Pluto Ingress into Capricorn

On the Edge of Reality—Awareness into Action

The outer planets serve a societal role. The cycle of Pluto is about a quarter of a millennium. We have known about Pluto's existence since 1930—78 years, which would be an average life expectancy these days. Astrologers in the 1930s debated about the rulership, Aries and Scorpio were the signs debated the most. Until the mid-1980s there was little consensus, and then Scorpio emerged as the 'winner'. Many of the concepts we assign to Pluto are based on mythology. Pluto was the god of the underworld, Hades. We also use many psychological concepts and assign these to Pluto. Thirdly, many of the eighth house concepts have been reassigned to Pluto.

When Pluto was discovered (February 18, 1930, Lowell Observatory, in Flagstaff, Arizona by Claude Tombaugh), it was situated at 17 °Cancer31 Rx. The name was adopted May 1, that year. Because of Pluto's highly elliptical orbit, there are people alive today who have and will experience transit Pluto opposite their natal Pluto. Pluto will spend about 14.5 years in Capricorn (the longest in Taurus and adjacent signs).

In August 2006, Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union. The definition means that a dwarf planet has not cleared its path around the Zodiac, and is therefore an evolving energy (planet). At the same time, Ceres the largest asteroid was promoted to dwarf planetary status.

During the past 12 years, Sagittarians became more serious about life. Our stories became more profound. During the next 14 years, Capricorns are faced with REALITY at a completely new level. Pluto's intent is to eliminate all that is not viable! Pluto is wealth, grand and small, and POWER… For those interested in mundane events, I recommend reading the headlines on and around the ingress dates—January 25 and November 26. Remember that Benazier Bhutto was assassinated in December 2007. Kenya and Pakistan are in Chaos…

Pluto Generations

Pluto was in Gemini from 1882 to 1912. During those years, literacy, compulsory education and the right of women to vote were some of the big issues. Many of the great thinkers of the last century were born while Pluto was in Gemini. The map of the world began changing as countries declared independence. Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud published their work.

In the 1930's Pluto was in Cancer and now we have an opposition to that by sign. During the Pluto in Cancer years, the structure of family and our world map were changed radically. The big family structures crumbled and we began to lose the connection to our own genetic lineage. Pluto was in Cancer from 1912-1937. The first world war took place at the beginning of this cycle (1912-1918). This generation gave birth to the baby-boomers. The Depression took place during this time and the concept of the nuclear family was born. We named it later. Mothers no longer had to stay at home…

Pluto was in Leo from about the 1937-38 to about 1956-57. During those years the ‘selfish' baby boomers were born. This generation refuses to grow old, retire into the shadows, insists on being able to play, and expects to have a wealth of resources at their disposal. The boomers are actually the wealthiest generation thus far. Notice how, now that the youngest boomers are fifty years of age, we have so many products available to us that help us stay ever-young and defy living in harmony with the natural cycle of life. Everyone knows what Botox and Viagra are. Many of us further have resources to use these. Actually, the biggest payouts by medical insurance companies (in the US ) go for reimbursement for sexual enhancement drugs for men; during the Pluto in Sagittarius years, ours became an ‘on demand' world. We want to be virile, so there is a pill for that; we want to be young, there are pills and procedures for that…

The Second World War broke out during Pluto in Leo. There were War debts to be paid. The Cold War took place during this era, Hiroshima , TV changed our lives, and apartment buildings took over the landscape rural became urban. Science and Human Behaviour, new alternative schools began to appear in Europe .

Pluto was in Virgo 1956/7-1971 and our food and health care changed. The hippie era and the flower children took place during these years. Fast food chains began gaining ground, by the 1970s these were cropping up everywhere, like mushrooms. Virgo is about purity and now that Saturn is in Virgo, that generation X is personally involved in debunking dietary and health myths, we don't need eight glasses of water a day, we also get hydration from food, juices, fruit, etc. Civil rights, the rise of feminism, Maslow , US War in Vietnam escalates, anti-war movements, first Earth Day, the Moon landing…

Pluto was in Libra from 1971-1983/4. This was the period when relationships changed; divorce became commonplace as did de facto relationships (common law). The youngest in this generation are about 23 years of age and the oldest in their early 30s. Once this group reaches midlife, we will begin to see higher acceptance of all kinds of relationships. Slide-rulers were replaced by calculators, companies had massive mainframe computers, the first personal computers were manufactured; shorthand was still in use, most people now had telephones, and there was serious advancement in how information travels. Vietnam war was still going on; the Chernobyl meltdown took place at the tail end of Pluto in Libra. We began to acknowledge environmental changes and our role in it.

During the time the Pluto in Scorpio generation, from mid-80s until 1996, was born, we became aware of AIDS, assisted suicide, and a variety of issues that deal with death, transformation and the human psyche. New Age phenomena became everyday phenomena. To these kids reincarnation is a given… Tattoos, body piercing, rage, hip-hop, rap, punk rock — Hill Street Blues, LA Law, Who killed JR, Out on a Limb, Channeling, The Sylva Method and a whole slew of New Age products and processes. Ritalin, ADHD, Indigo, acronym for everything…Perestroika in Russia , the Berlin Wall came down, and the 'cold war' ended. The subatomic particle was discovered, European Union was founded, Internet came to being, identity thefts and all kinds of extremist movements began. The first War in Iraq began and it was televised, LIVE. We could no longer feel innocent…

Back in 1995, I wrote an article about Pluto's ingress into Sagittarius and subtitled it "the loss of innocence." Incredible breakthroughs with medicine and technology meant that we had all the answers 'at our fingertips'. We no longer check the encyclopedia, we Google it. There are still kids being born into the Pluto in Sagittarius generation (June 13-November 25, 2008). The gist of this era simplified: justice and law, magic and faith! During these years that conclude in 2008, we saw Law and Order, Criminal Intent, CSI, Ghost Whisperer, Medium, and a whole array of reality shows on TV. Harry Potter was 'born', at the time of the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction; a JK Rowling handwritten manuscript fetched over a million pounds at an auction. Her books have sold millions of copies, only second to the bible…Maybe we should call this the Harry Potter generation! The author belongs to the Pluto in Virgo generation.

The common or mutable signs and/or their associated houses precede the cardinal ones, and support the upcoming action. During the Pluto in Sagittarius years, there has been much research into cloning, into cures for crippling/terminal illnesses, stem cell research. Animals have been cloned, and recently news have emerged that scientists are able to clone organs and one claims to have successfully cloned a human baby.

If we note that Pluto has to do with life and death, rebirth, transformation and that Capricorn is the architect able to give concrete form to ideas, we can see that chances are those claims of cloning are going to be proven fact.

Fate and time

Pluto will be in Capricorn for fourteen years, the preview is playing now , and the intensity picks up at the end of January. Pay attention to the headlines during the last week o f January for your preview to what this planetary shifts spells out for the world.

Opening the newspaper or turning on the News early December revealed news about sentences handed down by the courts. During these days, Jupiter and Pluto aligned at the Galactic Centre. There will more of this type of 'judgment' throughout the early part of 2008, and in 2008 when Pluto moves into Capricorn, our laws will likely be changed into tougher ones. We are in a major transition time…

We might not know what needs to change, but do know that there are things not to our liking. Over the past dozen years, one area of our lives has changed. With Pluto in Capricorn we become more aware of own mortality. Life is short, what do you plan to get out of life from here on out. Now that Pluto of change, elimination, rebirth and 'fate' is shifting gradually into the sign of business, societal norms and ambition, Capricorn we need to become the architect of our own fate. If we observe, what people are busy doing every year while many planets are in Capricorn we get strong clues as to what the planetary influence is most likely to bring us.

Every year when many planets are in Capricorn (Dec 21-Jan 20), people seem to do a big purge around their homes—in with the new at Christmas and out with the old after Boxing Day. When the planet known for its ability to eliminate, to make redundant moves in Capricorn, purging things and people, who have outlived their usefulness can become a strong theme.

Naturally, this influence is stronger at times when planetary influences touch our personal planetary influences. For the four Cardinal signs—Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn—the dates when Pluto crosses into the sign, January 25 and November 26 are potentially climactic. It isn't just the exact date rather at least a month around for the initial impetus for change. For Capricorn it is now personal, as they become acutely aware of mortality. A few Capricorn astrologers I have spoken to, have discussed their own potential longevity; very pragmatically, I might add. Not to become all morbid, while the ruler of Pluto is associated with death and destruction, it isn't all doom and gloom.

Much of what we know about Pluto is theory, which we apply to experiences through educated guesses. Pluto inches on about 2-3 per year. The Rx station of Pluto one year is the Direct Station the following year (the stations could happen in the same year). Whenever we look to events and shifts in our lives, we attempt to identify the planets and other significant points in our chart and apply a planetary transit, station and conjunction using an orb of influence. Currently, if you have planets at 26-30 of mutable or 0-2 Cardinal, you will experience the Pluto influence personally. I spoke to a couple of people who have Venus late in a mutable sign; both are or have changed jobs, lost an important friendship and struggling with profound external events.

When considering the potential events, note that the planet under Pluto transit rules over a house or two in your chart. Let's say it rules the 7 th . You might find that all the events happen to people around you. While I am a fatalist, I do think that the planets merely show what is happening to us, and only you know what truly needs to change in your life. Maybe only in hindsight, this is always 20/20. With Capricorn, we are simply taking action based on our internal ponderings over the past couple of years. This too will be different in nature from the previous ones we have experienced.

History

Pluto moved into Capricorn previously in 1762. Pluto, however, was discovered 78 years ago, in 1930. All of the concepts assigned to Pluto are new, based primarily on the mythology of Pluto as the god of the Underworld, Hades. Much of our theory resonates with psychological terms. Because Pluto was by consensus of the time, assigned to Scorpio, many of the concepts are those that belong to the eighth house.

Heliocentric theory by Copernicus followed a few years after the 1509 conjunction at the Galactic Centre, Martin Luther launched the Lutheran Church and the Alphabet, Roman Inquisition, Church of England, Calvinism, Michelangelo, Erasmus, Paracelsus, Raphael, Galileo, Shakespeare, … The next one in 1758 was at the dawn of the industrial era. The beginning of factories, paper money, and fabric made with machinery, steam engines …Rousseau's Social Contract (the basis of the US Constitution), Goethe was born, Observations on Electricity, Beethoven, Napoleon, Wordsworth, American Revolution, Religious reform/revivals. When Pluto reached Capricorn in 1762, the British were celebrating their triumph in the Seven Years War and looking for ways to pay off war debts.

The previous ingresses of Pluto took place in 429 BCE, 203 BCE and the ones in the current era in the year:

42: Crucifixion 29-30, integration of Judaism and Platonism, Letters of Paul
287: Persecutions of Christians, emergence of Neo-Platonism
532: Closing of Platonic Academy in Athens , first monastery
778: Carolingian renaissance basic medieval curriculum
1024: Europe under Christianity, schism between Western and Eastern Churches
1269: Aquinas, spread of mysticism
1516: Utopia, Luther, Machiavelli, Raphael, Michelangelo, Paracelsus, Copernicus
1762: Industrial revolution, Social Contract, American Revolution (1775), Declaration of Independence (US 1776), Hume, Kant, The beginning of factories, paper money, and fabric made with machinery, steam engines …Rousseau's Social Contract (the basis of the US Constitution), Goethe was born, Observations on Electricity, Beethoven, Napoleon, Wordsworth, Religious reform/revivals.
Today technology moves at a break neck speed, we know about all religions rather than variants of one. The Christian churches appear to be fighting for their hold on people, Gnosticism is once again gaining ground, and we are reaching another pivotal point in our evolution…

During the dawn of Christianity, pagan religions began to fade into 'oblivion'. During the middle of the last millennium, Gnosticism thrived but underground, the church gained ground… people began to have access to knowledge, at the dawn of the industrial era people became increasingly more free to do something more than manual, unaided labour. Today technology moves at a break neck speed, we know about all religions rather than variants of one. The Christian churches appear to be fighting for their hold on people, Gnosticism is once again gaining ground, and we are reaching another pivotal point in our evolution… May be we live in interesting times, eh?

Pluto is the god of the Underworld, associated with both wealth and transformation. As a cute aside, transformers (the animated robots) first entered the TV screens in 1996 when Pluto last changed signs and now at the tail end a spectacular special effects movie bearing the same name was recently released on DVDs. Back then, it was VHS tapes. Technological advances have moved at lightning speed over the past decade or so. The speed continues, but with the Capricorn influence, our structures and reality are going to be altered over the next 14.5 years that Pluto spends in Capricorn. The Sarah Connor Chronicles based on the Terminator movies with Arnold Schwarzenegger hit the airways, in it robots that look like people can build robots without human interference, cloning of human beings and body parts is becoming a reality in our world, US Economy is spiraling, the stock markets (very Capricornian) are volatile, tougher laws are beginning to emerge.

The conjunction of Pluto and Jupiter in December 2007 occurs seldom and heralds a 250-year period, during which we could see the abolishing statutory parole, enforcement of the laws, and stricter 'punishment' for breaking the law. The rights of the collective vs. the rights of the individual begin to emerge in all areas of life. You are responsible for your actions; maybe some of those 'silly' defenses are removed from the legal system.

When planets move into cardinal signs, they cause action! Just think back, what action did you naturally take around the 18-22 of December? What fell into place as the LOGICAL thing to do?

Fort Langley , January 18, 2008

Anne Massey, CAP (ISAR) is a certified professional astrologer. For personal consultations with Anne call her office at 604-888-9552. More details on the services page. Note you can now purchase reports and charts via email or regular mail and pay for personal consultations using your credit card. The pricing and types of readings are listed on the services page.

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