Taking Care of
Business
2020 is a year of
beginnings and endings -a year to process the end of the first 20-year period
of the new millennium; also a year to plan and prepare the hopeful new decade as well as
the next 20-year Jupiter-Saturn
cycle. This pivotal year is marked by strong quarterly punctuations, with
conjunctions and eclipses occurring close to the solstice periods.
The year kicked off
with a bang, inaugurating a new 35-year Saturn-Pluto cycle with an eclipse on
January 10 and a Saturn-Pluto
conjunction on the 12th. According to Maurice Fernandez:
Power
and resources can be material but can take the form of knowledge, or spiritual
potency, as well. Saturn–Pluto reflects a lesson about the right use of power,
so this cycle is also associated with corruption and abuse. Since it holds the
key to the “bank coffers,” it also describes the temptation to disregard moral
standards and use global resources to satisfy one’s greed. Sooner or later,
corruption is exposed, for Saturn represents the karmic consequences of
misaligned actions; however, “later” is more often the case, because exposing
corruption can take time.
In the week
preceding this, there was the tumultuous events of a US-directed assassination
of a top Iranian army general closely followed by the downing a Ukrainian
commercial airplane by the Iranian army. It was on the day of the conjunction
that Iran
declared responsibility for the downing, stating that it was accidental, after
having denied involvement previously. There was a massive winter storm in the US that stretched from Texas
to Michigan.
North Korean diplomats announced a desire to back away from nuclear
armament discussions and the impeachment process for president Trump was
officialized on January 15th, with an acquittal decision on February
5th.
The week of the conjunction and eclipse was also marked
by major earthquakes in Puerto Rico and a volcanic eruption in the Philippines (Fernandez
notes:‘’Angular aspects
between Saturn and Pluto are also known to reflect pandemics and natural
disasters, particularly seismic and volcanic activity’’.) In Great Britain,
the formal Brexit process was made official. Taiwan
elected a strongly anti-Chinese president while China announced a draconian ban on
foreign teaching materials. In Australia,
climate protests sparked by the massive forest fires reached a peak. It was at
this time also that a worldwide coronavirus pandemic began to manifest itself,
escalating over the next couple of months. Interestingly, Robert Hand writes of
the Saturn-Pluto conjunction: ‘’Sometimes government or other officials will
impose heavy burdens that greatly restrict your freedom of movement. It is also
possible that some incident or accident may affect your health and thereby
restrict your freedom of movement.’’ (p. 359).
At the Spring equinox, on March 20th,
we are fast approaching an exact Jupiter-Pluto
conjunction, on April 14th, which will occur three times this
year, again on June 30 and November 2, starting a new 13-year cycle. According to Gray Crawford:
Since Jupiter and Pluto are uniting in Capricorn,
they will be under rulership of the slow and steady Saturn, bringing tests that temper the potential excess and
inflation of Jupiter. Jupiter, Pluto, and Saturn transiting
through Capricorn will bring lessons
of maturity and responsibility cultivated through acceptance of natural cycles
of change. The combination of Jupiter and
Pluto can incite extreme ambition
for personal power, yet their transit through Capricorn along with Saturn
means that we will need to adjust aspirations to contend with the limitations
we face in regard to material resources and available time and space. The
difficulties or crises we endure will bring revisioning of what needs to be
nurtured and developed—and what needs to be shed and let go.
Practical Idealistic Cooperation
(Mars/Jupiter/Pluto/Saturn stellium in a minor grand trine with Venus and
Neptune)
This is a very
earthy chart, with six planets in practical earth signs (four in Capricorn, two in Taurus). The remaining three planets are in emotional water sign Pisces. The Moon is in the social air-sign
of Aquarius.
Capricorn is all about social values, maintaining the
social order, valuing roles in society. With Saturn in Capricorn,
ruler of this sign, these concerns are reinforced, and can bring restrictions
to enforce the rules that maintain social order. The keynote for this sign is conformity,
following the rules by the book, complying with regulations by the letter, otherwise
things will not proceed. Mars, Jupiter,
Pluto and Saturn are all in conjunction, thus forming a stellium, a
powerful configuration that gives a preponderant influence to the sign it is
in.
The Mars-Jupiter conjunction is the
tightest aspect of this chart. Mars in Capricorn
brings stability, reliability, discipline. The conjunction adds confidence,
enthusiasm, drive, determination, with a risk of overworking. Otherwise this
stellium emphasizes the practical consequences of getting rid of things that
are no longer working. The focus is on realism, concrete results, practical
goals, thereby cutting through mirages, delusions, false promises, posturing, and
seduction. Results come through hard work and effort, with no shortcuts. Accountability,
responsibility, attention to details, the fine print, and bureaucratic procedures
are key concerns.
Venus sextile Neptune brings artistic imagination,
strong compassion, spiritual feelings, sensitivity, tolerance and optimism.
Capricorn Stellium sextile Neptune adds empathy,
idealism, and imagination.
Neptune in Pisces (2011-2025), its ruling sign,
is at the apex of this minor grand trine,
its dreamy idealistic nature brings
strong spiritual and artistic inspiration, forming an interesting counterpoint
to practical, realistic Saturn in Capricorn. The previous Neptune in Pisces passage (1847-1861) was marked by the
spiritualism movement that prefigured Helena Blavatsky and the theosophical
movement, and in the arts, the Pre-Raphaelite movement and late Romanticism. This
period can bring confusion, addiction (the opioid crisis), escapism (video game
technology). It also governs medicine and health concerns.
Overall, this minor
grand trine tends to lighten the rather tense, stern, inquisitive,
power-focused restrictive materialism of the Capricorn stellium with Neptunian
idealism and Venusian empathy to encourage
the possibility of practical compassionate social cooperation.
Additional Aspects
The second tight
aspect is Sun sextile Saturn, which brings a sense of being grounded and
stable, slow, and steady productivity with focus, practicality and efficiency.
Further tight
aspects are Mercury (in Pisces) sextile
Uranus (in Taurus), which brings imagination and creative thinking,
especially with environmental and financial concerns.
Moon square Venus brings feelings of emotional
repression, fear of commitment and inappropriate attractions.
After a tumultuous Winter,
the Spring season should be the mildest season of the year, as the Summer
season is marked by three eclipses
around the Solstice point (June 5,
21, July 5) and Autumn by intense Mars squares with Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn
and two eclipses near the Winter solstice period (November 30,
December 14) and the Jupiter-Saturn
conjunction (December 21).
References
Gray Crawford 2020
Jupiter-Pluto Conjunction: Birthing Ambition and Compassion from the Core https://www.astrology.com/article/2020-jupiter-pluto-conjunction-meaning
Maurice Fernandez:The Saturn – Pluto Conjunction And the transits for the year 2020
https://www.mauricefernandez.com/the-saturn-pluto-conjunction-and-the-transits-for-the-year-2020/
Robert Hand, Planets in
Transit
https://www.skyscript.co.uk/moonaspects.html
Thanks to Ronnie Pontiac for the Robert Hand/Coronavirus reference.
Thanks to Ronnie Pontiac for the Robert Hand/Coronavirus reference.
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