Spiritual Blogs

Uranus/Pluto Squares: Part 2 
 
We’re in liminal space for the next several weeks, as astral alignments form a series of thresholds, creating the in-between dimension necessary to move from one reality to another. And although regular routines still underpin the structure of daily life, those routines unfold through irregular rhythms, and the erratic pace could contribute to a loss of continuity. Managing this sense of dislocation requires a strong determination to stay present. As a friend in Hong Kong put it after reading last week’s column: Our souls as well as our soles need to understand how the patterns of the sky are reflected in our activities on Earth. This week, as our souls take the next evolutionary steps, our soles need to be firmly on the ground. So do whatever it is you do to stay conscious—increase your awareness through meditation and mindfulness—and then do whatever else you do to stay centered in the midst of massive shifts.
 
Saturn changes signs in 13 days, moving out of Scorpio into Sagittarius, ending a journey that began on October 5, 2012. As the next two weeks unfold, Saturn distills two-plus years of lessons learned during this transit. (Saturn will retrograde back into Scorpio on June 15 through September 17, 2015, making possible other opportunities to gather the threads of this journey.) Saturn signifies structures—all the things that hold other things together. Scorpio symbolizes issues of power and control—with helplessness on one end of the spectrum and coercion on the other. Scorpio is a complex sign that thrives on subtlety and nuance; so don’t expect its lessons to be printed in bold face. Be willing to look beneath the obvious. Notice what structures in your life have dissolved or strengthened under Saturn’s supervision.
 
The most important threshold-crossing occurs on December 15, when the sixth Uranus/Pluto square is exact and separating just after midnight U.S. Eastern Time, and late in the evening U.S. Pacific Time. Uranus/Pluto contacts are the astrological indicators of upset and upheaval, especially in the arena of social justice. Racism, sexism, religious hatred, fascism, and all the other ways we polarize with each other out of fear become glaringly apparent under the influence of Uranus/Pluto contacts. Exploitation of every ilk gets laid bare during these times. (For those interested in historical analysis, please read Cosmos and Psyche, by Richard Tarnas, for a thorough list of movements and events related to these and other major astrological cycles.) 
 
What makes this current cycle so volatile, as well as poignant, is the sense that we can no longer sustain ourselves as a planet—a condition that is apparent in so many ways—and the opposition to that information has calcified fear and ignorance into brutal fundamentalism. As you go through this shift, notice where you are clinging stubbornly to systems you know no longer work, but you hold on anyway because you don’t know what else to do. Many of us are struggling to maintain the illusion of separation, refusing to acknowledge how small our planet has actually become and insisting on unsustainable attitudes and belief systems. Technology has made global the new local—nothing occurs in isolation any longer and no one is an island. From a deeply esoteric point of view, there are no enemies, just aspects of ourselves in dire need of insight and integration.
 
But just because we are under the sway of Uranus and Pluto, the two greatest change agents in the astrological system, that doesn’t mean we are digesting and metabolizing the extent of what needs to change as quickly as the change is needed—our collective consciousness is not ahead of the curve. Or as Jon Stewart put it, we still “do not live in a post-racial society.” And I would add, we also do not live in a post-sexist society. Yes, women earn more than they used to and yes again, they can be CEOs, but they are also required to pole dance.
 
Climate change, slavery, gun violence, domestic violence, the exploitation of children, the refusal to acknowledge the rights of other species and the rights of the planet’s eco-system—these are all issues of social justice, as they are all symptoms of a system that still doesn’t work for the good of everyone. And because there is so much to heal and so many in need of relief, and because we are so confronted everyday with the consequences of our collective ignorance, it’s all too easy to despair that nothing is changing and things are just getting worse.
 
Cosmic time moves at a different pace than Earth time—an important consideration to keep in mind if you’re feeling that efforts for social justice are failing.
 
Last week I wrote that we are winning. Consciousness is winning. Twenty years ago, Oprah did a show on gratitude (which means it was already a part of the New Age lexicon), and now researchers are proving that it works. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ocean-robbins/having-gratitude-_b_1073105.html)
 
Nearly fifty years ago, very few westerners knew about meditation; now there are studies extolling its benefits. (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141028082355.htm)
 
And who could have imagined a pot fundraiser for the Denver Symphony. (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/25/us/debussy-wine-and-byom-at-a-fund-raiser-in-denver.html).
 
These examples don’t even include the work being done with mindfulness, the yoga movement, or the huge self-help industry devoted to how to live a better life. Or the thousands of projects designed and implemented to help our fellow travelers that are unrelated to a spiritual system, projects that spring from the heart of concerned citizens who are determined to make a difference in the world.
 
It’s very easy to find the flaws in all these efforts and to be disparaging—and I have been, if only because too often the wisdom behind the various techniques gets watered down or exploited for one thing or another, mostly money. But I decided my criticism is a useless waste of time. We are winning. Consciousness is increasing. And yes, there is resistance, mostly because society has trained us to be afraid of each other—afraid of what we don’t know or understand. But as every Taoist knows, water is the strongest substance on Earth because it moves around obstacles, wears down resistance, makes rocks smooth, and teaches us to flow with the Tao. As the Tao moves mountains, so does consciousness. And consciousness is winning. It is just a matter of time until we reach critical mass.

Ralfee Finn