Have you ever had a family member, friend or guest who had the compulsion when visiting your home to take something of yours with them when they left? They look around at your stuff, open the fridge, take a can of soda for the ten-minute ride home. You would offer it anyway, if they asked, but you wonder why they had to take your nail clippers when they are a small-ticket item found anywhere.
The astrological Pluto is a bit like that person, although rather than taking your nail clippers he would bend them into a new shape. Pluto must transform what it touches, taking it to the next level. Not only would the nail clippers be unrecognizable shapes of steel, Pluto might also have ripped out the vanity and mirror to get to the nail clippers.
Pluto is like this.
Pluto has been in Capricorn, in my house as it were, and is ready to move to Aquarius. This will happen in just a few days.
Pluto’s eyes were scanning my house, planning, looking for something. Knowing that Pluto is very strong, compulsive, and intense, I confronted him straight on. With Pluto, only total honesty will be effective as he will see through all, and I mean all, facades.
“Pluto,” I said, “is there anything you’d like to take with you as a remembrance?” I was trying to play it light and amiable.
“I want your financial system,” he replied.
“It’s kind of heavy,” I said to dissuade him. “You have a long trip home,” maybe you’d like something lighter like Facebook or Twitter?”
Staring at me with dark, Plutonian eyes, he replied, “I really wanted your healthcare system, but it’s way too heavy for my luggage. The financial system will do. And your nail clippers.”
Pluto in Capricorn
Pluto entered Capricorn in January 2008, the beginning of a global financial crisis. As Pluto leaves Capricorn, we’re back where we started – bank failures.
Pluto forces, it doesn’t ask. When we are intimate with others, we allow them to cross our physical, emotional, and mental boundaries. When we aren’t intimate, those similar activities can be crimes.
In 2008, Pluto forced a reckoning on a financial system that was not sustainable. In response, governments across the world plugged the sinking ship. The disliked, corrupt, and self-protective government made sure entire populations in developed countries weren’t standing in bread lines. A system “too big to fail,” is in effect a national system.
More recently, in 2020, when Jupiter, Saturn and Mars joined Pluto in Capricorn, government all but took over the globe. In the US, folks were told they could not work and waited for a check from the government – even those who are not socialists . . .
Capricorn transformation wasn’t less government, but more solid government as solution to problems that have become too large and complex for groups of individuals. And individuals are encouraged to fight which lessens the ability to tackle large problems.
Pluto is leaving Capricorn but only temporarily. Pluto will enter Aquarius on March 23 but will go retrograde (apparent backward motion) in May and be back in Capricorn in September. Pluto won’t return to Aquarius until January 2024.
That means we’ll feel comfortable that Pluto’s lessons on global infrastructure (banking and everything else such as government, healthcare, etc.) are over. We’ll have a summer of new energy until the fall when Pluto will probably remind us, again, that we haven’t pulled out the roots of the problem.
Pluto in Aquarius
Aquarius is group ideals, collective identity, idealism, brother/sister hood and futuristic and technological thinking.
When Uranus and Neptune went through Aquarius in the 1990s-2000s much technology was developed and loved, leading to collective use which then created new standards of business and social interaction.
Uranus brings the ideas, the inspirations. Neptune brings idealization and glamorization – the developers of technology are our new heroes and many a young person dreams of creating the next new tech that will change the world, or at least their corner of it.
Saturn entered Aquarius in March 2020 and almost at the point of the transit the globe went on a collective “lockdown” forcing people to stay away from each other. Saturn which contracts certainly contracted all things Aquarian. But at the same time, it forced dependency on technology for any interaction.
Now comes Pluto.
When Pluto is done taking the Earth’s financial system to the outer bounds of the solar system, what will he do when he comes back? What will he take?
In the early days of Internet and technology, a door was opened into a wider world. Today that door is used much differently, as a portal in rather than a view out. Our almost constant use of technology has fed information about what we want to see when we look out the door so now that is all that we will see, a reflection of our minds.
Maybe that’s what looking out has always been. Possibly this is Pluto’s lesson.
My local Starbucks was closed for maintenance for a couple days and returning I noticed that an area of seating had been removed.
This is no surprise – little by little the “neighborhood gathering place” has been evolving into a drive-thru focus with seating areas unavailable or reduced. And should you choose to gather at Starbucks, the loud music will drive you off. Understanding the profit motive, it’s reasonable. The pandemic lockdown taught a lot of businesses that they could make the same (or more maybe?) amount of money without the expense of too much physical infrastructure.
Starbucks isn’t public but like the old-fashioned café or coffee shop is a place to meet and sit for long periods with others to share conversation.
If both private “gathering places” and public spaces are eradicated, where do folks meet?
Pluto in Aquarius
Pluto will soon move from Capricorn to Aquarius, its first ingress. As Pluto is far away from us, it will appear to move back into Capricorn for a while (retrograde) before staying in Aquarius for the next couple decades.
The 1960s song “The Age of Aquarius” by the 5th Dimension promised peace, love and brotherhood with Aquarius. Brotherhood, yes, as Aquarius is known for this because it’s a relationship based on personal values, not the values one is born into.
Love? That’s more a Piscean trait, the Age before Aquarius and the one that brought us the religions we practice today which focus on love and compassion.
Peace? Peace is an agreement, a cooperation amongst individuals. Aquarius strives for that when it’s not rebelling against the crowd, against conformity. Peace is possible but Aquarius, like the fraternity or sorority based on its principles, may not be accommodating of those not sharing the ideals.
Aquarius is an air sign, not a water sign although it is represented by the water bearer. The water bearer is intuition – bringing the knowledge of the spirit into the third-dimensional experience. Aquarius is also known as the sign of genius because its intuitive insights can be “ahead of the times.”
The “isms” of the 20th century were Aquarian in nature. Did they work?
The “isms” seem to begin Aquarian pure which is why the average person trying to make it through life offers support. They fail because the old Capricorn nature of reality – hierarchy and control – ultimately prevails spoiling the energy.
Right to Assembly
The transits of Uranus and Neptune through Aquarius in the 1990s and early 2000s brought us technology. The pandemic lockdowns changed technology from an aid to interaction to a standard of interaction. If I were a conspiracy theorist, and I swear I’m not, I’d even wonder if it was a test of keeping people separated.
While technology can greatly aid in connecting people for both positive and negative purposes, there is always an invited guest – the technology itself which is owned by others and can be hacked by others.
The United State constitution protects the right of assembly. But what if there is nowhere to assemble? What if we can only assemble digitally?
Physical assembly or digital assembly can both be infiltrated yet digital experiences are not just more prone to manipulation, it sometimes seems that is their entire purpose. In the 1957 movie A Face in the Crowd we see a man learn the power of radio and television to manipulate others, laughing as a community of people take his advice to harass a local politician. And the movie includes the journalist who sees what’s occurring but has no power to influence.
That movie represents most of what occurs today. The voices who are sincerely trying to provide information are being drowned through digital distraction and manipulation.
The Screen or the Assembly?
Uranus and Neptune transiting Aquarius in the 1990s and 2000s brought us hand-held screens. Prior, we had a screen in the living room (and maybe bedroom and some other rooms) and could go to the “big screen.” Now we are all engaged with screens all the time.
On the other side of the screen are folks who want us to believe or buy things so they will constantly try to get messages across these screens. The best way to do this is understand exactly what we want to see and show us only that.
More and more, then, the screen reflects our own thoughts – the inside of our heads is now visible to others – and to us! Observing what’s occurring, it appears there is a lot we don’t say to each other.
As Pluto transits Aquarius, we may see more desire to assemble, or re-assemble, to experience the energy-generating experience of meeting with others in corporeal form. What happens in our heads – and on-screen – changes during the actual, physical interaction with others.
The astrologer and analyst in me is fascinated to see what comes next as other parts of me miss the people who no longer want to come out and play.
Upon being invited to a “wine tasting” at the beginning of Uranus in Pisces in the early 2000s, I expected the California Sonoma County experience – small portions of wine – white then red – spittoons, and sommelier small talk.
While waiting in line at the event for one of my three reds (having finished the two half-full glasses of white), I fully understood that wine “tasting” in this town meant wine “drinking.”
People drinking isn’t new. In a town with love of college sports, people gathering at sports bars to watch a game and have a few isn’t new. College kids drinking isn’t new.
What was new was the added cultural gloss on a very common activity. We weren’t drinkers, we were discerning “tasters.” The cultural uplift of wine “tasting” was followed by the cultural uplift of “craft” alcohol. If I wake in the morning and drink whisky, you might think I have a problem. If I wake in the morning to go on a whisky “tour,” then it’s cultural and cool.
Uranus was in Pisces from 2003 – 2010. Then as Uranus left Pisces, Neptune entered Pisces and is there still but will change in a couple years (to Aries).
And now Saturn will move into Pisces in March 2023. Since 2003 we’ve had learned much about Pisces – awareness (Uranus), glamorization (Neptune) and now contraction (Saturn).
What does Pisces represent?
Pisces
Isabel Hickey was a uniquely insightful astrologer. To understand three social/outer planets travelling back-to-back in this sign, her unique view is needed. Pisces is the mutable water sign and last sign of the zodiac.
Snippets from Astrology: A Cosmic Science, Pisces:
is the last sign of the zodiac and the inner self is preparing to retreat from the world
is the most sensitive sign of the zodiac and emotions are strong and deep
is represented by the glyph of the two fish tied together: one fish swims downstream representing the personality; the other fish swims upstream representing the soul – either the soul captures the personality and it becomes the servant or the soul is bound and made captive by the personality
is moody and introspective and hard to understand
needs to be alone and retreat from the world to retain equilibrium
is the prey of obsessing entities from the lower psychic levels due to psychic sensitivity
can be self-indulgent and wallow in the senses
has great musical ability
Most importantly:
the world is not their habitat and the need to escape from it is very great
when Pisceans are connected to the inner source of their Being, they are capable of great achievements
when not connected to the inner source of their Being, the way of escape is often through alcohol and drugs
the only true freedom comes from spiritual orientation
March of the Planets
Much of Pisces energy isn’t seen from the outside. Uranus in Pisces brought spiritual awareness and “mindfulness” is now a colloquial term. Inner growth isn’t always visible although the tools of spiritual growth may produce revenue – learning materials, meditation mats, health products, and books.
The negative side of Pisces is much more evident. As Hickey notes, drugs and alcohol are the most common forms of escapism. As a water sign, Pisces prefers alcohol. The Digital Life didn’t exist in Hickey’s day; had it she might have added excessive media to the list.
Uranus didn’t make us aware of wine and beer; it made us aware of the wide range of varieties that exist. It made us aware that we could change the branding of how we drink to make excess more acceptable, as certain segments had done for quite a while. For the producers, it gave awareness of ways to expand the market. According to this A Gallup poll from 2013 shows the shift from beer to wine and liquor.
Bring on Neptune which idealizes and glamorizes. This was the rise of the opioid epidemic, a repeat of the previous Neptune in Pisces transit when we had Opium Wars. At the end of this Neptune-in-Pisces transit we’re exploring the use of psychedelics! Tell the children of the 1960s! (The moral of the story here is our Pluto in Capricorn transit – if it comes from a corporation, it’s good! If it comes from your neighbor down the street, it’s bad).
Not surprisingly, transits of Uranus and Neptune caused much indulgence of alcohol. It’s now sold in delightful little bottles right by the grocery checkout (“Baby bottles of booze” Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert). Those little bottles are difficult to resist.
Now comes Saturn in Pisces – the brakes.
Dry January and Beyond
Hearing about Dry January, I was reminded that Saturn in Pisces was around the corner. January is the sign of Capricorn, ruled by Saturn. Good preparation for the upcoming transit. Saturn will move into Pisces a bit before St. Patrick’s Day which in the United States is a drinking holiday.
Hickey calls Saturn the “tester”:
Saturn’s goal is perfection. Through the chastening process of testing, sorrow, delay, disappointment, limitation and privation, man learns the purpose of life is not pleasure but to gain experience, patience, humility, wisdom and compassion.
Hickey adds a chart of qualities basic, positive, and negative. Dry January is represented by:
Basic: restraint
Positive: self-discipline
Negative: suppression
Limiting alcohol can provide health benefits. When we “suppress” as with Prohibition, it doesn’t solve the root problem and creates more problems (crime, dangerous manufacture). Restraint and self-discipline are the positive qualities where we may drink but understand where we cross a line and are fooling ourselves with cultural gloss.
But how does spiritual restraint work?
Spiritual bypassing is a term used to describe spirituality as a means of avoidance or escape from the pressing problems one doesn’t want to or know how to solve. In a way, the entire earth seems to be doing this by refusing to acknowledge we aren’t treating our home well.
For those on spiritual paths, there is a bunch of Saturn to encounter before true growth begins. “Be here, now” is something heard in the Buddhist tradition. Here and now means addressing what is occurring here and now, not rationalizing it away.
Remembering I had Liz Greene’s Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil, I checked out her take on Saturn in Pisces. One sentence I had underlined I’ll share here as it’s to me the ultimate of Saturn responsibility:
There is nothing we hate so much as accepting responsibility for our actions and our fate, although man wants so desperately to believe that he is free.
We hear today that Exxon Mobil knew about the effects of oil use climate change back in the 1980s. We’d like to blame Exxon but I believe we all knew, we just accepted the lie. This same pattern repeats endlessly – argue away the issue today and later when it’s understood to be true, it’s too late to do anything and it’s unclear who is responsible.
A corporate executive I knew once said, “when everyone is responsible, no one is responsible” which is where we find ourselves today.
Drier Times
By the end of Saturn in Pisces (2.5 years), I’ll expect some drier climate conditions. As Saturn leaves Pisces for Aries a couple years from now, Neptune will also be moving to Aries. Water changes to fire. The next 2.5 years are the bridge.
Water issues are another area of everyone responsible-no one responsible. We are running out of fresh water on earth for many reasons and so many of the earth’s inhabitants do not have fresh drinking water. Blue Gold is the book you’ll want to read to catch up on that.
In early 2020 as Saturn entered Aquarius, the world went on physical lockdown. Our digital growth allowed non-physical interactions to replace physical interaction. I believe there’s an emotional cost to humans not being allowed to interact were this to be a new social model. At my age, I don’t believe that digital and physical are equivalent as humans are energy-generating beings and seeing them on screen only will create dangerous emotional separations.
Pisces rules the feet so we may see – in our plethora of new diseases – focus on foot ailments.
I’ll end with some Liz Greene and what may be the core of future challenges which Saturn in Pisces will reveal as the bridge to fire and air energies arising.
Greene covers Saturn in Pisces and the 12th house of the horoscope, the house ruled by Pisces:
The twelfth house, as the last in the circle and lying hidden behind the Ascendant or outward behaviour, symbolizes both endings and beginnings. It is the end because it represents the sacrifice which must ultimately be made of the conscious personality as a separation unit. From a more abstruse point of view it represents the beginning because it refers to those causes from the past, which, operating from birth and below the level of consciousness, draw us to those situations which require that we lose ourselves and die to be reborn into group consciousness.
While I would challenge “group consciousness” as the place of rebirth, I do wonder if this is apropos here because we are moving into air and fire consciousness in the next couple decades. Pluto in Aquarius (also coming soon) is evolution of group consciousness.
Our lockdown of 2020 may have been a social test on how to control great numbers of people in the most effective way. Emotional separation combined with distractions seems to be the model at this time.
Saturn in Pisces will demonstrate the effects of this model and whether emotional connection can ever be truly replaced with digital stimulation.
Immediately upon entering the house after eating at a restaurant, my cat asked me if I had any leftovers for her.
“Leftovers!” I proclaimed. “You are thinking about the United States before its Pluto return. It took me 15 minutes of ‘Where’s Waldo’ to find the cranberries and pecans in my Cranberry and Pecan salad. Later I realized that the bacon bits were absent. And you want leftovers!”
“Why did America get rid of leftovers during the Pluto return?” asked my ever-inquisitive, astrologically-minded, and politically-astute feline.
The explanation, of course, was not brief. I had to explain our culture of abundance and how from the Reagan Administration greed has been sanctified as a business model which precipitated the subsequent excesses and crashes we experienced in the 1990s and 2000s. No one is “greedy” anymore; we are merely looking for a return on investment.
Around this time of the Reagan Administration, I explained, is when Americans became heavy (I showed my cat pictures from the 1960s and 1970s to show her that people were naturally thin). I went on to explain corn subsidies and the rise of the highly-addictivehigh-fructose corn syrup and the increased portion sizes. It’s human (and feline) nature to eat more of tasty stuff if provided, as my feline knows very well.
As most Americans are trying to lose some weight, the smaller portions are probably not a bad thing, I said, and simply a return to pre-greed normal portion sizes. And many are aware now of the addictive substances included in processed food. The price, in contrast, continues to increase. And it would be nice, of course, to have cranberries in the Cranberry Salad.
My feline listened intently, as she always does, then asked:
“When the Pluto return is over,” asked my feline, “will there be leftovers again?”
“In March Pluto will move into Aquarius. But I don’t think that will bring leftovers. It may bring technology that tells us when we are hungry, the exact amount of food we should eat and when we should expect to relieve our bodies of the waste. We may even forget how to get hungry and allow technology to remind us.”
After seeing the shock in my feline’s eyes from my dystopian science-fiction novel statement, I reassured her that I would always provide two meals a day, Pluto return or no Pluto return.
Pluto in Capricorn
As I began this blog in 2010, Pluto was at the beginning of its 20-year trek through Capricorn which represents evolution of our social consciousness, societal structures, rules, laws, discipline, and boundaries. The transit began in late 2007 with the collapse of the housing market and world financial meltdown. It’s fascinating to watch how close we can come to global infrastructure collapse yet rebound and forget due to government intervention. Yet at the same time there is a great dislike of government. Most of what governments do to prevent global collapse is esoteric and given empty monikers to further obfuscate (“quantitative easing”).
Near the end of this transit 2020 – which was near the United States’ Pluto return at 27 degrees of Capricorn – most of the governments of the world did the same thing at the same time – physical lockdown due to a global illness.
This Pluto-in-Capricorn transit has brought anger and outrage as government and large corporate power (more and more the same thing) have increased and personal power has decreased. Technology like other inventions throughout history is weaponized by governments and used for control. The historical themes have not changed, just the methods with which they can be executed.
The United States’ Pluto Return
What does it mean to have a Pluto return?
Individuals will never have a Pluto return (except Moses) due to the length of the revolution around the sun which is 246(ish) years. Countries have Pluto returns but they are difficult to identify as countries evolve and borders change. It’s difficult then to determine the country’s “birth.”
The United States is easier to track due to its youth and expansionist nature – it has expanded borders but has not lost territory (I don’t think). And its “birth” – the one I use – is the symbolic July 4, 1776, although the nuts and bolts of nationhood were not established in a day. The symbolic identity is more relevant to me personally than actual document signature dates because it is the myth we are taught and believe.
Natal Pluto in Capricorn means our evolutionary lessons are about social structure, authority, control, and boundaries. In the 1990s there was discussion about whether the United States military should be the “cops” of the world. That’s Capricorn trying to be the big boss. The United States has military bases across the globe for this reason.
While politics (and Pluto) is in the eye of the beholder, I believe my nation’s Pluto return represents a great loss of global power and control. In the first round of Pluto we had great cultural (Disney), political (force) and monetary (dollar) control. That is changing and since most don’t live an entire Pluto return, I don’t think it can be understood at a personal level. That’s what astrology can help with.
Empires rise and fall. Other empires on the globe have risen in mass culture, wealth, and political control. The United States will not be able to be the World Cop anymore. Some countries even invade other countries just to prove this point.
A nation divided is weak and it’s my personal belief our sports-minded split of two parties with winners and losers is a calculated method to keep the masses from organizing against the minority of plutocrats (yes, Pluto in the name!). Some countries use direct, open control. Some use more subtle methods like this one.
Pluto in Aquarius – the sign of fraternity, liberty and equality if I may steal the French Revolution slogan – may change that. And the plutocracy will fight back as it always will. It should be an interesting 20 years of transit for the United States and the other countries of the earth.
United States’ Pluto Return – Thinner and Angrier
We astrologers love trying to predict the future. We’re so much like economists you might call us cousins. Astrologers like economists come in the usual two flavors: optimistic and pessimistic. Life tends to move along in neither absolute direction which makes both astrologers and economists inaccurate in many predictions which lends to some mistrust of the two arts.
When I heard predictions of another civil war in the United States I laughed. Really? Miss our entertainment to take up arms against people from other states? And we are not physically fit for this either. Although as our portion sizes decrease, that may improve.
There is a war, a Pluto-in-Aquarius war of airwaves, information and ultimately mind. Our enemy’s greatest desire is that we carry their thoughts. These types of thought wars began in the early 20th century with wars based on ideologies, not simply wars to acquire land to become physically richer or more secure. These ideological wars started with idealistic aims of equality and reduction of poverty – and definitely provided that over time – but at the expense of high levels of control.
Like many historians, I would argue that the ideals of the United States were never fully achieved but are ideals for which we constantly strive. Ideals are in the realm of Aquarius so this Pluto-in-Aquarius transit is an evolutionary cycle to rise higher in that goal.
Independence has been sold to Americans as something personal and individual which encourages both separation and alienation. But independence is a collective goal of cooperation and agreement as hopefully Aquarius will teach us. We can choose cooperation or we can choose to have others control us to force it. We can actively participate or we can react with useless, unproductive anger.
While most are enamored of technology, I’m really very happy that much of what we have today was not available in my youth. The big downside, of course, is that I had to comb through library catalog cards rather than ordering library materials online.
You know the feeling.
The major upside of lack of technology in the great balance of life is that I did not have some of my youthful embarrassing moments carried all over the social media. Years ago, while watching an adult Facebook friend post a romantic breakup on the site, I was a bit embarrassed. I wonder what the Facebook feed of a 20-year-old looks like.
In the sadder portion of the social media universe, I read about young children who are bullied at school and then experience bullying on social media. It’s 24/7 bullying and quite upsetting when children take drastic measures to escape it.
Social media allows us to bully but also to shout, write on topics no one cares about (astrology) and express all kinds of thoughts that normally would be confined to the dinner table. Or, even better, never discussed at all at dinner because of its unimportance without social media fuel to keep it aflame.
So it’s not a surprise that Prince Harry of England would embark on a media campaign of personal revelation after keeping feelings and experiences intensely private for so many years. While I haven’t read his autobiography Spare, I’ve enjoyed excerpts, his interview on 60 Minutes and several book reviews. It’s gossip heaven.
Dish on his brother, father, sister-in-law and step mother are all on tap. What I haven’t heard yet, at all, is any criticism of the wife. That’s cause Harry is in love and the wife is so different from his previous life. What Harry might want to consider in the 4EVER world of social media is that marriages over time can become, how shall we say it, less exciting than at the beginning.
The Critical Prince Harry
Virgo, the sign of Harry’s sun and Mercury is an earth sign and the most critical sign of the zodiac known for discrimination, mental ability, with focus on work, routines, habits and diets. It’s generally a picky eater with lots of allergies and tendency to nervous dissipation from excessive thinking and worry.
Moon in Taurus is also earth but much more relaxed. It’s generally slower to emotionally react so good at keeping the peace and making sure the silver is polished. However, the planet Uranus is currently transiting Taurus so all those calm Taurus’ you (used to) know are now having emotional upheavals. In my early days of astrology, I was warned that Taurus was calm until it had enough and blew up. I can confirm that is correct. Uranus is the igniter of those suppressed feelings which rise up like lava from a volcano – hot and sudden.
The Partying Prince Harry
Taurus moon is very practical but also very physical, enjoying the sensations of life. It’s common that this moon likes extreme sport because it’s so physically robust and while lesser activity can be stimulating for some, Taurus needs more intensity to penetrate from physical to emotional and mental.
Also, Harry’s natal Uranus, Mars and Neptune are in Sagittarius, a sign unlike Virgo and considered a “square” or tense relationship to it. That the worrying Virgo would turn to drugs is no surprise to the astrologer. In addition to escaping worry through drugs, Sagittarius wants heightened experience and is easily bored and depressed by the humdrum of life. Sagittarius wanders and explores. Sagittarius loves freedom and can have trouble with the dependent type of relationship.
As noted in 2011’s blog Prince Harry is Growing Up, Sagittarius loves things and experiences that are different and foreign. Sagittarius is a xenophile. It’s no surprise Prince Harry married a foreigner.
The Virgo-Sagittarius square is something we’re hearing a lot about right now from Harry. Virgo criticism with Sagittarius outspokenness; Virgo worry and anxiety with Sagittarious drive for freedom and new experiences.
Harry the Husband
While the news story – possibly for Harry himself – is that upon marriage he finally felt free of his past life and now wants to live the life of an individual not subject to royal obligations, I believe there’s a more common story beneath.
The sub-story and more important one is that Harry is doing what many have done and will do – fall in love with “different” and feel a healthy separation and freedom from the family legacy. Over time, however, Harry like others may learn how deep in the DNA one’s family emotional history resides. And Harry’s family IS history.
And if Harry’s marriage should go through challenges – which most marriages do – or falter even then Harry may find himself much freer than he would like. His Venus in Libra seeks the ideal partner who doesn’t have crooked teeth or unpleasant nose hair. After years of marriage and as age progresses, habits can become less pretty.
Although royalty seems the British everlasting gobstopper of a soap opera, the news will move onto something else in a short time. The shelf life of gossip and scandal is decreasing as fast as consumer prices are increasing.
When Harry goes to live his private life (if he does) and he and family are not in the news, where will that Virgo sun direct its criticism? And after years of marriage to these Americans with their bad tea and broken English, who will he talk to about our uncouth ways?
As Harry matures even more, he might regret putting it “all” out there on social media and not leaving a little for a private, nasty letter on personal stationery that can later be thrown into the fire and forgotten.
Mithras, according to the September/October 2022 issue of Minerva, is a very ancient god whose name appears in Indo-Iranian groups as early as the 14th century BC. Ancient sculptures depict Mithras slaying a bull which is academically described in Minerva as a “tauroctony.”
According the the article, Mithras is described in the ancient Vedic (Rigveda) and Iranian (Avesta) texts. On the latter:
The Avesta contains a hymn dedicated to Mithras the ‘Mihr Yasht’, that paints the portrait of a solar deity, a god of justice who rules over alliances between gods and mortals and guarantees that contracts between people are upheld. This latter role finds a direct expression in the very name of ‘Mithras’, which is the ancient Persian word for ‘contract.’
How did Mithras come to be slaying a bull?
That part is unclear in the historical records. It may have been a Roman thing because they were very good with slaying both themselves and others.
But what is Mithras achieving by slaying a bull?
In this sculpture at the British Museum Mithras slays the bull while a scorpion attacks the testicles, a snake bites the chest and a dog laps up the blood. Astrology, no surprise, has symbolism that fits nicely here, sans the gruesome slaughter:
The fixed signs are: Taurus (earth – the bull which rules the body), Leo (fire – the lion which rules the heart), Scorpio (water – the scorpion which rules the genitals) and Aquarius (air – the water bearer which rules circulation).
Taurus is being slaughtered while Scorpio takes the energy of the genitals, Leo the energy of the blood and Aquarius the energy of the breath.
Taurus is the body and physical reality. Without air, breath and blood we cease to function. Maybe rather than a sculpture of violence it is a sculpture of understanding of the life forces and how easily we can move from life to death.
Is Mithras, then, the controller of the body and the life within it?
Contracts
Mithras means “contract” in ancient Persian. Our current definition of contract is:
a written or spoken agreement, especially one concerning employment, sales or tenancy that is intended to be enforceable by law
In a spiritual sense I’m learning, contracts are the agreements we make for our interactions in physical form. Spiritual “laws” are like properties of physics, immutable and not subjective. Karma is the most recognizable of these “laws” and like much in the world is sometimes viewed very literally but appears to be within our soul’s contracts and not always the one-to-one (eye for an eye) that we want it to be.
Is Mithras slaying our bodies so which in turn slays our contracts?
The symbolism is there but something seems to be missing from the story that was handed down through time and which was then converted by the dominant and domineering Romans into a cult.
Uranus
Uranus the planet of sudden changes, unexpected events and enlightening strikes stays in a sign for about seven years – hence the “itch” we have after seven years of doing something.
Recently I picked up a copy of Steven Forrest’s The Changing Sky which is a wonderful book on transits. (As an aside, if you are learning astrology I highly recommend Forrest for his wonderful perspective on astrology and unique and clear way of explaining the energies.)
Uranus Forrest describes as the cycle of individuality with the aim of freedom. Individuality and freedom in the astrological (and psychological senses) are something entirely different from the political “freedom” and are not comfortable states.
To my perspective, most people share the beliefs of their culture as we are enculturated before we are conscious. Uranus involves honesty with the self, the self beneath the enculturation. Many do not examine this until a Uranus transit forces it.
To one day wake up to a Uranus transit and discover you don’t share the religious beliefs of your culture can be very disconcerting. In fact, it can be highly dangerous in many parts of the earth. Uranus leads to freedom because one becomes separate when acknowledging the inner self. How comfortable is this?
And if one is born into a culture that does not allow individual religious expression, then often there is a need to leave that culture, if possible. Forrest talks about the natural cycle of Uranus when we are 14 and 21 and have the need to define ourselves and leave home. Most parents dislike this age in children because enculturation is being challenged.
Separation – freedom – can be critical for discovering the inner self.
Uranus in Taurus
Uranus has been transiting Taurus since 2019 (with a short dip in 2018). Taurus rules the body and physical reality so you may have noticed lots of concerns in these areas from how much sovereignty we have over our bodies to supply chain disruptions that have enlightened us as to how and where our products are created.
The primary Taurus concern that has occurred with this transit is the desire to wipe out a virulent strain of illness through new technologies. The fear of dying – Mithras at our backs – is a strong and convincing motivation.
The illness involves breathing and circulation – the snake that bites the chest. This is air (Aquarius) which is represented by Saturn’s transit of Aquarius which is soon to pass. However, when Uranus leaves Taurus it will move into Gemini which is the air sign ruling the lungs. And Pluto (evolution) is soon to move into Aquarius. The energy is turning toward air so I’m expecting some leftover lung issues from all that’s occurred during this Taurus transit. Lung issues are also spiritually connected to communication and while we have many more channels of communication than any time in history, it also allows us all to talk (or shout) at once so no one is really heard.
The four fixed signs in the tauroctony are essential for life in the body. If one fixed sign is affected, the others are as well so it will be interesting to understand the effects on the genitals, heart and body structure of all that’s occurring today.
The Roman cult of Mithras saw the slaying of the bull as leading to new life. Maybe it was the “afterlife” that they were truly seeking although they didn’t realize it – a life free of the body. Life in the body has always had the challenge of illness and decay as the body does not last forever.
Mithras is at our backs with the contract for life, the body and the release from the body.
In a recent conversation, someone pointed out how Fox News influences people in certain parts of the United States. Does Fox News influence them, I asked, or is Fox News simply reporting their perspective?
“Coming out of the closet” is/was a term describing those who stopped hiding their love of the same gender and told family and loved ones about their preference. In recent years in some parts of the United States it’s been safer to do this. Gender identity has also come out of the closet as has long-term practices of sexual misconduct.
The door is open!
Like Pandora’s Box, the door is open for all kinds of previously-hidden activity and beliefs, not just those we like or those that represent justice. When the 45th president was elected in 2016 there was some surprise among certain segments of the population regarding his openly-stated beliefs and devoted followers. But as Dave Chappelle explained on Saturday Night Live, it was only surprising to some. For others, that closet door was never closed.
“Diversity” is the word that embraces the openness of groups who are no longer hiding in the closet. Diversity includes those we don’t like who have also taken advantage of the open door. We all love diversity – some of it, but not necessarily all of it. If we did, the United States wouldn’t have clearly-defined neighborhoods based on ethnicity and income.
The challenge of the United States is unique – we are a diverse country where our belief in freedom encourages us all to come out of the closet. The challenge is how to establish some common causes where we tackle problems larger than ourselves, larger than our immediate environment. If the current political culture prevails where contentious division is encouraged, then we will no longer function as a nation. The challenge is common cause within diversity.
Me / You
The astrological symbolism of this challenge is in the polarity of Aries / Libra or the 1st / 7th house axis. I exist and so do you whether I like it or not. It’s a polarity – not the duality promoted by the political strategists.
What’s the difference?
Polarity is energy that manifests on a spectrum. Duality is not on a spectrum and are two sides disagreeing. Polarity is spiritual – it shows us that what we don’t like in others exists within ourselves. We see our reflections outside of ourselves.
In psychology it’s called projection. If I understand what my friends are saying about quantum energy, it’s described as the observed being affected by the observer. In spirituality, it’s explained that we are all one.
Sports is a common arena for the self-other polarity. In sports, as in any competitions, the other can help us improve our own performance. Competition in everything, however, makes us lose a sense of self because we then only respond to what others are doing rather than our internal self. We can both improve ourselves and lose ourselves in competition.
Aries / Libra
Aries is the first sign of the zodiac representing the self. Aries by nature is assertive, positive and externally focused toward goals. Your Aries friends are probably busy with all of their goals, one after the other.
Libra is the seventh sign of the zodiac representing the other. Libra by nature reflects off of friends, family and especially lovers to develop a sense of self. Your Libra friends who date may morph into the personalities of the love and friend interests – today a poet, tomorrow an astronaut.
Open Enemies
There is still value, to me, in traditional astrology with its medieval overtones. We don’t use the term “enemy” much anymore but we have them. While there are ten thousand emojis to express one’s feelings on social media, there’s still no “don’t like” button.
There are people who don’t like us although many don’t like to think about that. I side with Ayn Rand on this one – we have the right to like and dislike. It’s when we attempt to create legislation of our likes and dislikes that the environment can become oppressive and dangerous.
The 7th house (ruled by Libra) represents “open” enemies. The 12th house is considered the place of hidden enemies. The 12th house is also the area of “undoing” where often our “hidden” enemy is not another but aspects of ourselves.
Would you prefer an enemy that shows up at your door and confronts you or one that pipes odorless, colorless natural gas into your house?
Our open enemies make us more aware of the self, they make us understand we aren’t treated well and need to stand up for ourselves. Open enemies can be confronted.
Hidden enemies – like subtle and unidentifiable ways in which some can’t move into a neighborhood – are more difficult to overcome because they first must be identified, brought out into the open, lured from the den. Others may not believe that you have this enemy which makes it infinitely more difficult to overcome; that’s what gives it the label “institutionalized.”
The Open Closet
In 2016, the cracked closet door opened wider to allow some groups to express openly what might have been kept to the dinner table. We all exist.
And the open closet may reveal that others are not as much like us as we think, even those that claim to share similar views. In 2016 a colleague commented that there had to be those around her who voted for the 45th president but we’d never know who. And that brings us back to the self – what do we truly believe? How much do we believe that is truly our own? How many of our beliefs did we develop by default?
For years upon hearing the name “Elon Musk” this word pops into my mind: fake.
Knowing very little about Musk or his businesses, I have no rationale for this thought. He’s a rich businessman, a supporter of new technologies (electric cars) and idealist goals (space travel). I don’t know why I have it. Long overdue, I explored Musk’s horoscope to determine what gives me the feeling he’s not genuine in some way.
Intelligence
Using the Astrotheme chart which in which the time of birth is not confirmed there are definitely the markers of innovation and intelligence: Cancer sun and Mercury which have an amazing memory; Virgo moon which is analytical in the extreme; Saturn in Gemini which is mental discipline; Mars in Aquarius which is the motivation for innovation.
A loose grand air trine of Saturn and Venus (in Gemini), Mars (in Aquarius) and Uranus (in Libra) also speaks to intelligence and the interest in following what the crowd is doing and being part of the times. The air trine is social which the Cancer (water) sun is seeking to belong.
Intelligence, I believe, is not a rare quality. Beauty – the kind we see in the movies – is much rarer. I have the pleasure of working with intelligent people and often there’s a desire to be the most intelligent. Intelligence, like other qualities, has variety. With his air trine and Virgo moon, Musk has the traditional analytical intelligence. With sun and Mercury in watery Cancer, he also has the intuitive kind and is probably an amazing story teller.
Air and water want to connect with the world around them, through ideas and emotions respectively. Possibly the fake sense I get is Musk’s desire to be part of the crowd, part of whatever is the current fad or trend.
Mars
Each horoscope has a pattern, a theme if you will. There is one theme that stands out a flashing light in Musk’s chart: a lone Mars.
Mars in Aquarius means that Musk wants to share the ideals of the group. If the times are about innovation, he’s about innovation. If the times were about something else, he would probably share that as well. We all do that to some extent.
What’s interesting about his Mars is that it is somewhat detached from the rest of the chart. Mars makes aspects but the chart has the ladle pattern with Mar as the handle. While wide in orb (geometric degrees), Mars forms with sun/Mercury (Cancer) and moon/Pluto (Virgo) an aspect called the yod.
Many astrologers will kick out this assessment, but I’ve always used a 29-degree orb. Example, when Uranus starts transiting Taurus and the world runs out of toilet paper, if you have sun, moon or Saturn in Taurus from 0-29 degrees, you’ll have more reaction than say someone with one of those planets in Gemini. Taurus maintains and monitors stuff and the world lacking stuff will make it nervous even out of orb. When the transit is in orb, then you, too, run out of toilet paper.
So, back to the Musk’s Mars. The yod as an energetic configuration provides an inner sense of “must.” He must be innovative. With his Cancer sun and moon in Virgo, Musk could have been an innovative chef or health researcher. He’s chosen the more public face of the day’s technological focus which can be difficult for the Cancer sun which wants to hide in its shell and the Virgo moon which is anxious.
There’s only one planet in fire – Neptune in Sagittarius so Musk doesn’t have natural confidence. It’s the acquisition of knowledge and innovation that supports his confidence. The more I know, the more I share the goals, the more I become a leader.
More than an innovator?
Possibly what’s driving the feeling of inauthenticity for me involves a few natal aspects and transits.
In the natal horoscope, Moon in Virgo (analytical) squares Neptune in Sagittarius (visionary). Astrological squares internal tensions that motivate us to move when we’d rather sit in front of the television. No squares, no action. But this square reminds us that when genius and delusion are separated by a thin line. Musk seems to have a good balance here. With his Twitter move, I see Neptune in Sagittarius and misunderstanding about what’s really occurring in “social” media.
Transiting Neptune in Pisces created a T-square, many years ago, in the 2010s, to the moon and natal Neptune. Neptune’s influence is not something easily seen: it’s both spiritual and escapist. Neptune is mystery and deception. Neptune is the wonder of consciousness and the shifting images that sway and influence us.
Transiting Pluto in Capricorn created a T-square to Musk’s sun/Uranus square back in the early 2010s as well. According to Wikipedia, most of his innovations/ideas were in play by then. According to the Musk net worth chart from that page, his net worth did not substantially increase until around 2019, the beginning of the recent pandemic – that’s interesting.
What I may be feeling is that sometime back in the 2010s Musk’s genius may have met outside forces that influenced his motivations. Musk’s interests are the generally the interests of government and as we saw in early 2020 when Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto aligned in Capricorn, government control has increased substantially, mostly aided by technology. We are learning drip by drip (or byte by byte) how our technology giants are assisting authoritarian governments who create “open air” prisons of electronic surveillance.
Saturn is now transiting Aquarius and is conjunct Musk’s natal Mars in Aquarius. Saturn and Mars combined can create negative and sadist energy if not funneled into strict discipline toward clear goals. For Musk, this again is an outside influence trying to suppress innovation and his desire to share in the goals of humanity.
I’m still not clear why I was getting the feeling of inauthenticity for a public figure I am unacquainted with. Possibly as Musk’s interests would logically not be ignored by governments of the world, it may be some underlying mistrust of his true, or forced, motivations.
Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac, watery and mutable (changing, flexible) and ruled by Neptune. Like fog, Neptune obscures then dissolves in a way not entirely discernable to the eye. Neptune has been transiting Pisces since 2012.
Have you noticed your world dissolving?
When Pluto the destroyer and transformer entered Capricorn in late 2007 we noticed immediately the effects of destruction and transformation of Capricorn structure, authority and rules – the global financial crisis sparked by the housing market collapse. Here at the end of Pluto’s cycle through Capricorn most of our global structures have been destroyed and are being rebuilt and ideally transformed.
Uranus the enlightener and ruler of sudden changes has been transiting Taurus since 2019 (with a brief foray in Taurus in 2018). Taurus rules the 3D world and its tangible components, including the body and stuff (and money in tangible form, but not its digital component). At the higher level it rules values.
Notice any changes there: Sudden changes to the physical body and relationship of body to society? Sudden changes to logistics and consumer products? Changes in how you spend money?
Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are the outer planets that govern the larger patterns of society. Astrology teaches cyclical time to a human life that today spans about one cycle of Uranus, 84 years. Other cycles are more difficult to see from a detached perspective because we won’t see that today’s values may mean nothing tomorrow – we only learn that in history books.
While Uranus and Pluto are more evident in their effects, Neptune is a different type of experience, highly subjective, intuitive and emotional. It the experience of finding great love of humanity one day while riding the bus and trying to explain that to your friends and family.
During this Neptune transit of its own sign, have we seen an increase in intuition and mystical spirituality? Have people become more compassionate and loving? These are the positive aspects of Neptune that are difficult to measure.
The negative side of Neptune and/in Pisces is more easily seen and quantified: escapism and distortion of reality. Neptune loves heightened experience which comes through drugs and alcohol. Excessive media and living vicariously through it is another Neptune/Pisces escape pattern.
In 2025 Neptune will move from Pisces to Aries. Neptune glamorizes what it touches. If today’s Pisces spirituality and escapism are glamorized, the shift will be toward activities that enhance the self from standing up for one’s rights to warrior cultures.
The End of Pisces
Dissolution of reality
Neptune transiting the very last degrees of its own sign, the last sign of the zodiac, indicates the dissolving of the reality of the last 165 years. In this Guardian article about the satirical news outlet The Onion, there’s discussion of the difficulty in parodying a reality that parodies itself:
Neptune has dissolved “established truth.” One can’t relate to a being that’s living in a different reality. At the extreme, Neptune delusion is the much-caricatured mental patient who thinks he’s Napoleon. In our established truth, we agree that Napoleon is no longer living and this patient can’t be Napoleon.
But what if half of the population believes this patient is Napoleon? Then what?
What ultimately happens and is happening is that we retreat into our own separate realities (assisted by media meant for binge watching), a dangerous state for a group of people that need to make collective decisions. Alcohol, drugs and media have helped us to dissolve the common, shared, reality. From a media perspective, the last common realities are politics and sports which we watch together, live.
While we can quantify some of this, the dissolution of reality can’t even be discussed because it takes a common reality to even address it. If this sounds like highfalutin nonsense, think again. Today it is difficult to have a conversation lest a solution with someone who tosses out your reality. Our ideas, talk and delusions may not be real, but the earth is.
Saints, martyrs and scapegoats
Also in the realm of Neptune/Pisces are saints, martyrs and scapegoats. The Age of Pisces brought us the Christian era and that story involves all of the Pisces manifestations: Pisces rules the feet and is represented by the two fish swimming in opposite directions – both images of the Christian era.
At this very end of Pisces, the double Pisces (sun/moon) children’s television show creator Mr. Rogers was honored with a documentary and feature film. This is the compassionate, saintly side of Pisces.
Martyrdom may be in the eye of the beholder, but I believe we will see some late-Pisces martyrdom on the world stage. As Pisces moves to Aries, these same folks will be the next cycle’s heroes.
Scapegoating is the very common psychological mechanism where we project our negative, dark qualities onto other human beings. Or we blame people we don’t like rather than blaming the people we do like for specific indiscretions.
Victimization, another area ruled by Pisces, is real. There are victims, folks who are at the wrong place at the wrong time, are caught up in the wars of the powerful or are children who cannot extricate themselves from situations. You walk down the street and a rock hits you in the head – not your fault.
Collectively, however, what we see “out there” is what we have created through our decisions: whether to participate or whether to allow others to decide. Who decided to put up all these cameras?
Collectively we have allowed (and continue to allow) ourselves to be lured by Neptune’s addictive pleasures. We believe the problem will be the solution, just better versions of the problem. Balancing life’s routines with life’s joys and spiritual insights is the topic of all religious writings and manuals. The ancient religions may have addressed it in the terms available in those times so may lack the terms we need in the digital world. Today medicine is prescribed to counter the negative side effects of other medications and it’s all sold on the television.
The beginning of Aries
Self Assertion
Aries as the first sign of the zodiac is about self, standing up for the self, assertion of the self and self awareness. For those that have experienced end-of-Pisces victimization may suddenly feel inspired to take independent, positive action away from the situation.
At its worst, Aries is self-centered and aggressive, bossing others in an effort to convince them that what Aries likes they also like. It’s a boundary issue, really, with the fire-sign Aries getting overly excited about its newest venture(s) and wanting others to be excited as well.
After the dissolution of reality in Pisces, we will see the re-creation of reality by those who take positive, outward action. Neptune in Aries will not glorify victimization and martyrdom. It will glamorize those that step forward, those that lead, and those that appear strong and virtuous.
Sports and Politics
As noted above, sports and politics are the last, two shared realities. In American culture, they share very similar qualities: there are two teams and we are on one side opposing the other side. We want the other side to lose as there are only two sides. We can’t win if they don’t lose.
American sports-minded culture does not question the two-party system but I (and others) would argue that it’s what is destroying the culture. “There are two sides to every argument” is a cliché. There can be many side and many nuances which take time to digest and are not understood through social media memes and one-liners.
How does one pick their favorite sports team?
Often it’s associated with location, where one was born which is random. Or maybe I live on the border of two teams’ territory and choose one over the other. A few rebellious, Uranus/Aquarius types, pick the team they like best for a variety of reasons located in some other part of the nation. Sports has an arbitrary nature while politics technically does not. However, the political strategists do all they can to make sure there are a few issues that clearly separate the population into two sides. It’s a calculated dualism that serves only a few.
Aries is competitive so I expect both sports and politics to get more, rather than less, contentious during the Neptune in Aries transit. The companion dualism of sports-politics has been present since the Byzantium era, at least. In Byzantium, it was blues and greens. While Neptune transits Aries, sports and politics may intertwine more.
Warriorship
Aries is ruled by Mars, the god of War. How does spiritual Neptune handle such energies?
If the political karma continues, we’ll see in the West what we saw in China during the Opium Wars – backlash by groups with political/spiritual foundations like the Taiping and Boxer Rebellions. We are already seeing that today in the United States as militant groups, mostly male and white, some with group names including the word “boys” stormed our capitol on January 6, 2021.
As with the Boxers in China, there’s a feeling of powerlessness that leads to the psychological/spiritual nature of the group being infused with fighting or warring imagery. The Boxers may have wanted human rights that didn’t exist for them during that time and place. The American “Boxers” are seeking an idealized state that has never existed but is part of our cultural myth.
The Crusades are a perfect example of this Neptune-in-Aries energy. The first crusade in 1095-6 occurred with Uranus and Pluto in Aries, not Neptune. While there are technically eight or nine historical crusades, my own opinion is that the crusades have never ended. The Middle East is the focal point of this type of energy but may span to other regions during this transit as we have the benefit of social media.
Imagine the social media postings that would have occurred in 1095!
Peaceful and spiritual “warriorship” also exists such as with Dan Millman’s The Way of the Peaceful Warrior or Carlos Castaneda’s “warrior” who is at war with the idea of self (24/7, seven days a week!). As with the positive side of Neptune in Pisces, we may not see this type of warriorship as it doesn’t storm capitols and make news. This kind of warriorship is internal.
Kungfu is the term used generically in the west for the martial arts and is associated with the fighting, external side. Traditional Chinese philosophy and culture stresses balance so there is also a “internal” kungfu, if you will. Internal is for self-development; external for defense.
Warriorship can be internal or external. We’ll probably see the external on the news and talk with our close friends about the internal aspects.
Neptune Glamor
Planets are energies and the signs are the qualities and the houses the location. Kind of like who (planet), what (sign), where (house).
Neptune glamorizes, Aries asserts. In your horoscope, you can see where this will be triggered and where you be inspired to assert the self. When the American Warriors stormed the capitol, they were harbingers of Neptune in Aries, feeling inspired by a charismatic leader that it was necessary to save the country.
Although Neptune is still in Pisces, global patterns don’t shift in a day so we’ll see some more Neptune in Aries; there’s a ramp and the shift means that this is the result of what you’ve decided until this point. The housing market collapse in 2007, for example, occurred due to years of irresponsible behaviors.
This is Neptune.
Are you in this picture of Beatles fans in hysteria, laughing, crying, and yearning? You may not be old enough to be in this photo but you may have felt this way about something in the past, in your youth.
Interesting term “woke.” For a long time I was behind on right-wing double-speak propaganda and had to catch up on how the refreshing “woke” became something we wanted to avoid. To “awaken” is to see the world from fresh, rested eyes, free of illusion. If we do not wake, then we stay asleep in our mental images, nightmares and Freudian wish fulfillments.
DeSantis broke a fundraising effort ($177.4 million in September) in an effort to “not” be something, not be woken. Usually effort is made to become something not to “not” become something.
While it’s the American political template that candidates running for office must promise to change everything from the entire political system to the direction of the sunrise, it’s odd that DeSantis ran on a message of resistance to change. Who is the man who gets elected by offering to keep his people in the dream state?
Saturn conjunct Mercury in his chart, DeSantis has always been a serious learner, one who wants to know lots of facts and figures to impress. But Saturn in Virgo suggests insecurity about learning, about not being as smart as others. Possibly DeSantis did not start talking until he was older or had a learning disability of some sort.
Ruled by Mercury, Virgo is quick-witted and mentally agile. Yet with Saturn hanging around, sometimes the responses are held in check, slow and fumbling. Inside the mind is spinning but doesn’t know if it’s okay to speak.
Moon in Aquarius is ruled by Uranus and is also quick in response, highly intelligent and innovative. The markers for extreme intelligence are present in DeSantis but accompanied by a restriction or hesitation with that intelligence. School teachers must have been confounded as to whether DeSantis was the brightest kid in the classroom or the one who needed the special education class.
Stuttering may have been present when young due to the intensity and speed of thought with Saturn asking that it all slow down when it comes out. The nervous system would be quite taxed and at some point I suspect DeSantis will need to rest lest he burn himself out.
The United States like DeSantis has moon in Aquarius. The reactions of the populace are air in quality – not compassionate but idealistic with a desire to imprint the ideal upon others. Like the United States, DeSantis might be friendly and talkative, but he’s not warm emotionally, preferring the mental plane (talking about ideas, work and health) to shaking hands (Virgo is a germ freak) and kissing babies (kissing can be icky if not done right). Lucky for him that politicians kissing babies went out of practice somewhere around the Nixon administration.
Disney World
Which brings me to Disney World, the “happiest place on earth” located in Orlando, Florida. To me, there’s a schism of the American mind with the idealism of our founding principles conflicting with the harsh (“woke”) reality of the damage we do in the world through our foreign policy and consumer waste. Media and entertainment is geared to promote that schism with violent action movies on one side of the spectrum and Disney production purity on the other side.
Founded on October 1, 1971, Disney World like DeSantis and the United States has moon in Aquarius. The Disney World environment is perfectly controlled, no trash on the ground, all activities seamlessly performing on plan while appearing spontaneous. A worker at Animal Kingdom shared some of the tricks used to lure the lions and giraffes into movie poses as the ride passed by.
Neptune and Jupiter are conjunct in Sagittarius providing the delightful otherworldly quality, a world of color and delight and charming characters. With four planets in Libra (Mercury, sun, Uranus and Venus), it’s a pleasant, non-confrontational, non-challenging environment. It’s designed to be perfectly inoffensive and pure.
Disney World is the “unwoke” we deliberately create for children in order to teach them the more joyful aspects of being human. [Spoiler alert] Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy are also “unwoke” myths we sustain to bring magic to routine existence.
Eventually we grow out of these beliefs, usually about the time we get interested in the boys and girls out there who interest us romantically. Like Snow White being kissed by the prince, we wake through our reflection in the eyes of those who love and interact with us.
Upcoming changes
In spring 2023, we’ll start to see the shift of global energy patterns when Pluto makes its first foray into Aquarius. Pluto will move back and forth in the sky for a while between Aquarius and Capricorn as it’s quite far from us in distance.
Pluto in the early degrees of Aquarius will form a T-square with DeSantis’ Venus in Scorpio and Jupiter in Leo. If DeSantis is hiding a lover somewhere, he/she/it/they/them will be revealed. Also with the Leo involved, there could be some heart and circulation issues, probably due to the above-mentioned nervous disposition native to DeSantis’ personality.
Pluto in the late degrees of Capricorn squares DeSantis’ natal Mars in Libra so he will still be fighting with everyone, trying to make peace while trying to be in control. Capricorn and Libra are cardinal signs and want to be boss. But the boss is actually the external force (transiting Pluto) while the natal Mars in Libra makes DeSantis indecisive – should I play nice or argue? Or both? Or neither? Let me go for a run and decide later.
Transiting Neptune in Pisces has been opposing DeSantis’ sun in Virgo. Virgo is analysis; Pisces synthesis. Virgo is discrimination (as in defining the differences in things); Pisces is impartiality. You go to Virgo (which rules health) when you want a diagnosis of your physical problems. You go to Pisces went you want comfort for your emotional or spiritual health.
Neptune opposing DeSantis’ sun is the irrational other he sees out there who thinks money grows on trees (actually it does) and that Disney World is the real world (actually it is a thriving business). That sense that everyone out there is bonkers will pass for DeSantis in a few years. Maybe when DeSantis’ takes that much needed rest he’ll appreciate the Pisces warmth and compassion of the people in the hospital.
So many clichés, so little time
For the time being, DeSantis and Florida will not “wake and smell the coffee.” I suppose they can just “sink or swim” during the shifting global climate patterns. It is best, I suppose, to “let a sleeping dog lie.”
When DeSantis and Florida wake, hopefully it will be from the kiss of a gentle prince/princess/royal person/royal persons and not the experience of Rip Van Winkle who found the world completely changed.
“Change is the only constant,” I sometimes hear said. Or “the more things change the more they stay the same,” a bit counter to the idea of change, but an accurate description of American political campaign speeches.
Ohio Astrology 