This month Saturn and Pluto meet in a clash of wills. This is the third—and blessedly final—pass of their difficult square, which began last November. This square is causing people everywhere to feel as if they are caught between the proverbial rock (Saturn) and hard place (Pluto). This pairing IS the recession, in a nutshell. Here’s a scene to illustrate it.
Pluto and Saturn have caught a Human Being and put him in a vise. Saturn is pushing from one side and Pluto the other. The Human is in torment.
Human Being: When will this pressure let up?
Saturn: I won’t let up until you succeed in the way you’re supposed to. I have high standards for you.
Pluto: I won’t let up until you face your demons. There’s a ton of repressed, buried, hidden psychological garbage deep inside you that I demand you look at.
Human Being: I give up.
Saturn: You’re not even allowed to do that. Every day you have to get up out of bed, drag yourself to work and at least show your face. If you can do more, more will be demanded of you. You must become excellent under pressure.
Pluto: Meanwhile, your darkness beckons. How about a drink? Are you craving something sugary and fatty? How about some pot? Or perhaps you’re ready for something harder and more illegal. . .
Saturn: Don’t take that stuff. No matter how it feels.
Human Being: Why not?
Saturn: It relieves the stress for only a short time and then you feel worse.
Human Being: I’d do anything to feel better right now.
Pluto: I’ve got the stuff for you! How about sex? Mmm, yummy hormones?
Saturn: Believe me, you don’t want it. You’re barely holding it together.
Human Being: Hey wait a minute, guys. I saw an astrologer the other day. She told me that if I give you what you really want, you’ll let up on me.
Saturn (taken aback): That’s true.
Pluto: But you have to figure out what it is.
Human Being: I’ve been studying up on this. Saturn, you want me to take responsibility.
Saturn: Yes. Then I’ll stop the endless stream of self-judging messages I’ve put in your head.
Human Being: And Pluto, you want me to go through a metamorphosis, right? A kind of death-and-rebirth process?
Pluto: Yes. It has to involve an emotional purge. And until you do it, your demons will nip at your heels.
Human Being: This is a dilemma—how do I surrender to both processes at once? How do I let go of attachments and face my uncomfortable cravings for Pluto’s sake and also hold to my promises for Saturn’s sake?
A light bulb goes off over Human Being’s head. It glows brightly.
Human Being: Hey, I’ve got it! Saturn, I want you to build me a structure. Make it extremely strong, strong enough to withstand even the worst Pluto can deal out.
Saturn: Huh. Ok. How’s this?
He waves his hand and a giant cauldron appears. It’s made of iron and has thick walls.
Human Being: That’s perfect. Now, Pluto, put your strongest phoenix-solvent into the cauldron.
Pluto cackles with glee and waves his hand. A molten, fiery liquid pours itself into the cauldron from thin air. The Human Being gulps in fear. He takes off all his clothes and folds them carefully until he is standing, shivering and buck naked, before the cauldron.
Human Being: Ok, here goes!
He jumps into the cauldron.
Human Being: Oh God that hurts!
Pluto: You did this to yourself, you idiot!
Human Being (sweating buckets): Self-sabotage is the flip side of transformation. I’m changing into a finer form of myself.
Saturn: Honor your promises!
Human Being (weeping uncontrollably): I’m doing that, even though it takes everything I’ve got.
Pluto: Life isn’t fair—you deserve better than this!
Human Being (raging and flailing): That may be so, but it doesn’t mean I get to act out in my friendships, my family, my marriage or my career.
Saturn: When are you going to finally be recognized for how hard you work?
Human Being (laughing hysterically): I don’t know, but I do know that if I respect myself, then others will respect me too.
His body is being cooked down, burnt to a crisp. But something else is happening too—something miraculous. He is beginning to glow with a preternatural light. He is beginning to look angelic.
Human Being: Now I understand! Being the best me possible is worth the effort. Not just for what the things it will get me, but for the power of knowing who I really am. I finally feel like the real me for the first time in my whole life. Now I truly have peace.
By now, the weird fiery liquid has subsided. What remains is an ashy dust. He steps out of the cauldron, a shining being.
Human Being: Thank you. Both of you. That experience was exactly what I needed.
Saturn (to Pluto): Do you think we succeeded in scaring him?
Pluto: No, damn it. In fact, I think he’s one of us now. He’s a god.
Human Being (looking at the glow of his own hands): Woah.
Let your integrity force you to do what is right during these trying times. They are times of testing for us all. Allow the pain of it to burn away everything that isn’t truly you. You don’t have to destroy your whole life to make it through this process. Your essence will emerge unscathed.
Are you feeling the pressure? If you want to know more
about exactly how this challenging transit affects you personally,
you can find out in a reading with Jamie.
Contact her to find out more.
Other posts in this thread:
Saturn and Pluto Square Off: Discipline Meets Death
