November 28, 2008, Pluto will effectively move into Capricorn for the long haul. Pluto will be in Capricorn for 15 years until 2024. Forgive me as I bounce around a little between the past and the future. I like to look at the past to help me navigate the present into the future.
Looking back at where we have been, Pluto transited through Sagittarius beginning in 1995 and it was quite the run. Sagittarius (ruled by Jupiter) tends to function with big and expansive ideals. Religion and philosophies, higher education, diversity and culture, along with the ever well known category, Long Journeys. Long journeys in this day and age means "over the moon" with trips to Mars and beyond. Also, who could forget about diversity of perspectives that seemingly spurred on the arguments over whether Pluto is a planet, an asteroid or a mini planetoid. Religion has gone through cataclysmic redefinition; from Islamic beliefs to Catholic beliefs to Wicca beliefs to name a few religions that have felt the impacts of Pluto's transit through Sagittarius. Pluto's been busy redefining many of these areas in our lives. And these concept changes will be with us for a long time, but we are also starting to see the change that is coming our way as Pluto prepares to completely leave Sagittarius and move into Capricorn territory next month.
Pluto's 15 year transit through Capricorn could be more subtle and seemingly skim just below the surface of events. We have a whole lot to learn about authority (who really has it vs. who thinks they have it), status (again, who really has it), structure, business, industry and management. Saturn rules over Capricorn. It will be really interesting to see how the two planets play together while Pluto is in Capricorn and Saturn is in Scorpio beginning October 2012 during this mutual reception of transits. In the United States, we definitely need to be really careful about who gets elected this year, since this newly elected President will begin to set the trends that lead into 2012.
Pluto is renowned for death and rebirth. The proverbial Phoenix Rising tends to grab situations by the gonads and give a twist to the outcome that no one is expecting. The "Beginning of the End" is a fitting title for the changes that Pluto brings about. Interestingly enough, the last time Pluto transited through Sagittarius and Capricorn was in the mid-1700s. That was definitely a time of changing philosophies and long distance moves on the part of many people from European countries. New philosophies developed, new religions and a gamut of cultural conversions. Stories grew out of the "invasions" and colonization of foreign soil on distant continents. These were stories that seemed very romantic and gutsy at the time. When Pluto moved into Capricorn in 1762, a whole new picture began to emerge about "who was in control." That was a period of defining organization, structure and authorities. Of course, we all know that the 1770s was the period of the United States becoming a new "country" breaking free from England's attempts to claim ownership of the "new" territory. The American Revolution, and there were many other revolutions taking place during this time. It was a time of long established cultures becoming virtually extinguished as technology and brutal wit moved nations in a new direction. Businesses and governments were shaken to the core back then. I'm speculating that the entities will be shaken to the core once again over the next 15 years. One other factor to consider is that Pluto and Saturn did form a mutual reception during Pluto's last transit through Capricorn. If you choose to do the research yourself, check out the historical events for the years 1777 - 1779.
Looking into the near future, the Saturn Pluto mutual reception during 2013 and 2014, will, most likely, bring upheaval in ways we can never imagine simply because technology is totally different today than it was. One more observation that I have is the fact that Pluto will still be in Capricorn when Saturn arrives there in 2018. Will they work as a team? The history behind this transit is a little more difficult to come by. I could be wrong here, but the last time I can find any records of Saturn and Pluto both transiting through Capricorn at the same time is 782 - 785 (AD).
Back to the present, and at this point in time, Saturn is currently in Virgo. We have one more year of Saturn in Virgo. Next, Saturn will start the transit Libra near the end of October, 2009. Partnerships (corporations) will need to be restructured, legal entities will be scrutinized, and financial institutions will need to clean up their squalor. Looking back, while Saturn transited Libra, 1980-1981, there was a period of global economic recession. Many businesses were reorganized and redefined. The first example I can think of comes from the automobile industry. There were several governmental bailouts of the American automobile industry during the early 1980s. Also, does anyone remember how many bank failures there were back then?
Saturn's transit through Scorpio has a tendency to force us to investigate the matters that we consider to be "taboo" or too hot to handle. For example, let's look back to the last time Saturn moved through Scorpio in 1983-1984. Geraldine Ferraro was the first female to run as vice president in the United States. Jesse Jackson was the first African-American presidential candidate. Sally Ride was the first woman astronaut in the US traveling into space. US prisons were crumbling under the huge influx of inmates. The whole world was struggling with a newly discovered illness called the "gay plague" which we now know more about but have yet to figure out how to cure; AIDS.
I can't help but feel like the trend of Pluto's move into Capricorn will continue to spur economic and governmental evaluations. As Saturn moves into Libra near the end of 2009, legal entities, corporations and financial institutions will be expected to clean up their mess while Pluto redefines the rules of the business game. Then the next real change will be seen while Saturn moves through Scorpio beginning in October 2012. There have already been scary predictions that December 2012 could be the "end of the world" based on the Mayan calendar ending that year as well as some other forecasts from other famous astrologers. Forecasts are merely "probabilities" and NEVER seem to turn out exactly as predicted.
So where does this knowledge leave us as we anticipate the shifts from the planetary transits that bring generational changes? Well, once again, there are no easy answers or prognostications that can fully prepare us for the future. We hopefully learn from history and find solutions that can help minimize the pain of transition. That is what astrology is all about. We can see the cycles and the patterns from the past which allow us to see the direction and focus that we need to take for the future. Whether we are smart enough to see this, and use this to our advantage is the whole other side of the astrology coin; free will vs. fate.
Is the END truly near? ummmm.... well, isn't it always the end of something?
