Oil Spills & T-Squares

Copyright Stella Woods (August 2010)

In many ways the history of the 20th and early 21st century is the history of oil and its role in geopolitics and world economics. Access to oil means access to power and wealth and if supplies are threatened we engage in oil wars (Falklands, Iraq, Kuwait) to protect our liquid gold.

In astrology, Neptune is the ruler of oil, gas and water. During 2005-6, Neptune made a series of oppositions to Saturn, planet of structure, responsibility and hard lessons. During Hurricane Katrina, it was the might of the sea that flooded New Orleans and disabled its oil refineries. The sea (Neptune) destroyed the levees, houses and infrastructure (Saturn). The confusion and tall stories (Neptune) in the aftermath of the disaster resulted in a loss of face for the local and federal governments (Saturn). When we talk of the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012 could we really be looking at the end of a world dominated by oil and gas? Or will our world literally be destroyed by oil?    

The massive Deepwater Horizon spill in the Mexican Gulf continues to make headlines, not only because it is an environmental disaster, but because it forces us to acknowledge our own role in the crisis. Could our insatiable appetite for cheap oil actually destroy our way of life or even kill us?  Are we prepared to sit back while our oceans and rivers are polluted and our wildlife annihilated? And is it true that a build-up of methane bubbles under the ocean could explode at any time causing death and destruction? 

British Petroleum (BP) has been a convenient scapegoat for the Deepwater disaster, but we all complain loudly when petrol prices rise. How many other oil companies are cutting corners to keep prices low and profits high?  Most of us drive cars, ride in aircraft and enjoy the products of an oil-fuelled lifestyle, but most of us also know this lifestyle is unsustainable. We cannot harm or exploit others without suffering ourselves.

As discussed in previous columns, the current Saturn-Uranus-Pluto T Square is forcing us to make radical, total and complete changes in the way we operate (particularly for those with planets in the early cardinal signs: 0-3 degrees Libra, Capricorn, Cancer, Aries).

Keywords for Uranus combined with Pluto and Saturn are as follows:

Positive Manifestation 
Perseverance, determination and endurance. The ability to overcome difficult situations through extraordinary effort. Revolution and rebirth. Refusal to be exploited. Rebellion against oppression.

Negative Manifestation  
Natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods or volcanic eruption. Acts of violence or cruelty. Limitations on freedom. Make or break situations. Brutal destruction of the past.

Transformational Pluto in practical earth sign Capricorn has already ushered in the global financial crisis and is now teaching us some hard lessons about the fragility of our planet via climate change, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes and volcanoes. At the time of the Deepwater explosion in April, Pluto, ruler of death, the underworld, destruction and transformation was conjunct Ceres, an asteroid symbolising Mother Earth. The message could not be clearer. We can either continue to blame BP and other major corporations for destroying the planet or we can see the Mexican Gulf disaster as a collective wake-up call. Ceres, Pluto and the karmic North Node meet up again in October this year. The environment will surely be a top priority for any future government as we shift our focus to resources far more precious than liquid gold.