December had some major astrological turning points that signalled the beginning of what, over the past years, has been dubbed in spiritual circles as ‘the coming earth changes’. The astrological line-ups show that these earth changes are no longer ‘coming’ – they are actually here. Jupiter’s alignment with Pluto at the Galactic Centre on 12 December could perhaps be seen as the key that unlocked the door to the next phase in humanity’s evolution. On that day Jupiter, Pluto and the Galactic Centre were all in Sagittarius. (For the record, the Galactic Centre, our galaxy’s birthing point, is always in Sagittarius.) A week later on 19 December Jupiter moved into a new zodiac sign – Capricorn – and the very next day (the 20th) the ruler of Capricorn (Saturn) turned retrograde. These events emphasise that the Saturn/Capricorn energy is about to become intensified. This shift from Sagittarius to Capricorn will become even more significant on 26 January when Pluto moves into Capricorn.
Pluto moves very slowly through the zodiac and was last in Capricorn 248 years ago between 1762 and 1778. In her article, ‘Shadowlands: When Pluto Visits Capricorn’ in the 2008 AstroLog, Michele Finey discusses how during those years Britain took control of India and how Captain Cook’s arrival in Australia led to the destruction of Indigenous Australia. Michele also points out that the Industrial Revolution came into full force later in this period, eventually leading to the repeated abuse of Earth’s natural resources. It strikes me that in those years humanity expressed the dark side of Pluto – Pluto as rapist, bully and power monger. The Greek myth of Persephone’s abduction from Ceres (Mother Earth) and rape by Pluto (Hades) illustrates how humanity went through a phase of losing its innocence. Persephone was the innocent teenage daughter of Ceres before her abduction into the Underworld by Pluto (Hades).
With Pluto now returning to Capricorn are we being faced with the cellular or subconscious collective memories of the events that happened 248 years ago? I find it fascinating that in the month when Pluto shifts back into Capricorn there’s been conflict between the Australian and Indian cricket teams. Is a long-past memory of the British colonisation of India being retriggered? Afterall, Australia identifies strongly with British culture and cricket originated as a British sport. In addition, Kevin Rudd has vowed to formally apologise to Aboriginal Australians on behalf of the nation when Parliament resumes this year, and issues of climate change and right use of earth’s resources are certainly being given long overdue attention. This seems to be a time in humanity’s evolution when power imbalances must be acknowledged and rectified.
This is the first time Pluto will be in Capricorn since its discovery in 1930, a potent symbol that humanity is now able to see the results of power abuses and therefore also see solutions. Whenever a planet is discovered, it becomes visible to human eyes and astrologers correlate this with humanity becoming more consciously aware of the discovered planet’s archetype. To put it another way, planets, asteroids, comets etc are always already there in the cosmos (just as our secrets or hidden pasts are always there even if invisible within us) but their full mythology and story becomes activated when they are discovered and ’seen’ for the first time.
Pluto was discovered in 1930, but in 2006 was demoted from being a ‘real planet’ to a ‘dwarf planet’. Symbolically this could represent that humanity prefers to suppress its dark side rather than face it (Pluto is the planet most connected with the dark), yet we won’t be able to get away with denial or suppression now that both Jupiter and Pluto are in Capricorn. Jupiter will shine its extremely large spotlight (think of how big Jupiter is as a planet) on all things Capricornian, and Pluto will dig deep to reveal hidden truths. We might want to gloss over past mistakes or power abuses but Jupiter will keep bringing them out of the closet. Yet if we face and rectify past errors, Jupiter’s positive powers can come into play and we can be rewarded with the true freedom and joy that comes from releasing past burdens. Pluto is interested in getting to the bottom of things. It sifts back through the past like a detective piecing together the truth of what happened from fragments of evidence left at a crime scene. But once the crime is solved and justice restored, an incredible feeling of renewed energy is birthed. Even if innocence can never again be restored, fresh inspired creations weave the magic of new possibilities and we can walk lightly again on earth and without shame.
At the same time that Pluto was demoted to a dwarf planet in 2006, Ceres was promoted from asteroid status to dwarf planet status. Beforehand, Ceres was considered lesser than Pluto according to humanity’s planetary definitions, but now she is ranked as equal. In the Greek myth mentioned above, all the other Gods knew that Pluto (Hades) would abduct Ceres’ (Mother Earth’s) daughter except for Ceres herself. As a way of forcing the truth out of the Gods she stopped tending the earth and sent it into winter. She threatened to let humans starve until the Gods finally admitted they had turned a blind eye to Jupiter’s (Zeus’s) contract with Pluto (Hades) to take Persephone to be his wife. Jupiter wanted to enjoy the fruits of being the Sky God and gave his brother Pluto dominion over the less glamorous Underworld. Pluto agreed to be King of the Underworld if he could take Persephone as his wife. Interesting isn’t it how both Jupiter and Pluto have now met together again in Capricorn and will be spending the year in this zodiac sign? Happily, this time round Ceres also has a say. The old structure of the solar system, with Pluto acknowledged as a greater planet than Ceres, simply repeated the insult of Pluto having more power than Ceres. Yet now that both Pluto and Ceres are deemed equal by astronomers perhaps a positive shift is about to occur with Ceres’ (Mother Earth’s) dignity being restored and justice implemented.
What then does all this large-scale human evolution have to do with us as individuals? Later this month when Mercury goes retrograde in Aquarius on the 29th we will have plenty of time to ponder this. Aquarius is the zodiac sign that shows how as individuals we each have a role to play in humanity’s evolution. With Pluto in Capricorn we are being asked to assess the choices we make in our daily lives and how they affect the whole. Do we buy food that’s been polluted with earth-destroying chemicals? Do we buy clothes that have been made in Asian sweatshops? Do we block out the knowledge that Aboriginal Australians are still suffering from white colonisation? As each of us raises our awareness over negative or domineering systems and structures, we are freed up to choose systems or structures that sustain all of life on this planet.
Pluto will not finally ease into its extended travels through Capricorn until November because it retrogrades back into Sagittarius between June and November. So we have between January and June to start to adjust to Pluto in Capricorn, and then between June and November to reflect back on its time in Sagittarius before truly welcoming it into Capricorn where it will stay for another 16 years (until 2023-24).
Next month I will write more about this profound cosmic turning point. In Part 2, I particularly want to focus on examples from individual’s lives of the kinds of transformations that are taking place. We are each being asked to take a leap in our evolution, even if it doesn’t feel as if we have quite yet finished with the past. So go ahead and email me some of your stories so that I can share them (without revealing your personal details) with AstroWeather readers to encourage a feeling of solidarity as we go through this rite of passage.
Pluto’s intensity at the start of this year might’ve left you breathing deeply to stay calm. When my sister gave me some Rescue Remedy for Christmas, I knew it’d be coming in handy! I highly recommend you stock up your ’stay calm’ toolkit and be prepared for a tranformative year! Don’t forget to share your stories with others by dropping me a quick line 