Saturn, Mars and Venus in Libra and the Second Cardinal T-Square of the Summer

July 21 finds us with Saturn re-entering Libra - this time for the remainder of its transit until early October 2012.

July 26, it opposes Uranus in the fifth and final Saturn-Uranus opposition, this time at zero Libra/Aries, completing a 2.5 year cycle of oppositions that has rattled and shaken our structural realities to the point that they are now barely recognizable. A smooth and gradual transition it was not.

Between July 26 and August 20, Saturn will be moving to its third and final square to Pluto in Capricorn, also completing that cycle which began in November 2009.

So we have all these cycles completing at the same time as we're experiencing a second very powerful cardinal t-square - this one much longer-lasting - coming at us from Libra now instead of Cancer. Cycles are completing while we simultaneously have potent frictional impetus to actions initiated, new directions taken, new allegiances formed and underway - all in light of the stresses and difficulties of these transitional and transformational (for good or ill) times on Planet Earth.

The summer of 2010 is a big summer in the scope of things, to say the least.

Saturn in late Virgo has always been within range of these squares, but I was unable to call the configuration in late June a "Cardinal Grand Cross" because Saturn was not in a cardinal sign. It was an energetic Grand Cross - within degree but not by sign.

The cardinal t-square we experienced around June 26 (coinciding with the Full Moon Capricorn eclipse) involved the Sun and Mercury in Cancer opposing Pluto and the Moon in Capricorn squaring Jupiter-Uranus in Aries. Saturn in Virgo created the fourth leg - again, an energetic Grand Cross but not a full Cardinal Grand Cross. Virgoan details.

The Sun and Mercury are fast-moving planets, so the time frame of this initial cardinal t-square was very quick. An insanely intense energetic configuration in a tiny window of time - like a warp speed imprinting of energetic potential, with ripple effects for the next five years of cardinal squares but also for the next 2,000+ of the astrological Aquarian era. So you see why our full awareness and informed actions/decisions were and continue to be so important.

When Saturn re-enters Libra in a couple weeks, the Sun and Mercury will be out of range of their square from Cancer, but it will shift into full cardinal t-square alignment opposing Uranus and Jupiter in Aries and squaring Pluto in Capricorn.

Jupiter in Aries is stationing in exact square to Pluto Rx in Capricorn, increasing the potency of this energy and configuration.

I know it sounds like a broken record about how powerful these configurations are, but they really are. Layer after layer, aspect after aspect. We're ticking the seconds off of an entire 2,000+ astrological era (Pisces) and transitioning into a new 2,000+ cycle (Aquarius). Intuitively, I like Carl Johan Calleman's date for the actual ending of the Mayan calendar - October 28, 2011. This seems to fit the intensity and the acceleration we're experiencing, indicated astrologically.

To be honest, I'm not sure if human beings will be around for the full Aquarian cycle considering the state of things currently and the direction things seems to be taking straight out of the gate (at least, the human beings who share aspects of my personal spiritual lineage and energetic reason for being on this planet). But we're here now, so present we shall stay, fighting for our right to exist on this planet despite those doing everything in their power to make things inhabitable for us here.

So they think they can do this planet without us, eh? Hmm...

We're personally invested in what goes on here. God is invested in us. What we do with our time here matters - especially, at this point, in what we do with others, the quality of our relationships. And Mars and Venus, soon to be entering Libra, are coming to the table within this cardinal t-square to bring that point to full awareness.

Mars enters Libra July 29, opposes Uranus in Aries July 30, conjuncts Saturn July 31, and opposes stationing Jupiter and squares Pluto Rx in Capricorn August 3. Whew! Seriously.

As if that action weren't enough, Venus enters Libra August 6 and does the same dance Mars did in the cardinal t-square configuration. It opposes Uranus in Aries August 7, conjuncts Saturn in Libra August 8 and opposes Jupiter in Aries and squares Pluto Rx in Capricorn August 9. Whew squared!

This brings us personally into the proceedings. We're not just along for the ride with the transpersonal and intermediary planets (Jupiter and Saturn) acting upon our lives. The personal planets are involved; we're invested. We want and need things to go a certain way here, in more ways than one.

With all the Libra influence, this especially involves our relationships. Considering the context of the times, we no longer have a lot of time (Saturn) to waste in relationships that do not truly honour us or meet our needs. There isn't much room for do-overs now. We're craving quality human beings and quality relationships that we can build upon, invest ourselves in, develop our full potentials within.

What this planet needs are people willing to commit to the sometimes difficult process of harmony-creation and love-building between two people that will start to bring things back to an energetic state of balance. Reaching for the fullest, truest potential of ourselves and each other within relationship, despite the difficulty of the circumstances. Our highest selves, interacting. Every break from that is a break in the chain that the planet (and we) cannot afford at this time.

It's time for a new level of maturity, respect and responsibility toward others.

Our relations, especially romantic love relations, have gone pretty far afield in many cases from the mutually supportive, soul-and-spirit-honouring interchanges they're meant to be. Many people have bought into the idea constantly advertised to us that sex and love are cheap, easy and expendable. Easy come, easy go. Run into a problem? Just toss it into the heap and onto the next. Fast food love.

Now with Saturn entering Libra, things shift. That type of interaction is no longer going to sustain - just as a diet of Big Macs or Whoppers will not sustain. Fast food love and sex will be seen as the toxic energy exchange they are, and we'll crave (and demand) something deeper, better, more befitting who we really are as human beings. Something we can count on. People we can count on.

Maturity, fidelity and seriousness - being serious about each other - are about to get very sexy.

All this summer Libra action is a precursor to the Venus in Scorpio retrograde this fall (October 8 - November 18) when relationships will either end or fuse. Be shed or merge. And we'll be left, post-retro, in a much more real, authentic and raw place from which to relate - soul-to-soul, heart-to-heart, no BS - just how Scorpio (mature Scorpio) likes it.

Pluto and Ceres will finally meet in conjunction during the Venus retrograde in Scorpio, adding to the mythological/archetypal layers and underlying intensity of this time period. We need to clear unfinished business. It's now or never. This is my hope - renewal and restoration in love matters for all of us this fall. The cycle completing and falling away.

We're building on the work of the Pluto in Libra generation here - their stripping down of relationship constructs past their prime, abusive control and power dynamics, and relationship set-ups that deprive us of love, intimacy and closeness while keeping us from reaching our full potentials, together, within them. Stripping the Neptunian illusions and delusions around love and love relationships that set us up so painfully for disappointment and disillusionment.

The relationship constructs going forward will be much more alchemically fluid, dynamic, catalytic - creating an energy that is above and beyond the energy of the two individuals within them. We're not going backward here to relationship dynamics that stifled our love and development in the past - we're drawing the solid, valuable aspects of relationship through time and space into our current relationships. We're moving forward, but we're not leaving any crucial basic foundational tenets behind. This is the conserving influence of Saturn in Libra.

There is a lot going on as we head more fully into a summer, fall and winter that bring our relationships right to the forefront.

Saturn in Libra July 21 will be just the beginning.