Tag: Tales From The Darkside

Venus/Pluto On: Love

~ EmpwrdDstny ~ Leave a comment

In honor of the approaching square between Venus & Pluto, here is the crux of about 90% of the issues that Venus/Pluto peeps (Pluto in Libra generation, pay attention!) typically encounter in partnerships:

People with this energy signature present in their nativity (and it can come in many different forms – Venus in Scorpio, Pluto in Libra, Venus in aspect to Pluto, Venus in the 8th House, Pluto in the 7th House) tend to attract power struggles in relationships. This happens because deep down individuals with this energetic “stamp” often feel threatened by a loss of control in relationships and do not yet possess the insight to see that real intimacy entails placing total trust in your partner; thus making oneself scary-vulnerable and “naked” in every sense of the word.

Frequently this may be the result of some kind of trauma attached to the word “love”; perhaps on an instinctual level we’ve had reason not to feel safe enough to metaphorically “disrobe” like this because trust was violated somewhere along the way. So we then become determined to always make sure we have the upper hand/ace up our sleeve/dagger in our boot that will keep us from being totally disempowered in the event that things go bad. Consequently what can happen in such instances is a subconscious attraction toward relationships where we’re not equally matched with a partner, because on a superficial level our psyche thinks this will allow us to stay in power.

Now it doesn’t always manifest this way; sometimes we’re forced to confront this “power differential” theme in other ways. And the reverse can certainly be true where we may be magnetized toward relationships where we tend to give our power away to a Significant Other and become submissive rather than dominant. But unless we look deeper and leave no internal stone unturned in understanding the propensity for this kind of dynamic and healing it, eventually one or both of the parties comes to resent this and the relationship sours; resulting in a negative feedback loop that affirms our suspicions regarding vulnerability and validates a subconscious desire to gain or keep control/power. In situations where there has been a major trust violation that deeply affected our ability to “expose & disclose”, it can be scary for the psyche to feel like it risks being subsumed by another via intimacy.

But the Hi-Fi version of Venus/Pluto love is about viewing relationships on a more psychological level so we can become truly empowered. Every relationship, no matter how bad, puts us directly in contact with our own “Shadow” one way or the other via involvement with a Significant Other so we can heal any dysfunction within that leads to be attracted to partnerships with built-in power differentials. The x-ray vision this energetic combination affords one when it comes love and partnership is second to none – once we let our eyes adjust to the darkness, we can see the layered subtext going on behind the scenes to get to the bottom of the issue(s). It’s a complex process and there are hidden entanglements to tease out, but Venus/Pluto natives come factory-wired with invisible illuminated mining helmets precisely for this kind of job.

In healing, what we might aim for in the future is to be intimidated by a partner in a *good* way. I don’t mean creeped out, LOL – that kind of thing happens all the time when you’re a Venus/Pluto person. But finding someone who puts us in our un-comfort zone in a positive sense; who has gone just as deep (or deeper) into themselves and mined their own love life just as intensely for insights, self-healing, and personal transformation to gain profound acumen. This energy signature is about learning – on a soul-level – how to figure out the balance of power in close intimate relationships; neither hoarding it nor giving it all away. The trick is we have to share it.

03/19/2018

Emerging From Your Pluto Transit

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After spending what seemed like an eternity in Hades ripped away from all you previously held dear and stripped naked of any pretense or false assumption about who you truly are at your core, you emerge from this prolonged Dark Period newly reborn.  The haters and those who once sought to subjugate you now crushed like dirt under your shoe as you come into your own and claim your power. Congratulations, you’ve just made it through hell and back – as the last vestiges of flame lick at your back, take a moment to fully appreciate the newfound strength this Razing has stoked within you.  Arise; you have just received the ultimate in astrological empowerment!

03/06/2018

Pluto’s Spider Medicine

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I have a rather naturalistic view of astrology and the animistic perspective is something I always enjoy providing for clients when they are open to exploring this angle of interpretation. There is so much interconnectedness between zodiac symbolism and the natural world – Heavenly archetypes have their Earthly counterparts and there is much we can gain by exploring their resonance with each other.

To this end, I find myself musing about spiders and their connection to Pluto energy. Plutonic people are sensitive to the intangible matrix that surrounds everyone/everything; the etheric “web” of invisible energy currents that envelops us all. In a figurative sense, Plutonic peeps have the same kind of radar for vibration that arachnids do; not necessarily for the purposes of pouncing on prey (although lower life form variants of this species certainly do use it this way), but for reading the subtle signs that allow them to size people and situations up accurately and get an overall impression. Plutonic individuals read into things like body language, mannerisms, intonation, and even what’s *not* being spoken to “see” your energy signature on a deeper level and know what you’re really about.

They also have a fabulous “sixth sense” for danger – if you’ve ever seen a kid poke a stick into a spider’s web, you’ll note the spider always knows the difference between this vs. a meal arriving at its doorstep. Whereas an ant or fly’s thrashings will trigger it to pounce, bigger objects exerting their force upon its gossamer net elicit a “flight” response where it will actually run away; perhaps sensing the amount of power being used is vastly greater than anything it has encountered before. If you’re a Scorpio (or have a concentration of celestial bodies in this sign), have a plethora of 8th House planets, and/or have Pluto wired to many personal planets/pinned to the angles of your chart (say, contacting your Sun, Moon, Ascendant, and/or Chart Ruler), embrace the gifts of Spider Medicine as it has much to offer you.

01/04/2018

Venus In Taurus Trine Pluto In Capricorn

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For those moments (i.e. NOW) when the astro has a modern-day “Orpheus & Eurydice” kind of feel and you need an appropriate melody: U2’s “The Ground Beneath Her Feet”

“All my life, I worshiped her
Her golden voice, her beauty’s beat
How she made us feel
How she made me real
And the ground beneath her feet
And the ground beneath her feet

And now I can’t be sure of anything
Black is white, and cold is heat
For what I worshiped stole my love away
It was the ground beneath her feet
It was the ground beneath her feet

Go lightly down your darkened way
Go lightly underground
I’ll be down there in another day
I won’t rest until you’re found…”

06/20/2017

Venus In Aries Square Pluto In Capricorn, Part 2

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Building upon my last post regarding Venus in Aries square Pluto in Capricorn,

When you’re wondering what the counterpart male ”voice” of this energy might sound like and you get an answer in the form of another song:

 

“Come break me down
Bury me, bury me
I am finished with you

Look in my eyes
You’re killing me, killing me
All I wanted was you

I tried to be someone else
But nothing seemed to change
I know now, this is who I really am inside.
Finally found myself
Fighting for a chance…”

 

I am forever and always saying that ultimately we are our own lowest common denominator in relationships. Sometimes it takes the breakdown of a union to strip it all bare and put us in touch with our core Self, the Shadow within, and what it is that we truly want out of a partner/partnership. Nothing gives us potent clarity surrounding the Good, Bad, and the Ugly of our love nature quite like having to face ourselves in the mirror of relationship. Power/control dynamics, possessiveness, jealousy…if we don’t like what we see reflected back, it’s time to nut up, do something about it, and dig down deep to heal/transform the heart and provide a more psychologically constructive underpinning.

Sometimes we are tempted to simply kill time in a defunct, non-compatible relationship because underneath we are afraid to face devastation (whether this be material, psychological, etc). Over time, this eats away at a union from the inside – when we stay wrongly matched with someone *period* or for the particular place we are at in our psychological development, emptiness can set in during this long, slow, steady process of deterioration. This includes partnerships that may have had a lot of initial “spark” but that in the longer-term had little actual compatibility – hot sex is a poor stand-in for real intimacy. But when Venus in Aries squares Pluto, this provides  the impulse and the bravery to break new relationship ground – when we hit that “stick a fork in it; it’s done” point in a union, a post-mortem autopsy is always useful. Strip it all down and look at the roots – what was the “seed” that bore this “fruit”?

05/24/2017

Venus In Aries Square Pluto in Capricorn

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NB: The literary voice I’ve adopted for this particular post is pointedly edgy – apologies in advance if you were looking for something fluffier and less gritty, but it’s important that I set the tone correctly in order to convey an accurate portrayal of a particular facet of this energy. Let’s set the stage then, shall we? Music please, maestro!


“Go on take everything, take everything, I want you to!
Go on take everything, take everything, I dare you to!

I told you from the start just how this would end;
When I get what I want, then I’ll never want it again…”

Venus in Aries squaring Pluto in Capricorn gives me the sense of a contentious divorce; people fighting over who gets what while pathologically trying to cling to tattered remnants of material security. Personally, I favor the Courtney Love approach above, as in “Go ahead and have it all” – this is a Spartan Venus we’re dealing with and as such sometimes the best “fuck you” isn’t hitting them in the wallet but proactively deciding for our own inner peace we don’t want the energy attached to their money or their things. It’s a “Get out of my life and take your shit with you!” kind of vibe; a purgative influence rather than one that chooses prolonged, messy, complicated (financial/material) entanglement.

Within the astrological community Venus/Pluto is all too often given the bad rap of being a “gold digger” or for being “vindictive in a divorce”. While this *can* be true in its Lo-Fi capacity, the higher functioning version wants nothing at all to do with “dirty money” or physical possessions that have any kind of bad energy attached to them and would much rather just do without. In an ugly relationship situation, the best cut Venus/Pluto can make is one that is as clean and virtuous as possible – nobody does a coup de grâce better than Hi-Fi Venus/Pluto. It’s a shame that in an astrological sense we so seldom see this pairing being given balanced credit for the kindness and fairness that it can also convey when dealing with endings and loss, and divorce is always a loss even in the best of circumstances. With Venus currently in Aries (the sign of Venus’s detriment), granted this will considerably less graceful than it would otherwise be, so in this particular instance the Courtney Love treatment does seem much more apropos.

05/23/2017

Honoring The Rain(bow)

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longfellowAgainst my better judgement, I stepped out into the rain.

It was cold and windy, but my run wasn’t going to do itself – it was either this or the treadmill at the gym. I don’t like the idea of running and not getting anywhere – at least this way I would have a change of scenery even if the weather was less than pleasant.

I ran down the familiar path as the rain picked up and dampened my hair. The path turned to mud and upon my descent and subsequent ascent up a steep hill I noticed the Sun was low on the horizon; fervently trying to clear the clouds even while aggressive droplets poured forth from the sky to stain my coat. Struck by how these elements were combining to create a perfect storm, I petitioned the heavens and asked to see a rainbow.

And my goodness, did Divinity deliver!

Seconds after my silent request, I crested the hill to seek refuge under the overhang of a neighbor’s small roadside shed – I turned my back and spanning end-to-end was an incredibly vibrant double rainbow! The backdrop of sky behind it was slate grey, making the colors explode in contrast. Gratitude swelled in my heart for the privilege of witnessing such a miraculous sight – I wish I had my phone on me to take a picture, but as it was raining when I left my house I thought better of it. It was not just one, but TWO rainbows – Ask And Ye Shall Receive!

But the icing on the cake was on the return trip: As I neared home, the sky opened up on me once again. I was within sight of my abode when trailing through the trees I spied the multi-hued arc of another giant rainbow encircling my home -TWICE blessed was I! Such a fortunate omen at the start of a New Year!

Though this story is a literal retelling of events, I was thinking about how it is also very metaphorical. There is beauty and value in exposing ourselves to the elements and venturing out into inclement weather. In submitting to the storm, we bless ourselves – how else would be come to know the special kind of beauty that can only be revealed to our eyes under such adverse conditions? Spiritually speaking, many focus on Light to the exclusion of Shadow – this approach has never resonated with me; the idea that we can Ascend without first Descending. That positivity is the only Way and that it must equal the absolute denial of negativity.

I believe in balance. And I believe this with all of my soul: There is value in seeing the gathering storm on the horizon of life and choosing to go out into it anyway. I didn’t pretend I was going to be warm, comfortable, and dry – I knew that I would be uncomfortable but that it was also ultimately going to be good for me; body AND soul.

Boy, was I right.

My interpretation of my own spiritual Path involves soaring directly into the tempest with hopes the powerful air currents therein propel me aloft; particularly so that I may lift others up with the strength born of wings that have weathered many a storm. I will not preach down from upon high like some Buddha-on-the-mountain; I will be right in the thick of it *with* you. I do not seek to invalidate others’ feelings or experiences through lecturing/shaming them about “darkness” or “negativity” – I honor the Rain as much as I honor the Sun.

doublerainbow

01/04/2017

Being Venus/Pluto

~ EmpwrdDstny ~ Leave a comment

phoenixheartOne of the more difficult facets, I think, of being a Venus/Pluto native has to be the fact that there are so many layers to our love nature. A person or relationship that once suited us during a particular point in our emotional/psychological/spiritual development will often need to be molted over the course of our lives as our level of self-awareness intensifies and we gain insight into the very core of our love nature. As this happens, it can frequently mean that we have to let go of others, as love and loss are intrinsically linked with this pairing. This is the “curse” of Plutonic self-awareness, and even as we gain inner illumination it can make relationships incredibly difficult at times…especially when they have grown stagnant.

It is always sad whenever we love someone and they can’t or don’t want to develop a deeper connection, or practice the same level of insight into their inner workings to heal dysfunctional patterns of relating. But the only one we ever have control over is ourselves, and so we must honor where a loved one is at even as we grieve having to leave them behind while we move forward alone. Such is life with Pluto; its journeys often require isolation as we descend to the deepest reaches of our soul in order to heal and transform.

When the alternative means staying stuck in a non-functional union, it is so important to realize when we have indeed reached a relationship’s “expiration date”. Some simply don’t want to immerse themselves into a deeper level of relating and deal with all the intricacies this entails. Some are uncomfortable with the self-awareness that makes true intimacy possible in a relationship, because this would mean having to look at their shadow. Not everyone necessarily has the stomach for this, and this is something I’ve historically had a very difficult time relating to/accepting on a personal level – if there has been one constant in my life (a laughable concept if you only knew my history or my chart, LOL) it has been an unquenchable thirst to try and better myself and to transform all the psychological lead that I started out with in life into gold. Plutonians are all alchemists at their core, after all – this is the magick we possess. We’re happy to share it with you, but you have to be willing and able to get down to our level and become similarly enriched by all the psychological uncovering that happens during the process of relating.

09/20/2016

Pluto & Bioluminescence

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BioluminescentI know a thing or two about (metaphorical) journeys into the Underworld – it’s something that comes with the territory of having a decent Pluto punch in your chart; whether this is innately wired into your makeup via your nativity or simply result of a protracted or pronounced encounter with this energy by transit or progression. Whenever we are dealing with Plutonic resonance we always seem to hear about the old “butterfly” cliché;  the euphemism designed to make us feel better about the massive life-altering metamorphoses we typically experience in conjunction with this planet. But in my own subjective experience (read: long and storied history) with this astrological energy, I must say in all honesty that I have found this to be a rather inadequate comparison. Why? Because once the chrysalis stage of the caterpillar’s life cycle ends, it is somewhat implied this new feather-light carefree creature simply spreads its resplendent wings and flies off into some golden summer sunset as if this were the end of story. That has not been consistent with my own personal experience of this planet, as in my view this would seem to trivialize the depth and magnitude of the Plutonic darkness that can swallow us before the actual rebirth occurs. Yes, there is a massive transformation, but a butterfly is far too delicate and ephemeral a creature to survive the fires of Hades.

On a personal level I can say that have been though periods of such prolonged and profound darkness that – instead of the butterfly – I legitimately wondered whether I would wind up some blind cave-dwelling species of salamander that hadn’t seen the light of day in so long it no longer even had eyes. Unsettling as this may sound at first, I actually don’t see it that way as our other senses do have a way of (over?)compensating in this sort of scenario – besides, I quite like the idea of Al Pacino as Lt. Col. Frank Slade in “Scent of a Woman” as my empowering muse in this regard!  Blind and yet nonetheless skillfully doing the tango in the middle of a crowded restaurant – now that’s something worth going for! I suppose it all boils down to whether or not we are comfortable with the idea of trading in our sight if we knew it meant we could develop near superhuman use of our other faculties. Because the Ferryman must be paid somehow, after all…

Much as I prefer this musing to the “butterfly” metaphor, it still feels somewhat lacking and doesn’t seem to tell the whole story. The dissonance for me comes via the assumption our troglobite friends remain in this blackened underground environ indefinitely, which simply isn’t the case with Pluto. We may indeed descend into The Abyss, but the law of Pluto also says we must rise again to experience resurrection; this is its promise. There are no guarantees regarding how deep down we will go, but a general guideline is the depth will at least be enough to make us squirm uncomfortably. Nor is there any kind of assurance regarding how long the resultant climb back up to the surface will take, but we can rest assured that it *will* happen.

Pluto’s most powerful function is indeed to take us way down into the cavernous recesses of our souls/psyches – it is through this planet’s influence that we learn what we are really made of on a core level when everything else is stripped away. No other astrological body gives us the kind of enriching insights that Pluto can. But its treasures are not given up lightly – first we have to illuminate the unconscious and come face the darkness within in order to claim that “gold in the shadow”. It can be a scary experience if we fear the dark, but it can also be a tremendously empowering one. For when we spend enough time in this pitch black space, eventually we figure out how to become bioluminescent and generate our OWN light; one that isn’t the least bit externally dependent. It is something that radiates entirely from within. Once we’ve borne this mark of Pluto, we carry this internal luminosity with us forever wherever we go and can use it to be a light for others. And if we are truly fortunate, every so often this glow allows us to recognize others who have made this very same journey so we can connect on a soul-level.

05/09/2016

Pluto In Capricorn Transits, Part 3

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**You can get caught up on parts 1 & 2 of this series here: Pluto In Capricorn Transits, Part 1    Pluto In Capricorn Transits, Part 2

I’ve been musing about Pluto’s long transit through Capricorn (until 2023) and its effects upon an individual chart; especially when we have personal planets or points being contacted by this astrological heavy hitter.  One thing that occurred to me is the importance of metaphorical “deco stops” throughout our (individual and collective) Pluto in Capricorn journey.   Deco stops – scuba diving slang for “decompression stops” – are a technique  utilized by divers who descend to great depths. The further down a diver swims, the more intense the pressure exerted upon their bodies. This pressure causes the gasses they breathe through their air tanks to expand as they ascend, and if they try to rise to the surface too quickly and aren’t careful, this abrupt change in pressure can cause the gasses to create tiny bubbles in the bloodstream; a potentially life-threatening condition known as decompression sickness or “The Bends”.

To avert this, divers deliberately slow down their ascent and pause at marked depth intervals for a specified period of time, waiting until their body gradually decompresses at each stop as they return to more normal pressures.  The body needs time to acclimate to this transition, for it is not naturally designed to withstand these kinds of forces and then just bob right back up to the surface; no – it needs time to assimilate the intensity of this experience before it can return to operating as normal.

From my own deep dives with Pluto: A bioluminescent jellyfish! A message about learning to make your own Light – even when surrounded by Darkness – while floating through the currents of life. ©EmpoweredDestiny.com 2016

This is not unlike dealing with Pluto in Capricorn…if we think of a Pluto transit as a symbolic journey to our Center – all the way down to the very core of our souls – we can start to see how this metaphor has resonance.  When we experience Pluto in Capricorn contacting a planet or personal point in our chart, what we are dealing with is some heavy-duty, industrial-strength transformation somewhere in our lives.  The changes and challenges we encounter along the way can be profound – often, an old “life” or old way of being “dies” in some way.   Our physical, emotional, psychological, and energetic bodies therefore require time to process the intense experiences that are part and parcel of this metamorphosis; we need metaphorical “deco stops” as we make our preparations to ascend back into the Light.

It is understandable that when one spends a prolonged period of time in the Underworld, one might then find themselves in a rush to return to the surface and feel sunlight upon their face, for Pluto in Capricorn is the epitome of dense and heavy…at times its energy can feel like concrete cinder blocks that may threaten to drag us toward a cold, dark, bottom.   Proper integration is essential for this reason; especially on a psychological level.  We must therefore begin our ascent slowly and carefully, periodically checking our watches to ensure that we are spending enough time at each and every stop (hmmm…perhaps this entails processing loss to a degree,  à la the Kubler-Ross 5 stages of grieving) on the journey upward.  These pauses should be thought of as a time to take stock, gradually releasing as we go the weight – the ballast – associated with such a serious transformational process.

***See also: Pluto in Capricorn Transits, Part 4

01/30/2016