As you are now aware, having assiduously kept up with this blog, Pluto is transiting Capricorn. Our horoscopes contain all signs of the zodiac so we all have Pluto transiting a particular house in our charts. If you are a sun sign Capricorn, you will have Pluto transiting your sun at some point in the next 20 years.  Pluto, the great destroyer and transformer, will be challenging your Capricorn traits – practicality, responsibility, reputation, serious mindedness, rigidity, authoritarianism. Two famous Capricorns have already taken the hit – Tiger Woods and Mel Gibson.

The astrological key phrase for Capricorn is “I use.” Capricorn likes to make use of the world, to be productive, to accomplish something. Capricorn is related to authority and ambition and loves being on the top of the organization chart. The ultimate desire of Capricorn is to be respected.   Capricorn wants an old-fashioned “good reputation.” When Pluto comes a knockin’, all that will be challenged.

Tiger Woods and Mel Gibson both have Sun in Capricorn. They share ambition to be top dog, top-of-the- ladder authority figures.  Congratulations to both on making it. That’s nothing to sneeze at.  How to remain top dog is the current challenge for both men.

Gibson’s natal moon is in Virgo, Woods’ is in Sagittarius. Gibson is much more serious than Woods.  Woods’ moon is Sagittarius is the same moon placement as Charlie Sheen. Both are living it up, but at the expense of their practical, earthy sun signs.

While it was recently revealed that Woods was having extramarital affairs, astrologically his big transformation with women came back around 2000 when Pluto was transiting his moon. My guess is that something very disillusioning happened in a romantic relationship at that time.  Woods’ natal Neptune is conjunct moon suggesting a great idealization of women. He probably idealized someone to the point where that person fell from grace. Woods is a Capricorn, so at some point he got critical and noticed his goddess was just a mortal woman.

Pluto is a planet with a very long cycle. It doesn’t show up in your chart one day and bring new trouble. The transformations you experience under a Pluto transit are the result of build-up and break-down of the energies and patterns of all the planetary cycles in your chart. Your inner development affects how this transit will manifest.  Woods’ current fall from grace appears to have happened off-TV several years ago. Pluto has simply said, “By the way, Mr. Woods, it’s time to get that situation out of your system.” The Woods we are viewing now is the Woods that has existed for some time.  Woods’ hasn’t changed; Pluto simply said that it’s time to review that pattern.  Because Woods is famous, we get to experience this with him.

Gibson should have an easier time during this transit, although Pluto is also exposing elements of his past. Gibson, with moon in Virgo, is actually a great worrier. I’m guessing the angry outbursts are a result of excessive worry and fear of losing control. Capricorn hates to lose control.

Gibson has Mars and Saturn conjunct in Scorpio. Natal Pluto in Leo squares this volatile conjunction.  While Capricorn is not always known to be a “nice” sign and Virgo is critical and discriminating, this conjunction in Scorpio adds to a general nastiness. Sexual politics are rife with this configuration. As with Woods, the effects of the Pluto transit did not occur in a void.  Pluto is razing issues not resolved. For Gibson, there are sexual control issues stemming from the early 1990s.The early 1980s was advent of a new sexual disease – AIDS. Those sowing their wild oats in the 1980s had a great black cloud looming over their sexual adventures. For hyper-married Gibson, there may have been great changes in his marital sexual relationship at that time. He may not be affected with a communicable disease, but he caught something at that time, something that is unresolved today.  Pluto makes a sextile to that Scorpio energy so I believe Gibson will resolve this conflict peacefully.  If he weren’t famous, maybe he would not have gotten drunk and had hissy fits in public. Gibson’s isn’t a chart of drinking; it’s a chart of extreme criticism. I’m sure he’s as hard on himself as he is on those people he lambastes.  Drinking is probably a means to simply relax that worrying, nagging mind.

The moral of the story is that Pluto pulls out the weeds of your life and throws them on the ground in front of you. If you’ve consistently plucked your weeds and kept your soil nourished, you should be okay in the Capricorn area of your chart. If you have not, Pluto will clean the soil for you (no thanks necessary) to allow you to grow your next batch of flowers and vegetables without toxins.