The Saturn Neptune square, for me is manifested in the way that my garden has gotten away from me, borders blurred by long grass and me having little or no time to maintain it. Saturn denotes borders, order and land. Neptune denotes creativity, confusion and erosion. My flowerbeds need to be redefined and all the stuff that does not belong pulled out. Oh, and to cap it all, my sceptic tank soak-away pump died.
It cost me money to get more tools for my garden and it cost me money for a new pump. To get my garden back to some sort of order will take weeks - probably the length of the Saturn Neptune square.
The first Saturn Neptune square was 26 November 2015. I had gout and was hardly able to walk. This was the start of my problem. My greenhouse remained unfinished, so I could not plan my fruit and vegetables properly for the following spring. Transiting Pluto sat stubbornly on my natal Saturn, causing as much trouble as possible. Neptune was actively conjunct my IC at the time I moved house after 26 years in one place. The move had taken a while and we even pulled out of the first purchase because the vendors were dithering and confused about their move. Transiting Uranus was inconjunct to my natal Ascendant, creating chaos to how I presented myself to the world; like the day I had to go to a meeting in carpet slippers because the gout prevented me from wearing shoes. The big outer 4 did not sit nicely for me.
But all was not doom and gloom. Mercury conjunct Saturn on the day of the square, gave me the opportunity to communicate to others how confusing certain procedures are to individuals who were least able to understand it. This was my newly acquired job and I was learning how to support a confused person and help to bring the sudden chaos of their lives back to some form of order and control. So the Saturn Neptune square gave me employment by using the two energies in a positive sense. Where Neptune dissolved the structure of people’s lives, it was my job to support them while they battled to change their minds from illusion back to reality.
Even Jeremy Corbyn (Leader of the Labour party in the UK) at this time was making a big play on the inadequate investment given to mental health. Usually the first casualty in any cost cutting exercise, mental health became under invested and too many people are living in the community without help or support until there is a crisis.
The second Saturn Neptune square is on 18 June 2016, just at the time Jupiter applies by closing trine to Pluto. So just before the second square is exact, Jupiter and Neptune oppose while squaring Saturn, the most remarkable mundane event at the time being the campaign for Great Britain referendum to remain or leave the European Union. We know now, of course, that the UK chose to leave but everyone agreed that the arguments both for and against were confusing and often full of misleading claims.
The final pass of the closing Saturn Neptune square will be 10 September 2016. The North Node will be within tolerance of an opposition to Neptune and square Saturn; yet another T-square. Jupiter will have just ingressed into Libra while Mercury inconjuncts Uranus. This last aspect does not bode well for trade and to be applying at the time of the last Saturn Neptune square implies much confusion.
The UK will be trying to unscramble the egg that binds it to EU laws, which will obviously include trade. Europe has declared that the UK can have free trade if it continues to allow free movement of people. One of the main reasons for Brexit, however, is that the UK wants control back of it’s borders. This in the first instance creates a problem for those who have both come to the UK and left the UK to work. The present stance is that the UK will allow people from the EU already here and working to stay if the EU will grant a reciprocal arrangement for the UK citizens in the EU. In terms of trade, however, the UK wants free trade but control back of it’s borders. With the North Node in Virgo, the devil will undoubtedly be in the detail.
While the Saturn Neptune square releases from around 22 September 2016, the Neptune opposition to the North Node continues to apply, becoming exact round 17 November 2016. It is a curious aspect with Neptune conjunct the South Node, that confusion dominates what people have done in the past. Brexit means that one cannot go back to what was done before but to some people there is also the unwillingness to change it. This will no doubt muddy negotiations (that the EU say cannot begin until the UK declares article 50).
Then Jupiter’s closing square to Pluto (loosely applying but opposition to Uranus) hits on 24 November 2016 while the Neptune opposing North Node is still within a degree of exact. Saturn is also in aspect: sextile to Jupiter, Semi-sextile to Pluto and trine to Uranus. Saturn is conjunct Mercury indicating trade restriction possibilities. Pluto is conjunct Venus, implying financial revelations. All these aspects coming together one after the other indicates some major financial shocks that reverberate around the world. No doubt if Donald Trump becomes President of the United States, the establishment will be quickly revising the plans it made when assuming it had successfully engineered its preferred candidate, Hillary Clinton, as a bought and paid for puppet into the White House.
I have stated for many years that I expect to see a global depression. In so far as I saw it happening in 2015 (see the Barbault cyclic index), there has been some artificial stimulus holding back what must inevitably happen. Perhaps the Saturn Neptune square may finally unravel this artificial financial buoyancy and allow the unravelling to commence in November 2016.
The consequences for Brexit should not go unnoticed. The EU has demanded that if the UK wants to leave then it should get on with it. But everything astrological suggests that the right moment to sign article 50 will be on 1 January 2017. Certainly the way the aspects are lining up to take down the global economy, any notion of trying to negotiate leaving the EU in the middle of financial turmoil would be impossible.
After the Jupiter Pluto square comes Saturn Uranus closing trine late 24 December 2016 within 13 minutes of arc before Jupiter becomes exact by opposition to Uranus and is exact by sextile to Saturn. The North Node, implicit in its previous tie up with Neptune is now semi square Jupiter and sesquiquadrate Uranus. The sudden breaking (Uranus) of boundaries (Saturn) by too much (Jupiter). Jupiter also applies by inconjunct to Chiron. Venus also applies to Jupiter and Uranus. This particular aspect is going to be a big deal and another reason not to sign article 50 just yet, as there are still global events to play out before the stage can be seen clearly enough to make rational plans.
Is it therefore possible that other EU countries may decide that the last straw is placed on the creaking economies of Italy, France, Portugal etc. Will others now call for referendums and place the final nail in the coffin of the EU project? This is the kind of event that would change the perspective of Brexit and what might be left to negotiate with.
Jupiter opposes Uranus exactly on 26 December and then refrains from aspect to sextile Saturn with Jupiter turning stationary retrograde on 6 February 2017 and not making that exact sextile until 27 August 2017.
So there will be a societal issue of global importance that will take over 8 months to unfold within the public eye. The UK cannot possibly eke out signing article 50 for that long.
So my prediction is that the UK will choose to sign article 50 on 1 January 2017 with a view to being officially separate from the EU by midnight 1 January 2019, which will effectively trigger a new UK chart.
But first let’s look at the New Year chart for 2017 and the challenges that will present. Sun and Pluto are within 6 degrees of conjunction, meaning the UK still holds a place close to the world stage. Mars and Neptune conjunct at 9º Pisces and trine the MC indicates the potential for the UK to become a tax haven and the conduit for all manner of fraudulent activity. Venus in Aquarius in the UKs 5th house further enhances how unusually attractive the UK might become to outside investors (but I wonder if this will be for all the wrong reasons).
It also suggests that the decision to renew Trident submarines will go ahead despite the controversy and the enormous cost; politically the UK government still want to use nuclear capability to hold power on the world stage.
Jupiter and Uranus are in opposition through the 1801 1st and 7th houses. I have expected for some time that the UK will forge stronger links with China. This being the case, the deal for a new nuclear power plant at Hinkley point may also get the go ahead. This means that energy for the British public may be set to double by the time it is completed and will therefore be subject to mass protest.
Transiting Saturn in the UKs 3rd house will be good for trade at home. The implication of a weaker pound will help exports and Mercury also in the 3rd suggests talks around trade deals being set up.
Most of the planets sit at the bottom of the chart except Uranus. So the world will see the UK reform but there is a huge amount of work going on, Transiting Jupiter in the 1st house alone depicting the huge task to reinvent the UK as a single entity.
So if my prediction is correct then the next official working chart for the UK will be 1st January 2019.
Transiting Sun and Saturn are conjunct , with Pluto just ahead of Saturn by 9º in Capricorn. In many ways the necessity to reform might place the UK ahead of the rest of the world in the changes that must take place. In this sense it demonstrates that the UK leaving the EU before it collapses anyway could turn out to be an extremely good move.
Transiting Mars at the anaretic degree of 29 Pisces places the UK ready and waiting for the new world order to emerge. Indeed the work already done might place the UK at the vanguard of change, particularly within the financial sector. Paradoxically, however, Mars is conjunct Chiron, which also indicates that the UK financial sector, being in part to blame for all that is wrong with economic markets, will still try to protect itself from necessary change. This means that there will be intentional delays and much dragging of feet, while those of wealth and high asset manage to protect their interests; Uranus in the UK chart is retrograde at 28 of Aries but it has already ingressed into Taurus (see article). Transiting Neptune is also in the 6th house which further reinforces the notion of fraud and dishonesty. I expect that there may be quite a lot of confusion around tax and who is entitled to pay what.
Transiting Jupiter is strong in Sagittarius and in the 3rd house of the UK 1801 chart. I am inclined to lean towards the notion that the UK, for expediency if nothing else, will adopt much of the EU law as UK law in order to firstly harmonise issues around trade, security and international cooperation and secondly to save the idiocy of trying to nit pick through huge swathes of law changes. One hopes that common sense will largely prevail and might also provide a template for other countries leaving the EU to likewise adopt similar harmonisations. Mercury in the 3rd also indicates strong trade both at home and abroad.
Transiting Venus and Moon are in Scorpio in the 2nd house of personal values. Crucially they place the UK 1801 Neptune at midpoint between them. This ‘transformation’ of personal values, particularly with the North Node in the patriotic sign of Cancer, could rejuvenate a greater sense of patriotism and encourage the citizens of the UK to define their ‘Britishness’. There is, of course, an inherent danger that could not only foster bigotry and prejudice but also strain the relations with the UK between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The semi sextile between transiting Moon and Jupiter may just keep the countries from flying apart, however, transiting Uranus in the 7th, the breaking away from open enemies (in this case Westminster) could indicate still further devolution.
I’m sure that much more could be extracted from the January 2019 chart but until article 50 is triggered, the chart remains speculative.
The world, even in 2019, appears to remain in a state of transformation and reform, which means that the Uranus Pluto square continues to dominate everything until the big conjunctions of 2020 with Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto all starting new cycles. The collapse of the EU could mean new charts for many European countries, while the US looks forward to its Pluto return in 2022.
So you can guarantee that everything must change. If I were looking at when to trigger article 50, I too would suggest 1st January 2017. As it is August 2016 at the time of writing this article, I dare say we will not have too long to wait to find out.
