March 2023 to November 2024: Pluto’s slow final grind from Capricorn to Aquarius…

from Astro-Seek.com

For the UK, an era ended on the 8th of September 2022 with the death of Queen Elizabeth the Second, an event which reverberated around the world. Regardless of one’s politics, the death of a monarch has archetypal power: many people with no particular regard for the UK royal family – including this writer – were surprised at the impact this event had.

However, the Queen’s passing at this especially turbulent time not just in the UK’s history but in the world at large has focused my reflections on the particular significance of the fractious and divisive Saturn/Uranus lens through which we humans seem to have been substantially viewing then acting out our collective social and individual lives from the spring of 2020 when Saturn first entered Aquarius, and are likely to continue to do so until Saturn enters Pisces in the spring of 2023. With Saturn gradually coming into orb of a wide sextile to the Jupiter/Uranus conjunction in Taurus in early 2024, let’s hope things then cool down somewhat… 

There is, of course, a much bigger symbolic backdrop to this particular Saturn/Uranus square. Being especially interested in observing how the larger planetary cycles correlate with changing patterns of human collective behaviour, I have already written in some depth about the significance of the big shift from an Earth era defined by the 20-year Jupiter/Saturn cycles traversing the Earth element from 1803, to an Air era beginning with the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction at 0 Aquarius on the Winter Solstice of 2020, then running for around two hundred years. (i)

 Pluto will emphasise this momentous era shift by first entering Aquarius in the spring of 2023, following on his long sojourn in Capricorn from the spring of 2008 which kicked off with a devastating world banking crisis. Also – in 2025 Neptune enters Aries, for the first time since the onset of the American civil war in the 1850s, ushering in a Fire/Air period for the next number of years.

 So – our lives are not likely to settle down any time soon…

Ranging from the climate wars (Extinction Rebellion, anyone?) to increasingly rage-filled trans and woke movements on both sides of the Atlantic, to land-grab war in Europe with attendant disruption to food and energy supplies worldwide, to a bitterly contested and hugely divisive election result in the USA, to revelations of an increasingly persecuted Uighur minority in China, my impression – having lived through quite a few Saturn/Uranus aspects by now! – is that divisions and polarisations arising from the period of the current square, have been more black-and-white, intolerant and brutal than in previous Saturn /Uranus periods. 

Why should this be? Having thought about the matter in the context of other large-scale disruptive changes also taking place has brought me to what I think is an explanation, symbolically speaking. 

Putting things simply: Saturn rules Capricorn, the last sign of the 1803-2020 Earth era to be traversed first by the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction, then by Pluto, lord of the Underworld. Symbolically speaking, with the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction then Pluto moving into Aquarius, the rule of planetary old god Saturn is being replaced by that of planetary new god Uranus.  However, to add another layer of complexity and conflict, Aquarius’ old ruler is Saturn, new ruler is Uranus – and Pluto’s shift from Capricorn to Aquarius will not be completed until 19th November 2024: a mere two weeks after the next USA Election takes place on 5th November 2024. What stunning timing…

 Astrologers man their symbolic barricades over this one: the Trads insisting on Saturn as co-ruler of Capricorn and Aquarius, the Mods favouring Uranus alone. Take your pick…whichever you favour, there is an especially bitter symbolic battle of the giants taking place worldwide as we shift from one long Era to another, a battle at every level: environmental, political, national, cultural, personal. 

So – what comes next? 

Much speculation regarding the shape of things to come has been going on for some time now, set to intensify as we await Pluto’s traverse through Aquarius from the spring of 2023 to early 2044, giving a heavy symbolic weighting to that sign for a long time to come. 

Aquarius is the sign of the human collective, symbolising an energy driven to pursuing and promoting ideals regarding how we should be moving forward in order to create a fairer, more equal world. It is a highly rational, technology and future-oriented, “Let’s get together to make the world a better place”, kind of energy. 

As such, we should see some major developments at all levels as power (Pluto) shifts towards The People, away from plutocrats, oligarchs, and from politics rooted in gaining material power and control through exploitation of planet Earth’s diminishing resources, towards (in theory!!) more equal world-wide sharing of power derived from an Air-based technologically expedited economic system. Also, the development of wind and solar energy is likely to accelerate with Neptune’s shift into Aries from 2025 onwards. 

Pluto’s last sojourn through Aquarius (1778–1798) brought with it sweeping changes in social order and public rights, including: the ratification of the American constitution following the USA’s breaking away from Britain’s colonial control, the rise and expansion of the Industrial Revolution, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and the publishing of ‘The Vindication of the Rights of Women’ by Mary Wollestonecraft. 

None of this was accomplished without The People or individuals in one way or another rising up against prevailing regimes, rules, or ideas perceived as being outdated and oppressive. So we can expect cultural, social, political and environmental upheaval to gain momentum as Pluto shifts into Aquarius and the Capricornian penchant for collective coercive control socially, politically and environmentally is severely challenged. We are very much seeing this right now, with recent uprisings in Iran triggered by the death of a young woman in the custody of the so-called Morality Police still ongoing, and widespread public protests triggered by three years of stringent covid restrictions right across China. These protests are largely being spearheaded by the young…

What we really need in tomorrow’s Aquarian world, though, is a radical change of attitude. Essentially, as one astrologer I was reading recently so succinctly put it, it is ‘…time for us to figure out what it means to be human and how to live together on this planet without fighting over everything…’ (ii)  

A tall order indeed…

In our own small country the UK, still insisting on seeing itself as a major world player, we can certainly expect People Power to exert itself more forcefully as we move towards next spring. Our new Tory Chancellor is reportedly considering removing the cap on bankers’ bonuses imposed by the European Union following the greed-fuelled virtual collapse of the world banking system in 2008. (BBC news 15.9.22) This will not go down well – to say the least! – with those sectors of our population who have to choose between heating and eating this coming winter.

UPDATE: the new Chancellor and his Prime Minister lasted less than six weeks in power, having created mayhem on the world financial markets and worsening the already serious cost of living crisis in the UK with their disastrous budget. The incoming Prime Minister Sunak and his Chancellor Hunt have acted swiftly to abandon those policies and restore a measure of stability – for now…

Also, our late Queen, mourned and well respected by much of the UK’s population, especially in Scotland where she died, having been laid to rest with due pomp and ceremony, huge questions will surely come to the fore regarding the future of  the monarchy in our increasingly strained United Kingdom.

What, then, of the wider picture, especially regarding Russian President Putin’s increasingly disastrous-looking attempt to land-grab and control Ukraine, currently looking like the feistiest, bravest nation on the planet?

Here are the forthright words of that redoubtable Australian astrologer, Jessica Adams, from a post on her website on 13/3/2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine:

‘…And yet, you dont need Putins birth chart, actually, to see which way the wind is blowing, though. Pluto (power) in Capricorn (the man at the top) is finished on March 24th, 2023. This is the end of an era when plutocrats (which Pluto represents in astrology) who are the top goats on the mountain (Capricorn) fall off – as the mountain itself collapses…’ (iii)

‘The old order changeth…’  (iv)

Fasten your seat belts, people. It’s going to be some ride!

Endnotes:

This is an edited version of my essay“The old order changeth, yielding place to new…” published in the UK’s Astrological Journal November/December 2022, soon to be re-published in The Federation of Australian Astrologers Journal under the same title, with permission…

(i) See the P.S Windows to the Future section of my recent collection “Postcards to the Future”(August 2021), including ‘Waning and waxing crescents: windows to the future’ (first published in The Mountain Astrologer Dec 2020/Jan 2021)pp 365-380

(ii)https://jessicadavidson.co.uk/2021/06/07/pluto-in-aquarius-the-evolution-of-society-and-technology/

(iii) from Jessica Adams’ Twitter post of 12 September 2022

(iv). “The old order changeth, yielding place to new…” from Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s great epic poem Morte d’Arthur, published 1842.

©Anne Whitaker 2022

14 thoughts on “March 2023 to November 2024: Pluto’s slow final grind from Capricorn to Aquarius…

  1. Wow, what a fantastic summation of what’s going on in the world Anne. These are big cycles so whatever unfolds will take time but as things do seem to also be accelerating these days (also a Uranian/Aquarian trait) I’m hopeful that we might see the brighter side of the changes that are overdue. Love Jessica Adam’s point on the mountain itself crumbling under the Capricorn old rule. I’ve always thought Animal Farm is a cautionary tale of the negative side of Aquarius. I’ll add a quote by Orwell which I think encapsulates the contrary nature of the sign.

    “That kind of revolution (violent conspiratorial revolution, led by unconsciously
    power-hungry people) can only lead to a change of masters – revolutions only
    effect a radical improvement when the masses are alert.”

    1. Many thanks for this thoughtful comment, Carole, and especially the quote from Orwell who is one of my favourite authors. His essay on ‘The politics of the English Language’ is fantastic – and so prescient, like Animal Farm and 1984..

      Yes, inevitably this huge shift will bring with it the usual, ancient mix of positive and negative …’reconciling the opposites’ as Jung put it, remains an outcome to aspire towards. Whether we ever achieve it as flawed human beings, is a moot question…

      1. All wise words to add to your own Anne. Human beings are an optimistic and hopeful species (well I like to think so). Life to is resilient so I do have hope that we will more of the positives than the negatives 🙏🏻😎

  2. Via Facebook:
    29.11.22:
    Leah Whitehorse:

    Great post Anne! I can’t wait for Pluto to kick Putin up the backside!
    I’m certainly very focused on the people power aspect of Pluto in Aquarius. But I also have some concerns over increasing AI power and the phrase ‘the relentless march of progress’ comes to mind. Still have my fingers crossed for alien contact though although I guess that will be when Uranus moves into Gemini 😃

    1. Thanks, Leah, for this very relevant comment highlighting issues that also concern me… I think there’s a lot more writing to be done on this topic. Remember my ‘Jupiter meets Uranus’ book about the 1997 Jupiter/ Uranus conjunction in Aquarius? I wrote up an interview then with the title ‘Jupiter Uranus and the purple people from planet Zog’ (Included in my latest book ‘Postcards to the Future’) – speculating that the Aliens might arrive during a Jupiter/ Uranus conjunction! Well, watch this space – the next Jupiter /Uranus conjunction is due in the mid 2020s …🤣!

  3. Via Facebook:
    29.11.22:
    Nika Middleton:
    …and an increase in anything digital….Modifying genes, gender roles changing, anything extreme, eccentric concerns me as Aquarius is like that. Not to mention Uranus and Pluto go OOBs in the 30′ too. We are in life changing period I think.

    1. Absolutely, Nika! There’s much more to be written about – thank you for including some more details… No change occurs without the presence of dark and light energies woven together…

  4. Via Facebook:
    29.11.22:
    Nika Middleton:
    …with pleasure. Yes, there’s so much to be said about Pluto in Aquarius. Aquarius can be also abrupt, cold at times and one can hope our society won’t experience it as such. The death of the Queen was a true symbol of the Pluto in Capricorn ending.

    1. So pleased you enjoyed it, Martin; as I have said in response to some of the other commenters, this is just a sketch out of what will be a long and deep process bringing both positive and negative dimensions of life to the fore – plus ça change, no matter what the process is…

  5. Via Facebook:
    29.11.22:
    Pam Marie:
    I have a huge amount of aspects to pluto… 3 oppositions, 2 inconjuncts, 1 sexile. What I have come to understand about pluto is it is where you are compulsive. What you are obsessive about. It can be both good and bad or one or the other…

    1. Thanks for your comment, Pam! Yes, all energies carry a dark and a light face…the challenge is to be as honest (with oneself, especially!) and constructive as possible in responding. Individuals have more freedom of choice, it could be argued, than collectives in this matter. btw I have five Pluto conjunctions, four squares, and three sextiles. So I know how vital it is to work honestly and humbly with Plutonian energy in oneself…not easy AT ALL – but gold can slowly be mined in those Plutonian depths…

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