Uranus square Pluto - an update

I wrote about the ongoing Uranus/Pluto square some time ago, likening it to The Clash of the Titans. You can read what I wrote here. I said at the time that the second exact square between Uranus and Pluto would be on 19th September 2012, so now's a good time to take another look at this aspect in the context of a) what's going on right now, and b) the change in the overall aspect structure in the chart for 19.09.2012 (set for noon, in London).

Here we have a completely linear chart - the motivation is restless, tangential, and the quality of the energy is cardinal. Expect, from this starting point, erratic and unexpected events. The chart has no green aspects, which bring consideration, thought and awareness. The aspects are red and blue, a combination which indicates an either/or, all-or-nothing approach. Uranus and Pluto are completely separate, their square looking like a saw ready to cut through the nearby blue aspects, or a trip wire lurking and waiting for something or someone to unexpectedly fall. Compare this with the initial chart on the right, when the Uranus/Pluto square first kicked off.   

What might this linear, red/blue chart possibly reflect about recent events? The conflict in Syria continues, with devastating and disruptive consequences for the ordinary people caught up in this civil war. There is a general restlessness in many parts of the world - Greece and Spain are struggling financially within the European Union and in the UK where I live, we are told that if we think things are bad now, we ain't seen nothin' yet.

Public sector workers demonstrated in London this past weekend, threatening a general strike if the current cutbacks on wages continue. There are undercurrents of dissatisfaction in many walks of life, but there are two things which stand out as being manifestations of this ongoing square. The first is the uncovering of the long term cheating through drug usage by Lance Armstrong, 7-times winner of the Tour de France. He has been totally discredited and stripped of his status as winner and it has been revealed that he ran a drugs ring and bullied fellow team members to take drugs. A bully and a cheat in a high profile position has been outed. Not for nothing is Pluto in Capricorn, throwing out what is no longer needed, aided and energised by Uranus in Aries.

Closer to home in the UK, more and yet more is emerging about Jimmy Savile, who died last year. Savile was a high profile BBC presenter, charity worker and now apparently a rampant serial paedophile. He who worked in TV, was knighted by the Queen for his charity work, and who hosted many programmes especially for children in the 1970's and 80's also turns out to have been a bully, a groper and molester of underage girls and boys in the BBC studios, and at the hospitals where he did charity work. More and more accusations from the adults he molested when they were children are emerging following a TV documentary by a commercial channel. This has brought to light not only Savile's behaviour, but the possibility that the BBC ignored or repressed this news and turned a blind eye to Savile's manipulation. As I write this, the Director of the BBC is appearing before a UK Government Committee to answer questions on this matter.

It's not difficult to see Pluto in Capricorn at work here, exposing the underbelly of what was happening in a much-respected establishment - the BBC. The square to Uranus in Aries is firing up this exposure - Uranus at its highest level seeks the perfect world. Pluto seeks the perfect being.

Seems like there could be plenty more of this to come......

James Bond and The Beatles

No, James Bond and The Beatles is not the name of a new music group. It relates to something more unusual than that. On 5th October 1962 in London the first Bond movie - Dr. No -  and the first recording by The Beatles - Love Me Do - were both released, 50 years ago today. No time is available for either event, so the chart is set for noon.

It'a an interesting chart. Historically, the Swinging Sixties were poised to take off and in the chart you can see the approaching Uranus/Pluto conjunction in Virgo is ready to form. The chart has mainly green and blue aspects, perhaps reflecting the escapist qualities of film and the creative qualities of music. An Ear/Eye also known as an Information triangle aspect pattern, pinned by Sun/Mercury, Neptune and Pluto sits slighly apart from the overall aspect structure, the blue trine from Sun to Saturn looking like a scanning beam coming from a hovering UFO.

The two red opposition aspects form the internal core of an incomplete Irritation rectangle, itself a fairly rare pattern. The opposition between Jupiter and Uranus has a "wake up" feel to it, and that is precisely what was in the air at the time - big changes started to happen in the 60's. Likewise, Saturn's opposition to the Moon's Node in Leo could also have been calling for a spot of risk taking and approaching life with more gusto. The Irritation triangle is open, with one side missing. It's the side that faces on to the sign of Leo, allowing some of this abundant energy in to what would otherwise be a tightly and rigidly held, highly sensitive, rectangular pattern.

Wasn't that what the incoming vibrant energies of the 60's challenged? The "proper", stiff upper lip approach? The music of The Beatles was in the vanguard of breaking down barriers, and the James Bond films set out to thrill in a way not seen before, even though the Bond novels by Ian Fleming - himself once an agent involved in secret wartime work - had first been published in 1953.

There's lots more about aspect patterns in my book Aspect Patterns in Colour. You can find it on Amazon as well as in the Book Shop on the Astrological Psychology Assocation website.

Obama or Romney?

With the forthcoming US Presidential Election in November, I've added a few thoughts to the posts I've previously written about the charts of  Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Click on the links to read what I originally wrote, and the more recent updates.

Here, for quick reference, are the charts of both presidential candidates:

Barack Obama

Born on August 4th 1961 

at 19.24 

in Honolulu, HI, USA

Mitt Romney

Born on March 12th 1947

 at 09.51

in Detroit, MI, USA

The Libra time of year

The Sun enters Libra on or around 23rd September and this marks the Autumnal Equinox - the point in the year when day and night are of equal length as the Sun crosses the equator and goes on its way south to bring spring and summer to the southern hemisphere, leaving us in the northern hemisphere to experience first autumn, and then winter.

Balance and harmony.......

The qualities of Libra are not about balance for nothing - the equality of day and night, the point when the balance between dark and light are the same. This is echoed in the esoteric seed thought for the sign of Libra: 

 

I choose the way that leads between the two great lines of force

This seed thought could be an effective reminder to anyone who is in any kind of conflict. You don't need to take up arms, or do someone down, or go into battle or get revenge on another person because there is a third way.

You can choose to step out of the polarisation of right/wrong which has you in its grip and go instead by the path which leads to neither. This will leave you feeling a lot better and with the energy to do something positive in the world.

As it's the start of autumn (or fall if you live in the US), here are some views of this time of year. If you're interested in astrology you can't separate this from the movement of the Sun and how this affects the world we live in. And autumn is a beautiful time of year - Keats called it the "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness..."

Spider's web outlined with dew in the autumn sunshine

A bee collects pollen from an autumn-flowering plant

Autumnal scene by the river

Season of mists...

Neil Armstrong - first man on the Moon

The recent passing of Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the Moon, has revived an interest for people in this significant event, regardless of whether they had been born when this took place.

Armstrong was born on 5th August 1930 at 00.31 in Wakaponeta, Ohio USA. This puts his Leo Sun right down at the bottom of the chart, on the IC, and perhaps the furthest place you might expect to find it for someone who was a pioneer in space exploration and had been the first to set foot on the Moon.

His dynamically shaped chart tells of an underlying flexibility and indicates he was able to adapt to changes. The chart has the appearance of a rather careful balancing act with the aspect structure being supported at 3 separate points by the pinning planets down at the bottom of the chart. The chart, by aspects, is very blue, indicating a motivation for consolidation, preservation and the ability to switch off, relax and be laid back. Two blue aspect patterns dominate the chart - a Large and Small talent triangle. The Large triangle indicates an innate, complete talent, one that someone is born with. In Armstrong's chart it has a theme of sensitivity when the pinning planets are considered - Moon, Mercury/Neptune and the Moon's Node in 12th house. Mercury/Neptune indicates a visionary potential, along with sensitivity and the ability to express feelings with Moon in Sagittarius in 7th house. The 12th house Node suggests a quiet spirituality.

The Small triangle suggests something entirely different. This aspect pattern speaks of a still-developing talent, one which has to worked at in order to be perfected. It's pinned by Sun, Mars and Uranus, and has a more robust and outgoing feel. The Sun makes decisions and has leadership qualities; Mars offers skill, bravery, courage and Uranus stretched boundaries as well as bringing a scientific theme.

It's both interesting and significant that Armstrong's Age Point was making aspects to two of these planets on 20th July 1969, when he first stepped on the Moon and said, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". He was 39, his Age Point was in 7th house, in Sagittarius and it was opposite Mars and trine Uranus. It is fitting that as his Age Point opposed Mars, he was undertaking what was probably the most challenging thing that he had ever done. The Age Point opposite a planet will demand that the individual will be forced to focus on all matters associated with the drive of this planet, and express them in some way, often learning and gaining new experiences at the same time. Age Point opposite Mars would have called on all of Armstrong's skills and energies as he took this momentous step.

Following his recent death, his family issued this statement:  "For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink."