'Twas the Night Before the Uranus-Pluto Square, and All Through the House...

...or shall I say "houses"?

A few posts ago I wrote about the upcoming Uranus-Pluto square; the first of seven (!) is exact tomorrow, June 24, 4:14 a.m. EDT.

I turn now to you, Dear Readers, to further enlighten (or endarken) me on this major aspect -- for although outer-planet aspects are collective and global in nature, the world is comprised of individuals.

If you know your birth chart, please write in and let me know in which houses the Uranus-Pluto square occurs, as well as any pertinent details as personal as you care to make them.

If you do not know your birth chart, but have been reading about the Uranus-Pluto square, how has this square been affecting you?

I am interested to hear from you whatever your sign, age, or experience of the square, but am especially interested in hearing from those of you who were born during the Uranus-Pluto conjunction of 1965-66, for the Uranus-Pluto square marks your official entry into midlife. Any interesting crises to report? Any predictions on the trajectory of your "X" generation?

How about those of you who were born a decade later, 1975-76, with natal Pluto at 8 degrees of Libra (which forms a stressful T-square to the already-stressful Uranus-Pluto square)? Post-Saturn Return but pre-midlife, are you energized or are you burning out?

And what's up with you even younger upstarts born in 1988, with Neptune at 8 degrees of Capricorn (conjunct transiting Pluto and square transiting Uranus)? Are you having a spiritual awakening, dissolving any walls or defenses, or are you having a full-fledged waking nightmare?

Okay, I will share first: the Uranus-Pluto square falls in my seventh (Uranus) and fourth (Pluto) houses. I have just moved (for the second time with Pluto transiting my fourth house of home), and it was extremely traumatic despite the overwhelmingly positive "realities" (location-location-location, plus cheaper rent). My relationship (seventh house) feels uneven and unstable (Uranus) partly due to the move and partly thanks to unexpected (Uranus again!) and unwelcome health issues brought on by too little sleep and too much stress (my sixth house of health and work is 29 degrees of Aquarius, and so is ruled by Uranus). And speaking of work, I have lost much of my freelance (oh, you're still here, Uranus?) momentum; I have little energy to hustle for projects, which is at least half the freelancer's battle. At least today, on the Sun-Neptune trine, I had a good day with my Neptune-ruled sweetie, first at my new place (Sun in Cancer) and then at the beach (Neptune in Pisces), though I could have lived without the annual Mermaid Parade crowd. Too bad my energy later drained to the point that I ended the night alone (oh, you Neptune, you).

Your turn. I thank you in advance for your candor.

T-Square City: Mercury, Mars, Pluto Problems

One of the toughest things I find about being an astrologer is heeding particular planetary aspects about which I freely (and sometimes less than diplomatically) caution others.

Case in point: the T-square between Mercury, Mars, and Pluto that is still in effect, although the Mercury/Mars square (which killed Ted Kennedy, who was suffering from a malignant brain tumor [a Mars affliction] late last night) is over, as is the Mercury/Pluto square (I do not look forward to reading breaking stories on NYTimes.com.). But the Mars/Pluto opposition is not over until later today.

To backtrack just a bit, for those of you who have no idea what a T-square is: this is a configuration that involves at least three planets, two 90-degree squares, and one 180-degree opposition. As potentially nasty as a T-square can be, it is still preferable to what is called a Grand Cross, which involves at least four planets and two sets of oppositions, which means four sets of squares. A Grand Cross is an aspect that I would not wish on anyone's natal chart, as it is a classic case of being locked up, immobilized (especially when the fixed signs are involved); however, a T-square has a "key" in the form of the sign that is not involved in the second opposition.

In the case of this T-square, critical degrees (i.e., degrees traditionally considered very significant) are in play: Mercury at 0 degrees of Libra, Mars at 0 Cancer, and Pluto at 0 Capricorn. The key to this morass of misunderstandings, miscommunications, anger, resentment, aggression, and abuse of power is 0 degrees Aries--perhaps the most headstrong degree of the zodiac (keeping in mind that Aries rules the head). Aries can be a soft, wooly lamb--or a battering ram. You must decide which of these creatures to be in order to free yourself from this T-square.

Yesterday, despite the oncoming Mercury/Mars square, I chose to throw caution to the wind in terms of communication with two people, and no harm resulted; indeed, with Mercury in the last degree of Virgo and Mars in the last degree of Gemini I was bitten by a most glorious poetry bug. Yet today I decided not to confront someone else about an issue that has been troubling me. At the very least, a Mars/Pluto opposition indicates power plays, secrets, and subterfuge; at most, severe betrayal and violence result. As a Plutonian, I cannot easily shrug off the heavy vibrations and consequences that come from fucking with this planet at the wrong time. The Moon, keeper of the emotions, is still transiting the Pluto-ruled sign of Scorpio.

Time to bide my time.