Astrological Energies July 19 to 25, 2010

NorthPoint
Astrology Journal
Written by Pam Younghans

It is always helpful to keep our hearts open, but it is especially important that we find ways to do so throughout these next few weeks. Saturn re-enters Libra on Wednesday, setting up the dynamics of the Cardinal T-square between Saturn in Libra, Pluto in Capricorn, and Uranus/Jupiter in Aries. This configuration creates significant tension in many areas of life, and brings up issues that cannot be ignored or swept under the carpet.

One of the challenges of Saturn-in-Libra, and so an important part of this T-square, is to create cooperative relationships that also allow each person to have independence and personal sovereignty. If we go into any relationship with our hearts closed, the possibility of creating win-win situations is greatly inhibited. If we keep our hearts open, we may feel more vulnerable, but we also learn that there is strength in that vulnerability, since it is what allows us to stay connected to source energy and the solutions we seek.

Another shift that occurs this week is that retrograde Chiron backs out of Pisces and re-enters Aquarius on Tuesday.

It was on April 20 that Chiron, the Wounded Healer, first entered Pisces, the sign of the vast oceans. That was that very same day that the initial explosion occurred at the oil well in the Gulf of Mexico.

We rarely experience such immediate response to a planet's change of signs -- and yet, we are in amazing times, when manifestation can be much more immediate than in the past. And, since the oceans and the air are common to all inhabitants on the planet, this one incident, in one specific location, has had effects around the world.

Chiron's part in this event has been to expose -- and hopefully begin to heal -- existing wounds in our ability to trust in a larger Plan. It has been a struggle for all of us to maintain hope and an open heart in the midst of the fears and anger that have been raised through the environmental and economic challenges of this ongoing situation. It is not to say that some of these emotions cannot be used productively, because they can. It is often anger that provokes us, finally, to make important changes.

But anger without positive action, and without the ability to visualize and trust in positive outcomes, quickly can become hopelessness and depression. During these past three months, each of us has been challenged to both embrace the emotions that have been raised, and then to shift them into productive energy. For some, this process means taking concrete action, finding an outlet for the anger in physical activity.

For all of us, as we heal the wound of Chiron in Pisces, it also means shifting inwardly. This requires we move beyond both blame and apathy, and into the open-hearted, awakened space that allows for inspired solutions to be received.

With Chiron in Pisces, we are healing the apparent division that was created when we chose individual human identities -- that illusion of separation between souls, and between humanity and source. As astrologer Judy Hall has beautifully written, Chiron in Pisces provides the circumstances to help each of us "recognize the divinity within oneself and integrate this into everyday life."

This week, as Chiron leaves Pisces and re-enters Aquarius, we are seeing an apparent resolution of the immediate crisis in the Gulf. Chiron will be retrograde until November 5, and then will turn direct and finally re-enter Pisces on February 8, 2011.

It may be that it takes the next six months or so to gain more clarity on the situation in the Gulf -- and, that events in February and March 2011 will show how far we have come in our healing process. And, since Chiron will then be in Pisces until he enters Aries in 2018-2019, we will most likely see the ripple effect of this event for the next eight or nine years at least.

In the meantime, with Chiron back in Aquarius for the rest of this year, we'll be revisiting issues that we've been working with since early 2010. During this time, we'll have further opportunities to heal our wounds of alienation, that feeling of being separate from and misunderstood by our peers and society.

Jupiter also stations this week, coming to a standstill on Friday and beginning his own four-month retrograde period. Jupiter is very close to being exactly square (90 degrees away from) Pluto throughout the week, and he closes the deal on Saturday, when the aspect is exact.

This Jupiter-Pluto square is another piece of the T-square puzzle that is gradually coming together. With Jupiter in Aries, we are feeling especially willful now. We are resisting any efforts of the powers-that-be to control or manipulate us.

That resistance is also being expressed through internal power struggles, as we come face-to-face with the habits and emotional reactions that have been controlling us and keeping us from being our fully empowered selves.

The face-off between Jupiter and Pluto this week may bring some of those situations to a crisis point, as tempers and impatience -- both internallly and externally -- become harder to ignore.

Because of the odd tango being danced by Jupiter and Pluto, the second of three Jupiter-Pluto squares is just 10 days after the first, on August 3. That means that the confrontations that grow this week will take some work to resolve, and will be part of the fuel that keeps the T-square energies burning through the first half of August at least.

The Full Moon on Sunday (early Monday morning in some parts of the world) is in Aquarius, echoing the themes of rebellion and nonconformity. Even the Sabian symbols for the locations of both the Sun and the Moon emphasize these core issues:

For the Moon -- "A deserter from the Navy: The individual's self-realization through a crucial repudiation of a collective status which has become unbearable."

And for the Sun -- "A middle-aged women, her long hair flowing over her shoulders and in a braless, youthful garment: The will to meet the challenges of age in terms of our modern society's glorification of youth."

It makes sense that these symbols would be called forth now, as we are in the second phase of societal changes that began in the 1960s. It was then that Uranus and Pluto were aligned in Virgo, and Saturn opposed them from Pisces.

Now, Uranus and Pluto are in their first major confrontational aspect since that decade when so much change was initiated. And, Saturn is also in the mix again, making sure that any changes that occur have substance and don't just blow away in the wind.

Which, of course, brings a certain song to the mind of this particular 1950's child, who lived in the San Francisco Bay Area throughout that tumultuous decade of the '60s. These lyrics, as often as I've heard them, never fail to stir me:

How many roads must a man walk down,
before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove fly,
before she sleeps in the sand?
And how many times must a cannon ball fly,
before they're forever banned?

How many years can a mountain exist,
before it is washed to the sea?
How many years can some people exist,
before they're allowed to be free?
And how many times can a man turn his head,
and pretend that he just doesn't see?

How many times must a man look up,
before he sees the sky?
And how many ears must one man have,
before he can hear people cry?
And how many deaths will it take till we know,
that too many people have died?

The answer my friend is blowing in the wind,
the answer is blowing in the wind.*
Blessings,

Pam

* With thanks to Bob Dylan, and to Peter, Paul and Mary, whose voices carried these words directly into my heart.

NorthPoint Astrology Blog: I'll be posting additional perspectives during the coming week at http://northpointastrology.blogspot.com/ -- please visit and add your comments!
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