We begin as a tiny, nearly invisible speck, surround ourselves with empty, insulating space, and then build a solid circle around it all, a boundary to safely contain our fearful smallness. There is goodness in us too, and it is not so fearful or small. But if we draw our boundaries too tightly, we become a closed system, and the goodness has a hard time getting out.
A question like “Where is my life headed?” may seem a trifle lofty for those of us who are just trying to get through each day and earn a living. But as Pluto, the planet of transformation, settles into career-oriented Capricorn for a nice long stay, it may be exactly the right one to ask.
“Transcendence” is a word astrologers commonly use to talk about Pluto’s transits and its aspects to other planets in the birth chart. But before we can hope to transcend a situation, we must first commit to being full engaged in it. When Pluto is involved, this commitment carries some risk….
“I am learning astrology and wonder [in light of Pluto's reclassification to dwarf planet] – what would one do without Pluto?” I don’t know what one would do without Pluto, but I’d love to find out – maybe I can get a Pluto-ectomy! Oh, wait… I guess we all did….
The planet closest to your Ascendant, usually in the first, second, or third houses, is called the rising planet. I also call it the “first responder” planet, because it’s the planet that is first on deck to handle anything new that comes your way. What’s your first responder planet, and how does it operate in your life?
“Sometimes it is the artist’s task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left.”
I’m fearful today. That’s part of the Pluto journey. I don’t intend to rush, whistling, past the graveyard, desperately seeking comfort, redemption, or even wisdom. Instead, I’ve pulled up a low, hard bench in the middle of the cemetery. I’m listening to a cool wind in the trees, rustling the leaves of panic, confusion, grief, and rage. I’m sitting shiva with Pluto.
So I hate to be the one to break it to you, but placing Venus in Libra in a solar system full of bigger, slower, meaner planets that are in a bad mood is about as effective as putting a Glade air freshener in a slaughterhouse. Both are fighting way out of their weight class.
This solar eclipse is the last in a series that have fallen in Capricorn and Cancer since July 2009, traveling alongside some difficult planetary configurations. Eclipses herald change, and many of us have found ourselves careening from crisis to crisis – insecure about access to life’s essentials, flapping our wings in perturbation, frantically looking for ways to make ourselves feel safe, and to bend the world to our will. Kicking back and letting nature take its course has not felt like an option. But as with all eclipses, this one is part of a larger story…
Saturn’s your personal coach, kicking your ass all the way to the finish line. When he’s done with you, you’ll be huddled in a corner, weeping – or else stronger and more glittering than you ever imagined you could be.
