Pluto has officially entered Capricorn, sound the alarms! The planet of power and collective transformation has entered the sign of the ultimate authority, the Earth and her resources. And this is happening for the first time in your lifetime! How incredible. It kind of makes you feel (honored, excited, scared insert your word here) to be alive.

It was about 7:30 PM on Friday night when our town alarm sounded off, heralding Pluto’s entry into Capricorn, almost to the minute. I love listening to the world signals around huge shifts, and this world alarm clock sang: uh-huh, it’s time.

And it is. After all, it had been raining for 24 hours straight in this little Bay Area mountain town, the creek was at its brim, and it was time to pay heed to the forces of nature. We didn’t have to evacuate, but we remembered it the mudslides, flooding and house slides from the last time it had rained this long and hard in 2006, fondly recalling dumpsters being carried by water along downtown streets, footage our sister town turned into a movie we watched in reverential awe in a ballpark field during summer movie night last year. A neighboring house that my husband deemed “tragic” and is a skeleton reminder of the flood, still sits vacant in disrepair.

Mind you, Pluto is a force of nature, and that’s why we offer the God our humble awe & respect.

Ever tried to stop a flood?

Q: Whose rules are we playing by anyhow? A: The Earth rules.

Pluto & Capricorn. There’s shadow-y overlap between these two archetypes, both have an affinity for power, both can be ruthlessly ambitious, both lick honey off the razor’s edge. Their obsession with power and money is undeniable, as evidenced by America – the country with Pluto in Capricorn in our natal chart. The last time America experienced this transit was during the American Revolution, and many people are predicting America’s fall in power – but the opposite is just as possible at first, a sort of rise in power hunger, tyranny and increased consumption…before the fall.

And sometimes you do have to wade through the mud and muck, rinse off your valuables, and discover what one can survive and what never be taken away.

On a global level, many fine astrologers have written on Pluto in Capricorn. All of them point to a monumental in the way we govern our nation, our use of the earth’s resources, leadership, responsibility and power. (I’ve posted a fine article by astrologer Michael Lutin, also one by my friend at the Pisces Chronicles). How we will manage the rise of global capitalism over the next 19 years is one question of many. How will we manage and govern our resources, how will we use the earth? In the U.S. how long can we afford to continue to live beyond our means? How will we take care of an aging population? The issues are many and complex, but it’s our personal responsibility, and the inherent responsibility of those in power, that will be questioned, explored, dragged out of the closet over and over and over…Pluto’s like a dog digging in the backyard for buried bones (Capricorn). We may need to dig up the dead, to finally give up the dead.

Personally, we’ll each experience the transit a little differently, and as we’re all conduits of the collective, we’ll invite little or bigger “mini-me” experiences of the planet into our own lives. Astrology excels at archetypes, so I’ve come up with a brief list here taken from Tracy Marks’ The Astrology of Self-Discovery. Imagine them as characters in your life, maybe you already recognize one, or a few.

The Power Hungry Authority. The Silent Provider. The Silent Father. The Capitalist. The Compassionate Realist. The Compassionate Loner. The Corrupt Denier. The Compulsive Workaholic. The Rebuilding President. The Relentless Pragmatist. The Power Addicted Individualist. The Obsessed Achiever. The Healing Pillar of Strength.

Let’s hope.

So back to our story… when Pluto entered Capricorn, and the alarm sounded in our little mountain village, it prompted a moment of silent observance before dinner (after reading a little planet appropriate poetry, below). We each sent compassion into the universe for those who will hold onto their seats and cling to whatever it is they cling to ever more tightly, that they might, little by little, release their grip on that thing.

Meanwhile, I’m gonna get me some rain boots.

Hit the Fan by Kabir, 15th Century Mystic

When God says to God, “Where are you?”

Watch out – duck, for the shit

is going to hit

the

fan.

 

 

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