Here’s a moment that best sums up my experience of the Pluto/Saturn square: I was stuck in a car with an emergency break that wouldn’t release—as a speeding bus headed toward it. “It’s going to hit us,” my son yelled. In that slowed-down time of impending doom, I was oddly comforted by the realization that I had absolutely no control over what would happen next. I relaxed and the bus stopped within an inch of my rear fender. I’ve had other Pluto/Saturn challenges this month—as have many clients and friends, our country too. The world is heavy with these two planets, accelerating us towards impasse, sudden losses, or situations so out of control even strong wills can’t fix them. With Pluto and Saturn, what is broken must eventually shatter and be remade. But what do we do in the meantime? What is being asked of us?

I was trying to hurry out of town the night my emergency brake stuck. After I called AAA, hopelessness and self-pity readied their voices for a familiar dark song against my life—when I was touched by grace. I was moved to do and think nothing. I just sat. I watched my son texting to his friends. The cell phone I rarely use was in my hand. “Can you show me how to text?” Soon we were texting back and forth. Like a small gift sent by a secret admirer, it was an unexpected joy. I’ve faced bigger problems these past two weeks—my partner got laid off, my father is ill, my dog is sick too. But it has helped to remember that night’s simple teaching: At an impasse, just sit and surrender to the place of not knowing. Not knowing what will happen, what you should do, or even who you’re becoming. Wait until your eyes get used to the dark. You’ll see the one small step that comes next.

I remember an exquisite moment after the World Trade Center Towers fell. The international outpouring of compassion and grief grew so strong, it seemed we might suddenly ascend and enter a whole new era, one in which the forces of love and peace became stronger and more viable than the forces of violence and hate. Sadly, the moment quickly passed and the US leadership drove us in the opposite direction. Still, creating a new and better world is just the kind of the spectacular potential that’s available whenever Pluto—planet of transformation—meets Saturn—planet of the status quo. In 2001, Pluto and Saturn were in opposition. Now and through 2010, they are in square, in fact, exactly so as we approach this Scorpio New Moon. It’s important to look at current events in this light—particularly those experiences of violence and grief, like the recent massacre at Fort Hood. We should wonder about the shooter’s motives, but more deeply, we should wonder about the insanity of war itself. Is such institutionalized mayhem really viable? What does today’s world gain from killing so many innocents and maiming the ones who live?

Pluto/Saturn transits represent a strong invitation to transform our world. All great transformations begin with sacrifice. When there is a sacrifice, but no transformation, we’re left with just meaningless violence.

I know. There’s way too much media exposure for this ridiculous balloon boy drama. But what do you expect from a gas giant? Jupiter brings luck, opportunity, and optimism. Also inflation, excess, and irrational exuberance. When Jupiter stationed direct last week, the Dow hit 10,000. The very wizards who ruined our economy announced handsome profits and awarded themselves fat bonuses. Meanwhile the country was transfixed on a runaway helium balloon–with a helpless boy on board! Or so it was believed. The bulbous spacecraft was a perfect costume for Jupiter in Aquarius. “Keep your eye on the shiny object,” he cheered. And we did. Partnered with Neptune, Jupiter sent us a hoax, which is likely also true of the stock market’s optimism and the idea those guys deserve their bonuses. Here’s my latest bumper sticker: “The finance wizards ruined our country and all we got was this pathetic balloon.”

When I was in first grade, a boy from my class followed me home from school; midway, he hit me in the back. I hurried home without turning around; he must have slunk away. Years later I learned this boy had a crush on me. It was my first in a lifetime of puzzling encounters between the masculine and feminine–or Mars and the Moon. The Warrior and the Divine Feminine do not come together easily. How do we reconcile Mars’ desire with the Moon’s vulnerability? How do we hold space for both–for aggression and compassion, for daring-do and protective instincts, for nurture and the need to win?

I thought of this as NASA sent its rocket to crash into the Moon last week and emails from irate Moon-protectors exploded in my inbox. Because I’m a so-called “moon expert,” many wondered what I thought. My reaction was much like it was the day little Kevin socked me in the back. I wasn’t sure what to think. Except that it was definitely a Moon/Mars moment. And if there hadn’t been a Moon/Mars connection in the sky that day, I might have had to quit astrology! Sure enough, Mars was in the Moon’s sign, conjunct the Moon’s south node. Mars is debilitated in Cancer’s territory and at the south node, we fall into reactive habits. Meta-moon-fizzies held vigils, worried that the vulnerable Moon would be harmed by a patriarchal NASA acting like a wife beater or a stupid boy exploding firecrackers in a poor frog’s ass.

NASA, however, was just carrying out a controlled physics experiment in a search for water (that might bring us life-saving information in the future). Last June, the Japanese sent its own probe into the Moon’s surface without much world protest. The truth is the Moon is constantly attacked by space debris that’s far more punishing. Look at all those craters! What bothered me about the event was how easily we literalized–and misunderstood–the archetype. In a world where children regularly go hungry, where girls and mothers are raped, and where vulnerable men and women are bombed, didn’t we misplace our outrage? The Moon is a symbol of the Divine Feminine–something whose essence NASA cannot harm but that each of us, on a daily basis, can surely shatter–by our refusal to listen to the person in front of us, by our inability to show compassion to someone who confuses us, by the screams and criticism that drive men and women apart. If we really want to protect the Moon from the ravages of Mars, we don’t need to look to outer space. Just stay close and look within.

I was as surprised as everyone else that Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this morning. It’s a peculiar recognition: not for tangible accomplishment but for something abstract. He was honored for changing the tone. For capturing the world’s attention and building hope. For moving in the direction of greater international diplomacy and cooperation. The decision of the Norwegian Nobel Committee was apparently unanimous and reached with ease. But I suspect the prime mover was actually Saturn, with his tongue in his cheek perhaps, as he readies himself for his Libra robes.

“Peace” is a Libra word; Saturn will be entering this sign soon (Oct. 29). The award will certainly be a burden to Obama, as is any Saturn gift. But it’s also a mandate for the rest of us. It’s time to take our ideals seriously and start living up to them. The only zodiac sign with an inanimate object as its symbol, Libra is an air sign too, emphasizing the movement of breath and thought. The implication is that ideas—justice, balance, artistic aesthetics—may be as potent and vital as living beings. And while our passions might be roused now, it’s important to look deeply into the ideas that are guiding our choices. How can we live our values, without polarizing into one or the other camp? Saturn saddled the most visible world leader with this mantle, but the rest of us will soon be wearing it too. Saturn will be in Libra until October 2012. Our personal and global success may depend on how actively we work toward genuine harmony and peace. Let’s hold good thoughts. And make sure Obama does too.

Mercury stationed direct on Tuesday the 29th–the day my internet went out. A car down the street spun out of control and my neighbor’s house fell out of escrow. Astrologers say that life gets better when Mercury goes direct. But Mercury awakens from its sleep time slowly. The ideas we race forward with may yet be unstable—or even upside-down. (Indeed: The Democrats failed to pass the health care public option in committee, but did agree to fund abstinence-only education, something proven not to work!) During the days of Mercury’s direct station, we are still dreamers awakening from a dream. Go forward carefully, and wait for that moment (you’ll feel it) when your mind is clear, your will is strong, and your feet are touching the ground. Enjoy your competence. And make plenty of progress before Mars goes retrograde in December!

When your brain feels like cotton candy. When the hair salon calls wondering why you’re not there for your appointment today. When, smiling on the freeway, you sail past your exit. And your friends never got your email because you didn’t actually send it. This is the sleep time of Mercury’s cycle. The dog leash is in the refrigerator. You omit essential ingredients from a recipe you’ve made a hundred times before. The cable goes out. The internet goes out. Enjoy this Rip Van Winkle time. Soon enough (September 29) Mercury will be direct and your fine mind will be whirring again. Until then, find a good chair, settle in, and stare blissfully into space, like an idiot or a mystic.

Today brings the third of five oppositions between Uranus and Saturn. What have we learned from the planets this week? That humans can really annoy each other. Of course we’re supposed to act like this isn’t true. But then sometimes–perhaps when the planets are aligned just so, or more likely, when certain neurochemicals flood our cell receptors–disgust shoots out (Uranus-style) and the the fuddy-duddy forces of decorum get to wring their hands (Saturn-style) at the decline of society. Joe Wilson calls the President a liar and is sanctioned. Serena Williams threatens a line judge and is punished. Kanye West interrupts Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech to complain that Beyonce didn’t get it–and even Beyonce turns against him. Obama calls Kanye a jackass.

I like to think the planets want more from us, however, than embarrassment and forced apologies. The secret to all oppositions is that for that precise moment when two are opposed, they are looking in a mirror. The eruptions of the outraged Saturns are mirror images of the raw Uranian outbursts. When the two come round to realizing there is no difference between them, an opposition becomes a conjunction. Seeing the Uranus/Saturn opposition as a conjunction allows us to divine its truer purpose: to so utterly change our structures that we humans genuinely progress.

If we use Uranus/Saturn properly, we just might figure out how to pull ourselves back from the 2012 brink that the Mayan calendar implies is the end of our world. I did find inspiration for that this week too–in a story not as widely reported. Saturn (the Grim Reaper) took a Genuine Innovator (Uranus), someone who actually did change the world, although I never heard of him before.

Norman Borlaug died at 95. Many credit him with saving over a billion lives; by developing wheat with a higher yield, he single-handedly helped to avert a global famine. Borlaug often said that his real interest wasn’t wheat, it was improving people’s lives. Now that he’s passed from this world, it’s up to us to continue holding his humanitarian aspiration. When I’m asked to take my part in visioning a brighter future, I’ll take my cue from Borlaug, who in his Nobel prize acceptance speech outlined a simple formula for what a better world be: one where everyone has enough to eat, opportunities to learn, well-paying employment, comfortable housing, nice clothing, along with effective and compassionate medical care. It’s simple–but revolutionary. May we call on Uranus and Saturn to help us get there.

A senator kicks an angry protestor out of a town meeting. LA burns– an “angry fire” devouring dry brush with a vengeance. A model’s mutilated body is found in a dumpster. An anti-texting PSA, depicting a graphic head-on collision, goes viral. Around the world it travels: with its blood, screaming, and death. Good news: an abducted girl is found–after being held captive for eighteen years by a sex offender and likely serial killer. These are a few of the late August news stories, as the Mars/Pluto opposition, exact on August 26/27, is in orb.

Mars represents force; Pluto is power. When these two meet, there’s heat. Wills collide. And shadow stuff–violence, destruction, anger, obsession, sexual depravity–erupts into the headlines. But for most of the planet, Mars/Pluto is much less dramatic. A wife gives her husband the silent treatment. Two mothers get into a spat and forbid their children from playing together. A customer yells at an underpaid clerk. An irritated taxi driver narrowly avoids an accident. These don’t make the news. Nor do the countless positive and invigorating results of Mars and Pluto’s meeting. But take heart. Passion was renewed in various corners of the world. Babies were conceived. Someone stared down a bully and stood up for herself. Someone else woke up with renewed vigor and committed to a difficult project. How has your Mars been doing this past week? Get acquainted. Be aware that Mars goes retrograde in December. So face yourself now, find the better warrior of your nature, and get moving.

Nothing beats the joy of watching my dog Jupiter come running through the field, ears flying and tongue flapping on his happy face! I said this to myself an hour before he was suddenly and mysteriously limping in pain. I’ve visited the vet too often this year, and no matter what the malady, it’s always a minimum $300. This time it’s arthritis, which I’m confident we’ll resolve, as we have his other troubles. I’ve heard that dogs absorb their owner’s karma, dutifully taking karmic bullets for their masters, in which case Jupiter has been working overtime this year, with skin infections, epileptic seizures, and now arthritis in the hip. He’s taken pills, worn a cone, and will soon get massages and energy treatments. I am grateful. Even so, I couldn’t resist throwing a tantrum in the veterinarian parking lot after laying out yet more money I didn’t have to spend.

I have a Leo moon, which means I’m emotionally dramatic. But it’s in the 12th house, which means I try to compose myself with spiritual dignity and pretend I have no feelings. Those of us with 12th house moons have a long journey with our feelings. First we learn that no one wants to hear about them. We stop our crying to study the emotional rise and fall of our caretakers, endeavoring to keep them happy so we might be so. This is about as efficient and successful as a Rube Goldberg machine. So finally, much later, after we’re well-launched from our childhood home, we learn to take our eyes off others and begin the excavation of old energy in the body, digging up and releasing everything we pretended not to feel. This can take a long time, but it’s a wonderful initiation into the intricasies and power of the emotional life. The 12th house becomes a temple and we the priest or priestess who finally takes our feelings seriously. That means no emotion is too small to warrant tending–with a little insight, sympathy, humor, and creative ritual.

When I got home and contemplated my bank account, rather than shovel disappointment into the receptacle of my heart, I placed a black candle on my altar and briefly wailed, “Oh woe is me! Oh woe! I had to pay another $300 to the vet! Oh woe!” Then I lit the candle to hold vigil for my grief. Within an hour my grief had moved lightly on, and the next day, Jupiter was again joy-ing my heart as he went running through the field.

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