There’s a lot of intensity happening astrologically, which should be no surprise, as if we haven’t been feeling it in our lives. “As above, so below” is the overarching law of astrology, that what happens on our spaceship Earth is mirrored in the heavens, and if one learns the language of archetypes and their energetic interrelationships then we can gain a deeper understanding of how it applies to and resonates with what’s happening in our personal lives.

Saturn is known to astrologers as the planet of karma, as it also governs time (Chronos) and the limitations that are placed upon us as humans, we who must eventually grow old and die. We are not physically immortal, and so we have only a given amount of time in which to accomplish things in our lives, and perhaps reckon with the choices we’ve made, as well as to also rectify our mistakes. This is one of the key facets of Saturn’s role in our planetary drama.

Since April, Saturn has been conjunct the South Node of the Moon, and it will continue to be through the autumn of 2019. The South Node represents the accumulation of experiences of our past, but also the habits we’ve formed that keep us in those old patterns, and can prevent us from growing and moving into new ways of being. With the planet of karma conjoining the South Node, old ways and habits no longer work, we are being faced with just how stuck we are in the past (as in the government of the US still promoting climate change as a hoax). The repercussions of continuing in this way will be the downfall of the US as we know it.

Pluto, the planet of deep and powerful transformation, is also near to Saturn, the conjunction of these two in January of 2020 has astrologers in great anticipation and debate as to how it will affect the world, and particularly the US, since the birth chart of the US in 1776 features Pluto in Capricorn. Since Saturn and Pluto are both in the sign of Capricorn, which rules governments and how we distribute and structure our resources, and Capricorn is the sign ruled by Saturn, we are, in short, in for it. For what? Well, the law of karma is that we reap what we sow. Ignoring signs of environmental devastation will not be ignored by the forces of Nature. Fascist rulers actually are ignorant the laws of the biosphere and of societies, which only can survive if there is the spirit of cooperation. Pluto is also conjoined with the Moon at this Lunar Eclipse, intensifying the effects of being faced with the shadow contents of what we’ve ignored, both personally and globally.

And for each of us personally, during this time, Mercury has been retrograde since July 7th, and will remain so through the 31st. Our mental processes are turned inward toward our inner world. And at the same time, each of us are faced with Saturn’s cold, hard, examining stare. Fear is often the likely result of such alignments, as we may be tempted to find ourselves wanting. This is a time for self-examination, to be sure, but also it may be prudent to ask ourselves what is our relationship to our fear. There is a great deal to reckon with right now, with the threat of global ecological collapse looming in our psyches. We may feel overwhelmed with grief and helplessness. Do we give in with “what’s the use?” or do we become increasingly grateful for what we do have, even if we are suffering?

With Pluto again in the sign of Capricorn, where it last was during the French and American revolutions in the 1700’s, we are at the end of a global paradigm. We are in the death throes of our old ways. And whenever we are in the midst of dealing with death, the world seems dark and dreary. It’s part of the cycle we just have to find ways to move through. But Pluto, though it deals with death, also deals with rebirth. But for now, we are seeing the flower of our past wilting. And at the same time, the signs of new growth are also appearing.

Looking at the opposite of the South Node, to the North Node, we see where our future awaits us. We find that Venus is there in Cancer, in opposition to Saturn. While in transit, this often augurs a lack of feeling pleasure and joy, it also asks us to seriously (Saturn) consider how caring for ourselves and those we love (Venus) is actually the way through the darkness. Joining with others in the spirit of nurturance (Cancer) helps us pull ourselves out of darkness into a lighter frame of experience. When we reconnect in loving ways, we find acceptance, we find community, we dispel the illusion that we are alone and isolated in an uncaring world. With Venus also in trine (a harmonious 120˚ angle) to Neptune in Pisces, there is a love deeper than affection that is reinforced now, a spiritual love that transcends our cynicism and fear, one in which we strengthen our trust in the mysterious loving bond that unites all of life, All Our Relations.