Cosmic clockworks demonstrate the diverse yet predictable periodic orbs to which each planetary ambassador has been assigned. The constantly changing interactive interplay among these heavenly ambassadors reminds that no two days will ever entirely match. What we recognize as astrologers are consistent patterns. Indeed through the expressive natures of the four elements, time speaks to us, and it conveys ostensible themes. As astrologers look ahead we note an ominous upcoming event taking shape as something that resembles a cosmic cross or crossroads for humanity. Pluto sets the stage from early Capricorn where it will soon find itself squared by Saturn as that planet transits Libra, its position of exaltation. History confirms that cycles of lack on a grand scale emerge when Pluto and Saturn clash. Saturn Capricorn opposed Pluto Cancer during the great depression, while the pair was conjunct in Libra during the recession of the early l980’s. We can expect a financial implosion (or permutation) in autumn 2009, although the event preceded itself in autumn of 2008. At that time the markets began to tumble as the housing bubble with the arcane fiscal instruments (those quasi-legal “derivatives”) dependent upon it proved devoid of measurable value. True to a favorable interchange between Jupiter Capricorn and Saturn Virgo, some persons were positioned to make a lot of money from the fiscal roller coaster ride. Yet Uranus’s opposition to Saturn, an event that recurs well into 2010, threw the proverbial monkey wrench into the orthodox functioning of those systems that millions relied upon. Saturn favors bankers and established power elites, while Uranus represents the voice of “the people,” as well as rebels at large. The pair oppose next in September 2009 (at 24 degrees of Pisces/Virgo) and again in May 2010 (at 28 degrees of Pisces/Virgo). Indications suggest that global markets will remain unstable for at least another year. 

            Meanwhile the money supply has been played like a casino with exotic loan instruments traded like sound currency among high-stakes speculators. Leaders currently seeking ways to offset the hemorrhaging of funds treat the symptoms rather than the cause. Wisdom learned from The Great Depression became codified as law so that never again would bankers be permitted to speculate rashly with the public’s savings. Unfortunately the Glass-Steagall Act of 1999 effectively gutted that law, and daily indications suggest that another Great Depression could likely result. Economists not inside “the beltway” provide useful, frightening analyses; but that’s not what the mainstream media is for the most part reporting.

            Saturn, lord of karma and natural promoter of conservative ethics enters Libra on October 30, 2009 to begin its square to Pluto. Even when the pair moves beyond the exact degree of this tense alignment other key planets will continue to agitate the cardinal axis. Thus the grand cross holds sway throughout late 2009-2010. Saturn’s basic essence echoes through the Old Testament where it champions conservation. Its antithesis Jupiter imbues the New Testament with boundless faith. Generally Jupiter changes sign once a year; and as the animal totems from the Chinese astrological calendar relate, the pattern alters each New Year. The Chinese allot great esteem to Jupiter and the premise of luck! This planetary giant departs from its usual pattern in 2010. For while it leaves Aquarius to enter Pisces in January 2010, as if directed by cosmic choreography it quickens its pace to enter Aries six months ahead of schedule. Apparently its mission is to accompany Uranus into the Mars-ruled sign of aggression, as well as individualism. Uranus has not visited Aries in eighty-four years! Thus by June 2010, Pluto will find itself squared by a powerful duo consisting of Jupiter conjoined to Uranus. That places four of the five outer planets at the entry points to the cardinal signs. Tremendous stress is generated upon the axial points that correspond to the four season changes. Does this not suggest by parallel a “season change” of monumental proportions for mankind? Compassion works the cosmic clockworks and thus allows mankind a moment to catch its collective breath as Saturn, Uranus, and Jupiter all by turns enter retrograde cycles to relax tension on this cosmic cross. Saturn moves retrograde through Virgo from April 8-July 22, 2010, while Jupiter leaves Aries to return to Pisces from September 20, 2010-January 22, 2011, once again to resume its normal January transition pattern. Uranus returns to the later degrees of Pisces from August 15, 2010-March 13, 2011. In a sense summer 2010 holds “the coming attractions” for the big cinematic production which the “As above, so below” Divine equation prepares to enact.

            Most persons living at this time have not encountered so complex and stressful a configuration that directly involves Pluto. The analysis of this upcoming astrological event is limited by the structure of the English language. It allows us to discuss a point at length, or link it comparatively to another. What we cannot do is explain the entire set of interactive factors at once. Our capacity to convey ideas is framed by language patterns that are naturally limited in scope. We have no means for cognitively factoring in the simultaneous interplays set between Saturn and Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter, Uranus and Pluto, and Jupiter with Pluto. Plus added to these complex configurations are the rapid cycle changes of the moon. She will be energizing each of the cardinal signs every week! Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the sun will all periodically transit the cardinal signs to add yet more reverberations to the cosmic mix. With these portents it’s critical that people work to retain an inner sense of balance. 

            One way to prepare for this potentially monumental transition is by examining your natal chart. Locate any planets positioned at early degrees of the four cardinal signs. This analysis will provide useful insights, as you will recognize where you’re most apt to experience tension.

            Focusing on the key cycle known as the “great conjunction” which is set between Jupiter and Saturn to recur at twenty-year intervals, it is fair to say that earth signs have dominated mass consciousness (not to mention official policy) since 1880. All but one of these conjunctions (the pair met in Libra, an air sign, in l980) has taken place in earth signs. Earth supports a materialistic view of life and upholds a business ethic, as does the sign of Capricorn where all five outer planets have traveled during the past three decades. (Pluto is currently crossing Capricorn). A powerful astrological event often overlooked took place on January 15, 1991 when an eclipse in Capricorn united seven of the ten planets in that Saturn-ruled sign. Saturn’s personal cycle of twenty-nine years suggests that events begun on that fateful day (it coincided with the onset of George Bush’s war against Iraq) will culminate in 2020, twenty-nine years later. That is also the year when Saturn and Jupiter will once again conjoin, this time at zero degrees of Aquarius.
   

         Saturn’s entrance into Libra could work to mankind’s advantage because not only does this qualify as the zone of Saturn’s exaltation; it prompts universal law to assert more effectively. To the extent that human law departs substantially from its Divine equivalent invites the celestial version of a therapeutic adjustment. Many legal minds have had their sensibilities challenged by an apparent new order of American imperialism. It unapologetically seeks to justify torture, claims the right to engage in preemptive war, disables the inspired checks and balances that wisely establish power among three co-equal branches of government (as opposed to one despotic ruler, the legacy of previous centuries), and now seizes taxpayers’ funds to bail out rich speculative bankers near drunk on their access to the nation’s treasure trove. Saturn Libra will prompt persons of conscience to act on behalf of just law.
  

          Jupiter and Uranus uniting at the entry point to Aries suggest a number of possibilities. We know Aries to be the sign of the pioneer and bold individualist, but it also signifies the warrior. It’s been estimated that America has a billion guns on its streets; and as a result of Homeland Security, the DEA, FBI, CIA, police and sheriff departments, Coast Guard and Highway Patrol, the nation also has countless uniformed guards added to its official military branches. Aries, the sign ruled by Mars, tends to boast for a fight, while Saturn’s square to Pluto is apt to demarcate a cycle of shortages. Will we see small independent American militias taking “justice” into their own hands due to scarcity? Uranus adds unexpected elements to the cosmic mix. Is another attack on the mainland possible? If we wish to be more optimistic then Jupiter-Uranus Aries could point to novel, unprecedented, inventive trends applied to environmentally sounder energy systems. Until Edison, no one considered the means to light up the night.
 

           When we examine the T-cross involving Saturn Libra on one side of its cosmic equation, with Jupiter-Uranus Aries on the other, we note Pluto Capricorn falls at right angles to both being placed down the middle. It will gradually come into full opposition with the U.S. sun found at 12 degrees Cancer. Pluto presages passages of death and rebirth, endings that call forth new beginnings. Its keywords include: rebuilding, remaking, remodeling, rehabilitation, regeneration, resuscitation, and rebirth. America is fated to get caught in the cosmic squeeze. We need not wait until Pluto reaches 12 degrees to feel some of the anticipated impacts. Due to the intensity of the cosmic cross articulating through the cardinal signs, matters are apt to speed up dramatically. Pluto’s entrance into Capricorn has already triggered a global focus on fear. The bogeyman associated with terrorism has led to the implementation of rigid surveillance programs. These claim to protect citizens while dangerously trampling on their liberties. Some protocols resemble those previously utilized by totalitarian regimes. From the banal trespasses over civil liberties to the lack of meaningful, diverse electoral choices, the premise that we reside in a politically responsive, democratic republic has become increasingly fallacious. Capricorn favors conservative values and grants to guardians of tradition an excess of power. Ultimately Pluto will break down the growing and dangerous alliance between corporations and government officials, but the process will neither be easy nor painless. And that’s where the tension posed from the arms of the powerful cosmic cross come into play.

            Astrology, operating like a cosmic weather report, relates the thematic tones of the times; but it cannot answer for free will. That’s where predictions become tricky. Uranus-Jupiter Aries will trigger some to act as conduits of invention and novel solutions. Inspired, such persons will pave intellectual trails not yet traveled by. The Zodiac’s “coming attractions” are featured in summer 2010; however an upping of the ante occurs when the T-cross recapitulates in spring 2011. Fortunately by this time Saturn and Pluto will have moved to later degrees of Libra and Capricorn. The grand cross therefore will operate, but thankfully not at maximum potential.

            We would be hard-pressed to find anyone who does not have at least one natal chart placement positioned to mesh with this celestial big bang. All planetary players move into critical position in anticipation of 2012. Did the Ancient Mayan mathematicians understand complex planetary cycles; or do all truly prophetic “roads” lead to the same ideological destination? Christian followers of End Times envision something akin to a war to end all wars in the Middle East/Holy land. Astrologers designate our collective arrival at the end of an age. Author Michael Klare gazes through the prism of world economics and sees the end of oil; and let’s face it, oil runs the engines of the entire industrial world. Some, like NASA scientist James Hansen, bear witness to escalating climatic changes set to radically jeopardize human life. Edgar Cayce spoke much of the fabled lost continent of Atlantis. Did the Atlanteans for all their elite technology miss the critical cues and fail to save themselves? Did they suffer a form of hubris in believing nature could not in an instant snuff out the basic structures of their society? Are we like those Atlanteans going about our daily business, our ordinary walks of life unapologetically burning (on a collective scale) phenomenal quantities of fossil fuel while the sensitive balance necessary to complex interwoven ecosystems, the ones all life systems rely upon, faces ultimate collapse?
 

           Our ancestors looked to the horizon and from the feedback elicited by their limited senses deduced the earth to be flat. As we approach a powerful astrological juncture, some may see in it the end of time, while others recognize that all things turn. These vast cycles fulfill the spiritual promise that a time is allotted for every purpose under heaven. The alarm bells appear to be ringing to signify a massive change in the ways that we live. A new understanding will arise and it will call for a revolutionary assessment of the values we live by. The result will involve a profound shift in the behaviors these have long supported. The heavens echo with messages as mankind experiences its transition from The Piscean Age to that of Aquarius in something akin to a collective wake-up call. Although formidable for the challenges it presents, it is time for enlightened souls to summon fellow dreamers (and those consumed by massive deception) into a newly awakened state.

Bi-Line: Sioux Rose’s latest book: Moon Dance: The Feminine Dimensions of Time is available at: Iuniverse.com