If you were expecting some kind of sun sign nonsense, forget about it. This is real astrology for the real world, not some mystical mumbo-jumbo psycho-babble word salad. If it's real astrology for yourself that you want, you can get it by phone or in print. And if you need help deciphering the astrological glyphs in the graphics accompanying this article, see Astroglyphs: Astrological Symbols Guide. Please note: this forecast is expressed in terms of Universal Time (UT, aka GMT). Also please be aware that, while I never change a forecast once it's published, I do post errata to acknowledge typographical errors and the like.

PLEASE NOTE: This month’s forecast incorporates elements of (and refers to) my complete 2012 World Forecast Highlights (34 8-1/2 x 11” illustrated pages), focused, amplified and elaborated with details for the month as appropriate. If you’d like your own copy of the full 2012 World Forecast Highlights, it’s available in hard copy by mail ($75) or as a PDF document by email ($50). Orders may be phoned in (toll-free from anywhere in North America to 800-527-8761) and charged to any major credit card. PayPal orders may be placed direct from your own PayPal account page to rnolle@astropro.com – or by using the AstroPro PayPal order page.

I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.
-- Thomas Jefferson
 

September may look like a snoozer in some respects. The Venus and Mars Max cycles are over for the year, and another Mercury Max is still a couple months off; and lacking any SuperMoons or eclipses, this month may seem to be lacking some of the celestial turbulence that tends to accompany high drama. But look closer!

The Uranus-Pluto square is back in a big way in September: returning to exact alignment again on the 19h, just a day after Pluto’s direct station, only a few days after the new moon on the 16th, and less than a week before Mars crosses over the degree of the November 13 solar eclipse. As I’ve already indicated, the Uranus-Pluto quadrature is one in an ongoing series that doesn’t conclude until 2016. It’s been in effect off and on since 2011, and per my annual forecasts it signals a social response (e.g. anarchy and revolution) to fundamental political, technological, economic and social change. You’ve seen it in the Arab Spring, in the Occupy Movement and more – and it’s only just begun. Remember: this is not just a “Great Recession” or Depression we’re going through: it’s the start of a whole new historical epoch, unprecedented since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. The transition, as described in my annual forecasts, began in 1980 and reaches critical momentum in 2020. Revolution is the key theme of the month, just as this particular planetary configuration is the key feature in the heavens for September.

Certainly, if you happened to be born with significant celestial factors in the area of the early cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn), the Uranus-Pluto square points to these as prime territory in your life this month. (Check your chart!) Challenges of this sort, if they arise in your life under this configuration, are probably already in progress – and are best met clearly and forcefully now. This is a time to see the challenges, set a course and follow it closely – being sure to adjust as necessary when things change fast, as they surely will.

Each and every one of us, whether we have a significant early cardinal sign emphasis or not, will see that tell of the Uranus-Pluto square in the geopolitical news of the day throughout September – perhaps most dramatically around the Mars passage over the eclipse degree on the 24th. More riots, more revolutionary uprisings, more "fires, crashes, clashes and explosions". A good time to hunker down in a safe place, all else being equal.

Meanwhile, the lack of an eclipse or SuperMoon this month still leaves room for newsworthy outbursts from Mother Nature, in the form of powerful storms and moderate-to-severe seismic activity (including Magnitude 5+ quakes and volcanic eruptions). Expect these right at the outset, as September dawns under the aegis of the August 31 full moon; and again at the middle and end of September; most especially around the 1st, 15th-19th and 28th-30th.

Acknowledgments

All astrological charts as well as eclipse and astro-locality maps are calculated and produced using Esoteric Technologies’ Solar Fire Gold Version 7.0.8 Sky map images are screen captures from the Pocket Universe app for iPhone.

SPECIAL FEATURE: This month's birthdays of the famous and infamous (with astrological birth charts)