January 2018 – Saturn in Capricorn, the Turning Point
As many of you know, Saturn entered Capricorn on December 20th, 2017. Saturn is now in Capricorn for the full transit. It will be in Capricorn until it transitions into Aquarius over the course of 2020.
The charts for Saturn’s transit of Capricorn do not say we are quickly moving out onto a broad new, stable energetic plateau. What they say, rather, is that we are entering upon a protracted, intense and turbulent energetic shift.
I think this shift will be for the better. I think it will mark the turnaround we have been waiting for, but it will be nonetheless intense, turbulent and protracted.
Saturn’s transit of Capricorn is part of an unusually important, unusually complicated, and unusually powerful transition – many-layered and many-faceted, with numerous incremental phases. To fully appreciate the meaning of Saturn in Capricorn, and why it is a turning point, one must look at the complexities of this lengthy, many-phased, multi-layered transition.
As I have often mentioned, from the early 1970s, until 2010-11, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto were all in signs closely associated with the 1% – Libra thru Pisces. I referred to this as the ‘oligarchic alignment.’ This alignment placed most of the astrological power in the Zodiac into the hands of the 1% for roughly forty years.
With the exclusive backing of the three powerful outer planets, over a period of roughly forty years, the 1% worked successfully to capture most of the world’s political and economic power. With this power, they created economic and political systems that heavily favored their interests around the globe.
The oligarchic alignment began breaking up in 2010-11, when Uranus entered Aries, a sign associated with the 99%. But the breakup of the oligarchic alignment could not be about a rapid transfer of power from the 1% to the 99%. The outer planets move too slowly to produce such a quick shift in power.
In 2010-11, Uranus moved into Aries, a sign associated with the 99%. Neptune will not move into Aries until 2025-26. Pluto will not do so until 2067-68.
So the breakup of the oligarchic alignment is not about the rapid movement of the powerful outer planets into the signs of the 99% and taking their power with them. The breakup of the oligarchic alignment cannot be about a quick, straightforward transfer of power.
Judging by the aspects we have experienced since Uranus moved into Aries, the breakdown of the oligarchic alignment is more about fixing, eliminating or replacing the flawed patterns in collective consciousness that make oligarchy possible. At the moment, the bulk of astrological activity – of this difficult and complicated transition – centers around Capricorn.
Energetic Focus on Capricorn
Capricorn is about management, administration and governance. It is about high level organizational work.
On the most basic, textbookish level, Saturn in Capricorn will compel us to more closely scrutinize governmental, managerial and administrative decisions. It will drive a more detailed, critical awareness of political and economic process and a generally investigative form of awareness.
This Saturn-driven process will show us the true cost of past, present and upcoming decisions. Under the influence of Saturn in Capricorn, the weight of our accumulated errors in those areas governed by Capricorn will become uncomfortably apparent.
We will, for example, begin to perceive the true cost of organizational, administrative, managerial and legislative errors. Saturn will compel us to revisit the decisions involved and correct any errors.
The oligarchic alignment was in place for a long time. It allowed us to coast, borne along passively on the oligarchic currents. They allowed us to coast despite the fact that errors and their consequences slowly accumulated. Current and upcoming aspects, like those under discussion, won’t let us continue to coast, for better or for worse.
Governance decisions, both old and new, will now come under critical scrutiny on individual and collective levels. Saturn in Capricorn will require those who exercise power to make up for past mistakes and be more careful with new decisions. Our leaders will have to work much harder and to much higher standards to achieve their goals. We’ll be playing catch up
For example, many of the decisions we made under the oligarchic alignment were biased in favor of the 1%. We let the bias and its consequences pass. But no longer. The current Saturn transit will make us understand the true cost of these biases and the need to correct them.
Saturn is nothing if not relentless and thorough. We continue to coast. Don’t expect a reprieve from Saturn’s penalties. Don’t expect people to easily deflect and or elude Saturn’s pressures. Saturn is a tough taskmaster.
The pressure, or burdensomeness, of the consequences that Saturn imposes – the costs Saturn imposes – for bad decisions will persist. The price will grow until we correct our ways. If we do not correct our mistakes, these errors will continue to weigh upon us, even after Saturn leaves Capricorn.. If we do not resolve these issues, the quality of our life will continue to deteriorate.
Furthermore, in each of Saturn’s complete trips around the Zodiac, during each 29+ year Saturn/Capricorn cycle, it undertakes a revision of all the structures under its governance in all the signs. So as Saturn began its transit of Capricorn in December 2017, its home sign, Saturn began a Zodiac-wide cycle of reform.
Saturn’s transits of the other 11 Zodiacal signs will impose changes consistent with those made while Saturn is in Capricorn. Now in Capricorn, Saturn is establishing the norms of the future. Saturn’s transit of Capricorn, its home sign are more complex, comprehensive and important than you might think.
As Saturn transits the Zodiac, it will follow up and follow through on the revisions it makes in Capricorn. During the roughly 29 year Saturn cycle that is now beginning, issues that seem to have been settled a long time ago will be reconsidered
The bottom line, most of the things done on the organizational, governmental, administrative or managerial levels since the late 1970s, were done under the influence of the oligarchic alignment. They are, thus, all heavily biased toward the interests of the 1%. These pro-oligarchic programs, policies and such are going to be re-examined, revised and/or undone.
Many of the changes made to our governing and administrative structures during the Saturn cycle that began in 1988 were instrumental in the takeover of global political and economic systems by the forces of oligarchy. A bias in favor of the 1% works against the 99%. This bias is likely to be exposed and corrected under Saturn’s guidance.
Saturn’s transit of Capricorn is likely to correct our trajectory, shifting it in a non-oligarchic direction. And that covers a lot of ground. The oligarchic alignment has heavily influenced, or biased, the work of Saturn going back nearly two whole Saturn/Capricorn cycles, more than half a century. The most recent previous Saturn cycles began in 1959 and 1988.
Many of the countless governmental decisions made over the last half of the 20th century were made in large part by and for oligarchs, for the 1%. The 99% are now finding these decisions increasingly difficult to live with.
Calls for their revision, or elimination, are becoming commonplace. With Saturn now in Capricorn, headed into a whole new Saturn/Capricorn cycle, we might, indeed, see a lot of these measures modified heavily or rolled back.
Saturn and the fixed star Vega
Saturn’s transit of Capricorn will be heavily influenced by several related astrological events. In my last post, for example, I discussed Pluto’s conjunction with Vega during the 2016 US elections.
Vega is an especially bright star in the Constellation of the Lyre, or harp. It is a star known for enchantment, or beguilement.. It is responsible for the charisma of those in positions of authority. Astrologically, support for the oligarchy has been waning since 2010. On the ground oligarchic policies and programs are drawing increasing criticism and opposition. However, Pluto’s conjunction with Vega during the 2016 elections in the US intensified the magic of Vega.
Pluto hovered close to Vega during the US primary and general elections of 2016. Pluto would have intensified and volatilized the seductive, beguiling power of Vega, increasing the charisma of those currently in power, regardless of the growing unpopularity of their policies.
Pluto’s intensification of Vega’s seductive influence very likely strengthened the charismatic appeal of oligarchic figures and their rhetoric. That would explain why, despite waning support for oligarchy and an increasingly unhappy, restless electorate, the US ended up with a government controlled by supporters of the oligarchy.
While in Capricorn, Saturn, will conjoin the fixed star Vega, too, with the opposite effect. Saturn’s approaching conjunction with Vega is already reducing the charismatic power and appeal of the pro-oligarchic political figures it helped get elected in 2016.
Saturn is still only approaching Vega, but it will be hovering over and around Vega throughout 2019. As it approaches Vega through the early degrees of Capricorn, Saturn’s damping effects on Vega’s seductive charm will increasingly suppress the charisma of political figures, reducing their power to persuade.
That will increase the likelihood that the 2018 elections will bring new people into power.
During 2018, as Saturn moves toward conjunction with Vega, Saturn’s damping effect on Vega will weigh progressively on oligarchic and non-oligarchic political figures alike. We should see the growing unpopularity of political figures across the board.
Under the increasingly watchful eyes of more and more discerning voters, political leaders will have to rely less on their charisma and more and more on the quality of their ideas. They will also need to depend on solid results and the Saturnian virtues of hard work, clear thinking and discipline.
We will not see Saturn’s full effect on Vega until 2019, when it hovers over Vega for the whole year. In 2019, those elected in 2018 will be held to their promises by a watchful and demanding electorate. Charged rhetoric will count for less and less.
Saturn and Pluto Together in Capricorn
Saturn is also moving toward a conjunction with Pluto in the later degrees of Capricorn. The conjunction will be exact only once, in January of 2020.
Saturn’s damping energies are already combining with Pluto’s impulsive, intense energies. Combined, the energies of Saturn and Pluto generate mental and emotional instability and intensity.
Saturn’s restrictive limiting energies will combine, compete and conflict with Pluto’s intensifying, impulsive, driving energies. The result of their combination will be conflict and volatility.
This will bring pervasive mental and emotional volatility, increasing, as Saturn approaches its one-off conjunction with Pluto in January 2020. Taken by itself, the mix of Saturn, Capricorn and Pluto energy is likely to give the next several years an agitated, conflicted quality.
Viewed from another astrological perspective, Saturn governs the law and Pluto governs investigation and police work. The combination of Saturn and Pluto energies will likely bring scrutiny investigations, revelations, regulation and legal and legislative actions that provoke vigorous public responses.
The Saturn Uranus Connection
There are secondary connections in the Saturn Capricorn Ingress chart that point to the emergence of a strong but not readily apparent Uranus/Aquarius influence.
Aquarius represents the pursuit of an ideal society. It also represents those who would fight to idealize society. Aquarius is also associated with independent, outspoken idealistic people. They seek self-knowledge, given to self-expression and self-assertion. They are typically regarded as “unconventional.”
The implication seems to be that if everyone expressed their true nature, the result would be an ideal society. Or that an ideal society would allow for universal self-expression.
Saturn and Uranus appear to be polar opposite influences. Saturn represents the ultimate in conventionality. Uranus represents the ultimate in unconventionality. But on an archetypal level, they are closely tied.
Capricorn, the 12th House of Aquarius
Capricorn is also the 12th house of Aquarius. It governs all that is hidden, or broken in Aquarius, including unresolved conflicts and dilemmas. In brief, Capricorn, the 12th house of Aquarius, conceals all the obstacles to the achievement of Aquarian ideals – all the obstacles to the idealization of human society.
Presently, we have both Saturn and Pluto plowing through Aquarius’s 12th house searching out and revealing all the issues hidden there. Saturn and Pluto are very powerful influences and their energies, especially when combined, are well-suited to finding and exposing every obstacle to the achievement of the Aquarian ideal lurking in its 12th house.
The ideal, Aquarian form of government would be brought about by the best organizational and administrative work of Capricorn. The idealized chaos, or perfect anarchy, the extreme personal freedom sought by Aquarius, would be enabled by the superlative organizational, administrative and regulatory powers of Capricorn.
In an important sense, Aquarius is the flip side of Capricorn, or vice versa. What manifests in Aquarius is the best work of Capricorn. It is Capricorn that makes possible the idealized chaos, or freedom, of Aquarius. Aquarian freedom is the apotheosis – the highest possible degree – of Capricornian order.
We know that Saturn rules Capricorn, but, alongside Uranus, Saturn is the co-ruler of Aquarius. So Saturn’s energies should be especially effective in rooting out and sorting through the obstacles to Aquarian governmental perfection piled up in Aquarius’s 12th house.
That is especially true when Saturn’s energies are combined with Pluto’s energies. This is especially true since Pluto has been plowing Capricorn’s fields since 2008.
The South Node in Aquarius
Topping off the clean up work of Saturn and Pluto in Aquarius’s 12th house, is the work of the South Node in Aquarius. While Saturn and Pluto do their deep renovations in its 12th house, the South Node is cleaning up the sign of Aquarius itself.
The South Node is an indicator of patterns we need to leave behind. The South Node in Aquarius, therefore, is warning us away from prevailing clich̩s, misconceptions and deceptive theories about how to idealize society. I think that, in practical terms, the South Node in Aquarius is just telling us to reject oligarchic notions of how to idealize society Рnotions that tell us that the oligarchic model is the one to follow.
The 1% has been peddling such notions really hard for more than forty years at least. Indeed, I think the idea of oligarchy goes back millennia.
Unfortunately, I think the oligarchic ideal has taken deep root in many minds. Many among us have internalized oligarchic values. When we look for ways to idealize global societies, these oligarchic notions are likely to try to flood back into our minds. South Node in Aquarius will help us wash those ideas out of individual and collective consciousness. In practice, then, the South Node in Aquarius is telling us not to be swayed by oligarchic political and economic theories. North Node in Leo is telling us to follow our hearts, not the oligarchic ideology of the 1%.
The good news. Uranus Enters Taurus, mid-May 2019
When Uranus enters Taurus in mid-May, it will form a trine relationship with Capricorn. The Saturnian and Plutonian forces of exposure, rectification and penalty now at work in Capricorn will express harmoniously with the Uranian forces of resistance, protest and change that will soon be at work in Taurus. The forces of change will be in harmonious relationship with the forces of scrutiny, revelation and rectification at work in Capricorn, in the 12th house of Aquarius. A side note: In the US chart, Taurus is on the cusp of the 6th house, the house of organized labor. When Uranus enters Taurus in May, I expect a resurgence of labor activism and very possibly a resurgence of the US labor movement. Organized Labor in the US influences and is influenced by organized labor internationally. The American Labor Movement might spearhead a global progressive move.
Stated simply, we are talking about a surprisingly complex blend of Saturn/Pluto/Uranus and Capricorn/Aquarius/Taurus energies. My belief is that, beginning with Saturn’s Capricorn ingress in mid to late December, we have been feeling a gentle but persistent infusion of this very potent, highly stimulative blend. This infusion will continue into the indefinite future.
The energetic blend, or concentration, might vary as the planets move, but I believe this infusion of disruptive and transformative energies will continue into the indefinite future. The effects will be more or less consistent as the blend changes.
The purpose of this energy seems to be to either free us from the grip of self-defeating, self-limiting economic, social and political patterns or to make us reexamine them very closely. This blend of energies works against the imbalances, excesses and inequities of the status quo. It also works against complacency and incites to action.
It is a persistent energy, but it is also a diffuse energy. It will pervade our thoughts and feelings. It is an energy that complacency and the status quo cannot withstand. This energy will bring change.
As a result of this energy, consciousness will begin moving in an Aquarian direction. It will not be fast, but it will be relentless.
These energies will act like sand in the oligarchic machinery. They will be a lubricant in the machineries of resistance and reform.
I will write more as I come to understand more.
The Purpose of My Astrology Posts
My purpose in doing astrology on Facebook is to show that the Universe gives expression to the compassion and love of the God who created it.
Support My Work
I want to express my gratitude to everyone who has offered financial expressions of appreciation, and by liking and sharing my work. Please understand that I receive notice of your financial contribution most often by emails from PayPal.
It used to be that one could send an acknowledgment by replying to PayPal’s email. That is not true anymore and hasn’t been for some time. Please be aware of this fact and know that I am grateful.
PayPal no longer provides a reliable way to contact the person who makes the contribution.
Some people make especially generous contributions and I feel immediately inspired to acknowledge that contribution via email. However, that is usually impossible since PayPal does not identify the person fully enough for me to contact them.
The problem stems from the fact that FaceBook ID’s and PayPal ID’s differ. If you are willing, you might include your FaceBook name in the comment or Note section while making your PayPal contribution. Thank you.
You can use the links below to make contributions. If you cannot make a contribution comfortably, please do not contribute, truly.