Talking About Pluto

Pluto the planet symbolizes many things. Here is a sampling of evocative descriptions of Pluto.

 

Donna Cunningham’s book, Healing Pluto Problems, starts “The topics we will discuss—guilt, resentment, child abuse, and death—are difficult to confront.” Cunningham calls Pluto’s house placement “the fail for spite house.” Meaning that to win, the person will deliberately lose.

 

One of the most powerful stories about Pluto is his abduction of Persephone, depicted above.  Persephone is the innocent maiden, daughter of Ceres, who Pluto fixated upon and kidnapped.  However the story is about more than sexual obsession.  It is also a story about becoming an adult and taking up the role of an adult, which Persephone does when she becomes Pluto's consort and Queen of the Underworld.
Pluto is a transpersonal planet, like Neptune and Uranus; as such Pluto represents forces beyond our control—the economy, wars, famines, racism, and so forth. Things we are not individually responsible for, but become a victim of.

 

 

 

Pluto is a water planet, like the Moon and Neptune, ruling emotions, which again are beyond our control. Pluto is the emotions associated with violence and sex.

Pluto usually is what we disown of ourselves, but until we acknowledge our ownership we are not healed of the Pluto problem.

 

Pluto’s natal position is always worthy of study. Pluto’s transits bring irrevocable changes to us—the beginning and end of various life phases, including childbearing, deaths, marriages, jobs and careers, living in one nation or state…

By secondary progression, Pluto essentially does not move. Instead you need to look to see which planets and personal points move to aspect Pluto!

Pluto symbolizes the following:

 

• Abuse
• Basements (actual & in dreams)
• Big Business
• Billionaires
• Biological parents
• Catastrophes
• Chaos
• Cleansing
• Colon, rectum and their ailments
• Completion
• Compulsive Behaviors
• Concealment
• Contamination
• Corruption
• Death
• Degenerative diseases
• Destruction
• Dictators
• Divorce
• DNA
• Dominance
• Fanaticism
• Financial mergers
• Financial Power
• Funerals
• Genetic diseases
• Genetics
• Inheritances
• Invisibility
• Lethal force
• Lethal weapons
• Murder
• Obsessions
• Our past
• Our secrets
• Poisoning (also ruled by Neptune)
• Political Power
• Power struggles
• Prosecution
• Psychological depth & complexity
• Punishment
• Rape
• Rebirth
• Recycling
• Renewal
• Renovations
• Restitution
• Revenge
• Ruthlessness
• Secret agencies and agents
• Secrets kept from us
• Sex
• Sexual extremes
• Starting over from the ashes
• Surgery
• Terminal disease
• Toxicity
• Tyranny
• Unacknowledged psychological issues
• Urban Renewal
• Vampires
• Venereal diseases (STDs)
• Violent crime
• Waste products
• Weapons of mass destruction
• Werewolves

How can we deal with Pluto?  When we enter a Plutonian time of our life we will end up giving up something, and hopefully gaining new maturity as a result.  Joan Negus in her book Astro-Alchemy suggests that we consciously begin deleting things from our life.  Clean closets.  Declutter.  Organize and discard.  Prune.  Take out the garbage.  Handle any issues of waste disposal and sewage related to your home, job or city.  Pluto is also surgery.  This is a time we can deal with problems that require surgery, instead of waiting for the emergency surgical fix. 

Pluto's lessons are always profound.  Plutonic people are those who acknowledge their depths and do the hard and necessary work to make peace with themselves. 

I wish you well in your encounters with Pluto.

Lalia

 

Terra Nova

On Monday, September 26, 2011, at 8 PM EDT, we saw the two-hour premiere of Terra Nova. The Science Fiction series, filmed in Australia, has been billed as the best new offering of the Fall 2011 TV season. It is about pioneers going back in time 85 million years to an alternate earth where they can colonize and do things right so to avoid the ecological disaster they have fled in modern Earth’s 22 century.



I should give fair warning that I am a dinosaur fan, so I’m prejudiced in favor of any dinosaur movie… I eagerly watched the first episode. I enjoyed it. So I looked at the charts associated with the series and expected that there would be a pronounced Aries theme, as Aries is the sign of pioneering and Uranus (the planet of science and technology, television!) is in Aries. But I was surprised. Here is what I found.

The chart for the series itself, based upon its premiere data above, has a Midheaven of 19° Capricorn, Pallas in Capricorn in the 10th house, and a 9th house Pluto in Capricorn as the most elevated planet. Jupiter in Taurus conjuncts the Ascendant and trines Pluto, which indicates the earth theme, “New Earth,” the expectations for popularity, and the high costs of production—two to three times the production costs for alternate television shows.



The series’s concept originator and executive producer is Kelly Marcel, born in London on 10 January 1974 with no time given. She has a quadruple Capricorn conjunction of Juno (19), Sun (19), Mercury (20) and Ceres (23). Not to be overlooked is a wide conjunction of Venus and Jupiter in the Science Fiction loving sign Aquarius. Upon seeing her chart I realized that in addition to the theme of pioneering, or Uranus in Aries, we had the theme of history, the Capricorn planets, including Pluto in Capricorn which will mean deep history, DNA history, the history of life.

The premiere of Terra Nova reminded me of two Science Fiction novels of historic importance. First to come to mind was Dinosaur Beach by Keith Laumer. It is about a time traveler who vacations in non-human populated eras. Laumer, born 09 June 1925 at 3:30 am in Syracuse New York, has a ninth house Jupiter-Moon conjunction at 21 and 22 degrees Capricorn, again repeating the theme of history and ancient times. In Laumer’s case, he has three planets in Cancer opposing the Capricorn planets: Venus, Pluto and Mars. Together, Cancer and Capricorn are the signs associated with family and history. The Moon-Jupiter conjunction in Capricorn in the 9th house is an indication of popularity and success in writing about times past!

Although time travel was not one of his major themes, survival was of crucial importance to science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein. His juvenile novel, Tunnels in the Sky, has several elements in common with Terra Nova: the mechanism for transfer of people, the cutting off of contact, and the need to survive in an alien environment. Heinlein was born 07 July 1907 in Butler, Missouri, with no time given. I’m using a noon time for this discussion. Heinlein has a Uranus-Mars conjunction at 10 and 13 Capricorn in the fourth house, with a loaded tenth house which has Neptune, Sun, Jupiter, North Node and Ceres in Cancer—Jupiter at 20°!—and Mercury in Leo. Heinlein was the undisputed star of the popularization of Science Fiction as a genre.

What will be the future of Terra Nova? I am troubled by several things in the chart. First, most TV premieres have planets in the fifth house of entertainment. This one has no planets in the fifth house, but instead five planets, an asteroid and the Vertex in the sixth house of work and labor disputes. Further, we have an exact Mars-Pluto quincunx, suggesting problems with accidents, fights or violence. I wonder if this promising series will be around for long enough to make its mark on history.

Lalia Wilson

June 2011 Skies Can Be Good News

A friend sent me a link to Richard Nolle’s website, specifically his forecast for the current period. http://www.astropro.com/forecast/predict/2011-06.html


Before giving my version of how to interpret the skies of June, I need to say that Richard Nolle is one of the most highly respected astrologers in the USA today. I respect him. But, as you’ll see below, I also differ with his interpretations from time to time.

Nolle’s account of the June/July eclipse pattern sounds like a catastrophe. We have a Solar Eclipse on June 1st at 11° Gemini, a Lunar Eclipse on June 15th at 24° Sagittarius, and a Solar Eclipse on July 1st at 9° Cancer. Now, does this sound ominous or what? But, let’s hear the other side.

Eclipses change energy patterns. This year, and next, we have some heavy duty energy changing going on. People who are locked in to a specific way of looking at and operating in the world will be forced to adjust or else. What does “or else” mean? It can mean forced relocation or death. So, yes, that is difficult. Before you envision Nazi troops moving people, think again. People in Tuscaloosa Alabama and Joplin Missouri are being forced to move because of storm damage. People in Louisiana who were in the path of the Morganza Spillway were forced to move. You could change jobs and be forced to move. But moving is not necessarily bad. In fact, ultimately you can benefit from improved housing, friendships and job opportunities because of a move.

Since eclipses change energy patterns, this is good news to people who want the patterns to change. Those eclipses specifically change patterns in the houses of your horoscope they activate. This is as much an opportunity as it is a burden! How would you like to improve matters in the houses that are activated by these eclipses? You won’t get as much of an opportunity for the next 10-19 years, until eclipses move to this section of the zodiac again. (In about 10 years the Lunar Nodes will switch places, so these houses will be activated by the opposite Node eclipses. It takes 19 years for the same Node to return to its current position.)

Among Nolle’s predictions are financial bad news. The same answer as above applies. We are changing patterns. If you are locked into a pattern which is being eliminated, you are having a hard financial period. But not everyone is! This is another good news situation where there are opportunities out there for people who are some combination of lucky and innovative. A new economy is being created.

Finally, let’s look at love and sex. We had a Venus-Mars conjunction on May 23rd, which sets the tone for sexual relationships for the next almost 2 years. (When Venus and Mars meet in Aries in 2013.) Nolle highlights the foibles of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and could have added the NY Congressman Anthony Weiner’s indiscretion if it had happened before Nolle published. So, yes, a Venus-Mars conjunction does rev up the sex lives of everyone. For a few disturbed individuals, this can get them in trouble. (I leave it to you to determine whether Weiner himself sent the photo, or someone else did.) But, what about most people? This lovely Venus-Mars conjunction is strongly sensual. It is a chance for almost everyone to explore their sexuality and to become more sensual beings. This is good for most people, not bad. One person I know is engaged in a class to explore his sensuality. He has assignments to listen to favorite music and cook favorite foods. We can all benefit from honoring Venus and Mars!

It is my hope that all my readers and their friends will make the most of life’s opportunities and thrive in today’s world. May it be so!

Lalia

Finding Success with Mercury Retrograde

Currently, Mercury is retrograde.  It will be until Sunday, September 12th.  Anyone interested in Mercury retrograde (which happens for about 3-1/2 weeks three times a year) already knows the standard dogma.

That is, "Mercury's retrograde, the sky is falling, don't do anything!"  Or, "Re-decorate, re-vise, re-do..."

Both those approaches have legitimate reasons for their persistence.  They are true in many instances.

However, there are some positive sides that don't get much exposure.  With Mercury retrograde, we can revisit the past.  It is a wonderfully fruitful time to work on mysteries of the past.  These would include, genealogy studies, history, and memoirs and diaries.  If you have interest in these subjects, you may be more likely now to find your answers.

Even those with only interest in themselves can find the time to write about their own pasts.  And with a little bit of psychological insight they may find answers to their own personal mysteries!

May we all be patient with ourselves and choose to find our answers when the time is right.

Lalia

Venus & Mars Get Together

We are planting new seeds for personal relationships today and this month.  Venus and Mars are traveling together all through the sign Libra.  They conjunct today at 13+ Libra.  How can your life improve?

Consider the house receiving the action of Venus's dalliance with Mars.

<> First house: more popularity and sex appeal.


<> Second House: more money and possessions, gifts?

<> Third House: more excursions and enjoyable weekends.

<> Fourth House: home décor improvements.

<> Fifth House: a new lover, a child’s accomplishment, and new creativity.

<> Sixth House: You’ll either read or write the manual on how the emotions and athleticism of sex and love help everyone’s health.

<> Seventh House: new partnership, or great improvements in partnerships.

<> Eighth House: great sex adventures, or hitting the jackpot.

<> Ninth House: great adventures of mind, body or spirit.

<> Tenth House: winning the contest, beauty, popularity, or other look-good and feel-good items.

<> Eleventh House: your organization wins its contest, or your friends do.

<> Twelfth House: you have a rich inner life full of dream and meditation positives.

This house is energized for about a year, so choose your adventures wisely!
 
Best wishes for delight!  Lalia

Criminal Motivations as seen by Astrology--Joran van der Sloot

Joran van der Sloot has recently been a news headliner.  He was a suspect in the still-unresolved disappearance of Natalie Holloway five years ago, May 30th, and is the confessed killer of Stephany Flores on May 30th of this year.

Here are my comments, based on the information from Wikipedia: born on 06 Aug 1987, no time given (I used noon) and Arnhem, Netherlands.


First, some of what I'm going to say makes him appear to be totally obnoxious and this should not be construed to apply to the hundreds or thousands of people with similar charts. Always consider that Hitler had a bunch of astrotwins who did not start the biggest war of the last century.


Back to van der Sloot: A noon chart has four personal planets in the 10th house, three--Venus, Sun and Mars, in Leo. Depending upon your orb, you get some or all of them in a Grand Fire Trine with Saturn, Ceres and Uranus in Sag, and Jupiter in Aries! He's got a lot of other things going on, but this overwhelming Fire energy really explains it all. Venus-Sun-Mars in Leo, a self-absorbed, sexually motivated, energetic person. Trine Saturn in Sag, probably the restraining hand of his father, Paulus, who died in February of this year. Saturn in Sag is the least restrictive of all Saturn placements, and combined with Ceres and Uranus, makes him an agent of Uranus--the Awakener, or the Rebel--in this lifetime. Ceres is associated with death and mothering. Then we have Jupiter in Aries adding fuel to the fire!


What else? The day of his arrest, we have Venus transiting his (noon) MC. Transiting Mars is at 29 Leo, having touched the whole array of the Grand Fire Trine over the proceeding days. Transiting Saturn is opposing transiting Jupiter and both planets form difficult aspects with Sloot's natal Jupiter. Secondary progressed Moon is at 29 Libra, again setting off the natal Jupiter, as well as heralding a change of life when sp Moon changes sign in a couple of weeks.


Sloot has the natal Moon at 0 Capricorn, and natal Neptune at 5 Cap. The natal Moon in Cap is a classic indicator of closed off feelings, lack of empathy, even cruelty. When conjunct Neptune, could be mentally ill. WHERE is transiting Pluto??? 4 Capricorn! So Pluto is hitting Sloot's natal Moon-Neptune program. Pluto will mean casting aside old ways of living.

Are there positive ways all this fire energy could have been used?  Yes.  Was Joran "fated" to be a murderer?  No. 

What we do know is that he is an energetic powerful young man who has suffered the recent loss of his father.  Joran may have only been restrained by that father.  Without developing self-restraint, self-discipline, the result is what we have seen in Chile.  Joran may very well have committed other similar assaults that have not been revealed. 

My view is that everyone, at every moment, has the ability and privilege of choosing positive ways of being in the world.  Only the person who is at the point-of-choice can make that choice.  May Joran, and the rest of us, choose to move towards Grace.


Lalia



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Santa Claus Meets the Grim Reaper

The Christmas Holidays are set at the Capricorn Solstice, as are many other sacred observances. The Solstice marks where the sign Sagittarius ends and Capricorn begins. Sagittarius correlates with fun, abundance, and plenty of good stuff. Jupiter, the Sag ruler, is closely akin to Santa. But at the solstice, the vibrations change to the clear sight and objectivity of Capricorn. We have Santa morphing into The Grim Reaper—that guy you see with a sickle on all the New Year’s Eve cartoons. This year the planet of transformation and death, Pluto, is right at this point. Let us look more deeply at the old "gifts under the tree" versus “lump of coal” paradox of this season.

The sign Sagittarius is ruled by the planet Jupiter. Jupiter has many images, among them the Divine Teacher or Guru, and Santa Claus. The subsequent sign, Capricorn, is ruled by Saturn. Saturn is the Divine Grandfather or Grandmother. But Saturn is also Father Time and the Grim Reaper.

Jupiter can range from hopeless and dogmatic, to approval seeking and excessive, but is mature and stable when expansive and wise. Similarly, Saturn ranges from bitter and cruel and controlling to ambitious and acquisitive, but when mature and healthy, Saturn thrives on solitude.

Each of us embodies some degree of both qualities. We have our own internal Santa bestowing blessings, and our own internal Grim Reaper taking them away. A healthy, mature life is a creative mixture of the Jupiter’s expansion principle and the Saturn’s contraction principle. Most of us prefer Jupiter to Saturn, though. By secondary progression, a way astrologers use to measure our lessons of this lifetime, usually Jupiter and Saturn make so few changes that they are not important (since they just maintain the influence they gave at birth). However, should either planet change signs (or houses) by secondary progression, this is major!

A more common occurrence is the transits of Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter brings his largesse all around the zodiac in 12 years, about one year per sign. Saturn takes 29 years to go around the circle, about 21 years in each sign. This is good news/bad news. Good news if Jupiter is doing good things and Saturn is not causing troubles. However, the bad news is that it does not last.

How are Jupiter and Saturn influencing you? May it all be good!

Lalia