Forecast for 2008 and Beyond: Pluto in Capricorn!

by Benjamin Bernstein

The big astrological news in 2008 is Pluto's entry into Capricorn. I wrote a few lines about it in my January forecast, since it begins on January 25 (click here to read that entry now).  But Pluto will still be nostalgic for its Sagittarian years: it will retrograde back into Sagittarius on June 14, then re-enter Capricorn to stay (through 2024, anyway) on November 26.

In my January 25 entry, I focused on the dirty secrets of big business being exposed, as well as it being make or break time for the global community to deal with the world's environmental crisis. However, Pluto in Capricorn has many more ramifications. And this critical sign change sets a world-changing chain of events into motion that extends well beyond 2008.

Let's start by examining the archetypal energies we're dealing with. Pluto is the planet of transformation, death and rebirth. Metaphors for its processes include a phoenix burning to ash and resurrecting, a snake shedding its skin, and a caterpillar morphing into a butterfly. Pluto can also represent tremendous power and/or wealth.

Capricorn is the sign of existing institutions and structures, including big business, governments and established religions. It's inherently conservative, traditional and resistant to change. Its shadow side can be cold, dictatorial, and ruthless, believing that the ends justify the means. Its more evolved qualities include integrity, commitment, and perseverance, as well as being the "wise elder."

Some historical perspective is also helpful. Pluto orbits the sun about every 250 years, so a quarter of a millennium elapses between its passes through Capricorn. The last time it was there was from 1762 to 1778, during the American Revolution. The time before that, 1516-1533, Martin Luther's Protestant revolt created a religious and political crisis for Emperor Charles V and the Catholic Church. No matter how far back we go in recorded history, Pluto in Capricorn periods correspond with revolutionary changes to the existing world order.

This will also be true for us. The powers that be, however, never go down without a fight. Pluto and Capricorn do have some things in common - they both love being in control, for example - and so we can expect more of the "Big Brother" style surveillance and invasion of privacy that are already spreading through the United States and other countries such as Great Britain. (Saturn can also bring fear - of terrorism and other real and imagined threats - to justify government's systematic erosion of our fundamental civil liberties.) Government will seem to believe that, in order for freedom to be kept safe, it must be locked away.

The forces of authoritarianism and ever-increasing government control are likely to gain power through about May of 2010. On May 27 of that year, however, Uranus brings the planetary energy of revolution and paradigm shift out of its seven-year stint in Pisces (dreaming, visualizing and imagining) and into Aries (the leader or warrior taking impulsive action). At that point, we may well experience the start of something resembling another American Revolution in order to set our ship of state on a more enlightened course.

This idea is also supported by the fact that Uranus is aspecting three planets in the United States' natal chart around that time (Pluto, the moon and Mercury), and conjuncting the nadir! (I'm using the Sibley chart for the U.S.) The U.S. is also about to undergo the most powerful Pluto transits it has experienced since the 20's and 30's: between now and 2015, Pluto will oppose the United States' Venus, Jupiter and Sun. Venus and Jupiter rule the U.S. midheaven and ascendant - powerful and public points - and the Sun is the core of identity and vitality.

These Pluto transit alone are enough to guarantee that the U.S. will be profoundly transformed over the next seven years. My feeling is that we will emerge a more humble country, either by choice or because the rest of the world finally got fed up with us! Hopefully, we will move away from the arrogant "cowboy diplomacy" of recent years, and will instead adopt the spirit of harmony and cooperation that has become so essential for the well-being of the global community.

The Pluto oppositions just discussed are unique to the United States, but Uranus' entry into Aries will have a global impact. Other countries and institutions will experience revolutionary events relevant to their particular situations.

By 2010, Uranus and Pluto will already have been radiating some of the energy of their impending square (a 90° angle of challenge for growth). These two planets create revolutionary transformation and powerful paradigm shift when their energies connect. They were most recently conjunct 1964-1966, when the revolutionary fervor of the 60's shifted into high gear. (Their prior conjunction coincided with the French Revolution.)

Uranus and Pluto will make seven exact squares to each other from 2012 through 2015, wiping out old structures of all kinds that have outlived their usefulness. A square is much more dynamic and challenging than a conjunction, so this wrecking ball effect may make the 60's look tame by comparison.

This may sound scary, but look at the stakes. Nothing less than a radical shift in how the global powers-that-be operate - be they governments or multinational corporations - will be sufficient to save the planet from an environmental catastrophe too horrible to contemplate. Archaic assumptions that have held sway for hundreds of years must fall by the wayside if mankind, as well as most of Earth's other species, is to survive.  These include the outmoded ideas of endless economic growth, unrestrained population expansion, and mankind's right to exploit Gaia's resources without regard to future consequences or future generations.

Some people hope for a miraculous rescue. It could be that, when the Mayan calendar ends on the Winter Solstice of 2012, mankind will experience a quantum leap into a more enlightened state of consciousness. (To hear my free lecture on that subject, "The Astrology of 2012," click here.) Or maybe the alien motherships will finally descend from the skies to save us from ourselves.

I could more easily believe in such a deus ex machina if Pluto was in Pisces, the sign of saviors. But Pluto will be in Capricorn, the sign of sweat equity, hard work and keeping your nose to the grindstone. Its spiritual motto could be, "God helps those who help themselves." If 2012 does mark an evolutionary leap, I believe that the exact nature of that transformation will be shaped by what mankind has done, individually and collectively,
up until that moment to raise its vibration. At this point in human history, more so than ever before, the work each of us does to awaken ourselves can profoundly benefit humanity as a whole.

What else can one person do when faced with such daunting astrological energies? Let's take some inspiration from Pluto itself. It's a tiny planet - not even that, if you accept its new "dwarf planet" classification. And it's nowhere near the heart of the action - so far out in the boonies of the solar system that the Sun hardly looks brighter than any other star.

Yet Pluto is astrology's most powerful transiting planet. Its diminutive size demonstrates that small things can be very powerful. It does, after all, rule plutonium, a tiny amount of which can either power or decimate a city. In the same way, one person - working with Capricornian discipline and Plutonian obsessiveness - can make a huge impact during this time. By doing whatever you are most called to do - however insignificant it might seem - you will be playing your perfect part in a leaderless web of perfect synchronicity. (For more on this idea, read Daniel Quinn's empowering book Beyond Civilization: Humanity's Next Great Adventure. And as long as you're book shopping, pick up Richard Tarnas' Cosmos and Psyche [click here for my review], which presents compelling evidence of the outer planets' powerful effect on human history.)

Pluto's entry into Capricorn isn't the only significant astrological news of 2008, although it is by far the most important. Jupiter will be making three sextiles to Uranus, on March 28, May 21 and November 13. The periods around these dates will be times when following your intuitive flashes will bring you enhanced good fortune. You would also do well to heed any lightning strikes of sudden illumination regarding religion, foreign travel, higher education, publishing or politics.

However, the astrological event that I would rank second in importance to Pluto entering Capricorn is Saturn's opposition to Uranus. It occurs on November 4, the day of the American presidential elections! It represents the struggle between Saturn (conservatism, business as usual) and Uranus (revolution, paradigm shift). This opposition, which will occur five times between November 4, 2008 and July 26, 2010, will serve to open chinks in the armor of the powers-that-be, and will pave the way for the revolutionary shifts (Uranus entering Aries, Uranus square Pluto) that we've already covered.

So what can you do to make the best of 2008's Plutonian challenges? The bottom line is to stay open to change. As I tell my clients who are having powerful Pluto transits, the more you resist transformation at such times, the more you suffer. The more you embrace change - even if it's frightening and you can't see where it's leading - the more empowered you become. 

Pluto can be experienced as cruel and greedy people and institutions conspiring against you, or as a river of divine power that flows through you. And that river is always strongest when you allow your actions to be guided by your inner wisdom. As with any astrological energy, you can use it or be used by it. The choice is yours.

 

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