UR/PL 2010 and beyond

A while back I bought a copy of The Mountain Astrologer (June/July 07), which has a really long article by Bill Herbst called "Empire or Community: Globalization and Relocalization in the 21st Century". It's a fascinating article, where he talks about something called "Civilizational Astrology" which focuses on the phases (new, 1st qtr, full 3rd qtr) of the outer planet cycles. For instance, there's a 500 year cycle of NE/PL, and it takes 3000 years for that cycle to advance by a sign. For instance:
AQ: 10200 BC-7300BC
PI: 7300BC-4400BC (Stone age - matrilineal)
AR: 4400-BC-1400BC (Bronze age - patriarchy)
TA: 1500BC-1400AD (Iron age - city states-->kingdoms-->theocracies)
GE: 1400AD-4300AD (Renaissance, etc)

etc (I find that pretty interesting, particularly with my ongoing interest in Paleolithic-Neolithic art and spirituality/shamanism)

I wanted to share a good portion of the conclusion of the article, focusing on the PL/UR (Pluto/Uranus) cycle that started with the conjunction in VI (Virgo) in the 60s.

The 2010s: Disintegration and Awakening
The youthful movements that were birthed (or rebirthed ) during the UR/PL conjunction of the 1960s - ecology, feminism, social equality, peace, reduced consumption, and sustainability - are about to move from the fringes to the center. UR/PL's 1st quarter square will bring crises that cause those movements to re-emerge after their 50-year gestation, during which they went underground in culture while slowly gathering strength. Now those movements are ready to grow again into fuller, more mature manifestation, called forth by sudden breakdowns in empire. Political, economic, and cultural landscapes are about to change dramatically.

The year 2007 marks the transition into this reawakening of alternate possibilities. Although the confusion and passivity of the SA/NE (Saturn/Neptune) opposition peaks in June and takes another year to fade out, the leading edge of radical consciousness appears on the scene. UR reaches the initial 10-degree orb of it's square to PL in May, and SA begins its 4-year opposition to UR in Nov 2007. Look for a steady rise in public outrage concerning the inactivity and unresponsiveness of those who hold the reins of power. By the US presidential election of Nov 2008, discontent with the status quo will have struck a resonant chord. (me: prediction - either Obama or -yikes- Ron Paul will win the general election)

As the t-square of SA/UR and PL activates from late 2009-2011, any of various triggers could provoke breakdown in social stability. History tells us that empires become most dangerous as they decline... we are in that fading period of the American Empire, and the years ahead may be daunting. Critical mass is reached in June 2012, when UR/PL make their first partile square... when UR/PL form a cardinal grand cross w/US natal SU/SA (Sun/Saturn) in 2014-15. A Great depression has occurred whenever a grand cross has been formed: 1790s, 1840s, 1870s, 1930s...

Reasons for Optimism
... We may be at the beginning of a new awakening in mass consciousness that will gradually grow through the 2040s when UR opposes PL at the harvest phase of the 1960s cycle. .. We may rediscover our connection to nature and pull back from the brink of destruction of Earth's life-systems, saving ourselves in the process...Losses in easy mobility and habitual convenience could be offset by decreasing alienation and increasing empathy with others...

With the end of PL's passage through SG (Sagittarius) and its entrance into CP (Capricorn), the culture wars of religious fundamentalism will wane, although churches will remain magnetic nodes for social networking within and between communities. The monolithic institutions of national government will crack and crumble as PL in CP is challenged by UR in AR (Aries), but local governments and smaller-scale social organizations will pick up the slack...

...Descartes' philosophical mind-body split that separated us from nature back in the 15th century must be rescinded, even if the ultimate healing takes centuries to achieve. In reforming civilization away from empire's pattern of tragic destruction, we can begin to recover our reverence and wonder at being part of nature in the ongoing creation of Earth and cosmos. Finally, we are caretakers, not rulers. By our very success as a species, the responsibility for maintaining the interconnected life-systems of our small and amazing planet now calls to us. No more of this nonsense about "conquering nature."

UR/PL suggests that some of this long-overdue change in consciousness can occur by individual efforts, with the rest necessarily legislated and enforced. (me: yikes)... future generations... will almost certainly look back on our notions of personal freedom as extremely irresponsible...

The UR/PL conjunction of the 1960s saw the birth of this awareness (personal empowerment through consecrated service to collective humanity) in infantile and adolescent forms. The UR/PL sq of the 2010s will move it into young adulthood through urgent, pragmatic exigencies. UR in AR sq PL in CP is not about ideologies but rather creative individual responses to dire collective emergencies...

Then, in the culminating UR/PL opposition of the 2040s, a new and different type of civilization will be formalized and put into place. The story of humanity will have reached another chapter...
etc

Me:
The one thing I notice about this is that he doesn't mention the drug use in the 60s - and I'm wondering if that will also peak in the 2010s with the partile square. I'm encouraged by his notion that fundamentalism will wane when PL moves into CP - and it also jives with the notion that PL in CP will transform big business/corporations the way PL in SC did sexuality, PL/LI did partnerships, and PL/SG did religion.