Last week’s planetary shifting left many of us feeling “off-kilter,” as one friend put it. I’d like to say that we’ll get back “on-kilter” this week, but despite some favorable astrological events on the way, we’re in limbo for a bit longer.

In the tradition of delivering the bad news first, the station of Saturn and Uranus, and at a difficult angle with one another, continues to be a major influence for a few more weeks. Saturn returns direct today (Sunday, July 20), and Uranus turns retrograde on Monday.

If you’ve been following this blog, you know that Uranus has been in an epic square with Pluto that began building in 2010 and will continue through next year, with ripples for several more years after that. Uranus blasts apart, and Pluto breaks down what is no longer useful. Last summer, Jupiter added his weight, and several other planets have been at harsh angles to Uranus and Pluto, building to the grand cross formation in April. We’ve seen major world events that are entirely consistent with this planetary configuration – events that likely will change geopolitical boundaries and the balance of world power.

The grand cross has waned, and the T-square is mostly over, although it is revisited from time to time – as it will be this week. However, we still have two more exact squares of Uranus and Pluto, one in December and another next March. When Uranus stations on Monday, he begins to move toward the next square with Pluto, on December 15. Uranus rules revolutions and rebellions. Astrologers also associate him with air and space travel. When Malaysia Flight 370 disappeared in March, Jupiter, Uranus, and Pluto were in a tight square. Jupiter had just turned direct, and Mars and Saturn turned retrograde a week earlier.

Now, with Uranus and Saturn shifting together, another Malaysia Airlines flight has gone down, this time in Ukraine. The role of Uranus is apparent, but Saturn is no less significant. In the chart for the time the plane was reported to have lost contact with air traffic control, Saturn was on the Ascendant, stopped at the exact degree it was last November, when protests began in Kiev. A high-level official at the U.S. State Department was filmed handing out cookies to protestors, fueling suspicions that the United States either provoked the protests or at least was taking advantage of the unrest to replace Ukraine President Yanukovich with a president more friendly to U.S. business interests, notably Chevron and ExxonMobil.

As I wrote in last week’s forecast, Saturn and Uranus are inconjunct by exact degree, indicating an inability to find the common ground necessary to resolve conflict. The same signature is behind the recent increase in Israel’s crackdown on the Palestinians. It’s interesting to note that the one thing linking Saturn and Uranus is Pluto – Uranus by square, and Saturn by mutual reception. In mundane astrology – the astrology of world events – Pluto represents great wealth and power, shadow governments, and espionage. I just read a compelling article on CounterPunch, “Planned Chaos in the Middle East – and Beyond: An Unholy Alliance Between the Military-Security-Industrial Complex and the Israel Lobby.” The title alone perfectly describes how this rare astrological configuration is manifesting globally. However, the entire piece is worth reading to the end.

As I wrote above, Pluto destroys what no longer serves us. He does so in order to regenerate. As, I see it, that’s the point of this complex and convoluted planetary alignment. Wealth and power may be working to destabilize whole countries for their own benefit, but this isn’t a sustainable model in the long run, and they can be stopped. People are wising up. Although propaganda is still effective, many no longer trust the government spin or the media that parrot it. We saw that last year with the demonization of Assad in Syria. The majority didn’t buy it. Attempts to create an even bigger devil in Putin don’t seem to be going over very well, either. It took long enough, but people finally are starting to realize that they’re being played. I’m not sure how long it will take to get to critical mass, but the Uranus-Pluto square is adding yeast to the brew.

So that’s the big picture this week, the backdrop against which all other aspects play out. And there are plenty. Rather than listing them all individually, I’ll go straight to the New Moon chart, since most of them are seen there.

The Sun enters Leo on Tuesday, with the New Moon just shy of 4 degrees Leo on Friday. Leo is the Sun’s home sign, so he shines brightly here. For the next month or so, we can feel more optimistic and focus a bit more on the parts of our lives that are working, rather than all that’s broken and irreparable. Indeed, “irreparable” might be a good thing, however painful, in that it forces us to find something new, different, and hopefully more sustainable. I keep using that word, but it is important. If we’ve learned anything over the past decade, it’s that “change” can be more of the same, just with different players – or, perhaps more accurately, the same players in different disguises.

The reason so many of us are stumbling and falling as we try to move forward is that we’re responding in old ways to new and unfamiliar situations. To change our world, we need to change our minds. Humans are hard-wired to expect things to happen as they have in the past, like the generals who are always fighting the previous war. Once we experience catastrophe or trauma, our minds stay in a constant state of fear that it will happen again. This can manifest as low-level, subconscious angst or as full-blown anxiety. Either way, it’s hard to overcome. The first step is awareness, which can be a challenge in itself. The New Moon in Leo squares Mars in Scorpio, suggesting that transformation is possible. Like surgery, it can be painful until you heal, but once you get over that hump, you feel renewed.

Speaking of Mars in Scorpio, this is another big shift. Mars enters Scorpio on Friday after an extended stay in Libra. Normally he spends about six weeks in a sign, but due to his retrograde cycle, he was in Libra for eight months. Of all the signs to be stuck in, Libra was tough for Mars. Imagine the frustration of a champion athlete stuck in a cubicle in HR, and you’ve got the idea. Before Pluto was discovered, astrologers considered Mars as the ruler of Scorpio, and modern astrologers give him co-rulership.

The danger I see is that Mars is going to come out swinging, as it were, and it may be to finish up business that was started when he squared Jupiter in January and again at the height of the grand cross in April. That was a critical period in Ukraine, during which Yanukovych was forced out of office and Russia annexed Crimea. Mars represents war and aggression, and he’s on the Midheaven by exact degree in the New Moon chart for Washington, D.C. It’s clear that the United States and its allies are creating a pretext for war. Whether the public allows it remains to be seen. The obvious scenario is that there will be “proof,” whether real or fabricated, that MH 17 was shot down by pro-Russian separatists, Russian agents, or Russian somebody-or-other, and that Western governments will use it to whip up powerful Mars-in-Scorpio outrage.

This scenario is all the more likely given that we have a short cardinal T-square this week and next. As I mentioned above, the cardinal T-square is revisited this week, with Mercury in Cancer opposing Pluto on Monday and squaring Uranus on Thursday. Venus repeats the pattern next Monday (July 28) and Friday. This is roughly the position occupied by Jupiter during the grand cross in April. What Western governments couldn’t achieve then, they’ll attempt again. Still, there is some reason to hope for a better outcome this time, with Mercury and Venus in a trine to Saturn within hours of squaring Uranus. Maybe voters really will come through, or perhaps behind-the-scenes negotiations will be successful. Let’s hold that thought.

Although Venus is entangled in the conflict next week, this week she makes a lovely peaceful trine to Neptune in Pisces. The aspect is exact on Thursday at 7:09 a.m. EDT. If you’re awake, engage in a meditation, even if it’s just for five minutes. Visualize compassion and loving kindness for the planet and all beings who depend on her. Visualize it for yourself, for those you love, and for those you believe deserve to burn in hell forever.

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Pat

© Pat Paquette, RealAstrologers.com, 2014.