Pluto symbolizes the archetypal energy of death and rebirth, of evolution, of raw, catalytic energy. Things change when Pluto comes to visit. Pluto in the sign of Capricorn (since early 2008) is dredging up the dead weight of our cultural institutions -- the ineptitude of our Congress, the greed and power of Wall Street, the unsustainability of capitalism, the waste of war and the wrong-hearted repressive beliefs of our patriarchal religious institutions -- to make room for new growth, a new culture and a new paradigm of community life.
And like any catalytic agent, Pluto is quickening the transformation. It isn't pretty, but it's necessary. As within so without. As people's belief in our cultural institutions crumbles, so too, our inner belief that Father/Patriarchy Knows Best is also crumbling. When Pluto gets through with Capricorn in 2024, my hope is that we will have evolved into a more responsible, self-aware world, where peace is our collective choice, where good stewardship of our Mother Earth is the bottom line, and where feminine wisdom is once again valued alongside masculine intellect.
Neptune symbolizes the archetypal power of the Imagination: at once vivid and illusive. Neptune energizes our spirit, opens us to the imagination and honors our compassion. Depending on our self-awareness, Neptune can also disillusion us, get us lost in fantasy (like being in Faerie for a night and emerging 300 years later), and literally drive us crazy through merging us with everyone around us.
Neptune moved into its own sign of Pisces in 2011 and will stay there until 2025. So our spiritual awareness and imagination is being taken back into the ocean of the collective unconscious where it will also be renewed. My hope is that Hollywood starts telling the stories people need to hear, rather than the inept fantasies of young men from 18-36 (Hollywood's target audience). Never doubt that your psyche/soul is influenced by images, and that the increase in violence in our world isn't influenced by the violence we see on our movie, TV and computer screens.
Take back your imagination ! Find stories and images that inspire you to be the best person--not a goody-goody best but the most real person--you can be. Perhaps Percy Jackson, son of Posiden/Neptune, is one of the new hero archetypes, the hero who also allows others to be heroes, the hero who knows we're all in this mess together. Look at the inventiveness with which these characters defeat the old powers of Chaos, as all good heroes and heras (female hero) do. They know how to use the powers of the imagination!
Uranus symbolizes the archetypal energy of the new, the original, the revolutionary. Uranian energy demands a breakthrough, a sudden twist, a surprise awakening to a larger understanding of life. Uranus loves the archetypal energies of the Mind and the heavens, the eternal laws of the universe, which need renewal and expression.
Uranus in the sign of Aries offers us a new beginning, with chances to be courageous, to know how to deal with changing situations and to find a new identity. We have to stop thinking of ourselves as less than expected, which is what patriarchy has done to all of us. We need to discover our archetypal identity as teacher, healer, mother, father, bard, warrior, judge, artist etc. We are so much more than we've been led to imagine.
So, the collective planets are telling us that things have to change--our culture is no longer a viable option for continued life here on Earth. The on-going Pluto square Uranus challenges us to find a new, bigger self-identity to meet the chaos of these changing times. Neptune opens us to other dimensions of reality, helping us to cope with the big changes coming our way with imagination, compassion and spiritual awareness of our oneness.
The Jupiter/Saturn Cycle
Jupiter and Saturn are also collective planets, social indicators rather than the matrix energies. As the archetypal energy of expansion, curiosity and belief, Jupiter directs our attention to our personal growth through new ideas, potentials and possibilities. Saturn is the archetypal energy of limitation, of discipline, of manifestation. Their cycle is considered the basis of human development, both socially and economically.
These two planetary energies encourage us to find a way to participate meaningfully in our society, to find our social destiny if you will. Together, their energies are the ones which build in us a sense of purpose and direction, creating positive, constructive social interactions.
In the past we've associated most of this focus on our work life, but during this time of cultural change, the energies are being focused first and foremost on our individual response to the world, since both Jupiter and Saturn are moving through water signs, making everything personal! And as the feminists said in the 60s, the personal is the political.
Since their 20-year cycle marks major phases in developing a sense of our purpose, their present phase of the cycle which began in 2000, is the waning phase, a time to become conscious of what we have learned and how we can help each other. What are your ambitions? What new goals did you set yourself in 2000, when Saturn and Jupiter came together in the sign of Taurus--the sign of what we value? The sign of money and property values. The sign of our spiritual values.
Taurus is the most basic sign of Nature itself. The new cycle in Taurus asks us to honor the Earth, conserve her resources and get back outside to reconnect with Nature. The concern with climate change is a sign of this aspect of the conjunction. We have to make a healthy environment a priority.
Astrology does not tell us what is going to happen to us; rather it points out a situation that is developing and asks, "what are you going to make of this situation?' Since the 2000 conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Taurus, money has become the big issue. What are we putting our money into? Since 2000, the American government has chosen to put its money into war and corporate profits rather than into the American people and our infra-structure. While we are policing the world, we are letting our own house fall into disrepair.
So look at where the Jupiter/Saturn cycle has brought us to in 2013. We are at the point now where we have to decide (1) what will make us feel nurtured and secure and give us a feeling of home (Jupiter in Cancer), and (2) if we can let go of our old prejudices, hurts and fears and build new emotional relationship structures which are based in self-trust, a sense of oneness with others and a humble acceptance of our own Shadows (Saturn in Scorpio).
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