Mars Squares Pluto
What is required for true transformation? How do we know when it's happened? Great questions for Sunday, when the co-rulers of intense, probing Scorpio collide in their annual square, an aspect that's hard to snooze through.
Warrior Mars is in the final four days of his biennial trek through pacifist Libra, the sign of his detriment, and a journey I imagine the fiery planet pulling a face and gritting his teeth through. Mars is decisive and rash; thrives on action, excitement and competition; and isn't exactly renowned for his patience. Libran energy is tactful, deferential, collaborative, and can fairly be called decision-challenged. That Mars placement is uncomfortable enough on its own let alone being squared by penetrating, unyielding Pluto. Pluto has tremendous energy, but sort of like a race car in the hands of a newly minted driver, it can be too much to handle.
People commonly associate Pluto with power, which is accurate. But what kind of power? To someone living through their wounds, who still thinks life and its bounty is a zero sum game and who believes the basic law of the land is "eat or be eaten," well, Pluto can be weaponized. People who feel weak and victimized often do everything they can to gain control and use it to oppress or subjugate others. But common as that is, it's low-vibe Pluto.
Pluto's great evolutionary gift is the power to transform: authentically, from the inside out, and sustainably. We all get stuck in ruts sometimes. Some folks can't seem to stop spinning their wheels and blast ahead toward their dream, even when that dream is as clear as day. It's not that the vision is lacking; it's that the shadow is stronger.
When we think "shadow," we think Pluto (first among several other indicators). As the modern ruler of Scorpio and eighth-house affairs, Pluto can be the darkest shadow. But awareness of shadow and desire to disarm it and integrate it into our whole, higher selves is a key step toward harnessing the potency of shadow to manifest our dream. When we realize we actually have the power to direct our lives and that the only thing stopping us is the gray matter between our ears, that's the moment we activate our personal Plutonian power.
Sunday's square can bring power dynamics to the fore. Control, action, sex, manipulation and creative energy are the invisible forces guiding the rest of the weekend. If you have planets or major points at 27º or 28º of cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn), you may experience this palpably. And for "lucky" Millennials born in late Aug '81, early Dec '82 and early Aug '83, this energy will be one loud, activating echo, possibly bringing some major shifts or "crises" that force you to look at life very differently. And if you happen to be going through your Neptune square at the same time, well, life must be very...stimulating now.
Sunday evening, Venus doffs her crown and lays down her scepter as she exits Leo for another year and humbly steps into Virgo, the sign of her fall. Traditionalists see this as a "debilitated" position, but I think a much more useful question—and Virgo likes nothing more than utility—is what can we learn and how can we grow during this transit? Statistically, one in 12 people have Venus in Virgo natally. Are they all, all 1/2 billion of them, "debilitated" when it comes to love, relationships, the arts and their values? How could that possibly be the case?
Granted, Venus here isn't as flamboyant, as playful or flirty as she is in Leo, nor as diplomatic and gracious as she'll be when she enters Libra in four weeks. But in Virgo, she can model sleek minimalism, modesty, artful analysis, and purity. Maybe that's not your preferred romantic or creative M.O., but play devil's advocate with yourself and see how you might actually enhance your own life by test-driving some of those qualities.
