Saturn-Uranus squares occur at intervals of 21-24 years on average, alternating between waxing (90 degree arc) and waning (270 degree arc) phases. The January 2000 square is the last 20th century appearance of this aspect. This particular Saturn-Uranus cycle was inaugurated with the Sagittarius conjunction of 1988 - the year the "Morris Worm" wrecked the Internet.

Given the history and symbolism of this aspect, it's no surprise that it coincides with the Y2K bug this time around. As computers go haywire here and there 'round the world on January 1, 2000, Saturn and Uranus will be lined up in square aspect heliocentrically. Of course it won't all happen on January 1, 2000. Truth is, there have already been a number of Y2K incidents in 1999, from the London power company shutdowns in August to the US government computer crashes of October, etc. Small wonder, what with the geocentric Saturn-Uranus square having formed two of the three exact aspects in this current series in July and November '99. July 13, 1999 marked the heliocentric aspect's closure to within 5 degrees of being exact, and it's August 12, 2000 before the aspect finally leaves five degrees orb. With Saturn in Taurus as this occurs, the world financial system appears to be a special focus for this chaos – not only as a result of poor planning, but also because of criminal cyber-assaults. And if the re-occurrence of the same phase square that coincided with the Korean War has more than accidental significance . . .

The 2000 Saturn-Uranus square is:

• The first to occur since the 1976 Leo-Scorpio event.
    
• The first waxing (90 degree arc) squares since the 1952 Libra-Cancer Korean War event. (The next waxing square will be in 2043.)
    
• The first Taurus-Aquarius square of these two planets since 1500.
    

Richard Nolle, Certified Professional Astrologer phone or fax 480-753-6261 - email rnolle@astropro.com Box 26599 - Tempe, AZ 85285-6599 - USA on the World Wide Web at http://www.astropro.com