Pluto, Uranus and Isis. The Forces of the Early 2010's Revealed

What Can Astrology Tell us of These Challenging Times?

Far out in the Solar System, where the light of the Sun is just a pinprick in the sky and life is cold… very cold…. there lie some distant planets or lumps of rock that cannot easily be seen from Earth. At around two to five billion miles from the Sun, you'd think that their influence to us here on Earth would be nil. But the funny thing is, those far out planets are just as influential as the near ones.

Literally they tell us about changes in the direction of human evolution. And what forces the current population will be wrestling with or have stacked against them – either individually or as a nation. In the `here and now` they describe what challenges us and causes powerful change. They describe when things will be broken down and how the furniture of our lives will be moved around. The times when we will have to contend with big stuff - make ups, break ups, mile stones, family additions and family losses.

And when nations are reeling under evolutionary forces, these planets describe those huge cultural and social upheavals - such as those that were called the `Arab Spring` back in 2011. Since then, the list of countries involved in social upheaval and political struggle has grown….Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Ukraine and Russia. The violence and bloodshed we saw on our screens as a result has been both relentless and bewildering.

And in our own lives, there may have been disruption and chaos since 2011 too, for individually, we may also have been blown about by the sudden winds of change. The first of these giant outer planets is Uranus - a planet which represents steely determination to break out, break through or break up. Known for its revolutionary impulses and sudden, violent strikes, Uranus urges those who are repressed to find the courage to fight back, but it also introduces rebellion into the most docile of situations.

Humans are usually subject to a Uranian year in their early '40's - it is often referred to as the mid-life crisis - when the husband runs off with his secretary or the wife dumps the washing and joins Greenpeace. What grabbed them was the need to break out of domesticity or the family imposed routines in order to kick heels into freedom.

Taken into the realm of country or culture, the Uranian energy makes demands of a more political nature, for it is freedom from authority or the current ideology that matters. Those sucked into Uranus's demands want to break down any existing political structures and cast off well-worn traditions. Uranus connects us with a powerful, enlightening idea which seizes the Collective imagination and causes us to snap at the chains. I was struck by graffiti carved on a cliff side in Crete which said "No government can ever give you freedom"! A truly Uranian statement.

And then there is Pluto. A primordial Feminine energy that wants growth and evolution. The impulse of Life to create itself is Plutonian but not Uranian. Uranus doesn't give a damn for Life, But Pluto cares more deeply about this concept than anything else. Pluto resides over the DNA and sub-atomic particles that are the building blocks of Life and it says "Build Me! Mutate, thrust and strive to build organisms that will rise up and claim life." But strangely Pluto also wishes to break down and destroy life because the dead and decaying cells release their store-houses of energy back into the fabric of matter where they can reform new cells to grow back strongly and vigorously. Hence, the phoenix rises out of the ashes.

Of the two it would be hard to say which is the stronger; like trying to choose between the powers of the X-Men. In its relentless and often savage drive to take life through a cycle of birth and death, Pluto might strike fear in the hearts of those who want to tread a safe path, for quite often we are in a disruptive life and death struggle when captured by her invisible grip. We sense the ruthless power but instinctively want to preserve the old regime rather than allow it to free-fall us into loss and then an uncertain future.

Uranus entices us with the ideals of freedom and independence, but freedom can indeed be another word for nothing left to lose when all said and demolished. In this dimension, Uranus by itself cannot give birth once the last thing has been destroyed. He can dream of a new way, he can provide the impulse to reach for it, but he hasn't got the control over those cells of matter that need to spontaneously erupt into Life once more. Pluto has this power and even rules over rape because it will cause the sex that will ensure breeding takes place and new life is born. Uranus has different things in mind – none of which concern sex.

So having described the two major entities involved, we now need to get a sense of their timetable. Because Pluto takes 248 years to travel a full circle around the Sun and Uranus 84 years, they have a cycle that takes decades and centuries to play out. At the moment, they are 90 degrees or a quarter of a circle apart from each other. This is known as a `Square` and it is a challenging relationship in astrology.

In 1965 and 1966 they were conjunct or together in the sky and this started the current cycle, so events that took place then are deemed as having been born alongside that conjunction. Now we will see these planets test out the `babies` or ideas and social structures that were born then, along with their usual clash over the direction Life should take. Pluto wanting to keep up evolutionary growth and increase the rate of births and deaths, Uranus wanting to get rid of his version of ugliness and make a bid for Utopian freedom and Uranian perfection.

Our Current Problems Began in 2008

The current epic started in 2008 with the introduction of a 3rd planet, but the `Square` or main action in the sky between Uranus and Pluto began in earnest in 2012 and will be gone by mid 2015. That is quite a big chunk of time and it really reflects the amount of time needed to straighten out some of the wrongs doings of the decades between the 1980's and the 2000's.

Over-consumerism and the dash for industrial and financial growth had led to years of unchecked, greedy, recklessness. The Uranium dream was reigning supreme for three decades and it did not take into account Nature's need to go at her own pace. In fact humankind began to feel it had conquered Nature anyway. But surprisingly Pluto lurks within Mother Nature for Pluto is Feminine - only given a male name by the masculine-loving classical Greeks.

Pluto was biding her time, waiting for the confrontation she knew would come. These times of correction will be filled with Pluto's way of regulating the amount of souls here on Earth. If the population on the world is too large or too greedy, Pluto will treat us as mere ants in an ant colony as she seeks to redress the issues. Souls will be moved on through. The Primordial Feminine is ruthlessly destructive when necessary. This is both the serpent from the Garden of Eden and the raging monster that attacked the earliest hero in the oldest of our Babylonian myths.

The Astrolological Symbolism of  1932 to 1934

To find out what may happen, we should travel back in time to the years from 1932 to 1934, for this was the last time Pluto and Uranus were in Square, or 90 degrees apart. These were formative inter-war years and there is much about them that can be compared to now. World issues that have marked both the early 1930's and the current Square are severe financial crashes with bank failures and resulting recessions, depressions and austerity. Also there were difficulties over currency issues and money mechanisms, such as the Euro and the Gold Standard which pegged currencies to the price of gold.

But we could also make comparisons with extreme political ideologies. At the beginning of 1932, Hitler was the leader of the Nazi party and was able to get into a position of power because of the anger and political unrest that was the result of 6 million unemployed. Germany also had to pay back loans and First World War costs. They had repeated elections because all the different parties failed to agree a coalition government and no single party could get enough support to actually govern. Wealthy business men supported Hitler because they were frightened of communism.

Then in January 1933, the political leaders agreed to make Hitler chancellor, thinking they could control him, but as we know now, they couldn't. Hitler was greeted with an outpouring of worshipful adoration and within weeks, he was absolute dictator of Germany. This set in motion a chain of events resulting in the Second World War and the eventual deaths of nearly 50 million humans through that war and through deliberate extermination.

The Uranus Pluto Square of 1932 to 1934 was no longer in place by the time World War Two started in 1939, BUT the disenchantment, economic deprivation and general malaise that put Hitler in power was during its reign. He offered an alternative to both communism and other left wing parties, and being part of a powerful movement was a big psychological boost. So the future was set. Nazism triumphed out of disorder and insecurity.

Will There be a New Hitler?

Can this story be linked to the terrible wars in the Middle East now? Well certainly astrology would seem to imply that conditions are similar since the Pluto Uranus Square presides over both periods of time. What remains to be seen is whether the malaise and confusion caused by the many warring tribes and religious or political affiliations leads to the eruption of a single leader and cult. Will there be a new Hitler or a religious alternative to the Second Coming?

One contender could be Dr. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of `ISIS` or the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (or al Sham) – one of the many separate groups involved in the terrible fighting in Syria and Iraq. Like Hitler, he is a clever man and a good strategist with a powerful understanding of how to control the minds of the masses – in this case using Facebook and Twitter.

Al-Baghdadi's dream is for a Sunni Islamic caliphate straddling Iraq and Syria, and he is said to want all Sunni's living in it. This brings up a curious coincidence with the astrology associated with an asteroid called Isis. Quite why the name `Isis` should suddenly be catapulted onto the world stage is perplexing. For this is also the name of the mythical wife of the Egyptian Underworld god Osiris, after whom the asteroid was named.

Isis is a contender for the title of Great Mother Goddess and her cult spread far and wide around the Ancient Mediterranean. In myth, Isis travelled to Syria to find the dead body of her husband after he was murdered, but although she returned it safely to Egypt it was again subject to attack and cut into pieces to be thrown in the Nile. Once more, brave Isis searched and recovered all the missing parts so they could be reassembled and imbued with vitality for life in the Underworld.

One of the astrological meanings attributed to the asteroid Isis concerns her actions after Osiris was torn to pieces, for she represents the urge to restore to one place that which has been torn apart. This too is the dream of al-Baghdadi who wants to bring all Sunni's together in one land. Isis was associated with scorpions and magic which in turn implys something secret and hidden, and again, al-Baghdadi is reportedly immensely secretive.

News channels in June 2014 described him variously as the evil heir to Osama bin Laden, or a prospective Robin Hood. `ISIS` was at that time reported as being more interested in expanding its territory and enforcing Shariah law than toppling the Syrian President. Certainly this is in line with the mythological Isis who only wanted to secure her husband's future in the Underworld, not take up world domination.

Incredibly, in the week that the name `ISIS` exploded into the world's media, (June 19th 2014) the actual asteroid Isis was exactly conjunct the Sun and Mercury in the sky, meaning that a light was thrown onto her existence and it was communicated to Earth. And that was when we heard the news was that Muslim girls were leaving the UK to join the fighting in the Levant.

POST SCRIPT WRITTEN LATER... Please go to the bottom of this article for a recent update of a rather depressign and sinister nature.

Pluto Uranus in the 1960's

To return to the conjunction of the Pluto and Uranus in 1965 and 1966, from events at this time, we can add to the list of astrological associations or symbolism. The first being American involvement in war overseas, for it was in 1965 that the Vietnamese war began for them. Another feature is the rejection of conventional morality and social norms by large swathes of population, as seen more gently in the swinging '60's than now in the Middle East.

The European Communities Merger Treaty was signed in 1965, hence laying the foundations of the modern European Union and ensuring that this union would be fully tested in the Square of the 2010's as indeed it was by Greece's massive debts. The internet and the use of computers to carry and process information were also conceived of in the early '60's, and we do indeed find ourselves in a spiralling, technological whirlwind now.

So What is Underneath all our Current Dilemmas?

What are Pluto, Uranus and Isis about? One particular feature is Masculine versus Feminine, or male versus female. This duality makes up the very fabric of our Universe, for everything balances on it. Always there is an emitter and a receiver. Electromagetic energy surging outwards and gravity pulling inwards. Yin and Yang. So as the war between Pluto and Uranus rages around our heads, we are witnessing the oldest battle in the world. The war between Pluto as primordial Feminine and Uranus as `heroic` Masculine. George and the Dragon, Hercules and the monster Hydra.

Isis's appearance may be suggesting that despite Western propaganda, our Uranian instincts to the contrary and the perceived ugliness of `ISIS`, this energy will only come back more strongly if attacked. As brutal and savage as the primordial Feminine may be perceived, it is still to be found in Mother Nature and we can't just `get rid of it` or erase it from life. Getting right to the bottom of it, I have to ask that, in our race for Uranian technology, have we trampled all over Plutonian Earth and on some level, is this not the howling rage of the Terrible Great Mother in response?

As Isis the serpent Goddess rises, she comes cloaked in seemingly brutal or `primitive` acts (on both sides!), because that is how the Feminine appears when angered. Although shouting unacceptable ideology, the Jihardists rebels are mouth-piecing all repressed or marginalised energies and the Feminine is one of them.

Marking a difference between the two, Hitler was actually Uranian in nature, whilst it seems Al-Bahgdadi is coming from a different place. But we may need to tread carefully here, because as Hercules cut off each of the Hydra's heads, two more grew in its place. The warning is in our myths.

And what of our personal lives? For the Square may also be impacting hard on individuals. It can make us feel confined and irritated by demands, but also likely to cast off personal ties, family, and commitments bound up in tradition and emotions. We will also battle in our own lives with masculine and feminine issues - whether that is in changing sexual preferences, or because women and men appear to be morphing their traditional roles. We seem to have a crisis in relating because woman are much stronger than they used to be and that may make them too strong to take up the traditional, submissive role in a relationship.

But still the history of the combination of Pluto and Uranus together shows us that these two can also produce incredible opportunity, it is just that we humans rarely view change with anticipation. To get a sense of what is happening during this Square, think about a pond of water. If I put my hand in it and swish the water around it disturbs the mud from the bottom, completely obscuring any view. But up from the bottom of the pond also come the rich nutrients and tiny creatures that the fish can feed on. This creates a real opportunity to grab some good stuff and in this case the early fish catches the biggest worms.

There are raging, invisible torrents and giant, energy streams crashing around our planet at the moment. But they contain opportunity, possibility and prospects. Perhaps we should let change happen and embrace every moment whilst remembering you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.

What I haven't wanted to do here is get into arguments of what is right and what is wrong. Life itself doesn't do that. I simply wished to describe some deeper aspects of the conflict from my spiritual, astrological and mythological view point. Hopefully, I am not judging here, I am revealing.

It seems that Life contains a primordial savagery that lurks within the DNA of humankind for we have a full range of defence mechanisms and survival instincts. We can no more eradicate this than we can get rid of Pluto and it can appear on both sides of the fence. We are living in a hall of mirrors for which there may be few obvious answers except caution.

copyright Alison Chester-Lambert 2014

MORE RECENT POST SCRIPT......

Unfortunately there has been a rather depressing turn of events since this article on Isis was written. And it really doesn't bode well for the future of the Middle East. First a little explanation…..

When a new nation or group is formed, then astrology recognises that this `birth` has a birth chart or horoscope, in the same way that a human has when they are born. Anything that `begins` has that beginning as its potential. It's kind of like a blue print for its life. And in this way, when ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) declared itself to be a new Caliphate called just IS - the Islamic State, the position of the planets at the moment of that `birth` became the horoscope for the new State. And what a depressing horoscope it is, for now it includes one of the most evil symbols in astrology…. a `planet` so malevolent, few astrologers will even use it in their work. And it is called Hades.

On the day that the Islamic State was formed, the asteroid Isis and the `planet` Hades were exactly together in the sky. One on top of the other, so that their meanings become blurred. The meaning of Isis becomes synonymous with the meaning of Hades at that time. And even more ominous was their position in the sky, because they were both also forming a huge square around the Earth with Pluto, Uranus and Mars.

I'll explain the meaning of all this by looking at the planets separately.

Hades is a planetary enigma. It's projected position is far out from the Sun, billions of miles from Earth, in the frozen wastes near the edge of the Solar System. The Solar System itself is protected by a huge bubble of electromagnetic, solar energy called the Heliosphere, which keeps us safe from the ultra-high-energy radiation of interstellar Space. Basically, the stuff outside the Sun's bubble is so utterly lethal; it would destroy us in a nano-second.

The Sun's heliosphere contracts and expands as the Sun `breathes`, so at times it is smaller and at other times it is bigger – think of a balloon being blown up or let down. This doesn't bother us because we are well inside the protective bubble, but there are a couple of known planets right out at the very edge of the heliosphere and Hades is one of them. These planets often find that the protective bubble has been withdrawn from them and then they are bombarded by the lethal, ultra-high cosmic radiation of interstellar space. This is a territory so dangerous and malefic to life, it truly reflects the horrors of Hell conjured up by medieval artists. But worse… for us it means the Gates of Hell have truly been unleashed.

This means the new Caliphate or Islamic State has a horoscope which contains some of the most evil and destructive symbolism known to astrology. The combination of Hades and asteroid Isis could mean the Islamic State will attempt to draw together all the scattered parts of Islam, but take them into a terrible and depraved place. The combination of these two with the other planets involved means that carnage and atrocity might ensue. And maybe when the name `Isis` was dumped by the Islamic State, they also dumped the mediating influence of Isis the asteroid. This new horoscope might be showing the `take over` of her by the evil influence

Okay, this has happened before in the terrible history of humankind and it could certainly happen again - for terrible evil is seemingly written into the DNA of the human race - but one hardly wants to consider it in the 21st century. We can do little but wait and see what happens next…..

copyright Alison Chester-Lambert 2014.