Buckle up kids, this is a long post. Every year, the Sun and Pluto come together by Conjunction. I always have loved this transit because of my appreciation for working with the shadow, going into our proverbial underworld at the personal level to generate great change, and allow for transformations to take place at the level of death and rebirth. When the Sun, the very center of conscious awareness itself, is right up alongside the slowest orbit and the planet representing the very deepest parts of our psyche, we are changed. Once a year in this column I have talked about the beautiful moment when we can see with all of our conscious awareness (Sun) that which is typically hidden from our view (Pluto). In this annual transit, we integrate a year’s worth of power struggles, authority issues where we remember that we are the authority in our lives, and all the deep growth we must go through, and the accompanying growing pains that are part of this very human process.
Pluto’s movement sweeps us from one generation to another. When he changes signs, we see tremendous and profound transformations on the planet. I remind you all of what is now being called the great recession of 2007/8. Those were the years that Pluto was first inching into Capricorn, the sign that invented social structures like banking and housing. The passage of Pluto through Capricorn has revealed radical breakdowns of the old structures. The movement of Pluto through Aquarius is where exploding technology and a world driven by the internet and social media is very clunkily leading us into the Age of Aquarius. We are charged with creating a world in which ALL human beings are cared for by the collective. In the United States, the polarization that reflects that all human beings are not cared for equally is the big breakdown of Pluto’s first forays into Aquarius. I like to remind us all, that we have 2000 years to get this right, and the transition between the old age and the new one is perhaps the most difficult experiences the human race has ever experienced, and we must use our lives to assist.
Pluto will take two years to make this change, and in so doing will cross over the threshold between these two signs five times. This is the 3rd of 5; we began this process last year, and we’re not really done. Many of the memes you will see out there about this is presenting it as if this is Pluto’s final ingress into Aquarius, but he will in fact retrograde back into the last tiny bit (1/3 of a degree) of Capricorn, and in October, we will be exactly back at this place again. That said, this particular crossing is amplified into something truly extraordinary, with this profound synchronicity of the Sun joining Pluto today and tomorrow, as they both cross over between Capricorn and Aquarius.
So, let’s put these two concepts together. A yearly Sun/Pluto conjunction where we become consciously aware of all the change and transformation we are going through, along with a powerful ingress of Pluto moving into a new sign. Because it’s not the final ingress, and this moment is a bit like a preparation for the changes to come. Solar transits hit at the personal level, meaning each of us is being made more consciously aware of something as the Sun moves. We are being initiated into the Age of Aquarius with this set of transits, and we are being morphed into beings that are capable of assisting humanity through this massive shift in the collective.
I say this often, and I will continue to do so until I am blue in the face. This is the ONLY way we create Peace for Humanity and the true global community promised by the Age of Aquarius: One transformed human being at a time. If we are in a fight with ourselves under the surface of our own conscious awareness, we project that conflict out into the world, and help support a collective experience of war and suffering. As we each seek to heal at the individual level, we knit together with other healed souls, and amplify the outward projection of love and peace, and eventually, the outside world will catch up.
Technically, this Conjunction is exact tomorrow in the wee hours here in PST (5:45am PST). That makes today AND tomorrow powerful, intense, and driven by this huge energetic shift. Then, by 5:00pm PST tomorrow, both the Sun and Pluto will be in Aquarius. And while part of what you will experience might include some intense experiences and engagements that amplify power struggles, it’s also just a great opportunity to take stock and inventory of all the transformation you have been through. Maybe put a little attention onto what changes need to continue and deepen. Nothing new can be created without the destruction of the old, and change reminds us of death. Pluto is where we are comfortable with all of that, so use these few days to lean into the idea of allowing all change to take place so deeply, it is truly like dying to self, only to be reborn.
The energy of this day (outside of all that archetypal info) offers some depth, intensity, and gravitas from the Sun and Pluto, but there are two planetary transits on the side, one quite expansive, and the other emotionally confusing. Let’s start with the latter. Venus in a Square with Neptune like a fog machine turned on in your emotional body. We might feel more sensitive, and we could be romantically stimulated and dreamy in terms of feelings, but the blind spots and weak judgments that come with this transit is the bigger reflection. You want to be very careful about any assessments you make today, because your feelings are not trustworthy with this Square in place.
The mind, communication, and perception is expansive and confident with a Trine from Mercury to Jupiter. This generates tremendous optimism and positivity from the neck up. The warning is that the mind feels confident, and your feelings may validate such confidence. But the potential to be misguided, or be hit with an emotional blind spot, is strong. The fact that the Moon is in Taurus, one of Venus’s ruling signs, will emphasize the potential for being misled by the heart today, so just keep this little warning in mind: Wait until these few days play out before making any major choices. Let Venus move away from Neptune, and allow the Sun and Pluto to complete their ingress on Saturday before you strike out powerfully in any new direction, if you can.
The Taurus Moon is typically grounded and stable, but there is very little of that offered in today’s lunar landscape. A Conjunction to Uranus throws a big wild card into the day, so expect some surprises. Inconjuncts to both Venus and the South Node mean we may be needing to let something go that connects to an old emotional pattern you have already healed. The only real helpful lunar aspect today is a Sextile to Neptune, the planet that helps us connect to Spirit. Put some money in the bank of your spiritual practice today, and you will find the internal energy to support a rather intense day. Have at it.
