Neptune in Pisces Points to the Solution of the Uranus-Pluto Square

When slow-moving planets (or other slow-moving bodies for that matter, such as KBOs) enter a new sign, it takes awhile for them to get their footing and establish the core paradigm that will play out during the era they are transiting that sign. Between 0 and 5 degrees, the planet is still laying the ground work and "introduction" for the drama yet to unfold in later degrees and years of the transit. 

With a lot of astrological attention currently focused on the seven partile Uranus-Pluto squares over the next few years, along with Saturn and Pluto's mutual reception beginning in October (remember, Pluto is not a planet, but does rule Scorpio in modern astrology), Neptune's transit through its home sign of Pisces can disappear into the background and therefore be seriously overlooked. 

Big mistake. It's front-and-center by hiding in plain sight in the intense outer solar system drama currently unfolding. Neptune in Pisces is pointing to the core issue that needs to be addressed in order to RESOLVE the turmoil of its more malefic neighbors on either side. Namely:

“Imagine the problem is not physical. Imagine the problem has never been physical, that it is not biodiversity, it is not the ozone layer, it is not the greenhouse effect, the whales, the old-growth forest, the loss of jobs, the crack in the ghetto, the abortions, the tongue in the mouth, the disease stalking everywhere as love goes on unconcerned.

Imagine the problem is not some syndrome of our society that can be solved by commissions or laws or a redistribution of what we call wealth. Imagine that it goes deeper, right to the core of what we call our civilization and that no one outside of ourselves can effect real change, that our civilization, our government are sick and that we are mentally ill and spiritually dead — that all our issues are crises are symptoms of this deeper sickness.

The problem is that we cannot imagine a future where we possess less but are more.”

                — ©1995 Charles Bowden, from his book Blood Orchid, as reprinted in Adbusters "Big Ideas of 2011" issue.

 Or, another way to put Uranus square Pluto, Neptune in Pisces artistically/visually:

Image of police battling Greek rioters courtesy of and © Crimethinc.com

Transiting Neptune in Pisces is beginning its Orcus opposition in the U.S. Sibly chart (below) in the 3rd-9th house axis. This will ultimately form a grand cross with the U.S. natal Orcus-Uranus-Haumea T-square, which shows that the themes of Uranus-Pluto (economic exploitation, oppression, and plutocracy) aren't even new or recent, but INHERENT in the lifeblood of the country with roots in the days of slavery! In cadent houses, they swirl like a mist in the background until harsh transits blow an ill wind through the country's history. Or present and future.

So the outer solar system is going to be calling the (heavy) shots astrologically for a long time to come. (Talk about having to give up the illusion of having immense personal control in life!) Fear not, though, as oases will spring up in everyone's lives as the inner solar system planets fleetingly come to the rescue periodically with their transits. It's already starting to spark as a potential solution to the foreclosure situation that bypasses Wall Street entirely is gaining momentum.

More to come...

How to Get Through the Seven Partile Squares of Uranus-Pluto (Through 2015) Without Really Trying

Forewarned is forearmed through the changes and upheaval ahead. In some ways, both personally and on a larger scale, it won't be as bad as originally thought. And in other ways, it will be far worse than anyone could have imagined. It's a wild swing of extremes. But there's no need to fear; as old-time radio personality Paul Harvey once noted, "In times like these, it is good to remember that there have always been times like these." 

If it's true that predicting the future is nothing more than making a realistic assessment of the past, then you don't really need astrology to see what's ahead. Just take a clear and honest look at the problems in your own life, in your community, in your part of the world, and in the world at large. And what needs to be done about them. And the gap in between, meaning the resistance to making the changes to resolve them. Here is a perfect example on the larger scale:

"The United States today lacks the policy postures necessary to address climate change, migration, and conflict in a systematic and proactive manner."

Scientists and analysts at the Pentagon agree. (See also: http://bit.ly/dZT12w and http://bit.ly/Xd8Gr)

At its simplest, the Uranus-Pluto square is economic havoc—plutocracy, debt, market rigging and crashes—and the battle against them, as well as the struggle to survive and bounce back from it all at the individual level. It's a rude awakening and living life on the edge with no going back to the old ways of life. Ever. Not even after 2015. It's an enforced march forward into the unknown, and not always for the better.

Since you won't be free from the cyclone around you (no matter how rich you are, or how many cans of food you have stored), you'll have to find a way to find peace within the storm via whatever your preferred method of handling turmoil (meditation, heavy drugs, etc.). Below are ten keys to understand, cope with, and eventually prevail over the Uranus-Pluto square.

1)  Realize that you are not in total control. Circumstances will often dictate the moment and the response. This is especially true financially. Expect permanent, long-term changes in your life that are not comfortable or necessarily for the better. This can range from foreclosure, job loss, etc., to loss of earning power, increased debt or bankruptcy, lower standards of living and relationship endings.

2)  Here's a crystal-clear idea of what Pluto troubles look like up close and personal, courtesy of astrologer Anne Beversdorf, via her article entitled "Meeting the Pluto Archetype," which originally appeared in the Mountain Astrologer in 2009:

You don’t need an astrological chart and an ephemeris to know you’re dancing with Pluto.    Here’s a short list of Pluto Symptoms:

IF YOU FEEL LIKE THIS IT MUST BE PLUTO.

1. How DARE they! 

2. It’s Not Fair.  It’s Not RIGHT.  I WILL make them stop.

3. Obsessed.  You can’t get this issue out of your mind.

4. They WON’T get away with this.

5. 40 jillion get-even fantasies.

6. 30 jillion get-it-back-to-how-it-used-to-be fantasies.

7. Boiling blood each time you think about it (which is all the time).

8. Freezing blood when you think there’s nothing you can do.

9. How DARE they!   …

So expect to feel like that a lot for a few years. And just know it's perfectly normal.

3)  Uranus in Aries is the battle against compliance, as astrologer Michael Lutin has so aptly put it. You want to do what you want to do, when you want to do it, but Pluto's in the way compounding the obstacles as fast as your frustration level can rise. Interestingly, Lutin calls attention to using the midpoint of the square (a.k.a. a semisquare, currently 23 degrees Aquarius) as the outlet for the square. So wherever you have 23 Aquarius natally, that's a refuge point from the tension. Unless of course, it triggers other parts of the chart harshly (e.g., Moon 23 Scorpio, a square which makes the stress unbearably intense and personal, such as a relationship betrayal.).

4)  Activations by transit. Every time a planet travels through a cardinal sign over the next few years, the Uranus-Pluto square will activate a flash point, both personally (when the Moon hits it four times a month) and in the world (when planets transit). A cardinal grand cross with the Sun and Moon joining the Uranus-Pluto square in late June dialed up the anxiety for everyone, as a harbinger for the upcoming Mars-Uranus-Pluto T-square over the coming week. Expect a jolt in late September when planets transit Libra to form another T-square, with the outlet leg again in Cancer. Power struggles will really intensify at the end of the year when planets transiting Capricorn line up behind Pluto, and with extra zing because Saturn will be mutually recepting Pluto when it begins its Scorpio transit.

5)  At the personal level, the Uranus-Pluto square will force you to make changes you would normally eschew because they are outside of your conditioned comfort zone.

6)  Expect loss. Pluto in Capricorn disposits to Saturn in its final months of Libra. It's about endings, not new beginnings. Then, when Saturn ingresses into Scorpio in October, it will both mutually recept AND sextile Pluto. But there's a catch: Saturn will still be via combust for awhile. So there will be enforced, constructive changes, but at a stressful cost.

7)  Face the fact that things cannot continue as they were. There's no going back. The changes are long-term and permanent. Grieve and move on; don't wallow.

8)  The stress will NOT last forever; just a few years intensely, and at times, very uncomfortable. And as the Uranus-Pluto square transits closer to Eris at 22-23 degrees Aries, things will get worse before they get better. That's how tremendous, slow, deep, permanent change works. There are no overnight results. Check out astrologer Bill Herbst's thorough and in-depth histories of this specific type of transit in his archives.  (Note these especially: http://billherbst.com/News120.pdf , http://billherbst.com/News80.pdf , http://billherbst.com/News81.pdf ).

9)  The ray of hope, the saving grace throughout it all, is Neptune in Pisces. At home, in rulership, it's above it all, sextiling Pluto and semi-sextiling Uranus. Hold on to your dreams and keep the faith in spite of the turmoil, and when you're down and out, Neptune will send a ray of light out of nowhere to give you hope. It can also bring an outright miracle, or an enormous desire to escape, depending on other factors in your natal chart. Know that there will be days of peace sandwiched in between the strife.

10)  Look back on your life pre-Pluto in Capricorn; before January 2008, and after. How is your life better, and how is it worse? What did you have to part with that you thought you couldn't live without, and are now glad to be rid of? Remember the pain and anguish?

Now imagine that on a larger, worldwide scale for awhile and you'll have the essence of the transit.

Event Charts for Job Interviews: When Significators Change Direction, So Do Circumstances

With the perpetually lousy U.S. economy, employment horary and event charts are far outnumbering relationship charts, which usually grab the lead. In the recent case study below, a job interview event chart with a twist reflects the very active current transits, particularly of significators changing direction.

The job was for a travel agent position with a financial services firm. The chart is radical with Venus, the querent's ruler, conjunct Jupiter at home in the 9th house of travel.

In this case, you don't have to look very deep for the obvious outcome. The following items stand out immediately in the chart:

1)  Early cardinal angles. Action and activity are premature.

2)  Venus, the querent's ruler, is intercepted, retrograde and stalled, getting ready to station direct, and therefore won't make the conjunction to Jupiter in the 9th. Additionally, the South Node is on the Venus-Jupiter midpoint.

3)  Makemake in separating conjunction from the ASC and in partile conjunction to Mars in the twelfth. The querent has been on the job sidelines in repose (12th/Makemake) for four years. Unemployment is affirmed by Moon in 12th as ruler of MC.

4)  Sun in the 10th house disposits to the Moon and is in an applying T-square to Uranus-Pluto, with the outlet leg in the 1st house.

5)  Saturn in the 1st house just stationed direct a few hours prior to the time of the question, and is conjunct Haumea. The querent has non job-related responsibilities in his personal life (1st house) that are distracting him and moving him in a different direction entirely (Haumea).

So if that wasn't enough to tell you this job wasn't happening for the querent, the kicker is Mercury at the dead degree of Cancer, and about to drop into its fall in Leo. Moon and Venus, rulers of the querent (1st house) and the job (MC), both disposit to Mercury.

So what was the outcome? Venus' station is the dead giveaway. The querent changed his mind about the position to focus on taking care of some personal business causing strife in his life (Moon-Mars in the 12th) and called to cancel the interview (Pluto in 4th--elimination from consideration). The querent also didn't like the long commute required (Pluto as ruler of the 3rd quincunx Venus/the querent) with gas prices near $4 a gallon. Moon's last Ptolemaic aspect as a conjunction to Mars, the ruler of the 7th house of other candidates, shows someone else entirely was obviously chosen for the position.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

In another event chart, this time for a car rental, note that when the ASC is a moving target, so are the querent's circumstances. In this case, the querent needed to rent a minivan to move some cargo from storage in one state to a neighboring state. The event chart is based on the rental agreement start time of 8 a.m. to pick up the vehicle:

Note the dead degree ASC, and Mercury square to Saturn, with Mercury in the 12th house ruling the 3rd house of vehicles. The rental agent took the querent to a base-model, low-end minivan with "Store and Go" seats. The querent didn't like that the van was so basic, wasn't very clean, and had New Jersey license plates on it, but didn't say anything to the rental agent. As the agent was putting the seats in "Store and Go" mode, the last seat refused to store and was clearly broken. Minutes passed, the chart progressed, and the agent finally had no choice but to label the minivan "defective" (Saturn retrograde) and give the querent another vehicle entirely. So look at the event chart for the time of the new vehicle assignment:

The only other minivan available on the lot that would meet the querent's rental agreement requirements was a deluxe-model with DVD players, leather seats, clean interior, seats that stored without a problem, and more gizmos, bells and whistles in it than the querent could possibly use. Not to mention his destination state's license plates, which wouldn't attract attention as a rental. The querent was assigned the deluxe vehicle at no extra charge. Leo rising "flash" in a vehicle (Sun in Gemini) indeed!