Pluto in Capricorn
(Excerpt)
Pluto’s entrance into the sign of Capricorn marks a culminating point of great historical significance as a yet another chapter of our collective experience winds to a close. As we witness the waning hour from this particular vantage point along the time-line, the necessities of an emerging new reality are becoming progressively more evident.
In astrological terms, Pluto represents the cyclical regenerative process, and as such correlates to the theory of reincarnation. Evolutionary Astrology looks to Pluto to provide perspective on the nature of the soul’s evolving needs and desires.
Pluto’s transit through a particular sign, a cycle that spans twelve to eighteen years, describes the signature rights of passage of a generation, and also describes the advancing journeys of both the individual and the collective soul. When Pluto is activated by contact with other planetary energies, or by sign or directional changes, it quickens the evolutionary pace of the soul’s desires and needs, at the individual, interpersonal, and collective levels. Whether Pluto’s transformative process is experienced as a steady and natural progression or as a cataclysmic experience will depend on the degree of resistance generated at any given point along the timeline. Resistance ignites friction; friction increases the degree of polarization and intensifies the building momentum. Repetition occurring through the action and corresponding response mechanism creates more links in the chain of experience. Eventually, the energy of this repeating process reaches a saturation extreme. It is at this crisis or turning point in the cycle that polarized resistance exhausts itself, giving way to an evolutionary leap of significance.
Pluto advances into the sign of Capricorn for a first pass from January 28 to June 14 of 2008. Due to its retrograde cycle, which begins April 2, Pluto will return for a last sweep through the sign of Sagittarius and will re-enter Capricorn on November 27, 2008. Pluto will complete its journey in this sign by November, 2024.
The goat with the fish tail, Capricorn is a dual archetype. It is inherently both masculine (assertive, active) and feminine (responsive, retentive). It’s inner and outer constructs can be referred to as its light and shadow forms.
Capricorn correlates to the skeletal structure of the human body, in other words, the inner foundation or support structure, and it also correlates to the outer layer called the epidermis or skin, which houses, protects, and limits the form called the body. Distinct in both form and function, each is a counterbalance for the other; both hold the body intact. Together, they determine the body’s form and its function.
The foundation or inner core and its mind set, along with the structural housing and its boundaries and limitations, create the definition for the regulating body called consciousness.
As an earth sign, Capricorn is the archetype that correlates to physical reality. Capricorn’s shadow component correlates to the perceived realms of manifestations, in other words our experience of reality or that which is defined by the limits of consciousness in any given moment. While they are two separate and distinct counterpoints, perceived reality and actual reality are often judged as one and the same. For the willful subjective consciousness (or ego on the run), they can be experienced as virtually inseparable.
The perceived consensus is the invention of the socialized or learn-ed consciousness. Once accord centralizes around a consensus reference point, this then serves as the baseline that not only defines what is most readily accepted or adhered to, but also serves as the criteria by which all other information or experience is received or judged. The progressive socialization of consciousness becomes conditioned over time to act and respond in alignment with that which is already housed, or in other words, pre-exists.
Once the socialized consciousness has become informed and educated enough to create definition, this then serves as a measurement (a manifested concept or acquired judgment) that separates and segregates through the establishment of boundaries, borders, limits, and cut-off points. Conceptualizations energized within the conditioned mind lead to the progressive materialization and eventual crystallization of thought forms. Both security and limitation are created. Once the willful subjective consciousness forms a strong enough internal accord, it will strive to preserve itself and its pre-established sense of security for as long as possible, utilizing whatever means are within reach, which typically results in the blocking or denying of alternative realities.
Pluto in Capricorn generates an intensified awareness of encroaching endpoints, along with the growing counterpoint recognition of coming potentials. Along with this awareness comes apprehension and anxiety (personal, social, collective), as consciousness naturally begins to project definition in order to recreate security from what is already known. Anxiety is one of the most common of human conditions; depression and futility consciousness can be labeled as “ready-made” bi-products. While depression and futility consciousness seemingly put evolution at a standstill, they still serve as a creative tap. The Capricorn archetype uses anxiety and the workings of the resistant or fear based consciousness as a catalyst in order to stimulate and build the necessary momentum or motion.
Pluto in Capricorn now points the hands of the symbolic clock at the intersection of our past and future. Note that the Mayan Calendar, a time measurement of ancient roots, will end during Pluto’s reign in Capricorn. Does this synchronicity represent a symbolic or an actual reference point for the collective? We have yet to witness the impact of its final moment on our contemporary existence.
The recent occurrence of Pluto’s demotion as a planet by the authorities of the day is also symbolic of an encompassing collective consciousness shift as the light of the coming New Age dawn begins to peak through this twilight hour. Perhaps our modern consciousness is not as linear as we perceive it to be.
Building forward from the recent Pluto in Sagittarius years, Pluto through Capricorn’s era will enforce a time of reckoning with the past, at the personal level and beyond. Occurring only once every 248 years, Pluto in Capricorn is set to ignite the astrological flare-signal for an emerging new world order, one that will see a significant reorganization/restructuring of private life priorities, as well as produce a dramatic shift in the balance of power in the larger world context. Throughout history, Pluto in Capricorn has typically advanced the rise and fall of empires. The last cycle brought about the American War of Independence, which led to the birth of the USA, the superpower nation that dominates the world scene to the present day.
It does not take much looking around to see the signposts of a shifting world order already well underway. For both the individual and for the collective, Pluto in Capricorn signifies that an entire life cycle is coming to an end, while a new one is coming into being. At the same time it hastens the dismantling process, Pluto in Capricorn is already at work erecting the baselines for our near future and developing the paradigm shifts for the long-range future, (the not too distant now Age of Aquarius.) Now through 2024, the skeletal system will grow added dimension, filling out to the point of where its characteristics and functions are more fully embodied and more consciously recognized.
To backtrack for just a moment, Sagittarius is the archetype that correlates to the intuitive function and opens the gateways to consciousness of beliefs, faith, visions of the future, and to the seeking of truths and higher knowledge. It is through Sagittarius that we feel a sense of something more and that we seek to make larger, broader connections, beyond that which the naked eye can see. The Pluto in Sagittarius years have not only animated the vision quest to expand knowledge, these years have accelerated our information sourcing to the point of where we can travel anywhere quite instantaneously; we are now front row voyeurs to the world. Our choices have expanded like never before.
The responding polarity of Sagittarius is Gemini. Gemini correlates to the sensory perceptions organized by the left-brain function. Through Gemini we form logical syntax; we label, we formulate opinions and we make connections. Gemini correlates to the duality of experience. The action/response mechanism energized through the Gemini/Sagittarius axis prompts expansion by creating exposure to variety, diversity, and a multiplicity of options. The more polarized this axis becomes, the more separate and distinct the opinions become. Opinions are the product of the educated consciousness, and they offer multiple variations on a single theme. More often than not, they are focused on a version or a part of the truth and do not necessarily represent the whole.
In reality, our lives are also a bi-product of our creations, but we most commonly distinguish ourselves as separate and separated, viewing our creativity as an external object or outside of self experience.
It is through the Sagittarius function of compensation that we resist facing the truth exists beyond our security threshold. Compensation leads to the expansion, exaggeration, and elevation of one version of the truth over another, of orienting to the perceived truth over the actual truth. On a social level, we quite commonly see this in political campaigns, religious fundamentalism, racism, social elitism, etc. On the personal level, we find ourselves not listening to advice, to the wants and needs of others, to synchronicity’s signals, nor to the voice of our own intuition.
All of creation is energy and energy perpetuates itself through keeping in motion. Energy condenses into form through the workings of gravity, a Capricorn concept. Motion linked with gravity creates an evolving structure. Our continued expansion of beliefs, knowledge, truths, and versions of the truth through the Pluto in Sagittarius years have now solidified. These Pluto in Sagittarius years represent the foundations from which we will now build and shape our contemporary and future realities. The Pluto in Capricorn years will put these theories, philosophies and beliefs to a supreme test. Will these Sagittarian foundations provide suitable building material? Are we building on the inflated or on misguided measurements? We will soon discover what pathways are obsolete, where (and how) life force is extinguished and in what direction can more fertile ground be found. The coming years of Pluto in Capricorn will serve as a both a dousing rod and a grounding peg.
The latter half of 2007 has represented a key evolutionary chapter. Regarding both our individual and collective choices, 2008 brings yet another pivotal year. Pluto in Capricorn’s preview visit to Capricorn, through the middle of June 2008 offers a sampling of the shape of things to come and adding further definitiveness to the chalk lines. Pluto’s revisit to Sagittarius, mid June through November will provide a last opportunity to pick up our missing keys and to reposition as necessary so that we may step forward onto a more secure and sustainable pathway (and before viable options diminish further.)
Capricorn’s polarity sign is Cancer and within this sign can be found both the crises points and the resolutions for this next part of our journey. The crisis generated by the Cancer cardinal archetype bears root in both insecurity and the birth of new life forms. The key to successful navigating through these upcoming feast or famine years lies in the re-enforcing of the nucleus, at all levels. It is high time for a stringent reality check and to severe ties from any choke-hold dependency. The affluent collective can no longer afford to make rationalizations re its dependency on anything foreign or outside of self. We can no longer give our authority or control away. We must take the responsibility upon ourselves. Viable resources are diminishing quickly. How much loss can we live with?
Solution finding now raises the following questions. Can you weather a storm successfully? If not, is there something you could do in order to improve your odds? If you had to go without, could you find enough sustenance and shelter within a short distance or comfortable reach? Are you comfortably safe or is there something more that you need to do to ensure your present levels stay intact? Do you have expectations that someone or something else is responsible for your wellbeing? What can you do to be more in control and complete? Do you have enough support around you and can you give it back equally? Can you afford to contribute, can you afford not to? In stripping down to barest of essentials, what is it that is necessary for your life to not only survive, but to thrive?
Accountability is absolutely key; there is no margin for hedging when it comes to the proper use and honoring of all resources. Our world is about to become much smaller, and the next major lesson will be in learning how absolutely connected and inter-dependent we are. We cannot afford to create more physical, material, social, and spiritual wastelands; we can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to the fact that the pollution is not only being recycled back, it is the cause of the crippling and severe destruction taking place within bodies, minds, and souls.
It is also absolutely necessary to face reality for what it truly is, to turn priority attention toward the actual workability of the potentials held within the current critical time frame, and to embrace realistic goals and solutions that will perpetuate long term life, benefit, and continuity. Deadlines are approaching and they cannot be ignored or put off. Today’s results are the vital determinant for where we go from here. Halfway measures or half-hearted efforts will not cover enough ground in the current race against the clock.
We may be well into our 11th hour, but note that time has not yet run out. Consider the Now as the most important wake-up call of your life. As the sign attributed to alchemy, the Pluto in Capricorn years can bring about a golden renaissance for the collective and for the individual alike.
This article is an excerpt from the book, Insights into Evolutionary Astrology, (as yet to be published)
(January 2008. All rights reserved, no portion of this excerpt may be reprinted without permission)
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