On a January 7 night when the temperature locked in at 20-below zero, compressing everything in the Heartland, I offered Star*Talk 2010 at Meadowlark Coffee & Espresso in Lincoln, Nebraska. Before a relaxed coffeehouse crowd of about 25 people, I had the opportunity to tell the tale of the planets in 2010, and their portents. Here are some notes from the talk.
Prometheus stealing fire from the Gods - an alternative mythological archetype for the energies of planet Uranus, which is so active in 2010. Painting by Jan Cossiers.
The forces at work in the world throughout 2010 will mark it as a year of revolutionary intensity – a year of vividly energetic metamorphosis that will propel us to new stages of development in our work, finances, personal lives, culture, and government. In general, all manner of structures and systems are poised to change rapidly and dramatically from 2010 on to 2012 and beyond.
A main arena will be the field of activity known as the sign Capricorn. The planet Pluto is in Capricorn now, and will drive systems change well into the 2020s. Meanwhile, the planet Saturn, ruler of Capricorn, is in a celestial engagement with several other planets: Uranus, Pluto, and Jupiter in particular. They are forming Squares, Oppositions, T-squares, and a Grand Cross with Saturn. Collectively these planetary patterns herald profound, soul and life-rocking shifts for almost everyone.
As Maurice Fernandez, Heather Roan Robbins, Arielle Guttman, Astrobarry, Marcia Starck and many other stargazers have indicated, at the outset of 2010 we have initiated a historical epoch that will redefine our lives from foundation to flower. The astrological circumstances are rare and dramatic. Everything has potential to shift, and much will.
One immediate subset of the forces at work this year is, in astrological terms, the already-happening Square (90-degree angle) being formed from Saturn in Libra to Pluto in Capricorn. That Square became effective in autumn, 2009, will attain a second phase January-February 2010, and then attain maximum influence this summer particularly in July. The energy of this square brings steady, deep, dramatic change. What is old and no longer suitable either rots from the core or shatters.
Concurrently and more momentously, the waxing Square of the planet Uranus in Aries to Pluto has been an influence since summer, 2009. It will, however, not attain its first perfection (precise peak) until 2012, and then will remain a dominant energetic influence through 2015-16. Across those years of revolution and redefinition, Uranus and Pluto will form a total of seven perfections. Technically that means that the two planets, viewed through the lens of Western Astrology, will be at a 90-degree angle to one another seven times. This configuration heralds radical reversals and sudden, unpredictable shake-ups. Many people will undergo changes in vocation, relationships, location, mindsets, and more.
This is a time of an awakening, of revolutions internal and social, economic, and environmental. Not much will stay still or stay stable. In that context of fundamental change, it’s an auspicious time for vision-inspired innovation, reinvention, risk, and the sustained drive and determination to make new visions, relationships, and structures real.
The summer of 2010 is specially marked by a T-Square involving Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto—a rare and profound alignment. Back in 2004, astrologer Bill Streett looked ahead and regarded the 2010 T-square as so noteworthy that he published an article about it then.
One of the metaphors Streett used to characterize the 2010 T-square remains resoundingly apt even now, six years later, when 2010 is actually underway. Streett wrote about one of the most famous scenes in the original Star Wars film (Episode IV). In that scene, while trying to elude hostile storm troopers, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and the other rebels find themselves trapped within a giant, industrial-size trash compactor. Someone has pushed the button. The walls of the trash compactor are closing in swiftly on the space junk and upon our heroes. Time is of the essence. How can they possibly escape this steadily compressing trap so crammed with junk?
Extreme Compression - Luke Skywalker and Han Solo endeavor to escape from the Star Wars trash compactor, a scene emblematic of the forces at work in 2010.
The imagery of that classic Star Wars trash-compactor scene, Streett wrote, suggests many of the meanings and potentials of the 2010 planetary alignments: “constrictive forces creating crisis; garbage, waste, and unprocessed filth; rebels and revolutionaries; elemental intensity that demands awareness and creative solutions; and rebirth from the darkness into a new case scenario.”
“Like the rebel forces of Star Wars,” Streett wrote, “we may well find ourselves in difficult, constrictive scenarios that not only bring us face to face with our shared ‘garbage’ but which also demand swift action.”
Swift action will indeed be the order of the day after May 2010, when the Planet Uranus leaves the sign Pisces and enters fiery, impetuous Aries at the beginning of the Zodiac. Revolutions of all kinds, long simmering in the shadows, come forward fast and hard. That will be especially the case June 6-7-8 as Uranus conjoins Jupiter in Aries. Big Time Initiatory Fire abounds.
All of Summer 2010, when Saturn makes its final square to Pluto, may well be marked with stressful, dangerous challenges. The economy, women, values, and the land will all be highlighted. The “Field of Dreams” is over and done with. Now we’re in the “Field of Reality.”
Recognizing this, I have turned my attention to what I have come to think of as ’21st Century agrarianism.’ When I look up I see symbols in the sky of the forces at work in our world, and when I look down I see what is actually going on with our soil, seeds, crops, and food on the Earth. I have taken action in this realm, and I urge other people to listen carefully to the “call of the land,” and to respond wisely, boldly and swiftly to this urgent call.
Revolution and evolution will be key themes evolving out of 2010 and the years beyond. Those awake to the higher potentials of the initial Uranus-Pluto conjunction in the ‘60s now have an opportunity and a responsibility to see that the revolutions of 2010 and beyond – no matter the arena of life where they occur — bring forth true Promethean light-bearing advancement in our relationships with the Earth and with each other.
Our foundations are shifting and little good can come of trying to hold outmoded systems and relationships together. Much will have to be rebuilt. We can do that with a wisdom that will reverberate for seven generations or more to come.
For an understanding of how traditional Daykeepers and native elders of North America regard the end of the Mayan calendar on Dec. 21, 2012, check out my ebook Tales of the Whirling Rainbow: Authentic Myths & Mysteries for 2012. It is a swift, powerful and penetrating look at this era from the vantage of the wisdom traditions that have been anchored on this land for 20,000 years or more. It explores how they may bear upon the present in a helpful manner.. You can read the book on any Smartphone, iPad, Nook, Kindle, computer, or whatever — 10 different eformats.
Posted by Steven McFadden 
Now as Saturn begins a new phase in the sign of Libra above us, so below do we human beings. Libran themes of fairness, justice, and relationship will require direct attention. Libra is symbolized by the scales, and the defining force of Saturn will put those scales to work seeking balance in every realm of life.
Star*City Astrology presents STAR*TALK* – Thursday, November 5, 7-8:30 pm, at 
