Mars-Pluto Square

Mars-Pluto Square — Tension

"Providence trains us by disappointment, surprises us with unexpected success, and turns our seeming trials into blessings."

— Louisa May Alcott, Jo's Boys

The Moon's march, this week, toward next Sunday's early morning Sagittarius Full Moon (1:44 AM PDT 9° Sagittarius/Gemini) begins to help us to focus directly on the future, setting aside some of last week's 'overwhelm' — following a peak of intensity on Monday. Monday's activity is certainly intense — led by a Libra Moon. The Moon sets off a Grand Air Trine that activates Pluto, Uranus, and the Sun while also making an inspiring opposition to Neptune. In essence, the Libra Moon becomes a remarkably effective 'facilitator' of the wild swirl of energies that we have been contending with for much of this year. Monday's incredible surge of energy is 'capped off' by the completion of the Mars-Pluto square, which has been building tensions since the arrival of Mars into Taurus last week (May 18th). The 'fixed sign' square provides an interesting counterpoint to the otherwise freewheeling, 'full throttle' Grand Air Trine. While the energy of a Mars-Pluto square may certainly be explosive, there is a great deal of persistent, stabilizing drive for real breakthroughs in this environment. The energetic unraveling of established assumptions continues with the completion of Sun's trine to Pluto on Tuesday morning, beginning to suggest real purpose and meaning behind the wide array of distractions that surfaced last week. The Moon continues to facilitate — or perhaps instigate — with a move into Scorpio on Wednesday evening. The Moon forms a Fixed T-Square early Thursday morning, involving Mars and Pluto — further aggravating the explosive tension of Monday's Mars-Pluto square and setting up Thursday's demand for some kind of definitive action. Nonetheless, the arrival of Ceres in Gemini, heading toward a conjunction with Uranus, along with the Moon's late afternoon trine to Venus, brings forward a much more manageable atmosphere. Venus also makes a square to Saturn on Thursday evening, which helps to keep us from saying too much without thinking it through first. By Friday, there are some spontaneous, transformative breakthroughs offered. This is not really a question of 'hard work, paying off' but rather, a smooth, providential 'falling into place'. The promise of the current lunar cycle has suggested productive growth. However, the 'ups-and-downs' or 'ins-and-outs' of the process may have seemed quite erratic, unpredictable, and uncertain. But with the Moon's arrival into Sagittarius on Saturday we see something like an 'off-to-races' environment when the Moon opposes Uranus and trines Neptune. The Moon approaches a trine to Saturn that will complete shortly after the Full Moon, We begin to recognize that a new structure is forming. Although the process has seemed to be anything but 'orderly', the restructuring has occurred naturally and collaboratively, without significant conscious, individual input. The Full Moon atmosphere is both revolutionary and protective, suggesting a spontaneous series of developments that seem to have brought us closer to our goal than we might have thought possible.

Sunday offers a somewhat surprising capacity to 'take it all in' — setting aside the disruption and 'overwhelm' that seemed to permeate much of last week. Nonetheless, there is likely quite a bit more going on than what we can see on the surface. While Monday's energy may certainly be explosive, there is a great deal of persistent, stabilizing drive in this environment. While some may be quickly distracted or sidetracked, sharply focused attention has the potential for making significant, transformative breakthroughs and finding creatively inspired solutions. We are challenged to achieve some kind of 'real gain' on Tuesday following Monday's watershed of activity. Some unsteady feelings of doubt develop, leaving us vulnerable to indecision or even manipulation. The potential for seeing 'unfinished business' swirling around Wednesday's atmosphere seems to have us 'chasing our tails' for much of the day. Taking time to observe, without drawing final conclusions, is our best strategy in the unsteady environment. We can begin see ways to resolve many of the disruptive elements of the current lunar cycle on Thursday. The promise of the last New Moon, offering nurturing growth, begins to find an easier 'pathway' forward in spite of what has so far seemed to be a path full of disruptive distractions. There are significant, promising resolutions offered on Friday as this week's tensions and disruptions begin to unfold into transformative breakthroughs. This is not really a question of 'hard work, paying off' but rather, a smooth, providential 'falling into place'. There is something like an 'off-to-races' sort of environment on Saturday. We begin to recognize a new structure forming, bringing us closer to our goal than we might have thought possible.