The Question: Hi Aura
Thanks for the really interesting blog!
Pluto transits often cause blight to the old ways but if one can work with them, they can accelerate one’s evolution, I think. A few months ago Pluto moved into my 2nd house, currently conjuct natal mercury and, while there’s not much good news from other transits, Pluto is trining my 6th house moon and Rx Jupiter will trine my natal Pluto in June. What would be most useful to hear is when these scary Pluto transits occur, do you look to the “easy” aspects to concentrate your attention and come out the other side winning, or perhaps to the ruler of the house being transited? Or am I on the wrong track here?
My natal details: 02 Jan 1947,02.10am, Durban, South Africa (29S55′E 0.30E56′)

The Answer: Well, yes you are right that Pluto transits can be intense. But please remember the #1 thing to look at when interpreting any planet is what angles (aspects) it is making. Squares are hard, trines are blessings and conjunctions can go either way - but usually the balance is positive.

PLUTO gets a worse rap than he deserves. Because nearly all Astrology (including Vedic, Uranian and anything else you can think of) overlooks the Declinations (planetary elevation) and the Helio Centric (Sun) Charts you are only really looking at maybe 25% of the picture that is going on with standard Astrology. Usually when someone is having a hard time in their life, and blaming it on some wide angle to Pluto it is not Pluto at all, but maybe a tough square, opposition, parallel or contra-parallel from Saturn or other planet (maybe even Pluto) on one of these unseen levels. All I’m trying to point out here is that you can’t judge a situation when you don’t look at the whole picture.

Houses are only the general coloring that the experience will take - like the Cherry on top of the Sunday, it’s not to be mistaken for the Sunday itself! Most important when looking at houses are the angles (Ascendant, Descendant, MidHeaven and Nadir) - anything on the angles will be prominent, intense and completely life transforming. The Angles are the personal equivalent of the seasonal changes - the Equinoxes and the Solstices.

Transiting of a Retrograde Planet: In your case Jupiter to Pluto - You are right, Jupiter is Rx then, but this actually means you get the transit 3 times - once already happened when Jupiter was in range of your Pluto the first time, the second one happens on the Retrograde and the third one happens when Jupiter is direct again and before it catches up to itself in October. Jupiter-Pluto Transits are some of the absolute best ones you can possibly have, especially trines and conjunctions (as well as aspects in the Elevations and Sun Chart). If you need to compete for something and hope to win the prize, then this is the BEST aspect to look for. Also remember no aspect operates in a vaccuum - they combine with each other to create an overall picture. Sometimes even challenging aspects are part of a very useful overall picture. The worst things of all to watch out for are: the T-square, especially if Saturn is involved, and debilitated planets (in detriment or fall) as well as (some) Retrograde trouble. But Retrograde Jupiter is NOT a problem - not at all! Just a very specific picture with specific Karma attached to it.

I specialize in Electional Astrology - planning for best success, and would specifically look for ways to harness this energy for your success. You can look back at what was happening the first time this transit took place to get a better idea of what the next two will mean. But ultimately there are two ways to approach Astrology transits (and life in general).

One way is: Life happens (or shit happens) approach and is passive - “hey what can I do, life just ‘happened to me’”. This is a rudderless way to live life and leans heavily on the idea of Destiny. With this approach, we would look at a transit as happening to the person. I think it is something of a cop out, because I believe we are all responsible for the quality of the life we have - it is the result of our choices and decisions - and what we make of what we’ve got.

The other way is: Taking responsibilty for what you want and using what’s available to get you there. This is Electional Astrology - using the transits to help you get where you want to go. I don’t discount the idea of karma and destined meetings or even obstacles. These are part of the lifepath with it’s unique gifts, challenges and opportunities for growth. In this approach we would look at a transit as a window of energy that represents a time to take advantage of or a lesson to be absorbed and learned. This is empowering and supposes that we all have Free Will and potential mastery over our own destiny.

For me, Astrology is ONLY useful when we suppose Free Will. In my weekly Horoscope I take the other elements - Planetary Elevation and Sun Charts into consideration (as I do in every session I do) and, as far as I know I am the only person out there who does this. However, due to the nature of a Horoscope and how it works, I can only write from the perspective of what is happening to each sign, it’s not possible to write it any differently. I am currently writing a book that will give a more full perspective on how to USE Astrology practically and usefully. As a subscriber you will get the first notification when this and other learning tools are available.

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