Pluto in Sagittarius:
Choosing A Moral Path
 luto
entered Sagittarius in 1995, with its final entry on November 10,
1995. When a slow-moving planet such as Pluto changes signs (the
last time was 1984), it indicates a powerful shift in our collective
and personal consciousness. So what does it all mean and what lies
ahead for the next 12 years or so while Pluto travels through
Sagittarius?
Pluto, Death and
Transformation
Pluto's energy, of itself, is
difficult to grasp on a personal level and tends to be encountered
through a broad range of experiences, from very positive to very
negative. At its worst, it is power, control, obsession, and a
morbid fascination with the sinister side of life. Pluto is
associated with death: rarely one's own, sometimes another's. More
often it is the metaphorical death of some part of ourselves or our
lives: an attitude, belief, lifestyle, life direction, etc.
The seasons circle through
birth, growth, fruition, death, hibernation and rebirth. In the same
way, any death experience (be it literal or metaphorical) is
inevitably followed by a healing process that leads to rebirth. This
involves grieving the loss of what was, be it a person, a job, a
lifestyle or simply whatever was familiar.
This healing process may
compel you to gradually create something new in your life (like a
new career direction after a job loss). Or, it can have a more
internalized focus; for example, cultivating the seed of a new
identity that lies dormant within the dead outer layers of the
psyche that are shed like snakeskin during the Plutonic "death"
experience. Hope helps us remember that new growth and life always
follow death and loss.
At its best, Pluto represents
personal empowerment, transformation, and the ability to confront
and heal the shadow side of one's soul. Ultimately, Pluto shines
light into the dark corners of our lives, and requires that we
somehow heal and assimilate what we find there into our lives.
Pluto, in its highest form, represents the unconditional love that
enables us to see even the most "evil" nature as the twisted,
distorted, even grotesque reflection of a tormented soul. As Kahlil
Gibran wrote in The Prophet:
"Of the good in
you I can speak, but not of the evil. For what is evil but
good tortured by its own hunger and thirst?"
The Higher Vision of
Sagittarius
Sagittarius represents our
framework of understanding. It is the ability to identify and work
with patterns of meaning that lie within the vast database of raw
information in the world around us. This search for meaning leads to
a quest for higher truth and spiritual significance (hence, its link
to religion.)
Toward this end, Sagittarius
evokes the challenge of faith versus dogma: Are we using our vision
of truth to guide us to a higher goal or to force others to adopt
our own image of the universe? The moral and philosophical lessons
of Sagittarius continually pit our personal beliefs about right and
wrong against the endless diversity of the world around us. Each of
us sees and acts from a different perspective. Finding a balanced
position is an endless walk along a razor's edge.
Life and Death Values
Some of the themes that have
emerged as Pluto moved from Scorpio to Sagittarius last year
include: issues about euthanasia and assisted suicide; national
territorialism and the changing reasons for its existence (like
Canada's fishing boundaries); questioning the accuracy and truth
about suppressed childhood abuse memories; a re-examination of the
death penalty; and the role of spirituality in our lives.
The recently released film,
"Dead Man Walking," illustrates with poignant drama some of the
challenges that Pluto poses in Sagittarius. (If you haven't seen it
yet, I highly recommend it!) It raises gripping moral questions
about issues like the death penalty; the effectiveness of religion,
the church and its workers in addressing immorality; questioning the
validity and meaning of faith; and the true nature of the human soul
when it is overshadowed by "evil."
Pluto in Sagittarius demands
that we address these kinds of issues and choose our path. Do we
meet these questions with dogmatic rhetoric? With a rigid belief
system that recognizes only a reflection of its own viewpoint? With
hatred, bitterness, prejudice or judgment? And happens to the
natural instinct to normalize and let go of intense feelings, the
will to forgive, the transformative power of the grieving process,
and life's instinct for moving beyond the pain of the present into
the hope of tomorrow?
It takes courage and
perseverance to strengthen and nurture our capacity for compassion,
integrity and love. We have as allies, if we don't reject them, the
tenacity of the human will to sustain hope and our natural faith in
the transformation of the human spirit. However, we must also reckon
with the human emotions of rage, bitterness, hatred, fear,
depression and despair that are natural byproducts of tragedy, loss,
disappointment and change. And with every step, we must tread the
seemingly impossible path between spiritual ideals and real- life
realities.
Pluto in Sagittarius says
that each of us will, inevitably, wrestle with these issues in some
form over the next 12 years or so. There are no easy answers, and
there are even more possible solutions than there are people to
consider them. Each of us will find the answers that fit our needs
and values for better or worse. And those answers will change and
evolve as we grow through the Pluto process.
Trust the Process!
Sagittarius calls us to a
higher vision of truth, moral values and understanding, while Pluto
guides us through a process of transforming shadow into light
through uncompromising acknowledgement of what we see in those
shadows. What is the highest truth that YOU can see? What obstacles
block your path toward making that higher vision a reality? What
keeps you from truly living that higher understanding of life? How
can you aspire, like the archer's arrow, and stretch yourself beyond
those obstacles to touch your spirit's vision?
It is said that achievement
is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. Faith (the territory of
Sagittarius) shows us the pinnacle of the shining mountain beyond
the dark forest, and promises there is something better that is
worth striving for. Ultimately, it is the courage and endurance of
actually traveling through that shadowy forest (the process of
Pluto) that gets us from where we are to where we want or need to
go. Pluto's message in Sagittarius is: Keep the faith, do the work,
and trust the process!
© Wendy Guy, 1996, 2004, 2005. All rights reserved. Reprinted with
permission from Transitions Astrology Magazine, Pisces 1996 issue. |
