Sep 2017
The Furies
The big configuration that puts 2017 on the map is peaking this month. This is the Jupiter-Uranus/ Eris-Pluto T-square. The last two Jupiter oppositions with Eris, exact to the minute of arc, take place Sept 9th and 27th.
During 2017 this column has covered the symbolism of Jupiter in Libra (fairness and equality), its opposition to Uranus (challenges to ethical status quo) , and Pluto’s square to both of them (breakdown of notions of normality).
But it’s time to focus in on the fact that, all this time, Uranus has been conjoined by the dwarf planet Eris — complicating and magnifying its role in the T- square. Widely conjunct between 2012-2020 (15 degree orb), Eris and Uranus reached exactitude in June and September 2016 and again on March 17 2017.
Eris is the planet of off-the-grid payback. It is less familiar to most astrophiles than the other three planets in play, but it has been revealed to be stunningly relevant — thanks to two definitive geopolitical events: Brexit and the American presidential election (details here).
Retribution
Eris has been linked to the Furies, also known as the Erinyes: the wild women of legend who dispensed feminist retribution.
Not out for mere personal vengeance, the Furies were advocates for the disenfranchised. They pursued perpetrators of moral crimes who’d been let off the hook by the authorities.(1)
As the planetary signifier of the Furies, Eris has exploded (Uranus) in fighting mode (Aries) in our era. Its influence in the world-changing populist upsets of 2016 is unmistakable.
As Jupiter went into Libra (income inequality), a large number of voters who considered themselves abandoned, maligned and snubbed by the powers-that-be (Pluto) took revenge (Eris) in a way that was Uranian in the extreme (unexpected upsets.)
Guardians of Gaia Memory
Archetypes work on all levels, from the ridiculous (pop culture) to the sublime (spiritual truth).
Somewhere in the collective unconscious resides the memory of the great changeover from gynocentrism to patriarchy that occurred across a wide swath of human societies about 5,000 years ago. Eris is one of the guardians of this hauntingly indistinct mass memory.
In her seminal work on the historic precursors of well-known myths, astrologer Demetra George looks at the familiar planetary archetypes before they got personified by Greek and Roman gods. The Furies who harried Orestes, for 
example, symbolized the laws of a pre-classical matrilineal era, during which our hero’s crime — matricide — would have constituted the ultimate taboo.
Eris in Hollywood
As so often happens, the T-square has corresponded with a starring role for Eris on the silver screen. Just when we needed an updated version of the myth, we got a new Wonder Woman.
The movie’s popularity is our signal that the warrioress played by Gal Gadot has struck a cord. With perverse appropriateness, instead of a female president, the American mind created a comic-
book heroine.
It doesn’t matter to the spirit of Eris what form she shows up in. The Cosmos has a whole range of teaching tools with which to get its messages across.
Working with Eris
As astrologers know, Hermetic Law (“As above, so below”) dictates a parallel between what planets do, up in the sky, and the events that happen to us down here on Earth. The consciousness-seeker’s slant on this idea is “As without, so within.” We investigate the parallel between external events and internal ones.
Eris’ role in the transit upon us is revealing the links between what’s happening in the collective and what’s happening to us as individuals. If we look, we will find parallels between the fiery crusades in the headlines and the dramas in our personal story.
As Jupiter opposes Eris in early and late September, listen to your inner Furies. They will direct your attention to wrongs calling out for redemption.
Start by identifying where in your chart the transit is playing out. Pay particular attention to the houses highlighted by the opposition, exact this month, between 
Jupiter (22 Libra) and Eris (22 Aries).
In Aries, Eris expresses a untamed, courageous activism: an instinctive, self-propulsive bravery that leads by example. But at its most profound, this energy is not about vengeful reactivity. It’s about healing and rebalancing.
Note
1) Astrologer Henry Seltzer has written the definitive book on Eris.