Descending into darkness while caught in a fixed square crunch and a mutable mess
Walking you through eclipses during Scorpio Season, while the Uranus-Saturn square has its final hooray and the Mars-Neptune square gets gnarly
Last Monday afternoon I noticed a coin-sized dark object on my dog’s bed. Looking closer, I realized it was an fully engorged tick.
Presumably it had just feasted on my dog, and not me, but either way it was a rather horrifying discovery. Here’s hoping that is as far as the tick story goes.
This isn’t the first time I’ve had a tick encounter during Scorpio or Pluto transits (same with bedbugs). The sun entered Scorpio on October 23rd and was eclipsed on October 25th.
Ticks are tiny and know how to hide. They can spread disease in ways that are hard to track, trace and treat. They suck blood - ticks are parasites that need other bodies to live. They make people squeamish just talking about them, and afraid of something they cannot see. And one just showed up in the intimate space of my bedroom.
All of these traits described above, bestow ticks an archetypal affinity with the sign of Scorpio - which is not at all a literal reflection of people who have planets in Scorpio. The signs of the zodiac have far reaching symbolism that can be applied to any domain of life - including insects and arachnids.
The Scorpio success story, in this case, is that the tick became visible to me and I could deal with it, rather than have it continue to hide out in my bedroom.
Scorpio season - and especially Scorpio eclipses - bring hidden things to light, as an act of love from the cosmos.
Weirdly, the tick ended up in a small glass jar that used to have homemade jam in it. A sticker stating “Made with Love” is adhered to the lid of the jar that now contains the tick (while we double check its identification). Not really sure what to make of this symbolism, to be honest, except that love + shadowy hard stuff is a frequent combination in Scorpio land!
In the Northern hemisphere Scorpio is the fixed water sign that informs us when we have reached the heart of autumn. Scorpio season is home to Halloween and Samhain. It is a time when there are seasonal reminders of death all around us. It is a time when the veil is said to be thin and we are invited to remember and honour our ancestors; whether it’s those we are related to by blood, or those who have inspired us within a lineage of practice.
The initial descent into the darkness of autumn however, actually began in Libra Season, with the fall equinox and the lengthening nights.
In my last post, published at the time of the fall equinox, I was preparing for hurricane Fiona to hit the east coast of Canada. And so it did, slamming into Libra’s scales with jarring intensity and plummeting us into the dark.
We had no electricity for five days. Not to mention a ~60 foot tree crashing down on our garden, just missing the house.
As my persistent procedural muscle memory mindlessly engaged me in the depressingly futile act of turning on light switches or hot water multiple times a day, I complained that the pivot point of the equinox was a bit too literal and immediate for my liking.
I recognize there are many, many people who had it much worse than us, and yet it was still a miserable five days during which I fantasized about becoming a “prepper” who would be ready for WTSHTF… i.e. When The Shit Hits The Fan… i.e. a huge apocalyptic event that would disrupt life as we know it.
Nevertheless, the post-Fiona week wasn’t 100% awful. The day after the hurricane on September 25th - which was also the day of the new moon in Libra opposite Jupiter (a planet of good luck) - the house was still dark and cold, but the sun was shining and I received a wonderful surprise!
Two years ago I put out a request on FindaGrave.com for a photo of my great great great grandmother’s grave in London. She died in the early 1920s and was buried with my great aunt who died from diphtheria at age 5, about a decade earlier.
It may be that only other genealogy nerds will appreciate my excitement, but I was thrilled to receive notification that photos of the grave site had been uploaded by a kind volunteer - with the inscription still half legible after a century!
I truly did not think there would be any visible markers remaining at the gravesite, nor did I anticipate someone in the UK to respond to my request after two years. Libra is a sign I associate with peer-to-peer support and volunteer acts of kindness. I was full of gratitude for this Libra new moon gift.
Side note: if you are looking for a Samhain or Halloween activity, I highly recommend volunteering via FindaGrave.com. It will a) give you a goal-oriented reason to hang out in a cemetery during spooky season, and b) you will be helping out researchers who live far away!
As you can see, the Sun’s ingress into Libra brought me some Scorpio-themed gifts - unexpected darkness and photos of an ancestor’s grave site from a century ago.
If that was my introduction to the autumn season of lengthening darkness, then I’m looking at Scorpio season, the fixed sign heart of the fall, with both curiosity and trepidation. So far I’ve noted: a tick✔️
If Libra is the contract or the agreement, then Scorpio is the small print that we scrutinize when things start getting messy and uncomfortable, and we start wondering, “What did I actually sign up for, or commit to? What is involved in this transaction? Do I indeed, have to go through with this?”
Colin Bedell of Queer Cosmos nails it as per usual in his recent reel:
You know what I think is the bottom line of any transit involving Scorpio?
It’s: “You wanna play, you gotta pay.”
…No one fucking rides for free around here. Especially a Scorpio ride, because that shit’s expensive.
Here’s the thing, you cannot have life without death, love without heartbreak, joy without pain, trust without risk. And look, I don’t like that cost of admission as much as you don’t. But what I know for sure is that if we avoid that payment because we’re afraid of risk, we’re afraid of loss, we’re afraid of heartbreak, we’re afraid of pain… then we are not keeping ourselves safe. We are setting ourselves up for an incomplete life.
I think the only way to keep us safe is to acknowledge, “You know what, I’m willing to be all in. I’m willing to show up to the birthdays, to the funerals, to the weddings and the divorces. I’m willing to be present and available to the full, wide and deep spectrum of the human experience.”
So this Scorpio season, tell yourself: I’m playing, and I’m paying this month. Let’s do the goddamn thing.
~ Colin Bedell
This theme of soul contracts is one that can show up in Scorpio’s realm in a few different ways.
As the dark moon was ushering us toward the solar eclipse, a scene from Disney’s The Little Mermaid came to my mind - the scene where Ariel makes a Faustian bargain with the sea witch.
Ariel sacrifices her voice (also symbolically: her power, her truth) in exchange for three days of being human. If she secures a “true love kiss” from the prince before the three days are up, then she gets to remain a human on land. If not, she becomes Ursula’s prisoner - or as Ursula puts it in very Taurus-Scorpio-esque language: “You’ll belong to me.”
Granted though, Ariel was pretty much a prisoner to over-protective daddy Triton before this bargain was made anyway.
Ursula: Have we got a deal?
Ariel: If I become human, I'll never be with my father or sisters again.
Ursula: That's right. But... you'll have your man. Life's full of tough choices, ain't it? Oh, and there is one more thing. We haven't discussed the subject of payment. You can't get something for nothing, you know.
Ariel: But I don't have-
Ursula: What I'm asking is just token really, a trifle. You'll never miss it. What I want from you is... your voice.
Ariel: My voice?
Ursula: You got it sweetcakes. No more talking, singing - zip.
Ariel: But without my voice, how can I...?
Ursula: You have your looks, your pretty face. And don't underestimate the importance of body language. The men up there don't like a lot of blabber. They think a girl who gossips is a bore. Yes, on land it's much preferred, for ladies not to say a word. And after all, dear, what is idle prattle for? Come on. They're not all that impressed with conversation. True gentlemen avoid it when they can, but they dote and swoon and fawn on the lady who's withdrawn. And she who holds her tongue gets her man.
…If you want to cross the bridge, my sweet
You've to pay the toll
Take a gulp and take a breath
And go ahead and sign the scroll
Ariel signs the scroll, a.k.a, the contract (for all eternity).
Ursula then commands her to start singing and as per the video clip below she captures Ariel’s voice in a shell.
When Ursula sabotages Ariel’s efforts to woo her prince, Ariel then becomes a mermaid again and Ursula’s prisoner. The contract cannot be broken; payment is required. However, Ariel’s father, Triton (King of Atlantica), enacts the archetypal Jesus story and offers himself as a replacement for Ariel. Ursula agrees to this exchange. Ariel is thus freed, but Ursula has the unlimited power she was after now that she is Queen of the sea.
Of course, because this is Disney and not the original version by Hans Christian Andersen, everything works out in the end for Ariel after Ursula is killed.
Ariel is reunited with her prince, her father, her legs, and her voice.
In addition to this film being largely about the deep underwater realm involving an inky octopus witch (which reminds me of Scorpio as a fixed water sign), this film gives me major Scorpio vibes - primarily because it involves high-cost, binding contracts and intersections of desire, truth, authenticity, physical transformation, power and freedom.
Also! The Little Mermaid highlights the Taurus-Scorpio axis via body parts. During last eclipse season in the spring of 2022, I wrote a post exploring the Taurus-Scorpio axis from different angles.
Here’s a diagram from that post where I reflected on Taurus and Scorpio as the threshold guardians of the opposing orifices of the torso:
Ariel gives up her beautiful voice (Taurus) and gets a human torso and legs in exchange. I have no idea how mermaids normally excrete waste or reproduce, but certainly this physical transformation would have enabled Ariel to poop, pee, and have sex in ways that many humans do - through Scorpio-ruled organs and body areas.
The Taurus-Scorpio axis, which the eclipses are playing out on this season, are symbolically active in this film in more ways than one. Ariel’s secret cavern of beloved treasures she’s collected (i.e., “gadgets and gizmos aplenty… whooz-its and whatz-its galore,” from the human world) is very Taurean, for example.
But ultimately Ariel’s sizable collection of thingamabobs is an external reflection of her deep Scorpionic desire to be free from the sea, to be transformed, to be “part of that world.”
Furthermore, this Scorpio eclipse is ruled by Mars in Gemini (which is about to station retrograde this weekend), and Ariel’s insatiable curiosity gives off major Gemini vibes.
Returning for a moment to Colin Bedell’s invitation for this Scorpio eclipse season, he urges us to take the risk and jump all in (to the human experience), rather than standing safe on the sidelines.
His words are similar to the sea witch’s: “You wanna play, you gotta pay… No one fucking rides for free around here.”
And here’s Ursula’s words, outlining the rules of the game to Ariel: “Life's full of tough choices, ain't it? Oh, and there is one more thing. We haven't discussed the subject of payment. You can't get something for nothing, you know.”
Ariel left the known territory of the ocean and jumped all in. She didn’t “avoid payment” because she was afraid of risk, loss, heartbreak, pain…
Ariel played the game of life - and she paid for it. And ultimately, she won it all, because this is what happens in the world of Disney!
But life isn’t Disney and there are no guarantees the risk will work out in our favour.
In ways that relate to the Scorpio house and placements in our natal chart, we encounter Scorpio-resonant (often implicit) contracts or agreements that invoke or challenge the following:
Our deepest desires
Truth (the truth of a situation or the expression of our truth/authentic self)
Power and agency (the freedom to make choices and take uninhibited action)
Meeting essential needs (that feel like they are necessary for our survival)
These “contracts” can be with other people, with a former version of ourselves, with ancestral ties, with a belief system, or with an expectation, for example.
Desire, Truth, Power and Essential Needs are often at conflict in some way when we find ourselves in Scorpio terrain.
Popular books in the trauma healing realm, such as The Body Keeps the Score or When the Body says No, remind me of this Taurus-Scorpio axis in the way that they describe the “payment” that happens on the physical level when desire, truth, power, and/or essential needs are suppressed for too long.
Scorpio is the sign with the most affinity to unresolved trauma - as well as the healing of it. Taurus is the way the body is affected by this process and how it holds and reflects what is suppressed, or expressed.
At the time of signing the contract on a scroll, Ariel was acting on her desire for the prince. She gave up her voice (her truth), and gained some measure of power and agency while losing it in other ways. Becoming human felt like the greatest need at the time, but she also jeopardized her entire underworld existence (+ her father’s life and the kingdom of Atlantica) that kept her safe.
Did Ariel make the right decision when she signed Ursula’s contract and gave up her voice? Was there even a “right” decision?
Ursula tried to convince Ariel that “on land it’s much preferred, for ladies not to say a word.” If the story’s plot line had taken a different direction and Ariel had remained on land with her prince - yet without a voice - would her body have kept the score? Would her body have said no? Would she have been happy?
I haven’t read the book, but recently I came across a relevant synopsis for a memoir called Hysterical by Elissa Bassist, whose body said no when her voice did not:
Between 2016 and 2018, Elissa Bassist saw over twenty medical professionals for a variety of mysterious ailments. Bassist had what millions of American women had: pain that didn’t make sense to doctors, a body that didn’t make sense to science, a psyche that didn’t make sense to mankind. But then an acupuncturist suggested some of her physical pain could be caged fury finding expression, and that treating her voice would treat the problem. It did.
However, if Ariel had not of taken the first step of sacrificing her voice power (Taurus) for a human torso/legs (Scorpio) she would have perhaps spent the rest of her life safe yet unfulfilled, and pining wistfully after the human experience she so deeply desired to have on the shore.
Life is complex and complicated. Scorpio reminds us of this.
The answers and solutions aren’t always obvious or easy in Scorpio land; they’re tangled, enmeshed, and woven into an interconnected web that trembles and shakes whenever an individual thread is pulled.
During Scorpio season there is the opportunity to hone our skills at navigating this sticky web with discernment - as we decide where to cut, and where to weave.
The Fixed Square Crunch
There’s a lot going on in the sky right now. Amid eclipses in Scorpio and Taurus we are also working with the Uranus-Saturn square in fixed signs and the Neptune-Mars square in mutable signs - both of these squares are noticeably active for two months, from about mid/late September to about mid/late November, 2022.
However, the origins of the fixed square date back much further than the mutable mess we are simultaneously dealing with.
Uranus entered the fixed earth sign of Taurus in the Spring of 2018, and then again for the long-haul in March 2019. This is the origin point of the Uranus-in-Taurus-story, personally and globally.
Now to zoom in on the fixed square tension with Uranus - this dynamic was birthed in December 2020 when Saturn entered the fixed air sign of Aquarius and immediately conjoined with Jupiter. Very quickly Saturn moved into a 90-degree square aspect with Uranus in Taurus that was exact on February 17th, June 14th, and December 23rd (all in 2021).
The Uranus-Saturn square was a defining trait of 2021, and yet it has continued to rumble in the background of 2022 even though we will not experience another exact-to-the-degree square aspect of Uranus and Saturn this year. However, from September to November 2022, that fixed square is TIGHT. It’s so tight, it might as well be “exact”.
The square was actually tightest in the first couple weeks of October, but when Saturn stationed direct on October 23, 2022, the pivot became a punctuation point in this planetary argument. Here’s what October 23rd looked like:
Saturn in Aquarius near the top of the chart is at 18°35’, while Uranus is at the bottom of the chart at 17°36’ in Taurus. The two planets were basically one degree away from forming an exact square, on October 23rd.
(About 7 hours before Saturn stationed direct, Venus was at the heart of the Sun at 29° Libra… that transit isn’t relevant to this particular discussion, but it’s still a pretty big deal so I left those planets in the chart!)
Okay, those are all the technical details. How did this play out in real life?
Where did you notice a structured expansion beginning to occur around late December 2020/January 2021?
Or an official/formal implementation of a plan involving growth and spread? Or a commitment made to make a big dream manifest? Or a prioritization of community abundance and collaborative effort? Or a decisive turning point related to the expansion of some tech innovation or upgrade?
And then, in what ways did this “thing” encounter some points of tension and friction throughout 2021 via Uranus in Taurus? How did you feel pulled in two directions?
At the global level the MRNA covid vaccine launch and roll-out beginning in December 2020, is a really obvious correlation. Globally, a dominant theme of 2021 was conflict and tensions around vaccine rules and regulations (i.e., vax mandates and passports).
What did this transit mean for you on a personal level?
Trace the cosmic story all the way up to this current season - how is this fixed square tension playing out at this point?
Are you caught in the crunch?
We are all experiencing this fixed square in some way, but if you have key planets or placements around 17 or 18 degrees of the fixed signs (Aquarius, Taurus, Scorpio, or Leo), then you are likely really feeling this fixed square crunch this fall.
Aquarius and Taurus (fixed air and fixed earth) are stubborn. Neither Uranus, nor Saturn want to compromise in this situation, but given that this square has nearly run its course there may be greater opportunity for solutions or resolutions between now and the beginning of March 2023.
Squares are catalysts for action, creativity, and innovation. Friction, conflict and tension are necessary ingredients of human life. But now we are gradually bringing this planetary argument through its final show-down, to its final resting place.
For some of us, we may find ourselves playing the role of either Uranus or Saturn, while we struggle with the other planet externally (as reflected by a person, an institution or as a point of frustration in our environment). This square can also be playing out internally, as both the goals or energies of Saturn and Uranus clash within.
“Crunch” really seems like an appropriate word for the experience of this fixed sign square. Maybe it’s a time crunch, a money crunch, an I-don’t-know-how-much-longer-I-can-do-this crunch.
There’s change that wants to happen, but there’s resistance, or barriers in the way. There’s an effort to create a new structure, foundation, or collaborative project, but a deep yearning for freedom and independence is competing with this. Maybe an old thing is in the process of being upgraded while trying to honour or maintain the original system… or a new thing is being launched and it needs a structure or system to sustain it over the long-term.
What needs to be changed or adjusted so we can find our way out of this crunch?
Here’s an example of the fixed Saturn-Uranus square from my region of the world:
During Hurricane Fiona (which reached Nova Scotia on September 24th) not only did many people lose electricity for an extended period of time, but many people were unable to use their data plans to access the internet. More importunately they were also unable to make calls with their cell phone - including 911 emergency calls. Cell phone tower services were severely compromised and intermittent.
This is a situation where the existing infrastructure (Saturn) of telecommunication services (a Uranian topic area as it relates to electrical connection) did not sufficiently meet the challenge of a wild storm (Uranus in Taurus) that affected a large community of people (Aquarius).
Shortly after the storm, Tim Houston, the Premier of Nova Scotia, wrote the following public letter to the Federal Government :
Nova Scotia is currently recovering from Hurricane Fiona, possibly the largest and most devastating storm to ever hit our province. I have the unfortunate task of writing to you to express my disappointment with the poor participation and support from telecommunications companies before, during and after this event.
The Nova Scotia Emergency Management Office began preparations for Fiona a week ahead of its arrival. During that time, EMO contacted key critical infrastructure partners to request that they send a representative to the Provincial Coordination Centre (PCC). Given the expected impacts on power and telecommunications, having a representative attend in person was imperative for optimal collaboration and support of recovery efforts…
…I’m asking you, as the Minister who oversees these companies, to consider all potential legislative and regulatory means to hold telecommunications companies accountable for participating in emergency planning, preparedness, response, mitigation, and recovery to the fullest extent possible.
“…having a representative attend in person was imperative for optimal collaboration…”
Optimal collaboration is something that Saturn in Aquarius deeply desires. In the face of the unpredictable environmental crisis (Uranus in Taurus), the main telecommunication companies refused to be part of an emergency group effort at the provincial coordination center, and they completely failed to communicate clearly and transparently to the other relevant partners and to the general public.
Thus the Premier is calling for accountability via “all potential legislative and regulatory means” (very Saturnian language) to prepare for future Uranian emergencies that test and challenge status quo infrastructure and business-as-usual.
The eventual outcome of this tension could be a much improved emergency plan that involves the telecommunication companies. But that is a possibility that lies on the other side of the crunch.
Taurus is a sign that has resonance with money and resources. It probably isn’t news to any of my readers that the state of money and resources (like oil and food) have been feeling erratic and unstable lately as they are caught in the crunch.
The way crypto plays into the global economic story is interesting. I feel like Saturn in Aquarius (representing governments and their regulatory powers in this case) are conflicted about whether to ban cryptocurrencies… or join the people (also Aquarius) in this new digital money game (Uranus in Taurus). Numerous governments are looking into developing their own digital currencies (i.e., CBDCs or Central Bank Digital Currencies), while many are concerned this development will be used by governments to track and control (especially via social credit programs tied to digital IDs and CBDCs in the way that China uses them).
On another high-tech note, have you heard of the Healy device? The Healy is…
“…a small but very versatile device (controlled by your Apple or Android smartphone) that uses Individualized Microcurrent Frequency (IMF) programs to harmonize your Bioenergetic Field for many important areas of life.” ~healy.shop
The Healy is unavoidable in the wellness world on social media right now. It’s everywhere. It’s super Uranus-in-Taurus in that it is an expensive high-tech device that transmits electrical microcurrents to your body to change your physical, emotional or energetic state.
The Healy is sold through a Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) strategy (also called network marketing) that functions through a pyramid-shaped compensation commission system that many people are uncomfortable with. MLM approaches have a bad reputation, for understandable reasons.
Aquarius is all about efficient systems and networks. Despite the ick factor, the way the Healy is being marketed feels Aquarian to me (as well as its design and branding).
As I watch wellness practitioners and influencers promote the Healy, and the simultaneous angry backlash to it and accusations of Taurean greed corrupting people’s favourite influencers, it all seems very Uranus square Saturn.
Personally I’ve witnessed practitioners whom I really trust, who seem to act with a lot of integrity (a Saturn quality), publicly attest to the dramatic changes they’ve seen in their lives by using the Healy.
So what’s the deal? Does it live up to its hype? Perhaps I’ll have a better sense of its worth after we’re through the crunch.
In the world of employment we’ve seen the fixed square create a huge number of vacancies (Uranian shake-ups to the functioning and sustainability of Aquarian networks of services we take for granted), as well as large-scale strikes and successful efforts at unionization (Uranus’ rebellious edge + Aquarian collaborations).
And is it just me or has the atmosphere surrounding the topic of “meat-eating” been particularly contentious lately? I’ve seen numerous public posts by folks in the wellness world indicating that they are longer vegan or vegetarian because it was making them sick and they weren’t getting enough essential nutrients. Of course, these posts often provoke a big reaction.
In contrast, we’ve seen increasing regulations around livestock farming in various countries for environmental reasons, as well as a lot of innovation around developing lab-grown meat and more sophisticated “fake meats.” Oh, and then there is the big debate around the value in eating bugs (specifically crickets) for protein.
Taurus is a sign of animals (cows, in particular), farming, and food in general. Uranus is technological innovation happening in this area, and it’s also the shake-ups and changes in people’s diets. Saturn in Aquarius is the government regulation affecting farmers, as well as strongly held beliefs around the most efficient and sustainable way to fuel ourselves as we look ahead to humanity’s future (and the earth’s future).
In most situations you can swap their roles and positions - Uranus for Saturn, and Saturn for Uranus - and the symbols still makes sense from a different angle, especially given that Aquarius is a sign that is considered under the rulership of Uranus in modern astrology and has a lot of affinity with this planet.
Lunar Eclipse in Taurus on November 8th, 2022
So now that Saturn has stationed direct (on October 23rd) and is pulling away from Uranus, are we done with that fixed square crunch?
Not quite!
I mean, look at this masterpiece of a lunar eclipse!
The Lunar Eclipse (full moon) in Taurus on November 8th, is wildly impressive - emphasis on the wild part.
The Moon lands exactly conjunct Uranus at 16 degrees Taurus (fixed earth), opposite the Sun at 16 degrees Scorpio (fixed water), while both ends of the full moon eclipse square Saturn in Aquarius (fixed air).
This upcoming lunar eclipse powerfully re-activates the Uranus-Saturn square, with a major emphasis on the Taurus side.
If the Uranus-Saturn square has shown up so far as slow grueling change, as the pull of the future tries to respect the past, or as efforts toward freedom and independence facing suffocation from duties and responsibilities, then it may just be that this lunar eclipse is the tipping point.
That said, Saturn is still there, strong and direct in its home sign of Aquarius. The tension between the future/freedom/independence and the past/responsibility/commitments is not going to disappear just yet, but this lunar eclipse is a notable plot twist.
It also needs to be said that the eclipse itself on November 8th, is nested in the middle of a series of potent transits that occur from November 5th to 11th which keep ringing the bell of that fixed square tension, repeatedly.
Venus is leading the pack through Scorpio right now. She’ll make the first opposition to Uranus (Nov. 5th), and the first square to Saturn (Nov. 7th).
Mercury is quickly catching up to the Sun and will actually be cazimi (conjunct the Sun) as the eclipse occurs on November 8th, indicating that important data is coming to the surface at that time. Mercury perfects its opposition to Uranus on Nov. 8th (in my time zone), and squares Saturn on Nov. 10th.
The Sun perfects its opposition to Uranus over Nov 8th/9th during the lunar eclipse full moon (depending on time zone), and then squares Saturn on November 11th.
WHEW.
This is a yes-you’re-going-to-go-sky-diving-on-vacation-but-please-for-goodness-sake-double-check-all-your-safety-gear, type of transit.
If you have important natal placements between about 16 - 19 degrees of the fixed signs (Leo, Aquarius, Taurus, and Scorpio) then this is an extremely meaningful time for you.
And if you don’t? It will likely still be an eventful seven-ish days!
In the lunar eclipse chart above, you can see that Neptune and Jupiter are in the late degrees of Pisces (yes, Jupiter is back in Pisces! As of Oct. 28th!).
Right after Venus, Mercury, and the Sun in Scorpio have their encounters with the Uranus-Saturn square, they will each begin forming lovely successive water trines with Neptune, and then Jupiter. Hopefully that helps to soothe any nerves that got frayed through the lunar eclipse portal!
The Mutable Mess
Occurring simultaneously with the fixed square, is the mutable square.
The mutable square doesn’t have the same long-standing roots as the fixed square, but it is arguably just as potent from about the end of September, to the end of November.
The current mutable square is primarily about the 90-degree aspect between Mars in Gemini (which is stationing retrograde on October 30th) and Neptune in Pisces.
However, the last Mercury retrograde period was also part of this mutable mess as it stationed direct in the mutable earth sign of Virgo, back on October 2nd, 2022. As it stationed it created a T-square aspect with both Mars and Neptune (involving three points in a 90-degree aspect to each other).
The diagrams below highlight some of the loudest moments in this messy, mutable situation, but you can consider it active for about two months.
Are you caught in the mutable mess?
If you have natal placements from about 22 - 25 degrees of the mutable signs (Pisces, Gemini, Virgo, and Sagittarius) then you are directly impacted by these transits. Regardless though, the mutable square will make itself known.
Finding the mutable square in your life may be more difficult than finding the fixed square. The fixed square tension is likely more obvious. The fixed square crunch may feel more pressurized, more extreme, and like more of a conflict between two distinct areas of life (externally or internally).
Mutable energy is diffuse. Mutable energy is what closes a season while bringing us to the threshold of the next. It’s transitional, chaotic, disorienting - and magical due to it’s intimacy with liminal spaces.
Locate the corner of your life where you are feeling confused, lost, lethargic, energetically sensitive, lacking clarity and missing a sense of containment or boundaries - this might be where the mutable mess is hanging out.
Mars and Neptune are the key players here (in Gemini and Pisces) so you can also look for Mars-like activity (e.g., aggression, defensive action, conflict, assertiveness, courage) involving Neptune/Pisces things (e.g., water, ocean, spirituality, creativity).
Some examples of Mars square Neptune in recent news:
On September 26th, the Nord Stream underwater pipelines connecting Russia to Germany were destroyed via an explosion by unknown actors. (source)
On October 3rd, NATO warned that Russia may be planning to test Poseidon - “an unmanned underwater vehicle that is said to be capable of travelling vast distances underwater before exploding with enough force to cause a massive nuclear tsunami designed to inundate and irradiate coastal cities.” (source) However, this was later interpreted as only a rumor.
On October 8th, “a huge explosion… severely damaged the only bridge connecting the annexed Crimean Peninsula with the Russian mainland, crimping a key supply route for Moscow’s faltering war in Ukraine.” No one directly claimed responsibility. (source)
Nearly 500 whales died from October 7th - 10th, after becoming stranded on New Zealand beaches. No one knows why. (source)
Confusion, lack of clarity, and missing information, swirls around all of these dramatic Mars-Neptune examples, which is to be expected unfortunately with this mutable square.
A brief look at the Twitter saga
I was ready to wrap up this post… but then Elon finalized his acquisition of Twitter on the afternoon of October 27th, 2022.
Twitter has a birth chart. The most commonly used birth time for Twitter is the one that is date-stamped on the first ever tweet by Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s founder.
As you can see below, Twitter’s natal chart is caught in both the fixed square crunch (see natal Neptune at 18 degrees Aquarius + natal Jupiter at 18 degrees Scorpio), as well as the mutable mess - Twitter’s natal Moon (the chart ruler) and Pluto in Sagittarius are most directly involved in the mutable square by degree, but Twitter also has Mercury and Uranus in Pisces, as well as natal Mars in Gemini.
Plus, Pluto is transiting Twitter’s descendent.
Obviously Twitter is having one hell of a ride.
The story of Elon Musk acquiring Twitter is a long and tedious one that features again, A LOT OF CONFUSION. He made his first bid in mid-April around the time of the Jupiter-Neptune conjunction in Pisces. Then, on May 13th, just a few days after Mercury stationed retrograde in Gemini while in the middle of Taurus and Scorpio eclipses, Musk seemed to be trying to move in reverse as well. He stated that the deal had been “put on hold.”
Interestingly, Jupiter just re-entered Pisces on October 28th, Mars is just about to station retrograde in Gemini (on October 30th), and we are again in the middle of Scorpio and Taurus eclipses.
With such cosmically appropriate timing Elon Musk finally closed the deal on October 27th, “immediately becoming Twitter's new owner and firing several top executives.” Sounds like Mars.
But also, so much Uranus in this headline:
And ongoing mutable square confusion:
“Elon Musk has now owned Twitter for an entire business day — and while he has certainly entered the company in erratic fashion, both employees and the public are still very much in the dark as to what he plans to do with it.” (source)
And the gravitas of Saturn in the communicative air sign of Aquarius, reflective of society and its many groups and communities, now clashing with Uranus:
“Twitter is often referred to as a social media website. But that downplays what it is. It’s much more. It’s one of the most influential communications platforms in the world, affecting all pockets of society — and at the moment, during this particularly pivotal time, there isn’t a steady hand at the helm.” (source)
Okay, I’ve held your eyeballs to the screen long enough!
Buckle up! Good luck!
Your posts are always so detailed and insightful. Thank you for all the time and energy you put into them! They always help clarify things that I've been experiencing in my own life.
Another great, insightful post! Thank you 🙏🏼