Pluto & the Powerful / Planning for the Winds of Change

I'm back, after a much longer social media detox than I intended. A lot has changed for me and I have changed a lot (for one, this Capricorn-Aquarian is having a secondary progressed New Moon in Pisces). At some point I will share my story, which at the moment is very much still unfolding.

What hasn't changed is my passion for astrology, as a tool for helping us make sense of ourselves and this crazy, beautiful challenging world we find ourselves navigating.

I'm thrilled to be part of the Academy of Astrology UK's new Webinar series, dedicated to offering insights into the 2023 Saturn in Pisces & Pluto in Aquarius ingresses.

On Saturday 26 November, the much esteemed astrologer Dr Lee Lehman will be discussing how we can prepare for the winds of change as Pluto moves into the air sign of Aquarius, which heralds a double blast of air, given that the Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions are now also in the air signs.

Then in Pluto & the Powerful, I'll be exploring how, when every Pluto generation matures and comes into their power, they must do it against the backdrop of both their natal Pluto sign and the sign and aspects of transiting Pluto. And we'll be considering what current and subsequent leaders might bring to the world when Pluto moves into Aquarius.

After our talks there will be a bonus Q&A session with Lee, myself and our awesome host Rod Chang.

More info & booking details here: http://www.academyofastrology.co.uk/saturday-26th-november-2022-1pm-uk-time/

The Blogathon Lives On

Astroair Astrology celebrates its 10^th birthday this month and with Mercury currently retrograde, it’s a perfect time to recall past highlights. Today I remember a most exciting and memorable high point!

In 2010 I was thrilled to be invited by the late, great Donna Cunningham (author of many books, but most notably Healing Pluto Problems) to participate in an amazing Blogathon to celebrate International Astrology Day.

It was themed around the Saturn, Uranus, Pluto cardinal T-Square and comprised more than 70 articles from professional astrologers around the world. These articles provided helpful resources and advice to help readers deal with Saturn, Uranus and Pluto issues.

Donna, naturally, edited the Pluto section. Uranus was compiled by CJ Wright, better known as the wonderful Auntie Moon and Astroair Astrology compiled a series of articles about Saturn.

While some of the articles were of their time and others are sadly no longer available, many of them are still live and remain relevant today.

Here’s a selection of the best timeless articles:

Pluto problems have you perplexed? Here's what helps...

From Lawrence Grecco: Dealing with Pluto on the Angles

Pluto and Bullying – How to Recognise and Stop It and What to Tell Astrology Clients about Pluto in Capricorn both by Donna Cunningham and full of helpful resources and advice.

And from The Radical Virgo blog: Sleepless in America, What’s Pluto got to do with it?

Browse the full Pluto section, edited by Donna Cunningham, here

Uranus - claiming a self-reliant future

From the inimitable Steven Forrest: Transiting Uranus through the 12 houses

From the Void, Of Course blog: A Guide for Teens Studying Astrology

CosmiTec discusses break up transits in: When Love is Over - Divorce Horoscopes

From the technology section, Neeti Ray’s advice for astrologers on using social media: Astro Tribes and Connecting in the Age of Aquarius

Browse the full Uranus section, edited by Auntie Moon, here

Look after Saturn and Saturn looks after you...

From Donna Cunningham’s Skywriter blog - Saturn Transits – What do they mean for your Career?

In Tightening Your Belt with Saturn Mandi Lockley looks at Saturn transits to the money houses

Kathy Loveless on using the Emotional Freedom Technique to help with Saturn issues: Tapping for Saturn – Astrology & EFT

Using insightful client case studies, Jessica Shepherd Takes up the Long Conversation with Astrology

Browse the full Saturn section, coordinated by Mandi Lockley here

Planetary Tests

Donna devised a series of very clever tests to assess the strength of the outer planets in your birth chart!  Take the Saturn test here (and scroll down to test the strength of your Uranus, Neptune and Pluto)

Dedication 

Dedicated to Donna Cunningham, one the great astrologers of our time. Although we never met in person, she remained a friend and mentor after the Blogathon was completed. Her work lives on through her books and magazine articles as well as in all the incredible free articles and resources on her Skywriter blog.

And also a huge shout out to CJ Wright (Auntie Moon) from whom I also learnt a lot and who was a fun and supportive colleague on this project. Her website has gone from strength to strength over the years since and is also really beautiful – check it out here

With love,

Mandi xxx

Pluto and the Language of Astrology

I’ve read a few comments lately from people anticipating their Pluto transit or discussing transits they’ve had. Some speak positively of the growth and change opportunities that come with the transit and others speak of the transit more fearfully. What most of them have in common, though, is that they speak about what Pluto has caused, what Pluto is bringing.

I have to say that I don’t think Pluto actually does anything to us. After all, it’s just a small, cold, dwarf planet with a scary name, in the far reaches of our solar system. Right? How can its incredibly slow movements possibly cause psychological stress or momentous change in our personal lives? That just doesn’t make any logical sense. Frankly it’s a ridiculous notion.

But still, Pluto transits tend to bring Plutonic themes into our lives, themes which carry their own signature, a certain vibration. As we experience and share what occurs during these transits, our collective astrological knowledge builds up. This takes us away from the physical rock in the sky and into the realms of the symbolic. On this level, astrology works. So, while that might seem a contradiction of my statement above that Pluto (along with all the other planets) doesn’t actually make anything happen to us, it’s actually not. I believe that people commenting about what Pluto is doing to them are not imagining things. Their Pluto transit is undoubtedly affecting them, it’s just that it’s not physical Pluto, it’s symbolic Pluto, ‘astrological’ Pluto. Of course, astrological Pluto is energetically linked to the movements of physical Pluto, but it’s not the same thing.

So instead of saying Pluto is doing this or that (which implies physical Pluto), it might be better so say that Pluto transits reflect times in our lives when our experiences resonate with the symbolic and mythic meanings that astrology has ascribed to Pluto. This is a longwinded way of expressing it of course. It’s hard to find the words to put it more simply. In the end, it’s usually easier to simply say that Pluto is doing this to me, even though, if we understand astrology, we don’t really mean it that literally.

As for why astrological Pluto affects us, I don’t know.  Astrology is not, and shouldn’t, be logical. We can accurately predict where the planets will be located on any given date, but we can’t predict exactly how the astrological, symbolic themes of the planets will be reflected here on earth in our lives. Astrology is still such a mystery to us, but I believe that symbols have power and that that power becomes more tangible, more alive and more meaningful as we interact with it.

Hades picture from http://taekwondonj.deviantart.com/art/Hades-55351038?offset=10

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The Jupiter-Pluto Cycle

click on picture to enlarge

Jupiter and Pluto have been making a series of square aspects since July 2010 (an aspect that was part of last summer’s cardinal-t-square) and the last in the series occurs in February 2011. These squares mark an important point in the current Jupiter-Pluto cycle.

Themes for the Jupiter-Pluto Cycle

• The need for growth at a deep level
• The urge to expand
• Optimized potential for growth
• Keeping growth/inflation under control
• The need to seek new perspectives
• A questioning of received values, morals and ethics
• Power struggles, shifts in power, desire for power
• Deep issues about faith and belief, transformed beliefs
• Tensions between different faiths and philosophical beliefs, zealotry
• The emergence of new world philosophies
• The need to find a new relationship/new perspective to ‘foreign’ beliefs and those of differing faiths
• Issues around wealth and prosperity
• The significance of power and influence
• Opportunities for shifts in power
• Trying to improve one’s position in life
• Becoming a law unto ourselves
• Powerful urge for change vs. strong resistance to change
• The collective call to adventure
• A growth in underground activities, the ‘black market’
• Dark journeys of the soul

This current round of this 12-13 year cycle began with the conjunction in Sagittarius in December 2007, its orb of influence spanning roughly from October 2007 through January 2008. The conjunction marked the end of the previous cycle and the beginning of the new one and like a New Moon, was a seeding time, when the themes that would come to define the current cycle were sewn. What was planted during this time determined what will blossom and bear fruit later in the cycle.

What was happening economically at the end of 2007? Associated Press reported in Jan 2008 that “the economy deteriorated considerably during the October-to-December quarter as worsening problems in the housing market and harder-to-get credit made individuals and businesses more cautious in their spending. Fears of a recession have grown, even as inflation remained elevated. For all of 2007, the economy grew by just 2.2 percent, the weakest performance in five years.” Wikipedia states that “the US entered a recession at the end of 2007 and 2008 saw many other nations follow suit.”

This is curious, as we might expect this cycle to lead to expansion. However, the first Jupiter-Pluto square of this cycle starting summer 2010 – an alignment of tension and crisis - was just one element in the cardinal t-square. It overlapped with the Saturn-Uranus oppositions (a cycle which typically brings an upset to the status quo and ‘out with the old, in with the new’ – this was the alignment that Obamo was elected under) and the Saturn-Pluto waning square (an alignment of crisis, restriction, contraction and grim reality). Jupiter it seemed was to run with the Saturn-Uranus-Pluto themes, exaggerating and expanding them.

When Jupiter and Pluto oppose each other in 2013/2014 – the half-way, culmination point of the current cycle - it will align with the upcoming revolutionary energy of the Uranus-Pluto squares. Restrictive Saturn will have moved on to Scorpio by then so won’t be a direct part of this picture. Perhaps during this opposition we will start to see growth and expansion. Certainly, economic inflation is set to rise, as a direct result of events that occurred under the conjunction and the square. Let’s hope that growth and change, when it comes - be it economical or spiritual or philosophical - will be fair and just for everyone.

The final, waning Pluto square of this current cycle occurs in late 2016 through 2017. Any prediction depends upon what happens during the 2010 square and the 2013/14 opposition. The best we can do for now is have faith that will we will end the current cycle in a better place than we started it.

With love,
Mandi
http://www.mandilockley.com/

Notes From A Pluto Transit

Note: I wrote the following a couple of months ago, but hesitated to publish it for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it's all about me and I usually steer away from indulgent personal writing on this blog. Secondly, the couple of people who did read it said they found it upsetting and Astroair is supposed to be an uplifting blog. However, the piece kept nagging at me, so here it is at last... I have not shared details of what happened under this transit (it's different for everybody), but have described how it felt. We shouldn't pretend that Pluto transits are fun or easy, because they're not and if I could sum mine up in three words they would be 'hard, hard work', but on reading this again from a slightly more distant perspective, it's beginning (a little) to feel like at least some of the hard work could have been worth it.

It’s the time of year when the central heating is cranked up and extra duvets are piled on the bed. It’s unwise to leave the house without coat, hat, scarf and gloves. The days are short and darkness reigns. Strange that only a few months ago I slept with the fan on all night, just to keep cool. Odd that the days were so long and the nights so short. I know that the heat of the summer was real, I remember it, but from this viewpoint it feels like an imagined fantasy, like something that happened to another person in another place. It’s also difficult to imagine that in another few months, the scarves and gloves will be relegated to the back of the cupboard and I’ll be dusting off the fan again.

I know as fact that spring will come again and that summer will follow, but simply accepting this fact from my current point of view takes more than merely knowing, it takes a leap of faith.

As the year long conjunction of transiting Pluto to my 8th House Sun begins to wane I am keenly reminded of this turning of the seasons. From my current perspective I find myself in a dark, wintry place. It’s cold and scary here and the night feels endless. It’s almost impossible to imagine the inevitability of summer, the Sun shining high in the sky. It’s almost impossible to believe that I will ever feel joy again.

However, like Persephone in the myth, one day soon I will emerge from Hades’ (Plato’s) underworld, feel the Sun's warmth again and feel joy again. I will look back from ‘high summer’ and no doubt part of me will find it hard to accept that I ever felt so cold and dark and scared. The larger part of me though will, I hope, accept that life is like the seasons and the planetary cycles - constantly turning and always changing and no matter where in life the cycle finds itself, it's always meant to be in the place where it is.

In the place where I am right now, my job, home, relationship and financial security are all unsure. 2011 is an unknown quantity. Dreams have been crushed, plans abandoned. In losing so much power and control over the external circumstances of my life, I am coming to understand that power comes from within. It is a neutral energy which can be used in any way I choose or not used at all. It can be as reactive and explosive as nuclear energy or it can be calm and contained and constructive. I am learning that for me personally, it’s about holding my centre and learning to recognise when to simply let go. It’s been about feeling anger and grief and bitterness and about ‘owning’ these potentially destructive emotions in order to see beyond and beneath them, to seek out their source.

Anger for me (and yes, I do get very angry very regularly these days) is a sign that a line has been crossed and is a cue to reset and reassert my personal boundaries. Usually I’m angry at myself, even when that anger is directed outwards. It is part of my Pluto lesson about ceasing to be a pushover and overcoming a lifelong belief that everyone else is superior/better/stronger than me. I am learning that setting healthy boundaries in my relationships is essential to my mental and emotional health (Saturn in Libra squared my Sun for much of the time that Pluto was conjunct it) and I am constantly readjusting those boundaries, trying to find the right balance.

Bitterness is a new emotion for me, ugly and unwelcome. Put simply, I’m grieving and the twinges of bitterness are, I think, a part of that grieving process. I am grieving for lost hope, for idealism crushed by reality. If I’m not careful, these feelings sneak into my waking thoughts and into the stoop of my posture. I’ve faced tangible losses under this Pluto transit, but the grief seems to be coming not from tangible loss, but from the loss of ‘what might have been’, the dreams I never fulfilled (where are the published novels, the beautiful babies?). These things feel as real, on a psychic level, as the tangible things I have created and lost in my life. As such, they need to be honoured and grieved for and laid to rest every bit as much as the ‘real’ lost friendship, the ‘real’ lost job etc. Under a Pluto transit a fresh perspective on these lost dreams can and must be found. While I might never publish a novel (writing one in the first place would have helped), I do have a wonderful forum to write and share and express myself though my astrology articles. While it’s now too late for me to have children, I realise that I have always been a caring, nurturing, loving person, it’s just that those qualities have been directed elsewhere (into my friendships, my work, my love for my pets). I’m learning to face reality as it is, rather than focusing on my idealised (Sun semi-square Neptune) version of how I would have liked things to be. Most of all, through experiencing and questioning the bitterness and grief I’ve been feeling, I’m learning to have faith in myself and where I am in my life. I’m also learning that while hope and ideals can be lost, faith is a constant.

This Pluto transit has also been a lesson in knowing when and how to surrender (sometimes disengaging from the ‘fight’ is the wisest choice and the best way to win the ‘war’ and also realising that when you’re at war with others, you are really only at war with an aspect of yourself); learning to forgive (myself and others); knowing when to ask for help (overcoming a fierce independence born from negative self beliefs about not deserving help and/or fears that those who help me will have power or control over me) and knowing how to spot when I’m being manipulating / manipulated (a lot of stuff to do with old family relationships, which for years played itself out unattractively in my own adult relationships).

I’m not saying I’ve finished learning these lessons or will ever master them completely, but I will keep on trying, will keep on searching for a healthy transforming, perspective on the dark path that life sometimes takes me down. Most of all, I will do my very best to hold onto the faith and the truth that nothing is forever, that the Sun will shine again and that joy will return.

And to all those Plutonic people who have accompanied me on this journey - those who have taught me harsh lessons and those who have loved and supported and believed in me (you know you are) - I would like to say a huge thank you.

Postscript: A Happy Ending? All the way through this transit I kept joking with some of my astrology colleagues that I was going to win the lottery (tr. Pluto in the 8th House conjunct Sun, ruler of the 5th House). Most told me it was wishful thinking! Well, they were wrong, because on December 25th, my birthday, I won nearly £2k on the lottery! A great gift for my Solar Return...Roll on Jupiter and Uranus squaring my Sun in 2011.


Resource: this book spent almost the entirety of my Pluto transit on my nightstand. Highly recommended: Healing Pluto Problems by Donna Cunningham


See also: Pluto Problems Got You Perplexed? Here's What Helps! an online collection of helpful, insightful articles to help you through your Pluto transit. Joyce Mason's A Cup of Courage in Times of Tough Transits particularly resonates with what I've written here.


10 Tips for Surviving a Pluto Transit from Moonkissd by Jessica


Survival Tips for the Pluto Transit by Lynn Koiner

With love,
Mandi
http://www.mandilockley.com/


Image details: In 2005, this image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope was used to identify two new moons orbiting Pluto. Pluto is in the center. The moon Charon is just below it. The newly discovered moons, Nix and Hydra, are to the right of Pluto and Charon. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, H. Weaver (JHU/APL), A. Stern (SwRI), and the HST Pluto Companion Search Team http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/what-is-pluto-k4.html

Censorship in Saturn-Pluto Times

I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.

The above quote, attributed to 17th Century Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire, reminds us that freedom of speech and the attempt to suppress it – censorship - is an issue that spans back centuries, probably ever since humans first felt the urge to share their opinions and push the boundaries of their creative expression.

I was reminded that censorship is well and truly still with us when I attended FrightFest, a festival showcasing new fantasy and horror films, which takes place every August at the Empire Leicester Square in central London.

FrightFest is in its 11th year and the 2010 edition was the first time that official bodies have ever queried any of the titles in the festival’s line up. Two films were affected, the remade I Spit On Your Grave and the controversial A Serbian Film. Both were due to be shown as unedited, unrated versions, the norm for this type of film festival. However, Westminster Council, under whose jurisdiction the Empire Leicester Square falls, queried the content of both movies and stipulated that they be rated and passed by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) before they would allow them to be shown.

Echoing this censorship theme was the airing at FrightFest of new documentary Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape, which looks at the UK government and media reaction to the widespread, unregulated distribution of so-called ‘video nasty’ movies in the early 1980’s.

The censorship debate at this year’s festival seems very fitting, astrologically speaking, when you consider that the final exact alignment of the current Saturn-Pluto squares that begun in late 2009, occurred just four days before the start of the event.

Saturn and Pluto are two of the most heavy-hitting of the planets in astrology and when they line up in an angular relationship (such as a conjunction, square or opposition), it is reflected in the collective as restriction, control, oppression, conservative reaction and censorship. Restraints tend to be placed on collective freedoms by authority figures, their rationale often being that they are doing it ‘for our own good’. Collectively, we are made very aware of moral boundaries and taboos, but we are also asked to find the moral courage to face our darkest fears. This is because during Saturn-Pluto times, metaphorically speaking, we are visited by the devil, come to take us to hell and back, stealing our innocence along the way.

Following screenings at other major film festivals around the world,  A Serbian Film, was due to get its first public UK screening at FrightFest. Undoubtedly, the movie deals with ‘taboo’ subjects, containing graphic depictions of pedophilia, rape, necrophilia and incest.

When Westminster Council, which in this context can be seen as a Saturnian authority figure, queried this movie, FrightFest’s organisers duly submitted the film to the BBFC, who asked for 49 cuts, amounting to 3 minutes and 49 seconds of content. This occurred just a couple of days before the festival was due to start and festival organiser Alan Jones made the decision not to show the movie, telling the FrightFest audience, “I am not going to stand here and tell you that you are going to watch a heavily censored version of a film.” He added that the film had already been shown at many other film festivals around the world without a problem, although he acknowledged that the film was challenging and would be disturbing to some. In a media release Jones explained “Film4 FrightFest has decided not to show A Serbian Film in a heavily cut version because, as a festival with a global integrity, we think a film of this nature should be shown in its entirety as per the director’s intention," [1]

According to director Srđan Spasojević, the movie “is a diary of our own molestation by the Serbian government... It's about the monolithic power of leaders who hypnotize you to do things you don’t want to do.” [2] I cannot comment on the movie, as I did not view it, but you can read a plot synopsis on Wikipedia [2], but be warned, it makes for disturbing reading.

The reviews offer a flavour of how the film has been received and undeniably describe a Plutonic experience, with one review by Tim Anderson of Bloody Disgusting likening watching the film to having one’s “soul raped”. He goes on to say, "if what I have written here is enough to turn your feelings of wonder into a burning desire to watch this monstrosity, then perhaps I haven't been clear enough. You don't want to see Serbian Film. You just think you do." [3]

Another reviewer, Scott Weinburg says, “[the] film seems aggressively intent on delivering some moments that, indeed, you will never forget, even if you want to…I believe it's one of the most legitimately fascinating films I've ever seen. I admire and detest it at the same time. And I will never watch it again. Ever." [4]

Furthermore, user reviews on at imdb.com say that this movie is extreme, disturbing and hellish, exploring dark themes of evil, power and control. Most agree that watching this film is an experience you will never forget and urge prospective viewers to approach it with extreme caution. Reading these reviews makes it sound like watching the movie is akin to experiencing a condensed Saturn-Pluto transit, to the power of 1,000! [5]

Interestingly, the film chosen to replace A Serbian Film was Buried [6], a tense, claustrophobic piece, limited to just one point of view throughout, that of a man buried under the ground, confined in a wooden box. It seemed there was no escaping those Saturn-Pluto themes!

Echoing the censorship debate over A Serbian Film, the festival had already lined up a premiere of a documentary about historical censorship, Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape, [7] [8] which looks in-depth at the “Video Nasty” phenomenon of the early 80’s, a time when video was relatively new and totally unregulated. This left the field wide open for small film makers and distributors to find a brand new market for their movies. Not surprisingly, many of these films were low budget, violent horror movies designed to shock and so the “Video Nasty” was born. The public outcry in the UK was fuelled by pro-censorship lobbyists and widespread media campaigns, which feared that these films would deprave and corrupt the minds and morals of children and young adults. This eventually led to the government pushing through the Video Recordings Act 1984 which imposed a stricter code of censorship on videos than was required for cinema release. The Act also birthed the BBFC.

The push for censorship of these films began in earnest in 1982, its timing bang on for the exact alignment of the early 80’s Saturn-Pluto conjunction, which marked the beginning of the current Saturn-Pluto cycle. The timing of the Video Recording Act in ’84, synchs with the end days of the influence of that same conjunction.

The timing of this new documentary represents perfect closure for that particular slice of historical censorship, coming as it does at the tail end of the last major Saturn-Pluto alignment of the current cycle.

Ironically, but not surprisingly, the Director of Public Prosecution’s list of designated ‘Video Nasties’ soon became the list of must-see movies for teenagers all over the land! One of the films on the ‘Nasties’ list was I Spit On Your Grave, a film that remains controversial to this day due to its depiction of gang rape, followed by graphic depictions of violent revenge subsequently taken by the rape victim on her attackers.

An unrated version of a remade I Spit On Your Grave, [9] its European premiere, was scheduled to be shown at this year’s FrightFest, but like A Serbian Film, Westminster Council, expressed concern over the movie’s sexually violent content and insisted that the festival organisers have the film passed by the BBFC before they would allow it to be screened. The BBFC found that a total of 17 cuts (amounting to 43 seconds), needed to be made, in order for it be classified as an 18 certificate (roughly equivalent to the US ‘R’ rating) and shown at FrightFest. [10] In this case, the festival organisers made the decision to show the cut film, stressing that the cuts made, which were all to the rape scenes in the first half of the movie and not to the gory revenge scenes that followed, did not compromise the film’s artistic integrity.

Again, it’s interesting to note that a movie that came to notoriety at the start of the current Saturn-Pluto cycle has been remade for a new generation of horror fans during the last square, the final quarter, of the same cycle.

The film was on the whole well received by festival goers. I for one thought that is was very well done and while the rape scenes were very dark and difficult to watch, I took grim pleasure in seeing the rapists get their bloody comeuppance. It will be interesting to see the reaction it gets when it goes on general release

The chart for FrightFest 2010 [11] is telling, because the Saturn-Pluto square is very prominent, with Pluto, here representing horror, on the Ascendant and Saturn, representing the boundaries set by official bodies and authority figures, in the dark house of sex and taboo, the eighth. Saturn and Pluto also connect in hard aspect to Jupiter and Uranus, symbolising the unexpected shocks and surprises at this year’s festival, events which in retrospect, may seem a little exaggerated.

Communication planet Mercury is Retrograde in Virgo and also in the 8th, another indicator that the festival’s schedule would need to be reviewed and re-jigged. Certainly, the event was dogged with a few Mercury Retrograde-esque technical issues at the start.

Meanwhile, Neptune, the planet which symbolises movies and represents illusions and fantasies, opposes the Sun, also in the 8th, reminding us that for all the fuss, these films are merely works of fiction, no matter how challenging their themes and their images might be.

Or to put it another way, “to avoid fainting, keep repeating "It's only a movie...It's only a movie..." [12]

Notes and References

[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/aug/27/a-serbian-film-frightfest
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Serbian_Film
[3] http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/film/4501/review
[4] http://www.fearnet.com/news/reviews/b18477_sxsw_2010_review_serbian_film.html
[6] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1462758/
[7] Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape is released on DVD in the UK on October 11th: http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/15903775/Video-Nasties-The-Definitive-Guide/Product.html
[8] You can see a clip of the Q&A/debate that followed the screening of Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape at FrightFest, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P2T-nuGTts  
[9] For more on I Spit on your Grave see http://www.ispitonyourgravemovie.com/  The film is due for general release this fall. At the time of writing, it is intended that the movie shown in its uncut version in the US.
[10] You can read the BBFC’s ruling on A Serbian Film and I Spit on your Grave http://www.bbfc.co.uk/press/newsreleases/bbfc-cuts-a-sernian-film-and-remake-of-i-spit-on-your-grave 
[11] Chart set for 26 August 2010, 5pm, London. The time used is the advertised start time of the first day of the festival.
[12]Tagline for banned “Video Nasty” The Last House on the Left, the first film by noted horror director Wes Craven http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_House_on_the_Left_(1972_film)
For more on the censorship issues at FrightFest see: FrightFest: return of the censor? http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/newsandviews/festivals/frightfest-2010-nasties.php
For more on the current Saturn-Pluto cycle see: http://mandilockley.blogspot.com/2009/11/saturn-pluto-part-3-politics-economics.html

http://www.mandilockley.com/

Astrology for July - The Wheels Keep Turning

More than ever, the sky this July reminds me of a well-oiled machine, as the planetary wheels and cogs turn this way and that, getting into alignment so that when the time is right, the Cardinal T-Square of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Pluto can fall into its fullest exactness.





Here are the milestone events:

July 5th: Uranus in Aries stations Retrograde – expect a burst of erratic energy, surprising turnabouts and re-runs of old dramas. (To find out how Uranus in Aries could activate your Mars, click here)

July 21st: Saturn re-enters relationship and balance-oriented Libra after almost four months re-visiting hard working, orderly, health conscious Virgo. This brings all the t-square planets together in cardinal signs for the first time.

Then, on July 26th, those two planets make the last exact hit of the disruptive, status-quo challenging Saturn-Uranus Oppositions which started in 2008. How the world has changed since then!

Additionally, Jupiter in Aries stations Retrograde on the 23rd and by September the planet of growth and expansion will be back in receptive Pisces, but it won’t be leaving direct, single-focused Aries until it’s played its part in the Cardinal T-Square.

On July 30th we see an event of culmination when Mars joins Saturn in Libra, dramatically energizing the Cardinal T-Square configuration. Self-centred Mars is never too comfortable in other-oriented Libra, so this shift could be reflected in challenges and tension in our relationships. However, it also presents a golden opportunity to energetically heal and release some of our relationship blocks, including our relationship with our own self and our relationship to our collective world and the universe. More mundanely, Mars moving into a cardinal sign provides a good burst of forward motion energy to help us all to get things done!

The Cardinal T-Square ~ chart set for 30th July 2010 using whole sign houses

Wow! It seems that these exciting times are about to get even more exciting!

Add to this the fact that the all important Solar-Lunar cycle connected dramatically with the Cardinal T-Square energies during the Solstice and the Lunar Eclipse in June, forming a Grand Cross! We might be feeling like we’re a ball-bearing in a pinball machine or a passenger on a scary roller-coaster. But boy, rarely has there been a more energetic and creative time to face and heal old wounds and move forward into a space of positive change. Whoosh!

But hold tight, there’s more to come on this cosmic merry-go-round ride. In August, Saturn and Pluto make the last of their current series of inhibiting, constraining squares. This marks the beginning of the end for the current cycle, which began in the early eighties. This is the final crisis point of the cycle, when we are individually and collectively asked to face our fears, clean up our messes and move towards building fresh structures which will enable us to plant healthy seeds for the next cycle which begins in 2019.

Also in August, Jupiter and Saturn oppose each other in Aries and Libra, marking the peak, the halfway point, of the current cycle which began in 2000. This opposition occurs very close to the ‘private becomes public’ Aries Point, so there will be no hiding from seeing things just the way they are – the good and the bad. Whether we like what we see or not, will depend on how we’ve done up until now, but in the collective, we can reliably expect fresh revelations of corporate, political and economic derry-doings to come out of the woodwork.

Are you wondering how all this affects you personally? Well, if your chart has planets or angles in the early degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra and/or Capricorn, your life will probably have been reflecting the Cardinal T-Square themes for some time. Much more on this to come over the next few weeks….but in the meantime don’t forget to check out the Cardinal T-Square Blog-A-Thon articles, which are more relevant now than ever.

Eclipsed Again

As I write this (end June) we are in the in-between time – those slightly unsettling couple of weeks between one Eclipse and the next.

We’ve experienced a powerfully balancing Capricorn Lunar Eclipse which formed a Grand Cross with the Cardinal T-Square planets and we’re waiting for the Cancer New Moon on July 11th, a Total Solar Eclipse.

This Eclipse falls at 19 degrees of Cancer and if it touches planets and points of your natal chart, it could represent a significant new beginning for you in one or more areas of your life. More on that in an upcoming post….

For now, this time between Eclipses is good for checking in with yourself, for doing some inner healing work and asking yourself a few questions. Think back over the last couple of years. What has changed? How have you changed? Have you adjusted to your new reality or are you still attached to the past or your vision of how you wanted things to be? If you feel you could have handled things better, acknowledge it, release that feeling without negative judgment, then rest, in preparation for the next influx of cosmic energies. Until the next Eclipse, try to just let the worldly chaos whirl all around you without connecting to it, without running with it, just ‘be’ for a few days, you’ve earned that.

Sunny Days and Bright Nights

To finish off my preview of July, the Sun, which starts the month in emotional, cosy Cancer, moves into warmhearted, dramatic Leo on July 22nd. Then on July 26th, the Sun aligns once more with the Moon, for a Full Moon in the early degrees of Aquarius.

See July’s Moon void of course times and Moon sign changes here: http://www.mandilockley.com/moonpages.html

Recommendations

Ravenesque’s Preview of July – I will be reading and re-reading this one throughout the month

Auntie Moon’s Preview of July’s Moon Phases including ‘zodiactivities’, great suggestions on how to tune into each Sun-Moon combination this month

And Finally…

Happy Birthday to Astroair Astrology, which is one year old on 11th July, the day of the Eclipse! On the day, I will post a review of the year, along with links and thank you acknowledgements to all my lovely readers. Hopefully, I’ll be able to offer a small birthday gift too (thinking cap on)!

I hope you have a wondrous July. Certainly, this is set to be an extraordinary month for many of us and I hope for you, it’s a bright and positive one. Enjoy the ride!

With love and light,
Mandi
http://www.mandilockley.com/

Images:
Cogs and Gears by artist Paul Chatem http://www.paulchatem.com/  
Cardinal T-Square chart drawn up using Solar Fire astrology software
Eclipse images: Credit Nasa

Saturn Opposition Uranus - All Change

Think back to late 2008, when the current series of Saturn-Uranus oppositions began. How the world has changed! The credit crunch; the banking crisis; political changes, scandals and upheavals; recession; job losses; calls for political and economic reform….we are living through times of massive change, for sure.

I suspect there aren’t many of you reading this who haven’t been affected directly or indirectly by the events of the last couple of years or so. As we come to the fourth of the five current Saturn-Uranus oppositions, the final one in Virgo and Pisces, this is a good time to review what’s changed in your life and to ask yourself how you feel about where you find yourself right now.

Did you initiate and control the changes that have occurred in your life, or were the changes thrust upon you and your loved ones by circumstance? Have you wanted to make changes, but felt blocked by external forces or by your own fear or uncertainty?

For some of you, this process of change has been/is a conscious one, as you rebel against ‘the way it’s always been done’, make a push for freedom and push forward with your ambitions/dreams/plans. However, many of you who desperately want to make changes in your lives are feeling blocked (or feeling like you’re ‘in prison’ as one acquaintance expressed it) as you meet resistance from the outside world, or even resistance from yourself, conscious or otherwise. Perhaps the key is to carefully time the changes you are trying to make, pacing things patiently and sensibly. Breaking big tasks (like job hunting, for instance) down into a series of smaller tasks is also a good approach which can help prevent things becoming overwhelming. That way, when change does finally break through for you, you will be in a good position to balance the new things in your life with your need for stability and security, minimizing the ‘scary’ factor.

If you are not feeling blocked and managing to initiate change successfully, the above advice still holds and you should also be aware of the danger of moving too fast in your zeal for the new - ‘throwing the baby out with the bathwater’ - changing the good things in your life, as well as the bad.

For others, change may have been unexpectedly thrust upon you. Perhaps it’s been a sudden job loss, a change in your financial fortune, a relationship breaking down or some other distressing disruption to the status quo of your life? It feels as if a very difficult challenge has been thrown down and circumstances are dictating that you rise to that challenge. You must carefully put in place new structures in your life to replace the old ones that have passed away. You may need to pull on all your inner and outer resources to find ways deal with your new circumstances. You may need to swallow your pride and ask for help. The old has been swept aside, the new must come in and the future is wide open. For some this brings a tremendous sense of freedom and excitement and for others, a crushing sense of fear and restriction. Most of us though, are feeling the fear and the excitement, all at once.

Of course, we shouldn’t forget that Pluto is also a part of this picture – Pluto has been squaring Saturn since late 2009 and forms part of the Saturn-Uranus-Pluto Cardinal T-Square which has been building since then (scroll down to see data for these aspects). The energy of Pluto and Saturn combined can add a tremendous sense of restriction, separation and fear of loss. We are called upon to work hard, hard, hard to get through Saturn-Pluto times, but we may just find that, if we work hard enough, seemingly insurmountable obstacles can be overcome and unimaginable goals can be accomplished.

Hang on in there and keep pushing. You will come through. You are strong.

Resources and Further Reading

Whatever your personal situation, change is undoubtedly a stressful experience. Below are some useful links for further reading, which also include some helpful coping and healing tools.

The Cardinal T-Square Blog-A-Thon 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. Here are the links you need:

Look After Saturn and Saturn Will Look After You.

Uranus in Aries: Claiming a Self-Reliant Future

Pluto Problems Got You Perplexed! Here’s What Helps

More healing and coping tools from Vibration Magazine: Combining Astrology with Flower Essences

See also Donna Cunningham’s Pluto-Saturn Preparedness Kit

To read my previous articles on the Saturn Uranus oppositions and the Cardinal T-Square see:
Saturn-Uranus-Pluto, the Financial Crisis and Me
The Saturn-Uranus Oppositions and You
The Cardinal T Square - What's It All About?

Astrologer Lara Owen has written some excellent articles about the Saturn-Uranus Oppositions, here’s the latest one: Saturn Uranus Oppositions April 26 2010

For the world view see the series of Saturn-Uranus-Pluto essays of Bill Herbst  and/or read Richard Tarnas’ excellent book Cosmos and Psyche

Data

• 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)

You will be/have been affected by the above aspects if you have personal planets or points in the late 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 important to note that these transits are slow and their effects can last for many months, maybe even a year or more. 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 up to 10 degrees or more, although the tighter the orb, the more intensely concentrated the energy.

With love, Mandi
http://www.mandilockley.com/

Saturn and Pluto (and the power of Re-)

The Planetary Movements

On 6th April Pluto turned Retrograde (Rx) at 5 degrees of Capricorn. Pluto will remain Rx until 14th September, turning around at 3 degrees of Capricorn.

On 7th April Saturn, already Rx since 13th January, moved out of Libra and back into the sign of Virgo. Saturn will turn direct on 30th May and will finally leave Virgo on 21st July.

What Does This Mean?

Well, this shift in Saturn and Pluto asks us to review some of the personal and global issues we’ve been facing during the ongoing Saturn-Uranus oppositions which started in late 2008 and the Saturn-Pluto squares which started in late 2009. For so many of us, our lives have changed in the last couple of years, in some cases dramatically. Generally speaking, all these changes and disruptive influences haven’t, so far, made us feel liberated or secure. Quite the reverse, they have made us feel restricted and reined-in, while at the same time forcing us to perform a very delicate and tenuous balancing act in order to hold everything together. Quite frankly, we’re exhausted from the effort and wondering how and where it’s all going to end…..

….As Pluto was moving towards his Rx turnaround these last few weeks, did you feel the pressure building? Did your internal pressure cooker blow, or was that just me? Now Pluto is moving backwards, we can perhaps dare to take the foot off a couple of those pedals especially as Saturn’s Rx move back into Virgo puts the Saturn-Pluto square energies in retreat, well at least for a few weeks at any rate....

....However, while Saturn is taking a short break from Pluto, being back in Virgo means another status-quo upsetting opposition with Uranus is coming soon, towards the end of April in fact. This will be the 4th in a series of 5. The final opposition, in July, will be in the cardinal signs of Aries and Libra, making April's opposition the last one in the mutable signs. This being the case, we’re being asked, individually and collectively, to look for some kind of closure around the changes, shocks and disruptions we’ve faced recently....

....I feel there’s a sense now of needing to let the dust (the ashes of our former life, perhaps) settle before we brace ourself for the next round. Re-energising ourselves now will help us to fully embrace the best promises of the cardinal energies that will come with the cardinal t-square, now building towards its climax in July. Then, with Uranus and Jupiter in Aries joining Saturn back in Libra and Pluto in Capricorn, we can finally summon up the courage, strength and stamina to break out of the psychological and material ‘prisons’ and ‘traps’ so many of us seem to have fallen into to and claim back our sense of self, our confidence, our independence and our positive forward momentum....

What Can We Do To Help Ourselves While Saturn is Retrograde in Virgo?

Here are few ideas (most of them can be read on a number of levels, to suit yourself and your situation):

Rest – If your life is anything like mine, it's been super busy, super stressed and backed up with commitments. Now’s the time to free up a few regular slots in your schedule for your favourite relaxing pastimes (healthy ones!).

Retreat – consciously retreat - emotionally, mentally and physically - from those situations and relationships which are unhealthy for you. Give yourself a holiday!

Restore / Rejuvenate – give something or someone (or yourself) a makeover. Clean up, make as new, dust away the cobwebs, scrub away the grime. Be healthy – exercise, eat well, organise your time better, be kind to yourself and kind to others.

Reveal – Open up the windows, through back the curtains. Let the light in! Find the beauty in the small, humble details.

Re-establish some healthy, reliable routines in your life.

Be Realistic – get your house in order!

Reflect upon and Reassess the changes that have taken place your life over the last couple of years. Look for the deeper meaning, the fresh perspective.

Rebuild relationships of value that have fallen into disrepair over the last couple of years.

Re-evaluate how you handle our personal power. Do you give it all away to others? Do you use it to control others? Recognise, honestly, these patterns, if you have them. Forgive yourself and Release dead and past issues that are holding you back.

Notice that all the key words above begin with the prefix ‘Re-‘? This little word means backwards or again – perfect for times when Retrograde planets are hitting your birth chart. You can probably think of a few more Re- words that are relevant to you.

A Very Quick and Helpful Meditation

Here’s a very simple breathing exercise that might help you during the coming months.

Start to become conscious of your breathing. Slow your breath down, controlling your in breaths and out breaths. As you breathe out begin to relax your shoulders and arms down and relax your facial muscles, feeling the tension slipping away. Relax deep into your belly and keeping your belly muscles soft, breathe in slowly into your abdomen (you know when you are doing this right because your abdomen area will expend). As you breathe in, say the word LET either in your head or out loud. On the out breath, which should also be slow and controlled, say or think the work GO.

Do a few rounds of this and see how you feel better. This is a good exercise to do on the hop, as and when you need to (to help you cope with the litle ay annoyances of daily life) or you can do it as part of deeper meditative work, in your favourite relaxed lying or sitting position.

Planetary Data:

• 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 - Jupiter joins the party at 3 degrees of Aries) 
• 21st August 2010 – Saturn square Pluto (2 degrees Libra – Capricorn) 
• 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 in the late degrees of the mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces) and/or the early 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/.

Related Articles:

The first 4 links below are to the cardinal t-square blog-a-thon article collection home pages, where you will find a wealth of information, resources and healing tools, from several dozen talented astrologers, to help you work with the the current energies
Look After Saturn And Saturn Will Look After You
Uranus in Aries: Claiming A Self Reliant Future
Pluto Problems Got You Perplexed? Here’s What Helps!
Vibration Magazine: Combining Flower Essences and Astrology

The Cardinal T-Square - What’s It All About?
An Explanation of Retrograde
Planetary Retrograde Dates for 2010


Photo credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/STScI; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech

IAD Blog-A-Thon: Sunday's Events

 Online from Sunday 21st March:

  From Auntie Moon: Uranus in Aries: Claiming A Self Reliant Future
Unpredictable Uranus is ending his sojourn in Pisces and will soon enter irascible Aries. Following a period of reluctantly dealing with the real world, Uranus steps up to proclaim personal freedom. This is not the freedom bell that Uranus usually rings for everyone, but the unabashed self-proclamation of “My Rights, Every Day!” Coordinated by C.J. Wright, the 17 articles and additional media presentations in the Uranus collection are as erratic as Uranus himself. You will discover some of the disruptive changes Uranus loves to spring on us and receive suggestions on how to work with rather than against yourself as you evolve and grow.

Online NOW:

From Astroair Astrology: Look After Saturn and Saturn Will Look After You

  From Sasstrology: Saturn in Libra And Relationships

From Sky Writer: Pluto Problems Got You Perplexed? Here’s What Helps!

From Vibration Magazine: A Collection of Articles about Combining Essences and Astrology

Voices from Astrology's Past - Sound Bytes at the Astrologer's Memorial

From Secret Moon Art: Astrology Day Blogathon 2010: A Cosmic Art Gallery

Discussions at AstroCreeps and TarotFreaks Forum

For full details of all these fantastic events, see  http://2010astrologycarnival.wordpress.com/
 Don't forget that these pages form a permanent resource - if you can't read them all today you can go back to them time and time again, so don't forget to bookmark them

Note: We’d appreciate it if you’d pass along word of this event to your friends, fellow students, and others with an interest in astrology, particular those with concerns about the cardinal t-square.

Note: Live links to these Collections will be added on the day they open, but will remain a permanent resource. Check on the blogathon’s own blog at: http://2010astrologycarnival.wordpress.com/

 

Look After Saturn & Saturn Will Look After You (IAD Blog-A-Thon)

Astroair Astrology Proudly Presents The 2010 International Astrology Day Blog-A-Thon Saturn Collection

Transiting Saturn’s oppositions to Uranus were accompanied by sudden change, shocks and upsets to the status quo, resulting in economic crisis. As the ripples reached our personal lives, our ability to remain flexible yet strong in the face of disruptive change has been tested, none more so since Saturn moved into Libra and began to square Pluto in Capricorn, a transit signifying restriction and hard, hard work. Now, with the upcoming entry of Uranus into Aries, signaling the start of the Saturn-Uranus-Pluto cardinal t-square, many of us are worried and puzzled about what it means for ourselves and our loved ones.

How This Article Collection Can Help

When facing and working with the energies of the three planets in the t-square, Saturn is the most easily accessible energy, providing a sound anchor for working with Uranus and Pluto issues and unlocking the more optimistic promises of the t-square. This collection of articles, therefore, aims to help you to work positively with a whole variety of natal and transit Saturnian issues, during these t-square times and beyond.

Written by experienced astrologers, these essays invite you to view Saturn not as a planet to be feared, but as a necessary, helpful teacher whose lessons can help you through life’s challenges. They also offer some useful, practical resources, some down to earth advice and some inspirational coping and healing tools.

How To Use This Collection:

When you click on the links below you will go to the authors’ own blog or website, so you can read their article and explore what else they have to offer. Before you start clicking, bookmark this page so you can find your way back here. Scroll to the end for the link to the Pluto and Uranus collections and all the other special Blog-A-Thon events.

Saturn The Wise Teacher

Saturn Without Suffering Obstacles, fear, failing, falling and suffering...Jessica Murray of MotherSky takes on all the big themes of Saturn and discusses how, by accepting Saturn’s teachings and consciously changing our attitude towards them, we can truly grow from the experience.

Saturn is the Gateway Amanda Owen explores Saturn’s role as the gateway to the outer planets and explains how in taking responsibility for our lives (Saturn), we set ourselves on the path towards the highest gifts that Uranus, Neptune and Pluto can offer…uniqueness, divinity and power.

Growing Up and Growing Old

Coping with the Quarter Life Crisis Our early twenties should be exciting times as we embark upon adult life, but for many this can be a confusing and stressful time, with many challenges to navigate. Verena Donath discusses the astrology of the so-called Quarter Life Crisis and what it means for the current generation.

King Saturn and the Archetype of the Father Stefanie Iris Weiss and Sherene Schostak, the Saturn Sisters, discuss father issues, finding Saturn’s heart in the daddy archetype and how learning to say and mean ‘no’ is essential for setting healthy boundaries and becoming the author of our own lives.

Astrology Can Improve Parent-Child Relationships Being a parent is probably the hardest job anyone will ever have. Using client examples of parents with strong Saturn-Moon-Pluto configurations, astrologer and counselor Gretchen Lawlor demonstrates how astrology can help parents strike the right balance between nurture (Moon) and structure (Saturn). For more articles by Gretchen, go to www.gretchenlawlor.com

Getting a Handle on your Second Saturn Return If you’re currently having, or coming up to, your second Saturn return, you’ve also got the Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn dynamic complicating the picture. Victoria Bazeley, whose specialty is helping clients deal with their midlife transits, explains all and provides some very useful suggestions for making the best of this important time of life.

The Astrology of Love in Midlife Just because we get older, it doesn’t mean that we lose our need for love, passion and partnership. With Saturn in Libra putting the spotlight on relationships, Lara Owen discusses the importance of the transits and progressions of midlife to relationships, including the Saturn opposition in our early forties and the second Saturn return in our late fifties.

Practical Saturn

Saturn Transits – What Do They Mean For Your Career? If Saturn is moving through one of your career houses, is this bad news for your job prospects? Not necessarily, explains astrologer and therapist Donna Cunningham. Working with the issues Saturn brings, could be just what you need to get you right on track!

RESOURCE: For some helpful tips and resources on how your birth chart can help with your vocation questions, see Giz a Job! Using Astrology to Make Career Choices

Surviving Financially Difficult Times with Saturn Astrologer Jan Tud of astrogrrl.com explains why for many of us, the next couple of years will be crucial for taking control of our finances and developing a healthier relationship with money. She also offers some useful tools and resources to get us started.

Tightening your Belt with Saturn Transiting Saturn in your 2nd or 8th house? Fearful for your finances? These transits don’t have to be disastrous, especially if you take a realistic and practical approach. Mandi Lockley makes a few suggestions to help you get prepared.

Astrology of Time Management: Bringing Balance into Productivity The demands on our time are ever-increasing in modern life, and now with transiting Saturn being aspected by Pluto in Capricorn and eventually by Uranus, effective time management could be considered a survival skill. Hiroki Niizato presents an astrological perspective on time management as part of his 7-part series on facets of Saturn.

Coping and Healing Tools

Taking Up the Long Conversation with Astrology with Saturn in Libra squaring Pluto bringing up difficult questions for so many people, Jessica Shepherd asks how can astrology help, exploring the value of the creative dialogue between astrologer and client in this beautiful and moving article.

Saturn Survival Tips (He is your Ally, not your Enemy!) The Saturn Sisters, as the name suggests, are experts on Saturn. “Don't have too many rules or too few rules” and “Remember that limits create freedom” are just a couple of their snippets of sound advice for getting the planet of blocks and limitations firmly on your side.

Saturn and the Healing Power of Crystal Quartz Shakti Carola Navran, author of Jewelry and Gems for Self Discovery shows how Quartz Crystals and the Hermiker Diamond, which symbolise clarity, insight and balance, can be especially beneficial tools for coping with the current astrological climate.

Tapping For Saturn: Astrology And EFT Astrologer and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) Practitioner Kathy Loveless demonstrates how this simple, versatile but powerful healing tool can help you release and overcome the negative emotions and karmic patterns associated with Saturn transits and natal Saturn aspects.

Saturn Transit Libra: A Lesson in Boundaries Astrologer and energy healer Kachina Houska offers this simple visualization and energy technique to help promote boundary development within relationships, a positive and valuable way to connect with the energies of Saturn in Libra. See also Kachina’s Tips For Maintaining Physical Well-Being during these stressful Saturn-Pluto times.

For more helpful coping and healing tools for many of the issues our transits bring - including Saturn transits - check out the wonderful collection of articles on astrology and essences at Vibration Magazine Blog

Saturnalia (Mostly for Fun)

The Astrology of Aging Gemini’s in denial, Virgo’s feeling smug for once and Pisces has lost the plot altogether! Astrologer and cartoonist S.A. Hopkins, takes an irreverent look at the bodily effects of old father time. You can also see more of his cartoons at www.astrologic.us

How Strong is Your Saturn? Are you Saturnian? Find out with this quick and simple quiz from Donna at Sky Writer, then do the quizzes for Uranus and Pluto and compare your scores…You can also enter The T-Square Championship – with a great prize for the highest combined Saturn, Uranus and Pluto score. Discuss and compare your scores at the Astrocreeps Forum

The Sounds of Saturn We’ve all used music as a cathartic self-help tool at some time or other, even if we didn’t realize that was what we were doing. In that spirit, here’s a selection of rocking classics and melancholic dirges – perfect accompaniments to a Saturn transit.

RESOURCE: For further info, dates and data for the T-Square see: The Cardinal T-Square – What’s It All About?

RESOURCE: Don’t forget to check out Donna Cunningham’s Pluto-Saturn Preparedness Kit on her Skywriter blog

I really do hope you found this collection of articles helpful, enjoyable and insightful. If you would like to comment on individual articles you can do so on the author's own blog in most cases or you can discuss what you've read on the Astrocreeps Forum.

This collection is part of the 2010 International Astrology Day Blog-A-Thon, a permanent collection of articles launched 19-21 March. The theme of the blog-a-thon is the upcoming cardinal t-square. Click on the link below to go to the main event blog where you can follow the links to the Pluto and Uranus article collections, as well as all the other special events including: Sasstrology's Saturn in Libra relationship special; Vibrational Magazine's special on combining astrology and essences; Sound bytes from time past at the Astrologers' Memorial and Jude Cowell's stunning Cosmic Art Show.

For links to all IAD Blog-A-Thon Collections and Events Go To:

The 2010 International Astrology Day Blog-A-Thon

Please do bookmark this page before you go so you can come back and read more articles in this collection!

Photo Credits:
Saturn photography courtesy of NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Neon Saturn courtesy of NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Saturn spies the Moon by Jude Cowell

It was a real pleasure and honour to coordinate this fantastic collection. A huge thank you to all the wonderfully talented authors who contributed and a big thanks also to Donna Cunningham for conceiving and driving this important event and giving me the opportunity to get involved.
The International Astrology Day Blogathon articles collections are for educational purposes only.

Inclusion in the Blogathon Collections does not mean to imply recommendation or certification of any of the authors or their companies. We ask website visitors to make their own judgments about the quality of services or products described. Articles are not meant to be advice, and the information is not meant to replace medical or psychological treatment. Opinions expressed by authors and readers do not necessarily reflect those of the Blogathon coordinators.