Although the full explication of this alignment has been addressed in the previous two essays, I will borrow an iconographic image from popular culture to help to better understand the meaning behind the planetary symbolism. One of the most popular scenes in the original Star Wars involves the rebel forces caught within a trash compactor. Trying to elude oncoming storm troopers, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and other members of the rebel alliance find themselves trapped within a garbage processing machine. With the walls of the trash compactor closing in on the heroes swiftly, time is of the essence and a creative solution is absolutely imperative. This famous scene captures so many of the potentials and meanings of the 2010 alignment involving Saturn, Pluto, and Uranus: constrictive forces creating crisis; garbage, waste, and unprocessed filth; rebels and revolutionaries; rebirth from the darkness into a new case scenario; and elemental intensity that demands awareness and creative solutions. This scene from Star Wars mirrors the significance behind the 2010 alignment. Like the rebel forces of Star Wars, we may very well find our selves within a difficult, constrictive case scenario that not only brings us face to face with our shared “garbage” but which also demands swift and creative action so that a new beginning can emerge. The Saturn-Pluto-Uranus alignment in 2010 is both a societal bottleneck and crucible where situations of the past and solutions of the future enter into a highly dynamic and highly chaotic relationship.

This astrological alignment is certainly collectively owned—we are all in the metaphorical trash compactor—however certain individuals and generations are likely to resonate with the archetypal energies more than others. That is, certain generations and persons are likely to feel the impact of the alignment to a greater degree in their consciousness and will have a greater tendency to react to the reverberations and character of the alignment. This is by no means a comprehensive guide, but this essay does highlight some of the generations and individuals that will be significantly transformed by the events and general atmosphere surrounding the 2010 alignment.

When speaking of the Uranus-Pluto conjunction in the sign of Virgo of the 1960’s (the main alignment which correlated with countercultural ethos of the time), astrologer Erin Sullivan remarked that those with their Sun placement in Virgo just went through the greatest of transformations—they almost literally changed identities and became very different people as a result. Although that era was very transformative for the entire world—as cultures were shuttled through a rebirth sequence at the time—certain individuals were to carry or become a conduit to the massive, transformational, and creative energies of the era. Certainly, those with their Sun placement in Virgo were good candidates for change, as the Sun is closely identified with our identity and self-concept.

The T-square between Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto occurs in the very late degrees of what are called the “mutable signs” (specifically, the T-square occurs in Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces, with the additional mutable sign being Gemini) and the very early degrees of “cardinal signs” (specifically, the T-square occurs in Libra, Capricorn, and Aries, with the additional cardinal sign being Cancer). Certainly, those with their Sun or Moon placement within these “power zones” of the late mutable or early cardinal signs are sure to feel the effects of this dramatic alignment quite prominently in their lives.

One way to interpret how these individuals will be impacted is to simply extrapolate the meanings and significance that this alignment has on a collective level. If socio-economically the alignment suggests a death-rebirth sequence, a tight and tense negotiation between history and the future, and a tremendous amount of energy placed on transformation, then the same can be said for those whose Sun or Moon are in the cross hairs of the alignment. Both internally and externally, the alignment suggests that those with prominent Sun and Moon degrees already discussed will go through rapid, creative, and dynamic personal changes. This will be seen both in attitudinal shifts and in changes in life circumstances—through family, work, relationships, and self-concept. The alignment is certainly a threshold and will symbolize a tremendous and concentrated period of personal evolution and transformation in these individuals’ lives.

The 1960’s was a decade of upheaval, reaction, turbulence, creativity, activism, protest and social change. The youth coming of age at the time rallied against the structures they inherited with an intensity and sweep that was almost unprecedented—certainly there was no precedence for this earlier in the twentieth century. Ironically, however, the children of the sixties, for the most part, haven’t had the thirst for social activism, political change, or the tenacity for tearing down structures as their parents did. However, many of the 1960’s generation are just beginning to throttle through their mid-life transition, which can bring about significant attitudinal changes and value shifts.

In astrology, transiting Uranus opposing natal Uranus—a transit which occurs somewhere between the ages of 38 and 42—is often a time of re-evaluation and change. The creative, independence-loving, and visionary archetype of Uranus is not going to be satisfied with life structures that have been created if one’s essence, creativity, uniqueness, and independence are not involved. There’s truth to the belief that the more one sleep walks through life, the more challenging the Uranus opposition at mid-life can be. The notorious “crisis” may ensue if one really has chosen life style patterns for the sake of fitting in to consensus reality without any consideration of one’s authenticity and spirit. During the Uranus opposition, tolerance for simply “going on autopilot” may be completely exhausted, and events may transpire to suddenly and rapidly “wake one up” and get motivated to “out” one’s true identity to the world-at-large.

We can see the Uranus oppositions that are occurring to the 1960’s generation now as the slow, almost imperceptible, shifts in consciousness that will really break free in the next decade. In particular, those born in the mid-1960’s have a very interesting Uranus opposition ahead of them in the upcoming years. Those born in the mid-sixties were born under a Saturn opposition to Uranus. It was at this time when the countercultural tendencies became heightened and serious. Saturn opposing Uranus suggests a “facing off” or negotiation between young and old, tradition and progress, established values versus new ideas and ideals. Interestingly, as these mid-1960’s individuals throttle through their Uranus opposition, Uranus and Saturn form an opposition in the sky, aligning over the original Saturn-Uranus axis of the 1960’s.

This double axis of Saturn and Uranus suggests a need to renegotiate structures for this generation as they go through their mid-life transitions. Although the shape-shifting, creative, and “trickster”-like energy of the Uranus opposition always brings in some unpredictable change, with the addition of Saturn in the mixture, the changes will be of a harder quality, impact structures and security patterns directly, and force one to break free from outworn arrangements in one’s life. Saturn and Uranus as an archetypal combination is highly similar to the “Tower” card in tarot. The Tower suggests radical, unpredictable, and sudden reversals and shake ups. Like falling from a tower, the Uranus-Saturn interface suggests leaping into the unknown (or being forced to do so), abandoning a crumbling edifice in one’s life, or being hurled into a radically new life circumstance. As the alignment of 2010 draws near, the mid-sixties generation will be going through significant and important life alterations that “stacks the deck,” so to speak, for the collective transformations of 2010 and beyond.

But what about the later 1960’s—what about that part of the decade that was even more radically countercultural in expression and tone? As the mid-1960’s saw the height of the great tensions between old and new, the final moments of the 1960’s saw the experimentation, new freedoms, and creativity of the generation reach great heights (and in some cases, new lows). To traditionalists and conservatives, 1968 and 1969 were a tarnishing moment in global history, with many commentators claiming that 1968 was the annus horribilis—the “horrible year”—of American history. To those embracing the new freedoms, this brief period was a celebratory triumph of individuality, creativity, and spirit. 1968 and 1969 were marked by a highly significant triple conjunction of the planets Jupiter, Uranus, and Pluto. With Jupiter coming to conjoin Pluto and Uranus, it released, exalted, celebrated, and exaggerated the radical and creative potentials of the outer planet conjunction that characterized the 1960’s.

Interestingly, this triple conjunction of Uranus, Pluto, and Jupiter that occurred in the late 1960’s falls underneath the axis of the upcoming T-square between Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto. If the mid-sixties babies will need to need to come to terms with the structures and security patterns that they have created thus far in their lives, then these late 1960’s babies will be challenged to take on greater social roles. This period could either coincide with an intense feeling of restlessness with their current roles in their communities or a sudden stepping into a much larger sense of self within their community. Regardless of the case, this certainly will be a dramatic time for these people, and the energy they will be participating within will catalyze major changes in their belief structures and lives.

The Saturn Return is one of the more notorious generational transits that occurs for everyone around the ages of 28 through 30. The Saturn Return is the great rite of passage that transforms adulthood-as-experimentation into adulthood-as-commitment. If the early twenties is increasingly becoming a time of postponed adolescence where different adult behaviors and roles are taken on, the period of the Saturn Return is the period where greater responsibility and accountability enter into one’s life. Usually through a period of tests and challenges, the Saturn Return makes one acutely aware of the limitations of adult life and the necessity of making informed choices for the sake of structure.

The Saturn Return is often a difficult transition period as it is, but what happens when you add the archetypal energies of Uranus and Pluto to the equation? For those individuals born in 1980 and 1981 (when Saturn was in late Virgo and early Libra) the T-Square of Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto will be transiting your Saturn at the time of your Saturn Return. This will be a time of having to negotiating some very powerful energies relative to the meaning of Saturn: personal definition, career ambitions and goals, commitments, one’s accountability for the larger collective, hard work, and acceptance of one’s limitations.

Although the symbolism present during these Saturn Returns is complex, one likely pitfall that could occur with this mini-generation is an over-identification with the Saturn archetype. With Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto all transiting and inflecting Saturn in these individuals, there is the likely tendency of being in the grip or possession of all things Saturnine. That is, there may be a tendency of “over doing” things which are affiliated with Saturn: becoming identified with one’s work, turning cynical or bitter, growing old before one’s time, living life in a routinized or habituated fashion, and closing one’s self off from the environment. It may be true that real circumstances demand a tremendous amount of responsible action from those going through the Saturn Return at this time, however, a wise policy is to not become overly attached or identified with the cold, dark, harsh, embittering facets of life that Saturn symbolizes.

A particularly creative, self-determining, and restless bunch of children were born in the last several years of the twentieth century. Known by various metaphysicians, healers, and educators as “Indigo Children” (for their high vibration like the color indigo they purportedly carry in their personality), this generation is supposedly gifted in their intuitive and creative capacities while having a difficult time submitting to traditions and authorities.

Many of these Indigo Children will be coming of age just as the Saturn, Uranus, Pluto T-Square aligns. What is most fascinating about this is that the T-Square alignment will be lining up with the Uranus-Neptune conjunction that these children were born under. The high amounts of creativity, imagination, intuition, and rebelliousness that these children display are certainly attributes of the Uranus-Neptune combination. With the Saturn, Uranus, Pluto T-Square aligning over the Uranus-Neptune conjunction these children were born under, the creativity, sensitivity, and rebelliousness should be activated in all its potential glory. In particular, children born between 1988 and 1992 will be most sensitive and susceptible to the potency of the alignments in and around 2010.