The Cardinal T-Square: Trouble and Triumph

"It is the greatest adventure in life to go through a breakdown consciously. "
- OSHO Zen Tarot card: "Breakthrough"

So there has been a lot of talk about the Cardinal T-Square (especially if you find yourself in the company of astrologists.) We are in bulls-eye this summer as late July finds Saturn and Uranus in exact opposition and Pluto's 3rd and final square to both of those planets on August 21st. This is a cosmic BFD and one which has global repercussions although we are playing it out in are individual lives as well. If we desire to stop the war "out there" -- and war includes the destruction and carelessness with which we treat our environment - we have to start with ourselves. Like one of Ghandi's maxims: "be the change you wish to be in the world."

If we think we are not part of the solution, then this T-Square could potentially stand for trouble or as Steven Forrest acknowledges via You Tube, "....humanity, in my opinion is on the cusp of hurting enough, that we are getting to a point where these various log jams of impossibility - environmentally, culturally, economically, mythologically - in every sense are getting to place where the pain level is sufficiently high that we are beginning to be ready to face some of the changes now. The idea that in the summer of 2010 we will hurt enough..." It is one of those times where we are trying to awaken from that which we have glossed over to our own and our planet's detriment (there is an asterisk on the global call theme because Uranus and Pluto are outer planets and signify broad cultural sweeps). Not only are we called to awaken, but to take action. It is a Cardinal T-Square after all and these planets in these particular signs creating this sort of dynamic tension are not spectators.
  

The this sort of configuration is called a T-Square after the literal T shape it resembles geometrically if you were to draw a straight line from Uranus to Saturn across the sky and then the base of the T down from the midpoint of that line. Cardinal, because that is the mode all of the signs of those planets are in - Libra, Aries and Capricorn - as opposed to being in "Fixed" or "Mutable" signs. The quality of a Cardinal planet is much like that of a leader. These signs like to initiate. Fixed signs excel at digging their heels in and maintaining (or resisting) what has begun and mutable is responsive and able to flow, mediate and adapt (or check-out). Oppositions and Squares, the angles this planetary configuration is made of, are considered challenging aspects. Unlike the more flowing trines or sextiles, these aspects are in a greater state of tension - the opposition of Saturn and Uranus 180 degrees from one another - and friction with the 90 degree square from Pluto to both. For that reason, they are also capable of rendering great change and opportunity depending on how we rise to the occasion. We can't sleep through these though and they can be as invigoration and exciting as they are difficult.

And it's not like we're dealing with Venus and Jupiter here where maybe the worse thing that could happen is the wake of our our indulgent consumerism (of course your response to these two oft pleasure-inducing planets could determine how painful the wake-up call with the likes of Saturn, Pluto and Uranus involved.) Point being, Pluto doesn't play around - he will only settle for radical transformation from the nadir of your being. It isn't content to wipe away symptoms which will inevitably return. It's the root he's after, especially when linked to Uranus (revolution, change, progression, vision) and Saturn (responsibility, duty, reality, integrity). We can't keep showing up to work blind or paying off one more creditor or denying our purpose and culpability in our self-made situations.

In short, this T-Square is a wake-up call and you have probably heard the alarm go off a few times now. Situations form around this time that make your reality pretty crystal clear and hard to ignore. The great thing is this is an incredible powerful time and one where the changes you make -- even the intentions you set - have the potential to become long lasting components of your lifetime. While Cardinal signs do like action, start with your thoughts. Anything and everything counts -- thoughts becomes things! So stay positive, keep your eyes towards the future and participate in letting go of what doesn't serve you on an emotional, spiritual and physical level. The planet needs you!