I might have been too optimistic when I wrote that the global planetary intensity would begin to subside as soon as the last aspect aspect of Saturn to Pluto completed in August.  After all, Saturn and Pluto are just a little more than a degree off their exact square, and Jupiter’s expansive qualities still are well within range of exacerbating the power conflicts that Pluto tends to engender.  In addition, Pluto is at a virtual standstill in preparation for its change of direction on September 14th, commanding our attention and making sure that we don’t gloss over the hard stuff.

In addition, the combination of Jupiter and Uranus, which began in Aries in May and continued throughout the summer, served to light a powderkeg of righteous (Jupiter) rebellion (Uranus) that will not be easily extinguished and will lead us right into the Uranus/Pluto square next year. 
We are seeing this sort of fiery breaking away (Jupiter/Uranus) from the structures of the past (Saturn square Pluto in Capricorn) all over the world now:

•  As peace talks in the middle east attempt to get underway, Hamas has declared that it will continue attacking settlers and fired a rocket into Israel on Saturday.  This is nothing new, but this kind of conflict has been relatively quiet until recently.
• In Pakistan, already beset by floods and a general governmental breakdown (Pluto in Capricorn) suicide bombings have attacked civilians in multiple locations including at a Shia demonstration in Quetta and at a mosque in southern Pakistan.
• In the United States, an anti-government revolutionary fervor is sweeping the country 
• Suicide bombings attacked civilians in several locations in , Tajikistan, 
• New Zealand was struck by a powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake.  Thankfully no one was killed, but there definitely seems to be an increase in powerful earthquakes over the past few months as the cardinal planets faced off against each other. 
• A volcano erupted in Indonesia for the first time in 40 years.

I am still of the opinion that the intensity of these reactions will start to settle down for a few months in the fall, but for now it’s important not to allow ourselves to become fearful or fall into despair.  The Universe is always striving for balance, and where things are out of balance, corrupt or dying, Pluto’s job is to complete the job.  

Let’s not forget there is good news too: the job numbers for August suggest that as I have predicted, the bottom of the economic downturn may be behind us.  Private sector employees added 67,000 jobs, and while overall payrolls dropped by 54,000, the US government shed 114,000 temporary census workers.  Not good enough, but definitely moving in the right direction.

So hang in there – the dawn is peeking through.