Saturn Enters Libra and Starts a Series of Squares to Pluto in Capricorn

Well, folks. It's a point in time many of us have been waiting for. Saturn enters Libra at 11:09 a.m. MDT Thursday morning.

The Saturn transit through Virgo has been painstaking, and combined with a series of oppositions to Uranus in Pisces, it was at times overwhelming, exhausting, depressing and frightening.

Saturn in Virgo has a strong "reality check" function, as well as showing us where the structural set-ups are improperly constructed, eroded or unsustainably functioning. The transit of Saturn in Virgo coincided with the orchestrated Pluto in Capricorn collapse of the world economic system. There was a focus on workers (Virgo territory) who were thrown out of work, as well as anxiety, stress and overload of the system, in general, related to the breakdown of our business and economic structures. There was a struggle to maintain mental health for many people (myself included).

With Saturn in Virgo, we went over (and over) all the systems in our lives, including our personal physiological systems, working out every last detail and smoothing every last rough edge that could throw us off track over the long-term. We brought things into Virgoan moderation, cutting the extraneous and getting very, very clear on the areas that were lagging and keeping us from optimum health in our lives - hopefully doing what we had to to correct things.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that what has been done is enough and that there aren't any nasty forgotten details waiting in the wings. If there are, they will certainly come out of hiding during the Saturn retrograde back into Virgo in the spring of 2010.

There was a lot of "keep on keeping on," just doing what you're doing during Saturn in Virgo. Keeping ourselves going with mundane daily tasks in an effort to stay grounded in the midst of some very intense energetic dynamics.

With Saturn heaviness keeping us in check, at times the smallest of daily tasks felt like a Herculean effort to complete.

At this point, we've very precisely defined our Virgoan personal standards and made sure that we, personally, meet them. Phew.

And now, Saturn moves from a transitioning, adjusting, adapting mutable sign to an initiating, leading, let's-get-this-show-on-the-road cardinal sign. We move forward into relationships and relationship dynamics that reflect the precise personal standards we further developed while Saturn was in Virgo.

Virgo is the last of the zodiac signs that focusses on the development of the self. Aries through Virgo relates to that development process, and by the time we make it to the end of Virgo, we had better have a firm understanding and mastery of ourselves. Maturing into this understanding and mastery of ourselves was a big part of Saturn in Virgo. Analyzing our triggers, our self-sabotaging behaviours, our weak points, our blind spots and the areas where we just needed to improve was not all that comfortable, but it was very necessary. Virgo doesn't mess with anything that isn't necessary.

Now Saturn ingresses into Libra, and we turn from a focus on the self to a focus on the self interacting with other people. We open ourselves up to the other here. Relationships. And maaaaan, do they need a lot of work. ;-) Saturn has entered Libra just in time.

Relationships are always a spicy topic, a crowd favourite. So Saturn in Libra should at the very least hold people's interest. Whether they're willing to do the Saturnine work associated within their relationship set-ups (and the remaining work within themselves) will be another story. A lot of nagging, squirm-worthy relationship issues, both personal and collective/archetypal, will come under the cosmic thumb during Saturn in Libra.

Saturn in Libra immediately begins a series of squares to Pluto in Capricorn, part of a six-year series of cardinal squares. The first Saturn in Libra - Pluto in Capricorn square is exact November 15 with the third and final square exact on August 20, 2010.

The relationships and partnerships we enter into and commit to now (especially potent around November 15) are strategic, both personally and on a broader level. There's a sort of "keeping your eye on the prize" vibe. Relationships we enter into or solidify now are designed with long-term goals in mind, especially related to career ambitions, public advancement and reaching our potentials as human beings.

The key will be to form relationships and partnerships with people whose long-term goals are compatible with your own. Partnerships that can help both parties cover ground they could not cover alone. Fully understanding what both you and the other person bring to the table and offer is very important. No selling ourselves short or buying into image over substance. It has to be a fair deal.

With a long-term square between Saturn and Pluto involved, I expect many ugly splits and broken alliances as the true ambitions and characters of both people and groups/institutions continue to come to visibility.

And here is the Libra-Capricorn square tension. Libra doesn't want to sully the experience of love, relationship harmony and the pleasure of another's company with the requirements of the hardcore Pluto in Capricorn agenda. And Pluto in Capricorn doesn't want to have to temper ambitions and adjust agendas to accomodate things like...other people! Or what's fair, just or harmonious.

The people at the top of the power hierarchies these days commit crimes against humanity to further their agendas...they don't bother with such concepts as human rights and dignity.

So these dynamics are inevitably going to cause discomfort because we certainly must keep in mind the Plutonic morphing of our structures and the various competing motivations and goals for long-term collective progress. The power plays, the strategic partnerships, the surface-level diplomacy hiding bared teeth. And as we restructure, the Libra demands for justice, peace and fairness are going to be fighting for inclusion as primary considerations in the long-range agendas. Saturn in Libra is now the dispositor (major layer of influence) of Pluto in Capricorn...

Allegiances and alliances that were once hidden will be pushed to the surface by Pluto's relentless rooting around and penetration to core reality, especially within structural hierarchies and power dynamics.

All that is going to place some strain on our Libra energy as it seeks to maintain balance and equilibrium - another great Saturn in Libra challenge. Keeping the peace, as well as a state of inner peace, as the structural set-ups and institutions are in a state of Plutonic turmoil and uncertainty.

Keeping our calm little centres in the midst of a beyond-our-control Plutonic shitshow is a major theme of Pluto, in general. With Saturn in Libra squaring Pluto in Capricorn, our challenge will be to keep things from upending completely, struggling at times to keep the scales balanced - or at least in the process of balancing. Maintaining our relationships. Being aware of what is going on beneath the surface but maintaining the hard-won Libra truce whenever possible.

We'll have our Libra sense of injustice triggered many times during this transit as people strive to dominate and control and come out on top in the Capricornian hierarchies. We'll be challenged to get serious, get real and become more effective with our efforts to expose tyranny.

The possibility of bitter Plutonic betrayals and dramatic meltdown splits (especially career-related) will be lessened if we did the work related to the most recent Venus retrograde in Aries square Pluto in Capricorn. If we learned our lessons then about staying true to who we really are in our relations with others and if we battled for that when necessary as Venus opposed Pluto from Cancer and then squared it again in the closing square from Libra, this should ensure that we enter into only suitable relationships at this point.

Other Saturn in Libra themes include: maturing our relationship dynamics, restructuring into relationships of true equals, using the structures of our relationships as a vehicle for personal maturation, growth and success, growing up related to culturally-reinforced expectations of relationships and the people within them. Fulfilling our responsibilities to the people with whom we are in relationship. Maintaining a state of inner equilibrium no matter what is going on around us. The struggle for justice, particularly social justice. Human rights. Peace, fairness and equality - and making those at the very least equally important as power, money and image within our structures. Art as a catalyst for social and structural change.

Saturn in Libra will also involve facing and maturing the slippery Libra qualities like social artifice, telling people what they want to hear - not what you really think or feel, passive aggressiveness, inability to ask for what one wants, codependency and basic underhanded social tricks.

With Saturn in Libra square Pluto in Capricorn, the Pluto in Libras have their first real initiation into leadership roles within the public power structures. (God, help us.) This continues throughout the next 15 years of the Pluto in Capricorn transit as it squares their natal Pluto in Libras.

As the Pluto in Libras take on positions of more responsibility and power within the crumbling structural set-ups, they will be challenged to use their "cutting the crap in relationship dynamics" skills while maintaining as much harmony as possible. I'm sure the horrific ways many people interact with each other these days, especially in the business world, will bring many a Pluto in Libra to meltdown-level frustration. (They already do.)

The growing lack of common decency and erosion of human dignity will be big issues for the Pluto in Libras. Transforming out of the hideous state of human relations and levels of injustice into right relations is going to be a long, often difficult process. But there's hope that taking on this Plutonic process can head off World War III, no matter how hell-bent world governments are to instigate it.

As Saturn moves through Libra, strong leadership in the breaking down of outdated, crystallized relationship dynamics that stifle the human soul and the ability to love ourselves and others is a responsibility that rests on the shoulders of the Pluto in Libras. We're between 25 and 38 years old now, so I guess it's time. We've been doing this generational Plutonic soul work behind the scenes, mostly undetected, and now as Saturn transits, we make it more publicly visible.

The Pluto in Libras will have their work cut out for them attempting to bring the the whole of the structural set-ups to a state of equilibrium in the midst of continuing collapse, as well as creating new social systems and ways of doing things with equality, fairness and justice at the forefront.

With Pluto, there is the possibility of using its power to further dominate in already-existing power dynamics or to break down the domination/subjugation constructs so that something better can regenerate. We should be aware that both these dynamics will be going on, depending on the root motivation of the person.

There is the ability to choose the egalitarian track and sever ties with as much of illegitimate hierarchy as possible, but there is also the choice to fit into the hierarchical structures as they exist and use the social wizardry of Pluto in Libra to pull the wool over people's eyes.

From a previous post related to the Libra-Capricorn square:

"Restructuring within hierarchical power structures, new balance of power, new relationships, new allegiances, all with big, old "brotherly love" grins on their faces. Showing a surface level of Libra peace and cooperation while the root motivations and strategic actions remain hidden to the people. Look beneath the surface, when the cameras are off, to see what's really going on behind our backs, in our names."

The rebalancing of masculine and feminine is also a big challenge, especially within the career/home continuum. The feminine is coming to the table as a full partner, nothing less.

On a global scale, we've seen an initial restructuring of power relations at the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh during the last weekend in September. We saw the G20 nations take the reins from the G8 on world economic issues, a process of which most citizens were (and still are) ignorant. New power players coming to the table, fusing agendas.

At that time, the Sun was in Libra (diplomatic relations) squaring Pluto in Capricorn (hidden strategic manoevres within power hierarchies) on the first degrees of those cardinal signs. The Saturn-Pluto square on November 15 will structurally cement the new allegiances and power relationships begun then, as the world leader personalities met behind closed doors guarded by 4,000 riot police.

So to recap: the Saturn in Libra - Pluto in Capricorn square we're heading to on November 15 is the first of the big cardinal squares we will experience over the next six years. Grand-scale leadership shifts, advancement of agendas and jockeying for position on a global scale. And corresponding new directions, partnerships, relationship dynamics and allegiances on a personal level with an eye toward reaching our full potentials, especially in the public/career realm.

I must say, this post is very dry! But it's Saturn. What can you do?

Regardless, the shift of Saturn into cardinal energy and solid movement out of such a transitional time feels like welcome news...