When Pluto Met Saturn by Dr. Scott Gerson
Happening January 12, 2020
Well, it’s the start of another new year and to celebrate this I’d like to riff a bit about the upcoming conjunction of Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn. I’m by no means a professional astrologer, but know just enough to be dangerous, as they say. I decided to write this piece because this rare conjunction really has my attention, and maybe it should have yours too. For those not familiar, a conjunction is when orbiting planets occupy the same degree in an astrological sign—as they fly through space on their separate orbital paths.
In Vedic astrology, the three outer planets (Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) were unknown and not used in predictions. Pluto, which recently lost its planet status, was not discovered until 1930 by astronomer Percival Lowell. Today many contemporary Vedic astrologers now use the outer planets and consider them to be a type of upagraha (secondary planet). In astrology, the energies of tiny Pluto are explosively transforming and purifying. It is definitely the planet which most closely corresponds to Panchakarma purification therapies. Pluto represents subconscious forces, ruling all that is “below the surface”. Pluto is also associated with cleansing, renewal and rebirth. It represents endings and new horizons, as well as spiritual growth and shedding the trappings of the ego. Pluto creates the quest to find deeper meanings. The negative expression of Pluto is an obsessive desire for power and control and general destructiveness.
Capricorn, the last Earth sign of the zodiac represented by the sea-goat (a mythological creature with the body of a goat and the tail of a fish), engenders inner-fortitude which enables people to overcome whatever obstacles stand between them and their long-term goals. Capricorn people are stable and create strong foundations for a happy and prosperous life. They’re usually staunchly realistic as opposed to dreamers. In the human anatomy, Capricorn is associated with the musculoskeletal system and the skin—structure and boundaries. In society, Capricorn generally represents the establishment and all the rules, institutions, and structures that support it.
Saturn tests and shakes the fundamental foundation of an individual and a society and reveals any cracks or weaknesses. It does this by intensely crystallizing problems bringing them front and center so that they can no longer be ignored. The problems that arise highlight how ineffectual and unsound one’s reality is. Any reality that leads you away from the realization that All is One will eventually crumble anyway, if you are lucky, and Saturn’s influence is to expedite that process. Its time to get Real. If you’ve been just living to sustain the status quo, you will be forced to recognize your failings and do something about them. You may be criticized, abandoned, punished, or imprisoned—but you will be reoriented to your true dharma.