2012: Reaching the Eye of the Storm

1.9.12


Now that we've had more than a week to watch our silliest New Year's resolutions fall by the wayside, I feel it's time to address what our coming year has in store for us.

Yes, I have provided a far more detailed account of the year ahead in my first-ever e-book, ASTROBARRY'S 2012, but the big headline demands repeating here: Uranus and Pluto hit their exact square in June, with six more hits to follow into 2015.

This, I suppose, is the moment when I should comfort all those folks who couldn't wait for 2011 to end, cursing this now-past year for all the turmoil it brought and pinning hopes for an easier time in its successor. 2012 shows no signs of 'calming down' (whatever that might mean in the context of history's ceaseless march forward). If anything, this period of revolutionary unrest, which offered its first flirtatious impressions in late 2008, has just been getting warmed up. 2011 made the Uranus/Pluto potency pretty clearly apparent. And now, we reach the eye of this storm—the multi-year peak of a square between the two most deeply disruptive and transformational planetary agents.

Perhaps, then, it's a bitter pill for some to swallow, this full recognition that life will not be returning to its previous state, that primordial eden of 'before': before you broke up… before you lost your job… before the economy crashed… before you discovered what can't now be undiscovered… before the winds started blowing so hard in this different direction, you just can't outrun them.

There is no going back. Which is why those who seek to restore a prior equilibrium, using the same equation of formerly-in-balance factors, are liable to experience that very 'end-of-the-world' sensation the doomsdayers have tried to associate with 2012. Do we sit demurely in our office, tapping away at our manual typewriter, as the earthquake shakes the brick building to its core, whining about the kids these days and their newfangled cellular telephones? The typewriter is dusty and outdated, the building is about to collapse, and one of those handheld electronic devices would sure come in handy right about now. Rarely in our lifetime has there been a moment with such a strong onus on looking forward.

In short, the folks who refuse to proceed by alternative strategy, radical departure or innovative leap are beckoning further discontent… or even, potentially, disaster. The forces of evolution are simply too strong to resist.

Pluto in Capricorn, rubbing relentlessly against our familiar structures of long-term resource management, has let us know our supposedly-secure traditions for 'how things are done' (especially with regards to economic and institutional governance) are no longer working as reliably. The rotten spots are becoming more rotten surprisingly quickly. Those threatened by this sea-charge are acting out with brutal self-serving panic.

In light of this, we must acknowledge our precious long-view plans might not provide the map to the treasure-chest we've always assumed they did. The overall intent may remain a good guide, but the tactics that route us there require second- and third-looks.

Uranus in Aries may lack the strategic foresight and 'respectable' behavior, but more than makes up for it with courageous heart. Cornered by danger or circumstance, he'll try anything once if it creates a pathway to the open field. But he brings nothing predictable, stable, or even-handed. The jolts can cause motion sickness—full-on terror, even, in those prone to indulging mental anxieties about what might happen. Of course, we cannot pretend there isn't a heightened chance that stray blasts might scatter collateral shrapnel about. Preparing for our innate unpreparedness involves being here now.

Moving through this wild-west frontier, we may encounter threats, sure. And we also meet extraordinary possibilities to recreate ourselves from the ground up. We find new methods to express our skills, our values, our zest for life… channels which don't necessarily rest on a well-thought-out proposal and an 'okay' from the man with the suit and the title. We relocate our dreams. We bond together with other displaced souls. If we are shrewd and self-determined, we exploit the many amazing opportunities that naturally come along with a crumbling status-quo. (Or we just freak out.)

These sentiments provide the main thematic strain that weaves through 2012 and beyond. Embodying them in as full a manner as possible will serve as our best response to the uncertainty. Having already tasted a decent sampling of the goods, we ought to be under no delusions of smoother waters ahead. Yet, those of us committed to making the most of our lives will find much compelling excitement during the coming year(s)… in this period that's certain to stand out as one of the most memorable and historic we'll see.

Each time other planets move into the sphere of aspect-tangle with Uranus and Pluto, this pressure to revolutionize will ignite into sharper visibility. We already saw instances of this last year, with riots and financial panic erupting during a Mars-Uranus-Pluto T-square in August and the Occupy movement entering our consciousness with Venus in a similar T-square position by September.

This week, with Mercury squaring Uranus and conjoining Pluto, our cerebral constructs fall under this pressure… which is why our grand-plans for the year ahead may already be facing unforeseen challenges that test (1) how serious we really are about our latest commitments and/or (2) how adaptable to 'wild-card' factors these commitments need to be. Come early February, Venus lands in Aries and stirs the pot, demanding more freedom (at all costs!) in our personal and professional relationships.

For more on the 2012 outlook, check out ASTROBARRY'S 2012: Year-Ahead Forecast and Horoscopes. (And for continuing updates on the astrological climate, keep coming back to this website, silly.)