The Sky

Some General Remarks On The Year 2012

2012, it is thought, will be special, different, ominous or momentous, according to your point of view. Why? Because of the end of the Long Count of the Mayan Calendar? Because of the current instability of the world economy? Whatever people’s reasoning – though there is very little reasoning going on, reactions being in the main emotional – much of the material that has been published about 2012 is at best spurious and at worst downright misleading and scaremongering. I find myself echoing a certain celebrity’s well-known catchphrase ‘Calm down, dear!’.

The first point that needs emphasising is that while with our ‘little everyday selves’ we perceive chaos, difficulty, apparent craziness and generally very trying circumstances, this is an outward impression. Stand back from what is going on in the outer world and you will see, if you look with spiritual eyes, rapid growth and development.

Many of us are familiar with the fact that once you set your feet on the spiritual path, you accelerate the outworking of karma in your life; you become ready to deal with things sooner than would otherwise have been the case. This is happening with more and more people, and it seems that, despite appearances to the contrary, humanity as a whole is approaching a point at which enough of us have made this choice, whether consciously or unconsciously, to cause evolution to speed up considerably.

As people become more evolved, both individually and collectively, they become responsive to the more subtle nuances of astrological influence. This applies particularly to the outer planets, whose influences were at one time barely noticeable in the vast majority of lives, but now have an increasing effect on individual as well as global life.

Most of us probably know by now that Pluto is moving through Capricorn. It entered this sign around the time that the global financial turmoil really began. Capricorn is associated with government, the administration of power, big and well-established institutions, management and organisation generally. Pluto moving through Capricorn, as befits the Lord of the Underworld, is undermining anything not soundly based. The ‘bad’ news: the turmoil will go on, and probably for a long time yet.

The good news: this also enables things to change for the better. Pluto has the habit of bringing to light things that have been hidden. We can see this in many areas of life; it is ultimately a good thing to deal with ‘the mucky stuff’ and move on with a clear path ahead. Individuals may think they have the power to do what they wish, but one thing that Pluto continually reminds us is that the only source of power is the Divine Source.

We only ‘have’ power when it is part of the Divine Plan that we do so. We can choose: either we align ourselves to this power and offer ourselves as channels to further the fulfilment of the Plan, or we can rebel and face the consequences, many of which are now very obvious. But they are good too, because we learn from them and move forward. Spiritual law always makes the best possible use of our mistakes and affords us opportunities to learn and to put things right.

The challenge that this presents is well illustrated in the next couple of years by a prolonged square between Pluto and Uranus. Uranus recently moved into Aries and is making its presence strongly felt. It is the planet of will, among other things, and at times for most of us this means self-will, especially in Aries, but it is ultimately about learning to will the Will of God.

Uranian people are often very autocratic and rebellious – it is indeed the planet of revolution – but we all learn sooner or later that, as with Pluto and power, there is only one Will that means anything and that moves us in the right direction. The square immediately suggests that self-will – Uranus in Aries – will be confounded by the thorough and inexorable operations of Pluto in Capricorn. However, it also suggests that an acceptance of the Plutonic transformation will enable all sorts of new beginnings (Aries) in the light of the truth thus revealed (Uranus). Challenging, yes, but constructive too.

Another useful lesson that humanity is learning from all this is that we cannot put our trust in anything of the material world, thus turning us more and more to look within for solutions, as we should. Yet another lesson is that of brotherhood, a Uranian theme. In times of crisis, are we going to join hands and help each other? We shall soon learn, if we don’t already understand, that it is the only sensible and logical way forward, as well as the right one. We all depend on each other as we move forward together on the evolutionary path.

Although it may seem less prominent with reference to the current conditions than Uranus and Pluto, Neptune is moving into Pisces, its own sign, early in 2012, enabling it to act strongly. In outward manifestation, this can mean muddle and chaos, unrealistic expectations, disappointments and a tendency to want to escape. At its best, however, Neptune is the planet of the mystic, and in its own sign can do much to help raise humanity’s overall consciousness.

To me, its main message is that we need to keep our vision fixed upon the goal of universal brotherhood and harmony which is the essence of the new-age, Aquarian ideal, and not to let ourselves wallow in what we have to go through to get there!

January - March 2012

In addition to the workings of the outer planets, mentioned in the general notes above, the movements of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn play interesting parts during this period. Mars spends much of it retrograde; it is in Virgo and turns retrograde on 24 January, remaining so until the middle of April. This seems highly expressive of the anxiety that is besetting so many people at this time, but also of the value of simply getting on with the task in hand and keeping working, whatever that phrase may mean in different contexts.


Mars in Virgo can be a worrier, but it is also excellent for putting one’s energies into work and service, in whatever sphere of life. It is true that it may well symbolise much to do with anxieties over employment issues, but at the same time it is down to earth and sensible in essence. In mid-March Mars forms a grand trine with Jupiter and Pluto. While traditionally grand trines were regarded with suspicion, in circumstances such as these where the general ‘celestial conditions’ are so challenging, it is in many ways to be welcomed.


The earth emphasis keeps one’s feet on the ground, while the aspects tie the Martian energy and Jovian enterprise in with the work that Pluto is doing (see above). The configuration will not last long, but does afford a brief opportunity for things to become more free-flowing for a while, as some of the tension of the Uranus-Pluto square will find an outlet through Mars and Jupiter.


Jupiter continues to be in Taurus; its trine with Pluto is more long-lasting than Mars’s and will be extant for the latter half of February and all of March. This may well help to develop a more optimistic approach to the major global problems. Its possible drawback may be a tendency to think things are ‘better’ than they really are, i.e. unwarranted optimism, but positive thought is always better than cynicism.


Saturn is crucially placed – it moves little during these months, being stationary in early February in the very last degree of Libra, its exaltation sign. Some astrologers regard the last degree of any sign as a kind of ‘last chance saloon’, when there is a final opportunity to resolve an issue before it is too late.


It would be foolish and scaremongering to suggest that this is literally the case with, for instance, the European financial crisis, or anything else, but it probably is true to say that Saturn’s retrograde period which begins at this time will afford some time in which to sort out quite a few things before it turns direct again and moves inexorably on through the last part of Libra and into Scorpio in the last months of the year. I’m sure there will be more to say on that in due course....

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