Peacekeeping (Libra) Versus Peacemaking (Scorpio)

This might be a controversial assertion, but I don't think the sign of Libra alone is all that skilled in the creation of peace. Libra is the peacekeeper, maybe. But peacemaker? Peace creator? No.

Libra can often maintain, through its slick social skills and airy diplomacy, a form of peace that has already been established, but getting to a state of real peace often involves getting into it, and Libra is a sign that, especially when squared by Cancer or Capricorn, prefers to avoid that unpleasantness.

This avoidance is problematic because getting to a real state of peace often involves complex and longstanding disputes, injustices, imbalances, injuries, and instances of oppression that have been hidden, covered over, smoothed over, let slide, reinforced - made worse, in fact, by Libra's glossing over of realities and nervous insistence on everything staying nicey-nice.

Slapping a Band-Aid on it and forcing a phony handshake over drinks without addressing underlying issues is not the recipe for true, longstanding justice or the peace that stems from that. Keeping everything Libran light and pleasant isn't really the goal when you get right down to it - getting to the root of the discord and injustice is, as well as to a mutual understanding of what caused and continues to cause these things so they can be addressed and the chains broken.

The drawing up and divining sign of Scorpio, then, becomes instrumental in the process of peace creation. The road to peace might be initiated in cardinal air Libra, but it's fixed water Scorpio that digs in and takes the process beneath the surface, where it needs to go to be truly effective.

It's the catalytic power of expressing the raw human experiences of millennia of suppression on this planet, especially emotional and psychological realities, that starts the process toward real peace, equality, and harmony. If we can't get to and express the core realities, we don't get to any real healing, peace, or understanding.

With Scorpio, there is right and wrong, good and evil, just and unjust - and these cut-and-dry distinctions can make Libra, which at times searches for common ground that does not exist, very uncomfortable. This is part of the reason why Venus, Libra's ruling planet, is considered to be in its detriment in Scorpio.

Scorpio is a sign that is, or rather, can become, fully aware of core realities and hidden dynamics, especially of the domination/subjugation variety. Skilled Scorpionic types (whether that be a strong Scorpio contingent, a strong Pluto, a strong 8th house, or a combination) can feel a subtle energetic disruption that most other people wouldn't have the radar to pick up, and they can follow that disruption right to the root via sheer intuition.

Scorpionic or Plutonic people can understand the root causes of behaviour that others would write off as bizarre or extreme - especially when that behaviour is an expression of collectively-reinforced repressive/oppressive dynamics. Scorpio understands that at a certain level of collective denial, the pressure on the individuals with awareness cannot be contained any longer, and it erupts. Scorpio is a sign associated with volcanic eruptions and  also nuclear meltdowns of the emotional variety. 

Pluto Stationing Direct, the Second Uranus-Pluto Square, and Pallas Athene Still Kicking a Little Butt in Aries

Pluto is currently slowing in the zodiac to station direct at 6 degrees Capricorn September 17, and as it does, it permeates the astro atmosphere with its deep, dark, raw intensity. Feeling nauseated, greasy, triggered, paranoid, exhausted, poisoned, irritable, low on tolerance, ready to blow, and as if you are energetically moulting are all par for the course during a Pluto station.

Our bullshit detectors are more highly-tuned than usual when Pluto hangs heavy in the atmosphere, as it does this September, and listening to anything dishonest or lacking in integrity can actually make one feel physically ill. (I would suggest skipping the phoniness of the United States' presidential politics at this time if you’re particularly sensitive, or you may find yourself gripping a toilet bowl.)

Add to this Pluto direct station (late on September 17) the fact that we experience the second Uranus in Aries - Pluto in Capricorn square the very next day (late on September 18) and we have an extremely intense fall equinox going down.

Uranus and Pluto are moving back and forth, back and forth, in a series of seven squares between 2012 and 2015. The last time we experienced a square series between these two was 1932 – 1934 during The Great Depression.

Uranus and Pluto are outer/transpersonal planets, and their movements indicate global seismic shifts that trickle down into the personal life.

This second square, with both bodies retrograde, picks up where we left off at the first Uranus-Pluto square June 24. We drop into new gears here under pressure and friction that create (or force) movement into new territory. The entire structural reality is in a state of morph, being shaped by global power structures of nefarious motivation, and we’re challenged to keep our balance throughout the process.

We’re seeing orchestrated movements from Global Governors worldwide under this square series and a state of corruption and inhumanity that is truly mind-boggling as it goes on under the noses of the populace.

The tension purposefully being created by macro power moves is immense, and we're seeing people crack under the pressure.

Intense hatred is being stirred intentionally on this planet, and the coping skills necessary to deal with it are being withheld, particularly for men.

Mass shootings have become somewhat commonplace in the United States, with a major one occurring every year or two, but we saw a horrific concentration of them between the first Uranus-Pluto square June 24 and the second September 18.

There was the Aurora, Colorado theatre shooting July 20 that killed 12 and wounded scores more. Then there was the mass shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin August 5, committed by an ex-U.S. Army member and white supremacist, that left six people dead and four wounded. A gunman opened fire at Texas A&M University August 13, killing two people and wounding three more before he was shot dead. And a mass shooting outside the Empire State Building in New York City on August 24 by a man who had recently been fired left two dead (including the shooter) and six wounded.

The election of the separatist Parti Quebecois in French-speaking province Quebec on September 4 re-opened old fault lines in Canada, as well. A gunman opened fire at the celebration party for the PQ win in Montreal, killing one and critically wounding another. The man reportedly shouted, "English are waking up! English are waking up!" as police took him into custody. You’ll recall that Canada’s Sun-Uranus at 8 degrees Cancer was locked into exact cardinal t-square by the first Uranus - Pluto square in June, and it is within tight orb again during the second.

All this violence might seem to be coming out of the blue (Uranus in Aries), but if we look at the violence being brought down around the world by both the United States and its trusty sidekick Canada, we understand that these seemingly random acts of violence are occurring fully within their context (Pluto).

Female warrior Pallas Athene continues to be a major player in the Uranus-Pluto squares. This asteroid is on Uranus like a second skin as the planet cries out for women and the feminine to step it up, speak out, and exert themselves at the threshold of this new astrological era.

“This feminine warrior asteroid is absolutely potent at this important time on the planet and will not be shuffled to the side. Pallas Athene was right up front in the proceedings, exactly conjunct Uranus in Aries and square Pluto in Capricorn, during the first of the seven Uranus-Pluto squares on June 24, 2012, and it has stayed there ever since. This asteroid holds crucial position for women and for the feminine, in general. It simply won't back down. Like a dog on a bone, it moves retrograde, step-for-step, in tight conjunction with Uranus into the second Uranus-Pluto square September 18/19.”

Both Mercury and the Sun in Libra move into cardinal t-square position this September, and social dynamics – with Saturn transiting the final degrees of Libra – are, at times, tense, stressed, and highly-charged.

September is the last full month of the Saturn in Libra transit – Saturn enters Scorpio October 5 – and our social lessons and maturity in relationship are certainly being put to the test under these configurations. We are proving or disproving our ability to hold social position, authority, and responsibility under this pressure.

Mercury enters Libra September 16, and our state of ongoing cardinal t-square is triggered yet again as it moves into position opposite Pallas Athene-Uranus in Aries and square Pluto in Capricorn. The t-square configuration is exact September 20.

Our communications with others are taut, to say the least. People are wound tightly here, and things are simmering beneath the social interactions. Words are highly-charged and potentially incendiary with Mercury squaring volcanic Pluto and opposing unpredictably inflammatory Uranus and Pallas Athene.

Mercury in Libra does its best to keep things socially smooth and congenial - often the domain of women.

Pallas Athene, working on the astrological Aquarian vibe in conjunction to Uranus, is fighting to break us out of stifling, control-based social roles, particularly for women.

You see the tension of this opposition.

Playing social roles and maintaining the comfort of a position within polite society is the domain of Mercury in Libra. But…

“In Aries, Pallas Athene is fighting for the rights of women as self-sovereign individuals, outside roles and identities as wives, sexual partners, mothers, daughters, sisters, workers, or domestic labour."

With Saturn cementing our relational position in the last degrees of Libra, we have to maintain social standards here, but this is very tough to do when we feel like snarling Plutonic beasts with an overwhelming Uranian-Pallas Athenian urge to annihilate every social more in existence.

The sweet, social Libra tongue holds everything in the balance. We keep it congenial – unless, that is, it becomes oh-so-necessary to fight a lightning-flash verbal battle. The feminine perspective is particularly at the breaking point here. It’s put up with all it is humanly possible to put up with, and speaking up on inflammatory issues when necessary becomes just as important as maintaining social decorum – probably more so.

The Sun enters Libra September 22, and our state of ongoing cardinal t-square keeps right on trucking as we head through fall equinox in the northern hemisphere.

The cardinal t-square involving the Sun is exact September 29, and it is the dominant configuration involved in the Aries Full Moon that night. The Aries Full Moon falls tightly within t-square configuration, conjunct Uranus and Pallas Athene, opposite the Sun in Libra, and square Pluto.

All I can say is: yowtch. These configurations are too hot to touch, almost too intense to handle, but we're going to have to keep our balance and our social graces about us with the strong Libra influence. With Saturn completing its transit, it’s final exam time in the realm of relationship, both personal and professional.

It’s easy to be nice and socially congenial when things are going smoothly. But toss this level of friction, intensity, and potentially volatile energy into the mix, and let’s see who can maintain their Saturnine stiff upper lips.

The structural work we’ve done in relationships so far is put practically to the test, with every bolt and screw challenged under intense, real-life pressure. As with the Mars in Libra conjunction to Saturn mid-August, how we perform now determines whether we cement new social position and authority or whether we’re unceremoniously demoted. Skimmed-over weaknesses or skipped steps from the Saturn in Libra transit will be apparent now.

Earlier this summer, we had an emphasis on the Cancer-Libra square. Now, with Mercury and the Sun squaring Pluto, the emphasis shifts to the Libra-Capricorn square.

This is the dynamic friction between “all-business” Capricorn and “life-work balance” Libra. Capricorn can’t see any goals other than getting the job done, achieving, and advancing. Libra sees that there are issues of human relationship, beauty, fairness, and social justice that must come into play.

The Libra-Capricorn square holds within it the tension related to maintaining right human relations within an increasingly ruthless business world.

The social role of women in business, in particular, comes under intense scrutiny here. There are aspects of the expected female role in the workplace that are stultifying, oppressive, and just plain unfair. Women are held back from achieving and from holding positions of recognized power due to social conditioning and the expectations that they will stay within that conditioning.

Again, the energy of Pallas Athene conjunct Uranus in Aries is highlighted here, with a do-or-die, now-or-never effort on the part of women and the feminine to bust out of the social roles, conditioning, and expectations that have kept them so unhappily confined.