Saturn, Pluto, Control, Law and Power

The major astrological theme of the planetary cluster of Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto are in full force.  Saturn can act as a generational clock when it comes to the shaping of our laws and of our structure of societies and civilizations.  Pluto helps us see the underworld shadow components of anything it “touches” and Jupiter is an agent of expansion and amplification to what it connects with, especially in conjunction and the sign it is located within.  While this takes place very rarely in history, this combination of planets can make for an intense experience.  However, we can gain some clues as to the issues at hand by looking back in time.  In this article, I will share some of the powerful connections to this time in history.

 

Let’s begin with the current time with Saturn in the first degree of the sign of Aquarius and Jupiter and Pluto 5 and 7 degrees away in Capricorn, respectively.  We saw the build up beginning in January soon after Saturn left its exact conjunction with Pluto, then Mars moved into Capricorn in mid-February through the end of March and the pandemic was officially recognized and the world began to truly shutdown.  The structure of most human systems were put to near-extreme tests and limits, including constitutional laws, power, economics, security/policing, health systems and various industries.

Jupiter amplified the breaking down of society as the brakes were applied.  In the United States, which ended up becoming the new epicenter of the pandemic saw a wild mix of reactions from various groups, but all brought up elements of the power of the states and federal levels of laws and policies.  We have all witnessed both what was working well and what was breaking down or at least cracking under intense strain.  But the shadow of our society was being revealed more and more as Pluto deepened its shamanic conjunction (within 10 degrees of another planet/Moon/Sun).  Then at the end of March, Saturn ingressed (moved) into the sign of Aquarius (continues until July 1^st and then resumes again December 16^th ).

In this current alignment, as has been much of 2020, issues of control, power and fear/panic are also highlighted.  With Pluto, it is about the surrender of that control to the shadow within us all.  With Pluto, the shadow can’t be reasoned with, physically moved or ignored or simply “wished away”.  It is here to be faced in all the amplified fears that rise up.  With Saturn, it is growth through limits and boundaries while shedding our skins.  I like to share that it is time to “take out the trash” after a thorough cleaning.  It is the act of dealing with that trash and integrating it (or recycling it) in a holistic manner.  When we do, clarity of purpose can emerge and eventually a greater empowerment in the long-run. 

After Saturn ingressed into the sign of Aquarius on March 21st, we were in the midst of the beginning of the peak of the lockdown resulting from the pandemic.  When Pluto stationed retrograde in late April and Saturn (along with Jupiter) went into retrograde motion in mid-May, the peak of the lockdown was nearing the ending phase in the US and several European nations.  It was a slowing down of the panic and fear that had set in (but certainly not gone).  Something was brewing, however, something that hadn’t been resolved.

Since we are talking about very long, civilization-defining patterns of planetary cycles and specifically the Saturn-Pluto-Jupiter conjunction theme in 2020, I would refer those who haven’t watched two videos I’ve done around this to watch them here:

2020 Planetary Alignment – No Easy Way Through

The Capricorn Stellium – Mars in Capricorn and Aquarius

A Note about Saturn in Aquarius

Saturn in Aquarius’ general meaning is about responsible use of innovation, revolutionary thought/ideas, individual freedom of expression and seeing the cosmic or larger picture.  This is period where breakthroughs of the limits of technology and human thought can occur (although more so with Uranus than Saturn).  In traditional astrology, Saturn used to “rule” Aquarius, but Uranus is more resonate with Aquarius than is Saturn.

Saturn was in Aquarius from 1962-64 and from 1991-94 which those times witnessed the rise of MLK, the injustice around the Rodney King and the LAPD, the Civil Rights Act and the beginning of the regular usage of the internet.  In 1932, Saturn was also in Aquarius in late July of 1932 when Herbert Hoover ordered active-duty troops to clear protestors from Washington DC (Three compete Saturn orbits of the Sun ago).

 

Aquarius feeds off the cobwebs of ineffective and inhumane structures and laws, desiring universal love and fairness through ideas that are on the leading edge of conscious evolution.  Aquarius is not restricted by what is considered to be “normal” or “conventional” in thinking and developing.  With Saturn in Aquarius, the pressures and stresses can create novelty and breakthrough systems and structures, utilizing techniques and technologies that open doors for civilization as whole.  We can think of this as a new kind of electric diamond squeezed into existence from the darker matter within the Earth.

Humanitarianism is also an expression of Aquarius in various forms, but the “eagle-eye” of Aquarius can have the expression and vision of no caste, class or race where all is equal in the sense that we are all human and be treated as fellow human beings.  One other version is an expression of Aquarius having a specific vision of what “being human” is, which can go beyond the organic and into the artificial, with its shadow showing up as a denial of any shadow and blindness to their own heart and soul (extreme detachment from anything beyond the mind and even ignoring of the physical body). 

Christopher Columbus Connection

These cycles of Saturn, Pluto and Jupiter can show up in various signs and other planetary connections and what is brewing today has part of its roots established over 500 years ago with a man who would given the power to rule over indigenous populations that he “discovered” and granted by the Spanish Crown.

For the first time since about 1000 AD (when the Nordic people attempted to colonize North America), Europeans made contact with the indigenous people of the Americas October 12, 1492, led by Christopher Columbus.  This momentous event set off a chain reaction that has continued to this day.  On that day, Saturn was at 13 degrees of Aquarius and was squaring Pluto at 4 degrees of Scorpio.  Jupiter was also present in opposition (in Leo) to Saturn and squaring Pluto in Scorpio.

There exists a possible alternative timeline where Columbus may not have set off the chain of events to conquer the Americas by Europeans.  In January of 1492, King Ferdinand II of Spain intervened after Queen Isabella I of Spain turned down Columbus and his plan (after Columbus spent years lobbying the court to go west) and helped convince Queen Isabella I to fund the momentous voyage that was fueled by seeking a new source of gold.  At that time, Mars, Venus and the Sun were in conjunction with Saturn in Aquarius and Pluto squared all of those bodies from its location in Scorpio.

Secure in resources and men, Columbus voyaged to the Caribbean Sea from Spain and landed in what are known as the Bahamas today and more specifically San Salvador island.  In much of Europe, there was a belief that white Europeans were superior to all other shades of being human.  Columbus took that belief with him and some reports show he took as many as 5000 slaves (according to historian and author James W Loewen, Lies my Teacher Told Me) back to Spain from the Caribbean and most of the population in those islands between South and North America died from torture, slavery and disease. 

The emptying of those islands pushed the white Europeans to capture thousands of Africans and ship them to the Caribbean to work in mining and farming with little recourse.  The slave trade in the Americas had begun, seeded by Christopher Columbus.  Spain had essentially granted him full power over a people he had never encountered and fully took advantage and abused that power, deciding his own laws. 

Columbus abuse of power was eventually too much for even Spain to handle and lost his power and Governorship after 3 of his 4 voyages to the New World. Pluto’s influence was seen the dark, beyond-your-control events where the violent, primal shadow came out through those laws and pandemic that plagued Caribbean people.  Jupiter’s position expanded that, turning it into a superstorm.

Other Saturn in Aquarius Events (with Pluto and Jupiter)

While not every Saturn transit through Aquarius setoff intense ripples through humanity, in the 20^th century, we have seen the connections as outlined above with Herbert Hoover calling in active-duty troops to clear the “Bonus Army” from Washington DC protesting the treatment of WW1 veterans and their bonus pay that was due (during a re-election year in the deepest part of the Great Depression).  Hoover lost his re-election to Franklin Roosevelt, due in-part to the clearing of the veterans about 3 months before the voting was to take place.

Hoover activated the troops without using the Insurrection Act from 1807 to activate the army domestically (something Donald Trump did in early June without utilizing the Insurrection Act – though the active-duty never interacted with the protests . . . at least not as of the time of writing this article).  Nearly 60 years later with Saturn in Aquarius for the second time since the Hoover action, George HW Bush invoked the Insurrection Act in April of 1992 to bring back order to Los Angeles in the midst of the weekend riots caused by the acquittal of LAPD officers in the beating of Rodney King. 

Personal Comment: I was living in Los Angeles at the time of this cascading event and I recall a sky full of smoke and the power of video (of the Rodney King abuse, the trial and the riots). It had an enormous impact on me in the empathy for both those who died and the anger a broken system can trigger.  I certainly didn’t agree with the violence and looting and wondered if someone like MLK was present that the results of the anger could have been channelled in another way.   https://www.npr.org/2017/04/26/524744989/when-la-erupted-in-anger-a-look-back-at-the-rodney-king-riots

ASTROLOGICAL NOTE: In the years of 1991-94, Neptune and Uranus were in conjunction in the sign of Capricorn, playing a big role in changing the scope and outcome of aftermath of the Rodney King / Police aquittal, then conviction / LA riots events.   These planets only come together every 171-172 years and won’t begin to come together again until 2164.

It is interesting to note here that a little more than year prior to the LA riots on March 3, 1991, Saturn was at 2 degrees and 45 minutes of Aquarius and on May 25, 2020 on the evening of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police, Saturn was at 1 degree and 46 minutes of Aquarius.  That is only a one-degree difference.  Something truly potent was being carried through a evolving seed from 1991-92 (or from 1962-64 when Saturn was in Aquarius then and the Civil Rights Act was passed – thank you, MLK Jr) to 2020 and beyond and we are now reaping what has been sowed. 

It is notable that since 1991, there have been an increased awareness of law enforcement abuse due the increase of cameras on phones and the internet.  Most especially in the 2010s with incidents and deaths of other African-Americans, that helped spur an outpouring of empathy, dispair, anger and now reaching a boiling point.  Only this time with George Floyd’s death, it reached a critical mass on the Saturn Return (in Aquarius) of the Rodney King abuse and riots/protests that followed.

Injustice, power and control and reaction to chaos are major factors when looking at the Saturn and Pluto relationship.  In these events, powerlessness can reach a minimum within the population or groups or people and something breaks or cracks open.  Jupiter’s position in dynamic (or hard aspect) to Saturn and Pluto is an energetic booster and volume increaser to the point of pressure and surrender.  At any time, a critical mass can be reached and powerful change can take place when a population speaks their truth.

Reaction Point

There are many ways societies can be strongly motivated to act.  A big one is intense pressure, especially after centuries of injustice and abuses of power.  In history, we see time and again see certain groups of people marginalized, disenfranchised and simply ignored (these certain groups change over long periods of time, nation and culture and other contexts).  Racism still runs deep in the world and here in the United States there was, for many years, a mainstream belief that racism wasn’t as bad as some were saying. 

But it was always there and still is very much alive, especially with the rise of Donald Trump stirring the shadows and hidden alcoves that were not given much attention.  White Supremist/Nationalist groups began to speak out more and more since 2016, showing that this highly toxic element was still present and conjured echoes of the horrible Third Reich of the 1930s and 1940s.  However, today and throughout these recent years, more and more are speaking out against or countering those toxic elements.  While it will takes more years, humanity is waking up and a movement toward greater cooperation (through numerous growing pains) and awareness of the systemic toxicity and inequality in law enforcement, economics and politics among others.  

None can really be certain as to how all of this will play out, but we are experiencing a time when many metro police forces in the US are being called into question and a movement to completely overhaul how policing is conducted.  In the midst of a pandemic, an event that has been characterized by the joining of Saturn and Pluto, then Jupiter, Mars played intense role in February and March as the pandemic was officially announced by WHO and many nations went into lockdown.  Powerlessness showed strongly with a new viral pandemic, but when a minimum point of that powerlessness and injustice is reached, a counterpoint opportunity can move communities to action and ideas. 

A counter-reaction (of resistance to resistance) of trying to place even more control (through riot police and National Guard) over what may be considered chaos can create even more chaos and injustice while, at the same time, creating a sense of “order”.  Ideologies come to a head, but at some point, for our own survival, an underlying cooperation emerges and a charge overcomes the self-imposed limits or quarantines for something over five centuries in the making.

Saturn and Pluto (with Jupiter’s assistance) help humanity become aware of acute pains, vulnerabilities and apathy within the laws and powers of communities and nations.  Mountains can indeed be moved during these planetary alignments if we give ourselves the chance to do it.  An old Cherokee saying, “We can only be what we give ourselves the power to be” holds true during this time and all times.  Powerlessness and injustice can seed human justice and personal empowerment, but we have to choose it for it to appear.  We do have free will. 

The wisdom, guidance and love from the planets and stars and from all of us is there for all to hear, see and experience.  We can meditate with them, bear witness through observation, feel into the cosmic patterns, go beyond the intellect (but not exclude it) to know ourselves.  The love, guidance and wisdom are within us as much as it is without.  Years in the making, we are at a critical point to fully realize that simple reality.