Tuesday
March 30, 1999
Pluto in Sagittarius
I am a Sag and have been aware that Pluto is traveling through my sign
at this point in time. I also know that we don't have any specific
records of this small planet going thru Sag since it has been approx 236
years since this last occurred.
I also know that Pluto represents transformation, and I certainly know
that I am in the process of making some major changes in my life.
Can you give me any additional information which could be helpful in
handling this energy and what I might expect in the years to come? I
understand it will be in Sag for another 6 or 7 years. Is that correct?
Pluto enters Capricorn January 6, 2008. You will likely find Steven Forrest's Book of Pluto to be full of the kind of information you're looking for. Steve is my favorite Astrology author.
My own personal, conscious awakening to Pluto came about 5 years ago, when Pluto passed through a conjunction to my natal Mars. I won't go through all of the gory details...but my personal transformation required that I take action on something that had just deposited me between a rock and a hard place. Pluto plays hardball. Just when I thought that the problem would crush me...the solution became as clear as the light of day. It required a TREMENDOUS RISK and created the kind of fear that I had not been willing to confront without the high stakes that had just become involved.
In my personal situation, I had been living for quite a few years feeling like I was held hostage. It was something that I really needed to change but that had looked impossible, and then the solution that finally came had been a known option all along. I simply never would have dared to do it. Pluto brought about the circumstances that forced me to choose between getting into worse pain, anger and resentment, or simply, intuitively, and BRAVELY (I emphasize bravely because even I have trouble seeing it as anything other than INSANELY) bailing out. I chose the latter and it was obviousas the transit wore on (Pluto's transits can take up to 5 years) that I was following the path of my soul.
The point in all of this is that the nature of the planet / planets affected by Pluto determines the lessons that are meant to be learned and the kind of experience that it might look like. Transformation does not come cheaply. We don't achieve it through force of will, but it does require an attitude of cooperation (and that can be very costly). It means that we are changed to the extent that we think, feel and act in new ways as a result of the transformative experiences. We cross over from one state of being to an entirely new one. They are truly Initiatory experiences and constitute what we should understand to be true rites of passage. They have the character of the Crocodile / Alligator. Once the jaws of the experience close in on you...there is no way out. The initiation has begun and you will be changed, one way or another. That's not to say that you will be literally eaten up...but scars are not uncommon. It's crucial to have the benefit of a ritual elder to help you avoid unnecessary damage, injury or worse...a failed initiation. As the Jungian analyst Bob Moore has pointed out, our present culture and civilization are sadly lacking in ritual elders. We believe that our customary rituals are adequate for birth, marriage and death...but completely leave everything else to the Law and Prozac to police up the myriad failures.
Pluto represents the energy and experience of Initiations and rites of passage which are crucial to each individual...and because of the individuality of our birthcharts...requires an acknowledgment of the fact that one size does not fit all. Pluto carries both a scepter and a nightstick...and it's all a matter of your own attitude and perspective that determines the difference.
kristo