Rose's Astro Academy | An Astrology Podcast

E06 Pluto's Closing Chapter in Capricorn, and a Look at Pluto in Aquarius

September 02, 2024 • Rose Potts • Episode 6

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In Episode 6 of Rose’s Astro Academy, we dive into Pluto’s final passage through Capricorn, which began in 2008 and is coming to a close this November. Pluto’s transits are significant due to the planet’s long journey through the zodiac, and this episode explores the themes of transformation, power, and authority that have emerged during Pluto’s time in Capricorn. We discuss how this transit has unearthed both individual and collective shadows, from the 2008 financial crisis to the relentless pursuit of success and control seen in various structures of power. The episode also highlights the key lessons and challenges we may face as Pluto makes its final push in Capricorn over the next three months.

Additionally, we look ahead to Pluto’s re-entry into Aquarius, where it will remain until 2044. Aquarius, with its focus on innovation and social progress, introduces a different set of themes, including technological advancements and shifts in collective consciousness. We consider both the potential and pitfalls of this upcoming transit, reflecting on the rapid rise of AI since Pluto first dipped into Aquarius in 2023, and look at the myth of Prometheus, which can serve as a good lesson and warning for this time. 

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Speaker 1:

Hello and welcome to episode 6 of Rose's Astro Academy, where I demystify the system of astrology piece by piece. Today, we'll be taking a look at Pluto's final entrance into Capricorn, which happens September 1st. This is a significant moment astrologically. Pluto takes about 248 years to complete a full cycle through the zodiac and spends anywhere from 12 to 30 years in each sign. So when Pluto changes signs, it's a big deal, and the energy tends to be strongly felt both individually and on a collective level. Pluto will be in Capricorn from now until November 19th. Then it will move back into Aquarius, where it will stay until 2044. Pluto first entered Capricorn all the way back in January 2008, so this period from now until November marks the closing of a long chapter that's been playing out for nearly 17 years. What we're witnessing over the next three months is the completion of Pluto's work in Capricorn, and this will be the last time Pluto will visit Capricorn in our lifetimes. In today's episode, we'll explore the archetype of Pluto and the archetypes of Capricorn in Aquarius. We'll examine the work Pluto has done in Capricorn since 2008 and what this final push in Capricorn might mean, and we'll also take a look at Pluto in Aquarius, which began in 2023 and will go all the way to 2044.

Speaker 1:

Let's start with the archetypal significance of Pluto. Named after the god of the underworld, pluto represents transformation, regeneration and rebirth. Pluto's energy is like a volcanic force that erupts what is unconscious into the light, forcing us to confront it and ultimately heal and release it. With Pluto, the intention is to confront and purge what has become stagnant, toxic and outdated in our lives. The process of purging that Pluto demands is intense and cathartic, but ultimately liberating, creating space for new structures and opportunities to be born into our lives. Pluto demands deep, fundamental transformation, but when we talk about Pluto spending 12 to 30 years in a sign, the transformation that Pluto brings is often a long and gradual process change and upheaval. Pluto's last push in Capricorn over these next three months could bring those significant events collectively, those significant upheaval moments. The US election is happening in November, but I'm not here to try to do predictive politics on this podcast. We'll keep our discussion mostly focused on the archetypal realm and we'll bring in some real manifestations that we've seen so far with Pluto in Capricorn and Pluto in Aquarius, but we're not here to do predictive news type things. Pluto's transits often involve confronting the darker aspects of ourselves, our psyches and the world around us. When Pluto enters a sign, it begins to unearth the unconscious dimensions of that sign, bringing its shadow aspects to the surface. So in our discussion, we'll also reflect on the shadow sides of Capricorn and Aquarius that Pluto may be bringing forwards.

Speaker 1:

So to start off with Capricorn, capricorn is an earth sign ruled by Saturn and coincides with the winter solstice. This is the moment of the year with the least daylight and when the days begin to grow longer again. Because of this, capricorn is often associated with the hard work of climbing up a mountain. We start at the bottom, in the darkness, and aim to reach the summit, which is symbolized by the height of summer at summer solstice. Capricorn's energy is about discipline, hard work, personal responsibility and achievement of long-term goals. It's about showing up every day, putting in the effort and making steady progress toward meaningful goals. Capricorn's journey is one of grit, determination and having a realistic approach to life's challenges. So these final three months of Pluto and Capricorn are like this last push, this last stretch of climbing some metaphorical mountain in our lives. It's been a long process since 2008, full of difficult lessons and big wake-up calls where we've really gotten to refine that Capricorn realism and set ourselves attainable, realistic, long-term goals. We've done a lot of the work, but there's still a little bit more to go before we reach that goal.

Speaker 1:

However, this isn't the only side to Pluto in Capricorn. With Capricorn being so goal-oriented and so much about climbing up those hierarchies of success, fame and power, there can be this feeling, with Pluto and Capricorn, of I will do whatever it takes to achieve my goals, even if that means overworking myself or, worse, even if that means stepping on others in order to get where I need to be. There's a cutthroat ruthlessness that can happen when the archetypes of Pluto and Capricorn get together. We may have experienced the shadow of this individually, but we have definitely seen it play out collectively since 2008. For example, when Pluto entered Capricorn in 2008, we had the financial collapse. Capricorn is associated with power, authority and structures, and through this collapse, we saw the flaws and corruption happening in our global financial system. This crisis brought to the surface the hidden issues of unsustainable practices with banking and real estate and forced us to reckon with it. Also, while Pluto has been in Capricorn, we've seen rising political polarization, capricorn being a Saturn world sign. Saturn is so much about splitting into camps of us versus them. So Pluto has been exposing the dark underbelly of that Saturnian polarization mindset.

Speaker 1:

Additionally, capricorn can have the shadow side of the pursuit of wealth, status and control, and when Pluto comes into the mix, this can be taken to a relentless extent, and I think the rise and transformation of social media while Pluto has been in Capricorn is a manifestation of this. Facebook started in 2004, but it took a few years to really gain momentum. So the rise of social media corresponds closely to Pluto's transit through Capricorn, which started in 2008. So let's break this down and talk about it a little bit more, because I think it's really interesting to think about social media in terms of it corresponding to the Pluto and Capricorn transit. Initially, social media was lighthearted and just a place to share pictures and connect with friends, but over time, it has transformed into this massive algorithm-driven machine that constantly demands our attention. The pursuit of likes, followers and online clout has become a new form of currency, feeding into this Capricornian drive for success, status and control. Social media platforms have also become tools for corporations and influencers to amass wealth and status, often at the expense of users' mental health and time.

Speaker 1:

This relentless pursuit mirrors Pluto's darker side in Capricorn, where we climb the mountain of authority and dominance at whatever cost. So, with Pluto moving into Aquarius in November and staying there until 2044, we might see big changes with how we interact online. We've already seen a bit of what this is going to look like, though, because Pluto first entered Aquarius in 2023 and what we saw then wasn't exactly promising. Pluto's entrance into Aquarius corresponded with the rollout of chat, gpt and thus the global spike in popularity of AI, but I'm getting ahead of myself a little bit. We will return to this in just a moment.

Speaker 1:

To finish off, talking about Pluto and Capricorn collectively, this transit has been a process where we've been exposing and reckoning with the consequences of unchecked power and authority. We've seen the collapse of outdated systems, the exposure of hidden corporate agendas and the erosion of trust in established institutions. Individually, maybe we've come face to face with some of these shadows in our own lives, or maybe Pluto's time in Capricorn has been about climbing that metaphorical mountain and how it feels to run amok with a goal-oriented mindset, to the point of exhaustion and burnout. Ultimately, pluto's purpose in exposing these heavy underbellies is so that we can purge and transform them into something better. Now I want to shift gears and talk a little bit about what we can expect from Pluto in Aquarius. On November 19th this year, pluto will re-enter Aquarius, where it will remain until January 2044.

Speaker 1:

While Capricorn is about structure, discipline and the pursuit of tangible goals, aquarius is about innovation, progress and the realm of what's possible. Aquarius also governs ideas, social currents and the collective consciousness. When Pluto moves through Aquarius, it brings to the surface the unconscious dimensions of these themes. We're likely to see a continuation of any technological revolutions that began during Pluto's entrance into the sign, most notably the quick rise in popularity of AI and if you're alive in the world today, which, of course, we all are, that is not a surprise to any of us. Ai has caught off like wildfire and it's going to continue. But let's dive deeper. Aquarius is also a sign that challenges the status quo. It's about questioning established systems and envisioning new ways of being. Aquarius loves paradigm shifts and dismantling old ideas and structures to make way for what is new. However, with Pluto in Aquarius, we can easily take this to the extreme. Aquarius has a tendency to idealize the new simply because it's different, which can lead us to embrace innovation without fully considering its long-term implications. This is perhaps the biggest shadow that we must be mindful of with Pluto and Aquarius, and we're already beginning to see it with the rapid integration of AI into nearly every aspect of our lives.

Speaker 1:

In modern astrology, uranus is said to rule Aquarius, and while I don't include outer planets in the traditional rulership scheme, I do recognize the strong archetypal alignment between Uranus and Aquarius. Richard Tarnas, who is a very well-known archetypal astrologer, explored the archetype of Uranus in his book Prometheus the Awakener. In this book, he argued that Uranus was improperly named and that the planet more accurately reflects Prometheus, the titan who defied the gods by bringing fire to humanity, fire here being a symbol of technology and innovation. The myth of Prometheus shows us the dangers of unchecked progress. Prometheus brought a great technological advancement to civilization, but it came with severe consequences For his actions. Prometheus was punished by Zeus and bound to a rock where an eagle would eat his liver every day, only for it to regenerate and be devoured again the next day.

Speaker 1:

With Pluto moving through Aquarius for the next 20 years, we have to be really careful about progress without foresight. Each technological advance brings unintended consequences. It might feel exciting for humanity to push boundaries and challenge the status quo of what was once possible, but the myth of Prometheus is a stark reminder for us that there are consequences, especially if we fail to consider the ethical, social and environmental impacts of the progress that we are making With Pluto in Aquarius. It may be too easy to get swept up and enamored by progress for the sake of progress. Finally, before we close, I want to share about the importance of the astrological houses when we're considering how Pluto's transit might be impacting us individually.

Speaker 1:

A lot of the work Pluto is doing for you individually depends on the houses that Capricorn and Aquarius occupy in your chart. For me to give an example, capricorn is my second house, the house of finances. So Pluto's time in Capricorn has really been about money for me, huge lessons financially and especially when Pluto went over some planets in the later degrees of my second house. This time has been a process of learning that Capricornian realistic, hard-working mindset around money and climbing that financial mountain. Also of dealing with the consequences of overworking myself in pursuit of my financial goals, which can be a Capricornian shadow. Now that Pluto is in my second house for the last time, I feel like I'm doing the final work of integrating those lessons.

Speaker 1:

With Pluto moving into my third house, aquarius. The third house can be so many things, but it has a lot to do with writing and communication and I've really seen my writing take off since 2023, when Pluto entered Aquarius Writing for the podcast, but also I write fiction, and this year my writing output has increased tenfold and I'm so happy about it. I'm really hoping that Pluto moving through Aquarius for me individually for the next 20 years will be a time of huge progress for my writing in a good way, because with Pluto and Aquarius, so much of it is about progress and innovation, and I spoke a lot about the potential shadow of progress, but we can also see it as progress in a good way, especially on an individual level. So that's a personal note to give you some real-life examples of how Pluto moving signs can impact very direct areas of your life based on the house Pluto is moving into. So this has been my talk on Pluto's last push in Capricorn and a bit about Pluto in Aquarius and what we should watch out for. It felt like a big subject for me to tackle as someone who's just getting used to putting my two cents out there, but I hope you liked it and I hope it helped shed some clarity for you, because I know this is one of those big transits that many of us may be hearing about all over the place but not really getting a clear understanding. Knowing which houses Pluto is impacting in your chart can really help clarify what this means for you on a personal level, if you're not familiar with which signs occupy which houses in your chart. That's a little bit of the work we can do together in a reading.

Speaker 1:

I want this podcast to be a co-creative space, so if there's a topic in astrology that you would like me to talk about, please email it to rosesastroacademy at gmailcom. New episodes air every Monday and Wednesday. If you want to book a reading with me, you can find out how to do that in the description or on my website, rosesastroacademycom, and you can follow along on my Instagram, rosesastroacademy. Finally, if you enjoyed this episode and want to see this little seedling grow, you can help out by leaving a review of the podcast and sharing it with your astrology loving friends. Well, that's all I have for you. See you Wednesday for a new episode.