This weekend we will all collectively face a generational shift, mostly because Aquarius rules the Collective, but we are also moving away from the capitalistic, growth focused, time managing task master of Capricorn, and float into the air waves of Aquarius, who is the humanitarian with a vision for the future that serves all people with equality and hope. Fully human for humanities sake.
The last time Pluto was in Aquarius was 1777 - 1798 which brought about the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Age of Enlightenment, Utilitarianism, the French Revolution and the discovery of Uranus, who rules Aquarius. We also discovered the first cure for smallpox durning this transit, that is to say that no one alive now, has ever experienced Pluto in Aquarius, this energy will be a first for all of us on the planet currently.
We are given the opportunity to transform as a society. A collective. We want to work to separate from the energy of control that Pluto in Capricorn can present, to find our unique voice to ask for what we need in a reciprocal way.
If you are swept up in the terror, anxiety or fear that some may be spreading about this transit, take a moment to separate from that and see if YOU, yourself actually feel that in your body. If it is fear or anxiety, you probably have a Leo Sun or strong Leo placement and are feeling all kinds of things moving and shifting and changing and being killed inside you and its gonna feel deep and dark and weird and thats not a place Leo likes to be...
But if you separate and actually feel energized for change, or feel like you are seeking to dust those deep, dark, musty corners of your psyche for the gold that lies behind reclaiming your shadow, then you might be working WITH this transit, versus resisting it. Sorry Leo's, it's time to peek behind the curtain. I am picking on Leo energy mostly because it is the polarity to Aquarius, and usually where one energy can find its deepest healing is in its opposite.
Think back to 2008 and what was presenting in your life, go through the years and see where and how you have transformed your view of success, work ethic, self mastery, money, time, growth, and business or commerce in general.
What have you mined from the depths of your Self during these past 16ish years?
What parts of yourself have you mastered or grown into and come current with?
What areas of life have you accepted, transformed and created a better version of, unique to you, for yourself?
"Esoterically, Pluto is an alchemical vas hermeticum, a vessel that, without revealing it's nature, translates everything that comes into contact with it into its own icons and symbologies. " Richard Grossinger, 2015
Let's start with small, but mighty Pluto; the very distant, dwarf planet that orbits the Sun through the Kuiper Belt, a rocky and distant part of the solar system. Pluto takes its own way around the Sun, with its elliptical orbit it is sometimes closer to the Sun that Neptune is. Paving its own way froward, not like anyone else.
Adding to its general eccentricity, Pluto is one of the planets that we know the very least about, it is the furthest away in our solar system and thus connected to and associated with shadow work, and the deepest parts of our own self and psyche and how we work with and transform our patterns and ruling systems, aka the shit no one wants to look at or feel or hold or care for.
Pluto comes in and is like THIS, this is what you are here for, setting flame to the parts that are not ours, to let the Phoenix of our own authenticity rise from the ashes of our own falsehood.
Ruling the energy of Scorpio, it also contains the magic of regeneration; the death, birth, death cycle of all things. But it is not death to something for it to die and be gone, but death as a part of the cycle of regeneration and transformation. Astrologer April Elliot Kent says that "the fear and the transcendence of that fear share the same symbol : Pluto"
PLUTO ; rules : Scorpio, natural house : 8th, exalted : Leo, tarot : judgement, metal : plutonium, symbolizes : transformation/ death and rebirth
AQUARIUS ; ruled by : Saturn and Uranus, natural house : 11th, element : air, tarot : The Star, metal : Uranium and Aluminium, polarity : Leo
We now layer in the energy of Aquarius, the Water Bearer, the idealist, the humanitarian, the activist, and the visionary in us all.
Water is known best for its mutability, when you pour water into water, you have more water, cohesive and flowing. Symbolic of enlightenment, interconnectedness, and transformation as its moves from liquid, to gas, into a solid, then back again.
"The sign of Aquarius is the vessel or jug that carries the water and the person offering that gift of transformation to the world." Andrea Richards
I feel a few connection points between these two power houses, but where Pluto and Aquarius dance so nicely is the alchemical gold of transformation, which will lead to the most authentic version of Self to be shared with the World.
As above so below, as within so without. The glyph for Aquarius consists of two parallel lines symbolizing the ripples of waves or currents of air - one above, one below - echoing this hermetic principle.
"The soul of the water bearer is constantly torn asunder by Uranus, the unpredictable and violent planet of change which lets him see ahead with electric blue clarity to the future. Aquarius belongs to mankind. He represents its truest hopes and its deepest ideals. " Linda Goodman, 1968
The Water Bearer, is also associated with the constellation for the God Ea, the Sumarian God of Water, known as "the Great One" holding a large jug of water that is pouring out onto Earth, but these waters were not always seen as a welcome sign, bringing flooding of the Nile and more, but this is why Aquarians, as an Air sign, thrive in chaos and traumatic situations or events.
"So strong is the Water Bearer's desire to serve and share, they are able to overcome apparent oppositions or battles of opposites. This, in fact, is a major attribute of the sign : Aquarian's are unorthodox in their thinking, avant-garde visionaries who posses the charisma to convince others to join their revolutions." Andrea Richards
The other touch point, in my mind, for Pluto and Aquarius is the need to alchemize and transform for the better; to set fire to the Self, or pattern, or way of engagement, or perception and to let the fires of change and self actualization take hold and support the growth we cannot complete alone.
Aquarius drifts in the with vision, the future cast for the better, the elevation in living, working and loving.
Pluto offers the flames for the phoenix to burn into, revealing the authenticity that can only be birthed through the death of a thought self, giving space to the felt self.
Aquarius season is January 20th through February 18th, we transit through this energy every year, and each month the Moon is in Aquarius for about 2.5 days, so our chances to work with the energy of Aquarius is almost always around.
Pluto only changes signs every 16-24 years...so this is big folks! Again, no one on this Earth right now has ever experienced Pluto in Aquarius...This is what we astrologers call a generational shift, meaning this transit is so long it will shape generations, mostly the humans being born this year and next...they will have a flavor of spiritual thirst for authenticity, they will have ease in transforming for the greater good, they will be able to dream and create form from vision, and they will see the world through a lens of humanity and humility.
I was born in February of 1989, when Pluto was Retrograde in Scorpio, which for me and where it landed in my Natal Chart gives me ease in reflecting on and transforming my self concept, and letting it change and evolve.
This also gives the native an intense emotional depth, connection to the underworld of Self and others, this person will need to learn to grapple with the intense, and sometimes obsessive desires, emotions, or passions they contain. This can lead this person to expansive emotional growth and power, but they must pull themselves from the hold of victimhood in order to pull the golden threads of themselves back together.
With my Pluto Retrograde, this gives me space to retrace, redefine and reclaim parts of my self that have been left in other places, spaces or situations. I wouldn't say its super FUN, and yes sometimes it will still blow me out and I will need to escape into nature for a few hours...but, like, that kinda stuff doesn't make me puddle, and I feel like I can also hold some really nice space for those in a tough situation. I am not by any means perfect, and am still working to come current with how I have acted in past versions of Self, before accepting this knowing.
When we know better, we do better.
I also deeply, deeply enjoy therapy. I started working with a Spiritual Psychologist, who built my foundation of trust in my Natal Chart, and energy I could feel in and around my system. I have, for over a year now, been in Talk therapy, and Internal Family Systems therapy once a week.
My husband and I have even started seeing a couples therapist, which is honestly the hardest work I have ever engaged with so far. This might also be due to my Aquarius Venus (giving and perceiving love), Mercury (communication and engagement) and Midheaven (career focus or path) which adds to the layers of my freedom seeking soul and Pisces Sun and North Node. You really cannot tell me what to do...
But, I don't think most folks engage in this work, or therapy three times a week just because they are curious...like I am. I just wanna know. I just wanna FEEL what is MINE. Burn the fucking boat.
I also say all of this to give a filter, and background and to help support you if you are feeling a shift, feeling something that just wont stop or go away, and you want to investigate or burn something away. For the next 20 years you have someone in your corner supporting you in that exploration into change, growth and transformation, and that is Pluto in Aquarius.
Welcome the change within, so you may meet the outside with authenticity and confidence that is all yours to own. Reclaim yourself from society. Rebirth yourself from your highest good.
If you wanna know where Pluto sits in your chart, or what house Aquarius covers, let's link up and get curious.
Thank you so much for being here, it really means so much that you might take the time to read what is constantly banging around in my brain...thank you
much love,
Lo