Saturn conjunct Pluto; the only way out is through

The Saturn Pluto conjunction in Capricorn is exact on January 12th but it stays in orb, so close enough to be effective, for a couple of weeks either side of that date. Like all astrological transits, it's likely to be felt most deeply by those whose natal charts are directly impacted, so, in this case, those with planets around 22° of the cardinal signs (Capricorn, Aries, Cancer and Libra). However, we can all tune in to universal energies as well as seeing them play out around us as collective shifts and growth. Capricorn is Saturn's home sign so this is a "pure" form of Saturn's energy, it's where Saturn has the most authority. It tends to be more concerned with outward appearances and status than inner experience here, which may mean that emotions, empathy and anything chaotic or out of control is buried under Saturn's need for order and sensitivity to public opinion. Saturn is concerned with responsibility and authority and the key lessons of this transit are all about taking responsibility for our actions and connecting with our inner authority.

Pluto is more concerned with inner experiences and whatever Pluto touches goes deep. If Saturn brings a focus on personal goals and ambitions and a need to gain control over the environment, Pluto adds compulsion and an unconscious drive to achieve our goals, no matter the cost. We may overcompensate, project. Saturn's action is always to slow down so the Plutonian process of transformation slows down under this conjunction and rebirth takes time. We can deepen and focus our awareness, perhaps becoming more detached or objective. This connection can also feel fated as if it will happen no matter what action we take. As with all astrology, knowing what is coming helps us to approach is consciously and with awareness so that we are not taken by surprise. Pluto rules the process of elimination so that under a Pluto transit whatever needs to be eliminated begins to surface, coming into consciousness so that it can be acknowledged and released. This can be a painful process and it's been manifesting collectively for a while as greater awareness around social injustice, the deep roots of misogyny, racism and other prejudices which seem to be the foundation of western society. Outdated power structures and authority issues are being called to transform and in many cases are resisting with all their accumulated strength and insistence that "it's just the way it is".

The long term effects of this deep shift will take a while to become clear and for now, it may feel like a process of disintegration, leaving us feeling disoriented and insecure. Resistance to change becomes more compelling as the fears and insecurities which form the basis of that resistance are brought to the surface. We may try to push them deeper down but sooner or later they will re-surface, more painfully each time. Pluto brings the power to release what is genuinely enduring from what is transitory, allowing us to transform it into a new source of creative power. To do so, we need to overcome our resistance and to do that, we need to face our fears. We can see how a certain President who fears (Saturn) going to prison (Saturn) is channelling his power (Pluto) elsewhere to avoid the consequences of his actions (Pluto). Both Saturn and Pluto have connections with death and the underworld, with karma and the consequences of our actions. This is why it can feel like a fated connection, something that we secretly knew we'd have to face sooner or later.

This powerful and heavy, even leaden, conjunction challenges our boundaries, our limitations and inhibitions, forcing what has been buried or suppressed out into consciousness. There may be a sense of being stuck between a rock and a hard place and it's very much an "only way out is through" deal, there are no short cuts here. In my personal practice, Saturn usually manifests as the crone goddess, Old Bone Mother who strips me back to bare bones and plonks me in Her cauldron. When I meditated on this conjunction, that's exactly what happened. I emerged into a structure of bones, not solid walls, but something which allowed energy in and out instead of restricting it. Saturn is the structure which holds us as we break apart and are reborn. We need that structure, but we also need flexibility and space to grow. I climbed a ladder of bones up out of Her deep cave. Capricorn energy usually finds us climbing a mountain, slowly and steadily, but Pluto in Capricorn takes us deep inside the mountain. We are climbing the Capricorn mountain but from within so that we can't see where we are going and can only trust that we will reach our goal. One step at a time, drawing on our deepest reserves of inner power to keep moving. In my meditation, I emerged at the peak, into a sense of space and rebirth. Even as those in power cling to it for dear life, trying to drag us all down with them, we can all undertake this personal journey of rebirth. The more of us that are willing to face our fears and allow them to transform us, the closer we get to collective transformation. Saturn and Pluto are breaking it all down - we need to begin, or continue at a deeper level, the work of building something new and empowering, something we have chosen consciously.