PLUTONIC TRANSFORMATIONS,
OCTOBER 2007

[This is the fourth in a multi-part series by noted astrologer Boots Hart on Pluto's transition in January 2008 into the sign of Capricorn. If this outer-planet powerhouse fascinates you, you can also check the Daykeeper archives, especially Maya's and Jessica Murray's work, for more on Pluto transits.—Ed.]

Whether in one’s natal chart, in transit, or as a symbol in a sign, Pluto is always, at some level, about the power of choice. Choices we make well, empower us. Poor choices bring us to grief.

Astrologically associated with the water sign Scorpio, most people think of Pluto (correctly) as the experience of obsession and passion. What divides success from failure, gain from loss here depends then on two ideas.

The first asks how knowingly we choose when selecting our obsessions and/or passions. Plutonic energy does not suffer fools, nor does it humor self-abandonment. Few of us have the Master’s internal awareness to accept a responsibility in which possession of total power is equal to total submission to that power we come to possess. Conversely, very few have the Mystic’s ability to be indestructible through conscious vulnerability. Those who violate these two Plutonic rules inevitably encounter unpleasantries of an emotional, financial, business, personal and/or interactive kind.

Plutonic energy calls us to be aware of our potential, and how close we are living to the truth of that potential is shown through the quality of our relationships and challenges we choose—or don’t choose. Plutonic dynamics support and reward those who live at their highest level, and through the law of reciprocity sets those who fail this standard back by exactly the amount by which they fail the measure of their potential effort.

During Pluto’s passage of Sagittarius, this potentiality and personal display of mastery has been expressed through our accepting responsibility for building a life through selective, qualified investment and/or the abdication of the responsibility to make such choices. Some of us have obsessed over the desire to use ourselves fully. Others have spent our time obsessing over what others have, or have accomplished… or merely the issue of making choices and sticking with them.

Now as Pluto moves into Capricorn, staying informed and making choices becomes each person’s ongoing obligation. No longer will we have the option of leaving things for "others" to worry about. In the biggest picture, the "global village" has now come to be. Issues of health, finance, resources, morality, danger, success—it’s all everyone’s business and there is no hiding. We’re no longer isolated, and that carries through to our individual lives. With Pluto in Capricorn (2008 – 2023) there is no hiding from life, from the facts, from life’s realities—except for those who are okay with hiding by getting buried in problems of their own making, that is.

This transit requires courage, conviction and a willingness to give up notions of failure and that something "out there" is hindering your ability to achieve. If you’re hindered, it’s because you’ve chosen to be hindered. The good news is you can get un-hindered any time you want to. You make a different choice.

For those under born under Pluto in Cancer (1914-1938), fear versus faith, and knowledge that your challenge involves whether you will continue to participate and grow, is all important.

For Baby Boomers (Pluto in Leo: 1938–1958) the quandary involves the gap between what you have already accomplished and that which you need yet to do in order to become secure with a sense of personal satisfaction about your life.

Pluto in Virgo ‘Yuppies’ (1958-1972) are up against a growing comprehension of consequence. What they do with their lives depends on society and world events— which in turn depends on what they’re willing to do about that society and the world. What’s worth doing? How can one help make sure the world will survive to be passed on to one’s children? How to make this world a place you would even want your children to survive in?

This being a "must do" period, actively applying knowledge in learning to capitalize on talents is the Pluto in Libra (1972-1983) Gen X’er job. Successful Gen X’ers will focus not on what someone else is or thinks, but who the Gen X’er is and what they "know" inside. Using that on the broadest scale produces the positive feedback Gen X knows it needs to build on going forward.

Pluto in Scorpio (1983-1995) people are making choices on what to invest resources (time, loyalty, energy, effort, emotion, money) in. Success here depends on choosing that thing (and/or partners) which is/are of the very highest quality and which will require the very best of you.
Kids born under Pluto in Sagittarius (1995-2008) are choosing what to emulate. Yet because they are children, those who parent, teach or guard these children get to make choices as to what the child sees and hears and thus has available to choose to copy from. In the best situations, everyone involved with a child will have good standards and communicate these standards with others on the child’s "team" so that these kids receive a realistic picture of life, replete with both possibilities and flaws.

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