PLANETARY ENERGIES

The passage of Pluto through Sagittarius has coincided (or caused, depending on your point of view) with huge changes in our notions and experience of the Jupiter-ruled areas of life (Jupiter rules Sagittarius): politics, religion, publishing, media, sport, education and travel. In the years between January 1995 when Pluto entered Sagittarius, and January 2008, the time of its exit, we have seen sweeping changes in all these areas.

Politics and Travel
During this time period the world atmosphere has become dominated by fundamentalist religions and by a political sphere obsessed with scandal and intrigue. Think back to 1995: the biggest danger was AIDS (Pluto in Scorpio). The economy was booming, Clinton was godlike, the Cold War was over and the world for many people felt more free and more safe than ever before. Then there was Monica Lewinsky, then the scandal of the 2000 election, and then, 9/11. Since then the world for many people has become more complex, and quite a bit scarier. Travel has changed from being pleasurable and glamorous to being complicated, annoying, and in many parts of the world, more dangerous and fraught than since World War 2.

Publishing
Publishing has changed dramatically. Fourteen years ago we could only publish on paper, and often needed to know the right people to get a foot in the door. Now we have ebooks, podcasts, and blogs, and anyone who wants to have a voice can have one. But there’s also been a major downside: these days, unless you are already famous, trying to get a book published by a major publisher is ludicrously difficult. But self-publishing is easier and cheaper than ever before, and many respectable authors are turning in this direction.

Media
Since 1995 media has transformed: the internet, digital tv, DVD’s, podcasts, blogs, mobile phones etc etc. We now have a whole new boom industry in social media (Facebook, MySpace etc). Although astrologers have assigned the technological revolution to the influence of Uranus and Neptune in Aquarius, in fact, the surge in internet use can also be laid at the feet of Pluto in Sagittarius, with its emphasis on a gregarious and global collective consciousness. Pre 1995 most of were still buying print newspapers. Now we get our news (including the news the mainstream media doesn’t want to support) via the internet.

The Creative Explosion
Art classes, creative writing classes, poetry seminars, independent movie-making: all these have blossomed since the mid 90’s, showing a growing thirst to experience the alchemy of the creative process, often made possible by developments in technology.
There has been a creative explosion. But the shadow side of creativity is narcissism, and indeed, the creative explosion has a parallel and entwined development: the cult of celebrity.

The Cult of Celebrity
Celebrity lunacy is also a Pluto in Sagittarius phenomenon, with its accompanying madness of paparazzi chasing people down in order to get a photo. It’s another part of religious mania: the Gods and Goddesses of the planet are used as an addictive lure to get readers to buy papers and magazines, to aspire to a super-rich, overfed, over-drugged and over the top lifestyle, in true excessive Sagittarian style. It’s also allied to creativity in that we now live in a meritocracy in which anyone can have their moment of fame, and apparently many people want this. Fame has become something for everyone to aspire to, in an unprecedented way.

Education
Systems for examining pupils have been radically reorganized in the UK, along with types of schools and school catchment areas. Universities are now fee-paying. The internet has made information so widely available that everyone can get educated on just about any subject (if from dubious sources sometimes) by surfing the web. And schools all over the world have had to implement penalties and search methods for catching out students who lift material from the web for their homework.

Scandals in Media and Sport
Sagittarius is also associated with scandal. In the UK more non-political scandals are being uncovered every day than I can ever remember. In the past few weeks we’ve had the massive TV phone line scandal in the major networks, and now the sporting fix scandal is showing up across the board. The Tour de France is practically in ruins from drug scandals.

Global Change
For the past two years Pluto has been at or around at the same degree as the Galactic Center (26 Sag). Interestingly, this has coincided with a greater global debate than ever about the need to tackle climate change and the growing environmental crisis. Apart from the Bible belt, there is pretty much a consensus about the need to think globally. Some of us have been talking like this since the 60’s and 70’s, but at long last it’s become a discussion on the front page.

This is what Pluto does: it makes matters global. The front pages of newspapers and news web sites contain climate change articles every day. The floods in Britain this summer and the recent fires in Southern California were stark reminders that our climate is increasingly unpredictable. Wealth only offers protection in that you can afford to rebuild easier. It can’t keep the wind from blowing your house down too.

Next time I’ll be looking at what we might expect while Pluto is in Capricorn.