The Cardinal T Square - What's It All About?

The astrological community has been talking and writing a helluva lot about the upcoming cardinal t-square between Saturn, Uranus and Pluto lately. There’s even a blog-a-thon event dedicated to the subject, so what’s it all about?

Well, back in late 2008 Saturn in Virgo was about to make the first of its oppositions to Uranus in Pisces. Saturn-Uranus connections signify sudden change, shocks and the upsetting of the status quo and this was indeed what we were seeing all around us, as the world tumbled into economic crisis. As the ripples began to be felt in our personal lives, many of us found that our ability to remain flexible in the face of disruptive change was tested. When Saturn moved into Libra a year later, instead of a collective sigh of relief, we were all holding our breath waiting for Saturn to make the first of its square aspects to Pluto in Capricorn. Saturn-Pluto aspects signify times of intense challenge, restriction and hard, hard work and without a doubt many of us have been feeling this in our own lives and the lives of our loved ones.

When Uranus moves into Aries in late May 2010, the Saturn-Uranus oppositions and the Saturn-Pluto squares will begin to come together to form the much anticipated cardinal T-square, an event which has many of us puzzled and worried. With these cardinal energies, we can perhaps expect times of fast-forward movement, more shocks and changes, and a lot more hard work. What these energies also promise is the opportunity for personal and collective transformation, exciting creative breakthroughs, inspired action and promising fresh starts. Our ability to keep up with the pace of change will depend to some extent upon our readiness to set clear boundaries, plan for the unexpected, hold things in perspective, apply the wisdom of our experience and keep our minds and bodies in balance while all around us is in flux.

You might be wondering where you can find out more and how all this will affect you!

Well, a very good place to start is the 1st International Astrology Day Blog-A-Thon, which has brought together a collection of helpful, insightful and informative articles on handling the challenges of Saturn, Uranus, Pluto and the cardinal t-square. All in all, over 50 talented astrology writers present a collection of articles designed to help you to learn more about these challenging planetary energies and discover some helpful healing tools and coping mechanisms:

At Donna Cunningham's Sky Writer:
Pluto Problems Got You Perplexed! Here’s What Helps.

Here at Astroair Astrology Look After Saturn and Saturn Will Look After You.

At CJ Wright’s Auntie Moon  Uranus in Aries: Claiming a Self-Reliant Future

Plus Sasstrology's Relationship Special, Jude Cowell's Cosmic Art Gallery, Soundbytes at the Astrologers' Memorial, Vibration Magazine's collection on combining Astrology with Flower Essences and discussions on the T-square at Astrocreeps Forum

Explanatory Notes / Technical Info for the Cardinal T-Square:
- 4th November 2008 – Saturn opposition Uranus (19 degrees Virgo-Pisces)
- 5th February 2009 - Saturn opposition Uranus (21 degrees Virgo-Pisces)
- 15th September 2009 - Saturn opposition Uranus (25 degrees Virgo-Pisces) with Pluto at 0 degree Capricorn, forming a t-square
- 15th November 2009 – Saturn square Pluto (2 degrees Libra – Capricorn)
- 31st January 2010 – Saturn square Pluto (4 degrees Libra – Capricorn)
- 27th April 2010 Saturn opposition Uranus (29 degrees Virgo-Pisces) with Pluto at 5 Capricorn , still in orb for a t-square
- 26th July 2010 Saturn opposition Uranus (0 degree of Aries-Libra with Pluto at 3 Capricorn, forming a cardinal t-square in close orb
- 21st August 2010 – Saturn square Pluto (2 degrees Libra – Capricorn)
N.B. From June 2012 to March 2015, Uranus and Pluto go on to make a series of seven squares in Aries and Capricorn respectively.
You will be/have been affected by the above aspects if you have personal planets or points between 16 and 29 degrees of the mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces) and/or between 0 and 4 degrees of the cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn). If you do not know if you have planets or points at these degrees of these signs you can quickly download your own birth chart which will provide you with this information in a simply understood way at http://www.alabe.com/.

It is very important to note that these transits are slow and their effects can last for many months, maybe even a year or more. Saturn takes 28 years to go all around your chart, Uranus takes over 80 years and Pluto will not make it all the way around your chart during your lifetime! Therefore, having Saturn, Uranus and Pluto transit your Sun (or other planet or point) all at the same time, during this cardinal t-square is a once in a lifetime event. Astrological transits of this kind are processes of unfoldment, representing important stages in our personal development, not one-off ‘events’ timed to the dates the aspects become exact.

A note about orbs: for personal transits, I keep orbs very tight, a maximum two or three degrees applying and one degree or less separating. However, please bear in mind that astrology merely reflects events in our real lives and we should remind ourselves that experience should always be given precedence over the question of mathematical orbs. When applying these aspects to world/collective events, it is acceptable to use orbs of 10 degrees or more, although the tighter the orb, the more intensely concentrated the energy.