PLANETARY ENERGIES

Pluto enters Capricorn on January 26 2008, and apart from a foray back into Sagittarius between mid-June and the end of November, will be in Cap until 2024. I wrote a review a while back of What Happened When Pluto Was In Sag (see http://planetaryenergies.net/2007/11/21/a-review-of-cultural-change-during-pluto-in-sagittarius/). If you didn’t read that at the time I suggest you read it now, because it will make this article more meaningful.

All we can really tell with Pluto ahead of time are the themes. How exactly these themes will manifest is always a surprise. For example, we astrologers knew Pluto in Sagittarius was going to bring changes in religious ideas and probably fanaticism. We didn’t know the Twin Towers were going to be destroyed and the subsequent events that have unfolded from there. So what I am going to write here about Pluto in Capricorn describes broad themes but there are no concrete predictions, and a lot of what I say will appear contradictory. This is because Pluto takes things to extremes in both/all directions. It amplifies. It lights up the areas of life signified by the part of the zodiac in which it is traveling. So we get illumination, but it usually involves upheaval and there are always phases when this is not comfortable, not at all.

Using Tarot symbolism, we could say that when Pluto transits are strongly felt (usually when they are sparked by aspects to other planets or to national or personal charts), they are like the Tower, the Death card, and the Star all rolled into one. And then there are periods when Pluto is retrograde that feel like The Hanged Man. Transformation in the area affected by the transit is going to happen, like it or not.

The last two times Pluto transitted this part of the sky, in the 1520’s and 1770’s, there was plenty of international upheaval with big changes in the control of large tracts of territory. In 1520 Spain conquered the Aztecs and took over Mexico, beginning the colonisation of the Americas. In 1521 Luther posted his manifesto at the Diet of Worms, and the Catholic Church lost its long hegemony as the monopoly religion in Europe. 1526 saw the founding of the Mughal Empire, which effectively ruled India until 1857 when it was deposed by the British. The next time Pluto got back to this part of the sky in the 1770’s, much of North America became independent from its colonial overlord, forming a brand new country: the United States. (The US was thus born under Pluto in Capricorn, so will be experiencing its Pluto return, but not till 2022.) We are likely to see similar changes in national control and the structures of empires over the next 16 years.

Pluto in Capricorn subtly changes the overall flavor of collective life as well as coinciding with big world changes. What will this look like, in the first and second decades of the 21st century? Let’s take a look at what Capricorn represents, and what Pluto represents, and see what this combination, at this stage in history, might bring.

Capricorn represents big business, financial markets, the work ethic, social status, stability of social, political and economic structures, and our collective attitude to money and resources. At its best, Capricorn thinks big, but realistically. At its worst it either thinks big foolishly, or tightens up and contracts due to an overly materialist attitude to life. Capricorn can get very afraid of losing stuff, status, anything perceived to be an entitlement or a belonging. Conversely, Capricorn can be hugely creative and eternally confident that it can pick up the pieces and succeed again, is never afraid of hard work, and is the ultimate re-inventer, so comfortable is this sign with making stuff from dreams. Capricorn loves to make manifest. Capricorn is literal, greedy, earthy and flesh-loving. Healthy, balanced Capricorns make very good lovers, so happy are they with the realm of the body and with the sheer pleasure of being alive.

Pluto rules the underground, secrets, processes of transformation, and deep wealth. Pluto uncovers that which has been hidden and in so doing stirs the collective pot, awakening new methods, structures, ideas, fads, and obsessions.

Pluto transiting Capricorn thus promises radical changes in social and political organization, financial management and social perspective on finances, ideas about fame, celebrity and social strata, and a stern look at our management of collectively owned resources. By the time 2024 rolls around all these areas of life will have been turned upside down, shaken all around, and repositioned. We will collectively relate to the earth in a new way, as well as to the physical flesh of the human body. Our perception of the relationship between form and the formless, between matter and spirit, is up for a long-term review. This could be ghastly in a Frankensteinian way, or it could be sublime. We might learn how to manifest more gracefully, to end world hunger, to share resources wisely. On the other hand, we may see an even sharper split between the haves and have-nots. There will be substantial changes in the ways we organize money — financial institutions we thought were solid will falter, prices and exchange values will be all over the place, and both personal, corporate and national wealth will change, both up and down. The ways we relate to resources of all kinds will be questioned, changed, and reorganized.

This passage will be paradoxical. Pluto gives as well as takes, and the Saturn-ruled sign of Capricorn builds and manifests just as much as it prunes and pares down to essentials. From Pluto, God of the underworld, we get the word Plutocrat - the supremely wealthy. During this phase we may discover something that will make life on earth more abundant. We may also have something we thought was deeply necessary taken away.