We now enter the final 48 hours of a storm which began in early July. Yes, we’ve been through 15 weeks of major squares and oppositions which have created a lot of stress in the atmosphere. We’ve each dealt with it in our own way, and now it’s time to release it and remember how to feel at peace.

The current storm began to build in early July when Mercury in Cancer squared Mars in Aries during the time Jupiter conjuncted Pluto. That square lasted all month, and immediately led to the second major phase of the storm with Mars square Jupiter in early August, square Pluto in mid-August, and square Saturn in late August! Everyone with planets in Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn have been challenged wherever these squares fell in your charts.

We hit a threshold point when Mars went SRX and Jupiter went SD in early September, and entered the third phase of the storm beginning mid-month when Mercury made its “heralding T-square” with Jupiter, Pluto, and Saturn while opposing Mars. This third phase lasted from mid-September through the end of September, when Saturn went SD exactly as Mars RX squared it again! So the early to mid-Cardinal squares of July and early August gave way to squares and oppositions in the last half of all Cardinal signs from mid-August through late September.

We entered the fourth and final phase of the storm October 5-9 when Mercury opposed Uranus followed on October 8-10 by the second Mars square Pluto coupled with Moon in Cancer squaring the Sun and opposing the Capricorn stellium, creating a Grand Cardinal Cross! October 10-12 brought us Sun square Jupiter and quincunx Neptune which powered up the “zone of squares” activity which extended through the Solar square to Capricorn planets culminating today.

We’ve just been through the heaviest parts of the storm, which was at the Solar opposition to Mars in most intense focus between October 11 and October 15, with the exact opposition on October 13, 90 minutes before Mercury went stationary retrograde! The opposition of Sun to Mars coincided with both planets exactly square Pluto, creating an intense friction with major integrative potential between October 10-16. As it fell exactly at 22-23 of the Cardinal signs, we were given a Master Class in protecting what needs protecting, nurturing what needs nurturing, and playing good defense.

October 14-16 brought Sun square Pluto, and October 16 brought the New Moon at 24 Libra opposed Mars and square Jupiter, Pluto, and Saturn, so the need for good Cancer energy continues through the next New Moon at 24 Scorpio on November 15. We now are in the final weekend of the storm which is culminating October 17-20 with Sun square Saturn, Venus opposed Neptune, and Mars square Jupiter all within a 17 hour span today! Because aspects are very intense during the time they are immediately separating, the skies won’t be clear until October 20.

The powerful Cardinal squares with the very “Yang” Sun-Mars-Pluto T-square in mid-October helped us all integrate or reintegrate using the light of balance and equilibrium to express the Mars RX energies, with the Capricorn “drivers” of the T showing our need for good Cancer skills. We’ve seen how well our shields held and how sometimes playing good defense, securing what we have while playing it safe, is the best course of non-action. We have had time to step back from conflict and imbalances, focus on what really concerns us, and care for what needs caring for.

Now that the Cardinal T-squares are over and Mars is finished with its square to Saturn until January, the friction is receding. We’ve all been given opportunities to check in with ourselves and take a look at our center of gravity, seeing if our lives are in relative equilibrium. If something’s been out of balance, we are in a time of restoring balance by slowing some things down as prelude to resuming them in the near future.

All Beings need a rest, and this a great way to observe the aftermath of the Solar opposition at the mid-point of Mars retrograde. We’ve all needed to slow the train down somehow during the past few weeks and catch our breath, since we’ll resume “normal” life by mid-November. Now that the storm of the past 15 weeks generated by the squares and oppositions are pretty much done for the year, things should already be feeling a bit different.

For me, the stillness feels good as a tonic for the general agitation. Go deep within, since the major 2020 storms are past, and we need to recharge our electromagnetism for the new challenges to come when Mars and Uranus square Jupiter and Saturn in January! A new year will bring new challenges, moving us from the Cardinal square conflicts of 2020 to the Fixed square conflicts of 2021!

Gratitude and appreciation for our blessings, skills, and strengths will attract greater awareness of how we ARE these. See what you’ve been through as showing you how healthy you are, what you care about, and your ability to step back from outer conflicts and dramas through precisely chosen actions. Most of us spend our lives in activities which keep us outer-focused, while our true peace of mind and equipoise is found in the stillness of the inner silence, where we can hear the voice of our Higher Self guiding us through our wisdom to greater understanding.

This is the time to allow ourselves to find our inner peace and regenerate so that a new spontaneity may come forth in the near future. Cultivate a happy mindset, and you’re sure to attract that which will maintain that happiness. Step back from “the agitated hamster mind which runs in circles,” listen to your inner voice, and find peace. Aum and blessings.