I’m reminded once again that Pluto is transiting Capricorn.  As I mentioned in my blog “Pluto in Capricorn – Christmas is Over,” Capricorn is the contraction after the Pluto in Sagittarius expansion.  Remember our religious wars during Pluto in Sagittarius?  Religious war faded as the US economy collapsed and Americans and American politicians focused on problems at home.

As an unabashed bleeding-heart liberal, I feel that our politicians bringing their political attention back from abroad is giving the American citizen a taste of what our politicians have been pushing beyond our borders – authoritarianism.  From dictionary.com authoritarianism is:  “favoring complete obedience or subjection to authority as opposed to individual freedom.”  An example is Ohio’s Senate Bill 5 amendment.

According to a Columbus Dispatch article on Ohio’s Senate Bill 5 amendment, “Binding arbitration for safety forces would be replaced by a procedure giving ultimate authority over contracts to elected officials, according to a key provision of a massive amendment to a bill that would sharply curtail collective bargaining rights.”  The key phrase here is “ultimate authority.”  Hello Capricorn.

 Capricorn is a cardinal earth sign that rules the 10^th house of the chart, the house at the top that represents your career, your reputation and your status in society.  Like the lonely man at the top of the mountain, Capricorn has a compulsion to climb those peaks and be at the top, controlling from above.  Capricorn is the CEO.  Capricorn is the manager.  Capricorn is the politician.  Capricorn makes the rules.

Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, the great taskmaster who creates structure.  Societies need structure, which are also called “rules.”  Imagine if there were roads but no signs, no rules, no directions.  Imagine the chaos.  Ohio had a horrible wind storm several years ago and some traffic lights were out for days.  I vowed after that storm that I would never, ever feel frustrated when being stuck at a red light (which, of course, I have since forgotten).  Rules can be frustrating; that is why Saturn and its placement in your chart are areas of discipline and structure rather than areas of fun and excitement.   But Saturn is necessary.

Pluto in the sign of Capricorn means we are collectively experiencing a transformation of the structure of society, of its rules and its authority.  I say collectively because Pluto is an outer planet with a long cycle which represents cycles that affect entire generations.  As with any sign, Capricorn has its extremes.  Structure is necessary.  Too little structure creates chaos and confusion.  Excessive structure creates oppression.

The current amendment to Senate Bill 5, according to the Columbus Dispatch, would “eliminate the right to strike for all public employees.”  As a liberal, I find this an extreme rule that tries to create order by forcing people to relinquish their freedom and accept authority.   In trying to keep the economy under “control,” politicians are promoting structure that imprisons rather than structure that creates order.

I am expecting that we will have these types of political struggles as Pluto transits Capricorn through 2023.  And while Pluto is transiting Capricorn, the great awakener and creator of sudden events, Uranus will be in Aries for some of that time.  Aries and Capricorn have what is called a “square” relationship – one of friction.  Aries, also a cardinal sign, wants, like Capricorn, to lead and take charge.  Aries is not, though, about structure, but about starting new ventures, being the first sign of the zodiac (and a fire sign to boot).  Aries is the plant pushing up from the soil and breaking through to reach the sunlight.  Capricorn is the fence around the garden.  This should be fun . . .

The beginning of Pluto in Capricorn and Uranus moving into Aries, which is occurring as we speak, is the collapse of authoritarian regimes in the Middle East.  As authoritarianism is waning abroad, it seems to be gathering strength domestically and in Ohio.

Ohio’s current governor, John Kasich, has natal moon in Capricorn.  For him, these excessive rules make perfect sense because moon in Capricorn is emotionally reserved and accepting of extreme limits.  Moon in Capricorn is not comfortable having or expressing emotions.  When Kasich is at a loss of any sort, my guess is that a rule or mandate will arise.

Because Kasich’s moon is in Capricorn, this transit of Pluto in Capricorn will be touching him personally and well as collectively.  Kasich will experience emotional forces that will upset his carefully-controlled emotional balance.  As the moon also relates to women, I expect Kasich will have transformations with the women in his life over the very same issue he faces in politics – control.

Pluto in Capricorn will help us collectively revisit, transform and then re-define the “rules” we chose to live by as a society.  Uranus in Aries squaring this transit suggests people aren’t going to apathetically accept the new rules.  As in Egypt, I expect Americans to go into the ring and fight.

Oh, I wish Peter Tosh were here now (“Get up, stand up,” . . .).