Out with the Old

On Sunday January 12^th, Saturn makes an exact conjunction with Pluto. A 33 year cycle is closing and with it comes the potential of the next 33 years. We want to start out on the right foot. Or to mix some metaphors, get clear about where we want to go and set a course with a reliable compass.

When we look back at the Saturn/Pluto cycles of the 20^th century we see a battlefield of death and destruction, violence, corruption, imperialism, arms races, endless war. We see nations threatening and bullying, misusing their power with intimidation, competing for resources and preying upon weaker nations, exploiting indigenous people for their own economic wealth. We see what comes of an imbalanced humanity, of a collective psyche expressing patriarchal values. With this conjunction, the pendulum will begin to swing back toward the center as we integrate the qualities of feminine consciousness.

To understand the essence of this conjunction, we need to understand how Saturn and Pluto function, especially when they meet up in Capricorn. This is the sign of the goat and is frequently illustrated by a mountain goat standing atop a peak. Within our paradigm, this manifests as a drive for success, achievement and mastery – all worthy causes, within bounds, but in the hands of runaway capitalism, the need for endless growth and ever-increasing profits turns into cut-throat competition which breeds insatiable greed and corruption.

Capricorn is an Earth sign, meaning that it expresses in the physical realm. It is ruled by Saturn who functions best in this context. Saturn is the Great Manifester. Through its agency, our thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, desires and dreams become physical. We are shown the results of our approach to life. This is why the first Saturn return is such a shock because we come face to face with the products of our consciousness. This is a point of choice. Do we take responsibility for what we have created and make the necessary interior adjustments, or do we defend ourselves against the evidence, blame others for our misfortune and carry on as usual with the added burden of bitterness?

You can see the polarity here. Saturn not only offers us a living picture of our minds, but the opportunity to grow, to change, to become more responsible, to garner more integrity, to become a wiser adult. This is the highest expression of Saturn as well as Capricorn. Life isn’t about mastering the outer world. It’s about mastering the ego, the small self that slowly evolved out of our childhood and adolescent experience based on the faulty conclusions we drew about who we were and what was expected of us. We learned at an early age to defend ourselves – to lie so we didn’t get in trouble, to be sneaky and deceitful, to compete with siblings, classmates, rival teams, to take offense and feel wounded by criticism or confrontation. We learned resentment and how to hold a grudge. We learned revenge. Most of all we learned to listen to this ego voice and believe its version of reality. (Click on this link to learn more about the various expressions of Saturn.)

Consciousness is evolving, consequently the products of consciousness are shifting as well. At the moment it looks like our world is crumbling, our institutions are in jeopardy, our economy, our national security, the viability of our planet at risk. We can see this as loss and attempt to cling to the past, or we can realize that evolution is at work, that the way we have been living as a humanity needs a course correction. The old is being swept away to make room for the new. This is where Pluto comes in. Here’s an excerpt from a previous post. (You might want to learn more about Pluto from the original post, Chapter One of my series “What’s Going On?”)

“Pluto was discovered on February 18, 1930 at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona by astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh. 

“Think of the 1930’s. America was in the Great Depression. While millionaires were leaping out of windows, the poor were standing in bread lines for a scrap of sustenance. Unemployment was up to 25% by 1933. Our fertile soil had dried up and was blowing away. People were abandoning the land and heading for the cities. We were recovering from the most devastating war in our history. 37 million people dead! Followed by the worst flu epidemic which killed between 50 and 100 million more! While we didn’t know it, we were headed for a second holocaust. Scientists were already developing nuclear energy which would bring WWII to an explosive end.

“You can see how astrologers began to associate Pluto with catastrophe. On the surface, things were looking pretty grim back when Pluto came on the scene. But a second current was flowing, unseen, beneath the surface. Freud was digging deeper into human consciousness, discovering the subconscious, questioning human behavior and motivation. Jung was looking further, into the unconscious, following the crumbs of mystery and developing theories of symbolism, archetypes and synchronicity, which is similar to coincidence – events, ideas, experiences happening concurrently – but linked to one another in a new way, not by cause and effect, but by symbolic significance. While the nightmare was unfolding, the solution was welling up from the depths of consciousness. Yes, the solution to all our problems lies in consciousness.”

Pluto has many faces and functions in both the personal and collective realms, but the overall theme is transformation. One of the results of a Pluto transit is the uncovering of secrets, of corruption festering in our obsolescent institutions. Pluto is an agent of change, operating as the Great Destroyer, as necessary a function as the manifester. Contrary to our current paradigm, growth is not linear, it is cyclical: cycles of creation and destruction, alternating as consciousness explores and evolves ever newer forms into matter. The old cycle of manifestation is coming to a close and many heavenly bodies have gathered to say “good-bye.” As Saturn joins with Pluto a new cycle of creation/destruction is launched. The way it unfolds depends upon us. We have the power to transform life on Earth.

The destruction phase doesn’t end with this conjunction. Pluto will remain in Capricorn until 2023, making another climactic statement as it returns to its natal position in the USA birth chart. The United States will have a Pluto return, something no human can achieve because it takes 248 years on average for Pluto to complete a whole cycle. In 2022 it will reach 27 degrees of Capricorn, its home plate. As it approaches, America will face more challenges, but the good news is that in December of this year, Jupiter and Saturn will unite at zero degrees of Aquarius and a process of rebuilding will begin. If we open to this humanitarian energy, we will co-create a world in which humanity behaves as the loving family it is, caring for one another and supporting each other to evolve to our highest potential.

For this reason, I have encouraged you to dream big dreams, allow a more enlightened vision to engulf you and begin to live as the person you want to be in this brave new world. Mars is in the early degrees of Sagittarius. Tune into the Mars within and join his courageous search for truth and clarity. We will begin to look at the pillars of awakened consciousness next week in the next installment of Practicing the Future.