Riding the Wave of the Uranus Pluto Square

Surf’s up- it’s time to ride the wave of the 4^th of the 7 Uranus/Pluto squares between 2012 and 2015.  Revolution and transformation are the order of the day. High anxiety is the name of the game and change is scary.  The lack of stability in life and the sense of being in a freefall prevail.  Rumor has it that the 4^th and 5^th Uranus/Pluto squares are going to be the most intense.  The 5^th one will be on April 21, 2014 in 13 degrees of Aries/Capricorn.   I can hardly wait!  Once again, as in May of 2013, this aspect is sandwiched between two eclipses. In May 2013, we had a solar eclipse on May 10^th in 19 degrees of Taurus, the 3^rd Uranus/Pluto square in 11 degrees of Capricorn/Aries on May 20^th, culminating in a lunar eclipse in 4 degrees of Sagittarius on May 25^th.  And we all know that lunar eclipses signify endings, while solar eclipses are the markers for new beginnings.  You can’t have a new beginning without an ending.   But how do you hang tight in the interim period and get a reprieve from the anxiety in between major life cycles?

This fall’s astrological sandwich is as follows: we had a lunar eclipse in 25 degrees of Aries on October 18^th, the Uranus/Pluto square is exact in 9 degrees of Aries/Capricorn on November 1^st and we have a solar eclipse in 11 degrees of Scorpio on November 3^rd.  The autumnal eclipses fall in the Mars-ruled signs of Aries and Scorpio, so be careful.  There can be an increased tendency towards being accident prone and for hidden feelings of anger and resentment to erupt.

The theme of the Uranus/Pluto square transit is to let go and allow change and greater awareness to occur.  We literally have to ride the wave and go with the flow of transformation.  A solar eclipse in Scorpio two days later only reinforces that theme.

The effect of this transit is playing out on both personal and global fronts, but anyone who has a planet, nodes of the moon, ascendant or midheaven at 8-15 degrees in any of the cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn) is literally having their world rocked.  The orientation of Uranus is to create but through a process of destruction and regeneration which is characteristic of Pluto.

Uranus in Aries has been transiting my 6^th house and Pluto in Capricorn has been transiting my 3^rd house.  I have definitely been feeling that Uranian energy in my 6^th house since the first hit on June 24, 2012.  The demands of my job increased and my health suffered: insomnia, digestive disorders, and headaches.  The second hit on September 18, 2012 intensified that theme and by the end of September I feared that I was experiencing another retinal tear after I started feeling pressure and seeing the dreaded floaters that had been symptoms of a retinal tear requiring surgery ten years ago.  It turned out to just be a broken blood vessel, but it was scary.  If the eyes are indeed the window to the soul, what did that say about the state of my soul?  Or more importantly, what was I seeing in the world that made me sick?

The third Uranus/Pluto square was exact on May 20, 2013 and once again the correlation between increasing job demands and my declining health were all too apparent.  I know there is an old saying “three strikes and you’re out”, and I was definitely contemplating out.  I guess I am living proof of the theory that it takes some folks the third pass of a transit to finally get the message.  I resigned from my job in August 2013 for reasons of declining health.  I have been healing and creating a new routine for myself, which is also a 6^th house issue, as I seek to establish a new career as an astrologer.  But after getting whacked by Uranus for the past couple of years, now it is Pluto’s turn to get in on the act of transformation.  Pluto is also conjuncting my north node in Capricorn in the 3^rd house, so communication is the key to my transformation.   And on October 28^th I received another gift from Uranus transiting my 6^th house—I discovered a mole on my back that I hadn’t previously noticed.  Naturally I freaked out with all of this anxiety-producing planetary energy.  I called a couple of dermatologists and managed to get an appointment for November 13^th.  At least Mercury will be officially direct by then.

Both Pluto and Uranus are in cardinal signs which like to initiate and motivate activity.  Aries is impatient and eager to express itself, while Capricorn seeks to motivate so that its goals are preserved.  Uranus in Aries seeks change, sometimes without seeing the big picture.  And Pluto in Capricorn can get downright despotic in terms of manipulating people to preserve its vision.  The recent crisis with the government shutdown is a perfect example of these two planets playing out their energies in a larger arena.

Pluto is in the Saturn-ruled sign of Capricorn.  Saturn rules structure and Uranus in Aries heralds a new cycle.  I can’t help but think back to the last time Uranus was in Aries, from 1927 to 1935.  There was a stock market crash, a great depression and the rise of dictators, most notably Hitler.  Is history repeating itself?  Hopefully we don’t have to experience a widespread depression and another world war, but I do believe that we need to be aware that some destruction will occur and a new order needs to be established.

Eileen Grimes has written a moving commentary on the current Uranus/Pluto transit that resonates deeply for me.  Indeed, nothing seems to make sense anymore and there are profound questions afoot regarding the meaning of life.

Catch it at: 

http://astrology.about.com/od/transitsandaspects/fl/Eileen-Grimes-Uranus-Pluto-Story.htm

I also loved what Elsa Panizzon said in her blog about the Uranus/Pluto square “Just get used to the idea of deep change that seems to occur in the blink of an eye.”

I find myself wondering when this transition period will end and how much many more waves I have to ride before I finally feel as though I have reached shore.