Pluto Stationary Retrograde at 22 Capricorn – Taking A New Look At 2018 Pressures

by Robert Wilkinson

Pluto represents the Divine Power of ultimate regeneration, and is the Lord of the Underworld we all must pass through at least once in our life if we are to be a purified vessel and become authentic to our core. Right now it’s stationary retrograde at 22 Capricorn. What does this hold for us?

Pluto’s exact retrograde station occurred at 8:23 am PDT, 4:23 pm BST, on April 22. As is the case with all the outer planets when they turn stationary direct or retrograde, it marks a major “sea change” in those invisible Spiritual transpersonal energies. We are all about to have a different but familiar Plutonic experience where we are shown anew the span Pluto first traversed February through July 2017, and then again from December 2017 to now.

Since December, Pluto moved from 19 Capricorn to 22 Capricorn. It now is going back over that span between now and late September, when it goes stationary direct at 19 Capricorn. After that it will be in its “shadow zone” through February 2019, when it will again enter unknown zones that humanity has not experienced since 1773. It would seem that revolutionary times are upon us over the next 8 years!

The 5 degree “face” between 16-20 Capricorn is where personal power gets translated into group energy through activities. The “face” between 21-25 Capricorn is where that power gets applied on the emotional or social level.

Pluto is now in the second half of Capricorn for the long haul, and is finishing its stay in the Taurus decan of that sign, which has given both stability and stubbornness to the Pluto in Capricorn expression. Now that it’s in the third decan, there is more of a Virgo emphasis, favoring efficiency, adaptability, and discernment as to how and where things fit into a sequence of tasks or a larger picture. So enjoy the last blast of Taurus-flavored Capricorn seed power beginning mid-July, since by mid-December we’ll be in the Virgo part of Capricorn for many years.

The Sabian Symbol for Pluto’s Station

This degree represents a “threshold state,” showing us the limit of our future as we now review the past. Pluto is stationary retrograde at 22 Capricorn.

The symbol for the 22nd degree of Capricorn is "A general accepting defeat gracefully.” In the original Jones class notes, Rudhyar says this is a degree of “apparent defeat that spells real spiritual victory,” “Bowing to custom,” and “Conquest through conformity to established norm.”

In the Astrological Mandala, he states this degree involves "the realization that one may grow through defeat as well as, and perhaps more than, through success.” He offers that this degree is about our ability to turn “apparent external defeat into an inner spiritual achievement,” and says it falls in the span of Dependence, and it's the second degree of the emotional-cultural level of the scene of Group Performance in the Act of Capitalization.

With Pluto making this a hot spot, we must find the spiritual will and inner integrity that brings forth inner strength despite apparent failures, and turns apparent defeats into spiritual victories. So for the next few months, one of three things is happening; a) we’re looking back at past apparent defeats that became spiritual victories; b) we’re looking with new eyes at recent apparent defeats to see how to turn the experience into a “spiritual victory;” or c) we can see how to yield now and in the future to achieve a future spiritual victory.

According to Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, the degree is one of “the immediate opportunism by which the human will develops its real power, and of its underlying and uncompromising loyalty to the long-range ends in view.” This is about effective practicality expressing “grace of spirit,” and how we “exalt our destiny as (we) find its roots established in values” that we and others can accept.

He offers us the keyword of EXPEDIENCY. He states that when operating in a positive manner, this degree is "a genius for learning from experience and transforming setback into accomplishment.”

Other Factors

Pluto, the Cosmic Purifier, will be in Capricorn for many years. It continues to teach us deep lessons about practical, organized economy of energy and efficiency in sprouting seed forms of new "laws of our lives" we can relax into. Pluto has planted many seeds during the time it’s been in each segment of Capricorn, and these will sprout and take shape in the next few years as Saturn and then Jupiter pass over these Capricorn zones.

For example, the lessons Pluto brought us beginning in April 2012 related to finding and demonstrating ways to get beyond fear and becoming more gentle in our approach to others are now coming into form because Saturn has gone stationary retrograde on the related degree. This begins a process of crystallizing those themes and giving them a structure and gravitas in the world.

During 2018, we’ll have Pluto in late Capricorn, Saturn in early Capricorn, and Mars in a Saturn-ruled sign through November, so get used to major Capricorn energies pervading the atmosphere for many months to come. And even though Saturn won’t exactly conjunct Pluto this year, don’t underestimate the power these two planets in the same sign can have on ALL your planets! Wherever you have late Cap, you have seeds of power and authorship being planted. Wherever you have early Cap, you have disciplines to learn and training to accept.

I believe this will be a very dynamic Pluto retrograde period, given the aspects in play as this RX period begins. Jupiter is in very favorable sextile en route to a bielftile from late May through mid-August, after which they are again in sextile through early October as Pluto goes SD at 19 Capricorn.

Also, we now enter the time when Neptune is again nearing a sextile to Pluto, ending the 26 year period when the Grand Irrationality pervaded the atmosphere. Still, the seeds of our global “fork in the road of destiny” has been set and re-set many times in the past quarter century, and we’ll be dealing with the results of these seeds for a long time to come.

From now until Pluto goes SD, Uranus moves from its current trielftile to Pluto into an extremely “fateful” biseptile beginning early June and lasting through late October. As this will involve emergent transpersonal global energies, if you have a sensitive planet or point near 19-23 Capricorn, 10-14 Pisces, 1-5 Taurus, 23-27 Gemini, 15-19 Leo, 6-10 Libra, or 28 Scorpio-2 Sagittarius, prepare for your life to come to an intersection of Fate Street and Freewill Street on Eternity Boulevard!

Mars activated past Pluto lessons and energized current Saturn lessons in late March and early April. Mars now approaches the conjunction with Pluto at 22 Capricorn on April 26, energizing those themes in ways that should be evident pdq. As Mars will move forward into Aquarius and then retrograde back into Capricorn, it can be assumed that while Mars is in late Capricorn from now through mid-May and again mid-August through mid-September, this will set up future seeds when Pluto moves through the last 8 degrees of Capricorn, as well as obligations to be met and adventures to be embraced when both Jupiter and Saturn are in this span in 2020.

Because of what’s been going on the past 2 years, it seems that the time when Pluto goes stationary retrograde and begins its review each year, humanity stands at critical forks in the road of its collective destiny. It’s clear that the coming Pluto RX period will show us how to conform to achieve some sort of victory, or “surrender with dignity” so we can stop a conflict, or a waste of time or energy. With Jupiter in Scorpio favorable to Pluto this year, it’s a great time to eliminate all unnecessary obligations and duties, and embrace the magnetism of self-transformation.

From here, we review the seeds we’ve already sensed related to adjusting to a greater cooperation and group consciousness (21 Cap), practicing our part in “the choir” as we find hope in the midst of difficulty (20 Cap) and accelerating our growth by rising to some occasion requiring skill and initiative on our part (19 Cap). These will be front and center via the RX through September, and again in direct motion from September through February 2019 before Pluto again moves into unknown zones.

The coming Pluto RX period can help us find a new effectiveness in group performance situations, with feeling the flow essential to making good use of the Jupiter trine Neptune favorable to Pluto. As we take a new look at how to cooperate and who we’re supposed to be working with, we will find this period is a curious sort of “dress rehearsal” under diverse conditions, including both Mars and Mercury retrograde at the same time in July and August, which should bring major reviews and revisions in several areas of our lives!

You’ve cut loose from old inhibitions; you’ve found the protection of your Divine Power; you’ve already begun to accelerate your growth, and now it’s time to be more precise in how you use energy in your emotional and social realms. Keep going deeper, keep overcoming fear, and trust that you’ll be focused and clear in your applied use of power by September.

While Pluto does occasionally take us into the underworld of existence, it’s there where we look at our core, and purify all that is not Eternal. Pluto may accompany us through terrifying experiences, but it also is Lord of the Underworld, and so it is through Pluto that we become masters of fear, and it ceases to trouble us ever again. Welcome the depth experiences Pluto brings, since it is the Way to demonstrating your Spiritual Will that overcomes all lesser things.

Copyright © 2018 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Sherry]

Ty for these clarifications and the encouragement to move through them!

[Nic]

Great overview and precision in what is going on and how to make the most of it.
Thanks Robert.

Blessings be to all.

[Lee]

This is valuable information for me as I strive to understand Pluto's significance as it just barely brushed my friend's Ascendant prior to retrograding into his 12th house. He seems to be going through a very deep depression and it is heartening to read that "Pluto may accompany us through terrifying experiences, but it also is Lord of the Underworld, and so it is through Pluto that we become masters of fear, and it ceases to trouble us ever again." This has been my hope and prayer for my friend for many years now...

[chickie]

Thank u Mr. W!!!

[Bonnie Orgren]

Thank you Robert, excellent-" this degree involves "the realization that one may grow through defeat as well as, and perhaps more than, through success.” He offers that this degree is about our ability to turn “apparent external defeat into an inner spiritual achievement,”...With Pluto making this a hot spot, we must find the spiritual will and inner integrity that brings forth inner strength despite apparent failures, and turns apparent defeats into spiritual victories. So for the next few months, one of three things is happening; a) we’re looking back at past apparent defeats that became spiritual victories; b) we’re looking with new eyes at recent apparent defeats to see how to turn the experience into a “spiritual victory;” or c) we can see how to yield now and in the future to achieve a future spiritual victory. OR there is determination/will to view everything as grace and spiritual harvest.