Pluto’s Station: Everyday Struggles with Desires, Dreams and Rationality

Astrologers talk about Pluto as “transformative.” Its keywords are create, deny, destroy—which pretty much covers the spectrum from the truly disastrous to the deliciously awful, with the sumptuously ecstatic falling somewhere between. For all the hoopla about it, when astronomers “downgraded” Pluto from planet to dwarf planet, not an astrologer blinked. After all, astrological effects don’t depend on what you call that body, right?

Considered metaphysically, there’s no doubt that Pluto’s movements, stations and transits give us valuable insights into the timing of Things Societal and Things Personal. But few of us stop to think about why Pluto would have its rather mystical allure. Yes, there’s the connection to sex. But sex is just one of a whole list of things associated with Scorpio (Pluto being ruler of Scorpio outcomes, not their actual doings).

The real Scorpio question is whether we have chosen wisely when we choose to get involved, or with whom we choose to get involved. And that’s the big clue, because what we all think of as “that Pluto magnetism” is actually Neptune’s magnetism—and here we aren’t talking metaphysics. Planet Neptune literally controls the orbit of Pluto and a handful of other celestial objects (like Ixion and Huya). So when we think about Scorpio as where our values meet up with the values (and what is valued) by others, the dotted line between Pluto and Neptune is “personal judgment vs. risk”—or how well we manage our own part in choosing what we do and don’t get involved in, and whether we are controlled by “it,” whether we try to control “it,” or whether we work to control ourselves in terms of how we get and remain involved.

And that’s a question of “fantasy vs. emotional reality”…with Pluto being a marker of how well that turns out for us. The “allure” of Things Scorpio is a Pisces/Neptune fantasy…which makes sense when we think of the 5th house (and thus any 5th harmonic or trine) as “the fun of it all.”

What do we mean by that? Well, Pisces is the 5th sign from Scorpio (aka “Scorpio’s 5th harmonic”). So in things Pisces (and where you find Pisces in your natal chart)—that’s where you’ll find the “thing” or “outlet” which represents where you experience Pluto’s outcomes, plus and minus. Using everybody’s favorite version of Scorpio (sex), you will thus imagine (or “fantasize’) how you might be able to be liberated or “get naked” with others when you proverbially “strip off” daily reality and troubles in having fun…and that will be the Neptune “ecstasy/illusion, creations/dissolution” allure which challenges you when you think about whether to get involved or not to get involved.

And whether you do or not, the emotional repercussions of same is the Pluto part. Whether you choose the person, place, thing, timing, investment, personal exposure…these are all the emotional lessons which come back to you via Pluto’s transits mundane and personal.

Bearing all this in mind, we then contemplate that come September 16 (at 6:23pm UT/+0), Pluto will go direct at 4 Capricorn. So! All our thinking and wrestling with what we learned about the whole of this Neptune-ruled Pluto dynamic of hopes versus disappointment and the realities of life and ability…all our efforts to find solutions which work for everyone and in doing so benefit us…all that now comes into focus.

For some, these days around September 16 (say the 14th through the 18th) are going to be a focal and perceptual “turning point” in a far greater process—maybe even in life. Much which went “underground” or into a “re-organizational” mode back in early April 2011 too now goes back into a more “pro-active” mode, though for some, this may be far more about what you’re trying to avoid (deny) than make happen (create) or transform (destroy/rebuild). If neither the April nor September stations have aspected your personal chart, effects may have been subtle. Or something which got “undone” or which “became undone” back in April may now—through purposeful efforts—now connect to results as (and after) Pluto goes direct.

Also worth remembering: this station takes place in Capricorn, so the “subject” is “structural.” Basic matters require change and need dealing with. Being that the “moving force” is Pluto, you may want control, and the lesson may be that you can’t have all the control. Nor will having what you want be at the expense of others work well. What functions now and going forward must work for everyone, with your rewards coming either as part of the package, or because you have put some “umbrella solution” on the table or into the works.

Four Capricorn—the degree Pluto goes direct in—is also a first decanate degree. Anything which happens in the first ten degrees of any sign (degrees zero to 9) is all about what we do, or who we are, including our physicality. So whether we regard Capricorn as government, or commerce, our career, our marriage (yes, marriage as an institution is Capricorn) or a symbol of physical structure in the sense of our bones, skeletal integrity, kidneys or teeth…this moment all about us. And because this is a global moment of planetary station, about our ability to function cohesively and productively as part of a world around us now goes through changes.

And yes, we should expect things to seem complicated. That’s the “emotionally testing” part.

A little Neptune note worth remembering, however: Neptune’s 2011/2012 cycle moves it back and forth across the Aquarius/Pisces boundary, signifying a period which on personal and societal levels is simply confusing, unsettling and unlikely to settle into clarity. Things “as they were” are going through a classic Neptunian “dissolution” phase and that phase doesn’t end today, tomorrow or next month. So this is a step in a process, and we can expect that confusion, delusions and the “is this going to work” is going to continue; what happens now is a turning point, but success is not yet assured.

Building on this, 4 Capricorn also carries with it an aura of Venus-type “investment.” And that this is an intense and vital moment is shown by Venus—a general symbol of our willingness or comfort with a process—standing at 2 Libra, conjunct TNO Typhon, as Pluto goes direct. Two Libra has a reputation for strength of conviction without brash performance…a “slow and steady and behind the scenes” sort of thing. So add in Typhon’s primal urges and Venus, cause/effect energetics to suggest a time of polarity with some watching, some doing, some doing-only-for-show and some working behind those metaphysical (or real world) scenes.

But that’s not all! Against this Venus/Typhon at 2 Libra we have Uranus opposing from 2 Aries. Having passed fixed star Scheat (public rejection or repudiation) at 29 Pisces but still within orb, Uranus here is the image of efforts being made to move on after a connective or collective “breakdown.” During the years Uranus passes through Aries (2011- 2018) change is upon us—our only choice is whether we want to change by volition or have change thrust upon us.

The opposition here says that we can be connecting with someone, blaming someone or realizing through someone who we are or need to become. And thus, we change! With Venus/Typhon in this picture what we change is something primal and most usefully about us (Aries) and how we interact with others (Libra) in order to elicit basic success (Venus/Typhon).

And yet…because Pluto stands at the mid-point between this Uranus/Venus/Typhon configuration, what we really have is a t-square. The common description of a t-square being all about the idea of meeting up with a “hurdle” which we need to “get over” to reach our goal. With Pluto representing the “hurdle” here, it’s probably most productive to see this t-square challenge as an emotional position you need to get over in yourself, too…if you want to reach your ultimate goal, that is!

Because this t-square is composed of first-decan degrees (what I do or who am being) and with Uranus being in the “I Am” sign of Aries, we have two votes for this being about what we do and changing (Uranus) what we do or how we go about doing it. Add in Venus/Typhon in interactive Libra and this brings us into relationship with others in the personal or business sense. Top off with Pluto in Capricorn at the “t” and voilá…we are changing something basic and structural in an area or at a level which has some very basic worldly applications (job, marriage, physical capacity, etc.).

Considering how this configuration comes to be in a time of economic turmoil and job problems here and there and everywhere around the world, this is a call to “get over ourselves” and our reluctance to change. Something needs changing. Are you changing jobs? Your marital or relationship status, in a way which changes the way you are seen in the world? Are you changing your line of work? Whatever is going on, like as not it involves some hard choices, each of which holds challenges, opportunities and possible benefits. Which will you choose? How will you go about negotiating your way to success (Venus/Typhon/Libra), choosing to change and become (Uranus/Aries) or take on or let go of (Pluto in Capricorn)?

With Pluto being our signature, there’s likely to be some desire to control things—or to have it your way (the “have your cake and eat it too” thing). That’s unlikely to play out well, but you may need to learn why it won’t work. Those who “fail” this roll of the dice get tossed “back to Go” (without collecting $200)…which in this case is Venus/Typhon (isolated or short-lived success). Do you want that?

Is all this easy? No! Is it necessary? Probably. And even where it’s not necessary it may benefit you in the long run…a thought which takes us back to Pluto as create, deny, destroy, and how the good and bad of that has to do with our Neptune ability to dream big and our Pluto ability to live real, which is really about our recognition that life is not innately nice or evil—it just is.

Boots Hart, CAP

Boots Hart is an ISAR-certified astrologer of 30 years’ experience, with some 20 years as a magazine and online columnist.

Writer by habit and philosopher by bent (some say very bent…), Boots is a metaphysical science geek spiritualist—a person as inspired by the workings of time/space as touched by the often painful adventures of mankind. Through writings public and private, her aim is to use astrology as cipher, helping us understand. Can we learn how to live a happier life? What does that take? Why are the times as they are? These are the questions. And that answers can be gleaned from cosmic cycles and the reflections of those in our lives? That would seem to be part of our journey—the one path we all take and walk together.

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