SATURN SQUARE PLUTO - PART 2

The mythology of the Saturn-Pluto relationship is the classic struggle between father (Saturn) and son (Pluto), between the establishment (Saturn) and radicals (Pluto), between resistance to change (Saturn) and irresistible forces of change (Pluto).  In the classic Greek myth, Cronus (Greek for Saturn) swallowed each of his children as they were born, except his last-born son Zeus (Jupiter), who was hidden at birth from his tyrant father.  This story is a metaphor for the father who suppresses the creative self-expression of his children.  In the myth, Saturn felt threatened by his children and was fearful that one of his sons (Pluto, Neptune, and Jupiter) would overthrow his authority as ruler of heaven and earth, which an oracle had foretold.  Hades (Greek for Pluto) was the oldest of Saturn’s three sons and had the most to inherit from his father but, because Saturn was not about to hand over his power to any of his sons, Pluto joined in the fight with his brothers when the 10 year war began between the Titans (led by Saturn) and the Olympians (led by Jupiter).  When Saturn was supreme ruler, he was the lord of death as well as the god of agricultural wealth and prosperity (hence life) but he was supplanted in these functions by his son Pluto after the Titans lost the war.  Interestingly, Pluto is the word for riches and so the current Saturn-Pluto square symbolizes the struggle over the riches of the Earth and the building resentment and polarization between the ever-increasing numbers of poor and working-class people (Saturn) and the relatively tiny number of wealthy people (Pluto) who “own” and control an ever-increasing percentage of the total wealth.  Interesting too, is the association of wealth with the underworld – via Pluto – meaning that accumulation of wealth and power further one’s position in the “underworld” of life but not in the afterlife (where the dead each receive exactly what they deserve, based upon how they live their lives).  Pluto represents the arbiter of justice meted out to human Souls and Saturn represents responsibilities for our past deeds that we either accept or shirk – so their square portends a time of karmic justice and pay-back for past deeds and misdeeds.

A more mundane meaning of this square is little or no time to do what we want.  Instead, our time (Saturn) is spent doing things that are necessary (Saturn) or dictated by others or circumstance (Pluto).  At its worst, this square can be life threatening (both Saturn and Pluto symbolize death) – depending upon how Saturn and Pluto aspect planets in your chart.  A recent example is my wife who, while driving home after work in the dark, suddenly hit a bail of hay traveling over 100 MPH that had flown off of some idiot’s truck that was traveling in the opposite direction!  If that bail of hay had struck the windshield of our car, my wife could have been killed by the impact, which was so hard that it completely tore off the driver’s side of the bumper!  In her birth chart, Saturn is currently conjunct and Pluto is square her Sun, Neptune, and Midheaven, which are potential life-threatening aspects.  The 13 murdered and 30 wounded at Fort Hood army base on November 5 are testimony of the violence inherent in Saturn square Pluto.

The fact that Saturn is now in the sign of Libra is highly significant, since the Saturn-Pluto conjunction that began this cycle in 1982 was also in Libra.  This sign, more than any other, symbolizes relationships of all kinds.  The Saturn-Pluto square will put stress on (the square) and force changes in professional (Pluto in Capricorn) and personal relationships (Saturn in Libra).  Libra is also a financial sign (because it’s ruled by Venus) and, although Saturn is exalted (strong) in Libra, Saturn is a constrictive, contractive influence.  This means not only further contraction of the economy but also of personal wealth.  Once again, I recommend that you move your money from large, national banks to small, local credit unions or banks and sell all your stocks (including retirement accounts) before it’s too late.  This Saturn-Pluto square signifies major monetary (Libra) disruptions (Pluto) and losses (Saturn).  Ironically, the separation and divorce rates may actually decline, but only because such couples are forced by economic circumstances to continue to pool their resources even though the relationship is irreconcilable, yet they can’t individually afford a separation or divorce.  The impact of this square on relationships of workers with corporate authorities is negative and will worsen because many big corporations are so shortsighted that their only way of creating a profit is by laying-off employees (source:  NPR Marketplace, November 9, 2009).