“Birth of the Earth” by Colleen-Joy Page

With my Mercury (thoughts and communication) in Scorpio (ruled by Pluto), Pluto’s naturally been on my mind (Mercury) a lot in a moderately obsessive (Pluto/Scorpio) way. To me the interesting thing isn’t Pluto’s so-called “demotion” (because how can the Lord of Death be demoted?). It’s the addition of Ceres to the mix.

I’ll be writing more about the whole Virgo/Cancer debate later, but there are some interesting facts about Ceres/Demeter and her relationship to the underworld that may be significant. Of course Ceres/Demeter is best known for the tale in which her daughter Persephone/Kore was abducted by Hades/Pluto into the underworld, but Ceres/Demeter herself was instrumental in the concept of resurrection. (The Romans adopted the Greek gods and the names were changed but the myths remained virtually identical.)

Barbara Walker’s amazing book The Secrets of the Tarot reveals that Demeter’s principal temple, Eleusis, was the site of resurrection rituals that may have been the precursor to the Christian myths. Demeter was the Mistress of Earth and Sea, promising to multiply loaves and fishes; her savior-son of various names was called the “Liberator”. During the rituals of the Eleusinian mysteries the seed of Dionysus was killed (reaped), buried (planted) and resurrected (sprouted), with his flesh eaten as bread and his blood drunk as wine. (Sound familiar?) During the ritual, the priestess and hierophant perform the “Great Rite,” re-enacting the coupling between Demeter and Zeus which conceived the child Dionysus. This Great Rite was thought to bring about the regeneration of the earth and the forgiveness of sins.

During Christian times Demeter was informally canonized as St. Demetra who according to legend also had a daughter, kidnapped this time by a wicked Turkish wizard. When a young man tries to rescue Demetra’s daughter he is captured and dismembered, and Demetra resurrects him so that her daughter can be rescued.

Pluto’s discovery in 1930 brought with it the introduction of the atomic bomb and the fear of ultimate annhilation, the ultimate power. In these days of terrorism when a single individual with a toiletry bottle can potentially wipe out thousands of people, our concept of power is changing. In centuries past, whichever country had the biggest guns had the most power. When the US was the only nation with the bomb we were the only superpower. When Russia developed the bomb, they were the other superpower. At this time nine nations have nuclear weapons, with several more to attain that status soon (including Iran). The whole concept of power, as embodied in the archetype of Pluto, is changing and this will become very clear in the 2010-2013 square of Uranus in Aries to Pluto in Capricorn. The power of Pluto hasn’t lessened one iota, but it has become universalized rather than being owned by just a few countries and individuals. Perhaps this is symbolized by the reclassification of Pluto as a dwarf planet, a status shared by many others.

Perhaps too the introduction of Ceres/Demeter into the Plutonic archetype offers hope for resurrection and regeneration from Pluto’s threat of total destruction.

Click on the image to enlarge it. Hubble photo supernova remnant Cassiopeia A courtesy of Universe Today.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran, has challenged President Bush to a live TV debate. Bush has denied any attempt that Iran has made to communicate with the US, so this is not likely to occur; however, it does make a textbook example of the dynamic between Mars and Pluto.

Mars represents the will of the individual ego to assert itself – it operates as our individual drive and aggressive instincts. Pluto acts from the deeper instincts beyond the ego, and consequently the anger and rage of Pluto is much deeper and comes from impulses that have long been buried without expression. When Mars squares Pluto in the current planetary cycle, the personal will of Mars becomes more fearless as it comes into conflict with the instinctual aggressive instinct of Pluto.

Both Ahmadinejad and Bush have Mars unaspected in their charts (see this earlier article
for more information about Ahmadinejad’s chart) showing their rebellious nature which makes it difficult to temper their aggressive instincts. The current Mars/Pluto square is forming a T-square to the Venus/Jupiter conjunction in Ahmadinejad’s chart and increasing his confidence and arrogance in stretching the boundaries of his relationships – in this case, with other world leaders.

In the past few days he has rejected the UN ultimatum and vowed to continue Iran’s path towards nuclear technology, inaugurating a new nuclear reactor plant in defiance of world opinion. He declared Saturday that the world must accept Iran as a powerful country in its own right.

Over the next year as Saturn in Leo opposes Neptune in Aquarius, issues of “who is in charge” (Leo) will come to the forefront. I’ll write more on this later, but Iran is certainly a prime example of what we have to look forward to.

Last week I saw a client (let’s call her Sylvia) whose birthchart demonstrates the power of Pluto. Sylvia’s Sun is in the hard-working sign of Capricorn: Capricorns typically have a difficult life when they’re young but because they’re such hard workers (ruled by the Celestial Taskmaster himself, Saturn) they can be quite powerful as they age and incorporate life’s lessons. She also has a Grand Trine including Mars, Jupiter and her Moon, bestowing a sense of inner trust (Jupiter/Moon) that life has meaning as well as a dynamic will (Mars/Jupiter) for self-preservation (Mars/Moon). These are the tools that have helped her to navigate a difficult life that has been Pluto’s gift to her. Note to astrologers: to protect her privacy I will not be posting her chart.

Pluto in the astrological chart shows where we come face to face with the underworld of our emotions: fear, compulsion, obsession. Pluto often shows where we face the cold reality of death in order to come to a greater understanding of life. Astrologer Liz Greene says that Pluto represents the essential life force in nature that often must destroy in order to survive. The power of Pluto is that basic, and that intense. When we’re in the middle of a Plutonic disaster (our spouse leaves us, we lose our job, our house burns down, our cat dies) we are lost in the underworld of our fear and the pain of loss that is Pluto’s realm. But once the storm has passed we find ourselves rebuilding the wreckage of our lives with a new sense of empowerment that comes from having faced our fears and survived.

Pluto is conjunct Sylvia’s ascendant (persona and identity) within one degree, exactly opposite Venus (relating to others and love of self) which is therefore conjunct the descendant (cusp of the seventh house of partnership). Any planet on the ascendant (rising) expresses itself through the personality, and Pluto rising often is a person who is intimidating and can be a bit of a bully. However, when two planets are opposite (180 degrees) each other, often the individual will express the energy of the planet at one end but project the other planet onto others in her life. This is particularly true when we are dealing with two planets in opposition that fall on the ascendant/descendant axis of personal identity/relationship identity.

Sylvia was born into a family of violence. Her father beat her on a regular basis, blaming her for deserving it. She grew up in fear for her life as her father, embodying Pluto on the identity axis, annhilated her sense of Self. Her Venus is on the cusp of the seventh house, making her extremely attractive and desirable and she easily escaped her home life by marrying at a very young age. Unfortunately, she attracted the exact dynamic to her and the beatings continued, this time from her husband. She escaped again from this marriage and since then has worked hard to learn from her experiences and make choices that will empower her in ways that she never knew.

Saturn, that Celestial Taskmaster, squares Chiron (wounding and healing) in her chart which has throughout her life forced her to confront her pain and learn its lessons and the Grand Trine in air signs (the ultimate harmonious chart dynamic) has been a tool through which she can process her experiences and learn from them. (Oprah Winfrey also has a Grand Trine in air signs.)

Now, in midlife, Sylvia is a woman with a strong resolve and a great deal of personal power, although she is still working on facing her fears. Her chart is a good representation for the Plutonic dynamics of fear, violence and ultimate empowerment. It also demonstrates how powerfully Pluto operates in the birthchart, and that will certainly remain no matter how Pluto’s classification changes.

The square between Mars and Pluto won’t be exact until tomorrow night, but the past few days have seen increased violence around the world. From the news today:

• Bombs were set off in two Turkish resort towns.
• Baluch separatists rioted for a third day in Pakistan.
• Killings surge in Iraq with over 100 dead just today as Shiite militia battled Iraqi security forces.
• A suicide bombing yesterday in Afghanistan killed 17 people and injured many more in the worst day of violence since 2001.

When Mars (personal will and aggression) and Pluto (death, rebirth and transformation) square off it’s never pretty and it doesn’t matter what the astronomers think. With Saturn and Neptune in conflict as well the ride is going to be bumpy for the next few weeks. Fortunately Jupiter is just about exactly trine to Uranus which will bring opportunities (Jupiter) for new ways of doing things and original thinking (Uranus). This could enable the conflicts that are going on to end up with some meaningful change if the parties involved can resist getting stuck in the old patterns of behavior. Neptune’s job is to dissolve those patterns that Saturn builds, which in today’s world could be a good thing after all.

Mars is approaching an exact square to Pluto on August 29, a stressful conflict between the personal will (Mars) and the will of the higher self (Pluto). Power conflicts are highlighted now. If you find yourself involved in conflicts at this time, utilize the outlet of physical activity to help to release some of the energy that builds up during the faceoff of Mars to Pluto. On the positive side though, there is a tremendous amount of power that can be activated now. Try to focus your intention now on internalizing these energies and deepening your own sense of inner power.

We are really in the deepest intensity of the opposition of Saturn (building) to Neptune (dissolving) even though the dynamic won’t be exact for another few days. Faster-moving transits of Mars often spark events that signify the slower moving cycles like Saturn/Neptune, so the next few days will set the stage for what we can expect over the next year as the Saturn/Neptune dance continues.

The Saturn/Neptune cycle is associated with economics (particularly money and oil), as well as flu epidemics and diseases which are mysterious (Neptune) and affect the social structures (Saturn).

The current Saturn/Neptune cycle began with a conjunction in Capricorn (social structures and forms) back in February 1989. The conjunction continued in tight formation until the end of 1989, ushering in the following events as there was a dissolution of the prevailing forms of government and social mores:

• The Soviets leave Kabul after nine years of military occupation.
• A military coup in Paraguay ousted the President who had held power since 1954.
• A fatwa to kill author Salman Rushdie was issued by the Ayatollah Khomenei and a $3 million bounty is placed on his head.
• The Exxon Valdez spills 11 million gallons of oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound (Neptune rules oil).
• Demonstrators protest and are massacred in Tianenmen Square in China and martial law is declared.
• The Solidarity party in Poland wins the first democratic election in post-Soviet Poland.
• The San Francisco-Oakland earthquake occurs.
• The Berlin War is torn down and citizens can freely pass between East and West Germany for the first time in decades.
• Brazil holds its first free presidential election since 1960.
• The Communist party is overthrown in Czechoslovakia.

The opening square of the current cycle which took place between Saturn in Taurus and Neptune in the first degrees of Aquarius began in June of 1998. Squares are more stressful than conjunctions, and that year witnessed the following:

• An earthquake in Afghanistan that killed 5,000 people.
• The publication by Osama bin Laden of a fatwa against all Jews and Crusaders, including Americans.
• The testing of medium range missiles by both Pakistan and India.
• A tsunami triggered by an earthquake in New Guinea.
• Saddam Hussein in Iraq suspends cooperation with the UN inspectors.
• The Monica Lewinsky scandal becomes public.
• The Russian rouble loses 70% of its value and the economy collapses.
• The US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania are bombed by Al Qaeda.
• Clinton is impeached.
• The Kosovo war intensifies to a climax in as the Saturn/Pluto square reaches its final phase of the cycle in March/April and the Nato bombing campaign begins.

The opposition is the culmination point of the waxing phase, and the issues from the waxing phase will reach a head. With Saturn in Leo, there will continue to be crises in government (Leo) as the question of who is in charge becomes even more mysterious under Neptune’s influence.

Image from Gaian Tarot

This is one of the questions astrologers are most frequently asked. We would all like to imagine that life is like a bus tour, with a preordained set of stops along the way. When do we arrive in Paris? When do we land in Cairo? We feel that if we only knew WHEN we would find our soulmate/ our true calling/ success in our business/ conceive a child then we could relax and stop worrying. Unfortunately, the journey of life does not unfold this way.

I was single for nearly ten years, and as an astrologer I looked for signs that I would soon find the “right” one. Jupiter, planet of abundance and possibilities, passing through my seventh house of partnership? No. Venus, goddess of love, making a trine to my Moon and bringing relationship to ease my lonely heart? No again. Neptune, bringing us face to face with our soul, passing over Venus in my chart to bring my true soulmate partnership? Nope, not this time. Though I wasn’t aware at the time, each of these planetary cycles brought with them a greater understanding and greater connection within me that was planting the seeds to enable me to find and recognize the partner that I met and married years later.

I believe and know at a cellular level that the Universe, or God, or Spirit listens to us when we say that we want to find the RIGHT partner — the partner that we will connect with at the soul level. Once we make that intention, we are being prepared to be able to receive and give love at the deepest level and not settle for a quick fix. Often we feel that we want a partner to complete us, but until we are connected with our own soul and self we will not be able to realize that deep soul connection with another.

I have seen with my clients, and in my own history, that if the soulmate relationship is elusive it usually indicates that the individual is still growing and evolving. The truth is, until we reach a point where we have become better integrated on a psychological level and more balanced spiritually, our relationships with others will reflect our own imbalance even if we have found our soul partner.

In the meantime, relationships are our best teachers. Many of us have been married more than once, but I would never call these “failed” marriages. I believe there are no failures or bad choices; merely lessons on the way to success. Even after we have found and married our soul partner we continue to face challenges that require us to expand our awareness and become more integrated within ourselves.

For this reason, astrology cannot predict when we will find our partner for the soul’s journey, but it can help to identify the places within us where we are out of balance so that we are better able to approach all of our relationships in a stronger and more complete way.

I wondered what a “meme” really is besides a way for bloggers to get to know each other, so I looked it up:

a neologism that first appeared in the 1976 book by Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene. Though Dawkins defined the meme as “a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation,” memeticists vary in their definitions of meme. The lack of a consistent, rigorous and precise definition of a meme remains one of the principal criticisms leveled at memetics, the study of memes.

This sounds very like astrology, so I feel right at home.

Anyway, Jill tagged me for this and it seems a good way to lift me temporarily out of my Pluto obsession (Mercury in my chart is in Scorpio) so here goes:

1. Things that scare me:
The fact that I will probably never understand the mysteries of life.
Heights and highway driving.

2. People who make me laugh:
Stephanie Miller
Jon Stewart
Amy Sedaris

3. Things I hate the most:
cruelty
arrogance

4. Things I don’t understand:
Monty Python
blind religious belief
horror movies

5. Things I’m doing right now:
wondering about Pluto’s next act
putting off cleaning out my closet
petting my dog

6. Things I want to do before I die:
understand the mysteries of life
fully appreciate my life
learn to relax

7. Things I can do:
read a birthchart
program the VCR
raise a great dog

8. Things I can’t do:
go to a scary movie
watch Ann Coulter
travel alone

9. Ways to describe my personality: (this was missing on Jill’s but I found it elsewhere):
calm demeanor belying an inner wildness
friendly and kind but solitary

10. Things I think you should listen to:
Your inner voice of guidance, no matter what.

11. Things you should never listen to:
Your inner voice of self-doubt.
A sentence that begins with the words “you should”

12. Things I’d like to learn:
cascading style sheets
the hammer dulcimer

13. Favorite foods:
Mexican and Indian
dark chocolate, of course

14. Beverages I drink regularly:
I can’t start the day without my decaf.
An occasional therapeutic beer.

15. Shows I watched as a kid:
[this will date me for sure] Captain Kangaroo
real cartoons (Merrie Melodies)
Lassie

Tag, you’re it!
Jeffrey
Elsa
Barbara
Jude
JM

My first thought when astronomers began the discussion of declassifying Pluto was “they don’t know who they’re dealing with.” Anyone who has been through a transit of Pluto across their natal planets and seen the devastation and transformation that Pluto inspires understands the awe in which astrologers hold this tiny planet.

Nancy Waterman subscribes to the view that Pluto has been dissed:

Various countries and cultures have frequently been given the rulership of one or another astrological sign when a nation demonstrates the sign’s particular characteristics. In many ways, the Arab culture has collectively demonstrated many of the attibutes of Scorpio: in its intensity and depth of emotion, its desire for revenge when affronted, and its wealth based on the hidden resource of oil which itself is derived from the death of previous life on earth. Moreover, terrorism, largely derived from extremists within the Islamic culture, may be seen as a manifestion of the most dangerous Scorpionic/Plutonian qualities: obsession, fanaticism, death and violence used to manipulate and transform, and psychological warfare of the most devious and vicious kind. And finally, nuclear power, in its capactiy to unleash the hidden power in the atom and create untold devastation, is also clearly a member of Pluto’s domain.

How ironic then, how unbelievable an example of brutal synchronicity, that while the world quakes at the potential of terrorist machinations and at the pending destabilization of a large swath of the Middle East, largely fueled by Plutonian issues relating to religious fanaticism, revenge, oil, and the grasp for nuclear weapons, the Bush administration refuses to even talk to many of the key players involved – Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, and Hamas, and the global scientific community has collectively dismissed Pluto as a “dwarf.”

In a few days, Mars will be squaring Pluto, once again stimulating the more destructive energy of this newly “dwarfed” planet. In addition, beginning in December 2006 and continuing for a year, transiting Pluto will be conjunct the Galactic Center potentially fomenting a profound and possibly violent reallignment and transformation of global realities. As we watch the temperature rise in many of the world’s hot spots in the coming months leading to an as yet undefined transformation, we should remember this slightly modified old proverb: “Hell hath no fury like a planet scorned.”

Jeffrey Kishner agrees: “I also hope that lay people don’t think less of Pluto just because He has been demoted. He is, after all, representative of the most powerful, treansformational energy in the universe. If I were an astronomer, I certainly wouldn’t want to f*ck with Him!”

Rick Levine of Star IQ suggests “We have banished Pluto to where he naturally belongs: the netherworlds of unplanets. We had our chance to integrate him, but we chickened out. And of course, by suppressing his natural planetary expression, we have inadvertently given him additional power. That which we resist will persist even stronger.”

I can’t help but feel, though, that while astronomers may feel that they have demoted Pluto to “dwarf planet” status the fact that Ceres and Xena have been upgraded as partners to Pluto signifies a new way of integrating Pluto’s lessons of evolutionary personal growth rather than a limitation of Pluto. With the conjunction of Pluto to the Galactic Center there seems to be a new awareness springing up everywhere that we are on a collision course with planetary destruction that will require an enormous personal and political step forward in our evolutionary journey.

Eric Francis has a hilarious takeoff on the recent news articles demoting Pluto:

Today’s session of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) general assembly had yet another surprise outcome, as astronomers voted overwhelmingly that the Earth is not a planet.

“We are just following the laws of science,” said Prof. Melvin Peabody of Yale University’s Bush Observatory, announcing the vote at a hastily convened news conference.

There were several discussion points on the Earth issue. First, it was established that no scientist discovered the Earth. No record of it could be found in the planetary catalogues, and after searching the night sky for many years, no scientist has seen it through a telescope.

“We tried looking through both ends, as well,” said Dr. Karl Zeiss of the University of Okoboji’s Planetary Science Department. “It was a long and fruitless search. We even tried looking during the day, when the light was better, but we didn’t find anything. I was deeply disappointed. I had hoped that would find the Earth somewhere out there.”

The presence of street lights on Earth also seemed to help tip the scales.

“This is a bizarre phenomenon,” said Dr. David Edison, 12th cousin of the inventor of the light bulb. “And it can only happen here. We have seen street lights nowhere else, not even on Uranus. I am forced to conclude that if there are street lights, it must not be a planet. I have no other choice.”

All kidding aside, this is a truly momentous event in so many ways. Astrology teaches that all of life is synchronistically connected, and I have no doubt that hidden in this event is an illuminating discovery for astrologers as well. I’ll keep posting more as I continue to ponder…