Saturn Closing Semisquare with Pluto

It’s been awhile since I talked about any aspect other than a conjunction.  Today Mercury lines up with Saturn while Saturn is in a very special point in its cycle with Pluto.  First a chart for Mercury conjunct Saturn.

 They are close enough for lots of target points right now, but the nearest to bull's eye will be 2:37GMT Nov 26. 

Now a chart showing the houses for Pluto.  

I drew a circle with the houses marked off starting at 12degrees Capricorn (Pluto's current location), and numbered them.  You can see Saturn and Mercury are smack in the middle of the 11th house.  It is called a closing semisquare with Pluto because it is 45degrees behind Pluto.  If Saturn was at 27degrees Aquarius it would be in an opening semisquare with Pluto.  It was at 27 Aquarius in April 1993, but back then Pluto was in Scorpio, so it was a full 90 degrees out front instead of 45.   

Once you spin the wheels history starts jumping out at you.  Above is the conjunction of Uranus and Neptune in 1993 which makes me think of the conjunction of Saturn and Neptune.......

Astrology is such a distraction.  We were talking about when Saturn was in an opening semisquare with Pluto and now I'm reading about the Iran-Contra affair which Wikipedia says began Aug 20, 1985 when Saturn was wrapping up its conjunction with Pluto. 

Ok I've got to get back to the subject at hand.  Saturn opening semisquare Pluto vs. Saturn closing semisquare Pluto.  It is the closing semisquare we are in today, near the end of the cycle.  Here is the opening:

One last note about that chart up there---Saturn was in that opening semisquare with Pluto from Jan -Aug 1988.  It takes a long time to get from one stage to the next in its doe C doe with Pluto.

So let's take a little breath.   Ahhhhh.  What we've gotten into is a discussion of the 38 or so year cycle of Saturn lining up with Pluto.  It all got started when I saw that Saturn is now in a closing semisquare with Pluto.  I took the opportunity to show how planets can be related to each other by aspects (conjunct, square, trine, etc) or by the number of houses the faster moving planet is from the anchor planet.  Saturn is now in the middle of the 11th house from Pluto and will hover in that stage of their relationship until Sept 2015.  It has Pluto's number.  It knows the deal.  The 11th house from the anchor planet is its Aquarian house, or its place of absolute knowledge.  Saturn has reached that point of fully understanding Pluto and is able to work with that knowledge.  Neptune on the other hand is still in a very immature place with Pluto and will be for more than another century.  Uranus is about to enter Pluto's 4th house.  Most of the violence we've been seeing these last 4 years is associated with that opening square between Uranus and Pluto and the coincidence that the tender period in their cycle is coming while Uranus is in the sign of exploding seeds.

The chart that started this historical wandering among the planets shows that Saturn entering this mature step in its cycle with Pluto is joined for a few days by Mercury.  Mercury is logistics and perception.

Here's a chart for the Moon meeting Mars late tonight. The Moon lining up with Mars in Capricorn is healing waters of tradition bathing the exalted hero.  Not a spring tide, just enough to lighten the load in the fight for survival.