Pluto stood stock still in the heavens on 2nd April and will begin his backwards move to revisit Sagittarius, the sign of the Cosmic Cowboy, over the next few months. On September 10th, 2008, he will slowly get his act together to finally return to Capricorn, where he will reside until November, 2024.We know that planets don’t really move backwards – it is a relative effect seen only from the Earth (where else would you be seeing it from, I ask?). It is caused by the Earth’s orbit overtaking Pluto’s orbit and speeding forward. This is optically the same as being on a fast train overtaking a slow train – from your vantage point on the fast train, the slow train appears to be moving backwards; from the slow train you feel as if you’re moving backwards. Remember – all the planets have their retrograde periods at some point in their cycles as seen from Earth.
So, what does this mean in real terms that Pluto is taking a long hard look back over his shoulder to Sagittarius? In human terms it is a little like going to visit old friends just before you relocate to the other side of the world – although you may keep in touch, the changes that you will all go through will alter your relationship with them and theirs with you. Therefore, any planet that changes direction offers us the possibility to revisit the scene of the crime. For example, with a fast little planet like Mercury, this event is over and done with in under 21 days, causing Mercurial quick change and possible havoc while it does, every 3/4 months or so.
The actual complete transit of Pluto through Sagittarius (November 1995 – now) has had a world wide effect – bringing together events such as the breaking down of boundaries between nations via the Internet – the six degrees of separation between each one of us is now a reality – we really are just a few steps from anyone anywhere on the planet; the destruction of nations through religion and the law; changing attitudes towards travelling; and the manipulation of basic truths.
The most subtle event of this transit to have possibly the most extreme effect, I’m sure, is the development of human/animal embryos. Sagittarius is a hybrid sign itself – a Centaur – half man half horse – so this new experimentation was a logical next step for science during this period. And as is typical in all Astrology, both sides of the Zodiacal polarity – in this case Gemini and Sagittarius – are constellated. As Gemini is about new ideas and Sagittarius about belief, ethics and the law (for which read – religion) – I think this issue has a long way to go, especially as Pluto will enter Capricorn for a longer period of years than it has been in the signs from Libra to Sagittarius.
Pluto has an extreme elliptical orbit around the Sun – at the narrow ends of the orbit it can whizz faster through those signs and at the flatter, longer sides of the orbit, can take what seems like forever to change sign. As the total orbit lasts for 250 years, it can be seen historically that the years of this transit across the long sides, occurred during periods of stability and slow shifts in attitudes, such as could be seen during the Victorian era. Pluto transited through Aries, Taurus and Gemini from 1822-1912 – slow and steady won the race in their day, that’s for sure. Over recent years, Pluto has transited through Virgo, Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius between 1957 – 2008. This last fifty year period has brought about fast changes and, for some, an overwhelming sense of things spinning out of (their) control. And now things start to slow down again after November 2008 as the orbit begins to hit the long sides again.
So, I can hear you say – what does this mean for me and my nearest and dearest? The thing for all of us to do, as Pluto revisits the last degrees of Sagittarius, is look back at what we were doing and what plans we were making during December ’07 and January ’08, and previously from February – June 07. These periods will be woven together in time, connecting ideas and projects over and over for you to work and rework. As Sagittarius is the sign associated with bigness, expansion, enthusiasm, optimism, reaching out to the world, freedom, human rights, publishing, broadcasting, religion, belief, self-belief, your world view of yourself and everyone else in it, exploration of new planets, then any of your ideas that you truly believe in are likely to take root and become manifest when Pluto enters Capricorn, the sign of reality and structure, from November on.
Actually, I see a re-enacting of some of the energy and values of the Nineteen Eighties when Pluto is in Capricorn – a return to wearing black, being “suited and booted” – an emphasis on money and getting/having being the prevalent philosophy throughout the 15 or so years. Remember how things were when that other long slow moving planet, Neptune, went through Capricorn from 1984-1998? We could see a picture emerging of many of the same issues; however, they are likely to result in a distinctly different outcome for society at large.
On a personal level it sounds good to me – go for whatever your projects are – you will have plenty of time over the next few years to see them really take solid form for yourself.
