During Uranus’s ride through Aquarius we saw the rise of the internet, global instant communication, spread of computer technology and increasing dependence upon computing and electronic devices in all areas of life. There is currently a war being waged in the financial markets through on-line transactions, the capacity of Twitter to swiftly force a rumour into a probability on the stock exchanges with the most cynical, sociopathic brokers capitalising mercilessly. Other cyberspace conflicts abound through widespread video war games, hacking, viruses etc. There is huge conflict over how we manage all our cyberspace and electronic-dependent systems in the face of worsening climate conditions, sunspots etc. There is even some discussion about the withdrawal of cheques; people already use far less cash in transactions. Moving from trees/paper to data.

With Uranus in Ares we see the growth of organisations such as 38Degrees, Avaaz, Occupy wherever they camp are putting global communication to good use, making everyone who can be involved aware of potentially harmful agendas. This is making governments think about changes in different ways, from more grass roots demands, what humanity needs on a deeper, spiritual level, not what can we sell or exploit next. Governments are having to backtrack and consider more deeply. Often these conflicts are to support Institutions established out of humanity’s highest ideals, like preserving woodland and forests owned by the State, the Welfare State, National Health system in the UK.

With Pluto in Capricorn, the loss of the core of faith, beliefs, trust in our climate, the solidity of the earth is a conscious fear. Whatever we see as home and heart. How we have affected the world as we need it to be for life is coming home to us. No system based on what Native Americans saw in white men’s eyes (read chiefs on First Nation website) will be untouched as realisations of corruption, exploitation, overreaching, the metaphorical abduction and rape of the ‘virgin’ in all things, hit us all. Uranus in Ares is the will, the force for change. Our success or failure depends on how cynical or psychopathic the power/wealth holders are. We are already beginning to solidify ideas about ‘bankers’, non-democratic states. How will we deal with these in years to come? As scapegoats? Or will greater collective responsibility mean greater compassion? Where will the square hit our hearts- if in each one and our actions lies the whole world ?

[...] all in line with the shifts in signs of Uranus, Neptune and Chiron, and the gradual build-up to the Uranus Pluto square, which will be exact for the first time next [...]

[...] Professional Astrologer: how your own chart can help you build a flourishing practiceThe Uranus Pluto Square 2011-2016Total Solar Eclipse July 2009, Saros 136, and the Prenatal EclipseTsunamis [...]

I’m sorry to hear about your current state, Emma, but as far as Uranus/Pluto goes you will be out of the direct line of fire very soon. Once Uranus goes direct in mid-December and as it moves off the conjunction with your Sun I would think some new opportunities will present themselves and it is very likely that things will get a lot better for you after this prolonged and trying period of loss and disappointment. Try to stay hopeful and keep moving forward. Blessings to you.

Well, being a Aries, 03/24 1955, I am not sure I can take much more of this. The last 4 years have been a marathon. My life has never easy at the best of times but all my efforts in the last 4 years have been destroyed. I am powerless, I am tired, drained… so much for the transformational forces. I tried. I work hard at trying to find a way forward but in vain. I am never felt so ‘destroyed’…. I worked so hard for so many years to get out of the poverty trap, bring my daughter up, 20 years as a lone parent. Achieved to post-doctoral level…. years of dedication and perseverance… I feel negated, not valued or appreciated… I thought these efforts would yield some fruits….. but I am unemployed, cannot get a job, I have tried to find new avenues, do voluntary work, the training that goes with it and more… but ………. I feel as if the next few years will bring my daughter and I right into total poverty, homeless…. Ironically, I support people in difficulties but my situation is little different from theirs……because although I try to roll with the punches, I need to earn some money to feed us, keep a roof over our heads… and nothing works. Cannot take this anymore… damaging my health.

[...] Planetary Energies [...]

Actually Kim there is only one square in which both Uranus and Pluto are in direct motion and exactly to the minute square, and that occurs in March 2015 and is the last one of the series. But clearly the influence is building strongly even though the two planets don’t make an exact square aspect until next June. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens when Uranus turns direct on Dec 10 this year. When Occupy began, Uranus was retrograding back to the first degree of Aries where it stations before moving forward from Dec 10. 0 Aries is pretty rebellious. Major strike planned in the UK next week that will affect all international travel in and out of the country. Yes, Murdoch and his stable are indeed sort of toast. Certainly their old way of doing things is threatened.

I’m reading this post and thread on 11/23/11 — coincidentally my birthday — a fact that would be irrelevant on any other blog. I have Mars 13 Capricorn opp. Uranus 8 deg.and of course other stuff I’m trying to figure out what to expect!! What’s interesting to me reading this thread is: Occupy started this September, the first direct square. Rupert Murdoch is sort of toast.

I am also curious about what Regulus into Virgo means….especially since astrologer Michael Lutin is also making a BIG deal about it, but being typically cryptic about it’s significance! ….now we also know (through secret memos being made public this past week) that Fukushima released enormous amounts of Plutonium (speaking of Pluto!) into the environment, air, water and soil back in March, 2011 and kept it secret. Japan isn’t even testing the environment, but scientists and private citizens ARE…so, there has been enough Plutonium (and other radioactive substances) released to poison (ie – give them Cancer) every man, woman, and child in the world…but first, the children will start getting sick. I guess I’m addressing the person who said, Don’t worry. It’ll all be alright! The radiation is in the U.S. too, by the way. ..and OUR gov’t isn’t testing or telling us, either.

This one is hitting me too. Thanks for the succinct explanation. Pluto on my Moon (5 degrees Cap) and squaring my natal Saturn (8 degrees Aries) Uranus eventually hitting that Saturn. Whew!

And your point is? Please tell us what you think Regulus moving into Virgo might mean.

At the same time, Regulus is moving into Virgo.

Its not that the times were playful, but that the way in which the civility of Virgo was challenged was, at least in part, playful. What part? Did you ever hear of the Merry Pranksters or the Grateful Dead? It wasn’t all play, of course, but I don’t believe that side of things can be ignored. We could compare, for instance to the way some forms of civility have been challenged in non-playful ways, with guns and bombs, revolutions and murder.

However, my main point was not about playfulness. My main point was that with Pluto in Capricorn the forceful Aries style impact of the Uranus square will be to emphasize the way that Pluto overthrows and changes things, in this case established institutions, by giving added punch, and in surprising, indeed innovative ways.

I was looking for something about this aspect to share on Facebook. This was the first article I found, and it is perfect! We are living in such interesting times. I’ve been reading ThinkProgress sort of stuff all day. A lot of people seem to be waking up to what is going on and I want to help spread the word about the Uranus/Pluto square, the Cosmic influence. Thanks for a great article.

Just thought I’d say in re: Ellen Nicholas ~ don’t worry girl, everything will work out, it always does. Humans can nuke and HAARP and muck everything up as hard as they can and still everything will be ok -

Ellen, thanks. My degree is in American history and politics, and that does help now, thirty+ years later, with making an astrological analysis. It is a shocking time, and emotionally a rollercoaster. Sharing helps: did you see the Japan dreams posts athttp://laraowen.com?

And you’re right about Pluto exposing secrets: when Pluto went into Scorpio child sexual abuse finally came out into the light having been hidden for millenia, and gay sexuality finally entered mainstream consciousness (first on-screen gay kiss in Ellen in 1996); Pluto in Sagittarius brought religious secrets (the Catholic Church in particular) out into the open; and now Pluto in Capricorn is bringing financial and political secrets (via catastrophe — which always breaks containers — plus Wikileaks and other means). There’s more to come……..

I am a student of Astrology and I am very glad I found your essay! Your analysis of the Uranus/Pluto square, and comparisons to the 30′s and 60′s is right on the mark and fascinating! Most astrologers I’ve read do not have the knowledge of history and politics that you seem to possess, and so I am quite impressed. I loved your answer to the person who seemed to think the 60′s were “playful”!
I have been quite shocked by the events of recent months – especially all of the dead birds falling from the sky, mysterious deaths of fish (aside from the BP oil spill), and more recently, of course – the triple disasters in Japan. I am 61 years old and not as emotionally flexible as I’d like to be…and I’ve had quite a time dealing with my fear, grief, and anger at recent events, such as the spread of Radiation and being lied to by politicians and experts, and now the virtual media black-out of news from Japan.
I was expected something big with Uranus into Aries, and we sure got it.
Thank you so much for expanding my view of the future, so that I can be somewhat more hopeful, and take a larger view of what good may come from these horrors.
I do appreciate that, ever since Pluto went into Capricorn, all the things that once were done in secret, have come to light – both on a national level, and in people’s private lives. This is a very positive thing.
Now if I can only come to terms with the poisoning of our Oceans with all manner of toxic substances, and the suffering it will cause.

I think Rupert’s mother is 100 already and still going strong !

I agree that Fox News and much of the Murdoch stable have fascist elements, and like you abhor the amount of power Murdoch has been able to accrue. But perhaps fortuitously for the long-term balance of the news, he’s pretty old already. Surely even Murdoch can’t live forever!

As you say Lara the last time Uranus and Pluto were square in Cardinal signs we saw the rise of Fascism in Germany and Italy.
We are already seeing an increasing level of power being given to Rupert Murdoch,a modern day Fascist if ever there was one in Great Britain. David Cameron’s so called austerity measures which are supposedly restoring the British economy and the British people are doing anything BUT ! These “austerity ” cuts have already resulted in a slashing of the funding that goes to the BBC–a decision by Cameron that will cost the BBC one of Rupert Murdoch’s main media rivals some 30 million people who are part of the BBC’s International radio audience and 650 BBC employees their jobs.
This action on the part of Cameron plays right into the hands of Rupert Murdoch who has a Capricorn ascendant,Uranus in Aries,Sun Mercury and Uranus all in the fourth house from memory ,Pluto in Cancer and Mars in the eighth house conjunct Pluto in the seventh house–and incredible line up of cardinal energy for a media mogul who has a Piscean sun and Saggitarian moon.Murdoch also has Saturn in Capricorn in the first house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cameron a Libran sun and Nick Clegg a Capricorn sun are in the process of allowing Murdoch to buy Britains B Sky B a cable network this will give Murdoch an unparalled level of media ownership in Great Britain.
Murdoch gets more and more media assets in Great Britain while Great Britain’s Prime Minister helps nobble one of Murdoch’s great rivals in the BBC hmmm !
There’s no doubt this increase in Murdoch’s media assets in Great Britain has a strategic aim.It allows Murdoch a bigger base of operations to work from and extend his business interests even further of which there is already talk that Murdoch plans to set up major media operations in the Middle East.
Murdoch who was born on March 11 1930 by the way with aquistions in Britain and new ventures should be able to increase his global audience to over 5 BILLION people.
Robert Greenwald’s brilliant documentary on Rupert Murdoch titled “Outfoxed –Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism ” reveals Murdoch to be nothing less than the modern day face of Fascism itself.Intimidation,threats,bullying ,FEAR campaigns,witchunts on political and business opponents,corrupt deals with senior political leaders worldwide and an extreme penchant for relentless high powered and sophisticated right wing propaganda are normal daily business and operating procedures for Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.
Now with the destruction of Barack Obama’s Presidency by Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News almost complete,the growing popularity of the Murdoch backed American Tea Party ,increased media ownership in Great Britain,plans for further media aquisitions and businesses in the Middle East,a Star cable network in China,70% ownership of all media outlets in Australia ,the ownership of 175 newspapers worldwide etc,etc etc we have now the never before seen reality on this planet of a so called media mogul whose extreme right wing political beliefs and propaganda are set to brainwash a worldwide audience of well over 5 Billion people.
This development can only mean an extremely dangerous time for all those dedicated to true Democracy lays ahead over the next 5 years.

all excellent food for deep thought. the further elaborations were very helpful as well. on the one hand, i feel a sense of dread and on the other, i cant wait. which is stronger just depends on the day. dutiful virgo/libra asc here will just plod along with her two family members being both cardinal signs: a cap/taurus asc & a cancer/pisces asc! yikes (not to mention my own growing work…lol)

well at least y’all are giving me good food for thought while I watch – & dig worms for the chickens & watch the ol’ man graft fruit trees on this tail-end of winter cold march grey morning – watching and listening & this is definitely interesting times. Thanks kids – i try to send out peace on (and off) earth vibes with lots and lots of love smothered all around – have fun -

I just need to say a little more about this idea that the 1960′s were playful. Is this a media construct? Or because at the time you were a child? The 1960′s was indeed the time of Flower Power, the Beatles, and people sitting in Golden Gate Park listening to the Grateful Dead while dropping LSD. It was also the time of the Cuban missile crisis, the assassinations of JFK, Bobby Kennedy and MLK, of Kent State, the Vietnam War, deaths on the streets of Paris, bloody anti-colonial revolutions in Africa, and the Cultural Revolution in China (during which 11 million Red Guards were state-sanctioned thugs and murderers). It was also a time still hampered by rampant sexism, homophobia and racism.

I woke up this morning thinking about how personal our perception of history can be, and thus of course how personal our fantasies about the future can be. I am not falling into the oft-peddled astrological trope that Pluto in Cap equals totalitarianism worldwide because I am aware that doom and gloom scenarios are usually overplayed and usually by those who feel disenfranchised from the mainstream, as astrologers often do. Allowing one’s personal material to get in the way is a danger in the job of any futurist. I’m not immune from this, but my intention is to make a (hopefully useful) hypothesis about the future in a measured way while staying very firmly in the present and in what we know about our world now. We have moved on collectively from the 30′s and the 60′s in many ways and we can take some heart from this.

Really enjoyed reading Lara’s Uranus square article and the subsequent posts. My Rising Sign is 29degress 45mins Pisces. My life has been very impactful the past couple of years. It has not been a very pleasant, . . . but it hasn’t been all bad. ALL of the former framework of my life has been stripped away. The past year has been particularly intense. Now, I’m wondering what I’m meant to do next. I’ve decided to take a chill pill because I’m sure Life will show me the way, eventually. I’m fortunate to have had a true soul mate come along when Pluto was conjunct my MH. I had been single for almost 20 yrs. During Pluto on my MC, we moved twice and my remaining parent passed away.

I’m hoping that things won’t be so unsettling with Uranus finally moving OFF my ASC and going into my first house. Jupiter is conjunct my first house Mars. On a physical manifistation, I’m guessing that it’s been these 2 aspects that are causing break outs on my face like I have NOT had since a teenager. It’s weird. Maybe the rash-like break outs on my face will start calming down after Jupiter moves out of range of my Arian Mars. I’m not doing or eating anything different than I normally do to have “caused” this. It’s really a small thing to worry about considering other things going on.

I find that to be a simplification indeed, and I’m not sure it is that workable. There was a lot more going on in the ’30′s that the collapse of a sense of safe homeyness. And I don’t think you can call the various revolutions of the ’60′s “playful”. There’s no rationale for saying a conjunction of two heavy-duty planets manifests as playful.

Let me explain the idea about democracy developing — any astrological influence has to be analyzed with respect to the historical period within which it happens.We live in a post Cold War era in which democracy has become the political system of choice in more and more countries worldwide. Plus, the internet and mass communication has had a great democratizing effect. So it is likely that this will continue to develop. This is the trend. Now, one can also imagine a scenario in which there is greater government control, with Pluto in Capricorn. This is not necessarily antithetical to democracy. As practiced at the moment democracy is not very democratic, as there is still always a minority (sometimes actually a majority in terms of numbers) that doesn’t get its party and leaders into office. Two party democracy only suits half the people, at best. So it’s not that great a system. It has a place to go in terms of becoming more sophisticated. In terms of human social evolution this looks like a good place for a growing edge to move to. But maybe this is too utopian a vision.

One other thing: as long as free(ish) market capitalism is the economic system that dominates the world, there will probably be democracy. The two go hand in hand. (Apparent) freedom of choice stimulates the economy. The big companies are very keen for the Arab world to become democratized, especially where there is theocracy. Huge markets will open up. Think about the economic ramifications of the liberation of women in the Arab world, for example.

In the 30′s the uranus square was with pluto in cancer. With the depression we can see that the sense of safe homey-ness symbolized by cancer was upset in a painful way, consistent with a square. Makes sense.

In the 60′s the conjunction was with both planets in virgo. We can see that the sense of polite order in society symbolized by virgo was upset (with a little Neptune influence) but in a playful, not a painful way, consistent with a conjunction.

Now we have pluto in capricorn, and squared to uranus in aries again. With the square we can expect it to be painful, and with capricorn, upsetting solidly established structures, on big structures.

If you find that over simplification workable, I’m wondering how you get from there to the idea that in this transition there will be “further development of democracies world wide”, as you state.

I hope that’s how this phase turns out, Dave. Certainly more psychological flexibility is now factored into many people’s experience of reality than was the case in the 1930′s, and that should help us navigate change with less resistance. Social class is more fluid; individual lives contain more change; we’ve all been growing different kinds of synapses from using computers etc. On the other hand many in the West are habituated to physical comfort to such an extent that they are flabby and weak in the face of direct adversity. It’s one thing to watch it on the tv and send some money, and it will be another if there is a fuel and food crisis at home. There are so many variables at play.

What the astrology shows us is a period of several years in which there are ongoing theaters of conflict and disaster. There’s no getting around this. But the ways we handle such events are very different now and our recently acquired abilities to network, communicate and come together mean that positive outcomes are perhaps more likely than before. As with most human conflict in history this transitional time is about power, and those who currently wield it are in for a bumpy ride. The outcomes will also no doubt be influenced by rare individuals who step up to the plate and by human ingenuity in overcoming difficulty.

…Fascinating!

Economically, things are amazingly similar to the period preceding WWII, and Generational Dynamics analysis points towards a conflict as well (follow up work to The Fourth Turning generational analysis of historical events).

What interests me astrologically is while some planetary aspects are identical to that period, some others must be necessarily be different (after all, history doesn’t echo, but it sure does rhyme).

I would love to know your thoughts on what’s different from that last period, and your interpretation. I know we are heading for massive change (and conflict, as there are always those who fight change), but I have this gut feeling that it will happen much faster and resolve much more favorably than most pundits are postulating.

brilliant writing lara (as usual)!!— fascinating stuff to read for this aquarian with my beloved mars in aires!!