As Mercury – the messenger of the gods – joins with Saturn in the last degrees of Scorpio this evening, I thought it would be a perfect time to put out a possibly final Saturn in Scorpio memorandum. It deals with personal accountability (a Saturn fave) and why it’s especially important to own our shadows as Saturn prepares to weigh anchor and leave for Sagittarius in less than a month’s time. Scorpio deals with our so-called “shadow sides”; the dark, dysfunctional parts of our makeup that – once conquered – can serve as potent fertilizer for claiming our personal power. With Saturn in Scorpio since late 2012, we have all been collectively faced with repeated tests dealing with our ability to control the qualities, traits, and characteristics that may otherwise have the ability to enslave us to our lowest natures. The tests of power and resultant struggle to master the darkness within represents a true journey of self-mastery from the very cores of our beings. We won’t get many more chances to get these kinds of life lessons right, so tonight I want to reflect upon a subject that often surfaces when we talk about Plutonic energy (which is a catch-all umbrella term for planets found in the sign of Scorpio, located in the 8th House of a chart, or in contact with Pluto).
You may recall from a previous newsletter I did on the topic of Saturn in Scorpio, that one major keynote of this energy has involved being nuclear conscious of what we’re taking from vs. what we are contributing to the collective (read: others’) energy pool. And that a failure to do so during Saturn in Scorpio inevitably leads one to be deemed a “drain”, “leech”, or “energy sink” – in this situation, others are (rightfully) inclined to retract their investment in us, which makes sense because why keep the tap running when we’re being bled out? The self-protective inclination to conserve our energy – whether this be in the form of physical, emotional, or energetic resources – is extremely strong when this planet traverses Scorpio.
Now some on the receiving end of this treatment during the last 2+ years have no doubt cried foul over being cut off like this – and it’s precisely this phenomenon that I want to address tonight. Plutonic individuals – that is, those with a preponderance of Scorpio planets, an abundance of planets located in the 8th House of their chart, and/or contacts from Pluto to key planets in their nativities – are prone to having a reputation for cutting people off. While it’s true that a prevalence of these kinds of energies means we’re apt to undergo a morphing process similar to a snake shedding off its skin where old identities/associations/etc. are discarded, it’s certainly not fair to automatically assume this ability to “let go” necessarily involves anger, resentment, bitterness or any other sundry of negative emotion OR that it’s done with reckless abandon.
***Language Disclaimer: You’ll have to excuse the tone of this post from here on out, because we’re talking about Pluto and I am therefore going to use a literary voice appropriate to the occasion. If profanity offends, you’ll probably just want to skip over the rest of this post.
What I will say – in fairness – is that Lo-Fi Plutonic energies can (<——– and that’s the operative word) incline one to hold tenacious resentments that result in an abrupt “icing out” of another party (the phrase “You are dead to me” comes to mind). But more commonly, typically when a Plutonic individual decides to sever ties with someone, it’s for due cause and because they feel as if they’ve run out of other options. Plutonic people are often batteries for others, and when they come into contact with certain types of needy or demanding individuals (which unfortunately isn’t necessarily an immediate red flag for them – if it’s one thing Plutonic energy understands it’s that everybody is fucked up one way or another), it’s easy for them to be bled out and drained until they’re essentially backed into a corner. Even though this is an option of last resort, it’s an avenue the Plutonic individual will take because this energy is a survivor – its motto is “That which does not kill me makes me stronger” and it will take a licking & keep on ticking!
Why does this happen? In my opinion, it’s because the Plutonic vibe tends to make room for a lot of greyscale in life – it understands you cannot have light without darkness, or radiance without shadow. When a Plutonic individual encounters dysfunction, then, it can mean they’re far less inclined to write others off than the general population is, because they’re acutely aware of the complexity inherent in human existence. Ergo, even though a particular association may be depleting, they may decide to stay the executioner’s axe in the hopes of bringing the relationship back from the edge of The Abyss. If it’s one thing Plutonic energy does well, it’s resurrection – perhaps that’s why Plutonic folks are inclined to find themselves in scenarios like this. Part of the draw toward these kinds of situations may be that on some (ostensibly subconscious or energetic) level, we sense it will take us to the very edge. And that’s where Pluto is most alive – when it’s on the brink.
To avoid this sort of thing happening in the future, one thing I might suggest to the Plutonic individual is to make it a point to only associate with people who have a similar level of self-awareness – or if not, to limit the investment (time & energy) they’re willing to put into such individuals. And to also be very aware of the difference between those who talk a good game about working on their “shit” vs. those who actually do the psychological work necessary to make this transformation process a reality. Sometimes Lo-Fi Plutonic peeps can lure Hi-Fi Plutonics (or others) into their orbit (or is that undertow?) – spider & fly style – by pantomiming as if they’re working on their inner darkness & engaging in rigorous self-examination while in actuality only wallowing in their shadow side(s). In this scenario, instead of processing their own crap, they’re far more inclined to try and outsource it to others. And what do we know about Saturn in Scorpio for sure? He definitely wants us to take responsibility for our own shite!
By contrast, a Hi-Fi Plutonic individual devotes lots of resources toward figuring out their own compulsions, exploring what makes them tick, and – most critically – makes an effort to avoid the destructive road they know leads back into hell of one stripe or another. An important distinction is that Lo-Fi Plutonics tend to linger in Hades or in limbo, while Hi-Fi Plutonics actually come out The Other Side – that’s why it’s important to recognize when someone is just “going through the motions” and basically jerking us off, because otherwise we can expend valuable time, energy, and resources trying to pull someone out of the mud who would much rather just remain there. If that’s their choice, then there’s nothing we can do about it and instead we should re-focus our energies on figuring out why it is we’re psychologically drawn to lost causes and black holes. Also? If we find ourselves faced with the inevitability of ending a particular association, explaining why we’re cutting ties can help us make a clean break and give both ourselves and the other party some degree of closure so everyone can move on quicker. Loose ends only tend to make things messier, and this energy is one that prefers finalities.
Now if we’re on the receiving end of this energy and have found ourselves cut off from a Plutonic person, instead of pointing the finger we might take a good, long, hard look at our own behavior and ponder what might have led up to this. Maybe we were warned (quite possibly multiple times) about there being an issue and to our own peril didn’t take them seriously enough. Similarly, we might also complain that we knew something was up/not kosher for some time, but the Plutonic individual kept us around and “used” us until they were done. I think – more often than not – this is apt to be an unfair complaint, because frequently if a Plutonic person decides to stay the executioner’s axe, it’s because they are trying to give an individual every opportunity possible *NOT* to hang themselves in the hopes the relationship can be healed/salvaged. I know many a Plutonic person who has given someone else an ample opportunity to un-fuck themselves before ultimately deciding they had to dispatch the party in question because the cost/benefit ratio was all screwed up. They’re not inclined to do this very often, and when it comes down to this it’s truly apt to be a “last resort”, because pulling the plug like this is a distasteful thing to have to do – especially when we have a substantial investment of time or energy involved. A realization like this can sting us, too, and though we may try to look for that 3rd way between “all” or “nothing”, sometimes it becomes apparent a situation is broken enough that it’s beyond restoration. We might say it’s FUBAR, for all intents & purposes.
Occasionally a relationship can continue on in a different form, but other times there just may not be enough of a payout relative to what we have invested, so it’s curtains. Plutonics aren’t usually inclined to “settle for crumbs”, nor will they continue to jeopardize their own survival (literal, emotional, or psychological) when they realize an association is indeed going to be the death of them in one sense or another. There is wisdom in this approach – especially in scenarios where maintaining a connection to someone means continually swallowing things like bitterness or resentment just to say that we have *something*. If we consider authenticity important (and Plutonics usually do), we might be thinking we’d rather just go without and could do without this special brand of emotional toxicity. Some things are indeed better off left for dead if they leave us grasping at straws, which can sometimes happen when a grievance is not aired, no wrongdoing is admitted, nothing is brought to light & healed, and we simply carry on at a more superficial level of involvement instead.
If Saturn in Scorpio has taught us anything, it’s that real intimacy should involve being able to realistically address the “ugly” so we can work on it. I can’t say I fault those who have hit this wall in a relationship and consequently made the call to pull out one bit. It’s much like I said in the linked article above: If we’ve been carrying any running tabs open with others, Saturn in Scorpio is the time when the bill is marked “past due”. If we don’t make good now, we’re sure to gain the reputation of being a “no good” something-or-other. So consider these parting words as Saturn prepares to leave Scorpio for Sagittarius – we don’t have much longer to master this “life lesson”. Saturn will re-enter Scorpio for a brief period during its retrograde phase in 2015 (between June & September), but it’s pretty much “final review” time – there WILL be a test if we haven’t gotten one already, or if we need to auto-correct our present trajectory!
11/25/2014
EmpoweredDestiny.com 