Hudson Valley Astrologer

“I know for certain, that before I was humbled I was like a stone lying in deep mire, and he that is mighty came and in his mercy raised me up and, indeed, lifted me high up and placed me on top of the wall.”

~ Saint Patrick

My grandfather, on my mother’s side, died a couple of weeks after I was born. He lobbied my parents to name me Patrick! In ten days, it will be sixty-four years ago to the day, but my mother wouldn’t relent on the first name — she called me Timothy. Or maybe it was my father’s doing. I’m not really sure how that went down other than my grandfather got the concession of knowing my middle name would be Patrick.

Most people associate Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, with parades and free beer. However, he is most famously credited with driving the snakes out of Ireland—a story my grandmothers often told me as a child. My boyish mind took this literally, though there have never been snakes in Ireland due to its post-Ice Age geography. In reality, the ‘snakes’ symbolize paganism, as serpents are often associated with the devil in Christianity. Saint Patrick is revered not for battling literal reptiles but for his success in converting the Irish from their pagan traditions to Christianity.

The name Patrick originates from the Latin Patricius, meaning ‘nobleman’ or ‘patrician.’ This ties the name to the power centers of Ancient Rome during the Kingdom and early Republic. The patrician class, an aristocratic ruling elite, eventually faced pressure to share power with the plebeians, Rome’s commoners. This struggle, known as the Conflict of the Orders, marked a significant rise in populism. Remarkably, it unfolded without major battles or bloodshed, as if the patricians understood the cyclical nature of history and sought to adapt rather than resist change entirely.

The history associated with the name Patrick is fascinating in this context. Saint Patrick could be seen as representing the noble, aristocratic power of the Christian Church, sent to displace the pagan ‘snakes’ of his time. Conversely, in Ancient Rome, it was the noble patrician class that found itself displaced by the populist plebeians during the Conflict of the Orders. This parallel highlights an intriguing inversion: in one case, aristocratic power asserts dominance, while in the other, it is challenged and restructured by rising populism.

Saint Patrick rose to prominence in 432 AD within the orb of the Uranus—Pluto conjunction (439 AD). The Conflict of Orders (494 BCE) occurred during the Uranus — Pluto opposition (508 BCE), if we allow the orb between the aspect of these two outer planets to widen to about 15° (see Richard Tarnas’ Cosmos And Psyche p. 143) then this period is within orb as well.

The last Uranus-Pluto conjunction occurred in 1966, with the next opposition not expected until 2047. The societal upheaval typically associated with this planetary alignment operates over a period of 10 to 12 years (the 15° orb). Currently, we are emerging from the effects of the epic Uranus-Pluto square, which lasted from June 2012 to March 2015. This square represents a period of heightened tension and resistance to the transformative changes initiated during the prior conjunction. Similar patterns of societal and cultural shifts can be observed historically, where the square phase often challenges and tests the revolutionary momentum set in motion by earlier alignments. The wide orb of influence for these outer planets—up to 15°—extends the impact of Uranus — Pluto alignments, lasting over a decade or more, amplifying the significance in shaping societal and cultural evolution. We can expect the current crisis to end no later than 2027.

What appears to be at stake during the opening quarter of the Uranus-Pluto cycle is the transformation of individual rights initiated at the start of the cycle, which now comes under pressure. A backward-looking perspective (MAGA) often revolts against liberty in the name of freedom, appropriating patriotism to serve the interests of those threatened by revolutionary change.* Despite the alarming headlines and extremist rhetoric dominating public discourse, history suggests that movements like the civil rights struggle continue to march forward, propelled by the enduring momentum of transformation inherent in these cycles.

HVA

💚🍀

* Tomás Ó Cathasaigh describes this phenomenon in his telling of The Táin and Queen Mebds manipulation of loyalty for personal gain. An extraordinary analog of the times we live in, capture in Irish Myth.