Hi everyone, it seems we are gearing up for a transformative end to a transformative year. After a relative lull over the summer months, we are entering a powerful 11-day PORTAL which opens right now - September 18/19. Yesterday, on September 18, Pluto Stationed Direct - a phenomenon where it looks like it is standing still in the sky from our perspective on earth, a celestial pause which accentuates the moment with an exclamation point. This influence lasts for several days, extending outward like sound waves. Then today, September 19, at 2:55am EDT, Pluto squared Uranus, doubling down on the Plutonic energy and blasting open a consciousness portal. We will have energy surges on September 22 (the Northern Fall Equinox) September 23 (when our Moon occults Pluto, furthering the theme) and September 25 when Mars (Pluto's BFF) meets the North Node destiny point. Then the portal closes under a potent, sizzling Full Harvest Moon that re-ignites the Pluto-Uranus square, on September 29.  

This portal paves the way for the MASTER OF INITIATION, Saturn, to shift into the Plutonic sign of Scorpio on October 5, pointing toward an epochal Total Solar Eclipse in Scorpio (the first in 19 years) on November 14. From this moment on for the rest of the year, the scales tip toward Pluto and a deep transformative period where the darkness will be plumbed to reveal the Light that pierces on the Winter Solstice, 12-21-12.  

We stand in that gateway to the months of October and November and the final push to December 21, 2012. Despite all of the hype around this date and the debate over its meaning or accuracy, I feel comfortable saying that 12/21/12 is not a penultimate *moment in time*; instead, this mythical date ushers in a new and different era, a pivot point, continuing a saga that most immediately began in the summer of 2010 and extends into 2015 (the last of the Uranus-Pluto squares), and then 2024 when Pluto leaves Capricorn and enters Aquarius - minting the Aquarian energy currency for decades to come.  

We are at Camp II - Advanced Base Camp, or ABC - of Mt. Everest in what's known as the "Valley of Silence" (in the Southeast climb http://bit.ly/a9YEgC) Post-2012 we will continue to climb (to Camp III and IV). I believe that silence is the keynote of the time period beginning now and reaching crescendo at the December Solstice, 12/21/12. That is why Pluto is now activated - in the Cone of Silence, in the Dark, comes deep change.     

If you want an astrological *Sherpa* to help guide you on your climb (ok, ok it's an outworn metaphor but it sure does capture the experience;) I am now booking Astronology Consults for the month of October.  

In the autumn we begin to pull inward, after many months of activity, in preparation for another incubation period. We begin looking ahead to the birth of the Light at Winter Solstice and begin to reflect on our progress since the last Winter Solstice (gestation) and Spring Equinox (birth). What dreams did you dream last winter in the quiet of the Solstice? What seeds did you plant at the Spring Equinox? How have your projects flowered under the Summer Solstice sun? What will be harvested now and what have you learned? A consult at this time helps the reflection process and provides a look ahead into the new year, a new era.

For many Lightworkers - such as YOU, reading this newsletter - perhaps our *contracts* will be up on 12-21-12 and we will revisit our mission statements in order to plan our service and bliss in an onward march toward a new pinnacle in 2015 (Camp III) and another in 2024 (Camp 4). By 2024 we will know which way the scales have tipped in a more permanent fashion, and the template of the Aquarian Age will be written with some solidity. We have time but we must hurry. 

Scroll down for more info on what an Astronology Consult entails, or click here to book your consult: http://bit.ly/f7Lb7u 

Have a wonderful Equinox and Harvest Moon! 

Many Blessings,

Carol  

Carol Ann Ciocco
website: http://www.threemoonocean.com/
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image source redicecreations.

The portal that sets the tone for the 'grand finale' of 2012, opens now - September 18/19. Yesterday, September 18th, the dwarf planet Pluto Stationed Direct. This means that from our perspective on earth,  Pluto appears to stand still in the sky. The metaphorical meaning and psycho-spiritual feel of the retrograde station of any planet, is that the planet STARES down at us, hovering. Whatever is there is suddenly in stark relief.  And what is there this time is the astrological signature of the 2012 gateway - the Uranus-Pluto square (a remnant from the groundbreaking Cardinal Cross which perfected in the summer of 2010) The stare of Pluto means something must end so that something may be born. This is a silent sound-wave jolt added to the historic Uranus-Pluto square. 

The Cardinal Cross and Uranus-Pluto squares can be seen in the collective outcry of revolution (Uranus in Aries) and the resistant reaction from the status quo (Pluto in Capricorn). On a personal level we can make radical changes to our inner landscape and use both of these catalytic energies to fuel our awakening.  

The previous Uranus-Pluto square (the first of 7 which will occur through 2015) occurred on June 24, 2012 at the time of the Summer Solstice. The month of June 2012 was covered with the blessings of Venus, which began a new 2 ½ year cycle in the sign of Gemini just after crossing the face of the Sun in the rare phenomenon known as The Venus Transit (to read about the Venus Transit, click here for my previous newsletter: http://conta.cc/N9uXgd). The Gemini energies enhanced the Aquarian energy of the square - thus subtly tilting the scales toward the revolutionary and progressive Uranus-in-Aquarius side of this tug-of-war. Think back to that time to discern any breakthroughs that you made on spiritual, emotional and/or mental levels. Realize that now, the resistant forces within you may rear their heads and beckon you to re-commit to stay the path of growth. 

In sharp contrast, the current square, occurring today, is strongly influenced by Mars and Pluto, focusing attention on the Pluto-in-Capricorn part of the Uranus-Pluto square. The scales will tip toward Pluto, for better or worse. This Plutonian emphasis will be in effect until the next Uranus-Pluto square on May 20 2013, with the most potency through 12-21-12, the Winter Solstice. The Plutonian shadow initiated now is made even stronger by the entrance of Saturn into the sign of Scorpio on October 5th. Saturn follows the North Node into Scorpio (the North Node moved into Scorpio on September 4) and ushers in a new eclipse cycle - the Scorpio/Taurus axis. It has been 19 years since this intense axis has been activated by eclipses - and Saturn's presence there adds considerable weight. We have the chance to make it REAL this time. The consequences will seem harsh and we will have to work hard, but the work can be light and joyful. This is the final push on a long road of spiritual growth. 

The 11-day portal that opens today points the way toward this shift. How we use it is up to us. Read on for a veritable litany of the Mars/Pluto/Scorpio events over the next few weeks and months, setting the tone. (There isn't space to list them all here, seriously. For instance, on the 19th the Moon actually occults Mars - a cousin of Pluto - in their home sign of Scorpio. Yes, on the same day as the Uranus-Pluto conjunction. It's hard to miss signposts as obvious as this!)  

Keep in mind that in the esoteric tradition, Mars, Pluto and Earth are the only planets in our solar system that have not reached "Sacred Status" i.e. a higher level of consciousness evolution. (Of special note: the Moon is not considered 'sacred' either, and it plays heavily in this month's configuration.) This is why we are dancing with Mars and Pluto (and the Moon) at this critical time, the last quarter of 2012. Ie. these issues (right use of power, right use of aggression/assertiveness, conquering the fear of death, and processing ancient survival/fear-based emotions) are precisely what must be transformed if we are going to survive. 

Here are the pertinent astronomical facts about the equinox: "Earth's two hemispheres are receiving the sun's rays equally now. Night and day are approximately equal in length. The name 'equinox' comes from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night). Because Earth doesn't orbit upright, but is instead tilted on its axis by 23-and-a-half degrees, Earth's northern and southern hemispheres trade places in receiving the sun's light and warmth most directly. We have an equinox twice a year - spring and fall - when the tilt of the Earth's axis and Earth's orbit around the sun combine in such a way that the axis is inclined neither away from nor toward the sun. But, since Earth never stops moving around the sun, these days of equal sunlight and night will change quickly." http://bit.ly/neC5tw 

The energy does change quickly. There is a small window where the Sun's path over the equator decreases the usual strength of the Earth's magnetic field. The magnetic field moves clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counter clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere creating a spiral magnetic effect. Twice each year as the Sun passes over the equator the magnetic energies of both hemispheres are at their lowest potency. This means for about 24 hours before and after the exact Equinox point it is easier to connect with other dimensions.

Knowing this, take some time this weekend to set your intention - both personal and global - for the intense cauldron of opportunity that begins now. The Equinox occurs on Saturday September 22 at 10:49am EDT, so anytime from about 11am on Friday September 21 to 11am on Sunday September 22 would be a wonderful time for ceremony, intention-setting, meditation and sinking into the Heart of Compassion to anchor in a life-enhancing prayer for the final push of 2012.  

My recent newsletter on the Autumnal Equinox

http://conta.cc/ODcKEA  

My recent newsletter on the Autumnal Equinox and the Harvest Moon

http://conta.cc/bssLZ4   

Info on the science of Equinoxes

http://bit.ly/ODcRji   

Video depiction and info from Kurdistan Planetarium

http://youtu.be/GCe8Nltr8Rk   

Mars

"The Nodes have an 18+ year cycle and Mars has a 2 + year cycle so its only possible for Mars to catch up to the North Node in Scorpio every 18 years or so. This means there are times when the North Node is in Scorpio and Mars does not pass by. In fact when the North Node was in Scorpio back in 1995 Mars did not catch up to the North Node. The next time Mars will be with the North Node in Scorpio is August of 2031." - Cayelin Castell 

So this won't happen again until 2031 - that's 7 years after the key gateway of 2024. To have it happen now, so close to a Uranus-Pluto conjunction, further punctuates the ongoing message of this time. What is the message? The North Node is the progressive aspect. It points the way toward the future, the path of collective growth - of our kindest, most alive destiny. Mars is life-force energy, the ability to take action, to be assertive - or to be aggressive and go to war. Harnessing this energy in active creation of new structures and belief systems based on reason and wisdom - not destructive impulses - is the progressive use of "martian" energy. 

Interestingly, we had a successful landing on Mars by the Mars Rover 'Curiosity' on August 6, 2012, and space exploration is nothing if not progressive. Curiosity leads the way to the future! Here's some info on the Mars Rover landing: http://bit.ly/SC80A1. And here's a fun and inspirational video montage of the Mars Rover landing, set to this summer's pop hit "Call Me Maybe" http://youtu.be/Av2H9IlP4e4. I think you'll enjoy it. Onward and upward we go:)