Pluto, the planet of transformation, entered Capricorn in early 2008.  It will not leave Capricorn until 2023.  Long cycles are the norm for the “outer planets” of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.  As outer planets, they signify group trends, societal changes.  These planets are not personal; they do not relate to how your date will be next Friday.  Don’t look for Pluto in your chart to know if you will get a raise.

Capricorn is the sign of authority, structure, the father, order, reputation, status in society and hierarchy.  Pluto just left the sign of Sagittarius – remember the big religious war of Christianity and Islam?  Where did that go?  Today it’s all about the economy and jobs.  Pluto has changed signs.

Think about Christmas.  We begin spending, buying our presents, right after Thanksgiving as the sun just enters Sagittarius.  We become Santa Claus for a month, eating and drinking and shopping.  We gain a little weight.  We run up our credit card balances.  A month later, as the sun enters Capricorn, we then celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25.  The shopping ends.  The eating ends.  In the sign of Capricorn we take back presents, make resolutions, pay bills and try to lose weight.

Pluto just moved from the sign of pre-Christmas cheer to post-Christmas reality.  From 1995-2008 we spent, spent and spent more.  We were encouraged to use our houses as credit, believing that the value would go up, up, up.  We were jolly, running up our credit card bills for Christmas Day.  From 2008-2023 we will be paying the bills, losing the weight, making resolutions.  The politicians would like this to end soon.  News of the “recession being over” makes the news every now and again.  Pluto’s cycle suggests that it will take much longer to “pay our bills” and re-invent our economy for the time when Pluto enters Aquarius.  Aquarius, the sign of freedom and brotherhood, suggests that we are going through a great contraction so that we can move to an economy that is more equal to all.

Sagittarius is expansion and Capricorn is contraction.  I would expect the economy to keep contracting.  In Sagittarius we had bigger cars and bigger homes.  In Capricorn we will have smaller cars and smaller homes.  Our economy is a rubber band snapping back into place.  As we were encouraged to use our houses to spend beyond our means, our houses are taking the hit.  Pluto has hit home.

Capricorn maintains order, structure and authority.  We might see programs of an authoritarian nature as we see during war – rationing, subsidies and continued government spending to create jobs.  Politicians love to say they can “create jobs.”  I’m sure they will do just that!

Many of us had grandparents or great-grandparents that grew up during Great Depression. We knew our elders as frugal, resourceful and economical.  Nothing was wasted, you ate everything on your plate.  The four kernels of corn you couldn’t consume made it into the refrigerator.  The generation growing up during this Pluto in Capricorn cycle will remind us of the grandparents we knew.  Tightening of wallets will most likely draw people together to live in closer proximity, in tighter communities as our grandparents knew.  Economic necessities may bring us back to “old-fashioned” Capricorn pleasures of simple times with friends and family, sharing.  When we have less, we appreciate it more.