In this phial is caught the light of Earendil’s star…May it be a light to you in dark places…”Gladriel’s gift to Frodo (from “Fellowship of the Ring”)
Overnight tomorrow and into Wednesday, the heroic quest of Venus in Aries reaches its second great milestone aspect, a square with Pluto. This follows a conjunction with Uranus over the weekend just past. That’s a big shift. The conjunction was a combination of energies in the context of one sign. The approaching square symbolically indicates something entirely different: contrast and tension.
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In astrology, a square takes place when at least two objects are separated by 90 degrees on the zodiac circle. That means they are necessarily in different signs. That’s where a lot of the contrast comes from. The energy a planet expresses at any given time includes not only the identity it carries around, but also where it is, the planetary ruler(s) of that location and the distinguishing combination of element (fire, earth, air or water) and quality (cardinal, fixed or mutable).
The tension part comes from the geometric figure of the same name. It is structurally unstable in the material world. If you build something with a square shape, the 90 degree corners need to be reinforced to maintain the tension and hence, the form. Otherwise it will become a parallelogram and the structure will ultimately collapse. That is not a good thing for buildings and furniture. For our inner lives, however, the release of tension means that stability has not been lost but in fact re-attained.
It is perhaps because we are so involved with our outer lives that the square aspect has an undeserved reputation as something to be dreaded, avoided or despised. If we buy into the cookbook astrology formula that we are about to encounter a difficult and discouraging setback, who would feel otherwise?