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We can equate The Saturn-Pluto opposition of 2001 and 2002 with Grof's explication of the third basic perinatal matrix (or BPM III). The archetypal configuration of the planetary alignment and the description of BPM III fit the overall tenor of the times. Again, these descriptions can be seen as more relevant from the vantage point of the world as a living, animated entity rather than a dead spheroid revolving in space. Grof calls the third BPM the "Death-Rebirth Struggle;" it is the stage of birth when tremendous force is placed on the fetus as it is beginning to be expelled from the womb. The mother's womb, which for many months was experienced as a loving, benign and heavenly environment, has turned into an atmosphere of titanic force, where life and death are negotiated by the young fetus.
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The intense, biological forces at the last stage of birth and the Saturn-Pluto alignment of 2001-2002 mirror the erotic, forceful, and creative-destructive energies present in world events and popular culture at the time. |
The experience of the third matrix can be paralleled by the archetypal synthesis of Saturn and Pluto in alignment. The Saturn-Pluto configuration can give rise to experiences—both individual and collective—that are intensely dramatic, ominous, heavy, and place one's self (or the collective) in immense struggles usually involving the status quo versus chaos and destruction. These can often be intensely violent times, or they can illuminate a tremendous struggle without any sense of resolution. Vibrationally, the Saturn-Pluto matrix is a heavy, dark and contracted energy with violent and erotic overtones. The planetary combination very much fits with Stan Grof's description of the third basic perinatal matrix: "Perhaps the most striking aspect of this matrix is the atmosphere of titanic struggle, frequently of catastrophic proportions…The experiences can reach a painful intensity that exceeds by far what it seems any human could possibly bear."(2)
If we envision the world as not unlike a fetus in a state of becoming, than the Saturn-Pluto configuration and the BPM III matrix suggests that the world is undergoing tremendous forceful contractions—contractions that predict a new birth yet don't allow for full completion of the birth process. In the United States alone, the events of 2001 and the subsequent fear and creation of a national security department would be not unlike the case scenario of a developing fetus who witnesses tremendous, unknown forces bombarding its environment. Being in a state of fear and panic, the fetus under bombardment of tremendously destructive force might erect a defense system so as to ensure that the traumatic shocks do not happen again.
The BPM IV experience as described by Grof illustrates the resolution to the titanic conflict that the fetus has undergone in the previous matrix. In BPM IV, the fetus is released from the tremendously potent contractive forces of the womb and is born into a new universe, a new existential situation. The newborn child is liberated from the contractive pulsations of the womb that seemed like an onslaught of monstrously destructive energy. In the BPM IV experience, the child experiences a sense of liberation and relief. As Stan Grof describes, "This new situation is a significant improvement over the previous two stages… A person who has overcome the enormous trials of the second and third matrices and is enjoying the experience of rebirth associated with the fourth matrix usually has triumphant feelings." (3) Relative to other BPM's and other outer planet alignments, the Jupiter-Uranus/BPM IV constellation is of a much higher, lighter, and creative vibration. One may simply view this as a sign of breakthrough and of the higher, more spiritual aspirations of humanity, or one may view this configuration as merely a respite from the more intense, dramatic, and confrontational death-rebirth cycles on earth.
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The light, expansive, and awakening energies present as the fetus breaks through the intense death-rebirth struggle and the Jupiter-Uranus alignment of 2003-2004 mirror the creative, innovative, trickster-like energies present in world events and popular culture at the time. |
The fourth BPM in quality and experience is analogous to the phenomenological aspects of a Jupiter-Uranus alignment. With both the BPM and alignment emphasizing liberation and freedom, there can be a sense of greater expansiveness, opening, and lack of pressure under these experiences. Thus, a Jupiter-Uranus alignment signals a BPM IV type of experience for the anima mundi, or world soul. Momentarily, at least, the global situation may seem optimistic, a search for new technologies and horizons occurs, and there is a general air of positivity and celebration.
Combined with Grof's cartography of transpersonal experiences, astrology can be very illuminating in judging the state of the world. Particularly if one enters the viewpoint as the world as ensouled, it is very difficult not to see the brilliance and elucidation that astrology can afford. Both the Grof paradigm and astrology are the study of universal patterns, energies, and archetypal experiences. As Grof himself stated, "The astrological worldview itself does not specifically refer to forces; it sees reality in terms of synchronistic arrangements rather than causal connections. It points to a grand vision of the cosmos as a unified, orderly interconnected system reflecting an underling master blueprint designed by a superior intelligence."(4)
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