Who remembers the Zap Zone that ran over 2012 – 2015?* The one where catalyst Uranus squared Pluto in (symbolically) establishment Capricorn seven times in a row and everything changed?
I do and I think you do too! It’s a generalization but I bet your post-Zap-Zone self is monumentally more self-reliant than the you of early 2012. That hardscrabble genius is now about to become a major asset as Uranus and Pluto harmonize.
Hardscrabble Genius Becomes A Major Asset
Our site mantra for 2012-2015 was ‘stay stuck and you’re fuqed‘: The talents you scrambled together to deal with the Uranus-Pluto square turbulence also rendered you unable to thrive in miserly, begrudging love & friendship scenarios. Or play powerless to help others feel more comfortable.
Maybe you realized that in some regards, you’d mistaken pomposity for expertise or been too quick to dismiss your instincts because they didn’t seem rational. Or vamped off your own vibe trying to win an acceptance/affection that was far too meagre even when you got it.
Ready or not we all had to become economic rationalists but whatever you surrendered in ease or entitlement, you gained it back in acumen. The catch? You had to home-brew it for yourself.
Pomposity Does Not Equal Expertise
Those years were a wild cultural ride: the Mayan Calendar ticked over without time itself ending, recommendation engines/the Algorithm took over from traditional taste arbiters, personal branding became a thing with the rise of the ‘social media economy’ and mobile phones went from devices you could call or text people on to smartphones with an inbuilt app ecosystem.
The good news is that now, as Uranus and Pluto are in the early stages of a five year harmonious trine alignment, you can monetize or otherwise tangibly benefit from your 2012 to 2015 lessons.
So what were they? Identifying the weird gifts of that era – people as well as skills and audacity or wisdom – will contribute to your credo for this new era incoming.
Thoughts?
Image: Roy Lichenstein – Modernity
*Arguably the Uranus-Pluto square was in effect from 2011 until 2016 but the first exact ping was in June 2012 and the last (until 2073) was in March 2015.
Wow- Mystic Medusa, thank you so much for writing this post about “Revisiting Uranus-Square-Pluto 2012-2015!” After reading all the related replies, I can certainly say that they have all helped reassure me in not feeling so alone with the massive personal destruction and challenges on all fronts that I experienced during that time: health/job/home/family/relationships/Spiritual. Certainly, I can say that my life and my journey have not been the same since then. In many ways, I have learned to adapt and be more self-accepting. It has been a process and I am still learning along with it. I feel there has been a shift of energy, especially with the eclipses in Oct. 2024. I read your other post about the appearance of the recent comet, and I do think Pluto moving into Aquarius for the next coming 20 years will also provide us with new insights. Hopefully, we are all stronger because of what we experienced collectively and individually during the Uranus-Square-Pluto of 2012-2015 and I thank you and my fellow “Earth Travelers” for sharing their related stories and cosmic courage! It encourages me as I journey along the way.
Who knew Ur sq Pl could be so great… I had a seizure while riding bike, not recommended, it was due to prescription drug, Wellbutrin. I was not allowed to drive for 6 mos so I told my husband I was going to learn to pain… Art History degree but nothing “hands on” so FF to today, I just sold my art gallery that I opened in 2019, I still show there and will have be featured artist in Dec of this year. 15 degrees is my IC Taurus and My MH Scorpio. I think it may have been Pluto traversing my 12th house that totally changed my life tho. What ever it was I am so happy Pluto is leaving Cap my Asc is 24 Cap and entering Aq very soon, It will op my Leo stellium Ve, Ur, and Ma a bit scary but hey I lived thru Pl conj my asc ( blood infection damaged aorta)and 4 years later March 2024 Open heart surg to replace aorta….I have learned many things but first and foremost… I will survive!
Awesome trip down memory lane Mystic and completely resonant as I am currently experiencing what I consider a “life renaissance”, the roots of which can most definitely be tracked back to the years 2012-2015. Low rent relationship with insidious life vampire – tick. Self-obsessed, narcissistic or straight-out psychotic housemate scenarios – tick. Dreary, depressing career confusion that zapped the life force out of me – tick. Finances, what finances – just never-ending debt and spiraling overheads – tick. The ending of a moribund long-term friendship with the painful realisation that this person fed off (and probably subconsciously promoted) my role as the “problem”. Later, two other acquaintances who heard about the situation described her as a “wasp” and wondered why I had put up with it for so long.
Scroll forward to now and I am financially secure, live independently in my own home surrounded by animals, plants, art studio (and art), tonnes of supportive, helpful reciprocal friendships with an intriguing idea for a new career morph based purely around what I enjoy doing not $$$. I am quick to intuit and dispatch with assholes before they’ve even managed to get past the front gate with nary a ripple in the crabbyverse.
I think frequently about how emotionally fragile I was during that time and how much power I gave away to people and forces outside myself. Today I remind myself regularly that life is too long to be miserable and put up with shitty situations or people. Mind you, I really had to burn down the proverbial house and start from scratch for things to change, which is kinda hardcore. I’ve got Pluto in the 5th house natally, so I have to admit that shunning all convention and ferociously combusting was ummm fun hehehe
am noticing the impact of mercury on this less evil trine twin aspect. went far too granular for spotify and searched for bob mould who is apparently old now when in actual fact what I was seeking was Husker Du.
Yup. From 2012…Burnt bridges that stood too long and led to people who were toxic.
I was looking at myself from the outside like a stranger and asking why I put up with crap.
And why i had also used their presence as an excuse for my failures even though their presence was always a choice I made. I didn’t want to be that person.
My whole life blew up in 2011 and the zap zone was the final ‘end times burning down/tumbleweed desolation aeons /wait is that a green shoot’ phase. I’m very happy to say my life is unrecognisable from the way it was before Neptune set up camp on my Venus-Dsc and Pluto occupied my moon, and I’m so, so grateful. It has been very hard won indeed, and continues to evolve. Love to all who have survived and thrived x
So good to hear that Chrysalis xxx
Flourishing and prospering here too.
Hard won indeed.
2013 – at last I had the confidence to call myself an artist and graduated from art school
2014 – 2015 – rented space for, curated and publicised a pop up art exhibition;
rented a small gallery space in a crazy chaotic community art space and was treasurer, helped fund raise, curate and hang art exhibitions and organise art openings;
2024 – about to do my first artist residency in Chiangmai Thailand 😊💕🙏
Lovely to see you pop up here, GY 😍 All the best for the residency. So pleased your artist self is flourishing! xx
I am loving reading these and appreciate all the inspiring shares. My Zap Zone was difficult but I finally kicked what I can now see was a Love Zombie habit. Or rather, I was a L.Z. and now I am not. I realized that for whatever deep psychological reason I conflated attention or desire from unavailable men as relationship potential. That would spiral into obsession and the “being in love” high with worse, the desire to “rescue” them. I’m not sure how that painful awakening will serve me now but I am on it.
Crikey, that sounds exactly like me! My realisation and metamorphosis out of that permanent LZ addiction didn’t really stick until 2016-17, but it was real. My ZZ also coincided with extracting myself from a marriage in which I was fundamentally a door mat – I’ve never regretted leaving that behind, and I’m so happy to no longer be wasting my time and energy on hopelessly romantic daydreaming about men who really never warranted any of my attention.
Plain horror, shudder to think….I started to crawl out of that crater of destruction no sooner than in 2017.
I was very aware of the zap zone, but it was not very noticeable in my own life. I left long-term therapy in 2012, which I should not have done, and I went through a bit of a stagnant phase in my work.
The Saturn Pluto conjunction (2019-2020) and most of all the subsequent square of Saturn in Aquarius to Uranus in Taurus (2021-2022) have caused immeasurably more upheaval and revolution in my personal life than the Zap Zone of 2012-2015.
I recall that mantra and often still recite it!
My biggest life transformation occurred during that period – leaving a DV relationship with two kids under 3, just 24 years old myself, starting from scratch. Humbling, terrifying, and still the best decision I ever made.
I am THRIVING now because of the lessons I learned then.
Same for me Calcifer, the Saturn years were tough & changed my life in many ways, mostly not for the better, I guess I gained some resilience.
The zap zone time was great for me, I was in south America in 2011 & 12, lived & worked in Chile, travelled & spent time in Peru & Argentina, it was intense & wonderful, I’d always wanted to go there, learning language enough to get by, some great new friends, it gave me confidence & a broader view of life.
Coming back home & finishing my studies was a slog, got my degree just before my 60th birthday, then a job I loved that lasted till 2016.
Oops that was supposed to be reply to Calcifer
Hi NellyBells, great to hear that the Zap Zone years were good to you. I think Uranus in Aries was exactly the right, fiery challenge for the leaden influence of Pluto in Capricorn! Aries and Capricorn are a match for each other in terms of readiness for action, so a lot was happening and there was a sense of adventure in the air. Once Saturn joined Pluto in Capricorn in december 2017 and then subsequently Uranus arrived in Taurus in 2018, the earthiness, conservative attitude and focus on material gains became properly stifling.
Saturn and Jupiter in Aquarius from 2021 on, where the first serious challenge to all the earthiness. And now slowly all the big planets are moving on to airy ad fiery signs in the coming years, it wille be such a different world. I don’t know what your chart is like, but this change may be very beneficial to you, NellyBells!
Thanks Calcifer! Yes Airies & Cap are cardinal action signs & I was ready to go! most of Pluto in cap was in my 12th so certainly beneficial in a trawling the depths way, and some enlightenment as things surface, but a lot of it wasn’t fun,
Pluto crossing my chiron asc (I have a natal t square chiron opp uranus sq neptune, squared up by eris for a good 5 years) was intense but it’s done now
Yes looking forward to more air & fire, hope it’s good for you too
I just re-read Mystic’s piece about 12th house transits, I know this is about the ZZ,
for me it was Pluto 12th Uranus 4th … there was magic, sublime & ridiculous …
deaths in the family, awful old secrets revealed, and the freedom revealing brings,
Machu Pichu, volunteer teaching in a village in the Peruvian jungle 4 hours by boat from the end of the road in the wet/flood season,
a strange love affair fraught with karmic learnings,
I think I’ve always navigated my life by instinct, but I learnt to trust it & love it more.
Then the Saturn years came & drove me on reading benders that opened whole new dimensions, interesting times
Same here. These weather forecasts and group check ins are so valuable
Big learnings
This was when I took the explicit step of resigning from the military and going on medical leave from work, which opened the portals of memory and reflex to uncover all that had been done to me. A fight for my life and I’m in the final chapter of this particular fight right now.
The Zap Zone what a shit time it was
My life totally blew up in September 2015
My life was changed forever. I gave up the job that I loved. My life went through a shocker.
Those years were WILD – everything changed about who I thought I was and why, I came ‘out of the fog’ in many, many psycho-physical ways. People died, affairs and careers began & ended, epic scale healing catalysed. I can now see what that ‘hardscrabble’ was all for – for me to be so much more self-reliant, resilient and ready to maximise the incoming Pluto in Aquarius era with calm at its core.
The Zap Zone was wilddd and my Mystic report helped me transform my life for the better <3
Forever greatful
Same
This was a really hard time for me, but it was also revelatory. I ended up drowning in the lilac wine over a delusional crush, but he was my Muse and that ended up inspiring me to follow my dreams. One of the downsides of the zap zone and the rise of the algorithm mentioned in the article was that I ended up in a social media-based cult via algorithms. The upside of the zap zone? Rebranding my entire life, shaking off toxic family dynamics and learning how truly inventive and self-reliant I was.
The hardest years of my life. My husband was in a deep depression and died from suicide in 2013, our son was 12. So many brutal life lessons. At the time I didn’t think we would make it through to the other side. But there is now gratitude for what we had, for the beautiful souls around me who supported me, and for a totally different way of looking at life ❤️
Oh Lou, how awfully sad and hard for you all. Thank you for sharing this, and for your insights and experience. xx
Oh Lou I had a similar time. Terrible. I wish you all the wisdom and love to keep growing from it. It certainly packed a terrible punch…
F*ck. 2012/2015.
That was when I left my own life in the UK to come home to a terminally ill mother and start the corporate rat race of terror in an Australian bank with the most challenging bullying boss, a case of their own insecurities versus my skills. I’ve had more of these bosses since.
I never thought I’d stay but I did, and truth be told, I hate it. Unfinished chapters and love lost.
My relationship changed with my mother, she’s still alive and hurting/haunting me. My corporate life has looped despite big advancements and now I am back to a dead end/scratch despite being in a US firm.
Ready for whatever shakeup is in stall for me.
Ugh, this sounds familiar and painful. I’m so sorry.
Have you considered going back to the UK & your ‘own life’ again?
I’ve been wanting to go to the UK for so long; Mum & Dad were both from there, but I still haven’t been & would love to.
I was planning to go during Covid but mum was involved in an accident & things have been complex since then.
I’m not sure where to next & things with mum stil aren’t ok. But today’s full moon has thankfully brought some neptunium magic with it, that I am so very grateful to be able to feel for the first time in over 4 years.
So magic afoot is a welcome change today at least. I look forward to even more magic manifesting for all. And still trust I’ll get to the UK & Mediterranean Europe in some wonderful way, even more wonderful than I could have ever imagine.
I hope this full moon brings back your magic too & a positive & uplifting sense of having your ‘own life’ again in a way you love also CatharticTruths.
I awoke to my true self that had been hidden away… so many new experiences… so much change.
Have been learning to love oneself…
Ooh yes 2012-2015
I remember it well
A change of government led to my job being defunded but this redirection led to my own business
Also an 18 yr relationship ended which a major pivotal movement & involved huge shifts
Life is very different now from then – the intense highs & lows have lessened & lessons learned
Curious about how this will be this time around
Interesting indeed. In 2012 I began a new 2 year diploma to add to my tool kit thinking this was the new direction. It has been simmering in the background but has never really has taken off. Hmmmm!
I had 3 babies in under 17 months, from 2012-2013. Twins came shortly after our first. I don’t remember much from those years, only that I had to survive.
I am on the verge of looking at a third bricks and mortar store for the profession I am in. I could be birthing my number 3 shop and I could also be about to go into a type of survival mode again and until the initial phase is through.
Wow, it must feel wonderful to be so self trusting & dynamic.
I feel gun shy after the losses & difficulties of the last 4 years.
Everything was looking so promising in 2019 & then all went down hill when mum had an accident & it was like a very challenging version of falling down the rabbit hole, since then. It feels like I left my life to live trying to help/save Mum.
I’d really like to be fully established in my own life & lovely confident sense of Self again now/asap.
Any tops would be very welcome & much appreciated.
If you have
Any TIPS!
(not ‘tops’) Lol.
I just had to send those dates (2011-March 2015) to one of my best friends. A huge disruption started in our lives in 2011, and all the work towards resolving it led to more strange and challenging entanglements, which ended on Friday, March 13, 2015. (Such a decisive moment that I actually remember the exact date without having to look it up.)
Made the decision to move move from Sydney to Northern NSW and arrived 12 weeks later in Jan 2014.
Bought a block of land in March 2015! 7 years later we were living in our new home we call the Birds Nest.
I designed our home, project managed the build and was site cleaner. I’d never done anything like this before 🙏🏻 Lx
With my natal Pluto/Uranus conjunct Mars and the lot opp Saturn (hello Saturn return!) 2012 just ushered in more authenticity and a rather mystical connection that came to naught. This coming trine is conjunct my ascendent trine my mid heaven (massive 12th house here) so I suspect my intensity will not ease even with a trine. Sail on Silver Girl. 👧
If the trine is conjunct your ascendent, then it is square, not trine, the midheaven through a 90 degree angle? Please correct me if I am misinterpreting. Sail on Silver Girl indeed!!
hi scorpionic, just dropping in to say that depending on latitude, time of birth, etc, the aspect between ascendant and midheaven is not necessarily an exact 90 degree square. in my chart (like silkcharm here) the ascendant is at the very end of cancer, and like her I have a huge 12th house, so my midheaven is at the beginning of aries = by sign it’s a square, but by degree it’s a trine.
Ah yes 2012 saw the departure of my father from earth which collapsed a major karmic cycle for me, but lifted the veil on what chaos I had accepted as normal in my life > friendship groups > career.
And I effectively used the Plutonian influence (which was in my 4th house – Astro does not miss 🎯) to transform / bulldoze all of these areas to the ground lol.
But I also had started my healing journey and was actively already beginning to release lower vibrational energies which became my life’s work really.
Uranus is in my 8th currently really is working at the metaphysical levels which is lighting ⚡️the way for career pivots more aligned to my cosmic sensibilities.
Hope everyone is enjoying the pre-eclipse Neptunian misted influences 🩵
I was blissfully unaware of anything then. Then 2016 came and blew everything up.
OMG. the dates fit exactly. June 2012 my defacto relationship was in dire straights and we split that November. Work was toxic and through it all I had commenced post grad study. I bought a property, finished my postgrad studies and attempted to make my workplace accountable (and learnt in the process that no-one is interested in doing the right thing really. All that organisational code of conduct is really there for management to use against staff, not management being accountable for their actions) But, I tackled it correctly and survived. During this time, my ex changed into someone I no longer recognised and reneged on the handshake settlement we’d agreed, trying to clawback the settlement, which dragged the financial uncertainty for me out. It was finally done and dusted March/April 2015.
I emerged so much stronger – anti fragile.
Some similar toxic workplace issues have been back in play since late last year which I sucessfully fought off – for now. I am just wondering if this next phase will see me using the quals I gained to get a better job, or just use what I learned in those skirmishes to deal with whatever comes next. Heyho.
Me too, I look back now and see that I was viewing many things through rose coloured glasses and giving everyone the benefit of the doubt.
Oh god yes. I experienced many ill health & whistleblew so hard on regional health management the tower toppled but I lost that particular career in the process. That aside, I realised my instincts were bang on & I had to walk away from incoherent self involved people & scenarios or risk more of my physical emotional landscape being further undermined. I’m not in a similar place anymore but I am aware some kind of universal alarm clock had rung faintly somewhere. If I could rep the rewards of that wisdom I’d call it in right now & be very grateful x
*major
Toughest time of my life, 2014 that Grand Cardinal Square (I’m a Cancer)… but man am I tough now! 💪🏽. Glad to hear this
I remember that mantra and to be frank it’s def one for redeployment right now
2012 square had Saturn crossing my MC I had become the expert but without the perk$. Here come the perks, long wait but I’m a stoic Taurean. A1966 model that had Pluto and Uranus conjunct, like Mike Tyson.
So yes!
My thoughts exactly! I feel the “so yes!” but need to integrate this new idea. My main insights from the period were that I was spending on fluffy marketing consultants and non-surgical cosmetic treatments without much return. I am also intrigued by the conflation of ‘gypsy’ and ‘toro’ – are you real?