'My Cardinal Climax Was a Dud, and I Want My Money Back'

9.2.10


These days, whenever folks ask me when 'this' is going to be over, I presume they're asking about the much-hyped mid-2010 'cardinal climax' astrology…

… and the only answer I can truthfully posit is sort of a contorted one: (1) The most intense 'pinch' is starting to come to a close, but (2) this phase has actually been more of an introduction to a longer, deeper collective reformation than its own end-all-be-all.

In other words, the T-square between Saturn, Jupiter/Uranus (in conjunction), and Pluto has already hit its cumulative peak, and Saturn now begins to move out of range from both its Uranus opposition and Pluto square. And while Saturn still has one more opposition to Jupiter on the horizon (in March 2011), his meatiest role in this latest action has come and gone.

On the other hand, the square between Uranus and Pluto has only barely asserted itself… and this aspect is arguably the biggest big-momma of the bunch, rousing these insurgent vibes we've recently harbored into a full-on protracted conflict orientation. Even at the height of this summer's planetary clusterfuck, Uranus and Pluto only approached their square within an orb of about three degrees. In fact, the Uranus-Pluto square doesn't even perfect for the first time until June 2012… and then goes on to form seven exact angles, which last through March 2015 and don't wane fully out of orb until 2016-2017. That's a friggin' long-ass time!

Still having only barely passed mid-2010's hottest astrological hotspot, we can't help but turn our evaluative noses to the scent… to sniff out whether our lived reality has indeed matched the hype I and other astrologers have attached to these astro-aspects. Where's the 'spectacular' event plastered across the global headlines? Where are the massive volcanic eruptions, urban explosions, economic plunges, extraterrestrial landings? Aside from the ongoing fallout from that little oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico ('it's over, and everything's fine, right?'), is it possible that this 'drama queen astrology' is proving to have more bark than bite? (Fast-forward hint: I don't think so.)

If mainstream news reports were our primary indicator of what's going on in the world, we might rightfully question if we'd gotten our panties tangled in a bunch over nothing. Though the economic picture remains bleak, spin-doctors continue to underplay this truth by merely adjusting their growth forecasts downward ('but it's still a "recover", I swear!')… rather than, say, leveling with us about how badly things suck, which would then necessitate they concentrate their efforts on actively offering aid and creating jobs (by rebuilding our national infrastructure, for example), not cutting benefits off and worrying about deficit spending at the very moment we need capital investment to ward off entrenched sluggishness. One would think credit-card reform (and I use that term lightly) would protect individuals from unfair lending practices, if only the credit-card industry wasn't able to simply exploit a loophole and offer 'professional cards' to its unsuspecting usury-victims. One might wonder if any American cares that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of corporations possessing the freedom to buy elections (corporations are now legally 'people', people!), but what media company would sell that good citizen any airtime? (And who'd be able to afford it, anyway?) No news must be good news, which is why everything about that little oil spill must be going super-well—or is it merely that journalists' access has been blocked from the oil-spill site? For that matter, is journalism a dying art? Who wants to pay for any semblance of Objective Truth these days when, for a slightly higher wage, you can purchase your very own talking-head and program its biases to your liking? Mainstream news as solid indicator? Not so much anymore.

Sigh.

Meanwhile, lately in our individual lives (or at least a vast majority of the ones I've had the privilege to be part of), we'd cackle in disbelief at the notion of us astrologers having exaggerated anything about this period in history. Many of us are cracking open or falling apart, breaking down or busting through. Our bank accounts are disappearing more quickly, our jobs are draining our souls in a worse way. Our relationships have exposed their cleavages and imperfections, while family members are revealing their too-self-serving stake in steering us in certain directions. And if it's not us experiencing these intense evolutionary pressures in such a short span of time, it's surely at least one important somebody in our lives. Nobody, it seems, is completely untouched by the mid-2010 astrology.

Our big 'however' here is whether to agree with the astrological wisdom… that this moment really is as monumentally redefining as everyone's been saying (well, as I have been). I mean, we all have our periodic rough-spots and danger-zones. Except for the scant few who have recently been showered with fat jobs, romantic avalanches or other golden-tickets (and those of you out there shouldn't think these lucky breaks won't come with their fair share of new complications to learn to navigate), the 'dramatic revolutions' slated to arrive these past couple months probably didn't live up to our wilder expectations. Can you legitimately look around and claim you've become a totally different person than you were six months ago? I'm not sure I can.

But I'm also not sure I presently possess the perspective to accurately make that call.

Hindsight, on the other hand, generally proves to provide the most precise vision… and I'm still willing to wager my credibility on the notion that, looking back at mid-2010 (and what will follow on its heels) from further down the long corridors of history, we will acknowledge this as having been a fundamental turning-point in our lives. If Rome wasn't built in a day, it surely requires at least as much time to tear it apart—especially when those who still benefit greatly from its rotting premises are angling to protect and preserve—and then to rebuild it, better than before.

Think of Uranus-square-Pluto, lasting through 2016-2017, as the full umbrella of this destruction/reconstruction... and thus this recent T-square is, in effect, our first whole-hog, nothing's-holy, unflinching confrontation with what isn't working. Forgive us if this facing-up is jarring or painful, requiring a smidgeon of adjustment time to digest these obvious signs of certain necessarily imminent deaths. At the same time, we become simultaneously aware of what does work—mutually respectful and honest interactions, with loved ones and strangers alike; substituting societally-instilled greed with humble gratitude; sustainability and balance as overridings concept driving our future survival. That serves as our invitation to prioritize these values above all else, while we un-attach ourselves from all the rest.

Though many of us have recently felt raked over the coals, questioning what all this tension and discomfort is ultimately 'for', we must accept the reality that the eventual 'final product' (as if anything is ever 'final') is impossible for us to presently envision. To survive with sanity intact, we must focus much smaller: favoring process over product, effecting the seemingly small changes in daily habit that cumulatively, over time, yield massive shifts. Most folks aren't equipped for consciousness to skip ahead several steps all at once; those sort of openings can drive the weaker among us straight off the rails into wackadoo-land.

For the time being, as we integrate this season's events and epiphanies, we'll want to take gentle steps. Buy only what you need, and be mindful of where the money goes (including how much is squandered on interest charges and service fees, on behalf of large companies who really don't care about you). Patronize small businesses (and reserve your cash for them, letting the big-box boys eat the credit-card transaction fees). Spend your spare moments connecting with the people and beings you love the most, and minimize the tech-trivia time-wasting. Appreciate what you have, rather than lamenting what you don't. Be here now, with one another, and we will weave a new tomorrow together. I know it's cheesy, but really… what else matters?