By Len Wallick
Today finds us our attention gradually shifting away from the transits and aspects of the personal planets (Mercury, Venus and Mars) that were the dominant theme at the end of last week and the beginning of this one. The emphasis is once again on the big picture and the long term. Focus returns to the outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto) as they move towards and about the first degree of the cardinal signs Aries, Libra and Capricorn.
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Most meaningfully, today is Saturn’s last full day in Libra until the third week of July. Late tomorrow, its current retrograde takes it back for one last sojourn into Virgo that will not repeat for nearly three decades hence. By doing so, the Ringed One will be entering a complex phase of multi tasking that will bridge the last few years into the next several.
The sky is now spreading out a bit from the period not so long ago, when most of the major planets were in the last quarter of the zodiac: Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. During this time Saturn was in approximate opposition to this concentration, forming a motif referred to as a “bucket”. As such, it was the trump card, the ruler of the sky, if you will. Now this role of dominance is becoming less general and more specifically focused on the early degrees of the cardinal signs.
The first consequence of Saturn in Virgo will be a temporary separation from its square aspect to Pluto in Capricorn. It is important to keep in mind however, that this square will remain functional. It will exact again in the third week of August when Saturn is direct in Libra and Pluto is retrograde in Capricorn. Because the series of Saturn-Pluto squares about the cardinal points has not concluded, it would be most accurate to consider them to be a continuous phenomenon, a story being told. A single plot that ebbs and flows as the tide shifts to feature one protagonist, then another. Therefore the challenge between the immovable object and the irresistible force will continue, albeit in the background.