6/19/71
March 8, 1999
Pluto
Last year my Dad died Feb 23, and this has hit me like the proverbial rug being tugged from under me.
I can't seem to understand how I am part of my nuclear family anymore as sometimes I feel like an alien...
My birth details are as follows...19 june 1971 - 7:50 pm BST Nottingham ,England
I know that Pluto has been dancing around my ascendant on and off and has been opposing Venus. I have an extravert Gemini Sun but it's squared by my own natal Pluto. Basically I feel like I've been trying to make my way through tarmac and I've noticed that my artwork has subtle sensual, erotic overtones.
How is it best to get positive stuff from quite a big Pluto transit like this one?
6/19/71
I'm very sorry to hear of the loss of your father.
As for your Pluto question...I can see that transiting Pluto has been busy in your chart for at least the last 6 years and won't be satisfied with anything but complete transformation over the course of at least another 3 years, or perhaps another 6 years. From my perspective, this is nothing but positive unless you try to actively resist change. As a Gemini, Curiosity is the lifeblood of your chart, and Curiosity, as we all know, has a very unusual side-affect. Okay...it's probably dangerous for Gemini's to be around cats...but what I really want to emphasize is that eventually, all of that curiosity leads to certain inescapable facts, conclusions and Knowledge. It's the kind of thing that can get you into big trouble. With your BIG M.C. Uranus you're meant to be a kind of public nuisance. Your disturbing truths and knowledge are meant to become quite public. Galileo comes to mind. When he was able to collect the facts to prove the Copernican theory of a heliocentric solar system / universe nobody minded. Nobody much believed or understood that kind of science except other scientists and the Church fathers. When he decided to publish his findings in readable Italian (as opposed to scientific Latin) so that most people could understand it he became a victim of the Inquisition.
Pluto now conjuncts your Ascendant and sextiles that pesky, public Uranus. Of course your art work is going to have erotic overtones. My guess is that you're seeing the changes going on in the appearance of things on the surface but are experiencing them in the deepest level of your being. Pluto has spent all of these last few years working on your Neptune and Jupiter, transforming the deeper layers of yourself. It's been getting you ready to crack through the surface and dig way down deep into those difficult, sticky tar pits. What you are likely meant to do is to transform the UNDERtones of your work. Pluto is bringing depth of meaning to you and your work. Extraversion is a wonderful gift. It is the great social lubricant that fosters community. But extraverts have a difficult time looking INSIDE. (Just as Introverts, who foster culture, have a hard time popping out of the turtle shell and meeting the world at large). Your transformation is meant to give you Depth, as a balance to your exhuberance and extraversion.
The fact that you're faced with such a prolonged set of Pluto transits speaks to a tremendous amount of change in your life and work. Change causes stress and mistakes, but it also means growth, maturity and depth. Many artists resist the idea that there is any symbolic or inherent meaning in their images and work. Being unconscious of meaning doesn't negate the meaning...it simply cuts you off from an important source of living energy. It takes work to reach that source, and a certain momentum to get you started. Psyche is certainly pushing you in that direction.
Because of your prominently placed 4th House cusp, I'd say that family is one of those places that contains important Depth material. After all, the tar pits contain the remains of ancestors going back very far into our natural history. The trick is not to get stuck there yourself and become simple hydrocarbon fuel for a distant, and unconscious descendant. I'd say that whatever your medium is...experiment and then try to get in touch with the symbolic meanings you find. It is also crucial, if you haven't already done so, to connect as deeply as possible with all of the memories and feelings that you have concerning your father and to give expression to those feelings in as many different creative works as possible. It is also important for you to create a tribute to him that you can keep somewhere in your home or studio. This advice comes from Jack Miller, who has written an important book called "Healing Our Losses" and who continues to do extraordinary depth work through his Phoenix Project.
kristo