Uranus shifted to Stationary Direct as Christmas Day closed in the United States and on the 26th, Boxing Day in the UK, India and many other parts of the world. No matter how we look at it, the transiting Cardinal T-square comes to light with the Moon in tight but not partile opposition to Pluto in square to Uranus at the arm. It’s not uncommon for unexpected or odd or even intense events to take place as early as three weeks before one of the outer planets–those I call the ETs, extraterrestrials–make an apparent change in direction, as Uranus has done this time. Weather has continued to make us aware of this planet associated with the unexpected in action, as it’s actually been for most of the month in this country.

Stateside, green grass and no snow in the Northeast baffled and saddened many of us who look forward to typically sparkling, snowy scenic views while temperatures on the West coast dived to chilling degrees many weren’t used to either. As I was putting this article to bed, news came in that 13 in Missouri are dead from massive flooding of two rivers, the Missouri and the Mississippi. West Alton, located halfway between the two rivers is now in danger of flooding any minute. Meanwhile, a planned husband and wife suicide attack in London has been foiled at the same time that two other individuals were arrested in Belgium after officials there became aware of their planned New Year’s attack in that country.

And those same kinds of energies will take place a while longer, normally about a week or so following that shift in direction, as the New Year now rolls in. Last night, for example, my community in upstate New York finally saw a bit of wintry weather, and then we got everything at once–rain, snow, sleet and ice. The unexpected, as I said.

While I did a teaser in the Transits and Trends community along with two pictures I couldn’t resist sharing since they’re perfect expressions of potential Uranus-emphasized moments, I barely looked at the transits without much additional say.
If ever events can open our eyes as wide as the little guy above has his, Uranus always has surprises in store for us. I just finished writing about what appears will be the doozy of the season, “A Uranus Moment Steve Harvey Won’t Ever Forget,”
But let’s get to what was happening in the cosmos as Uranus actually moved to Stationary Direct in the USA, in the UK and in India. In the broadest sense of the event, the Sun-Mercury midpoint formed a 38-minute partile opposition to the Moon while still not establishing a partile conjunction to Pluto (but it is conjunct). Meanwhile, the Saturn-Neptune midpoint at 23 Capricorn 57 made a 35-minute partile conjunction to Mercury.
Jupiter sits on the Ascendant in the Uranus SD chart for the United States, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good thing. Neptune forms three distinct undecaquartisextiles (UQSXT) to the conjunction of the Ascendant (ASC), Jupiter (JU), and the North Node (NN), and the weather alone certainly has led to unexpected chaos in the nation in a variety of ways: The Northeast basked in unseasonably warm temperatures this week. In fact, Christmas Eve was only 3 Fahrenheit degrees less than it was this year on the 4th of July!

Tornadoes, one right after the other, wreaked havoc in the South and moved through parts of the Midwest and Central states, leaving around 14 dead including a 7-year-old boy and an 18-year-old girl. Parts of the Northwest had snow, and it seemed downright bizarre, as if we were in some kind of time warp in which everything that shouldn’t have happened did. We don’t usually see tornadoes in this country at this time of year.

And then there was Texas where it was hit with both sudden overnight tornadoes, leaving rubble in their wake right after Christmas and then came floods and a snowstorm that was expected to bring 15 inches of the fluffy white stuff! Yes, I said Texas! Tragically, between Texas and the Midwest, a total of 43 people lost their lives in this series of freaky weather patterns in the last week while the Northeast, accustomed to snow sports, saw shorts and tee-shirt clad people playing American baseball! For a few hours, there were thoughts of snow in my area of upstate New York, but those thoughts gave way to treacherous driving weather that had little to do with snow and much more to do with sheets of ice on the roads.
On the 21st of December, 6 NATO troops–all American–were killed in a suicide bombing at the Bagram American military base north of Kabul, Afghanistan, making the holiday season a lot more grim for their families. While we can say these things occur–as they do–in various parts of the world even when Uranus isn’t in forward or retrograde motion, the element of surprise apparently had something to do with the six who were killed because they hadn’t thought twice about seeing the motorcycle coming their way right before the bomb went off.

These unexpected events–or even the weird weather in parts of the United States–don’t promise to be all there is just yet. What comes next should be interesting. As “interesting” goes, some things we’d probably look at in retrospect and wish for a few less surprises. One family in my area discovered the Christmas grinch broke into their home while the famly was sleeping on Christmas night and stole all of their gifts! It appears like we could blame that 48-minute partile conjunction of Jupiter and the Ascendant as well as their conjunction to the North Node. Expansive is one thing; bizarre implies Neptune as well, and Neptune was right in there in grand style, forming three undecaquartisextiles (UQSXT) to the 1st house trio.
Scorpio rises with Venus in the first house in the chart for the United Kingdom at the time Uranus moved to apparent direct motion in the wee hours of the 26th. But now, we find the Jupiter-NN conjunction in the 10th house in their UQSXT to Neptune’s conjunction to the IC, pointing to the devastating floods that have taken place in the north. Mars’ presence in the 11th house forms an 18-minute partile semisextile to Venus, both of which sit in Blooming UQSXT formation with the Part of Fortune (PoF). While I normally wouldn’t be inclined to look at the PoF, in this case its highly relevant when we consider the millions in damages.

This particularly potent aspect takes on still more meaning when we also see the Cardinal T-square with Pluto in the 2nd house, the Moon in the 8th and the arm in the 5th, giving me concerns for the safety of those in the flooded areas, not only for their lives but also for the actual cost of the devastation. I’m wondering whether schools in that area will need to remain closed for a bit, as ours were sometime back where I live. Health concerns can rise rapidly in these situations.

The midpoint of the Saturn-Neptune square–the Peeling of Life’s Onion–sits in a telling 35-minute partile conjunction to Mercury, pointing to what appears to be a certain sign of sorrow in that region. While this also has been significant in the chart for the United States, the midpoint here in the UK version of the Uranus direct chart warns of the likelihood of huge losses. The 23 Libra 59 Venus-Jupiter midpoint in 37-minute partile square to Mercury and in 2-minute partile square to the Saturn-Neptune square midpoint would point to a probable slow economic recovery as well.
Second house Uranus rules the Aquarius Ascendant (ASC) of the chart for India with Pluto just barely (20 minutes) into the 12th house and the opposing Moon on the 6th house cusp (1°28′ orb). This particular ASC is a mere 2°07′ from India’s natal chart Midheaven (MC), a point that appears to be significant in this Uranus SD chart. And while I considered the placement of 2nd house Uranus SD in this transiting chart, I ruled out the economic factors. India already struggles with the unexpected in its economy. But Uranus as the arm of the T-square to the Moon-Pluto opposition seemed to point to the Aquarius rising in this case, addressing more of India’s image on the homefront as well as in its dealings with other nations.

On the 22nd of December, the Juvenile Justice Bill was passed–the same day three teenagers including a 16-year-old were arrested on charges of wrongful confinement, rape and attempted murder for a gang rape that took place on December 11. Ironically, as I write this, December 29, it’s the third anniversary of Nirbhaya’s death, and it was the crimes against Nirbhaya that inspired the bill. Four others, also between the ages of 16 and 18, were also arrested on the 22nd of December after they killed one police officer and wounded two other people in a New Delhi courtroom, giving one pause to wonder whether the bill will actually do any good.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, announced on Christmas Eve that he and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi had signed several deals including one enabling Russia to build as many as six nuclear plants in India over the next 20 years followed by another six at some later point.. The second Russian-built power plant will be ready in a few weeks. “I see in Russia a prominent partner in India’s economic transformation,” Modi said.

The first nuclear plant, at Kudankulam, had attained maximum capacity in June 2014, ironically when transiting Uranus was forming an UQSXT to the Ascendant while still in square to Pluto. Pluto, meanwhile, was opposing the 10th house Mercury-Jupiter midpoint, and Mercury was making a 10-minute partile square to the Moon. The age-old proverb “All that glitters is not gold” comes to mind.

Another bit of unexpected news that raised the hackles of many in India came with Narendra Modi’s surprise, unannounced visit to Lahore, Pakistan.

Venus conjuncts the MC in Pluto-ruled Scorpio, pointing to the Uranus-Pluto square while another Blooming UQSXT comes to light with this transiting chart. The Blooming UQSXT semisextile duo–Jupiter and the Part of Fortune–forms individual UQSXT angles to Neptune. While this might seem insignificant, Neptune rules the 2nd house cusp and rises from inside the first house. I’ll admit it: With Uranus in the second house and Neptune in the first, it’s probably not the best timing for building the future on hopes. I think I’ll bide my time on this one and see how things turn out by the time we’re on the other side of the upcoming Mercury retrograde and its post-retrograde shadow, about 6 weeks or so from now…

How does this bode for all of you? Breathe your way through the next week, and try not to be surprised at events comng your way. This is one of those times I usually can say you can’t count on anything more than expecting the unexpected. Right now, Uranus is in charge for a few more days. (No, not literally, of course, but sometimes it feels that way, doesn’t it?)

Meanwhile, I still have another article to do so I’m getting on that right now!

Namaste, I love you,
Michelle

©2015 Michelle Young