We are again looking ahead at another of the most astrologically interesting weeks in recent memory. It’s also a moment that ripples into the somewhat distant future of the early 22nd century.
Monday at 10:54 pm EDT (Tuesday at 02:54 UTC), Uranus makes the last of seven squares to Pluto, a process that’s been evolving since the first square between these two planets in 2012.
Fractal by Robert Johnson, via Pinterest.
To recap in very few words, the current Uranus-Pluto cycle began in 1965-66 with the conjunction in Virgo. That is what non-astrologers call “The Sixties,” which lasted from about 1960 to about 1973.
The cycle is continuing through the current square event (Uranus in Aries, Pluto in Capricorn), which really spans between 2008 and 2018 or so. This same cycle will have its next major stop in 2046-47, with the opposition phase (Uranus in Virgo, Pluto in Pisces). Then there will be a second square in 2073 (Uranus in Capricorn, Pluto in Aries).
The current cycle will conclude at the next conjunction in 2104, which takes place in Taurus. Interestingly, that will be a triple conjunction of Uranus, Pluto and the very modern planet Eris. Said another way, the current cycle spans from 1965 to 2104, which is 139 years. [Note, the length of this cycle varies from epoch to epoch because the speed of Pluto is so variable during the course of its long orbit. But that’s very much a side-topic.]
Thought of using the the lunar cycle as a model, the New Moon (conjunction) was in the mid 1960s; we are now at first quarter; the Full Moon will be in the mid 2040s; last quarter will be in the early 2070s; and the next New Moon or conjunction will be early in the 22nd century. Events at every phase of this cycle are related to the events at every other phase.
If you follow Uranus-Pluto cycles back through history, you’ll discover that peak moments in this journey are about upheaval, rapid scientific and artistic advances, social change and various sorts of revolutions. Our current moment qualifies as most or all of the above.
Sorting that out would be an interesting conversation. In any event, the square or first quarter phase begins separating Monday, and we enter a new quadrant of the cycle.
Four days later, the Moon forms a total eclipse to the Sun in the last degree of Pisces. That is followed the next day by the Aries Equinox. The eclipse-equinox mix adds emphasis to the much more historically significant Uranus-Pluto event this week. But from a personal standpoint, the eclipse is what may stand out. Remember that it happens close to the Aries Point, the first degree of Aries that is like a node point where private events and public events seem to merge and influence one another.
Lest you have a feeling of finality about this rather dramatic eclipse, remember that it will be followed by a total eclipse of the Moon on April 4. This is also the Libra Full Moon. So what we are really entering is a kind of transition phase, where one major event leads to another, culminating with the lunar eclipse.
It’s fair to consider everything that’s happening over the next few weeks to be a work in progress, subject to ongoing revision. Revision can mean seeing again, which is another way to say “respect.” So treat this time with respect, and keep looking at both the astrology and the accompanying events for additional information.
Notice the factor of movement; allow yourself to move with the various (and seemingly separate) moving parts of the equation of your experience. It will be more helpful to look for patterns than it will be to draw some final conclusion of what you think is happening. This is a fine time to remind yourself that the universe is a dynamic system with every particle influencing the existence of every other particle.
This makes for an intriguing theory — though it’s time to take that theory out for a ride or better still, a test flight of the imagination.
Thanks Eric. Respect, yes – and in my case, lots of patience. Feel like going to bed for the week – wake me up when it’s over – but needs must….Out into the world I go.
Funny you should mention movement. I have to move around the 11th of April at a time not of my choosing due to building renovations. I was quite upset at first but now am seeing the positive side of moving to a quieter place where I can get better sleep! I also have Libra on the 4th HS cusp.
It’s so neat to be alive right now, during this time of dramatic changes, to know I’m part of this great cycle. The feeling of witnessing this moment when we’re getting a glimpse of what this Era will offer is both daunting, and exciting. There’s a lot of work to be done, and that’s a good thing.
So much moving. It feels like the universe is folding around the eclipse point like crazy origami.
exhilarating, and exhausting.
I have Aries sun/Pisces moon (10th house) – and Chiron hanging out right in between, ready to go through the portal I guess (to meet Eris in the 11th?)
We have had one of the most drastic, positive, changes in our household in a long, long time. It’s interesting to think about how different our lives will be after these eclipses, and what will remain? Though a lot will remain the same, and yet it already looks different just knowing the change is imminent.
Yes, moving indeed. I’m also in the midst of a move and, with a foot in each place, my sense of rootedness must come from within. However, what this astrology does is to help remind me that, no matter the circumstances, it always does anyway. To look at the patterns and relatedness of all elements, all movement … excellent perspective, as always, Eric. Thanks so much.
Love that fractal photo.
Thank you Uranus and Pluto for disrupting the status quo of our planet with your squares. You are leaving us now with a suggestion, evolve or else. Till we meet again at your opposition.
In the winding down of this Lunar cycle 3 new songs came to me that feel quite dangerous. With Pluto conjunct my Sun I feel that I’m on the right track. The aural story they belong to began revealing itself to me in 2008 when Pluto entered Capricorn and opposed my natal Saturn (retro that is…). The original pack of tunes survived only because they were on my ipod when my computer was toasted in an apartment fire that year. I reconstructed a home studio and set to working on the tale again, bringing it to what I thought was completion in 2010 when I graduated from college and lost my income as a student while only being frustrated with failure after failure in finding enough work to pay rent and so I began my path largely without money then and the story went underground for 3 years until I began learning cover songs with the only instrument I had left: an acoustic guitar. Then my own songs began to come back to me but I didn’t have access to the recordings during that time and worked from memory.
This is a revival of a practice that I crashed around the turn of the century, playing and singing my own songs. In retrospect I can sense that my practice at the time had to die to prepare the soil for my present approach to music that sprouts from a more calm and centered person than I was back then. The songs that came through this week don’t necessarily complete the tale, but they bring its beginning into sharper focus and give deeper roots to the middle and the end. This weekend I was planning to reappear on open mic stages after taking a long break. That was before I knew about these alignments. Now it would seem that the new songs are part of this building wave.