Stanislav Petrov went to work as usual on a cold Russian winter night in 1993, not knowing he was going to save the world. His job was to monitor the air defense systems on large computer screens surrounding his desk. On that particular night, all the instruments were flashing warnings of the approach of dozens of nuclear missiles that had been launched from the US and aimed at Russia. Protocols said he’d follow instructions to push the button for a counter-defensive strike against the US. But instead he paused. He had a gut feeling that something was wrong. Intuition told him it might be a false alarm. He didn’t push the button. He waited a long 23 minutes before the system corrected itself. 23 minutes that saved the world from nuclear destruction.    During March, 2023, someone or something threw down the gauntlet and challenged you to a dueling-banjos debate. You found yourself at a forked crossroads that you didn’t see coming. You knew intuitively that you can no longer go the way you came. The two roads before you are clearly marked: “Right” and “Happy.” Vacillating between both sides is no longer an option. A definite choice must be made–a decision about how to resolve a personal inner conflict that has been manifesting in your outer world ambitions.    “Help!” has been my best prayer when I stand before those crossroads. One answer I got came through these wise words from a friend of mine; “the difference between a stepping stone and a stumbling block is your attitude.”    I’m learning that I cannot solve a problem I appear to be having in the outer world without going to its origins in my inner psyche. I’m pretty good at doing that after all my years as a psychologist. But my downfall is when I override my intuitive hunch, including the spiritual wisdom I’ve gained through many life experiences, and rely instead on the rules I’ve been taught. I thank God that Stanislav Petrov didn’t follow protocol.    That’s how I’m saving my own life. That and Mary Oliver. What are you going to do with your one wild and precious life?  

 

Cosmic vibes shake our rooftops, rattle our glass walls, knock down the protection of our front doors when both Saturn and Pluto change signs this March. Saturn waded cautiously into the 12th and final evolutionary sign of Pisces on March 7th, 2023, and Pluto shifts into Aquarius soon after, on March 23, 2023. 

 

• The Saturn Archetype in Pisces = The ladder to success is horizontal.
• The Pluto Archetype in Aquarius = Heavy handed smash-up of the judge’s gavel. 

 

First, let’s get acquainted with Saturn in his goggles and flippers. On March 7, 2023, Saturn took his first cautious steps into the unfathomable vastness of Pisces’ oceans. Saturn is about structure, not boundaryless seas, so he’s out of his element (earth). Carl Jung might call Saturn’s swim in Pisces his “inferior function.” He’s really not good at it. 

 

How much trust do we have in that oxygen tank? Saturn’s journey in Pisces will dissolve ancient paradigms of what we thought kept us safe, but actually didn’t! 

 

Pisces is the water sign ruling the 12th and final house of the zodiac, making Saturn’s two and half year sojourn there (until February 13, 2026) an evolutionary event that will affect the structures we’ve built within and without. What’s within is the cause, the world without is the effect.

 

Like all interpretations of major astrological events, Saturn changing signs from Aquarius to Pisces has two potential versions–we always have a choice: 

 

1. There’s the tale of fear told by the ego’s propaganda, or
2. The tale of love told by our higher selves, our divine Spirit.

 

 It takes 29 Earth years for Saturn to make one orbit around the Sun. Therefore, 29 years is the length of a Saturn Return in your birth chart. The return of Saturn to the same latitude, longitude and degree of a zodiac sign marks the most accurately predictable and significant cycle of a lifetime. Think about what happened in your life around age 29, or 58. Walls came down! 

 

As of March 7th, Saturn in Pisces is raising the issues that confronted you 29 years ago. What happened then and what is this new iteration going to look like? January 28, 1994 to April 6, 1996. And March 23, 1964 to March 3, 1967. 

Henry VIII, King of England from 1509 to 1547, began the doctrine of divine right of kings. 500 years later, that archetype parades across the world stage as Donald Trump. Only this time, when the emperor parades his greed and egomania, many of us are ready to shout out, “The Emperor is naked!”

 The fabric of his pretentious delusions are on public display for all to see, yet only a thoughtful and courageous few will call out the truth. He’s been selling himself as a god given savior of America, and all the while buying power for himself in backdoor deals. Trump hasn’t exactly chopped off anyone’s head as Henry VIII did, but he has felt equally entitled to get whatever he wants with impunity. 

Why have Americans let him get away with it? Because we have worshiped dynasties, money and wealth? On the world stage we see a reflection of the transformations we’re asked to notice inside ourselves. The 500 year old rule of “divine” kings is crumbling. We are refusing to exonerate criminals because they have or claim to have some sort of special privilege. During this era, A Washington Post article made this observation: “In allowing miscreants to escape accountability, [he] has effectively told his Department that there are no consequences for unethical or even illegal conduct.”

In this I hear the call to integrity from that rare and powerful event when Pluto conjoined Saturn in the sign of Capricorn on January 12, 2020. Like the aftermath of volcanic eruptions, the beginnings of this  new 500-yr cycle poured in like hot lava over stygian waters. It immediately changed the landscape—almost overnight the world stopped, never to be the same. 

Aren’t we tired of watching history repeating itself with only slight changes in dialogue and costumes? There’s an old familiar saying testifying to our world weariness, “Stop the world, I want to get off!” That’s a powerful wish that has now come true! Suddenly, the doors closed on the so-called rat race. We have the option to get off the spinning wheel that goes nowhere and to go forward at a pace that doesn’t run over our need for peace, or our responsibility to alleviate suffering wherever we can. 

Covid-19 is a tragedy of lost lives, but also a proof that we can stop the constant rush hour. Covid-19 has been a catalyst, but is not the cause, of the ensuing shift in consciousness we are called to make —a shift from deception to honesty, from lies to integrity, from abuse of power to the empowerment of reason, goodwill, and a helping hand to all those who have been deprived and overrun by a monkey-minded system. 

Jupiter’s energetic signals in 2022 and 2023, are pushing doors open to new horizons of opportunity and renewed optimism. That’s more or less usual for Jupiter. What’s different, now that he’s in Aries fire, is that those opportunities will be for trailblazing, for charging ahead with innovations like a pioneer moving always forward, never looking back. 

Optimism is your oxygen!

The archetypal energy that creates a grateful heart comes from the really big guy, Jovial Jupiter. If you follow his lead, optimism becomes your oxygen. And he will teach you to plumb the deep and hidden cache of your buried treasure—your dreams and your heart’s true desire.

Jupiter helps us bypass the ego’s fears and remember that the thing you’ve feared the most, and promised not to look upon, is your own magnificence. 

Recently I read some humorous quotes from #showerthoughts. You know, those sudden inspirations that come to us when we’re naked and water’s flowing over us in the shower. It seems we are free to download little gems like this one: 

“Santa Claus knows where all the evil people are but he does nothing about it!” 

Actually he does a lot by omission. He’s teaching us that abundance flows from the good in all of us. 

We’re like children who don’t have to labor and toil in order to get gifts from Santa. At the very least, only a letter to the North Pole is required. 

Jupiter’s energy can feel like we’re luckier or more fortunate than others. But the truth is, we are so-called lucky because Jupiter inspires optimism and positive thinking. 

Optimism inspires hope

From that optimism our thoughts turn to bigger possibilities. Optimism generates hope. Hope not only expands our hearts, it lifts our horizons—lifts our perceptions out of the minutiae of daily tasks and details and into a broader vision of what might be possible to achieve. 

Jupiter encourages an uprising! An uprising of belief in ourselves. Belief in our capacity to make a difference. 

Jupiter in Pisces completes a 12-year evolutionary cycle 

Jupiter is the curator, the custodian of wisdom collected during a 12 year evolutionary journey through the 12 zodiac signs– Jupiter in Aries to Jupiter in Pisces. Jupiter stays roughly one year in each zodiac sign. I say “roughly” because of retrograde periods. 

Jupiter began our current 12-house evolutionary journey Jan 22, 2011, when he entered Aries. Significantly, the god of lightning, Uranus, also entered Aries, March 11th, 2011, which became known as the Arab Spring. Uranus stayed close to Jupiter, both in the sign of rebellious Aries, until Jupiter entered Taurus on June 4th, 2011. 

What was meant to be a period of expansive freedoms and sudden opportunities to lift our horizons, to hope for a better way, but too often became thoughtless unchecked rebellions and grandiose schemes under the tutelage of ego.  

Jupiter buries the past, and begins again in Aries for a new 12-year, 12-house, evolutionary journey May 24th, 2022 to  October 27th, 2022 (5 mo.) when Jupiter briefly retrogrades back into Pisces for 2 months. Jupiter will finish his time in Aries December 19th, 2022 – May 16, 2023 (5 mo.). That will end the current 12-year cycle. 

The vibes from this giant planet have the archetypal energy of Santa Claus–generous, jovial and optimistic.

The power of our desire creates a world of our choosing.

The power of our collective desire creates the world we see.