We begin with the momentous Neptune-Pluto septile that has been in effect since 2000, and in Section 3, New Aspects for March - May, 2010 we'll look mainly at how Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus are all taking their positions in relation to Pluto for the momentous Cardinal Crosses of mid-2010. While the main action here will not come until July and August, most of the planets that will be working with and against each other in this tremendous alignment will be taking their places in April and May, so that the events of the months just ahead will give us more than just a hint of what we can expect early in the second half of the year.

Here are the main players for March - May, 2010:

Nov. 7, 2009 - Nov. 1, 2010: The Sixth Night: In the Galactic Creation Cycle described by Carl Johan Calleman in The Mayan Calendar: Solving the Greatest Mystery of Our Time, this month begins the next-to-last of the 360-day tuns in this 13-tun cycle.

According to Calleman's design, all of cosmic time consists of nine cycles, ranging in size from billions of years -- from the Big Bang to the present -- to the 260-days of the last tzolkin round. All of the cycles will be running concurrently in 2011, and all will, Calleman believes, end at the same time at the moment of Galactic Creation on Oct. 28, 2011. Calleman envisions the years from 1999 to 2011 as a 13-tun cycle consisting of seven "days" in which humanity gradually awakens into spiritual consciousness, alternating with six "nights" which are not necessarily dark or negative in their import, but provide time intervals to integrate the infusions of light coming in the day tuns. Calleman has gained wide attention for his uncommonly prescient forecasts of what is to come in each tun, particularly for his accurate calls on the economic turbulence in the United States, and the shifting of the world's economic center of gravity from west to east, in the Fifth Night of Nov. 2007 to Nov. 2008. In this night too momentous changes can be expected, especially in the summer of 2010.

Jan. 18, 2010 - Jan. 22, 2011: Jupiter in Pisces: The first significant planetary transition of the year comes now, as Jupiter, the bringer of jollity, enters the sign of mystical consciousness. Over the coming year Jupiter will be in Pisces until June 6, in Aries June 6 to Sept. 9, then in Pisces again Sept. 9 through Jan. 22, 2011.  See also June 17, 2010 below.

 Jupiter in Pisces is the placement of altruism and benevolence, of the ability to enjoy happiness that is modest and comfortable rather than extravagant. It is also likely that Jupiter’s love of sensual pleasure, in the sign of altered consciousness, may manifest in heavy use of substances that are illegal, or that some people think ought to be. Sales of tobacco, alcohol and recreational drugs are likely to spike in 2010. Jupiter's enthusiasm, and his love of variety, is likely to be at its peak in May and June, when he conjoins the position of Uranus in late Pisces, then in Aries.

3. New Aspects for March - May 2010:

April 2 - Aug. 21: Saturn Opposite Uranus: This aspect, which comes to exactitude on April 17 and July 26, and then continues through Aug. 21. It is the third in a series of five Saturn - Uranus conjunctions spanning the two years from mid-2008 through mid-2011. The first of opposition was exact at the transformative moment of Barack Obama's election to the US presidency in November, 2008; the second was in effect at the beginning of a time of political and economic upheaval from August to October 2009; the third comes now, the fourth will be one of the major players in the most powerful and dramatic alignment of the Summer 2010, and the last will come in the summer of 2011.

The common theme in all these alignments is that irresistible force (Uranus) and the immovable object (Saturn) are so antipathetic that one can well believe the famously horrific bond that links them as father and son in classical mythology. This aspect involves a furious struggle for reform, freedom and change against limiting, frustrating forces. This aspect perfectly expresses the years from 2008 until 2011, that is the years before 2012 when the growing momentum of planetary awakening and liberation must collide repeatedly with the inertia and resistance of hierarchic forces that are determined not to give an inch or a dollar, or surrender the slightest atom of the control they have enjoyed throughout Earth's history as an experiment in duality and struggle that must be resolved in the end, but not without a terrific fight, into unity and acceptance.

This theme of sweeping, transformative change is even more relevant in mid-2010 than it was in the nearly two years that have preceded this moment because the two opposed planets are now in a 90° square to Pluto in Capricorn, with all that these stressful aspects of disharmonious tension imply in changes that are not likely to come smoothly and willingly.

April 20: Chiron in Pisces: (To July 20): A major sign transition. Chiron enters Pisces for a three-month overture before going back into Aquarius in July. He will enter Pisces again in March 2011, and remain there until April of 2018.

Chiron’s emphasis now shifts from the Aquarian period of late 2005 through early 2010, which favor holistic health networking and communal healing ceremonies – and the working out of individual karmic obstacles to friendship – to the Piscean dimension. The Chiron focus for the coming three months is on the deep feeling of mystical union with all human beings and the Earth, on medicinal theatre and dance for planetary wellbeing – especially in the Beltaine festival of May 1 and the Moon Goddess rites of the Summer Solstice on June 20 – 21 – and in personal issues of self-delusion and self-torment, particularly the fog demons of unworthiness that keep awakening souls separate from their communities. Communal outreach to pain jockeys is favored now.

May 15: Jupiter conjunct Uranus and opposite Saturn: The plot that began on April 2 between Saturn and Uranus thickens now, as Jupiter joins the Saturn-Uranus opposition that is already in effect (see April 2 - Aug. 21). While fast-moving Jupiter goes beyond close opposition to Saturn June 15 - July 26 – going retrograde on July 23 – we may as well think of him as being continuously linked with both Saturn and Uranus through the end of August. Jupiter is exactly opposite Saturn on May 23, and in exact conjunction with Uranus on June 8.

This opposition is not explosive, but aggravating. Think of it as a generous, altruistic producer (Jupiter in Pisces) and a dreamy, spiritually turned-on film maker (Uranus in Pisces) trying in vain to convince the know-it-all, grudge-fixated bean counter (Saturn in Virgo) to move beyond his withholding games, and his wallowing in not being understood by others, so that he can get with the program and help it work for everyone. This will be an exasperating time for many who are working to bring needed change, as it is clear that so much is possible now, yet it is being held up by only a few people who will not give up petty and punitive scenarios of milking the situation for us much recognition and ego gratification as they can get. Patience is not just a virtue now, but a treasure.

May 28 - Aug. 14: Uranus in Aries: Uranus, like Chiron (see April 20), moves this year into a new sign, then appears to go back to his “old” sign on Aug. 14, then enters Aries again for his main visit to Aries in this cycle from March, 2011 to May, 2018.

This brief Uranus-in-Aries phase amps the tension of the ongoing opposition between Saturn and Jupiter-conjunct-Uranus (previous) because Uranus has now moved out of the relatively passive, mystical and watery sign of Pisces and into the active, muscular and fiery sign of Aries. During the seven-year period that now begins, Uranus' revolutionary impetus to change is in the zodiac's most aggressive sign of impulsive energy and impatient drive. We can expect now, at the very least, the early skirmishes in the more heated and protracted battle of ideas and fight for reforms that will intensify next February. Zealots of all kinds will do anything fair, foul or fearsome either to bring in the new, or to crush it before it spreads. The great astrologer Reinhold Ebertin, writing about a century ago, associated Uranus in Aquarius with “dreamy enthusiasts and utopians.” Now, and especially next year, it may at times be hard to distinguish these floating types from the more grounded Aquarian practitioners who are working together to bring about the changes that must come between now and 2012.

4. Coming Attractions for June - August, 2010:

June 17: Jupiter and Uranus in Aries square Pluto in Capricorn: Soon after Uranus enters Aries (see May 28), Jupiter does also, and one or both of these planets squares Capricorn for the next few months. The three-planet combination lasts until September, when Jupiter and Uranus both move retrograde into Pisces as Pluto, moving direct from Sept. 14, goes farther ahead into Capricorn. Both Jupiter and Uranus will square Pluto again when they “go direct”: the faster-moving Jupiter in February, 2011, and Uranus four months later, in June, 2011. In July 2010 Saturn moves through late Virgo into Libra, forming a T-cross with the other three planets (next).

This aspect, and the one that follows next month, will be a feast for doom pimps. The square among Jupiter, Uranus and Pluto is very intense and powerful, and gets even more so when Saturn joins the summer drama in July. The usual interpretations of squares as disharmonious tension among these planets include exploitation of the masses by plutocrats, with the normal result of uprisings, fanaticism and passionate one-sidedness in the views of those who are so busy shouting that they are unable to listen. The influential astrologer Reinhold Ebertin called a “difficult” Jupiter-Uranus linkup the “thank the Lord aspect,” because people who are under the stress these planets can create tend to exclaim their thanks to God when the tension is released. Uncommon qualities of visionary leadership also appear in this alignment, however, though it may not be easy to tell the good shepherds from the wolves. It will get so bizarre that American TV executives will toss around, and may actually create, a Spot the Antichrist reality TV show in which viewers will vote one or more competing antichrists out of the pool each week until only the “real” Antichrist is left, who will presumably get a bomb-rigged car and some exploding home appliances.

One way to view this Jupiter-Uranus-Pluto square is to conceive it as the rebellious teenage son of the Jupiter-Pluto opposition of August 2000 to May 2001. At that time there were smelly revelations about the US government, especially the armed forces, the IRS, FBI, CIA and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, all of which handle sensitive information and are security-centered, and all of which suffered painful exposure of corrupt practices and shocking mistakes when Jupiter opposed Pluto. There were also clashes between authorities wanting to control information and individuals determined to free it, manifesting in everything from the battle between Microsoft and the US government, to official attempts to restrict the free flow of uncensored information over the internet and to intervene constantly in the arena of health care, or what passes for it. As Pluto rules computers and all encoding, encryptation and espionage, and is afflicted now by Jupiter and Uranus, and soon by Saturn as well, we can expect to hear all at once enough whistle-blowers to disorient entire bird species, and see officials weird out from the stress of keeping all those secrets secure as others to hack them.

When Jupiter began to oppose Pluto in the spring of 2001, we were treated to revelations like these: The U. S. Internal Revenue service disclosed that corruption and loss of data from their computer system would prevent them from pursuing billions of dollars owed by tax cheats. Newly-released documents showed that the U. S. government, evidently reckoning that the Cold War required the coldest possible cast of characters, recruited and protected Nazi war criminals even more actively and widely than anyone suspected. And the Asian Development Bank, having chosen Hawaii as its meeting site for May, was found to have colluded to buy up airplane seats that might have been used by people who intended to fly in and join the anti-ADB protests. The same forces, and others too, are at work now in 2010. The results will be far more complicated, stunning and strange.

June 26: Grand Cross and Partial Lunar Eclipse: An alignment of terrific power, and harbinger of what is to come within 3 weeks, on July 14. At this Full Moon and partial lunar eclipse, Pluto in Capricorn conjoins the Moon, both opposite Sun and Mercury in Cancer, while Uranus and Jupiter are conjunct in Aries, both opposing Saturn in late Virgo. Thus a seven-planet grand cross forms. At the same time, Neptune and Chiron are conjunct, and Mars in Virgo is trine the Dragon’s Head in Capricorn. Venus in Leo is quintile the two Aries planets in the grand cross, so that all the planets and the Moon’s Nodes are linked in one tremendous configuration.

Tremendous in the literal sense of making something shake, as in tremors of the Earth. This design brings the beginning of something new, as all the planets in the grand cross except Saturn are early in cardinal signs, which represent initiative, leadership and new points of departure. We don’t yet know what extremely important events this grand cross will bring – there will be much avid speculation and prophecy – but Tem Tarriktar is no doubt correct in writing that it will have “a huge impact on global public opinion.”

July 11: Total Solar Eclipse: This is not the last total solar eclipse before the end of 2012. There is another on Nov. 13, 2012. Nor is this New Moon as remarkable as other alignments that precede and follow it here, though Mars in mid-Virgo is sextile, and Saturn in late Virgo is quintile, the Sun-Moon conjunction. The eclipse will be much touted in mainstream media, and does have some significance – but mainly as the ocerture to what follows in a few days.

July 14: Saturn in Virgo/Libra forms a T-cross with Jupiter and Uranus in Aries, and Pluto in Capricorn: Saturn in late Virgo and Libra opposes Jupiter and Uranus in Aries, while Pluto remains square to all three in Capricorn, forming the middle leg of a T-cross. Mars turns up the heat in late July and early August, as he crosses Saturn in Libra and enters the T-square with the other four planets. As soon as Mars moves out of aspect with the other planets on August 7, Venus moves in, crossing from Virgo into Libra and softening the T-cross for the second week of August. The other four “outer” planets remain in the T-cross until Sept. 15, when Saturn, mercifully, begins moving ahead into mid-Libra, and out of relationship with Jupiter, Uranus and Pluto.

The plot gets as intricate as a Restoration comedy now, only less witty than fevered. It is not a comedy of errors or chaos festival yet, though it will seem so in September as the Sun overtakes Saturn in Libra and the Moon’s North Node, moving backward through Capricorn, conjoins Pluto. The effect of this is that the shocking activities of powerful people do not just have news value. Rather, those who had been only a passive audience now see how directly and adversely these events affect them, and respond accordingly.

There’s a recent parallel that may help us see how this will all play out, as there was with the 2000 – 2001 Jupiter-Pluto clash we saw above (June 17). Friction between Saturn and Pluto tends to manifest in power struggles of fanatics and reactionaries, the fire art of martyrs, the heroic sacrifices of those who work valiantly to protect their people, and the driven dedication of those who keep their heads up and their heat down under very trying conditions. The Saturn-Pluto opposition of mid-2001 to mid-2002 represented, among other things, clashes within and between modern high-tech industrial societies – including, emphatically, the computer industry -- and the power structure of traditional religions. The Taliban law banning the internet in Afghanistan, on the grounds that it is against the Qu'ran, and attacks on the internet by other right-wing religious groups claiming to fight pornography and other enemies of their faith, were both the kind of spiritual warfare that comes when Saturn and Pluto don’t get along.

Add to this the other planets that are in disharmonious alignment now, and it is likely that the world rumble over who has and owns the truth will embrace film, TV and radio – all electronic media rules by Uranus – and all other media. Many people may abandon mainstream media now, if they hadn’t done so years ago, having concluded that the main difference between a TV news “reporter” and a prostitute is that media stars work with their clothes on, and hookers have a sense of ethics about what they will not do. But people will not abandon the internet, which becomes by now the last uncontrolled arena of free communications. In ways that would have been unimaginable a few years ago, cells of electronic tricksters, not companies, will run the internet in wireless space, finding new ways to play frequencies even as controllers try desperately to keep jamming them. There will be true Dorian-Gray-in-reverse stories of drab, even ugly geniuses of communication who appear in wireless space as handsome, brilliant heroes of freedom. For more on this, see The Crosses of 2010.

July 20: Chiron Interlude in Aquarius: July 20, 2010 – Feb. 8, 2011: Chiron, still linked in his long-running conjunction with Neptune, appears now to “move back” into Aquarius for over six months, before he enters Pisces again for his main and very long visit on this cycle, until May 2018.

This spiritual analgesic is much needed now, amid the very fractious pressures of this summer (previous) and others coming in the fall (Oct. 12). Festive ceremonies of communal healing will be of particular value in midsummer at Lammastide on Aug. 1 – 2, traditionally a time for protection from the high heat of summer, and by implication, the emotional fires that may burn very unruly in some human hearts.

Aug. 6 – 7: Grand Cross: The second grand cross of 2010 comes now, this one of the rarer type that does not include the Sun-Moon opposition as one of its main vertices. The Moon in Cancer opposes Pluto in Capricorn while Jupiter and Uranus in Aries oppose Venus in late Virgo and Mars and Saturn in early Libra. Mercury in Virgo trines the Dragon’s Head in Capricorn while the Sun in Leo forms irritating aspects to the grand cross, as though he’s offended at having been left out of everyone else’s gathering.

This grand cross is, if anything, more stressful and intense than the one that came in late June. See especially The Crosses of 2010.

August 14, 2010 - March 12, 2011: Uranus in Pisces Interlude: Uranus seems to “move back” into Pisces, though he remains very much engaged in the squares and the T-cross that dominate this summer.

The very intense planetary tensions of the last few weeks now step down somewhat as Uranus retreats from the fiery, aggressive domain of Aries (May 28 above) into Pisces, where Uranus was from the last days of 2003 until late May 2010. From now until next March the energy of Uranus will be submerged again in the mist of Pisces, and may manifest as secretive and inscrutable behavior in all areas, from private lives to public agencies and corporations; and in all kinds of mystical fantasy and revelry in everything from evangelical belief in a rapture that is eagerly awaited right away to the desire of more spiritual types to ascend of their own accord now, without waiting for the collective soul frequency to align at the moment of liftoff for everybody.