The Fourth Turning

Never ones to shy away from intensity, astrologers discussing what SATURN and PLUTO, in the sign of government, big business, infrastructure, laws, and regulations, would mean this time around, have definitely felt concerned. We were really hoping for the best, yet bracing for some version of the worst.

Historically, when these potent malefic planets meet up, things happen in the world.

It creates the kind of darkness that leads to rebirth.

"Under this conjunction, Saturn built structures must undergo the test of time. The effects aren’t visible at first, we just know we’re due for a correction of some kind. The structures pass the test only if they are strong and truthful, anything false and superficial is more likely to collapse, unable to withstand the crucible nature of Pluto. During the testing period, the pressure will increase to match the deep volcanic nature of Pluto. It is important to realize that this is the process that ensures the health and survival of the bigger system, like Darwinian selection on the global scale. The history of the turbulent 20th century began with a triple conjunction of Saturn and Pluto. In 1914, an event widely regarded as sparking the outbreak of World War I took place; Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, and his wife were shot to death. The world was never the same. From 1914 until the next conjunction, we experienced two world wars, a complete break up of the 19th century geopolitical order that ended the dominance of the British Empire, and enthroned the United States as the world’s dominant empire.

The next exact conjunction was in 1947. To end the Second World War, the United States dropped nuclear bombs on Japan, beginning the nuclear race, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was created.

The next exact conjunction was in 1981, a short, severe recession hit the US one year into Reagan's presidency.

In 1983, the modern internet began to emerge, which forced the world economies into a new phase of wealth generation, and the beginning of social media.

On January 12, 2020 they reached their latest conjunction, though they will be within reach of each other all year.

The post-WWII productivity boom is over, and the consumption boom is on its last legs. Globalization redistributed wealth towards the elites, while effectively wiping out opportunities and stability for the middle class. The economic model that was built on eternal, economic growth, and borrowing from the future, now faces an insurmountable amount of debt. The current Saturn Pluto conjunction will complete on Jan 31, 2021. How will the world will look then, it makes us wonder?"

Excerpted from the Time Nomad

At the last SATURN PLUTO opposition, 9/11 happened, the effects of which are still being felt, politically and socially.

Another piece which needs to be factored in, is that the United States of America was born with PLUTO at 27 degrees CAPRICORN. This means that the US is having a PLUTO return, in its 2nd house of resources.

A PLUTO transit will degenerate and then regenerate whatever it touches, and there is light at the end of the tunnel, but it first requires a hero's journey. It's not difficult to interpret this as the financial crisis we see unfolding in conjunction with this pandemic pandemonium.

This all began to take shape in the PISCES time where we wanted to escape, numb out, be in denial. Now we have just passed through the gateway of the equinox/ARIES ingress, and the SUN is headed to CHIRON. CHIRON and the SUN at the bendings of the CANCER CAPRICORN nodal axis says that we are all wounded healers now, and the care must go in all directions. Our wounds are obvious and need to be tended. We can't keep limping along, pretending everything is fine.

It is not fine, this is not fine, we are not fine.

Issues around security are huge right now. In California where I am, and in many other parts of the world, we are being told to STAY HOME.

Work from home, school from home, visit from home, cultivate home in every way, as the message of the transiting NORTH NODE in CANCER is really driven home. The very simple instructions are: feel your feelings, tend your nest, stay connected to your tribe in any way that you can. This is how we grow in a healthy way, through this time.

Although things are very challenging and strange and surreal right now, being told to stay in the nest is not the worst thing ever.

In our extra time at home (CANCER), we need to find good healthy outlets for our fire (ARIES). We need to channel our fire into some kind of exercise. Briskly walking the neighborhood is allowed and encouraged, multiple times a day if needed.

A huge thank you for the heroes and heras found in our doctors, nurses, farmers, ag workers, food service, grocery and delivery professionals who are literally keeping things from falling into complete chaos right now. Things are hanging together by threads woven out of the literal life-force of these people right now.

We owe them everything. On the other side of this travail, we need to remember this and act accordingly. They are angels.

MARS, the planet of intemperate heat and warfare now locks up with JUPITER and PLUTO. This combo is plutonium charged. It is possible that martial law will be declared during this time. MARS brings heat and aggression. fire and inflammation to JUPITER's ongoing attempts at cohesion and expansion of our understanding. Together, in CAP, they are doing their best to help us deal with where we find ourselves, which feels like some surreal, alternate timeline. MARS is exalted, while JUPITER is in fall, so it's a weird mix, which matches these weird times. In general these two planets together can make us feel extra powerful and amped, but we can easily overdo it. So please, use this for something good, but don't overdo it. Use it to weed or till the new garden plot you'll be tending this year, but take breaks, and remember to drink plenty of water.

JUPITER and PLUTO conjunctions are called the 'tycoon aspect', and indeed we do see the ultra rich being greatly affected at this time, and not in good ways. More like roto rooter. And that's what PLUTO, amplified by JUPITER will do in CAP, it will melt down all the embedded and embodied forms, and free what has been trapped there, by greed and avarice. We are witnessing really big money in crisis as the coronavirus is coinciding with a financial collapse of the US, who's banks are tied into the global banking system all over the world.

PLUTO's job is to break down old decayed material, so something new can be forged. I don't need to tell you that we are living through historical, unprecedented, times that will be reexamined in books in the future, but in the meanwhile we just need to figure out how to navigate them.

We are mid-tumble; think the Tower card in Tarot, and the dust has nowhere near settled. On the other side of this, the world will be a very different place,

and THIS IS NOT ALL BAD.

This is a massive reset that applies to all parts of our lives. We are moving through a passage like the caterpillar’s time in the cocoon. We will eventually emerge, and it will be as another creature completely. What is most important to you now? How do you want to emerge from this time? What do you have the ability to control, and to what must you simply surrender and trust in the divine? We are all mortals here, just walking each other home. At times we can lose sight of this great truth, but now is not one of those times.

As humans we always live with uncertainty, and this all brings our focus here, amplifying it a great deal. We are scared, our kids are scared, and they're home with us now, all the time. Everybody needs to take rescue remedy as part of their daily protection protocol including adding it to our pets' water bowls, as they feel what we are feeling too. We are being asked to adapt to a great deal of unknowns and uncertainty, luckily we are an adaptable species.

SATURN in CAP has been a 'stress-test' on the structures of gov and banking, and it appears that these structures have been found wanting. Both CAP and AQUA are SATURN ruled signs, so as SATURN now enters AQUARIUS for the next few months, we are midway through a 5 year period of SATURN being powerful and dignified, in his home signs, meaning he is capable of doing what he needs to do. SATURN is always going to test us, because he is the original taskmaster. With SATURN there will be no coddling, as SATURN is 100% tough love. In AQUARIUS, SATURN will be testing and building the foundations of the revolution. PLUTO moving into AQUARIUS in 2023 will be monumental, and this is the first step. We must access the inventors, the mad-scientists, and eccentric-rebel part of ourselves. We now all need to self-exile into our remote alchemical labs to work hard, to find ways to improve the lot of humanity. This is the part of us that has no tolerance or time for the frivolous concerns of the status quo. This is SATURN in AQUARIUS.

How to handle this era with aplomb and grace:

Number 1:

Limit screen time. Distinguishing Zoom/Skype/facetime from the daily damage-report scrolling. This has got to be limited or it will drive you mad. Instead of mainlining the fear mongering news (it’s their job to inform, but always also to sensationalize for maximum addiction to their medium), try setting a timer, which can help you be more mindful. Also, try setting alarms throughout the day to prompt you to stand up and stretch your body in all the directions.

Number 2:

When we feel scared, we take short, shallow, little breaths that only fill the top of our lungs. This makes us feel worse. Take the time to fill your lungs slowly, through your nose and let your belly rise, hold for a moment, and then breathe out slowly and fully, still though your nose. Repeat. Simple but very effective. Now our simplest tools become crucial., and focus your eyes on a far away point. This is tonic self-care.

Number 3:

This time out of time begs for some creativity. Amazon is still delivering and they have many good grown-up coloring books. Coloring is so fun! I recommend using colored pencils. Or if you're so inclined, free styling in a blank book, and get into drawing the things you love and use all the time in your home. Do portraits of favorite tea mugs, houseplants, or even pets. We are all artists! This is a fab time to tap into your dormant creativity. Include your kids and partners.

Number 4:

Epsom salt baths, showers, and drinking lots of water. Water is such a blessed reset for humans. It can make even the worst day, feel better.

Number 5:

Self-care now really needs to include immune protection. My best sources say that birch tree grown, chaga mushroom powder, Liposomal vitamin C, and high levels of Vitamin D are our best bets to fight the cv. This comes from Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctors in Wuhan China, where they appear to be past the worst of this storm. And as that is where it all began, we can draw some hope from this news. This too, shall pass. We will learn, and grow, and change and adapt.

The news that Earth herself and her non-human denizens appear to be benefitting from and enjoying our giant pause, brings me great happiness.

The lesson of all these bottom line planets in CAPRICORN is that we are the responsible stewards for this planet. Our choices send her in the direction of sickness or health, and the direction we have been doggedly pursuing is the direction of sickness. So here is a seemingly external agent of illness that has catalyzed us all, world wide, to go to our rooms. The most giant time-out of all time. Let's definitely think about what we have done, and how we could do it differently.

We need to learn to reconnect with our roots and to treat our home planet with kindness and respect. Were not going to make it much longer if we don’t.

Here is a simple, easy way to start.

No matter where you are, you can sprout micro-greens in a mason jar and eat them.

https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-grow-sprouts-in-a-jar-2540007

MERCURY is still in confused and bewildered PISCES, currently conjunct the MOON, on its way to NEPTUNE again, so we are still somewhat in denial and not quite able to grasp all of this.

The feeling of overwhelm is immense and can make us feel tired.

Then take a nap.

Take lots of naps. Then get up and find your ARIES spark and go for a walk around the block or the yard, or up and down the stairs, though fresh air is best. Our worlds are getting smaller, and we need to pulse them, like we need to do with our lymph. It doesn’t have a natural pump so we need to move it. This is true in all the ways. We need to keep our blood flowing and get fresh air into our lungs daily.

Now we can become travelers in our own realms.

“I travel in gardens and bedrooms, basements and attics, around corners, through doorways and windows, along sidewalks, over carpets, down drainpipes, in the sky, with friends, lovers, children and heroes; perceived, remembered, imagined, distorted and clarified.”

Tom Robbins- Another Roadside Attraction

In spite of everything, I find myself feeling optimistic and hopeful.

We find ourselves in different circumstances, in different parts of the planet, yet we are all in this together, and we know that nature is getting a breather by the reports of animals emerging into the places that are usually so taxed and filled by stampeding humans. And we know this by the photos above China, showing the disappearance of clouds of pollution, normally visible in satellite photos.

Nature is already starting to recover, in this short time. And we are nature, which means despite our fear, we too are recovering. The giant, endless hamster-wheel, rat-race of earngainearngainearngain, to try to support our increasingly expensive lives has been exhausting us. We know things haven’t been working. We know that we’ve been on the edge of disease on every front. We know the earth has been being raped by human greed and yet we’ve felt helpless to stop the giant ravenous wall street machine of progress. Well.. this blessed/cursed virus is a part of nature too, no matter its origin story, and nature self-corrects. Looking through a different lens, humans have been a virus plaguing planet earth, and with an interruption to the way we function on a daily basis, year after year, the earth is immediately recovering some function and vitality that had seemed lost forever. This is a miracle. So how can we be better inhabitants from here on out?

Considering everything going on right now, I am opening my practice to a sliding scale, pay when you can model. I am here to help.

If you would like to book a reading, or just to connect,

you can reach through my website at PaetraTauchertAstrology.com

As radio is considered essential even in a lockdown time, I will continue to do my

bi-monthly radio show Astroscape. Most recent show.

With love and friendship,

Paetra Tauchert, Astrologer