Author Archives: admin

Pluto and the U.S.

Planetary stations are one of astrology’s most important predictive tools.  From our view on earth, when a planet stations, it appears to remain at a particular degree, then reverses its path in the sky (due to differing planetary orbits).  Since the transiting planet’s energies are more sustained and focused at this time, the station increases its impact.  As Pluto stationed from September to early October of 2013 at about 9 Capricorn, it approached an opposition to the U.S. Sun and had a number of dramatic and obvious influences on the country.

On October 1, 2013 the U.S. government went into a partial shutdown.  The Congress and Senate couldn’t agree on a funding bill, with some conservatives trying relentlessly to reverse Obamacare.  Meanwhile, the health care law was implemented and state health exchanges became active.  In addition, both houses of Congress must raise the national debt ceiling by October 17 or risk downgrading U.S. credit and other negative financial ramifications.

Pluto often relates to financial affairs, big business, power and control; the opposition aspect indicates polarization.   The Federal government power struggles have been all over the news as hundreds of thousands of government workers were laid off.  Yet Pluto relates to transformation and won’t oppose the U.S. Sun exactly until 2014.  Things will continue to change, and probably some consensus should be reached by the end of October 2013, when Saturn stabilizes the U.S. Sun.

Uranus, as it continues to square off against Pluto, should bring some dramatic changes to the U.S. in 2014.  This story is definitely not over yet.

Uranus square Pluto and New York City

The dynamic duo of Uranus square Pluto leaps forward, zapping the New York City horoscope and initiating a new episode in the City’s history throughout 2013 to early 2014.  It suggests a time of great transition that opens a new phase of experience, associated with sudden and unusual events and large scale changes in circumstances.  It favors reclaiming what works, as well as experimenting with new ideas.

Evangeline Adams described Uranus as bringing about epoch-making conditions, temporary uncertainty, and feelings of an unsettled or hectic time.  She added that, “Fate may seem to shuffle your cards,” and that we should “guard against fantastic schemes and unscrupulous promoters.”

Pluto unflinchingly breaks down the old and worn-out while recycling the best.  While this transit can empower the City and transform its identity, there could also be power struggles and conflicts with authority.  The bureaucracy may struggle for control before it’s restructured and overthrown by something more efficient. 

Hurricane Sandy seems to have been one of the events that kicked off the transit just a few months before the exact “hits,” demanding Pluto’s restoration and Uranus’ innovation.  Some 2013 events that reflect Uranus square Pluto include:

 Expansion of recycling to include most plastics;

Completion of the Freedom Tower;

Micro apartments certified and moving forward;

Thousands of new wheelchair-accessible cabs and green cabs in outer boroughs.

Citibikes program started with approximately 5,000 bikes;

#7 subway extension and Second Avenue line under construction toward 2014 and 2016 openings;

Repair and rehabilitation of the Brooklyn Bridge from 2011 to 2014;

Movement of business away from banks and toward technology.

The Sun relates to leadership and after 12 years with Michael Bloomberg, the City will have a new mayor in January of 2014.  (The City has not had a Democrat as mayor in 20 years.)  I believe that these shifts will be part of some major developments.

New York City is facing a $2 billion+ budget gap.  It has tremendously growing pension and healthcare obligations for its workers.  And contracts with 300,000 in municipal unions have expired in the last 3-4 years and remain to be negotiated.  Pluto will be pushing the new administration to make tough choices. We hope that Uranus will also offer some unique and innovative solutions. 

 For astrologers, Greater New York was created on 1/1/1898 at 12:01 AM.  New York’s Jupiter, Ascendant, Sun and Midheaven form a T-square in the cardinal signs Libra, Capricorn and Cancer, balancing the arts, business and home life.  Transiting Pluto hits this pattern throughout 2013.  Transiting Uranus galvanizes it from early 2013 through early 2014. 

Uranus square Pluto

Uranus square Pluto can define a generation, since both planets move slowly and the aspect lasts a long time, being highlighted particularly from mid-2012 to early 2015.  These two planets stir things up and break down existing conditions.  Their long-term transit is associated with sudden and unusual events and large scale changes in circumstances.   Uranus and Pluto previously combined in the mid-60s, ushering in a notable period of change in society.

 Pluto relates to transformation, recycling and renewal.  It works gradually and can rid us of what’s not working while capitalizing on what is.  Uranus often operates quickly, and may bring surprising developments.  It has the effect of shaking things up and at times may act unexpectedly.  What these two planets have in common is breaking away from the past and making way for the new. 

 Many authors have linked Uranus square Pluto to government and financial upheavals, the use or abuse of power and technology, increased activism, and notable climatic events.  In some places change might be radical or revolutionary, with transformation possible even on a global scale.  We’ve already seem Uranus square Pluto at work in Arab Spring and other rebellions against authority, the leaking of government documents, extreme weather conditions and some city and even state financial crises. 

If this planetary combination is hitting any of your personal planets, you could find some ups and downs.  This is a transitionary period of time.  The unexpected may happen and you might need to adjust.  However Uranus and Pluto both suggest that you continue moving ahead toward the future.  

Swami Vivekenanda on Universal Truth

This quote from Swami Vivekenanda seems very fresh today, over 100 years after he stated it. It’s a good example of how the opposition aspect works constructively in astrology:

Any attempt to bring all humanity to one method of thinking in spiritual things has been a failure and always will be a failure. You cannot make all conform to the same ideas. If you and I were to think exactly the same thoughts, there would be no thoughts for us to think. We know that two or more forces must come into collision in order to produce motion. It is the clash of thought, the differentiation of thought, that awakens thought. Whirls and eddies occur only in a rushing, living stream. There are no whirlpools in stagnant, dead water.

Every religion has a soul behind it, and that soul may differ from the soul of another religion; but are they contradictory? Do they contradict or supplement each other?

I took up this question when I was quite a boy, and have been studying it all my life. I believe that they are not contradictory; they are supplementary. Each religion takes up one part of the great universal truth and spreads its whole force in embodying and typifying that part of the great truth. It is therefore addition, not exclusion. System after system arises, each one embodying a great ideal; ideals must be added to ideals. And this is how humanity marches on.

– from a lecture at the Universalist Church, Pasadena, California, January 28, 1900

Traditional vs. Modern

Many astrologers today blend psychological with traditional astrology, making little distinction between the two philosophies. Many of the differences are historical.

When I first studied with Zoltan Mason (who was born in 1906) in the 1980s, he’d say things like, “Wherever you put Saturn you get some kind of difficulty.” Then I’d read something like Liz Greene’s 1976 book on Saturn and she says, “Saturn fosters the exhilaration of psychological freedom.” A bit confusing! But the difference shows the change in astrology over the 20th century. Mason studied works written in Latin by astrologers like Jean Baptiste Morin (17th century), and Greene had a contemporary point of view.

Over the centuries, astrology often adapted itself to prevailing trends. Alan Leo practiced a more predictive type of astrology until his conviction for fortune-telling in 1917, when he decided for legal reasons to delete all predictive references from his work (he died trying). Evangeline Adams’ work from the same time shows a very predictive bent. But her books from the late 20s and early 30s have a more psychological tone as she tried to reach a wider audience. As time went on, more astrology books described personal development and character, paralleling the rise of psychology.

Bob Zoller has always said that the concept of “evolution” is a very modern idea. Scientists today typically use linear thinking: we at the contemporary end of the line of time are always “better” than those before us, “more advanced” and knowledgeable. And astrology is a remnant of the past.

If we think of how tough it is to understand a Shakespeare play written about 400 years ago, how much more difficult is it to understand Plato, writing almost 2,500 years ago? It’s a stretch, and that’s in translation, too, putting it another step away from us. The first Greek horoscope is from around the time of Plato, but the idea of astrology is at least 2,000 years older and maybe even more.

Modern astrology is an adaptation to a contemporary perspective. Traditional astrology comes from a completely different paradigm, which is not understood very easily today. Whatever appeals to you, use it!

Welcome!

Hello! I’m Karen Christino, an astrologer and writer. I became addicted to astrology when I was 15 and I’m still hooked. And while I’ve written humorous essays and self-help pieces, what I mostly end up writing about is astrology. I find astrology endlessly fascinating since it can illuminate any facet of our lives. That’s why I love doing horoscope interpretations and personal forecasts for the future. We can anticipate what’s next in our lives.

But to look forward we also need to look back and understand past cycles and our multifaceted astrological tradition. So I’ve written books about the famous astrologer Evangeline Adams and edited a book of the incorrigible Al H. Morrison’s work, and done hundreds of articles about astrology and astrological techniques for astrology journals.

I’ve had a lot of fun with astrology, too, writing horoscope columns for such terrific magazines as Glamour, Cosmopolitan and Life & Style Weekly, along with features and forecasts for numerous other mainstream publications.

I believe that astrology can help us better understand ourselves, live our lives more fully, and begin to see the workings of the Cosmos. That’s why I tend to be something of a traditionalist. I see the psychological side of astrology, too, but I feel that astrology can help us more when we take the time to do a thorough study of an issue and make a definitive judgment. It can be done – it just takes time, and effort, and the acceptance that there are answers to our questions out there if we’ll look for them.

I hope you enjoy the thoughts that that I’ve collected on these pages!

 

 

Karen Christino is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com