October 20th ~ 27th
late that night i held an atlas in my lap; ran my fingers across the whole world and whispered, where does it hurt?
it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere
~ Warsan Shire
Eclipses can be felt weeks in advance. And this is especially so if it falls in a personal degree. But the effects and ramifications of the eclipses can be felt for years. This is because these are often turning points in our lives. For some, these eclipse periods can feel overwhelming: too much information and activity, or feeling over-stimulated. While others will feel like they are being drained of their very life essence. We are now in that space between the two eclipses, where change, evolution and time seems to converge and overlap. Things change. Our priorities are shifted around. Alliances are upended. This is that unpredictable void between the two eclipses. And all we can do is walk through to the other side.
Endings and beginnings merge in this space. Where that will all end up is still uncertain for now. Eclipses are just so unpredictable. And there seem to be some powerful forces at work here. Pluto still sits at the bending of the Nodes. And the First Quarter Moon this weekend, the point between the two eclipses, also comes to that same 28º of Capricorn, conjunct the dark lord Pluto and square the Nodes.
The sorts of events you can expect from Pluto transits to the Nodes are some sort of societal, economic or political shifts. But I won’t lie. Pluto can be a particularly egregious sort of energy, primarily concerned with Power: who has it; who or what is leveraging that power; how that power is used or abused; and what they do with it. The sorts of things that one can expect with Pluto ‘at the bending’ of the Nodes are: the rise and fall of Authoritarian Regimes; the Abuse of Power and Wealth; Corporate and Political Corruption; and sadly, even the atrocities of War.
Pluto is the power of transformation through healing, rebuilding, regenerating and rebirth. However, the wounds of Pluto can be very real. Pluto can bring us to our knees. It can feel like utter destruction. It comes in the guise of our fears, our compulsions, what drives us, our obsessions, and also our psychological wounds. These wounds can and in fact need to be healed for our own sakes and survival. But it takes a great deal of courage and honesty to face one’s own Pluto.
Pluto requires us to turn over the rock, descend into Hades’ lair, and reveal the dark, forbidden underbelly of the shame, guilt, hunger, and fear that thrives there. We often do not even know that these wounds exist because they are too uncomfortable. We almost never want to face Pluto. Interlaced with old karmic seeds brought over from former lifetimes, this is the stuff that psychologists’ couches were made for. We carry these Plutonic seeds as deep seated fears in our subconscious, in our bodies as ailments, aches and pains, and festering ulcers. They’ve been covered over with a bandaid but they continue to fester, and cannot and will not heal unless they are revealed for what they are. They must then be debrided at their very source, in order to restore wholeness once again.
The first quarter moon of the month, is when we tend to see things escalate. It is a growing Moon of activity. Facing our Pluto is one of the most challenging, but also freeing experiences we can ever have. The first step is to want to do something about it. This requires a great deal of honesty, humiliation and courage. If we don’t own our own Pluto: our own compulsions, our own fears and hungers that have not been placated, then they can not and will not be healed. Find your midwife, your therapist your guides you can trust, and who have been here before. The final step with Pluto is one of forgiveness. Forgiveness for self, forgiveness for others. Then comes the healing, the self-transformation and rebuilding.
Most of us will be witnesses on the scene. But even if we are not directly affected, we can not help but stand in awe and even despair at the powerful forces that are taking control and reverberating around the globe.
Note that the truly great changes that Pluto brings, are not without, but within. For it will be these internal evolutionary shifts that will revolutionize and change the world. Too often we focus outside of ourselves, hoping that everyone else would change. But when working with Pluto, the truly great changes are those that occur within. Like a calling. A necessity. It cannot be denied. Therefore may we all be inspired to be the change that we would like to see in the world.
In the space between chaos and space there was another chance. ~ Jeanette Winterson
For this week’s horoscopes, click below: