefully admit some weakness if it must, but not a very big one.
As opposed to the French techno Uranian scientists rushing in to fix the nuclear reactor with their new fangled remote control nuclear immune robots.
So Uranus in Aries at odds with Pluto in Capricorn poses big dichotomies. Without hope and ideas there is no change. But without more than a nodding acquaintance with reality, as well some planning and implementation skills, ideas cannot translate into reality long term.
Pluto is in Capricorn from 2008 to 2023 but only directly goaded by Uranus in Aries till about early 2016.
In 2018 Uranus moves into Taurus.
Uranus in Taurus 2018 – 2025
From 2018 Uranus will be in Taurus, combining Uranus’s enthusiasm for progress and change with the material and earth bound energy of Taurus, a sign known for being resistant to change.
Uranus in Taurus is more about using new ideas to change our material reality, as opposed to using new ideas to fight new causes (so Uranus in Aries).
Some say it’s about finding new ways to make money. Others say it corresponds to the fall of civilizations. Uranus was last in Taurus 1934/35 – 1941, which was definitely a time when we were destroying (bombing) a lot of material structures.
Taurus is ruled by Venus, the planet ruling the affairs of the heart, relationships and aesthetics, as well as our attachments to matter and the way we spend money.
It will emphasizes new ways of expressing love. It will show us better ways of working together, in groups, rather than just as individuals, which heaven knows will still probably involve computers… sigh.
Also possible is a resurgence in experimental or progressive creative art movements, revolutionizing what we consider to be beautiful. Old art forms may be delivered to us in new ways.
It will certainly challenge us, as a planet, to get beyond strong attachments to matter. But if we detach from matter in a negative way that could indicate a time return to totally trashing the planet because we prefer to be selfish and lazy. Again.
Something might crash again to loosen us up from matter.
From 2018 to 2023 both Uranus and Pluto will be in earth signs, which, in theory, bodes well for more focus on the earth, honouring Mother Earth. Uranian inventiveness coupled with the earthy Taurus should encourage innovation and developments around nature, farming, matter and earth. Living more progressively and at the same time more conscientiously (bat wings crossed).
Actually there was something in the news recently about synthetic genes being injected into real things, not like GM because those are real genes injected into real things.
Maybe everything gets destroyed in the meantime and we totally return to the earth like Neanderthals.
Neptune in Pisces 2012 – 2025
Oh thank heavens here comes Neptune in Pisces.
Neptune is the third planet astrologers look to to see very broad, collective trends.
From 2012 to 2025 Neptune will be moving through the sign of Pisces.
So what does that mean? Well Neptune is like the collective emotional spiritual side (metaphorically) and it shows what we collectively idolize, worship and glamorize (metaphorically) as well as how we care and serve others with compassion (bout time).
From 1998 to 2012 Neptune has been in the sign of Aquarius which is very similar to the energy of Uranus (modern, progressive, electronic). This means Neptune (idolization, rescuing things, spirituality) has been expressing itself in an Aquarian fashion, i.e., we’ve been worshiping and glamorizing technology, gadgets, progress, intellect and innovation (think Apple), and also using technology to bring about more feminine forms of change, resulting in combinations like:
- The use of technology to spread spirituality and religions.
- A greater sense of being connected to others, at least digitally.
- The use of technology to support charitable work, be that through collecting donations for charitable causes through the internet or by inventing things that help make life easier for the very poor.
Also the use of technology to reveal secrets.
But now Neptune has left Aquarius and gone into Pisces, which is the sign where it feels most at home. The energy of Neptune (as a planet) and Pisces (as a sign) is very similar. It’s all about becoming one with the universe and they are one, together, since Neptune rules Pisces actually. Think seaside. The god of the ocean is in the sign of the fish.
So now instead of idolizing Aquarius things (technology and change) we will start to idolize Piscean things (religion, self sacrifice and rescuing the underdog). We are starting to tune into a message (from Neptune) which is more subtle and compassionate as opposed to electronic, digital and mental. Pisces is of the heart not the head. It’s about unity with divine, not Apples.
So this brings a change from what we’ve had since 1998 in the glamorization of gadgetry. Neptune and Pisces are a bit like the different scents in a perfume, they arrive in notes, on subtle levels, they send us soft intangible reminders, almost subconscious signals. So here is a new smell in the air and it’s saying remember you are a human spirit part of an ocean of humanity. You have a heart and feelings and a spirit which needs nurturing. It will remind us of the importance of love, of caring for people and also animals (the underdogs). If you must escape into something let it not be technology but caring for something. Helping something that needs you.
It’s possible this will nudge people toward the intangible like meditation, painting, theatre, music, swimming with the dolphins and whales but in the sea, not in cages or pools.
Neptune in Pisces is where the drop meets the ocean, where we become one with the heavens and rescue the whales that are in pools.
And by the way…
In the west we also have an aging population, which is a quieter, more reflective and soft sort of energy. More vulnerable and aware that the end is approaching, this makes sense since Pisces is actually the last sign and where we make peace with the universe and dissolve into that, dying, only to start it all again in the #1 sign of Aries. Neptune goes into Aries next, and that is when we will idolise new beginnings… again.
So Neptune in Pisces is like nursing, or flute playing, or poetry writing. It’s devotional, empathetic, yin. It sacrifices itself because it cares. It’s Medicines Sans Frontieres as opposed to Greenpeace. It’s not fighting Japanese whaling ships on boats roaring about the ocean but rather nurturing, soothing, saving those who are too vulnerable to help themselves, but in a quiet behind the scenes sort of way. Maybe even in an institution for the homeless. So this is likely to be a period of heightened compassion towards the disadvantaged. It’s really about sacrificing one’s individual ego to something more.
Actually Neptune and Pisces are very “Christian” energies in the truest sense. Turn the other cheek. The astrological age of Pisces started around the time Jesus was born.
Hopefully spirituality will be more valued, or idealized even, at least for a time. Meditation should become more acceptable because it offers a means for dissolving into the whole.
Neptune in Pisces should will also place more emphasis on saving the fish and the oceans (fingers crossed) so that we can all have a chance to survive. It’s a time of acknowledging the importance of fish. Without fish we wouldn’t have any reefs for a start.
Or it could also be a time of confusion, going in circles, unable to focus on a goal. Pisces is the sign at the end of winter, it’s reclusive, before everything springs forth anew in the spring. Maybe it’s like mud season in some places.
The downside of Neptune in Pisces is that, when wearing it’s ugliest hat, reality is to be avoided, it’s an escapist. That’s why Pisces people go to movies in the afternoon. Or do drugs. Or drink loads. So those things are also an option, the idolization of drugs for example, for things that diffuse the individual and heighten (so called) reality. Mental illness. Some predict this will reach epidemic proportions which is a real possibility under a negative manifestation of Neptune in Pisces. Don’t help anyone just escape!
So the worst option is that people become too spaced out, either through substance abuse or denial or whatever, to do anything about all the bad things that they don’t want to see.
But hopefully since Pluto will be in Capricorn we may not find it easy to escape from reality, the karma of our previous actions you could say.
Neptune in Pisces may be idealistic but it also likes to care for, and save, others too… the underdog at least.
Maybe by caring enough to save others we will somehow be tricked into saving ourselves. Fingers crossed.
How 2008 – 2010 turned into 2011
2011 was crazy, at least partially, because 2008-2010 was also super challenging astrologically. Remember the financial crisis? This caused (or occurred simultaneously with) people feeling trapped by their circumstances, or burdened by their commitments, or thwarted by those in authority (according to the astrology) of 2008-2010.
We also had major crop failures, food and job shortages – heightened anxiety about money and security. Many people were just trapped, well still are trapped, in horrible situations because they lacked other options. Others were displaced by disasters, floods, fires, wars and so on…
In 2008-2010 we saw a few governments being challenged by their people, Burma and Iran for example, China by Tibet, after which the whole Middle East thing started. Also projections about global warming became harder to ignore. Oh dear we are also killing ourselves. More gloom.
The second half of 2010 was incredibly stressful astrologically.
So when people feel trapped, as they have been, the urge for freedom builds up. Then along comes 2011 and poof…
Whenever big planets move toward a stressful stand off, which for us comes more around 2013-2014, it’s like chess pieces moving into place before the end game. Different ideas maneuver themselves into conflicting positions getting ready for the clash.
And although the clash has started, we are not at the top of the mountain just yet.
When I first started writing this (in 2011 I think) I noticed the big Uranus-Pluto issues playing out in the following areas:
Ideological / Political: The government of the future verses the government of the past. It’s amazing how draconian, corrupt power structures have become old fashioned so fast, overthrown, in some instances, by people with guns and some smart phones.
The most obvious ideological Uranus verses Pluto conflict is the Taliban/fundamentalist Islam, verses the west, and any knock on effect from killing Osama Bin Laden in his pajamas. But there is also Libya, Syria, Greece, England, America, Russia, Japan, China and wherever else a pocket of stress erupts next. North Korea?
Economic: The financial crisis, big business, banking, governments, economic mismanagement, power, corruption. I was never really interested in the economy but on TV they constantly talk about it and they have been saying things (in 2011) about our financial state like:
“If 5 months ago someone told you that in the next 5 months the following things would happen, X X X X and X, most of us would have said ‘unthinkable’. All those things that have happened were unthinkable 5 months ago. Listen to the system because its telling you something.”
“We have 3 major crisis coming together at the same time, a growth and employment crisis, a banking crisis and a sovereign debt crisis.”
“It will not be possible to “return to the dept filled capitalism in the west”.
In America they are now (2012) calling the financial recovery “wimpy”. Another interesting ongoing story is the challenges to corruption, both in government and business/banking. At first it was only India, then came Russia, the Occupy movement and Nigeria? All ways of bringing more people into the political process, forcing them to pay attention. The economic instability is probably here to stay, at least till after 2015-2016.
Information: We have also had some conflicts around freedom of information, transparency versus secrecy, information control and security. The internet and technology have changed everything. Duh. So open networks and access to information (Uranus) is at odds with not only our national security (?) and others that want to keep secrets in order to retain power/control (Pluto). First it was Wikileaks, Bernard Manning and then the News of the World phone hacking thing. I heard a UK journalist say “I hope we can purge the whole system” because the whole country had been polluted by tabloid media. But will we really see the fall of the News Corp empire?”
Facebook is another example, as is the dilemma many face, do we really need to splat ourselves all round the cyber world in order to prove we exist? This can be difficult for private people, especially Pluto or Capricorn types. Will something terrible really happen if we are not all linked in?
Energy and power: So our I want it now electronic lifestyle (Uranus) is at odds with our ability to sustain ourselves long term (Pluto). We’re having floods, droughts, major oil spills and more than our usual share of mining accidents, where the earth, unexpectedly, wouldn’t let people out (so Pluto). China admitted that its massive hydro power damns really are leading to an increase in earthquakes. The Japan tsunami sparked off the nuclear (Uranus) versus fossil fuels (Pluto) debate. In some cases though its nuclear that is the old fashioned, Plutonian energy, at war with the progressive green technologies (Uranus).
2011 – 2015 is a time when large groups of people are being forced to adapt because of natural disasters. Mother Earth is teaching us about limits, ours as well as hers. She will endure no matter what, it’s us who will not, or so I’ve heard.
When will be the most difficult times?
Some say that when the square is strongest, mathematically, there is more tension and consequently more conflict and disasters but I don’t know if that’s true. It seems to me the whole period is a time where people are making adjustments as part of moving from how they think from point A to point B. It could go more like this:
At the beginning there is likely to be a build up period (2011-2013) though where events force us to identify the problems that need solved.
Then a middle period, of facing the challenges around the conflicts that need to be solved.
Then at the end, a wind down period where solutions are decided on and tried out (2014-2016?).
And throughout, all around the world, there will be little pockets of stress exploding out whenever the pressure, the conflict, builds up too much. Here is when the influence is at its strongest, mathematically:
- June & September 2012
- May & November 2013
- April & December 2014
- March 2015
If I had to pick the crunchiest time it would be around summer and autumn of 2013. Also around January 2014.
Although the end of the world will be December 2012, which will be, astrologically, quite a busy month anyhow. If there wasn’t all this astrological tension people might not even be thinking about the end of the world. And luckily, as of May 2012, the end has been called off, though it doesn’t mean we are off the hook since all sorts of things need to come to an end.
How individuals feel stressed by squares
Within a period of global instability there are always people whose lives will go a bit wobbly. Of course much depends on both external events (what happens) and internal events (how people react to that). But it’s inevitable that many will feel torn between the Uranus “I want to break free and recreate the future” thing verses “lets just play it safe and pretend nothing is wrong” hiding out in the bomb shelter thing.
I think it’s inevitable we change in really big ways through this time, but we need to be practical too.
Help I am being squared
Squares are everywhere and so impossible to avoid. Most people have a few squares in their charts (giving internal dilemmas that seem to reoccur) and times where they work through feeling ‘squared’ in their life.
Feeling squared is when you feel torn between two options, or choices, and you can’t have both at the same time. But you want both. Or maybe neither. Or something. In any case there is a lot of tension around as you feel forced to make a choice. Do I take this fork in the road or that one? Because when you are squared it kind of exaggerates the either/or thing. Os opposed to the “I can have it all” thing.
Sometimes circumstances push you to make a choice. Sometimes its yourself, or someone else. But because you do not know what to do, comes tension.
Here is a definition of stress: when you feel you must do something you are not able to do, e.g., ‘I need to be at work in 15 minutes but… I am 30 miles away’ you get stressed.
Stress comes from being caught between a pickle and a hard place. Some simple examples of the Uranus square Pluto dilemma:
Do I throw this away now OR will I need it later? (I need to be free of all this junk AND I need it for something and I’m attached to it)
Do I stick with the security of the known OR make a change and face the uncertainty of the unknown?
Do I need to be practical OR can I break free?
Dilemmas are what make squares squares. “I can’t remain here but neither am I free to go”.
Imagine you are traveling. Some circumstantial disaster, lets say a volcano, has got you stuck in some airport and you can’t get home, but nor can you stay where you are. As a victim of circumstance, you have no choice but to wait for something to work out.
I heard a woman with a cheating husband say she felt ‘extremely conflicted’, not knowing whether to stay or whether to go.
So being in a square is like being in a square room with no door, you just keep bouncing off the walls.
Its also like the fork in the road syndrome, you feel you must choose one way or another. But neither look good, or maybe both do. And the tension makes a person feel they must ‘do something’ to get out of it.
Sometimes the best thing to do is to not go this way or that but to build a new road, though this takes time. Time to figure out where the new road should go.
So tension/confusion does force people to seek out innovative solutions. But for some its just too much and they get stuck in the confusion/anxiety loop, at least for awhile, bouncing off the walls.
Squares force people to seek, or fight, or wait, or adjust and compromise. They also build strength.
Because squares epitomize the nature of conflict. Two alternatives, maybe more, which do not go together. Over time something or someone has to adjust, or the situation changes. Something eventually gives way. But in the process there is usually lots of tension as the different options knock up against each other.
Actually its quite human to feel torn between freedom and a fear of the unknown.
Uranus is the future, the unknown. Pluto is the security of what we have known.
How change occurs over time (according to astrology)
This is the way planetary movements, which instigate change, do so over time.
Because everything, whether it be a collective experience like a nuclear meltdown or our personal pickles, has a cycle like timing.
Change begins with an incident or idea that disturbs the equilibrium or reveals the nature of the dilemma or crisis to the person. (“I can’t go on like this” “This situation needs to change or be fixed” “Oh dear, the nuclear reactor down the road is in meltdown” ) Ignore me… because I think we’re destined to pay the environmental piper I’m using disasters as metaphors, sorry! But soon they will sound commonplace.
Then comes the middle bits when problems are faced, deadlocks broken and solutions unfold, i.e., the past starts to give way to the future.
Then comes a period of putting things back together in a new way as the tension eases and equilibrium is restored once again. The end.
Which astrology signs will feel pushed into change?
There are so many ways one can imagine how the universe decides who gets to feel what. Some say whatever part of our life (or ourselves) that’s the most out of balance is the most ripe for change.
Pluto going through Capricorn (the planet of cleansing in the sign of the lord of time) stresses that now is a time of reaping what’s been sown in the past.
Astrologers use a technique called transits, which involves comparing where the planets are now with where they were when a person was born. And if a person has in their chart important planets now in the path of Uranus and Pluto now, these big global themes may be mirrored in their lives.
The path is anything between 6 and 16 degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn (shaded red in the picture). So how does it work?
1. Does the person have an important planet in their birthchart in that path?
2. If yes, what does that planet represent for them?
Because whatever it represents that’s the part of themselves that will feel torn and pushed to change. For example those born during the following times will have their Sun in the path of this influence:
- end of March / beginning of April
- end of June / beginning of July
- end of September / beginning of October
- end of December / beginning of January
These people may feel torn (all over) between the Uranus way and the Pluto way. It would last about a year, or so, and occur sometime between 2011 and 2015, depending on their actual birthday. It’s likely to be not a whole lot of fun though the benefits, once its over, should be… a greater sense of freedom (perhaps) after letting go of old ways of doing things. Or feeling clearer about who they really are.. or want to be.
For those people it would be their Sun that’s in the path.
If it’s the Venus in a person’s chart that in that path, then it will be the relationship or artistic side of the person’s life that experiences the tension from feeling pulled in different directions. If it’s the Moon then it’s the emotional life, in the home or family there would be a pull between the freedom route and security needs.
If it’s Saturn, then its more about career and other support giving structures, parents, job, finances or one’s role as a parent themselves. Something may affect their ability to work, or their feeling of security overall.
So the individual stuff can vary depending… although what people experience can also be connected to what’s going on in the world, the recession for example, a natural disaster, politics, war.
Ultimately this period is about people experiencing the big challenges that come prior to a big breakthrough into something new. The conflict forces us to let go of something and move forward, which happens sometimes because it’s time to do that anyway. But for some though it can feel like being dragged through the change. If you look at something like a war for example, or the tsunami, no one deserves or wants to go through that…
This aspect can also have an effect on entire groups of people born during particular years, all together at the same time. An example of this may be students who are graduating during a recession. Or older people of similar age (born in 1959-60) who loose their jobs.
Being a collective influence, there is a knock on effect. A country goes to war? So do some young men. A company goes out of business? People lose jobs. But what’s interesting is how an event washes over some people no problem, whereas others really feel the loss, or the stress of it, very powerfully.
How will I know if it’s happening to me?
You feel it. For example if you feel you must break free of something and a sense of duty or a responsibility, or a job holds you back, that’s it. Or if you feel that making a big change is necessary to your survival but there are major considerations in your way, that’s it.
Long periods of indecision, confusion or feeling conflicted are also signs. What you could do is –
- Identify where you are now and where you wish to be a year or two ahead.
- Identify the source of conflict, or barriers, as logically as possible, are there two or more things you want that seem incompatible? Sometimes when we experienced a square we put two things into mutually exclusive boxes, it’s like we paint ourselves into a corner where finding a solution to the problem is more difficult than it needs to be. What can be compromised or adjusted to ease the tension?
Good to be patient too, sometimes things just automatically work out over time.
The good news
The good news is there is a whole world of positive energy out there and there is always someone, somewhere, in receipt of that (astrologically) and now is no exception.
Because some people, according to the formula, will feel positively boosted by it all, and ready to spring out in positive new directions. Who? Well anyone who is, mathematically, in line to receive the positive triangular energy springing from Uranus or Pluto.
Extra fire please
If you have an important planet in your chart between 6 – 16 degrees (or so) of Leo or Sagittarius (the fire signs) you will receive a positive boost from Uranus, extra fire, telling you its time to use your leadership qualities to… lead, i.e., innovate, inspire, persuade, save and/or promote a worthy cause.
The same applies to 6 – 16 degrees of Aries people, but they will feel extra fire and challenged by Pluto around the same time.
Maybe Obama is one of those extra fire people. Yes it shows the extra fire power going to his Mercury in 2011, i.e., his mouth, so he’s talking a good game as usual. But later, say 2013-2014 he’s going to have to put his money where his mouth is and back things up with action. Being a fire sign (Leo) he would be a natural leader. Look at me!
And whether you feel personally energized or not, this extra fire opens the way for alternative visions to emerge and make themselves known. New ideas. New leaders. Since all that’s destroyed will need to be replaced. So along comes some new innovative thinkers and visionaries, some out of the box type scientists and social entrepreneurs who say ‘here I am look at this, I am now going to do something new.’
As Cesar Milan (the dog whisperer) says “you’re making the environment work for you. That makes you a pack leader.”
Extra earth please
By the same token if you have an important planet in your chart between 6 – 16 degrees (or so) of Taurus or Virgo (the earth signs) you will receive a positive boost of Plutonian energy bestowing endurance, responsibility, practicality, command of matter and deep digging research doing problem solving skills.
These people will find their strength by being ‘good in a crisis’ and supporting others who are flailing or building new things. I see this as the medical professionals, charity workers, environmentalists, biologists, engineers or economists, helping with practical problems out there.
People with planets 6 – 16 of Capricorn will also feel supported by the extra earth, but at the same time challenged by Uranus. Capricorns are traditionalists. They may not want to be Uranian like.
And people born during the last Uranus Pluto time, especially in 1964-65, may have some extra earth boon shows itself, some special quality or adaptability that comes into play now, enabling them to innovate and survive this period in a more interesting way. Perhaps it will expose their hidden strength or a fluency for negotiating the conflict between the two extremes.
The end.
So Uranus square Pluto will push us to debate and grapple with the really big problems of this time. It will test our individual and global value systems and push us to make big changes. Extreme Uranus tends to destroy a lot of things, both good and bad, that happen to be in the way. Extreme Pluto, on the other hand, tends to hold on longer than it should, pushing Uranus to be even more extreme. So this indicates lots of turmoil around the massive sorting process going on. In reality who knows what will disappear, maybe lots of good things too like tigers, turtles and tuna.
And by 2016, when things have started to settle down, expect some big differences between the world we have now and then. Whether things are better or worse is really up to us.
Others discussing Uranus square Pluto and previous ends of the world:
Uranus square Pluto and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"
The Uranus Pluto Square
2012-2015 Rebuilding on the ashes of the old
A visual representation of the political left (like Uranus) and political right (like Pluto)
Wikipedia's list of the ends of the world
For those who meditate through Sahaja Yoga Meditation
This period could be a time when our rationality or desperation for change and progress (Uranus) is more likely to clash with our roots and traditions, and perhaps also our ability to surrender. We need to take care not to side too far with either the energy of Uranus or Pluto, and then find ourselves in conflict with other people who have chosen, or are expressing, the other side.
In 2012 I also realised:
1. When things are expressing themselves in a negative or extreme way, Uranus is like an extreme desire to break from the past and try something new, and this is in direct conflict with an extreme attachment to traditions, or the need to control things or avoid uncertainty and change.
2. When things are expressing themselves in a more balanced way Uranus (the energy of change) and Pluto (the Sahasrara) work together, i.e., any urge to rebel against tradition (Uranus) works alongside that energy that purifies and sustains (Pluto) and this leads to new ways of doing things that spring naturally from the vibrations but are also rooted in tradition, and are therefore balanced and sustainable over time.