Star Struck Style

Anyone born around the time that I was born is about to undergo a unique combination of transits. Uranus will soon form a trine with the Uranus/Pluto conjunction in our charts. Because Chiron was opposing this natal aspect, Uranus will also form a sextile to Chiron. For me, these trines begin influencing my horoscope at the end of this month and continue to have influence over me throughout the first few months of 2024.

This line-up of Uranus, Pluto and Chiron affected anyone born in late 1965 and early 1966. While Uranus will form favorable aspects with these planets in the charts of many individuals, it is the notion that they will occur simultaneously in the charts of the kid of my generation that intrigues me. I can read the interpretation for each aspect, or I can attempt to synthesize the interpretations — something I have not read anywhere else. So, that’s what I’m going to do.

Robert Hand’s forecast on “Astrodienst” interprets transiting Uranus trine Pluto as follows:

“This is a time of positive evolution in your life that can lead you to a new and greater understanding of your inner being and how you relate to other people. Under this influence you will be able to see what is wrong with your life and to make corrective changes without great upset and pain. Your insight is enormously heightened, aided by your willingness to learn. If you have ever felt that psychotherapy would be helpful, this is the time to consider it, for you will benefit from it now. You might also consider other techniques of consciousness expansion, such as are found in occult studies, astrology, yoga and the various human potential movements.

You will be involved with what one theologian called matters of ‘ultimate concern,’ that is, your life, its total meaning and how you fit into the universe as a whole. Therefore you will also be attracted to systems of thought that deal with these concerns — religious and spiritual movements or more unusual kinds of activity such as ceremonial magic. But in any case you will not be satisfied to live at the superficial level that most people live at.

This influence will deepen your philosophical concerns, enrich your understanding of life and give you the chance to make constructive changes that will make your life worthwhile later on. Take advantage of this opportunity.”

He also offers the following interpretation of transiting Uranus trine Uranus:

“This influence represents a point when you look back over what you have accomplished in life. You try to evaluate and understand exactly what you have learned and what it means for you personally. It is no longer enough to have the approval of others; you need the approval of yourself as well.

If your life does not stand up to your analysis, you may decide to make certain changes. You may choose a very early retirement from your profession so that you can go off in a completely new direction, one that will give you more personal satisfaction. You will be interested in new ways of dealing with your life that help you succeed purely in your own terms.

No matter what you are doing now and after this time, allow yourself these experiences so you can learn what you need to make your life really fulfilling. In a few years from now, you may have to make much more radical changes then in order to improve your life, if you can make them at all.”

The missing piece in this puzzle is the sextile that will form between transiting Uranus and Chiron, which opposes Pluto almost exactly in my own chart. The website “12andus” offers this interpretation:

“You have great potential to serve others as an eccentric and surprising healer and leader now.

Without intending to, you may stumble into opportunities to help others make sense of wounds related to alienation and acceptance. You may suddenly find your community and change friendships and affiliations that support your healing and empowerment.

You may also find yourself in powerful positions of influence sharing unusual ideas with others and challenging others to change their perceptions of wounds and traumas.

This is an ideal time to leverage your social network as supports for your healing process. You may go to extremes to find your path for healing but even bizarre or unconventional methods work to your advantage now.”

Before I offer my own synthesis of these aspects, I should mention that everyone will have this Uranus aspect occurring in their charts in their mid-to-late fifties. That is the reason that I decided to title this post “Sink or Swim.” For many of us with Uranus personalized in our horoscopes, this is a time when we decide if we’re going to settle for what we have in life, or if we are going to make the changes necessary to get what we want from life. It’s a time for positive change that can result in a 180° turnaround in the direction we are going. When you hear someone say that they just want to live their “most authentic life,” this is what they mean. It’s not the classic mid-life crisis influenced by Uranus around the age of forty-two, but rather a pre-retirement shift of priorities that has people asking themselves if they are satisfied with the path they are on. People who don’t choose to “swim” at this age often just “sink” into a state of complacency where they accept that the time to make changes to their lives is long gone.

But for those of us who were born during the natal Pluto/Chiron opposition in 1965 and 1966, this alignment should be a cosmic kick in the pants. Pluto’s keyword is “transformation,” and Chiron’s keyword is “healing.” We cannot only transform our own lives to get onto a path that is more spiritually rewarding, but we can build up some scar tissue while we do it and make ourselves tougher in the process. We are in a unique position to enter our “golden years” as people who will continue to move society forward. Instead of aspiring to move to Florida to lounge around in the sun, we can aspire to make positive changes to our lives that will in turn have a positive effect upon society as a whole.

We’re going to have some power over the next few years that we haven’t had before — if we choose to use it. So, if you were born around the time I was born, you need to ask yourself, am I going to sink or am I going to swim? I think you already know the answer . . .