Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Saturn Aspecting Pluto, Times of Major Change

Well, we recently finished the triple square of Saturn and Pluto 11/15-16/2009 (both direct at 1 degree 43 minutes), 2/1/2010 (Saturn Retrograde, Pluto Direct at 4 degrees 21 minutes), and 8/21-22/2010 (Saturn Direct, Pluto Retrograde at 2 degrees 55 minutes).  Robert Hand says of this transit, "you may find it very difficult to make the changes in the world you would like to make. [...] Sometimes the experience of this transit is much like struggling against chains that hold you down." (Hand, Planets In Transit, 360).  At the level of the United States chart I think we clearly saw this problem in the very poor legislation that passed for Health Care and Financial Reform.  Change was certainly needed, but resisted, so our nation came away with a half-hearted attempt at reform.  Hand continues to say, "Of all the Saturn squares, this one most requires that  you get rid of the dead and useless structures." (360)  Well, that didn't happen; at least not in any controlled, higher vibration way.  We certainly saw a number of banks fail and social programs snuffed out.  Businesses restructured by going out of business, but these were handled by the forceful nature of Pluto and not the conscious choice of leadership.  The shrinking that was done did not alter the fundamental structure of banking or business, which is what this transit really wanted to activate.

On a personal level, during this time, in the areas active in your chart, you should have felt the same kind of energy.  For myself and my partner Betsy, we decided to look seriously into intentional communities and even put our house up for sale.  We were definitely ready to "chuck it all" and go with the Pluto transformation., but as you can guess, it was the worst time to try to make a move of this kind.  The binding chain was actually our mortgage, now even more restrictive in a plunging real estate market.  In the end, the universe had a different plan, which we were both open to and happy to accept.  To put the house on the market we cleaned it out and had three entirely empty rooms, just enough space for a friend from high school and her 3 daughters to move in with us this past June.  Now our home (and the structure of our life) is getting its "full use" and we could not be happier.

Saturn and Pluto, to put it bluntly, kick us in the ass when they join forces.  That is most apparent when the two transiting energy points are conjunct, a transit approaching all of us January 13, 2020 at 22 degrees 45 minutes of Capricorn.  This transiting conjunction will be quickly followed by tSaturn conjunct nPluto on February 24, 2020.  Both energies will be direct and will only conjunct once.  Again, quoting Hand, "this transit often causes financial problems or other kinds of shortages." (359).  In the section on this transit, he talks about restrictions from government (police state, increased taxation, fewer services).  Whatever the particular results, the transformation will come through restriction or limits, and it will apply, if using the Sibley US chart, in the area of Values, Needs, and Personal Resources (2nd House).  The belt tightening will peak or hit bottom, depending on your metaphor during the years before and after the exact conjunction.  In a materialistic society, this information probably does not sound very good, but it is so very necessary and offers a real opportunity to look past material concerns and into the hearts of our spirituality and connections with others.  This transit will provide a great shake down.

On a personal level, I can attest to the massive change this combination brings about.  In my life I have had two Saturn transits over my Natal Pluto.  Both times the transit occurred three times thanks to Retrograde motion that threw tSaturn across my nPluto on 10/8/1979, 4/27/1980, 6/17/1980, 11/28/2008, 2/4/2009, and 8/14/2009.  In each span of time I experienced fundamental and massive changes, the most recent a spiritual awakening that really forced me to come to a nearly dead stop in my life (anxiety strong enough to simulate a heart attack and send me to the hospital in September of 2009).  The 1979 to 1980 period brought me from Massachusetts to North Carolina in the fall of 1980 at the age of 12.  Below are the three charts of that period of time (click to enlarge):


The other energy points playing strong roles during this time included  tJupiter conjunct nJupiter (1st Jupiter Return), tPluto conjunct nMoon, tChiron conjunct nMars, and pMoon moving over my Aries Stellium.  I remember the significance of this move because it brought us back to the state where our family lived (both sets of grandparents lived in Winston-Salem, NC) and (though, not known at this time) I entered a Junior High School and High School (Southeast Guilford) that I would attend from 7th grade until 12th grade, the first time I stayed in a school for more than 1 or 2 years.  The Jupiter Return meant the end of a cycle of expansion and the beginning of a new cycle of expansion.  In short, it was a BIG year for me.

In 2008 and 2009, the seeds were being sown for a mental breakdown, which finally occurred on August 28, 2009, just 14 days after the last tSaturn conjunct nPluto.  During this time the powerful energy connections running parallel included my Uranus Opposition, described by Barbara Hand Clow as the natural time of Kundalini Rising.  Since I was ill-prepared for the energies of this time, I was basically "struck down" (Uranus) and reduced to a small, confined space (basically my home), as I was unable to get out much without overwhelming anxiety.  As I have worked through the energy, I have now come to label my experience as a Spiritual Awakening instead of a mental breakdown, even though breaking down was what I need to wake up spiritually.  Below are the three charts for the three conjunctions (click image to enlarge):


As you can see my pMoon is once again traveling through all of Aries, entering Taurus just before my shift.  tJupiter, tChiron, and tNeptune are all conjunct in my house of Family and the Deep Self (4th).  tPluto and pAscendant are conjunct in my 2nd House, reshaping my Values and Needs.  The journey to explore intentional communities became intense as I felt the strong urge to get away.  I think I was also feeling the tremendous shift worldwide as the economic crisis began a tremendous awakening process.  If you want to know about a time of powerful change in your life, and the life of nations, look to the times of the tSaturn over nPluto to see what they were.

In the US chart, the conjunction previously occurred in January of 1991, generally considered the year the Cold War ended (click image to enlarge).



As you can see from the chart, the other key energy in play included tSaturn conjunct tNorth Node and tChiron conjunct nPart of Fortune.  This time was one of the recorded recessions in the US, occurring: "After the lengthy peacetime expansion of the 1980s, inflation began to increase and the Federal Reserve responded by raising interest rates from 1986 to 1989. This weakened but did not stop growth, but some combination of the subsequent 1990 oil price shock, the debt accumulation of the 1980s, new banking regulations following the S&L Crisis and growing consumer pessimism combined with the weakened economy to produce a brief recession." (Wiki List of US Recessions).  Pressures from other energies did not and will not match the kinds of pressure we will see in January and February of 2020, when tSaturn, tPluto, tJupiter, and pMoon will all be approaching or conjunct nPluto that year!  Progressed Ceres, tLilith, and tChiron will be conjunct in Aries in the 5th House and pSun, pVesta, and tNeptune will be conjunct in Pisces in the 4th! Much ado about something in 2020.

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