Old Habits (and Haters) Die Hard
Pluto in Cap Jun 11-Jan 20 2024
Sep 1 ‘24 - Jan 19 ‘25
Pluto in Aqu Jan 20 ‘24 - Sep 1 ‘24
Nov 19 ‘24 - Mar 7 2043
Pluto retrograde retraces the last few degrees of Cycle 10/Capricorn from June 11, until Jan 20 before moving back into Aquarius/Cycle 11.
We’ll always associate the ‘covid control era’ with Pluto’s previous passage thru the sign of the Goat - which also was an acronym that gained popularity during that time [G.O.A.T - Greatest of All Time]. A fitting symbol for powerful Pluto in Cycle 10 - when power, status, achievement, being the best and where public prowess and reputation are paramount (and which also led to some of the biggest Falls from positions of power too).
This brief but pivotal window (June 11 - Jan 20) is a collective revisiting of the structures and systems, rules, regimes and red-tape that hold society (and the framework of our lives) in place - and which have shown signs of decay or death. Like a mold that returns if not fully eradicated.
Some systems can be rebuilt now - it’s not too late for them, this is a Retrograde period after all, (where mercury retro is a mental revisit, Pluto retro is a time of comebacks (from the brink of death at times); the transformation of what is dying into something offering new life).
Now that we know how life could look without them, a second chance to preserve and prolong necessary and stable support beams is issued.
They may need to be reworked and renovated or completely redone.
Do we really want this? Are we positive?? What is our final word??? Speak now or forever hold your peace.
Pluto in Capricorn is the ultimate symbol of ‘Cancel Culture’ and some old ways need abolishing, some ‘desired but dated’ structures (and associated personnel) will inevitably fall with finality, during this time; the Changing of the Guards.
Putting all your eggs in one basket, centralizing power, making something or someone the Be All And End All, makes it that much harder to enjoy the freedom available in the next chapter, Cycle 11. Also, should we lose that one thing we cling to (‘my precious’), then what do we have and where - and who - are you?
This is a fine time for “conspiracy theorists” who will notice the proliferation of system-shifting power bids, imposed control and returning restrictions, exploitation scandals involving big names and shady business, when human masks slip to reveal the real, green slime monster beneath.
We aren’t quite done slaying some high profile demons. Pluto dishes the dirt for you to either bury something or dig something up.
All is unfolding and deconstructing as it should; but in such a Public sign & cycle, it’s nasty living under the Plutonian fallout cloud of constant betrayals by those we trusted.
Some crumbling old-world structures will attempt to reintroduce themselves back, like the roots or weeds never fully ripped up, perhaps even by (en)force-ment, but this is futile and as a collective we have moved on. You can only hoodwink someone if you blind them to what’s really going on, and convince them to fear something or someone. Without this, control is very difficult to gain. Weapons of abuse and corruption have been given names (like gaslighting). We learned more about what to watch for, clues of behavior, to sniff the lies and spot the discrepancies. Pluto Cycle 10 taught us how trolls operate and opened the Abuser Toolkit, so we could discover their tricks and render them redundant.
Expect further dramatic showdowns where the People resist those forces attempting to drag us all back into the darker times of a bygone era.
Once unfairly shackled and now freed, the prisoner is wiser to the tricks and traps of their captors. The prey survives by evolving and adapting in order to evade the predator.
Pluto penetrates everything - so no lie can remain hidden forever. In fact, from a holistic point of view nothing really is hidden, just out of certain sight. But the vibration of its truth still sounds. If it exists it’s been cosmically barcoded and trackable in the Akashic Records.
Karma keeps tabs, and Pluto is the piper or ferryman demanding payment.
Like any good horror movie (which Pluto rules over), the monster usually comes back for one last go, refusing to die quietly. In the end it’s futile, for previous battles with the beast have taught us its weak links and it no longer holds its shadowy sway over us, it once did.
Remember this, when skeletons rise and old foes rise to roam the streets again. The battle has already been won but perhaps this is another chance to exorcise our demons by exercising our newfound powers.
What can, should
and can’t we
do without?
Personally, it’s the same theme seen in the global picture. Helpful structures that were removed, can be put back into place - a productive routine, intermittent fasting or cleanses & technology detoxes, the pursuit of old ambitions that still hold value, that you only thought you were over.
An evaluation is underway of whether to invest more fully or pull out completely. The symbolic parent reappears, to wag a finger or offer a tough love reminder to get back on track, back on the horse and back in the game, to captain your ship and pilot the plane, if only so that you don’t play copilot or worse - pillion to reckless driver, or more corrupt CEO who would quite happily pull your strings to see you dance, or throw you to the lions. Better to pull over and regroup than to take your hands off the wheel and let another take over, at this stage. See this thing through, for chances are that major changes are ahead regardless, reshaping the landscape like mountains formed from earthquakes, when Pluto shifts back into Cycle 11 on Jan 20,- until September 1 2024, when Pluto once again returns to Capricorn until Nov 19, echoing these themes.
Each stage offers a dwindling of what were once “old world reliables” - people, processes, programs and the stable structures that supported the Whole and kept everything running, that have been too corrupted in their present state to offer worthwhile and life-giving power.
For what Pluto ultimately does, is ensure the removal of that which leeches life-force; the planet of death ultimately in the service of Life.
New world alternatives (not yet reliable, but showing greater potential than failing predecessors) open the way for massive planetary evolution or a systematic unwinding of societal strands; perhaps we can’t have one without the other.
In Aquarius, Pluto is like the cast taken off after the Capricorn-ruled bone has set. Or the first rehabilitated steps after a stroke or accident affecting the spine or extremities.
The first few steps may bring nervous uncertainty, a sense of being weakened, but committed effort to move forward without the crutches we’ve become accustomed to, leads to the regaining of strength - of mind, body and spirit. Strength of faith, commitment, determination as tough as scar tissues
Just as Pluto tears down to better rebuild, atrophied muscles get Pluto-pumped through Not Giving In and Not Giving Up. Aquarius; the following sign, is the freedom to move with less constraint.
Can we learn to trust in the positive power of our collective, in our community coming together when it needs to, or in our friends? How about our scientists? They alongside the tech giants will be purged when Pluto in Aquarius weeds out the bad seeds that spread fear in our streets and hate in our homes and hearts.
Pluto currently sits at 0 Degrees Aquarius - right at the very start of this energetic theme, and already we are hearing warnings from top tech execs, (some quitting, some fired) of the power (Pluto) of Artificial Intelligence (Aquarius) and the threat of human (Aquarius) extinction (Pluto).
Just as Pluto in Capricorn roots out every area where darkness has infiltrated our governors, leaders, parents and providers (Capricorn), Pluto now turns his X-ray gaze to every Aquarius-ruled individual and group, alliance and organization that has power to reshape society - and both strips and bestows, redistributing power so that all individuals are empowered. Anything aiding unsavory or shadow forces will be found out and brought to light. This is the era when mafia and organized crime gets weeded out, when society revitalizes itself with groups that speak for and represent the People, not organized and overseen on the government level - and so less easily controlled and manipulated without public knowledge or approval.
You can only abuse a People so long before you turn slave-sheep into prowling lions.
A proliferation of Non—Profits is likely - the food banks, community gardens and barter system of trade, offline as well as online groups sharing common preferences/ideals/goals. As Pluto reveals what is keeping society fragmented and divided - especially after a Capricornian purge of those who had the power to mess things up - it becomes easier to determine what is needed to help transform society into the Aquarian global village it was always meant to be.
Just watch as cultures that once “put up and shut up”, and people who have always been silent and submissive, find it in themselves to rise up and refuse, rise up and rebel and rise up to reclaim their rights to free living. Those with little to lose are a force to be reckoned with.
The cost is high, but those who see things through each Plutonian stage- from destruction and death to transformative rebirth and a transmutational return to life renewed - will find the hidden jewels in the junk, the wealth in the waste, the unearthed gold shining in the excavated shit. All we need do is see things through to their natural conclusions, not destroying what has been built simply for the sake of it, nor holding on out of a fear of the loss of prized positions and possessions (Capricorn earth) but allowing a deeper intake of fresh air - winds of change that may appear equally disruptive, but which offer new paradigms of possibility - better blueprints to build on.
If Pluto in Capricorn bulldozed the structural beams, Pluto in Aquarius heralds upgrades and updates (like rebuilding to better withstand earthquakes).
Inspired innovation is upon us (ideas always manifest when their time has come) and will be available to download when enough individuals tip the collective scale towards a desire for true freedom, for all who share this Planet.
Sound like a tall order ? Pluto in Aquarius dares you to oppose this cosmic promise and plan.
Cycle 10 is really the last stage of physical manifestation, (explained more fully in Surfing Your Solar Cycles. Aquarius and Cycle 11, up next, is about designing and downloading new templates to live by, and is really where it all starts. Like cosmic architects, we get to invent new advanced and cutting edge ways of getting through life while still (hopefully) using it all to remain and reinforce what it is to be Human, using past Pluto problems to outline what we never want to repeat again.
Cycle 10 is when we witness the harvest of our hard work, the fruit of the labor or the failure of the crop.
Pluto passages are about learning to die whilst alive - a systematic letting go of what is taken from us, letting go of a changing body and the inability to control the passage of time, letting go of what we have outgrown and letting go of what no longer is…and what is no longer possible.
Pluto Retrograde, pits us against old foes; inner demons and outer monsters that threaten us. We learn to live without during these times and when faced with situations we seem utterly powerless against, inadvertently discover our true power. Powers of resilience, earning ourselves status as Survivors and Thrivers.
People fear Pluto, the ruler of scary and spooky Scorpio, but the Bringer of Death actually leads us into a deeper and more intimate connection with everything - our species, our desires, those we love, our bodies and our very lives. By bringing death so close (literal or figuratively) we are brought back and restored to life. Pluto’s connection to sex makes sense when we consider how hormones rages during times of major upheaval and trauma, as the survival instinct kicks in. Horror movies have always united the themes of sex and death. Sex connects us to life - after all, it gave us our own.
Just as the phoenix understands the flames, falling ash and the loss of its wings as they burn is a necessary step in its growth, to others it looks traumatic and tragic, a horrible ending, not a stage in the cycles of evolution.
That’s where we all find ourselves —between an old, familiar world dying, and a new one, without form. As we play our part; consciously, unconsciously, unwittingly or purposefully, Pluto in Capricorn is simply dismantling, deconstructing and destroying that which needs to fall and it won’t always look pretty - but you have to agree; some stuff has Got To Go.
Darkest before the dawn, Pluto’s destruction and death paradoxically points the way to the light and life.
