I like the principle of the Sankofa Bird, which says that in order to understand the future we must understand the past.  When I see a new client I always go back over the past five years or so to see where they’ve been before I can help them to see what the future might hold, and the same holds true for global predictions.  The Greeks held the same principle in their god Janus, who looks both forwards and backwards and rules the month of January – the first month of the year.

To understand what happened in 2011 we have to go back to early 2008 when Pluto entered Capricorn and began the contraction that is now spreading around the world and creating one economic crisis after another as country after country implements austerity (Capricorn) measures that continue the contraction rather than counteract it.  In 2009 and 2010 Chiron and Neptune aligned to force us to look beyond the material world (Neptune) and heal the wounds of the past (Chiron).  These years also marked the peak of the Cardinal Drama as I called it (also known as the Cardinal Crisis in many astrological circles) during which up to seven planets and luminaries combined in a variety of challenging positions to execute intense change in our personal lives and in the world at large.

I didn’t write an article last year on the Astrology of 2011, but if you want to go back you can listen to the podcast I did to forecast the events of 2011.  This was a year markedly less impacted by major planetary cycles other than the square between Uranus (radical change and revolution) to Pluto (destruction and regeneration) that will be the most important planetary news over the next three or four years.  This aspect began building in March when Uranus entered Aries and came within breathing distance of Pluto’s energy field.

The chart for the Spring Equinox in March showed the Equinox Sun exactly conjunct Uranus and with five planets in Aries, signifying an intensely combative three month period, and that is exactly what occurred.  Aries is ruled by Mars and is devoted to the expression of the aggressive instinct, and when that aggression combines with the powerful revolutionary force of Uranus you get the various protest movements and the “Arab Spring” that spread like wildfire across the Middle East last year.

You can read more about the details of these cycles here in these pages, just go into the archives of previous posts.

The square from Uranus to Pluto peaked in July when the two planets came within a degree of an exact alignment, and the planetary weather between August and the end of the year was much more subtle.  But it would be a mistake to be lulled back into an unconscious state, because the Uranus/Pluto square will reach its full force in 2012.

Uranus and Pluto conjoined in the 1960s and inspired the cultural revolution and change that transformed the world during that time period.  There is a reason that everyone is saying these days are just like the Sixties – and that reason is Uranus and Pluto.  This is a potent combination for creating endings and new beginnings, both globally and in our personal lives.

I’ll write more about what is coming up in 2012 over the next few days.  Stay tuned!