Astrology Class – Outer Planet Cycles, Linking Past and Future Pt. 1

by Robert Wilkinson

Mostly we are taught to look at transits as markers of things happening right now. While they do show us the ever-changing patterns as they move through our ever-flowing River of Time, by looking at the past we can occasionally catch glimpses of the “pre-formed present,” as well as “the future in the making.”

In this series, we’ll take a look at the past to understand the present and future. As time moves on, the planets make various conjunctions with each other, setting long wave cycles into motion.

The outermost planets represent various “root tones” in the symphony of planetary motion. Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and TransPluto take many years to make a complete circuit of the zodiac, and have their own interrelated themes. Uranus awakens, Neptune unifies, Pluto purifies, and TransPluto redeems.

For example, we’re still playing out the themes of the last Neptune conjunct Pluto which took place between 1888-1896, initiating a 500 year cycle. It was exact between 1890-1893, occurring several times at 7, 8, and 9 Gemini. We’re also still seeing manifestations of the last Uranus conjunct Neptune (1991-95), exact in 1992-93 at 19 and 20 Capricorn, and Uranus conjunct Pluto (1963-68), exact in 1965-66 at 17 and 18 Virgo. Each of these were the last time these conjunctions were made.

And though the effects may be subtle and extraordinarily long wave, we are still within the umbra of Uranus conjunct TransPluto (1956-59), exact in 1957-58 at 9 and 10 Leo, as well as Neptune conjunct TransPluto (1904-1911), exact in 1908-09 at 17 Cancer, and Pluto conjunct TransPluto (1932-1946), exact in 1938-39 at 1 and 2 Leo.

As you can see, there are global events occurring directly related to the progress of these cycles as the respective planets hit their waxing squares, oppositions, and waning squares to these conjunction points, as well as to each other in “real time.” Of course, besides these outermost long wave cycles, we have a host of shorter cycles set into motion by Jupiter and Saturn each time these conjunct one of the outermost Transpersonal planets.

So for those who are interested in the subject of the larger cycles of modern history, take a new look at where some of these conjunctions fall in your birth chart, and know there are “Soul cycles” set into motion in those areas of your life. Some of the longer cycles haven’t even hit their waxing square or opposition, and those which have (Neptune to TransPluto, Uranus to Neptune, Pluto, and TransPluto), each time it indicated a major shift in the collective field we all live in.

There are 2 ways to measure the evolution of these long cycles. The first is when each of the planets hits the square to the conjunction, and the second is when they make their square in “real time.”

An example of the first is Neptune made its waxing square to its conjunction point with TransPluto when Neptune was at 17 Libra (Nov 1949-Jul 1951), but the second didn’t occur until 1960-62 when Neptune at 10-12 Scorpio squared TransPluto at 10-12 Leo. Uranus squared its conjunction point with TransPluto in 1976-77 at 9-10 Scorpio, but didn’t actually square transiting TransPluto until 1978-79 at 18-19 Scorpio to 18-19 Leo.

That cycle saw an opposition from Uranus to the conjunction point in 1997-98 when Uranus was at 9-10 Aquarius, though Uranus didn’t oppose transiting TransPluto until 2003-04 from 26-27 Aquarius to 26-27 Leo. Of course, TransPluto has not made a square to any of its conjunction points (though it will square the Neptune-Pluto conjunction point over the next decade).

Uranus made its square to the conjunction point with Neptune at 19-20 Aries in 2015-2016, but won’t make a transit to transit square until late 2038-41. Uranus squared its conjunction point with Pluto at 17-18 Sagittarius in 1985, while transiting Uranus didn’t square transiting Pluto until 2012-15 at 7, 9, 10, 12, and 14 Aries to Capricorn. (Pluto squared its conjunction point with Uranus in 2002-03). Uranus opposed its conjunction point with Pluto at 17-18 Pisces in 2007-08, but the transit to transit opposition won’t happen until 2045-48, when Uranus in Pisces opposes Pluto in Virgo.

While this may seem to be a complex breakdown of larger cycles, by seeing the timing of outer planet contacts and important phase shifts in their relationship to each other, we can understand the larger sweep of evolution beyond just the obvious aspects going on. In future parts in this series, we’ll take a closer look at key trigger points in the recent past and present to find clues to expectable shifts coming down the road.

Copyright © 2017 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Elisa]

Love this!

[Jo Garceau]

Looking forward to your next posts in this series!