PLUTO STATIONS DIRECT IN CAPRICORN
On Friday October 11th 2024 at 5:32 pm Pacific Time, Pluto will station direct at 29 degrees of Capricorn…for the last time in about 250 years!
Pluto is the slowest-moving of the major planets studied in astrology, taking 248 years to travel all the way around the Sun. A so-called “generational planet,” it can spend up to 20 years in a zodiac sign. From an astrological perspective, a Pluto ingress is one of the most significant events imaginable - and I feel blessed to be a practicing astrologer at this momentous time.
Pluto has been retrograde since May 2nd of this year, when it had just dipped its toes into the first couple degrees of Aquarius. With the outer planets, an ingress into a new sign is never straightforward. These distant bodies are retrograde for several months each year, so they tend to sneak into the next zodiac sign only to double back again, often multiple times before they solidly enter the new territory. Pluto first dipped into Aquarius a year and a half ago, and then again in January of this year, but each time it retrograded back into the late degrees of Capricorn. This time, though, Pluto is stationing direct less than half a degree away from the Capricorn-Aquarius cusp. When it crosses that threshold on November 19th, it will remain in Aquarius for the next two decades, and its next retrograde in May 2025 will cover only the early degrees of that sign.
Stations don’t only signify the beginning or end of a retrograde. They also signal moments when a planet is at its slowest, and therefore at its most powerful! From our earthly perspective, Pluto is slowing down its retrograde motion to a crawl, seemingly coming to a halt in the sky, and then slowly resuming its usual forward movement. This means that Pluto is spending an unusual amount of time hovering over this point of the zodiac. Like a house guest who stays for a whole month rather than just a night or two, this extended period will impact us more heavily as Pluto digs its heels into 29 Capricorn. It’s spending plenty of time influencing that degree and the other planets it’s aspecting (in the sky and in your personal birth chart). Let’s add in the fact that Pluto has retrograded over this degree several times in the last couple years. If you have any natal placements in late Capricorn or in aspect to this degree, you’ve surely been feeling a lot of Pluto’s influence!
This station is particularly special, not only because it’s the last Pluto station in Capricorn in our lifetimes, but because it’s happening at what is known as the anaretic (or last) degree of the sign, which is a very powerful point. As a planet journeys through a zodiac sign, it absorbs and builds up energy, so it’s highly charged by the time it approaches the next cusp. It’s learned all the lessons of that sign, but also encountered its shadows, and is ready to move into the next sign as it follows the natural evolution of the zodiac. Therefore, astrological events like lunations or planetary stations are especially important when they happen in an anaretic degree.
There’s no question that this is a crucial astrological moment, and this import is reflected in the chaotic events of our world. Hurricanes are ravaging the eastern United States, fueled by climate change created by corporate greed and irresponsible extraction of the earth’s resources. Genocides are still being enacted in Palestine, Sudan and the Congo. The destruction of COVID-19 is ongoing and continues to unfold each day. Political battles rage over basic human rights, and people around the world are struggling to make ends meet, ravaged by late-stage capitalism. Pluto’s time in Capricorn has destabilized the structures of our world, exposing their rotten cores and evil motivations. This has coincided with the Pluto return of the United States - and, perhaps unsurprisingly, Pluto’s 248-year orbit aligns quite closely with the average historical lifespan of an empire.
I believe that we need to dismantle all empires in the world, and the capitalist, patriarchal, white supremacist structures that underpin them. Pluto is now moving toward Aquarius, the sign of rebellion and revolution, of technology and innovation, of progress and humanitarianism. It’s up to us to seize this moment and actively co-create the future we want to see, a world that we can truly survive and thrive in, that isn’t ridiculously structured to only benefit a tiny handful of the beings on this earth. Pluto is a harsh teacher, and when we don’t get its lessons, it will force us to learn them - at any cost.
On a personal level, Pluto’s station will impact a certain area of your life, represented by the house of your birth chart containing 29 degrees of Capricorn. Whatever aspects it’s making to your natal planets will be highly influential - and hopefully you’ve learned a lot from these repeated transits over the last several years. A Pluto station always indicates a deep time of transformation, rebirth, revelation, and the potential transmutation of pain into power. This one definitively marks the end of a chapter in your life and in the collective as we plow toward an uncertain future. What meaning will we choose to make of it?
