Growth is painful.
Change is painful.
But nothing is as painful
As staying stuck somewhere
You don’t belong.
N.R Narayana Murthy
It is a year of new beginnings. It is also a year of endings, because the truth is that the structures that are in place are either blocking or cannot accommodate what wants to be birthed. Something needs to pass away for the new to emerge. So this new beginning may initially look like a series of endings.
Between the Trapeze Bars
Structures, habits and aspects of the status quo need to come undone if they are weak, not in integrity with their original intention, and/or out of alignment with the natural laws. There is a strong directive for restructuring and renovating our western way of life.
In essence, 2020 may feel like we are ‘between the trapeze bars’. We are letting go of what we know to reach instinctively for a truth, a way of living that is yet beyond our experience.
When a trapeze artist lets go of the rung they are holding, for a moment they are midair flying towards the next bar. They have not yet grabbed hold of it. They are flying, perhaps with no net underneath, eyes on the bar, arms outstretched and reaching - for a moment that feels eternal, there is nothing to hold onto except for the belief they will make it.
Signature Dynamic of 2020:
Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn Conjoined and
Traveling Side by Side in Capricorn
Dynamic change is indicated. It is a rare and powerful alignment. Momentum has been building towards this year’s dynamic since Pluto moved into Capricorn in 2008, and really picked up momentum in the last two years as Saturn arrived in Capricorn and has been approaching an exact conjunction with Pluto, which will occur on January 12 at 22 degrees, 46 minutes.
We will face being accountable for issues of sustainability at home and for the planet. We will either adjust our ways or shore up our current approach to life. The key is knowing what is called for to be in integrity and alignment with the wave of change that is breaking shore.
We have the opportunity, or even an imperative, to release ways that no longer serve us.
Resourcefulness, tenacity, frugality and the willingness to accept responsibility will help us harness the potential of this conjunction to pave the way for a new paradigm and a way of living in alignment with our soul’s longing.
There has been a mounting public outcry around the globe for transformative change since Pluto entered Capricorn and introduced the necessity for overhauling the patriarchy and pave the way for a system that serves the people and not just those who hold power.
While we desire change, uncertainty and anxiety can overtake us in the midst of the change. The outcome is not clear and the path through seems clouded. There are several ways we can respond to this: 1) We will let fear grip us leading us to identify with the angst of the collective; 2) If we are attached to the status quo, we will seek to control and repress the movement of change; 3). We will become excited, in a manic way, leading to impulsive, rash behavior and disconnection from self; or 4) We can say to ourselves, "What if nothing is wrong" and from this move with the faith that what is happening is exactly what is supposed to happen. In this, we will find our bearings and take right action.
We can recognize that our Past Experience has Little Relevance
in Discovering a New Way of Living
And Ask Ourselves:
What anchors me?
What gives provides my feeling of security and faith in tomorrow?
What habits support who I am becoming and bringing to the world?
The Players:
Pluto – What Lies Beneath the Surface – Energy of Transformation
Saturn – the Structure /Shape of Manifest Reality – Responsibility for it.
Jupiter – Expansion and Growth – The Energy of Possibility
These three planets have a wide orbit and thus move slowly around the sun. It takes Jupiter 12 years to complete a full orbit, Saturn 28 years and Pluto 246 years. These planets do not encounter each other very often and when they do, powerful things happen in correlation to them coming together. Pluto and Saturn meet each other roughly every 34 years. The last time these three giants rendezvoused in the sign of Capricorn was 500 years ago. The particular lineup of planets at the coming Lunar Eclipse in Capricorn on January 10 has not happened since 1285. While we may not know how events will take place, we can recognize that the cosmos is broadcasting loudly and clearly, it is time for significant shifts in the way humans live with each other and on the planet they call home.
Capricorn Qualities
Creating and Managing Structures, Boundaries and Forms
Value for Organization and Strategic Planning
Frugality and Simplicity
Discipline, Tenacity, Foregoing Short-Term Gratification
Focused, One-Pointed, Goal Oriented Effort
Pragmatic and Commitment to Realism
Commitment and Responsibility
For the collective: Institutions, Governments, Authority, Financial System
We are called to develop and utilize Capricorn traits in 2020. If we know someone who is a Capricorn, we probably recognize they are a serious sort, hardworking and responsible. They may not be the funnest person we know but we can count on their reliability. If someone is expressing the shadow side of Capricorn, they are driven by ambition, with ambition justifying unethical behavior and lack of consideration of others for the sake of their own achievement. This Capricornian sort is a workaholic, overly responsible, overly controlling. They revel in austerity and sacrifice relationship to meet or exceed expectations with some goal they have set their sights on. In this, we can be mindful to utilize the best of Capricorn in our approach to what we want to accomplish.
Putting the Players Together:
The Convergence of Pluto, Saturn and Jupiter in Capricorn
The year heralds transformation (Pluto)
of the structures that define our reality through accountability for past actions (Saturn)
and a vision for how to restructure (Jupiter)
so human society is reconstituted in harmony with natural and cosmic laws
On the world stage, substantive change will happen in one or many of these areas:
Leaders being held accountable for abuse of power
Leaders emerging that herald a new model of leadership
The crumbling of institutions, governments or laws that are outdated
Flux or collapse of financial systems
Issues around ‘boundaries’ between countries flaring up (ie, immigration laws, border police, trade agreements, petition for a region to become an independent nation)
Acceleration of public demonstrations
Those in power invested in the status quo exerting increasing control
Issues around allocation, quantity and use of resources to support the human population being more prominent with pressure for appropriate solutions
Increased backing of sustainable solutions for the environment increasing (food production, soil erosion, air and water, climate change
The topics listed note arenas that are vulnerable to the call for change. We instinctively, even intellectually ,understand that much of what creates the status quo and the western way of life is not sustainable or humane. While there cannot be an astrological prediction about which of these areas will undergo a seismic shift or how this will show up, we can expect a jolt to the status quo, a jolt to the patriarchal and capitalistic way of leadership. World events in January will likely provide substantive evidence of what issues will undergo a transformative process as the year unfolds. Patriarchy has left a wake of harm in its wake and we are living in the times where it will be held to account. This is what Pluto, Saturn and Jupiter in Capricorn are reflecting to us.
For Our Individual Lives...
If you change the way you look at things,
the things you look at change
Wayne Dyer
We will all be impacted. Some of us will experience the transformative effects directly. Some will simply witness big changes happening around them. The fear level within society, with accompanying anger in response to a lost control, will increase. For those of us who have not anchored our life in the temporal, in the material realities of western life, this may be the time we have prepared for, to come forth as leaders to help heal, connect and anchor others in something beyond man-made constructions, and into something that cannot be lost or erode with time.
If you understand the basics of your chart, the following provides a key of what to look for in your chart to glean how the Pluto/Saturn/Jupiter conjunction will stimlulate potentialities for you. Beyond this, receiving an astrology reading for how 2020 will activate and provide opportunities for you is beneficial for being able to navigate the months ahead.
1. The House where Capricorn resides (specifically the degrees of 20 – 26) indicates what areas of your life are seeking to be transformed. While each house has multiple facets, the following guide provides a key as to where you may experience a change that requires focus, effort and opening to something new:
If Capricorn falls:
In the first house: concentrated effort and change with your identity and how you present yourself to the world
In the second house: concentrated effort and change with your relationship to money and ways of making and managing money
In the third house: concentrated effort and change with how you process and communicate information.
In the fourth house: concentrated effort and change with the place you call home and with those you call family.
In the fifth house: concentrated effort and change with your relationship to your children, or with reclaiming childlike spontaneity and creativity.
In the sixth house: concentrated effort and change with your health, self-care routines, and/or your work in the world.
In the seventh house: concentrated effort and change with one on one relationships with those you are building trust - especially with a spouse or life partner
In the eighth house: concentrated effort and change with healing and deepening issues around intimacy with self, others and life so you feel better supported
In the ninth house: concentrated effort and change with your understanding and knowledge of the world. this may include an investment in learning or teaching some body of knowledge.
In the tenth: concentrated effort and change with your vocation, with being recognized for what you do, and potentially needing to address issues/relationship with one of your parents.
In the 11th: concentrated effort and change with friendships, community or groups to which you belong
In the 12th: concentrated effort and change with clearing out the past, pruning away what no longer serves, connecting with the divine, and opening to who you are beyond the trappings of how you have previously identified yourself.
2. Idenfity if the axis of manifestion (MH, ASC, Nadir, Desc), or if you have planets, between 20 and 26 degrees of a cardinal sign (Aries, Libra, Capricorn, Cancer). This provides clues as to how your natal potential will be activated in a dynamic way.
3. If your axis of manifestation, or if you have planets, in Earth signs (Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo), you may experience a surge of productivity and reward. You may experience a culmination of your past efforts.
For all of us, we can be aware that whether there is a visible change in our life or in the lives of those around us, we are all in this pressure cooker of change. We may respond differently – with fear, agitation, excitement or focus. We can be mindful to be patient and kind with each other as we go through this time together.
Finding Our Equilibirum
Charikla and The Power of Witnessing
There is a minor celestial body who makes an appearance at this juncture. Charikla is one of the Centaurs within the Kuiper Belt. She will join Saturn and Pluto at 23 Capricorn and will be part of this potent conjunction in January! Her presence brings gentleness in the midst of the great strength and power of the giants (Plu/Sat/Jup) she comes into alignment with.
Charikla's great power lies in her ability to maintain her equilibrium no matter what is happening. She is The Witness bringing peace, stillness, beauty and healing. Her power is in her presence, not in the doing or speaking of something. She reminds us of the power of witnessing and that when we are feeling off center, we can lean into her. Rather than reacting and rushing to fix something, we can pause and simply be present. Witnessing, becomes a powerful and effective tool at our disposal.
Anchoring One's Self "The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion" Paul Coehlo
When there is turbulence, we naturally seek to find balance. Returning to the image of the trapeze artist: Inner tension and stress increases if we stay clinging to the old bar, refusing to let go and reach for what is approaching but not yet within reach. When we let go of what once sustained but is no longer valid, we wonder what will sustain us after we have let go as we fly between one way of life and the next. To be sure, it isn't the bar we let go of and the old way of operating.
It is essential that we anchor ourselves in something that endures. In other words, with something that is infinite and eternal. Self-love. Compassion. Patience. We can cultivate these virtues.
Beyond this, it is advantageous to have a consistent daily personal practice – yoga, meditation, walks in nature, prayer, tai chi…something that brings our attention to the present moment and connects us with the eternal presence of our soul, the eternal presence of the godspark that lives within us.
Deepening this connection will allow us to sit in the eye of the storm, to let whatever intensity is happening around us, wash over us without carrying us away with it.
For those of us who have dedicated our lives to an unseen presence: to God, or what we each relate to as the divine, the heart space, the seed of creation, the place where all springs forth and returns to, we have a role to play. We have diligently worked on loosening the grip of the ego mind and the identification with our body, our job, our relationships, to steadfastly nurture the eternal flame within ourselves. That flame now becomes a lighthouse, a way to guide others through stormy change. This can very well be the year that we have been preparing for, when all our practice and training and dedication comes into play as never before, and we become the person we have longed to be.
2020 Key Dates when Jupiter/Saturn/Pluto Conjunction is Amplified
Jan 10 – Lunar Eclipse in Capricorn
Jan 12 – Exact conjunction of Pluto and Saturn
Mar 25 Mars conjunct Jup/Sat/Pl
Jun 21 – Solar Eclipse at 0 Cancer on the Summer Solstice
Jul 5 – Lunar Eclipse 13 degrees Capricorn/Cancer
Jul 25 – Feb 18/21 – Mars square Jup/Sat/Plu
Sep 7 – Nov 13 – Mars Retrograde in Aries aspecting Jup/Sat/Plu
Dec 22 – Jupiter/Sat conjunction at 0 Aquarius
Additional influence that may have us pressing the pause button and/or engaging in generative inquiry and conversations:
Apr 10 – Aug 9: Venus in Gemini
May 15 – Jun 26 Venus Retrograde from 21 – 2 Gemini
At first glance it seems that nearly every month amplifies or fuels the directive of this conjunction.
Take special note of the times Mars is in aspect to the Jup/Sat/Plu conjunction. Mars is a hot planet, fiery, stirring the warrior and pioneer in us. For the Fall, while it is in Aries and forming a hard aspect to Jup/Sat/Plu, it will have us feeling frustrated, impatient, combative, and impulsive. There can be pent up anger looking for a fight. It is prudent at these times to actively exercise patience. We can remind ourselves to slow down when we feel ourselves overheating, racing to keep up with the agenda we have set, or are trying to control outcomes to the detriment of our well-being. To counteract the intensity, we will have a better outcome if we counteract a feeling of emergency with a mindfulness to practice deep breathing, engage in activities that calm our minds and bodies, and take time to be the witness. Beneficial outcomes happen when we act from a place of centered calm.
While this post is long, I encourage us to return to this post during the year and read it with the eyes of what is unfolding in time. It can help us remember that in the larger scheme of creation everything is unfolding as it will, that nothing is wrong, and even though we cannot see where it is all going, it is necessary to go through what we are going through to get where we are heading.
Also, be on the lookout for an additional blog within the week on the upcoming Venus and Mars Retrogrades and Summer Eclipse Season. This next blog on 2020 dynamics will explore how additional astrological events will blend and lend themselves to the major movement of the year: the conjunction between Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto.
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