Leading up to the summer solstice, there was a lunar eclipse (May 26), a Mars-Pluto opposition (June 5), a solar eclipse (June 10), the 2nd exact Saturn-Uranus square (June 14). The solstice was a very intense one, with two powerful aspects, the challengeing Grand Cross and the beneficial Grand Trine, both involving the Moon, which can be quite powerful in a transit chart, even though it doesn’t last long. Some of the major news events from the Jun 9-15 period include:
More than 350,000 people in Ethiopia experiencing dire hunger, with millions more facing "high levels of acute food insecurity," Ethiopians head to the polls for the country's first multiparty election in 16 years. Anti-government protesters flooded the streets of Lebanese cities as the country's currency tanked, adding to a string of economic woes. Naftali Bennett was sworn in as Israel's new prime minister, ending former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 12 years in office.
Around the Summer Solstice, also in the United States, ten mass shootings happened across the nation leaving at least seven people dead and more than 40 injured. It was the latest in a streak of violent weekends in America. The weekend before this, there were also 10 mass shootings that left 12 people dead across seven states. On June 25 A Minnesota judge sentenced Derek Chauvin to 22 1/2 years in prison for the murder of George Floyd. The sentence "is one of the longest a former police officer has ever received for an unlawful use of deadly force," Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said, calling it a "moment of real accountability."
The Summer Solstice marked the beginning of a Mars/Saturn/Uranus T-Square, one of the most intense aspects of the year, which was at its most intense around July 4. Around this time, there occurred the assassination of the Haitian president, as well as a string of bad floods, forest fires, hurricanes, building collapses, vehicle accidents, and freak accidents.
This was all part of the longer-term aspect Saturn-Uranus square, where we have an unusual situation in which Saturn, the conservative planet, is in a progressive sign, Aquarius, while Uranus, the progressive planet, is in a conservative sign, Taurus. There can be tension experienced as our needs for freedom and spontaneity seem to clash with a need for structure and stability. At times, these energies can feel oppressive and we might feel that we’re often at cross-purposes, even when the end game is similar. Rules and limitations can feel more challenging to tolerate, but without some lines drawn, life feels too chaotic. Attempts to assert our individuality, freedom, and originality tend to undermine our feeling of groundedness and security. Yet, we are not satisfied when we conform. There may be sudden and unexpected twists that force us to do something different or free ourselves from old habits. Ideally, we can find creative ways to satisfy these diverging needs, perhaps by giving form to our ideals and quest for progress. Adjusting our plans may be in order, and striking a balance between convention and innovation is the challenge. Setbacks tend to be temporary and often lead to new, more creative paths or solutions. While this aspect is active, however, we can feel some real frustration (Café Astrology).
An example of these tensions can be seen with the Covid pandemic, (which seems to recede in concert with the Pluto and Saturn retrogrades; although this occurs as the weather gets warmer in many places, with less people indoors, so it is harder to track the correlation). The problem has been admirably addressed at a medical level, as great progress was made with the vaccine roll-out process, but it has proven unable to curb the fourth wave and delta variant due to failures at the political level. Despite sophisticated communication technology, governments are having difficulty educating the public of the need for safety measures. When restrictions are lifted, the case numbers tend to rise dramatically. Relatively small, but vocal groups are radically opposed to vaccinations, but end up getting the virus and overloading the medical services. This strong distrust in government is probably not helped by their seeming inability to prevent a majority of vaccines going to the rich, while the poor continue to suffer the worst, although there has been some concerted manifestation of generosity in vaccine distribution such as COVAX. Another related example was the need to apply widespread restrictions on social media platforms in order to curb Covid and vaccine misinformation, as well as conspiracy theories.
This chart (which can be considered as a kind of snapshot of the quarter to come), arriving just after the full moon, is rather complex and intense, with three T-Squares, centered around Jupiter, Saturn, & Pluto. There are also two triangles of potential, one of them attached to a T-Square. Although quite intense, not nearly as dramatic as the Summer Solstice chart; expect it to bring some weirdness, confusion, and disfunction, but one can do well if one stays focused and optimistic.
Moon, Mercury, Pluto T-Square
Moon opposition Mercury, Moon square Pluto, Mercury square Pluto
This aspect brings minor irritations like the car breaking down, missing the bus, lost emails, best to avoid scheduling negotiations, test-taking, or contract-signing now. Tendencies for futile obsessions, suspicions that can lead to personal emotional crisis.
Moon, Mercury, Jupiter Triangle of Potential
Moon sextile Jupiter, Mercury trine Jupiter,
Moon opposite Mercury
The Moon, Mercury, Pluto T-Square is balanced by emotionally upbeat, optimistic, sociable, open-minded, adventurous energies. Favorable influence for short trips, writing, teaching, studying, mailings, interviews, advertising and promotion. Good for career opportunities.
Venus, Saturn, Uranus T-Square (also a Venus, Jupiter, Uranus T-Square)
Venus opposite Uranus, Venus Square Saturn, Saturn square Uranus
This brings a tendency for a need to express one’s most unique individualism and an anti-social, rebellious attitude. Relationships may change or end.
Sun, Neptune, Pluto Triangle of Potential
Sun opposition Neptune, Sun trine Pluto, Neptune sextile Pluto
This tends to make one directionless, unfocused, dispersed and less able to face everyday realities. Willpower is low. This is a balanced by strong energies that help make us more decisive than usual, and our abilities to concentrate and focus help us achieve what we set out to do. Good endurance. Leadership skills are in focus and strong. a pioneering spirit, making you unafraid to challenge the accepted way of thinking and doing things.
There are also two positive aspects that can help cut through all the tense, challenging, complex energies.
Mars trine Saturn -determined effort and actions, a sense of responsibility and purposefulness good discipline and endurance.
Neptune trine Venus Compassion, harmony, kindness, and openness. Good artistic and creative inspiration.
The nature of these aspects can be seen to make for a year that will be a consolidation process of the year’s previous upheavals (actually part of deconstruction/revolution process over the last five years), a final year of checks and adjustments to prepare for the new twenty-year Jupiter-Saturn cycle. What needs to be let go, what needs to change, what new projects need to be undertaken, these are some of the key considerations at this time. We will see the third and final Jupiter-Uranus exact station just after the Winter Solstice on December 24th, 2021, a final hurdle to overcome.
This new Jupiter-Saturn cycle marks a definitive shift from earth signs to air signs, which will last until 2159. The previous Jupiter-Saturn cycles were in earth signs since 1802. Once can interpret this as the age of oil and carbon fuels, whereas the next cycle in air signs can mark a new era of alternate energies, along with satellite and computer technologies that have developed over the last 40 years. In the following years, four outer planets will be changing signs over a four-year period, 2023-2026, and so by 2026, we should be witnessing an interesting paradigm shift. There is still much uncertainty, but at the same time, one can see how effective modern medicine and modern information technology (Computers, Internet, Cell Phones) have been in dealing with the pandemic crisis.
References
https://cafeastrology.com/events/saturn-square-uranus/
