Astrological Influences - The Big Picture for Creatives Now | Part I

I thought I should take a step back from the weekly astrology posts to post about the big picture a bit.

We are living through a period of unprecedented change and uncertainty - we all know this.

We see it in the outer world and we see it in our individual lives.

Every time we get settled in something or someone or someplace that feels like 'safety' ... the rug gets pulled. The walls we thought were made of concrete by that 3rd little pig were actually the fake plastic stuff with the toxic gray paint.

This is not innately a bad thing or a good thing (well, except for the toxic gray paint) - the good/bad part is always up to us - that free will thing and all.

Anyhoo, for an overall look at the planetary energies we look at the 3 outer planets. These guys move slowly and their impacts are more long lasting.

These are the multiple major influences we are, as a collective, living through all at once. Any one of these transits could send us to the madhouse so having them all of once is the reason most people are struggling to stay grounded.


Now because these are outer planets this is more about collective and generational energy than personal energy, but the reverberations from these transits will be felt in our personal lives as the transiting planets have conversations with the inner planets and our natal charts.

1. Pluto in Capricorn (Nov 2008-March 2023) - this aspect was last seen in the 1700's - it brought us the Boston Tea Party, American Revolution, French Revolution

(The United States was born during Pluto in Capricorn and will have its Pluto return when Pluto reaches 28 degrees Capricorn in 2022 - we'll have to hold onto our hats, and heads, for that one)

Pluto (natural ruler of the sign of Scorpio) is the planet of deep, penetrating evolutionary level change and Capricorn (natural ruler is the planet Saturn) is the sign that rules the basic structures in our society and in our lives that we build for our long term security; ie big financial institutions, colleges, big business, patriarchy, etc.

2. Uranus in Aries (March 2011- May 2018) - this is the aspect from the days of the Great Depression and brought us the rise of Hitler and Mussolini, the unprecedented power of FDR and Churchill

Uranus (natural ruler of the sign of Aquarius) is the planet of the genius, rebel, criminal. Like Pluto, it is a major change agent, but where Pluto's changes happen slowly and are more permanent, Uranus changes things in the blink of an eye (and then maybe changes them again!). Life was like this and now life is like that.

Aries (natural ruler is the planet Mars) is the sign that rules war, independence, violence, the initial burst of energy that gets things going.

3. Neptune in Pisces (Feb 2012 - March 2025) - this is the aspect from the mid 1800's - U.S. Civil War, immigration, persecution for free thinking, famines

Neptune is the natural ruler of Pisces so is very strong here. Neptune and Pisces represent higher consciousness, healing, illness, addiction, escapism, transcendence

These are the background vibes we are all moving through now. I've written about this before but thought laying it out like this might be helpful.

Now, as these outer planets journey through these signs they have conversations (ie points of contact) with the inner planets that are much closer to us (and impact our personal lives more strongly). Also the ruling planet of the 'visiting' planet is impacted and impacts the 'guest'. This is not as confusing at it sounds - but then again it is only 9:00 am and I am already on my second cup of coffee ... and I don't drink coffee.

So, for example, while Saturn was in Scorpio (Oct 2012- Sept 2015) there were major conversations going on with Pluto in Capricorn (Saturn rules Capricorn and Pluto rules Scorpio) - both of these aspects were strengthened because they were each super comfy in each others' houses. We have also been working through a major Pluto/Uranus square that I have written about before.

And now that Saturn has moved into Sagittarius (and this started loosely when he stuck his head in last February, but more strongly in September) he is squaring Neptune in Pisces (Sagittarius naturally squares Pisces - think pie chart here). This square will be exact three times, due to Neptune and Saturn retrogrades where they appear to move backwards - Nov 26, 2015 at 7 degrees, June 17, 2016 at 12 degrees and Set 10, 2016 at 10 degrees.

Squares are tense aspects - they push us into a new action (oppositions push us into a new decision, trines remove obstacles, sextiles show opportunities, etc). Everyone is going to work with this square before Saturn leaves Sagittarius at the end of 2017.

This is the aspect (dreams vs reality) I will write about in Part II then we'll talk in Part III about how this will impact our creative work and how we can make this transit work the best for us.

xo all