On November 19th at 1:39pm MST, Pluto made its final entrance into Aquarius, where it will be until 2044. This marked the end of an era that lasted from 2008-2024, as well as the transition into something utterly new.
While Pluto was at 29°59’ Capricorn, I spent the morning: introspecting; cleaning and taking out the trash (very Plutonian); recovering from that infamous catalyst of one of Pluto in Capricorn’s great struggles, covid-19 (a mild case this time, fortunately); taking a brief moment to stand in the warm sun and cold wind; grieving; and feeling wonder for all the life(times) that I’ve experienced over the past 16 years.
At about 1:25pm, I lit some candles, sat on my meditation cushion, and closed my eyes. Going inward, I knew I felt the moment Pluto crossed over to 0° Aquarius. Despite my present condition, I felt lit up; I almost wanted to jump off my cushion, but I also wanted to savor what I was feeling.
I felt my mind buzzing with possibilities for what this energy would bring.
What kind of change does Pluto bring, anyway?
I saw a recent video by an astrologer named Steve Judd who humorously recounted all the times Pluto entered a sign and the concurrent, funny ideas some astrologers would think up for what specifically was going to occur. Ultimately, there is much we can’t know — aren’t supposed to know — about what is to come. And yet, every Pluto era we can observe shows us how the mighty dwarf planet guides the human experience. A simple way to boil it down is that Pluto brings an intensification of its current archetypal themes — touching upon their essence and prompting an empowerment and revitalization.
Let’s look at some of the past eras of recent history.
Pluto in CANCER, 1914-39
An intensification of themes of protection and belonging.
Pluto in LEO, 1939-58
An intensification of themes of grand drama and creative expression.
Pluto in VIRGO, 1958-72
An intensification of themes of bettering how we live and tending the sacred.
Pluto in LIBRA, 1972-84
An intensification of themes of balance and the “other”.
Pluto in SCORPIO, 1984-95
An intensification of themes of psychospiritual exploration and renewal.
Pluto in SAGITTARIUS, 1995-2008
An intensification of themes of belief and rightness.
Pluto in CAPRICORN, 2008-2024
An intensification of themes of the weight of history and how we define our reality.
What do you think is next? (Keep in mind that Pluto’s last full transit of Aquarius was 1778-1798.) Here are some of my guesses…
Pluto in AQUARIUS, 2024-2044
An intensification of themes of:
democratization,
new models for human life,
technological innovation,
community,
new planes of awareness,
diversity in unity,
freedom from the past,
resting in the unknown,
and the realm of limitless possibility.
When Pluto was transiting 29° Capricorn, especially with that ongoing, activating opposition from Mars, the curtain of Capricorn’s shadow descended on the global mood in a way that felt, to many, unbearable and inescapable.
Capricorn can feel so very real, so entrenched, so impassable. The walls can grow so high that it’s hard to imagine what’s outside them; the mountain can loom so tall that the view from its peak is unfathomable.
Aquarius wants you outside that wall; Aquarius wants to thrust that vaster view upon you.
Astrologers have been trying to make sense of a widespread failure to accurately predict the outcome of the recent U.S. election that just barely preceded the Pluto in Aquarius era.
Are we bound to an autocracy and an empowered movement that divides people based on color, sex, gender, religion, ability, appearance, origin, and class? Are we about to endure the full extent of a U.S. fascist nightmare?
I have to say: no. With what has arrived this November 19, 2024, these visions of an oppressive future cannot hold. I and others may not have foreseen the U.S. political unfolding of November 5, 2024, but, just as astrologers saw the immensity — if not the specifics — of 2020’s planetary events, so too can we trust what comes now, though we may not know how it can or will.
With what Pluto in Aquarius has shown us in its revolutionary past and the unpredictable political season of its earlier ingress this year (Jan. 20-Sept. 1), we can be sure that whatever’s next will be interesting.
💫 Dae