Part III: Pluto in Capricorn
Today is the last day.
(Well actually it was yesterday, but who's counting?)
Pluto has been mostly in Capricorn for about the last 16 years. In Part 1, we defined the archetype of Capricorn very carefully. In Part 2, we looked at what Pluto means. Here, bring them together. As you listen, or read, keep in mind the last 16 years of your life. What were you doing in 2008 when Pluto first entered Capricorn? You might want to review Parts 1 and 2 before continuing.
Since Capricorn draws resources toward itself so that it can satisfy its desire, and Pluto can be dark and power-hungry, you can get a Darth Sidious situtation. Perhaps you’ve seen some of that going on in the world lately? Or hints of it? Then again, has there ever been a time in recorded history when it wasn’t going on? That begs the question: since Pluto spends a couple decades in Capricorn every couple hundred years, how long does that effect linger? There’s really no way to know — to parse out Pluto’s role in in 12 different Signs over centuries, while also separating the effects of all the other planets doing all their things. However, we can say that it makes a difference, that maybe Darth Vader was born during a Pluto in Capricorn period. Wc can say that the themes discussed in this essay are stronger during these 16 years than in other decades. We could also surmise that whatever seeds that have been planted at this time over the last 16 years may take a while, a long while, to take root and eventually blossom. Remember, Pluto moves slowly, but ineveitably.
But this Stormtroopers situation is quite a negative take on Pluto. And we could go further in that direction if we wanted to. However, I like levity, though I'm not very funny. So let’s say instead that I like lightness. Yes that is certainly true. And since Pluto lives in Hell, where does the light come from? First we must discern the type of Hell we’re talking about. It’s Capricorn Hell. Hmmm, are you thinking what I'm thinking? Goat horns? Goat eyes?
Those strange eyes of the goat.
Do they freak you out? If so, then perhaps you need to get more familiar with them. Go pet a goat. Feed the goat. Why are the pupils horizontal? For one, they increase peripheral vision so that it’s easier to see danger, or in Pluto’s case, to keep an eye on his lost souls hanging out in the Underworld. The pupils rotate, allowing Pluto to absorb more light, which is sure to be dim deep under the ground, from all corners of his eyes. This is very strange, for when Pluto leans down or changes the tilt of his head, his eyes remain horizontal! Dangling free in Earth's gravitational field, like a Christmas ornament. None can escape his purview. Pluto knows all your tricks. You can’t just leave Hell because you want to. You must follow it through to the end. But how do you know which way it’s leading you? Which way to go? Well you do what all recently deceased persons do after they’ve died: you follow the light. The goat’s eyes are not only Pluto’s, but also your own. YOU have goat eyes in the Underworld, so that you can navigate your karma, process your life, sift through the Bardo. We could talk about Baphomet here, the deity with the head of a goat, sometimes seen as Satan, but I won’t take the time. You may look into it if you like.
We still don’t know what a Capricorn Hell looks like. If you’ll recall from Part 1 of this series, we likened Capricorn to Mammoth Hot Springs, in Yellowstone Park. We could imagine that all of the Underworld is built from these multi-colored, living, toxic undulating mounds of calcium carbonate, steamy and searing in some places, more comfortable in others. The point is not just that it’s a strange landscape to navigate. Rather, the key is that it’s YOUR landscape. YOU create it. You are the wizard in the Capricorn Hell, and Pluto’s the accountant, correcting your balances. But if you owe too many taxes, if your slippery toxic mound becomes too steep, the fault is not with Pluto, but with yourself.
We have help here. That is Pluto’s wife Persphone. She is our guide when our eyes fail us, when our hearts tire of the task. Scented with asphodel, she lifts us by the arm after we’ve fallen. Persephone is eternal hope. You CAN and you WILL come out the other side -- even if it seems that it takes far too long. And here we are, the very day that Pluto leaves Capricorn. We are at the end. Our culture, at least here in the USA, and in many other parts of the world, is completely different from what it was in 2008. As for what might be coming, with Pluto entering Aquarius -- that is the subject of Parts 4 and 5 of this series. This essay is a retrospective.
How was your trip though the calcium carnonate cauldrons this past 16 years?
Where have you gone after it, really gone for it, but failed? Where have you gone after it, really gone for it, and succeeded? Where has victory just almost effortlessly fallen into your lap? For that, too, is Capricorn. Manifestation. Serendipity. What have you created since 2008? What are you creating right now? I’m not talking about every little thing — rather, the big things, the hard things, the risky things. Capricorn is not about death, rather, he’s about creation; but sometimes things must die in order for new life to transpire. Pluto helps in this. Pluto loves it when things die! That’s his jam. Then he has more comforting souls to keep him company in that lonely Underworld. So Pluto in Capricorn is a formula for allowing old things to die so that new things can emerge.
Here, abuse becomes resilience, taboos become catharsis, domination becomes renovation.
We still haven’t answered the question of where the light comes from in Capricorn Hell. It doesn’t come from fire, for Capricorn is an earth Sign. I suggest to you that it comes from the composting matter of all of that death. It literally glows with its putrid heat. It’s only because of the death that we can see where the hell we’re going in Hell. But when the death becomes too much, when we cover our eyes and nose from the stench, Persphone is there to lead the way. She takes us by hand and glows before us with an internal holiness. I recommend looking at your birth chart to see where both Pluto and Persephone lie, in what Signs and Houses, so that you can know in what manner they act on your behalf.
When we get really good at Pluto in Capricorn, then we can shape our path before us,
in the uncomfortable dimness, in things only partially seen and grasped — we can build scaffolding to take us right outta there! You’ve already built the scaffolding, already done the work. Now is the day to take that final step off the high platform, out the crack of the earth, and onto the cloud that is Aquarius, where we have a whole other thing to do for the next couple decades. Step boldly! For the cloud is thick and substantial, and can hold your weight. I’ll leave you with one more tidbit, a tease, for you to ponder on your own: Capricorn is not just a goat, but a goat-FISH. What does it mean for the goat to have a tail in Hell?
In Part 4 we’ll define Aquarius. Then in the final installment, Part 5, we’ll talk about Pluto in Aquarius.
Be well, companions and friends of the dark, and the light.
Oh woops wrong one...
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