There is a lot more to an astrology chart than “What is your Sun Sign?”  There are ten planets, twelve houses; oodles of aspects and of course some asteroids for the more daring astrologer.  In any given chart the nuances are infinite.  However, there are times when the Sun is experiencing such a doozey of a transiting aspect that truthfully everything else pales in comparison. 

Now is such a time for a group of people.

At this time there are four Sun signs that are just in the hot seat. There is no getting around it. And if you have a birth date in these dates or you know someone with a birth date on the following dates, well, take a big breath and exhale—because you are being asked to morph.

The birth dates in this discussion are:

March 17, 18, 19, 20  (late Pisces)

June 18, 19, 20, 21  (late Gemini)

Sept 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 (late Virgo)

Dec 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 (late Sag)

In addition to those HOT SEAT dates.. there are the ON NOTICE birth dates of

March 21, 22 (early Aries)

June 22, 23 ( early Cancer)

Sept 23, 24 (early Libra)

Dec 22, 23  (early Capricorn)

So what does this all mean?

Basically, what is going on is Pluto is in the final months of its trip through Sagittarius.  Pluto is a small planet and the slowest planet but it probably has one of the fullest punches. 

If you remember anything from your Greek & Roman history then you must remember the story about the God Hades (Greek) Pluto (Roman) who lived underground and one day stole the beautiful daughter of Demeter and then he sealed up the ground so Demeter could not find her.  Demeter was so hurt and angered that her daughter was missing that she stopped all harvests.  Of course this pissed everyone off (after all, they were getting hungry) and finally Zeus stepped in and told Hades, “You gotta give her back”.  But what Zeus didn’t know was that the daughter had eaten a pomegranate, which meant that she now had to spend six months with Hades and six months with her mom.   And thus when the daughter is with Demeter we get summer and when she is with Hades, we get winter. 

What we know from the myth and what we know about Pluto is that when it touches one of our personal planets like our Sun, it demands huge changes. It demands that we go underground and find some new part of ourselves. Some new strength. The daughter found her strength separate from her powerful mother only when she went underground. 

During a Pluto aspect, people can get depressed. They can feel like a boat without a rudder. They feel lost.  They feel helpless and like a victim.  It seems like every good plan falls apart.  Things that used to give joy now only barely elicit a weak smile. It is a time when the person receiving the aspect must ask, “What would really make me happy? And not a superficial happy, a real value systems happy.”  “And what am I going to do about it?” 

 

The challenge is to remember that the daughter willingly ate the pomegranate so on some level she did want this change. Yes, she may have been dragged down to Hades’ world by an outside force but on some grander level, she finally got the much needed break from the suffocating aspects of her mom’s world.  In this same manner, people with this aspect will have to look at the part of their world that is suffocating them.  And is it possible that this journey they are making which feels so hard and so scary is actually going to provide the impetus for a much-needed break and long-term change?   

First order of business, release the victim stuff.  Reframe whatever harsh thing that is occurring--- job change, residence change, family issues, financial issues, bankruptcy, IRS stuff..--- whatever the thing (s)-- that is making life so hard instead of feeling like a victim, shift your thinking to, “This is an opportunity to make great changes in my life.”  Yeah, easier said than done, but you know what…do it anyway.  Instead of focusing on the negative part, focus on finding a solution.   Be proactive, be solution oriented. 

Remember, this is chance to rebuild your life into a life that you really want.  The truth is you needed to make these changes and deep in your psyche you knew it but you were perhaps too afraid to rock the boat or unclear how even to disengage.   Imagine if the daughter told Demeter, “Hey, I feel like a break from you for about six months a year.”  That would not have gone over so well with the powerful Demeter, but now after her daughter’s trip to Hades’ land, Demeter had no choice but to take what the universe (Zeus) gave her.  So, what would happen to your relationship if you if you told your husband/wife,  “I’m quitting my job?”   Perhaps it will be well received.  Perhaps not. But this would force the issue for you guys to talk in a manner that is real and down, down, down to Earth.  There is nothing as inspiring or as important as a discussion about values during this time.  

And yes, for some people some of these changes are so great and so painful that under no circumstances can anyone find anything positive in it.  For those situations,  then the best course of action is to put it under the category, “I don’t know why it is happening, but I’m going to be proactive and do the best I can.”  Even that will offer some Pluto relief.

As you can see these questions and changes are big.  For people born on those birth dates this has been a slow process. You have been feeling promptings in this direction for about six months, some of you longer and some of you will be feeling this for another year.  Your world might get rattled but on the other side of this transit you will be leaner, cleaner and living in an environment that is very simpatico with the true you. 

The late Pisces & Virgo birth dates are feeling like they are getting oral surgery without Novocain (do they still use that?) It seems like you can’t get ahead or you are swimming in something, you know there must be land ahead but you cannot see it.  Only a faint sound every now and then of a distant foghorn tells you land is ahead.    Remember, you have been slowly getting to this place for the last year or so, but now is the do or die time in your life. How do you intend to make the changes you need to make in order to get the life you have secretly envisioned for yourself?  What is it going to take you to give up the illusions and go for the dreams?  There is a difference in case you didn’t know between dreams and illusions.  And can you possibly stop looking at the trees and go find the forest?   This is what you are being forced to do.  You have the rest of  ’07 and some of ’08 to get it together. This is a wonderful opportunity. Don’t let any hardships you experience now defeat you.  But at the same time now is not the time to do just the same old thing you always do when you are pressured.   You must approach things differently for you to access the gifts of the transit.  Now is the time to morph into more refined you.  

The late Gemini & Sag birth dates are also feeling the challenge of Pluto’s trek but it is a bit different than your fellow mutable Pisces & Virgo. Instead you are being asked if your big opinions and thoughts are really serving you?  How does it feel to think you have it all figured out and yet you are miserable under your skin?   Now is the time to throw caution to the wind and stop figuring it all out.  Instead, get galvanized and get proactive. Your biggest problem is you have had a habit of letting your mind and your reasoning abilities get the better of you.  You know that old expression, “Doctor heal thyself”.  Meaning, “Doctor before you tell everyone else to give up smoking, don’t you think you should quit too?  Well, the same goes for Gemini and Sag, you can sit there and think this way and that way and tell your friends one solution after another until you are blue in the face but what you need to do is get out of your own way, remind yourself that you don’t have all the answers and tell yourself, “It doesn’t make sense but I gotta do this.”  And then get proactive and make the move.  Perhaps it is a physical move, perhaps it is taking a real risk in your relationships, perhaps it just saying, “I don’t have the answers but I really want to make this work and I know I can find some help out there. 

Ultimately what is going on out there for Pisces, Virgo, Gemini & Sag’s is that you are being challenged on the greatest level,  “Is there something greater than me?” “Is there a a higher power?”  “Is there perhaps, a God?”  “Is there something bigger than us little plebeians running around on Earth?”    Your greatest challenge is to test this question.  . 

What about the dates ON NOTICE?

March 21, 22 (early Aries)

June 22, 23 ( early Cancer)

Sept 23, 24 (early Libra)

Dec 22, 23  (early Capricorn)

For people born in these dates, you are in a similar situation as the above group but it is a bit different as you have either Zero Degrees or One Degree of the Cardinal signs.  So you are starting to feel Pluto push you for a change but it is very light.  It is just a hint of what is to come.  Perhaps it is just an uncomfortable feeling that something is “not right.”  It is not as pronounced as the other group, those guys know exactly where they need help and relief, but you are just on the beginning of this journey and as we get closer and closer to January of ‘08 you will get more prompts as to what you need to do, it will get tough and it will have a lot to do with how you put yourself out in the world.  How do you utilize your environment? What structures in your life no longer serve you?  If you give up your position in the world that has given you so much comfort for so many years, what will it now mean to be/do/experience something different?   It feels like the ego is being tweaked but in truth the world needs a different you.  There is a long-term reason for these changes but you won’t know it right now.   The rest of ’07 and ’08 is about making the changes despite not knowing why on the bigger picture you are doing them.

Finally there is an old joke that really describes Pluto’s contact with one’s sun.  It goes like this:

“Two old ladies were sitting on bench and one of them says, “How is that new restaurant on the corner?”  The other one replies, “The food is awful and the portions are so small.”

 

LINKS to THINK about:

http://www.groundedheavens.com/mythpages/pluto.html

http://www.creativechoices.com/article/star/star_lights_Pluto.htm

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2006/12/lutin200612?printable=true&currentPage=all

Tracy