The story is a classic now – the earth, after the “end of the end,” one of the many times in earth history that humans thought the world would “end.” It’s true, even after the “end of the end,” that some people on the planet still believed in linear time even though there was ample evidence of cyclical time: the changing seasons, the annual holiday celebrations, the daily deaths of millions of people and plants and insects, the daily birth of millions of people and plants and insects, the rising and setting sun and all else natural. Even for those cultures most embracing of cyclical time, the year 2026 was still a metaphysical leap year with a whole new way of looking at life.

As usual, Pluto wants to have the first word about those times and no other planet is willing to suffer the consequences of challenging Pluto.

Pluto: Suffer? I don’t make people suffer. I simply remove all that’s unnecessary from their lives, which is about 95 percent of how they are living. Yes, it feels like force because people hang on to every little thing. But I played nicely in 2026. I was in air-sign Aquarius getting along well with Uranus in air-sign Gemini and Neptune in fire-sign Aries. While I truly appreciate all that earth and water signs do, they aren’t always a lot of fun, as you know from the year 2020 when Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and I were in earth sign Capricorn, Uranus was in earth-sign Taurus and Neptune was in water-sign Pisces.

Neptune: I was much happier in Pisces, the sign I rule, from 2011 – 2025, than I was in 2026 in Aries. Fire signs (and air signs) are always chasing the external – a party, gadgets, fast-moving objects, hair stuff and any new technology. Peace and harmony come from the inside and in 2020 the earth signs helped me force people physically indoors so that they could then go emotionally and spiritually “inside.”

Saturn: Neptune, I helped you in 2020 by contracting Aquarius air energy which forced people to avoid large groups. I assisted again in 2026 by contracting Aries energy. When you were in Aries, people sure did idolize war and self-assertion. If I hadn’t been in Aries, the earth people would have been overrun by gangs. I’m always helping, pushing rocks uphill but no one seems to appreciate it.

Uranus: Sorry, Saturn, but I had just moved to Gemini in 2026 and was finally done with Taurus, which everyone knows is too slow for my tastes. Now Gemini, man, that was fun! I could finally follow my own routines, which aren’t really routines, without hearing that I needed to go to bed early, eat flax for breakfast, spend the day doing boring activity and fall asleep early to repeat the next day. It was a wonderful time to explore, have new experiences, eat different food, and learn a couple new languages.

Saturn: Yes, I remember 2026 and 2027 – the years without rules as I like to think of it. Too much “government” for everyone but where did that lead? Chaos. And lots of languages, some new ones too as though earth needed more languages.

Mars: Is there is fight? Man, I loved early 2026. I rarely get along with Neptune but when Neptune was in Aries we could finally relate. There is a time to get off your ass and fight the man. Neptune “gets” that now, I hope.

Neptune: I rule hope.

Mars: And do you rule the last word?

Jupiter: Alright, let’s agree to disagree. I enjoyed some of 2026. I was first in Cancer and then in Leo. It was more fun in Leo, gotta admit, since I was able to get along with Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto more easily. You all remember how when I was in Cancer there was a “back to the homestead” movement? Didn’t last long, because when the energies are fire and air, movements pass more quickly.

Mars: Yes, we experienced the “homestead” in 2020 and look what it did to people. They came out of their dwellings inebriated, angry and ready to topple the government. So who wanted that again in 2026?

Jupiter: The community meals while I was in Cancer were nice, though. Too bad that had to pass. Leo likes a good dinner party but doesn’t want to stay home a cook.

Pluto: What I liked most about those times in the late 2020s and early 2030s was how we made it to the next level of the Age of Enlightenment that began in the 1700s. In the 18^th century, every technology was “new” and adopted. In the 2020s and 2030s there was more awareness of technology serving man rather than man serving technology.

Uranus: That’s because I freed them from constant thoughts of want in Taurus to thoughts of exploration and enjoyment of life, which when you boil it down involves other people. Remember that hoarding of the early 2020s?

Saturn: I remember it, since I remember things in the order they occurred, unlike Uranus and the air signs which remember things in some strange geometric shape I’ll never understand.

Uranus: You’re not supposed to understand non-linear thinking, Saturn. Just continue to do what you do without adding the big martyr complex.

Saturn: Maybe Pluto will take out the electricity again and you’ll see how much fun life is without your precious technology, Uranus.

Pluto: I didn’t take out the electricity for fun; I don’t do things for “fun.” While I was in Aquarius, I simply wanted to provide contrasts of digital group consciousness versus in-person group consciousness. There’s a big difference, we saw, between what people will do and say digitally and what they will do and say in person. And that great love and distressing fear of AI went away with the electricity.

Neptune: I helped with that when I was in Aries. What could be more in-person, in-your-face, direct confrontation than Aries?

Uranus: I’m back from getting an ice cream from the ice cream truck. What did I miss?

Venus (waking): Did someone say there was ice cream? I wrote a poem about ice cream once for a dinner party where I made homemade ice cream in ten flavors from ten different cultures.

Uranus: What’s a “culture?”

Mercury: Cultures were loosely aligned with countries and were group behaviors associated with geography and proximity, in most cases, but not all. Today cultures are based on aligned beliefs, so it’s difficult to imagine a time when mountains and rivers defined culture.