• PLUTO TURNS RETROGRADE IN AQUARIUS

  • PLUTO TURNS RETROGRADE IN AQUARIUS

    After a very brief stay in Aquarius, Pluto stations retrograde at 00°21’ Aquarius (antiscion 29°39’ Scorpio) only 08’ of arc short of exactness to the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction at 00°29’ on the 21st December 2020.

    The Jupiter-Saturn conjunction took place in the Air sign of Aquarius and ended a 600-year period of the conjunction in the Earth signs, except for the last but one conjunction which took place three times in the Air sign of Libra between December 1980 and July 1981, preparing us, as James Hillman wrote in his Book “The Soul’s Code”, “to leave behind consumerism and adopt a sense of community”.

    Pluto was already in Capricorn during the most recent conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn and both these planets had just left Capricorn. Pluto entered Aquarius on the 23rd March and will station direct on 11th December at 27°53’ Capricorn.

    Now that Pluto hits the degree of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction and lingers there for around 40 days we should begin to see a Pluto-like transformation of Saturnian responsibility regarding the Aquarian topic of social welfare as well as a Jupiterian increase and generalisation of the Saturnian fear regarding authority and nationalism (ruled by Jupiter).

    Pluto will also be squaring the transiting nodal axis for a long time this year, it began with the planet’s entrance in Aquarius and will continue until the planet re-enters Capricorn on the 11th of June and then again come into force as the nodal axis enters the Aries-Libra axis on the 17th of July remaining in a 5° orb until the end of November this year. Pluto square the nodal axis usually hints at a block of power of some kind with people being unable to express their ideas and society at large suppressing whatever actions they might want to undertake. Ambition is huge but the audience isn’t willing to listen and people may see each other as a threat leading to disruption and destruction. The square from Jupiter magnifies all this of course whilst Pluto remains in Aquarius.

    The retrograde period will affect those persons with planets and/or angles in the Fixed signs of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius between 3-0° and the Cardinal signs of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn between 30°-25° (allow a 5° orb applying and a 3° separating, Pluto transits are long). Look to the house axis where Pluto is transiting in your chart for indications of the matters that will be under scrutiny during the retrograde.

    Pluto is concerned with power, regeneration, survival, transformation, sex, obsession and possessiveness. Pluto is the god of the Underworld. With the planet’s stay in Aquarius I believe the theme will be a revolution of technology as we now know it and this could go either way. Or the destruction of modern technology in favour of something more “user-friendly” and less invasive or a hyped-up technology embracing all facets of our lives.

    Pluto in Capricorn (ruled by Saturn) was concerned with the deep-reaching transformation of social order, laws and hierarchies. He often works subtly (in our psyche) but always relentlessly and he can be an over-achiever, by using his power and persuasion for his own means, in this Saturn-ruled sign.

    During the Pluto retrograde period, matters that were previously too painful to face may bubble up from our unconsciousness and we may have to meet these in the physical realm where we will be required to deal with them. Pluto only forces us to confront and transform that which is in dire need of change. This period may also provide us with the opportunity to find some of the latent sources of power inside ourselves allowing us to harness them in an appropriate way. Pluto shows us the reality of our limitations and even more so since it moved into Capricorn. The retrograde period is really a huge invitation to become more fully aware of the resources we hide in our inner depths. Failure to do this could lead to external events that may puzzle and/or distress us as we take on the role of victim.

    The Sabian symbol for 1° Aquarius: “An old Adobe mission in California.” Indicating the power inherent in all great human works to endure far beyond the workers’ life spans.

    For the antiscion at 30° Scorpio: “Children in Halloween costumes indulge in various pranks.” Indicating the periodic outlets society furnishes within traditional limits to still immature energies.

    “One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.” Sigmund Freud

    Bibliography:

     Rudhyar D. (1974) “An Astrological Mandala: the cycles of transformations and its 360 symbolic phases”. pp. 208 and 248, Vintage Books Edition, Random House Inc., New York, USA

    Tierney B. (1983) “Dynamics of Aspect Analysis”, Chapter 10, Retrograde Planets, pp 249-252, CRCA Publications, Sebastopol, CA, USA

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