Pluto In Capricorn Transits, Part 1

DeterioratingOverTimeThere are many layers of interpretation regarding Pluto’s passage through Capricorn, but for the purposes of this particular post, right now I want to discuss one key concept of this placement…that is the idea of something deteriorating over time. It’s not as if a situation, a relationship, etc. immediately falls apart if/when touched by Pluto in Capricorn; rather it takes its time unraveling. Think: a controlled collapse, or a brick-by-brick demolition. Pluto in Capricorn’s passage through a specific house of our chart or contact to a planet or personal point in our nativity signifies that something is very likely undergoing a process of being gradually – perhaps even carefully and deliberately – deconstructed.

Because nothing touched by Pluto’s hand can ever stay the same, it is highly unlikely that Humpty Dumpty will ever be put back together again in exactly the same way. However, there is also an equally good chance that whatever it is may yet live on in another, more solid or mature form after that Limit Break has been reached and the non-functional status quo subsequently flushed down the tubes. There is usually a razing involved with Pluto transits, but while this planet traverses Capricorn this will take its time in happening and we will see it coming (read: have ample warning) quite possibly YEARS before whatever it is actually dies – we’ll hear that freight train coming looooong before it actually hits. It’s not as fatalistic as it sounds, I assure you – the process of destruction can actually be quite constructive with Pluto in Capricorn….more on that later.

***Read parts 2, 3, & 4 of this series here: Pluto In Capricorn Transits, Part 2   Pluto In Capricorn Transits, Part 3   Pluto In Capricorn Transits, Part 4

09/15/2015

The Pluto/Saturn Mutual Reception, Revisited

Saturn is just about to dip back into Scorpio tomorrow for a final 3 month long foray before leaving this sign for good (well, the foreseeable future, anyway!) in September. This reignites a mutual reception between Saturn and Pluto, as both planets will once again come to reside in each other’s domicile. The vibe of this is heavy and intense, and one thing that has been a recurring theme for me in contemplating the co-mingling of these energies over the last 2 1/2 years is the concept of a power:weight ratio.

The power:weight ratio is something you hear about often within the context of auto racing circles. You want enough weight on your vehicle to keep the rubber on the road – this helps you to have better control and avoid doing a wheelie, as the most effective use of energy always involves a straight line since the least amount of waste occurs when this happens. But you also don’t want so much weight on your car that too much drag is created, as this would essentially render your horsepower ineffective.

If we were to take this premise and look at it in a more metaphorical sense, Saturn is an energy that we associate with weight; i.e. responsibility, burden, duty, etc.. Pluto, on the other hand, concerns our personal power and the ability to make major gear shifts (transformations) in life. It is the internal combustion powerplant that takes stored energy and transmutes it into kinetic energy in order to propel us forward.

It takes skillful management – and sometimes lots of trial and error – to get this ratio just right. We need to be grounded in reality and aware of the responsibilities we carry so that we use our personal power correctly and not corruptly. Doing so prevents us from the repercussion that would otherwise come from dumping them off somewhere they don’t belong. Conversely, we also need to be very aware of the weight of duty so that it doesn’t suck us down the tubes, because it does have a definite undertow now. Some time ago, I wrote in one of my newsletters about how this is an optimal time to cut losses – when we’ve invested a lot of time, money, energy, support, etc. in something or someone and it just hasn’t provided a concrete return for our efforts, we also need to know when it is time to fold. It is self-protective to do so and provides us a lesson in survival basics to cut the rope on any anchor we’ve been holding that would otherwise pull us under.

I believe there is value in honoring our commitments even when the road seems treacherously difficult. But that said, when this moves to an extreme point that it actually on some level threatens to kill us (psychically, emotionally, energetically) with its crushing weight, this is something altogether different. Under this mutual reception, I have seen a lot of people learning the hard way to protect their energies by cutting certain ties – even when they have been previously afraid to do because of the prospect of loss (emotional, financial, etc.). I have also witnessed those who have had the weight of the world held up on their shoulders (either by circumstance or on a self-imposed basis) and cringed when this got to the point their knees eventually bucked under the strain and they were sent crashing to the ground. Being “the strong one” or “Man/Woman of Steel”, if you prefer, can carry its own shadow – it may actually be something that limits intimacy and the capacity for deep exchange on a soul level. If this sounds like a resonant theme in your life, definitely work on it, because this mutual reception is all about grinding out our psychological “baggage” so we can fortify ourselves from the very core of our being outward and reclaim our power.

This mutual reception says above all else: Learn exactly what you can (or can’t) let go of. If a debt is legitimately yours, make good on it because this will help keep Saturn’s karmic “wheels” (or perhaps that’s “rings” LOL?) planted firmly on the ground so they don’t come boomeranging back at you later. But don’t keep a death grip on a burden that is not yours (or entirely yours) to bear, either, because it can crate hellacious drag and under this energy others may be all too willing to try pawning theirs off on good old reliable, responsible You – shut that shit down! There is a higher likelihood of there being joint responsibilities (energetically, emotionally, fiscally) in a scenario that has broken down now – accept only your part in it and don’t take on somebody else’s shit on top of your own, because doing so robs them of the necessary lesson that they do indeed have to clean up their own messes.

If you are dealing with a situation in your own life where your energy is feeling sapped but you are unsure of whether or not the right thing to do is to suck it up or to stop and drop, consider putting a hard deadline on making a firm decision about whether to pull your chips out. Ideally, this would be before Sept 17th when Saturn leaves Scorpio for good and this mutual reception comes to a close.

06/13/2015

Proof Of Capricorn!

Meet Pismo the surfin’ goat! In an era where modern astrology has largely dismissed Capricorn’s aquatic ties via simply referring to this sign as “The Goat”, Pismo serves as living proof of Capricorn’s seafaring roots! In actuality, Capricorn is the MerGoat – a hybrid creature with a caprine front half and a fish’s tail at the rear. Perhaps we could think of this sign as the original “all terrain vehicle”, LOL! Goats have an incredible innate sense of poise that gives them sure footing on even the sketchiest of mountainside precipices, so it makes sense that being able to hang ten on a surfboard wouldn’t really faze them all that much as far as these things go.

It’s interesting that we have so much watery symbolism occupying the last 1/4 of the zodiac, isn’t it? In order of appearance, we have the SeaGoat (Capricorn), the Water-Bearer (Aquarius), and the Fishes (Pisces), but of all three, only Pisces is considered an actual Water sign. So what gives, then? Why all the aquatic themes? In ancient Egypt, December, January, and February (aka Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces seasons, respectively) these winter months coincided with the start of the rainy season. Egypt was an epicenter of astrological study in antiquity and therefore had significant influence upon how things were viewed and interpreted from a cosmological standpoint, so it makes sense that parts of the zodiac would come to bear their stamp – Capricorn, being depicted as both a rugged, hardy land-dwelling creature (epitomized by the goat) and half aquatic denizen (fish), certainly would serve as a visual reminder to the people the dry season was almost over and that a wet spell was about to commence. But as evidenced by Capricorn’s disappearing tail, it appears the modern era has caused this once-powerful influence to fade and die-out, so perhaps in these Pluto-in-Capricorn times we live in it’s good to get back to our roots with a little (astrological) history lesson every now and again!

03/30/2015

The Saturn/Pluto Mutual Reception & The NSA Scandal

OuroborosUpon mulling over the tale of Edward Snowden & the NSA, it conjured to my mind the image of an ouroboros – a serpent eating its own tail. I found this quite interesting, as the snake is 1) a symbol of Pluto energy and 2) also another word for traitor. Interesting, and decidedly not coincidental as these two appear to have a mutually parasitic relationship to one another where they do seem to be going around & around in an eternal circle….

The story of the NSA scandal has Saturn/Pluto written all over it on a number of levels. The government (Saturn) reaped the consequences (Saturn) of spying (Pluto) on its citizens w/ Snowden’s exposure (Pluto) of what the NSA has been secretly doing to …Read more….