Meeting uncertainty: Venus and the Uranus-Pluto square

Right now, as I write this for publishing later tonight, I have no idea if the power will even stay on long enough to finish it. Chances are it will. But I don’t actually know. I don’t know if the awesome cuts of organic, kindly raised meats that I splurged on at the farmer’s market will still be frozen and edible three days from now.

I don’t know if I’ll need the cash I forgot to take out in case credit card machines can’t be used. I don’t know if something might come about as a result of this storm that’s even more surprising than all the possibilities everyone is talking about.

Then again, we rarely ever know exactly what is going to happen in the future anyway. But there are times when that edge is more palpable. Sometimes the potential for the unexpected spikes. And we can usually sense that even if we can’t quite put our fingers on the reason why.

We’re still in Taurus Full Moon territory today. Its peak was yesterday, and its emotionally/sexually charged energy is still unfolding now as we enter the traditional Days of the Dead. Do you actually know what will come of the actions you’ve taken with this lunation? No, but does that necessitate worry? Do you wonder just how thin that veil is between the worlds now, or wonder just what lies beyond it? Are you feeling a little unsure of whatever transformation the waters of Scorpio are soaking into your psyche, your pores, your bones or your very soul?

Astrologers have been discussing for months their uncertainty over what variety of Mercurial mischief the upcoming retrograde will wreak Nov. 6. (Planet Waves began the conversation one year ago.) Now we have a major storm threatening power grids and early voting hours and goddess-knows-what else? The garden-variety astrological riddle of a Mercury retrograde had already acquired a few new twists, and now it’s being joined by Mother Nature: the ultimate in certain uncertainty.

We see this uncertainty illustrated in the astrology, as Venus in Libra makes contact with the Uranus-Pluto square this week. Venus makes its exact opposition to Uranus in Aries Nov. 1, and exactly squares Pluto in Capricorn Nov. 3 — but it’s all one aspect pattern, and it’s in full swing now. We’ve been writing about the Uranus-Pluto square and its slowly revving engine of revolution and (if we’re conscious) evolution for many months. We’ve experienced two direct contacts of Uranus and Pluto already and there are five more to go though 2015. This is still just the beginning.

We’ve seen many insults and injuries aimed at women during this political cycle; Venus ingressing Uranus-Pluto territory may serve as a wake-up call — though that too is uncertain.

The uncertainty of just how badly broken and shaken and dismantled our social and political institutions have to get before we get to the ‘creating something new’ part makes a lot of people nervous and frightened. So too does personal upheaval — and this week, Venus making a T-square with Uranus and Pluto (a grand square if you include Ceres in early Cancer) makes all of this personal. The personal factor of Venus (love, money, receptivity) is about to encounter Something Much Larger Than Itself. We just don’t know exactly what yet.

So, gather your metaphorical candles, flashlights with extra batteries, canned goods and a cooler with ice packs for that great stuff in your freezer, but know that you may end up needing something else entirely. Or you may need absolutely nothing beyond your own self-knowledge, imagination and an open mind. Can you let yourself ‘just be’ in the uncertainty?