PLUTO & THE AGE OF AQUARIUS
PLUTO
2024 is the year of Pluto!
We’ll be checking in with him periodically throughout the Wheel of the Year.
The Dwarf Elephant in the Room
First things first, while Pluto has been reclassified (“demoted”) to a dwarf planet in modern astronomy, in astrology his energies have remained consistent. He is still recognized as a significant traveller and the guide of Scorpio.
Aside – Pluto’s reclassification is a direct cause of the discovery of Eris, a dwarf planet very appropriately named for the Goddess of Chaos. The discovery of Eris also caused the reclassification (“promotion”) of Ceres, from asteroid to dwarf planet, recognizing the significance of the guide of Taurus. I personally love the symmetry of this dwarf planet trio: Eris being the disrupter to get things moving, and Ceres and Pluto being the guides along the Taurus Scorpio axis.
A Brief Overview
Pluto’s energies are powerful and transformational. In fact, he represents the archetype of “Power”. Pluto also represents the energies of transformation, death, occult, mysteries, wealth, magnetism, seduction, sex, obsession, depth psychology, psychoanalysis, and mass media.
As an outer planet, Pluto is one of the Transpersonal Travellers, meaning he represents large scale, archetypal energies. Think big picture, world culture shifts. Individuals with a Scorpio Sun, Moon, or Ascendant (or another strong Pluto placement) in their natal chart may experience his movements more personally, but most others will notice Plutonian vibes only in the context of the world around them.
What’s Happening in 2024?
The main reason this is such a big year for Pluto is that he is in the midst of moving into Aquarius after 15 years in Capricorn. (He takes 248 years to move through the entire zodiac). Whenever the Transpersonal Travellers change signs, there are significant energy shifts. However, this particular shift into Aquarius comes with added emphasis and is considered to be another herald of the coming Aquarian Age.
Moving to Aquarius
Because of the slow movement and retrograde periods, Transpersonal Travellers shift signs in stages. These are big changes and they don’t happen overnight.
Stage 1: March 23/23 – June 11/23
Pluto moved into Aquarius in March 2023 for a brief time but moved back into Capricorn in June 2023 and stayed there for the rest of the year. This was a recon mission.
Stage2: January 20/24 – September 1/24
On January 20, 2024 Pluto once again moved into Aquarius where he’ll stay until September. He is currently getting things set up and preparing for the final move. Between September 1 and November 19 he will move back into Capricorn to tidy up loose ends.
Stage 3: November 19/24 – March 8, 2043
On November 19, 2024 Pluto will move into Aquarius, and stay there for a little over 18 years. This is the official move in and permanent energy shift.
The Energies at Play
Here are some keywords for the energies most at play in this current shift:
Pluto – power, transformation, wealth, and mass media
moving from
Capricorn – authority, structure, achievement, business, government
into
Aquarius – revolution, reform, invention, science, and humanitarianism
I am not about to predict world events here, but I encourage you to play with these keywords/ideas, stay open to the energies you experience in the world, and come to your own conclusions.
That being said, here are a few of my thoughts to help get you going:
· Power shifting from authoritative control to a more populus approach (in both business and government)
· Propaganda spreading
· Wealth reform – revolutionizing the meaning of wealth
· Mass media being driven by the populus; social media driving information
· Large scale death
· Power in technology and its transformation (AI)
Bear in mind two things:
1) Many people are fighting this shift, especially those who cannot appreciate its cosmic destiny. This resistance is reflected in extreme ideologies and a desire to return to outdated but secure or established traditions. Anything to maintain the authoritative control of Capricorn.
2) Many of the changes may not be for the better, at least not initially. Humans are exceptionally fallible creatures so we will need to learn how best to deal with these energies. I see too many looking at this shift (and the coming Age of Aquarius) with rose coloured glasses. It is up to us to work with the energies in a productive way. The “golden age” is not a given.
Added Emphasis
Adding to the energetic significance of this shift are four consecutive conjunctions with Pluto. The Sun was conjunct Pluto on January 20 as they both moved into the first degree of Aquarius. Furthermore, Mercury, Mars, and Venus will each conjunct Pluto also in the first degree of Aquarius on Feb 5, Feb 13, and Feb 17 respectively. To clarify, all of these travellers meet Pluto regularly (Sun, Mercury, and Venus once a year, Mars about every two years) so it’s not so much each individual conjunction so much as the fact that they are back to back and all happening the first degree of Aquarius.
But what’s so special about this particular degree of Aquarius?
AGE OF AQUARIUS
I’m sure you’ve all heard of the “Age of Aquarius”,
but what exactly does it mean?
Astrological Ages
The gist of things is this: because the Earth isn’t perfectly spherical, it wobbles when it spins. This creates movement of the poles against the backdrop of the Zodiac which, over thousands of years, slowly shifts backwards through the signs. After about 26,000 years (“Great Cycle” or “Great Year”) the poles return to where they started.
We are currently in the Age of Pisces, and in the year 2199 we will officially move into the Age of Aquarius (sorry flower-children, but you got it wrong). However, like the slow movement of Pluto, the movement of the Ages happens in stages. The calculation of Astrological Ages is still a gently debated topic, but I have my own method.
Theodomy recognizes the last 180 years or so (essentially the “11th Hour”) of an Age as the transitional phase, starting with the first Great Conjunction in the sign and ending with the last Great Conjunction in that same sign, which also then conjuncts the pole officially marking the new Age. For the shift into the Age of Aquarius the heralding stages happen December 2020, March 2080, and January 2140, with the official shift happening April 2199.
Great Conjunctions
At Yule 2020, we explored the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn: Great Conjunction 2020
As a reminder, here are a few key points about Great Conjunctions:
· occur when Jupiter and Saturn meet at the same degree of the zodiac
· occur approximately every 20 years
· rotate through each of the three signs of one element for approximately 200 years before shifting to the next element
· herald and mark the shift in Astrological Ages
The Great Conjunction of 2020 was significant because it marked the end of an elemental cycle (shifting from Earth to Air) plus it was the first herald of the Aquarian Age*…AND it all happened in the first degree of Aquarius!
So, we have tidily come full circle, back to the first degree of Aquarius and Pluto.
To sum up 1st degree of Aquarius:
– Great Conjunction 2020 (herald of the Age of Aquarius)
– Pluto shifts to Aquarius
– Pluto conjuncts Sun, Mercury, Mars, and Venus
The official Age of Aquarius is still 175 years away, but we are officially in the 11th hour of the Age of Pisces. Things feel unsettled and uncertain. Change is in the cosmos and Pluto, like gasoline on a fire, is fuelling transformation in a big way.
*At the first Great Conjunction in 2020, there were many eager announce the official start of the Age of Aquarius. However, this is problematic both astronomically and astrologically. It does not properly account for the actual position of the pole and ignores the fact that the astrological ages moves backwards through the signs, meaning the beginning of the Age of Aquarius starts at the end of the sign!