vol. 1 episode 10
Greetings,
Here in the States, for many of us, it feels as though life as we know it is slipping away, or as the poet Rilke once described such a time, as though we stand on fishes. The ground is not solid. The light feels dark. Reaching out to touch can leave us disoriented when the other does not reach back.
In the US we are experiencing our Pluto return; that is the constant “news” story for mundane astrologers and will be through the first weeks of 2024. In other venues, I have described what we are experiencing is like a slow-rolling occupation, a fascist take-over of our hearts and minds, although as I have also written elsewhere, and mention again in this podcast, there are many controlling interests involved in our current systemic breakdown for whom politics is not the point, but only a tool of expedience.
And, in the US and other countries, who is right and who is wrong about who those machers actually are, is rapidly turning disagreement into fragmentation, and potentially violence.
There is a lot to either fear, or face, or both.
Using both classical and modern/Placidian houses, from our position here on Earth, Pluto, which talks to us about extremes and collapses, is currently appearing to move backwards in the later stages of Capricorn, a sign that talks to us about organization, status quo, and limitations. In the natal chart of the US, the version Elisabeth and I use in this podcast anyway, Pluto is thus positioned in the second house, signaling an extreme breakdown in manners to do with values, resources, and what sustains us.
Here in the Northern hemisphere, Capricorn signals a return to the light in late December. Because astrology is a symbolic language, I don’t get hung up on the literalness of whether it is being interpreted from the Southern or Northern hemisphere, so long as the inherent logic of the symbolic language remains intact.
Regardless of whether it is becoming summer or winter, the important point is that there is a solstice that occurs in the sign of Capricorn, and so is a time we are acutely aware of how the earth turns toward and away from something simultaneously.
Succinctly put: It is a threshold.
Now, combine all these pieces and you can see that we are crossing a threshold which requires we turn away from what has been and face what will be. Whether we like it or not, we are being carried away from what we have sought to know as The Establishment, for good or for ill; there is a natural collapse of old structures that have organized us around our values, monetary systems, and systems of governance in the United States.
There is opportunity here, and while much of it is out of our control, a lot is very much within our control. It’s our ability to manage our emotions and wield our curiosity that will make all the difference. If we keep our wits about us, sometimes, we might find the solution we need is right on the tip of our nose.
Learning the skill of repose also requires, as Elisabeth points out, that we face our grief over the endings we are encountering.
There are other planetary transits that support this process of breakdown, but this Pluto return is the context, and thus why it is the main story for Elisabeth and me as cosmic reporters, and will be through the end of 2023.
In this episode, we address what might be the necessary tools for crossing this threshold, and how astrology can better prepare you for the breakdowns that are inevitably coming. We discuss how having an understanding of the current and upcoming planetary patterns can better prepare you for what will at first seem like unending chaos, but is actually the natural motion of the cosmos that supersedes us all. And, as usual, we look at a few charts and perhaps against our better judgement, get a little snarky. Most of the charts are at the end of this post.
We’d thought we’d not return from our break until mid-July, but several listeners prevailed upon us to get back in action, and since we love doing this so much, we figured why the heck not. Thank you for caring enough to bring us back from our respective kayaks in Maine and Tennessee.
If you like this podcast, and regularly listen, consider subscribing to it on Substack, where it lives. Also, please share it with others. We are starting to get some attention that could lead us to help expand what we offer, but it only happens when you get involved and do your part to help us grow.
You can learn more about Elisabeth’s work at graceastrology.com and more about mine at ensouledconsulting.com.
Until next time, which will be our regular bi-Friday (July 15), don’t forget to
LOOK UP!
Whitney and Elisabeth
Source for charts: Elisabeth Grace/SolarFire/Astro databank.
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