This is not a polemic:  I am not saying that the world needs a radical change to avoid some dire consequences.  I’m saying that a radical change is coming one way or another.  Being pro-flash-and-blood human, I would rather that this change be directed by human beings to have the most favorable outcomes for human beings that is possible.  But that may not be possible because of the dysfunction of the current terrestrial society.  But in any case the change will happen, and so  we should be prepared for it.

We have previously discussed the importance of midpoints involving the three outer planets — Uranus, Neptune,Pluto — in the outlook of the world.  These midpoints happen usually three times per century, and they represent a major change in the perspective of the world, a zeitgeist (German for spirit of the age) change.   After a midpoint, the world has changed so much that people born after have difficulty imagining that the world is any different that it currently is.  Those who were born long enough before the midpoint can remember what it was like, but things have changed so much they are no longer sure if that memory is not just a dream.

Since Uranus is the fastest moving of these three planets, it is the planet either found at the apex of the other two planets, written as Uranus = Neptune/Pluto, or forming a midpoint with the slowest moving planet, Pluto, at the apex.  Neptune is the least likely apex planet.  At least for the last 500 years, Uranus-apex midpoints have alternated with Pluto-apex midpoints.  The last time there was a Neptune-apex midpoint was in the third quarter of the Eighteenth Century — when the United States was being founded — but that was a special case since there was a  grand trine involving the three outer planets in that period so that all three planets were taking turns as the apex planet.  The previous  Neptune apex midpoint was some 500 years ago in the first decade of the Sixteenth Century.

There were three midpoint configurations in the Twentieth Century, and we have discussed them previously here, here, and here.  The  first one occurred in the first decade of the Twentieth Century, with Uranus at the apex point.  This decade represented a profound change in the world, especially the Western World, though in China they saw the end of the dynastic state that had lasted for millennia.  Automobiles became popular, the airplane was invented, new music and art developed , and life stared to hustle.   The second midpoint, with Pluto at the apex, was at the end of World War II; the most significant event at his time, and perhaps the most significant event of at least the last 500 years, was the dropping of two atomic bombs on the country of Japan.   The is the first time in human history that it was possible to believe that the world could actually be ended by human intervention,  This had profound implications for humanity and I don’t think that the ramifications have been fully recognized even 70 years later.  Many former colonies  got their freedom, and the Cold War, that shaped so much the last half of the Twentieth Century, and still shapes the world, saw its start.  The third midpoint, again with Uranus at the apex, happened at the end of the Seventies.  This midpoint saw the rise of market dominance, and an end to the previous 35 years when the well being of citizens was placed above the wants of the market.

Now that we have lived for 35 years under this zeitgeist we find it hard to remember a different time.  Notice that each midpoint change does not wipe out the changes that the previous midpoint brought, but rather added  to them.  Thus the change at the end of WW II did no negate automobiles and airplanes, but rather added its own changes.  And the midpoint at the end of the Seventies did not do away with the changes wrought by the atomic bomb, but added its own changes onto of those that already existed.  Thus the world in the opening decades of the Twenty-First Century is an amalgam of the changes that happened under the previous three zeitgeist changes.

As one can imagine, sooner or later there will be a midpoint configuration in the  21st century, and we will wonder what it will bring .  That is always a good guessing game, and we can make guesses based on what we see is the world as it is now.  Also keep in mind, as has been discussed in in the About section of this blog, as well as here. we have reached the end of a 500  year cycle — the 500 Year Party — and so things are going to change in a very large way.  The changes the world will see over the next 500 years are an end to capitalism, industrialism, and rationalism.  The life the world has known for the last 500 years is going to come to an end.  The last 500 years, half of a millennium, have seen  the exploration and conquest of the world by European powers, the Scientific and Industrial  Revolutions, the beginnings of leaving the planet, the atomic bomb, the massive growth of the world population, and all the concomitant changes that are summarized by the term 500 year party.  Thus one  would expect that the upcoming midpoint would represent a larger change — if that can be imagined — than the previous three zeitgeist changes of the Twentieth Century.

The  upcoming midpoint configuration is Neptune at the apex point, and it is a long lasting one.  This midpoint starts to get within orb in 2021 and is last within orb in 2029, so it lasts for most of the third decade of this century.  This is unusual, since the midpoint of the previous century lasted three or four years.  Uranus is the fastest moving planet, so when it is the apex planet the midpoint is quickly over

The chart above shows the midpoint in 2023  when it has just started.  We will see later, when we compare this midpoint to the United States chart, that it actually stated two years earlier but was only barely in orb during that period.

But wait, there’s more.  Not only are these three planet forming a midpoint, but they also form an aspect pattern, as seen in the next chart.  The aspect pattern, with a trine, sextile, and sextile, has been called a “mini-grand trine” (a grand trine is an equilateral triangle consisting of three trines between the planets, which  we last saw in the Eighteenth Century).  This makes the midpoint patten even stronger, because not only is it a midpoint with Neptune at the apex, but it is a mini-grand trine with Neptune at the apex.

But wait, there’s more.  Not only is this a long lasting midpoint configuration, but for part of the time the apex planet — Neptune — is on the Aries point, as we can see in the next chart.  The Aries point, and those points square or opposite it — 0 Cancer, 0 Libra, 0 Capricorn — are the connection points with the world at large.  When a planet make a connection with the Aries point, whatever is represented by that planet, and in this case a midpoint, will affect the whole world.  In this case, it makes the midpoint even more significant.  I can speculate that Neptune on Aries represents the Reenchantment of the World (suggested, by among others, Morris Berman in the book of that name).  It is something we have long needed.

But wait, there’s more.  For  a  year, when the midpoint’s apex planet Neptune is on the Aries point, Saturn is conjunct Neptune, as shown in the next  chart. Saturn-Neptune conjunctions (squares, oppositions) are very complex and important .  We have discussed this combination over the last month.  Briefly, Saturn-Neptune indicates a long time behavior  that at one time seemed like a good idea, but now its failure is glaringly obvious.  The fact that the conjunction takes place at the Aries point, and is the apex of the midpoint involving two of the outer planets  makes it even more important.  The entire world feels that its previous behavior is no longer worth pursuing.

But wait, there’s more.  Because the planets are sextile Neptune at the time that Neptune changes sign — from Pisces to Aries — the other two outer planers are also changing signs at the same time, with Pluto changing from Capricorn, where it is now, into Aquarius, and Uranus changing from Taurus to Gemini, so that afterwards all the three outer planets are in positive signs.   The change of an outer planet into a new sign is considered significant and books have been written about this phenomenon through the ages (for example, The Astrology of Sustainability by J. Lee Lehman, PH.D.) so one can expect that the changes of all three other planets to new signs at the same time would be triply noteworthy.

In  this 5 years graphical ephemeris in harmonic 6, we can see that first Pluto changes sign — red arrow — and then Neptune changes sign — green arrow — and then Saturn and Uranus change signs — between blue and black arrows.    You can see how the three outer planets maintain their dance during this period, with the last exact mini-grand trine shown by the yellow arrow.

But wait, there’s more.  Since the US is connected with the Aries point – -the IC is at 1 Aries and so the Midheaven is at 1 Libra, this whole configuration is thus connected to the IC and MC of the United States, so the US will be deeply involved in the changes signified by all these aspects and happening in the third decade, five  years away, of the Twenty-First Century.This is shown in the above chart.

In this magnified graphical ephemeris we can see how those three outer planets plus Saturn come close to the MC of the United States when they are all in aspect to each other.  Remember that in this sixth harmonic graphical ephemeris, where the transiting lines are close together,  either a conjunction, trine, or sextile is occurring, and when near the MC of the US these aspect are all less than one degree, as shown in the vertical scale.

In this 10 year graphical ephemeris we can see how Neptune and the Uranus-Pluto midpoint are close together for the entire 10 years, with the closest at the center vertical line of 3/24/2025.  At this point both lines also cross the Aries axis, the horizontal solid black line.

But wait, there’s more.  Here are two more charts illustrating the start and the end of the midpoint on  the United States chart.  Again, you can see that the midpoint lasts for nine years, from 2021 to 2029.  As we mentioned above, Neptune transits the IC of the United States during this period.  And as you can see from the second chart directly above, at the end of the period Uranus transits the Descendant of the US.  As discussed  many months ago when Neptune transits the Midheaven axis, either end, and Uranus transits the Descendant, the  United States engages in war.  I’ve  suggested  previously that the war in this case will be a world wide attempt to  save the world.  This is further evidence that this period —  the third decade of the Twenty-First Century — will see a major change in the behavior of the world’s people.

There is also a midpoint configuration  with Uranus_Pluto to the Midheaven of the United States,  with the Saturn-Nptune conjunction also making a midpoint to the MC.

But wait, there’s more.  There is one other idea we discussed previously that is relevant to this period.  When Uranus make a   quadrature aspect — conjunction, square,  opposition — to the Moon of the United States, the people get agitated and often a war results.  As can be see in the above chart, a square between Uranus and the US Moon occurs in the period 2024-25.   This is one more indication that something interesting will happen in this period.

Finally, here is  a chart with all the planets within the US chart, for August, 8, 2025.  There is a kite — grand trine and mini-grand trine with Mars on the US MC and opposite Saturn-Neptune — the spine of the kite.  The transiting Sun is semisquare Mars and sesquiquadrate Saturn-Neptune.  Mercury is opposite the Moon-Pluto conjunction.  There is a Venus-Jupiter conjunction and Jupiter is almost exactly conjunct the US Sun.

So the big question is “What will this change be?”  Not being psychic, I don’t know, but we can make some educated guesses.  One possibility is we would see a world controlled by major corporations, and the leader of the dominant military power in the world would be sending robot missiles around the world to kill people who he (or she)  doesn’t like, possibly planning the kills for a week on each Thursday (and calling them Terror Thursdays) while spy agencies for major powers find a way to spy on every cell phone call, email, or computer, and the leader would make rhetoric for liberal sounding nostrums to cheers his (or her) supporters while he (or she) tried to pass a bill giving complete control of the world to the dominant corporations.   Now I’m sure we can all agree that it is very difficult to imagine such a hopeless scenario, and that the citizens of the United States would never stand of such a thing, so let’s explore a more positive possibility.

As we discussed before, we are at the end of the 500-Year party.  Many  trends in the world are reaching a limit, or have already passed them.  In the United States there are two dominant political parties that are weighing in on this situation.  One, the realists, see the situation as  so dangerous to their world view that they choose the ostrich outlook to the problems, just deny  them.  The other political faction thinks that there is something happening here, but what it is ain’t exactly clear, so they believe that market-based solutions will solve the problems and that the economy can continue to grow.  This is the rearrange the  deckchairs on the Titanic approach. Neither of these approaches will avoid radical changes, but I don’t think they will like the results of such a change.

As for what a radical changes will look like, here are three suggestion that will indicate the scope of the problem:

In  the early part of the Twentieth Century, under the influence of a Uranus-Neptune opposition, the automobile was developed as a  fixture of society.  Its influence has only spread in the century since then.  In the decade of the 1990s, under a Uranus-Neptune conjunction, another fascination was developed for the World Wide Web, and its influence has only spread since then.  So imagine what the dilemma society will be in if they are offered the choice: Automobiles or the Internet, the world can only support one — your choice.

Some scientists suggests that we need to stop moving around as much as we have grown accustomed to.  The airplane, which is becoming increasingly popular (also developed during the Uranus-Neptune opposition in the first decade of the Twentieth Century), is notorious from  abusing the atmosphere.  What if the world realized it must use dirigibles rather than airplanes for those trips  that can not be accomplished by land or sea travel?

What if the United States were to split up into several separate countries, in which case each new country would have its own birthchart and Constitution to replace the terribly outmoded Constitution of the current United States, and a birthchart that damns us to certain behavior.  We all realize that the United is already several separate countries, based on history and location.  The Northeast and the South are different and fact fought a war over this difference.  The West Coast states, the Midwest, the Rocky Mountain area, and the former industrial heartland south of the Great Lakes  are also obviously different.  Unfortunately they all have to work together, even though they see the world differently.  These ideas are discuss in depth in The Nine Nations of North America (Joel Garreau) and American Nations (Colin Woodard).

Of course, there are other possible meanings of this configuration that is coming up in less than ten years, I merely suggested ones that seem reasonable at this time.  But of course things can change in the next few year.  Expect many black swans.  We may see an invasion from outer space, a collision with an asteroid, a nuclear war.  But whatever happens,  the world will change radically in the next quarter century.  I  see an image of a runaway  chariot and the riders — the people of the earth — must gain control of the reins and slow the runaway chariot.  It won’t be easy, and will require a massive change in consciousness as well.  We will look at indications of this for the next ten years at future dates.