On the twenty eighth of November 2008 Pluto moves into Capricorn. To understand the significance of this transit it is important to take a look at the meaning of Pluto and its cycle.

Pluto is the ruler of Scorpio in modern astrology. It represents transformation, death, birth and rebirth and is considered a higher octave than Mars. Where ever Pluto is located in the natal chart is where we will have to regenerate in this lifetime. As Pluto moves through the birth chart by transit it causes regeneration in the area of life represented by that house.

When Pluto comes along by transit we will undergo change. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Resistance is futile. Needless struggle leads to illness and unease and there is no chance of winning against this heavyweight of the zodiac.

Pluto’s movement has a huge effect on the unconscious and on society in general. Pluto, as can be imagined from its association with Scorpio, loves to dig up the dirt, to uproot the weeds and set us on a new path. The deepest, darkest secrets of society are exposed in the interest of transformation.

When Pluto transited Scorpio (the sign associated with sexuality) between 1983 and 1995, the deep dark secret of sexual abuse was exposed. Before that time it was taboo to even mention incest or sexual abuse. But Pluto led the thrust to break down this prohibition and to find ways to stop it.

From 1995 to 2008 Pluto transited Sagittarius (the sign associated with religion). In that time religious fundamentalism has been exposed and so called wars of religion have been waged. Sexual abuse within religious institutions has been exposed.

Now Pluto is ready to do its thing in the sign of Capricorn. To gain an understanding of what is ahead we can examine the sign of Capricorn and take a look back at the last time Pluto transited this sign.

Capricorn, the goat, is ruled by Saturn. Unlike Sagittarius which ruled by Jupiter it is not given to excess. We can certainly expect a time of restraint, seriousness and responsibility. Capricorn rules the public life/career, business, institutions, the bones and structures. We can anticipate a major shake up in all of these areas. In fact shocks are occurring in the stock markets this spring, which is the major indicator of the business world in this early part of the twenty-first century.

Hopefully, we will see an end to religious wars and a return to responsibility and tolerance.

Pluto’s journey around the zodiac takes just under two hundred and fifty years. The last time it entered Capricorn was in 1762.

Thinking itself turned serious back then. Descartes’ thesis of rational thinking and the demotion of all other ways of knowing (dreams, intuition, imagination etc) had taken possession of the popular mind. The elevation of the left brain, with its rationality, heralded in a new era.

A way of life that honoured nature and man as part of nature that saw microcosm in the macrocosm and vice versa was subverted. Men looked with new eyes at the world. This rational point of view favoured analysis over synthesis and elevated man (women weren’t considered) over all nature. It accorded him the right and duty to interrogate, subdue and use nature for rational utilitarian ends.

This worldview oversaw the French Revolution, American Revolution and the European invasion of Australia .

We are still stumbling from the fragmentation caused by this Age of Reason. The consequences of using and abusing nature are too numerous to mention. Too real, stark and frightening for us to ignore.

Now there is a return to wholistic thinking and to return to acceptance of a Divine hand behind all life on earth. More and more people take their intuition and dreams seriously. Quantum physics has proven that the microcosm is contained in the macrocosm and vice versa.

We are at the dawn of a new age. We can anticipate taboos regarding institutions, business and hierarchies to be broken in the coming sixteen years.

Saturn , the ruler of Capricorn, may be serious and hard-working but he does preside over the Golden Age.