Where on Earth?

This week's hot aspects include an opposition of the sun to Pluto on Monday, followed by the sun squaring Uranus early Thursday morning. In other words, the sun is elbowing the powerful Uranus-Pluto square. We're sure to see effects in our personal lives, but it should be most obvious in the collective.

We should recognize that July 4th is the birthday of the United States, and with Uranus-Pluto closely approaching the U.S. sun and the sun-Uranus aspect exact on the 4th, we'd expect the country to be in the spotlight. The sun-Pluto aspect certainly seems to be having an effect, as the NSA spying exposure (Pluto often exposes things that were intended to be kept hidden) has been found to include the U.S. spying on European governments. The backlash against the U.S. is likely to be substantial, and the rest of the world is likely to take a much more considerate view of Edward Snowden now that the scope of U.S. spying is known.

This week is also the anniversary of a new government, Egypt's President Morsi took office a year ago, making this a kind of new birthday for that ancient land. And the sun's aspects to Pluto and Uranus are certainly making things hot there, as protestors swell the streets.

If we look at the astrolocality maps for the two aspects, we can get a bit of insight into what areas are most likely to be affected, because the sun, Uranus, and Pluto are in prominent positions in certain places when the aspects are exact. Keep in mind that major aspects often "cast their shadow before them" and events take place before or after (within a reasonable window of time) the exact point. The sun/Pluto aspect has a line that goes just off the U.S. East Coast, intersecting Miami and Boston, two cities where legal proceedings are underway: George Zimmerman's trial and the Boston Marathon bombings.

The sun-Uranus aspect has a hot Mars line that moves through Arizona near where a wildfire tragically killed 19 firefighters on Sunday. The paralyzing heat wave that is covering much of the Western U.S. could also be seen as a reflection of this week's aspects, stoked by the hot moon in Aries over the weekend. Neptune lines cross near or on San Francisco for both of this week's aspects, and that city is beginning a transit strike. Throw in Mercury retrograde, and commuting in the city could be like slogging through Neptunian fog.

Hot spots for Monday's sun-Pluto aspect include London, as well as always unsettled Lahore. Eastern India is also affected. A strong line cuts through Spain, a bit to the west of Madrid.

Nepal is in the crosshairs of two significant sun-Uranus-Pluto lines for the July 4th aspect. Mexico City and major U.S. Gulf Coast cities are just outside of exact lines. Dublin is directly under sun-Uranus lines.

Keep an eye on these places, and listen for news. Of course, anyplace and anyone with planets around 10 - 12 degrees of cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) is likely to feel this energy. And while the moon in Aries from June 29 to July 1st helped to trigger aspects, look to the Cancer moon, July 6 - 8 to bring additional manifestations - the new moon on the 8th is accompanied by a Saturn station.