This week we get a bit of a breather, and the inertia of the Saturn-Uranus conjunction has lifted.

Both Saturn and Uranus are in signs ruled by Mars. With the planet of action in fire sign Sagittarius as of Saturday, the pace has picked up noticeably. Meanwhile, Saturn is gaining speed, and he’s moving out of range of the jarring inconjunct with Uranus, which was exact by degree for six weeks. Many of us felt an unbearable pressure during that period, and trying to get anything accomplished was excruciating.

The going is still a bit slow, but at least it’s going. Better still, this is a pretty mellow week astrologically. On Wednesday, Venus opposes Chiron and forms an inconjunct with Uranus. However, I don’t see these normally troublesome aspects as anything but minor irritations. If by chance it’s more than that, issues can addressed satisfactorily within a few days, as Venus approaches a supportive sextile with Saturn on Sunday (Sept. 21).

One of the complicating factors that have made it so hard to sustain new endeavors is Saturn’s difficult placement in Scorpio, reinforced by Pluto in Capricorn. One builds, while the other destroys, breaks down, and recycles. A breakdown phase before rebuilding can be quite useful in that you can make a clean start. But when the breakdown keeps occurring every time you’ve barely got a foundation laid, it’s frustrating and discouraging. This has been happening for people in terms of career, money, relationships, personal development, and other areas of life.

Saturn leaves Scorpio on December 23. He’ll be back for three months next year, but we should see some major advances in the first half of 2015 – not that far away (shocking how fast 2014 has flown by). I’d say that we could make up for lost time, but this period has not been a loss. Trial and error is necessary. In the 1990s, I heard a speech by a top-level Silicon Valley executive who said that the reason the industry was stagnating was that no one wanted to make mistakes.

Although we have another few months to go, this week’s supportive sextile from Venus to Saturn might help, however temporarily. Sometimes just knowing that helpful changes are on the way can be reassuring, especially if you’ve been dealing with a particular challenge for a year or more.

Later on Sunday (Monday in the Eastern Hemisphere), Mars in Sagittarius squares Neptune in Pisces, with the Moon in Virgo forming a brief mutable T-square. Slowing down to consider details can help resolve differences, especially when we maintain our awareness that we are all connected. To work for the common good, we need to check our egos at the door – if for nothing else, to decide what constitutes the “common good.”

The other two things worth mentioning this week are that Pluto is stationing to return direct on September 22, and Jupiter is effectively in a trine with Uranus, even though the aspect isn’t exact until the 25th. Pluto’s station has more to do with world events than individual circumstances, unless Pluto is in close contact with a personal planet in your chart. For example, someone with Moon between 8 and 14 degrees Capricorn probably is having some serious personal angst right now. However, nothing is likely to change this week or next. Pluto has been sitting at the same degree since late July, so you already know what your key issues are.

The Jupiter-Uranus trine is generally positive and supports the discovery of a purpose behind all this breaking down. We often think we know where we’re headed or at least where we want to go, only to find out that the universe has other plans for us.

In world events, there’s a lull for the time being, notwithstanding President Obama’s speech on Wednesday essentially saying that the United States will bomb Islamic State targets in Syria without the approval of the Syrian government. This isn’t anything new, really. Under the Uranus-Pluto square of 2012-2015, a realignment in world power is taking place. The United States does seem hell-bent on provoking Russia, at least publicly. However, the Libra ingress charts for the United States and Russia suggest a de-escalation in the rhetoric – the people in both countries want peace – while corporate and financial interests continue to call the shots behind the scenes. I’ll have more on that next week, along with an analysis of the powerful cardinal-point New Moon (harking back to events during the summer of 2010).

Also next week, I’ll have an update on the new home of RealAstrologers. Rather than wasting energy on a useless exchange with InMotion Hosting’s customer service, I researched my options. I spent the better part of this week playing with themes and importing content to see how much reformatting I’m going to have to do. It’s not unlike moving to a new apartment. You have to get familiar with the new space, figure out what’s going to go where, paint, install new carpet, and take some stuff to Goodwill. Because of the imminent move, I’m also holding off on updating information about my reports and forecasts.

Speaking for myself, the inertia served some purpose in that it was better to stay in one place rather than moving too quickly in a wrong direction.

Much love and courage to all, Pat

© Pat Paquette, RealAstrologers.com, 2014.