Pluto's Transit of Capricorn

Pluto will return to Capricorn in November after its brief retrograde visit to Sagittarius. It will remain in the sign of Capricorn until 2023. This is particularly important in the chart of America as this symbolizes what is referred to as a "Return". This means the planet is returning to the position it held at the birth of America. Obviously, since this planet takes about 248 years to make a complete circuit of the zodiac, this is never experienced in a person's natal chart.

The last time Pluto was in Capricorn, America was seeing the birth of a new nation. Just as it was way back then, America is once again experiencing a time of turmoil. This is symptomatic of what this planet symbolizes. It is often symbolic of fierce power struggles and, in extreme cases, violence. I don't think anyone is going to march on Washington and burn down the capital, but it is indicative of the turmoil facing America today with the mismanagement of Washington and our government's catering to Wall Street and the mega-wealthy that keep the campaign coffers full.

Just as we fought Britain for independence, there is another fight coming in America. This fight appears as though it will focus on the common American man and woman getting their voices heard in Washington and more safeguards in our financial system. We may very well once again get back to remembering that – "Freedom isn't free; you have to be willing to fight for it!" Instead of the current twist to that adage, which is – "Freedom isn't free; you have to be able to afford to "buy" your share of it!"

That we are currently experiencing turmoil, there can be no doubt. In all likelihood this situation is going to get worse before it gets better. Property values are expected to drop by as much as 20% to 30%. The unemployment rate, currently at over 6%, is expected to possibly reach 10% to 12% before we begin to see more prosperous times again. Pluto is rarely subtle in its influence. It rules transformation and often this transformation is painful. It's as if we have to walk through the fire to purge ourselves and reach the other side. Although these transformations are ultimately beneficial, they are quite often more than a little unpleasant as we experience them.

If we look back on the recent past and review some of the situations experienced in the world through Pluto's recent transits, we may get an idea of what might be in store during Pluto's transit of Capricorn.

When Pluto transited its own sign of Scorpio, we saw a disease brought to the world's attention. Pluto is the ruler of the sign Scorpio, co-ruled by Mars. Pluto and Scorpio are the natural rulers of the eighth house. Among other things, the eighth house rules sex and death. Although the death symbolized by the eighth house is more often transformational than the actual physical death of the body. However, as we saw Pluto transit through Scorpio we saw on the world stage the emergence of the AIDS virus, linked both to sex and death. Researchers tell us today that this virus has actually been with us for about 100 years. The burgeoning communities in Africa gave the virus the conditions it needed to proliferate and spread throughout the world.

Today, by some estimates, as many as 40 million people may be infected with the virus. It is an ongoing battle and, although gains have been made, this enemy is a wily one and mutates so rapidly that researchers are continually on the defensive and trying to play catch-up in their efforts to fight it.

During Pluto's transit through the last degrees of Scorpio, we saw some of the first indications of some of the things we could expect with Pluto's transit of Sagittarius.

Sagittarius is the natural sign on the ninth house. Two of the things symbolized by the ninth house are religion and, through its ruler, Jupiter, excess. In the last degrees of Pluto's transit through Scorpio we saw the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993. One of the more negative manifestations of Sagittarius is fanaticism. This, of course, ties in with religion and as Pluto swung into Sagittarius we became more aware of the global problem of terrorism. Those that weren't aware of this problem were made aware of it and left with no doubt about its severity when the Twin Towers were brought down on September 11, 2001.

As usual for America, we took relatively few measures after the first attack in 1993 and another fanatical attack in Oklahoma City. Now we are trying to make up for almost 30 years of relatively ignoring this troubling turn of events. Our laxity has cost us billions of dollars and thousands of lives!

Also we have to keep in mind that the sign of Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter, the planet of excess. Scandals over the creative cooking of the financial books began to come to light with the fall of World.com and Enron. If anyone had any doubt about the severity of this problem or how widespread it had become, there's no doubt anymore! With the collapse of Wall Street the American taxpayers are likely to be left to foot the bill, which may well surpass three trillion dollars! The same people that fight government interference are now crying to that same government to clean up their mess. These monies will come out of the pockets of the same people whose jobs they have been sending abroad for decades while receiving billions in corporate welfare and tax breaks for putting Americans out of work! Funny how that worked out – unless, of course, you’re one of the people that lost your job, your health care insurance, and your home!

Washington played along with this scenario by allowing wages to stagnate, pensions to be frozen, and benefits to be cut. By allowing these policies to continue for decades, America and the world are getting to see an experiment play out – what happens when the consumer society of the world can no longer afford to consume? Anyone watching this disaster unfold had to see it coming. Or, as a Wall Street CEO emailed to a colleague back in 2005 – "Let's hope we’re out of here before this house of cards caves in!"

So we have all the elements of a perfect storm in place. This perfect storm will play out on the stage of the sign of Capricorn until 2023. Capricorn is the natural sign of the tenth house. The tenth house is associated with, among other things, politics and business. In my opinion, these are the two major tenth house issues where we are likely to see transformation in the coming years.

It is obvious to everyone that we have to have at least a degree of regulation in our financial markets to keep the pathological greed on Wall Street in check. During this process, however, we are also likely to get a ringside seat at seeing just how incestuous the relationship of Wall Street and Washington really is. This will further drive home to the American people just who Washington "really" works for. These ramifications may very well be the incentive that America needs to push for changes in Washington, too. It is blatantly apparent that the Democrats and Republicans are becoming increasingly ineffectual at running our country. This may be just the incentive America needs to open the door for another political party to run the country, some of which have been struggling for years to make their presence known on a wider scale.

To add to the volatility of Pluto's transit through Capricorn, in 2011 Uranus, the planet of revolution, will form a square aspect with Pluto. This square will be on again/off again in orb for the next five years until 2016. This will likely add more than a little fuel to the fire in America. In all likelihood, this will indicate a time of great tension here in America. Because this appears to be looming on the horizon, it may very well be an indication that things here will not greatly improve over the next few years. This is an aspect of tension and when Americans are happy they're usually not very tense. Consequently, I believe this is an indication that things will get worse before they get better. This may be needed in order to get Americans off the couch and to the voting booth in a futile attempt to choose the lesser of two evils!

There's an old saying: "The only people that like change are kids with wet diapers!" That seems to exemplify life in America particularly. We saw the disaster coming – with terrorism, the economy, and politically – and are now paying the price for our indolence.

Pluto rules transformation and often these transformations are rather unpleasant. Pluto, however, doesn't care whether you like it or not. Pluto is an irresistible force and the more we try to resist, the more pressure is applied until – like a dam bursting or a volcano erupting – we have no recourse but to yield to its power. Pluto's changes are irrevocable. Pluto also indicates power struggles and those in power are as addicted to their power as a drug addict is addicted to drugs. These changes won't come without a fight. The good news, though, is that although these transformations are initially unpleasant, they are also ultimately beneficial. We just have to walk through the fire first or we'll never reach the other side.

Click here for information on what Pluto represents in the birth chart.

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