Explaining the Squares and Oppositions of 2009-2010-2011-2012-2013 Pt.2 - Saturn in Libra Square Pluto in Capricorn

by Robert Wilkinson

Yesterday we explored the power struggle (or dance!) between Saturn and Uranus as we deal with their opposition over the next few years. Today we add Pluto to the volatile mix about to engulf the entire world in dynamic transformation. The future stands revealed, and by noting what seeds are sprouting beginning January 2008 we can plan accordingly to reposition ourselves and become conscious participants in the larger changes taking place.

As part of the on-going Grand Irrationality not cutting us any slack for the next decade, Pluto holds the key to which path to take at any given fork in the road. Through our embrace of Divine "Economy of Energy" we can shed ourselves of obsolete physical, emotional, and mental materials and become more "goal fit" for whatever higher potential we have to show our world. Squares to Pluto help this Divine Potential to come forth, much as weeding a garden helps our vegetables to grow unimpeded by other water consuming plants.

As an aside, yes, I know that all "weeds" supposedly have some medicinal value,  but if we want our garden to produce what we've planted, we need to selectively remove that which would impede the growth of that which will nourish us in the future. In cultivating our personality, it is more useful to decide what we want to pull up and what to plant in its place rather than simply allow whatever to grow however thinking it all has some "medicinal value." Part of our evolution as humans involves bringing "order out of chaos" so we can see what we should be devoted to, and how that will yield knowledge appropriate to furthering our growth and refining of our personality forms.

Pluto may be "Lord of the Underworld," but it also is that Divine Power that can stand heat and pressure to bring forth seeds of future growth. It symbolizes "seed forms," and so is also the power of self-replication in a new Springtime of growth. It is purifying, intense, and intent on growing despite outer conditions. So what can we expect with the coming squares from Saturn and Uranus to this Divine Purifier?

As I explained yesterday, the struggle symbolized by the opposition of Saturn to Uranus will bring forth challenges to our existing systems from the on-going revolutionary impulse of evolution itself, just as mass deceptions will be busted by practical necessities and failures of the systems to adjust adequately to the needs of our world and its peoples. When an opposition is squared by another planet, it puts the brakes on some things, releasing other things, and integrates the opposing tendencies through forcing the polarized forces to deal with another energy outside its oppositional paradigm.

Since it's Pluto doing the squaring, you can bet that something's going to give, since Pluto's relentless Shivaic power is an Eternal Infinite Tower of impenetrable Fire. As I wrote in Part 1,

We're at the end of a long era (Uranus in Pisces) but the system, Saturn, is focused on rearranging the deck chairs even though the old "ship of forms" is sinking. The systems need to self-correct, but usually are trapped in their own inertias until challenged by something outside of it forcing change. That's what happens when Saturn confronts Uranus.

An opposition brings things to surface, and if polarization is needed or active, shows as that. It definitely brings realizations and a distinct sense of what opposes what. Dr. Jones has written that these planets in affliction show a need to find tasks that can bring forth genius or new and unusual potentials without dissipating energies in useless displays. The strength of these two planets in a dynamic aspect is the ability to ignore older or lesser distractions through knowing what is really relevant in any circumstance. This can show as firmness or ruthlessness, depending.

So we'll be experiencing Saturn opposition Uranus through October 2009, when Saturn moves into Libra and squares Pluto in Capricorn. We are told when these two planets are in affliction we must find a correct discrimination, not lose focus or direction, and find creative ways to make an asset of our sensitivity. As it's the upper (waning) square it shows the culmination of the cycle that began when Saturn conjuncted Pluto in late Libra 11/81 through 11/82, staying conjunct as they both danced back and forth into early Scorpio through late 1983.

So this fulfills whatever started in 1981-1983, in our charts as well as in other larger worldly ways. The coming square begins October 2009 and is very close in early Cardinal signs through April 2010 when Saturn retrogrades back into Virgo, again activating the opposition with Uranus while staying within orb of a square to Pluto the entire time. Saturn reenters Libra July 2010 and squares Pluto exactly August 2010 boosted by the opposition to Jupiter conjunct Uranus in early Aries also square Pluto in Capricorn. The final Saturn square Pluto begins April 2011 and lasts through August 2011.

Prior Saturn-Pluto cycles began with Saturn conjunct Pluto in Cancer from 1914-1916, lower square from Libra late 1921-late 1922 and Apr-Sept 1923, opposition from Capricorn from early 1930-early 1932 and August 1932-Nov 1932 except briefly when out of orb, and upper square from late Aries to late Cancer April through June 1939 and from Saturn in Taurus to Pluto in Leo July-Sept 1939, March-May 1940, and October 1940-Feb 1941.

The next Saturn-Pluto conjunction happened in Leo between August 1946 and July 1948, with the lower square from Scorpio between Nov 1955-Jan 1956 and May 1956-Oct 1956 continuing from early Sag to Virgo through the end of 1956. Saturn opposed Pluto from Pisces to Virgo from Jan 1965-May 1966 and Sept 1966-Feb 1967. The upper square from Saturn in Cancer to Pluto in Libra occurred from Aug 1973-Jan 1974, though Saturn in late Gemini was within orb as early as June 1973 and returned to an out of sign square Jan-Apr 1974. It finished the Cancer square Apr-Jul 1974 and Dec 1974-May 1975.

As noted, the Saturn-Pluto cycle we're culminating these next few years began 1981-83, and saw its first square from Saturn in Aquarius to Pluto in Scorpio March 1992, lasting until May 1993 except for a brief time out of orb. It squared again July 1993 through Jan 1994. The last opposition was the recent Saturn in Gemini opposed Pluto in Sag from May 2001-July 2002 and Nov 2002-May 2003. What's coming is the next major turning point in that cycle.

If we have planets or sensitive points anywhere in early Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn, we will be directly affected by the opposition and squares, and may be able to find ways and means to use those planetary skills to embody "the corrective force of Nature Herself" to bring resolution and/or breakthrough in situations represented by the opposition. If this applies to you, prepare to be trained in how to be the highest manifestation of whatever planet in your chart is affected. If you're wondering how this could manifest, please refer to Duality: Good and Bad, Dysfunction and Perfection where I offer you how to transmute a planetary dysfunction into its strength.

If Saturn is in Libra square Pluto in Capricorn, the voids are thrown into Aries and Cancer, showing both the problems and the solutions. When Uranus enters Aries, it will introduce Aries elements into the volatile mix, which will be expanded by Jupiter entering Aries, conjuncting Uranus and opposing Saturn while squaring Pluto. Sounds like we're all about to get back to basics and find out what we really care about and what truly nurtures us.

In part 3 we'll examine the Uranus square Pluto, which promises major transformations beyond anyone's control or imagination. These two represent an unstoppable revolution involving breakdown, breakthrough, and rebuilding on the ashes of the old through unusual and/or unexpected radical developments, so get ready!

As noted in Part 1, if you want to know more about the coming configurations, please re-visit The Coming Cardinal Squares and Crosses of Saturn in Libra, Pluto in Capricorn and Uranus in Aries 2009-2010-2011-2012-2013

© Copyright 2007 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Lori]

Hi Robert,

Thanks for being there!! : )

I am wondering, amateur that I am ... in my chart everything is compacted up in the upper left part of the chart, rather than being spread out over the chart as some are. I'm learning. What does this usually indicate in the way of lessons?

Ever learning!!

Thanks : )
Lori

[Popplagid]

It will be awesome. In 2009-2012 Uranus-Jupiter in Aries squaring Pluto in Capricorn which will be squared also by Saturn in Libra!
Sounds a big transformation is coming.
Society (capricorn), relationships (libra) and wars/beginnings maybe (aries)?

[Henry]

I was glad Uranus will enter my 5th house and from final degrees of Pisces and first degrees of Aries will trine my late Cancer/early Leo stellium (Sun, Saturn, Mercury, Venus) in 9th. Plus Jupiter landing.

But I didn't take account of this Saturn 11th-Pluto 2nd resistances, althought Saturn will be sextile to these planets. It's like fresh aire will arrive at a higher cost?. Or does it imply a much more dinamic process?. It won't be "clean" Uranian trines to personal planets, anyway.

Any insight is welcome, only if you consider this is relevant information to comment on.

Thanks teacher.

[Robert]

Hi Lori - Too much to go into here. The art and science of astrology is about synthesis. Studying the Jones Patterns can be of help.

Hi Popplagid - I have no doubt that war will be with us until enough say "enough" and are willing to live in ways that demonstrate that "war is over if we want it."

Hi Henry - Saturn sextiles show productivity over time, building the stellium's ability to know truth from irrelevance. Both Saturn and Uranus will build your Cancer/Leo throwing energies into late Cap and Aquarius, despite the generic chaos indicated by the squares and oppositions. The trines are "clean," though the circumstances are dynamic.

[dcu]

Hi Robert. We just had an awesome full moon group here. The moon was huge and strikingly beautiful. Not a cloud in the sky. We decided to take a break from being so serious and instead had a pumpkin carving party. It was a lot of fun. One of our families have their spouse/parent returning safely from Iraq tomorrow, so it was a time of joy and celebration. The two young boys had so much fun carving pumpkins. It was very emotional when someone asked the 11 year old how he felt about his dad coming home. He said "too happy to even describe it." So war is now over because we really do want it to be. We want every parent to come home to their children now. We also want all the children in Iraq to feel safe and be able to sleep at night. No more bombs falling from the sky. Instead we will use that money to pay for medical care for poor children here at home. Now that is real family values!

I noticed "As noted, the Saturn-Pluto cycle we're culminating these next few years began 1981-83"......
It occured to me that this is when the Young Turks in Austin went to seed. I remember that you said then that the first group was regional with national implications, and the next group would be national with international implications. And so here we are. Congrats on establishing this platform as the basis for this particular new group of world servers. This cantina serves the best astrological nachos around. Not too spicy, just a little challenging, and what an incredible price. In closing, I bet you might refer to "Occult Preparations for a New Age" in part three. Thanks again for all you do for so many.
Tat Tvam Asi
dcu

[Cindy Wineburgh]

Thanks, Robert, for your esoteric astrology work! It is always consoling for me through the vicissitudes of my particular life. I've gone through 12 years of Pluto transiting my first house - lots of changes, some painful, some wonderful (the foreign travel I'd waited a lifetime for). Now Pluto enters my second house and over my Moon, Mercury, and Sun. traditionally this is explained as I will lose everything I know and hardly recognize myself at the end. However, how can I lose what I already don't have (so much already taken)? Your columns offer hope that there will be something besides my own personal loss, failure, and fear to live through. I am rereading the Magic of Space materials and remembering the part of my life doing spiritual practice in LA years ago ... thanks again! (we finally lost the home we were being asked to leave a year ago, without any public fuss with the hostile new attorney/neighbor next door - I still wonder how long we will be in new place esp with Pluto transiting both our Suns)

[Robert]

Hi dcu - Definitely war no more! And definitely good not to get too serious, lest we forget this place is supposed to be about love and play. Thanks for reminding me of things I forgot I said, since it seems to be happening faster these days than I could have anticipated. "Goin' mobile" as the Who once sang. Love the people who visit this cantina. Glad I don't have to be a bouncer too often! "Aum Tat Sat - Sure Why Not?" - Zap/Bob Crumb

Hi Cindy - Pluto doesn't necessarily take everything away, just that which is obsolete or corrosive to your higher purpose. Definitely will deepen your values, making them even more timeless than they were before. And yes, there ARE greater things that can result from tragedy and personal loss, if we are determined to be our Higher Self regardless of outer conditions. Pluto on the Sun strips your Light of all lesser conditions, and represents the laser focus of your Eternal Light, Love and Truth. Live with the pressure, surrender all to Divine Mother, renounce all fear and lesser methods and thoughts, and stand purified of anything that can seduce you into being less than you forever ARE.

[mary ellen]

Hi,
I just finished reading this awesome article and feel a very deep Truth ringing throughout that tells me ....... Oh boy ... get ready.... transformation here we come!!! I'm already undergoing a strong transformation but feel like.."I haven't seen anything yet!"
I have studied astrology for years but not in depth... enough to get an idea of what this is saying. I am a teacher and student of A Course in Miracles and know there is a speed up occurring and that old ideas are radically changing and a New way to See is emerging. I have a lot of Capricorn (SUN), Libra (rising) and Aries (moon) in my chart and I am way interested in a more in depth reading.
Do you do readings for people. If you do where can I find more info on this??
Thank you,

Mary ELlen

[leslie p.]

hi robert,

i have just begun to study this saturn/pluto square, as i noticed it is happening next year just as saturn is conjuncting my ascendent (libra). seems like it will be intense! any additional insight on the impact, considering the conjunction to my ascendent?

thanks!

[Robert]

Hi Mary Ellen - Sorry for the delay, but your comment dropped off the sidebar before I could notice it back in June. You can find more about my personal sessions by going to the left hand link on the sidebar of this site.

Hi Leslie - I've had Saturn in my first house from 2005-2008, and it's definitely put me through a rigor of training for where I'm at right now. It will end an old self image and over time help you to claim your experience in ways that give your personality gravitas. For starters, you may want to go to Saturn Transits Pt. 1 - What Happens when it Conjuncts the Ascendant or a Planet? and read all three parts of that series. There are other articles in the archives as well, so enjoy exploring!

[Alison]

Hi Robert,
Uranus is currently retrograding over my Sun at 18' Pisces in the 2nd and so the Uranus-Saturn opposition will hit that exactly in November. I am at college and have alot of debt linked to property, loans and credit cards and also to my Dad and to my ex, which I cant pay back. Pluto has been transiting my Mars at 28'40'' of Sagittarius. I have been feeling really bad all year, on a real rollercoaster. I am feeling very stuck and kind of in pain, emotionally. There seems to be no end to it. My Leo partner left me last November and started dating a girl end August, after the eclipses (you predicted our dance would change!) someone he had met May/June 2007. Pluto is just under 4' now from squaring his Pluto-Venus conjunction in Libra. We are still in touch and due to speak to one another.

Now Pluto is in the mix with Saturn in Virgo opposite Uranus, its hard to make sense of whats in front of me and I'm finding it hard to let go of my old life, eventhough it appears to already have gone. It all feels like things will get shakier in 2009 !?

[Robert]

Hi Alison - Well, your life is certainly in revolution mode, and you're learning a lot about how to be an equal in relationships! Sorry you're in so much debt - that's the way most people stay enslaved throughout their lives. I would think that Jupiter in Capricorn could help you organize things for the long haul. Get clear about wants vs needs, stop fretting over people already gone, and be willing to rise to your individual uniqueness. In fact, right now with Mars in Scorpio, you should be able to break through productively in many areas. As a great one once said, "Action speaks louder than suffering!" Open to your blessing and protection, stop worrying and being held back by ghosts and echoes of memories of perceptions, and begin to affirm your willingness to move on into newer, better circumstances. You could probably use to read "The Wisdom of Florence Scovel Shinn" (by Ms. Shinn) or "You Can Heal Your Life" by Louise Hay. Flo was the grandmother of affirmations, and is still the gold standard. If you have problems with religious terminology, then just get the core principles regardless. Your life can turn around within a week or less, and it's all in your own hands!

[Suryamukhi]

Hi Robert, this entering of Saturn in virgo, with Pluto in capricorn makes me wander what would happen as i have sun, moon, rising sign all in cardinal signs...it seems many struggles are on the way. I hope other aspects will be helpful to release all those tensional aspects.
Thank you very much for your teachings.

Suryamukhi

[Robert]

Hi Suryamukhi - Of course there are always other influences that help us build productively even as we release energies or change direction at the squares. You're welcome.

[Suryamukhi]

Hi Robert,

Thanks for reply, but what do you man by "change direction at the squares?"

[Robert]

Hi Suryamukhi - The squares move us to confront something from new quadrants of activity. We are forced at a square to release or demonstrate something, or turn the energies of what is squared to a different direction. To make a correct corner of a building may require hammering to assure a perfect 90 degree angle, but on that corner we can build a skyscraper. Building a life often requires that we "square" ourselves with reality.

[Suryamukhi]

Hi Robert,

Thank you, nicely said, i understand the point now. You are using the right words and examples to enlighten us.

[pat nield]

Hi Robert, This is going to be interesting for my chart next year. I have 29degrees of Pisces,Gemini, Virgo and Sag on my 1st,4th,7th and 10th houses respectively.
I've always been an advocate for being self sufficient rather than be at the mercy of overly priced goods and services. Maybe I hope, I wil finally get the independance of fending for myself inmost part. I just hope I'mt not too old to do it. I was born in 1946 with Pisces sun, venus, ascendant and moon mars, sat in cancer jupiter in libra, south node in 9th. Interesting days ahead.

[Robert]

Hi Pat - I suspect the recent Venus conjunct Mars on your Ascendant has already jumpstarted your life in some interesting directions. Regard this as a preparation for the major adventures coming your way in 2010. Whatever offers itself, go for it!

[libran]

Hi Robert - this current saturn pluto square bought me to this page.

I have venus at 1 degrees libra and pluto/sun/mars + uranus all in libra stellium in 5th/6th - I know pluto is squaring that pt at the moment and I have had significant events happen since Feb 08 on the exact degree/minute of my venus when pluto moved forwards and backwards squaring it activating it to the minute - but the last one has really surprised me - I had no idea, did not expect it and don't know what will happen now. I knew something was going to happen last weekend when pluto hit that same point again but could never have guessed or wanted it. And it is not involving me really but is.

what does that final movement forward of pluto indicate? do you ever do online private consultations?

[Robert]

Hi libran - Pluto waxing square shows emergent radical purifications in the planets it squares. This influence happens for a long time regardless of when it's exact. This is the emergence of a long term era in a larger life cycle. The exact point is like being in eye of a hurricane. The hurricane is there for a while before, and a while after, so take a larger view of how your Venus is getting cleaned out in major ways. Of more importance is how you will respond to Saturn as it crosses all zones in Libra.

I do private sessions, but not online. We set it up via email whether you want to be on the phone or not, and I record tracks that I email to you. You can find more by going to the left sidebar to the link "for personal appointments."