Two weeks ago, I was in India. And now I’m back home in Germany.

I’ve had a hard time getting my mind around the contrast. In India, it was the dry season, and the roads were dusty, as we traveled by car between Jaipur and Agra and New Delhi. Here in Bremen, the fog rolls in, and the snow covers the pitched roof-tops.

In India, there were people everywhere. I tried not to stare at dust-covered barefoot old men, followed by business-like housewives in saris. I wanted to take pictures of the people, but – except for a couple of venders sleeping in their wheeled carts - they frowned at me. And so, intimidated, I pointed my camera at old temples and marble sidewalks. Or I would take portraits of the cows, complacent as cats, settling down to sleep between parked motorcycles in front of the bank.

In India, I was conscious of being at a crossroads of civilization. The roots of Hinduism and Buddhism are here, and the earliest religious texts were written here. And these texts are still an integral part of daily life. In India, there’s always the sense of a long, long history, with the landscape itself seeming endlessly patient. At the same time, horns honk incessantly on the roads, as cars and trucks play chicken with each other, worming their ways through the tiniest available space.

Bremen seems so quiet. In the taxi from the airport, my spouse said, “Listen!” and I knew it was the silence she wanted me to listen to.

India has been colonized from all directions, and colonization is a form of slavery. It breeds poverty, even after a country has gotten free. In India, you can see pride, resignation and anger on people’s faces. The pride has to do both with India’s legendary material wealth as well as with its spiritual heritage. The resignation has to do with the remnants of the caste system, as well as the pervasive belief that we are currently living through Kali Yuga, the dark ages described in Indian scriptures. The anger is the other side of the resignation, a healthy rejection of the dust, the crowded conditions, and the poverty.

And so those are the pictures that I didn’t take in India.

And here I am in Bremen, feeling mostly peaceful, but with a little survivor’s guilt. India was intense. In the Darjeeling tea we brought home, I taste India, and wonder what I’ve left behind there.

And now here it is New Year’s eve. This year’s ending brings a full moon, a blue moon, and a partial lunar eclipse as well. This is all very momentous, but it’s not an exuberant full moon. The sun, Mercury, Venus and Pluto are all in the serious, responsible sign Capricorn, and this means that we are all grappling with reality.

This is always one of the contradictions of the New Year. A little over a week before the fireworks go off, the sun enters Capricorn at the Winter Solstice, and this always cools off the jovial spirit of the holidays. It’s not a bad thing, since the Sagittarius energy of early December can mean a frenzy of partying, drinking, and spending money. At the solstice, everyone becomes aware of their private Long Night, and begins to face whatever they need to face. This can mean more meaningful holidays, and a more resolute and conscious greeting of the new year.

Not only is the Capricorn element stronger than usual this year, but the sun, the full moon, Venus and Pluto are all making a square to Saturn, the planet of duty, structure and discipline. Saturn is in the idealistic sign Libra, so the focus is on social responsibilities. We are very aware of what we owe each other, conscious of the balance of power in our communities. When we are out of balance, we flail wildly, trying to get our relationships right. When there are too many people, or too many poor people, or too many people angry at us, or too much guilt, we lurch and jolt, until we find a solution.

Will we find solutions in 2010?

The dominant aspect of 2010 is the resolute, intense square between Saturn in Libra and Pluto in Capricorn. Jupiter and Uranus also participate in this square, mainly during the summer, and it isn’t till September that Saturn finally breaks free of Pluto’s iron grasp. And so, for most of the year, movement is always met by counter-movement, and in every conflict, both sides have the sense that they are the responsible, wise ones.

We see this in the current Congressional dynamic, with the Republicans sitting with folded arms, refusing to participate in health care reform. They are pretty consistent; after all, conservative means to conserve the status quo, unless of course, you are talking about a tree or an endangered species. Change is scary, why would we want it? Except of course when an army is involved. Then it becomes less scary because we have guns.

This Saturn/Pluto square is an armored, stubborn aspect, inhibiting and repressive. We are all feeling the tension that comes from underlying anger. Somebody tries to blow up a plane, and a Toronto airport drastically limits carry-on items, even prohibiting books. If I can’t read on a plane, I’m definitely going to feel inhibited and repressed. Maybe if I remind myself that we are living through Kali Yuga, I can deal with it better. And if I remind myself that I could be in India, walking miles along an road lined with old ruins, selling trinkets to tourists in cars, I’ll be ashamed at myself for squawking.

But I don’t want to spend 2010 under that dust cloud. Saturn will be free of Pluto eventually, and then it will be revolutionary Uranus’ turn to confront the status quo. Until that time, we need to study patience.

What can we do when things move slowly, when there’s a general sense of entrenched resistance? I think this is when we need to dissect, analyze and understand. When change comes, it will come hard and fast. And the first taste of that will be in the summer of 2010, when a cardinal T-square forms. Until that time, we are still taking small steps, learning to see our enemies, including our political enemies. They are our shadow selves. And the coming changes are still underground, still manifesting in whispers, plans, projects and movements. We need to listen.

Saturn in Libra is about justice. It’s about retribution, a balancing of accounts. What are we owed, and what do we owe others? Who are the other people in this world we live in, and how are we treating them? Mostly we just aren’t seeing them. There are so many of them, and the very idea of justice is overwhelming. How can we make it happen? We take small steps. We notice the pockets of resistance.

In 2010, Saturn will teach us. And throughout the year, you will be the lesson plan for me, and I will be that for you.

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