Apr 18 - Sep 26, 2016

Click here to learn about Pluto. Click here to learn about Capricorn.

Pluto is retrograde about 5 months out of the year. Planets in retrograde are not actually spinning backwards – it is entirely an optical illusion as seen from Earth. Backwards motion appears to happen when Earth passes slower moving planets in the outer solar system. In astrology, this illusion manifests as a “backwards” functioning of the planetary roles. Click here to learn more about retrograde.

In classic astrology, Pluto rules Scorpio. Pluto is concerned with issues of transformation and rebirth, fear, trust, integrity, power and control. When we make life-altering decisions, Plutonian energy is present. Pluto represents shift. It is through Pluto that the psyche is symbolically demolished and renewed.

Since November 2008, Pluto has been spinning through Capricorn. The sea goat is the patriarch of the zodiac, ruler of all things structural, institutional and societal. The purpose of Pluto in Capricorn is to reorganize society so that we may live in true harmony with the natural cycles of our planet and the greater Universe. This means continued changes in regards to the global economy and governmental institutions, for example. Pluto in Capricorn exposes rampant hypocrisy, corruption and greed embedded in the framework of our failing systems and will no longer allow us to blindly trust these institutions. The media reports so regularly on heretofore hidden, quasi-governmental scandals that I daresay we have become desensitized. Pluto in Capricorn delivers reform by shedding light on truths that have long been suppressed – the lies of wealthy men clinging to their power – those who were once viewed as mentors and leaders. On that note, we are also encouraged now to examine the great imbalance between masculine and feminine energy on our planet. I am confident that by the end of this transit, we will return to ancient wisdom as a way of life.

The last Pluto Retrograde cycle was Apr 16 - Sep 25, 2015. When Pluto is direct, he unearths darkness in the public sphere. However, Pluto Rx is the time of year when we make massive changes in our personal life. Whatever journey this transit demarcates will come from deep within the soul, and you’ve probably been sensing its arrival for a long time now. Pluto Retrograde means more than just traveling, meeting new people or moving - he works from the inside out, intensely pressurizing the ego until a completely new identity bursts forth. This transit is the catalyst that pushes us one step closer, year after year, to who we must become. Pluto is the ultimate evolutionary. When retrograde, he clears blockages hindering our metamorphosis. External change will be directly proportional to change within.

Pluto Retrograde purges extremes from the underworld of the psyche, extracting deep grief and fear embedded in the energy body and unconscious memories. The extent to which we receive Pluto’s gifts depends on the rate of spiritual/personal understanding. Now is the time to reconfigure/restructure the Self. Do this work and you will heal. To heal is to be reborn.

By the end of this cycle you will be in a very different stage of your life. Each transit manifests uniquely for everyone. What you need and how you will get there, this only you know. We will all be presented with challenges that are really just many variations of a single theme. Whatever the crux, it’s never novel - think about the things you have been working on for your entire life, or maybe over several lifetimes. Often our destination has already been set in motion, so what is more important (but less obvious) is what we encounter on the way and how we react. There is nothing we can do to prepare or prevent, as it should be. My only advice is to constantly stay in touch with the root of your thoughts and intuition. Change is inevitable and it’s rising quickly, but we all have the power to direct its course.

Good luck my friends. Much love from India.

Celebrate Pluto with Capricorn Yoga.

I was born with Pluto retrograde. To find out your Pluto sign and whether he was direct or retrograde at the time of your birth, click here.

Mantra: change is good