Save the date: Pluto enters Aquarius on 19.11.2024 – and stays until 2043…
We are truly living through astonishing, turbulent, disruptive times. Those periods when one big cycle comes to an end, and a new one arises, have always been especially turbulent for our world. We are currently bearing witness to more than one of those events. On the winter solstice of 2020 (who chose that date?!) Jupiter met Saturn at 0 degrees of Aquarius, that potent defining cycle at last shifting fully into the Air element after spending from 1802 enacting its 20-year dance through the element of Earth.
Jupiter/Saturn conjunction
The Jupiter/Saturn cycle has always been considered of paramount importance in shaping the course of history: Baigent, Campion and Harvey in “Mundane Astrology” describe it as
‘… the ground base of human development which marks the interaction between perception of ideas, potentialities (Jupiter) and their manifestation in the concrete world. (Saturn)‘, (p. 184)
Additionally, Pluto’s dredging his way through earthy Capricorn since late January 2008 is about to conclude with his full entry into Aquarius on 19th November 2024. Pluto was last in Aquarius from 1778-1798. This was a period of significant change, including the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the discovery of Uranus. That planet, currently in the final degrees of Taurus, completes an 84 year cycle through the whole zodiac by entering Gemini again in 2025, remaining there until 2033. Uranus was last in Gemini in 1941 – 1949 during the middle, end and aftermath of the Second World War. Back then it was the Cold War (between Russia and America) which led to a new carve-up of territory worldwide.
So – the new Air Era has been taking shape since 2020 ( pandemic, anyone?A.I. anyone?!) and is already greatly changing the way we live worldwide for both good and ill: those two interwoven, inseparable archetypal forces govern the whole of existence. Jung once wisely observed that our task in this life is to reconcile those great opposites. At this point, we seem more intent as a collective on bitter, deadly division than on much by way of reconciliation…
The movement of those great cycles and their symbolic impact both collectively and individually has deeply fascinated me for a long time now: I’ve written extensively on cycles in recent years, including on Astrodienst. Just over a week ago I was emailed by one of Astrodienst’s translators, the charming Hiroko, who has translated an essay I wrote for Astrodienst last year into Japanese. I am most pleased by this, never having had my work appear in Japanese before ( to the best of my knowledge!…) Hiroko’s work has inspired me to re-publish the essay: it is even more relevant now, as we approach the most important USA Election for a very long time on 5th November, in the very last, dying days of the old Earth Era…
Pluto’s slow shift into Aquarius 3/2023-11/2024 … what’s been happening in YOUR world?
I hope you enjoy reading the above essay – there is a link within it to ‘Some notes on Cycles in a time of Crisis’ , also published (in 2019) on Astrodienst – hoping too that it helps somewhat in your gaining some much-needed perspective on the departing ‘Old Order’. I have certainly found that studying the great planetary cycles over long periods of time has helped me to see that the dynamic interplay between periods of order and periods of chaos has been with us since the beginning of human civilisation…
I did love looking through my essay rendered in beautifully elegant, artistic Japanese script by Hiroko; I thank her and Astrodienst for that. The link to the Japanese version is included HERE. Maybe one or two of you will be able to read it in that context!
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800 words© Anne Whitaker 2024
