Pluto is the planet that represents the cycle of transformation, the concept of death bringing life, sexuality, trauma, deep occult and metaphysical knowledge as well as power dynamics. The burning of all of the things that don’t serve and the phoenix that rises from the ashes over and over again, becoming wiser each and every time. Pluto is dark but it’s also divine and seeks to violently prune whatever doesn’t work for our highest good.
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Capricorn represents work, systems of all kinds including government and a quest for power and achievement. It’s very interesting that right now Pluto is in Capricorn because the essence of that screams the conscious burning down of all of the systems that do not serve. That is what is actively happening right now. The tension is rising and I believe that nothing about governments and systems hiding behind the veil will be the same in ten years. It’s seriously rectifying our relationship to power. Many of us have been humbled in the past several years as far as Pluto is concerned. Capricorn craves control and Pluto is here to tell us that there literally is no control.
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In order to find Capricorn in your birth chart, it is imperative to have the exact time you were born. My favorite website for learning about astrology with a totally intuitive interface and very legible charts is www.astro.com. Take the time to make an account - there’s no e-mail spam and you can keep up to 100 charts for free and run all kinds of analyses on them. So once you make an account and you’re all signed in, you’ll go up to My Astro in the upper right corner of the page. You’ll add your birth information here. Once you’ve got everything in - time, date and place of birth, it will present your name to you. Click on that and scroll down until you see “Extended Chart Selection.” Make sure your name is in the “Horoscope for” drop down and then make sure the Chart Type says “Natal Chart Wheel.” Hit the blue button that says Click to Show the Chart. You’ll notice that this wheel you have is 360 degrees. It’s got twelve pie slices or houses that indicate different parts of life. In order to find Capricorn, look for the green symbol along the sides that looks like a lil crocodile. It’s in between the arrow and the two streams of water. Look now at the pie slice that symbol covers and the number of it - that is what house in your chart is controlled by Capricorn. This means that you are quietly industrious and constantly seeking bigger and better in the part of your life that the house represents. It may also be something that gets tested with obstacles because Saturn is the planetary ruler of Capricorn. Saturn is slow-growth, pragmatism and awareness of time and expectation. Whatever part of your life this house represents that has Capricorn on the house cusp will be very slow to start but inevitably will end up being very successful, and the same with any Capricorn planets you may have personally.
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A planet that is moving into retrograde is becoming introspective and almost self-conscious. It is when whatever that planet represents becomes increasingly obvious and karma or things from the past pop up to remind you just how far you still have to go. Usually, we come out of retrograde periods with a whole new understanding on life, but in the interim it can be like looking through a fog wondering what is going on in this particular part of life that the planet has to do with.
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When Pluto specifically moves into retrograde, a lot of unconscious stuff comes up out of nowhere. It comes up for very specific reasons. The best way to spend a Pluto transit is by being grateful for the lessons that are being brought to the surface because addressing them simply makes you a better person.
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When we look at the symbolic meaning of the degrees of this Pluto retrograde transit, things fall into a very interesting and hopeful pattern. These are excerpts from Elias Lonsdale’s book “Inside Degrees.” We start out at 19 degrees Capricorn:
CAPRICORN 19
A half-eaten piece of bread.
Utilitarian considerations. Observing the self through objectified eyes. Conditioning and programming. Talking self and others into following the program. Astute wheeler-dealer. You're not there in it, picturing it as though it were something brutally obvious and commonplace. Decadence, barbarian tendencies. Sympathies with the consciousness of problems and issues, difficulties and struggles all-pervasive. Never content, always aware of what is not happening. The bitter perspective and relentless repetition of the litany of gloom and doom.
Conditioning and programming. Barbarian tendencies. Never content, always aware of what is not happening. The bitter perspective and relentless repetition of the litany of gloom and doom. There have been lots of things happening on so many levels and we’re all just about completely fried right now. This is where we realize that the key to healing and breaking free from programming is inside ourselves.
Then, we move into 18 degrees of Capricorn:
CAPRICORN 18
A black leopard with green eyes.
Total intensity of inward and outward endeavor. Goal oriented, plans-intensive. Schematic, premeditated, comprehensive. Elaborately sophisticated at implementing vision in action. Aware of your own position--standing above, seeing it all, and magnificent at putting everything together. An old karmic knack coming in handy. A past master in the arts of manifestation. The emperor. Astute, adroit, keenly observant. So strategic and clever and cool that there can be corruption. If distortion sets in a subtle, insidious suggestion of self-importance and abuse of power will arise. Superlative consciousness needing advanced handling to stay truth-centered and immune to the false light of power.
This is where it gets really good. All we have to do is realize our inherent goodness. From 19 degrees Capricorn to 18 degrees Capricorn, it’s almost like a change of worlds. How are you going to choose to view this Pluto retrograde transit?
Then we get into 17 degrees Capricorn:
CAPRICORN 17
A gold ring baked into a cake.
Initiation is a secretive affair. It calls forth discernment and offers immense awakening. It is a narrow path, stern and demanding. Everything proves illusory. The world becomes an empty egg. Yet the guiding ray is so pure. And if the tests are passed, exquisite self-realization is there. A reminder of what you've forgotten. A vow or promise reinstated. Something neglected and denied returning in the most startling ways. A fatelike feeling of get-it-now or get-it-later. No fruitions in the outer, yet all is bright on the inner.
This is us being the change we want to see in the world. This is what has to happen before any changes manifest externally.
Then we move into 16 degrees Capricorn:
CAPRICORN 16
Dinosaur bones discovered while digging.
Purpose marks the spot. A mixed-up approach. Fusing together components that do not match. Doggedly pursuing straight intent, yet you're wide open, unwittingly, to whatever will show you a different picture. Tremendous karmic backlog. Oppressive and detailed. The soul's record kept strictly in mind--there's no freedom here. The future does not dawn. However, redemptive hard work is immensely powerful, harnessed as what must be done to achieve a goal you've barely glimpsed. Something great is possible if all assumptions are cast away and the direct evidence of deep experience becomes centrally there.
This is when we start to do the work. Put the pen to the paper and start doing shit. “The direct evidence of deep experience becomes centrally there.”
And we will cycle through this all again when Pluto stations direct and goes through these degrees one last time before reaching the 20th degree of Capricorn, so I’ll show you that for funzies.
CAPRICORN 20
Many different perfumes carried by a breeze.
We bear within us many past lives, each one complete, autonomous, and emitting its own subtle, special fragrance. There are points along the journey when we must stand together with the whole line-up of our previous selves and follow out the journey they were all leading to. This is a formidable task. There is a lot to live up to. It grants you authority and conviction and it makes it very hard to get started. In order to get anywhere you must at times deny the awareness that everybody is there, and do whatever you can do, apparently on your own. But truly the depth of experience, the substantive inward development and the power of your inner drive give it away--you are destiny-charged in a larger-than-life fashion. Being self-possessed is your watchword. There is so much to accomplish. And at the center of the journey lies self-knowledge and the overriding determination to clear the karmic slate, to free up what has been trapped and bound and to come to yourself afresh. This destiny-will is guided, cosmically supported, centrally relevant to your whole world, and you will do it. Turn the darkest of hours into the brightest breakthroughs by refusing to stop anywhere or to back down from your resolve to wake up this time and get on with the greater path, at long last.
“Turn the darkest of hours into the brightest breakthroughs by refusing to stop anywhere or to back down from your resolve to wake up this time and get on with the greater path, at long last.”
I’m going to hold onto that quote during this retrograde - hope you will too!
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So now, I’ll be moving through the signs. Check to see where Capricorn is in your chart, and read your RISING sign and your SUN sign for a complete and balanced picture of what to be mindful of during this transit. As always, for a personal and private astrology and tarot reading e-mail me at meredithsluckystars@gmail.com or find me at Okra in Charlotte, NC for booking!
Capricorn -
Pluto is going retrograde in your first house. This means that what you’re dealing with a very deep inner transformation that has been brewing for a long time. You have probably shed parts of yourself over the past several years that you could hide behind but all of those layers have come off through circumstances. This Pluto retrograde will be harshly aspecting Jupiter in Libra as well as Uranus in Aries, so expect that this is going to be a time where the home life has changed quite a bit and you’re ready to take new steps in the career realm but you’re really unsure about which steps to take. Know that by zeroing in on some of this deeper work that a Pluto retrograde inspires, you will eventually feel intuitively guided in a certain direction on the career front and in your personal life and your backbone will be hella strong.
Aquarius -
Pluto is going retrograde in your twelfth house. This is a time where you’re becoming more aware of your unconscious mind. Over the past few years you may have rediscovered your spirituality as it relates to everything that is. You may have had some major boundaries up and they’ve come crashing down for better or for worse. There is a feeling of being thrust into sifting through some stuff that needs to come up around your shadow, your deeper thoughts and psychological reflexes that are more instinctive and subconscious. You may feel especially empathic or emotional, taking on the stuff of everyone around you and maybe even the collective. Aquarius people don’t take too kindly to emotions usually and believe that decisions are better made with logic, so the ultimate test for you is having to really go inside yourself and have the changes you make in your environment come from that place.
Pisces -
Pluto is going retrograde in your eleventh house. This is a time where you may feel very alone on some levels. The eleventh house represents friendships, communities and networks and Pluto comes in and burns down all of those connections that you don’t really need, the connections you are too dependent on and the connections where you are taken advantage of. Pisces can be so incredibly generous and loving with their time, and maybe you need to give to yourself a little bit more now. The message for this transit is discernment in who you spend your time and energy on.
Aries -
Pluto is going retrograde in your tenth house. The tenth house represents career goals, your professional and public profile as well as a legacy of some kind that you leave behind. Pluto may be severing the connections you’ve been grasping to on the career plane. Pluto may be pushing you to make some sort of change in your career realm. Maybe you have a job and while it’s good hours and benefits it doesn’t make you happy because you don’t love it, but it does make you feel safe. Pluto is urging you to do what you love as though a life not spent doing what you love isn’t a life worth living. Do some inquiry of what kind of career you’d like to manifest for yourself and because Capricorn is such a practical sign, lean into that and do some planning for the future.
Taurus -
Pluto is going retrograde in your ninth house. The ninth house represents spirituality and source, religion and philosophy, belief systems and our hopes. It also represents travel and cultures different from our own. During this transit, your beliefs will be tested. There are things we believe about ourselves and our abilities, things that we hold onto that help to categorize our environment, and at some point it’s good to realize that those are simply just stories and that we don’t actually have to take any of that stuff with us. Hanging onto those old, worn out and tired belief systems that are actually crippling you would surely be a shame during this transit as Pluto is practically begging you to release them.
Gemini -
Pluto is going retrograde in your eighth house. The eighth house represents sex, death/rebirth, transformation, psychology, occult knowledge, buried things and the like as Pluto is the natural ruler of the eighth house. This is a time where your deep, dark, ugly feelings come up to the surface for you to really see through some kind of painful circumstance that has been vexing you the past few years. Even though this sounds rather harsh and terrible, this is actually a portal for healing that is very powerful and gets you there in half the time. It is more imperative for you than for anyone else to face your stuff and use this eighth house energy.
Cancer -
Pluto is going retrograde in your seventh house. The seventh house represents marriage, partnerships of all sorts, contractual agreements and open enemies. In a nutshell, this represents everyone who isn’t you and the qualities that you feel you lack. This Pluto in Capricorn transit has been burning down a lot of your relationships with friends and family. There may have been a divorce, separation of a business or the end to many friendships over the course of the past several years only to show you how strong you are and how much you can really stand on your own. These relationships weren’t meant to be for you, so during Pluto retrograde things will come up for you that make you see that you really need to release everything that isn’t yours.
Leo -
Pluto is going retrograde in your sixth house. The sixth house represents work, health habits and patterns as well as obstacles and daily routines. This transit may have brought up some health issues for you in the past few years as well as some just general daily life challenges and annoyances that you almost constantly have to transcend. Pluto is constantly bringing you road ragers, clients who are late and an inability to properly nourish your body. Some of the stuff of this house is rather mundane (clients, daily routines, health stuff) but other stuff this house represents has to do with keying into the cycles and rhythms of nature. Now is a perfect time to go outside and surrender to the earth, where you’ll find a great deal of healing.
Virgo -
Pluto is going retrograde in your fifth house. The past few years may have brought up challenges in short-term romantic relationships and dating, children, casual sexual relationships and creativity. You could feel very blocked physically, sexually and creatively one day and then you are super wide open physically, sexually and creatively the next, never knowing quite when inspiration is going to strike. You may have had a child without intending to or you could have really wanted a child and somehow are unable to conceive. The fifth house is an offshoot of the expression of our inner child. Inner child work is very challenging for those of us that have issues in childhood, but can be really effective for healing. Hold hands with your inner child and tell them everything is going to be okay, and feel genuinely soothed by that.
Libra -
Pluto is going retrograde in your fourth house. The fourth house represents family, home, your conscious emotional responses to your environment and your heart. This could be a time where people, things, comforts etc that are very close to your heart and what you think of as an emotional home base suddenly show themselves as not very safe. A good reminder for Libra is that there is nothing to reach for outside of yourself. Home can be wherever you are and you have all of the answers and emotional nourishment inside of you. During this pluto transit, find the home that is inside of your heart.
Scorpio -
Pluto is going retrograde in your third house. The third house represents communication, movement about our environment and neighborhood, our courage and learning. This could be a time where communication for you has been you unintentionally opening your mouth and fire comes out. You’ve had to really take time to understand the effect your words have on other people. Maybe you try to phrase things in very gentle ways and people have aversive responses to what you say. There could be some type of subject you are trying to learn that is just impossible for your brain to assimilate (seemingly). Pluto in the 3rd house is a lot about finding new solutions to old problems that vex you and make you feel small and fearful. Speak your truth and those who are meant to understand you will understand you.
Sagittarius -
Pluto is going retrograde in your second house. The second house represents finance, self-worth and our relationship to value and values and how much we feel valued. Your bank account may have taken a few hits in the past several years. Pluto in the second house is almost calling for you to be a survivalist - to see how much you can thrive when you are trying to survive on what some people would consider “not enough.” This is a test of whether or not you can remain focused on the bigger picture, if you can still believe in the abundance of the universe instead of coming from a lack mentality despite all of the challenges and the sacrifices.