We’re not finished with Pluto in Capricorn, and it’s not finished with us. On 6/11/23, Pluto retrogressed back to earthy Capricorn from airy Aquarius. Pluto re-traces the last three degrees of Capricorn and then re-enters Aquarius for the second time on 1/20/24. Essentially, 2023 is a hybrid year (Pluto bridging two signs) which is typical with an outer planet (like Pluto) when it’s determined to change signs, because it’s time! Of course, it’s no coincidence that Capricorn is represented by Father Time and how we make sense of our life experiences – its key and commemorative developmental phases, its highs and lows, its insistent drumbeat to make the most of our life, of leaving our mark, our legacy, and that we do have a finite number of days and years. The seriousness of it all. That’s why Capricorn is consumed with history, ours, others, and those of nations. Do we repeat the patterns of the past? These latter degrees of Capricorn take us back 248 years to the beginning of our country. And so, at this moment in time, we ask what does our country, the United States stand for?
We might agree that since 2008 (in particular), the erosion of trust in institutions meant to serve the people has reached a peak. Of course, this trend has been building much longer than 2008 but back then our focus and attention was galvanized by the stock market crash and the bail-out of banks, insurance companies and the auto industry, etc., the ripples of which we are still feeling. Our health care system, although improved by the Affordable Care Act (2010) is still unbearably expensive for most Americans. Currently as we breathe in the 29th degree of Capricorn we are witnessing the decay of the Judicial branch of government, the Supreme Court, extreme congressional partisanship and paralysis, and a gravely endangered democracy. Note: For the next Presidential election, 2024, Pluto will again be expounding from its 29th degree…and then on 11/19/24 reaching 0 Aquarius again, remaining in the sign for its 20-year cycle. That said, the next 1.5 years will be pivotal and consequential. Turmoil, chaos, and transformation are typical with planets at the so-called critical degrees of 29 and 0.
Bailouts of core failing institutions (too big to fail) marked the beginning of Pluto’s transit through Capricorn, 2008. The tenth sign of the Zodiac speaks to the archetypes of trust, respect, integrity, responsibility, stability, accountability, reliability, history, precedent, rules/regulations, foundation, structures, protection (including protection of the Earth we stand upon), the marketplace, capitalism, etc. to name some, and those institutions we look to for support and standards of ethical conduct, including our democratic government and its leadership. Pluto in Capricorn has placed a greater spotlight on these matters. The widespread proliferation of conspiracy theories accelerated once Neptune entered Pisces in 2011 and has since spread like a mental/emotional virus to the point where many doubt what the truth really is. What standards do we use to determine what is true and what is false? Is critical thinking still alive and well?
Pluto sits @ 29 degrees from 6/11-7/28/29 and a few important aspects stimulate this critical degree. Mars/Leo makes an irritating inconjunct (150deg.) in range 7/8-11/23, accentuating the issues of personal and collective power and how it is used. The Nodes of the Moon changing to Aries/Libra square Pluto 7/12-8/1/23, bringing powerful events affecting many people’s lives. Venus in fiery Leo gets into the action turning Stationary Retrograde @ 28deg. close enough to cause trouble in relation to Pluto by inconjunct (150deg.) – in range, 7/17-8/1/23, It’s w/in a degree of Pluto all that time. A retrograde station of any planet wants to make its point well-known. (More on the Venus/Leo Retrograde cycle in another article.) Women’s concerns, strong women and financial markets are highlighted, and we are called upon to dig deep within to align with our truest values, those that are worth protecting. Fairness and justice continue to be front and center. We are living under dramatic conditions in dangerous times, indicating summer 2023 will be powerful, intense, and over-heated in many ways. While we feel the pressures of destabilization, we simultaneously have opportunities to be immensely creative in solving the problems we face, if we have the willingness, passion and love.
Note: We had a short taste of Pluto in Aquarius from 3/23 – 6/11/23. We have another hybrid year in 2024, but Pluto remains in Aquarius for the greater part of the year transiting and completing its journey through Capricorn for a shorter time. Finally, in 2025, Pluto is fully lodged in Aquarius for its duration of 20 years.
“In astrology we all hold skies within us.” – Anonymous