Pluto Square Sun

 

July 30, 2004

 

http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/july30.html

 

Hello Eric:

I've got a once in a life-time transit, Pluto square Sun starting at the end of this year and I was wondering if you could tell me how best to handle/cope with the transformative energy of this aspect. My birth details are 15 March 1956 at 9.20 pm in Manchester England.

Michele, London

 

 

Dear Michele,

Once in a lifetime sums up both the transit and the best attitude you can have toward it. To me those sound like words of respect. You also mention transformative: that's a good keyword for Pluto (and it works quite well for any outer planet starting with Saturn and beyond, but Pluto is the King of Transformation).

 

Pluto transits are intense, but the Sun can take any transit in stride. Yes, there is something of an "ultimate transformation" or rebirth feeling about this whole process; the Sun represents the self at its highest expression in the outer world. Pluto works on deep level to bring out the inner nature of just about anything; to peel back the layers; to push us to being real. So it's like you're being re-created on a deep level and then that inner re-creation will eventually come forth. To be sure, there are ways you will feel like an entirely new person when this transit has passed.

 

From the look of your chart, Pluto square the Sun would appear to involve two very specific aspects of your life: being a mother, and your professional aspirations. I can tell this because you have Leo on the 10th house cusp, which is thus ruled by the Sun. The 10th house addresses both of these themes, and when the Sun gets a transit it's always going to have some relationship to your profession and the fact that you are a parent (which I confirmed, if readers are wondering how I know this).

 

In looking at a Pluto transit, it's good to check out how Pluto works in the natal chart. You possess one of the most strikingly creative, even amazing Pluto aspects there is: Pluto conjunct Jupiter. This is one of those "natural born mystic" placements, and this is confirmed by numerous other planets in your chart -- particularly natal Neptune in your ascendant and Uranus in your 9th house.

 

Note that you have natal Pluto/Jupiter in a strong, harmonious aspect to your ascendant. This translates to one word: opportunity. And it means that the world in which you currently find yourself is likely to go right along with the changes that you need to make. You can actually count on the people who love you to provide resources and support.

 

If I had to take a wild guess, it would be that you're heading for a phase of major development in your career. It feels like something you've been thinking about for along time wants to be expressed. It may be that the demands of motherhood have forced you to put certain aspirations on hold and, if so, you are getting to a time in life where you will have more freedom. I'm wondering whether you've had an extremely unique experience of being a parent that is calling for some kind of book to be written. I say this in part because Pluto is now working its way into your 3rd house of writing, and no matter how you slice that transit, it comes out with words and ideas being of utmost importance.

 

I say this for one additional reason, and it involves the "asteroid" (really, full planet) Ceres. Ceres is in your 5th house, conjunct your Mercury. Both placements speak to your experience of your children and of mothering (Ceres is often about mothers and the struggles they endure, and Mercury is about children, as is the 5th house). There has some kind of very intense experience of mothering here, something that has profoundly influenced the way you view the entire world. Given the Pisces placements of Ceres and Mercury, I would say you've given yourself to this with true selflessness and an attitude of deep devotion. Now, this placement can work for you as a creative gift: something I am sure you have thought of before.

 

Pluto transits are mercifully slow. Most people would say they take too long, but we don't want these changes to come at us all at once. So Pluto doses them out gradually in non-toxic levels. You still have quite a few months before this process reaches full intensity and, when it does, the best way to handle Pluto, like so much else, is one day at a time. That works well because each day of your life is once in a lifetime.