Holding the Space for Change

Despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not. 

 Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Rings (JRR Tolkien)

In the final article of this small series on the Things that Never Change, we are returning to the 248 year cycle of Pluto which commenced its final stage earlier this year when Pluto went into Aquarius.

Pluto’s movement through the twelve signs takes us from the centre of the wheel (the life giving Soul on its own plane) where it attaches to the axis (Pluto in Pisces). There, ideas of unity and the merger of higher and lower act as a centripetal force. As Pluto moves through the signs this attraction from the centre lessens until consciousness is on the very rim of the revolving wheel (Pluto in Aquarius ) where we are never more separated in terms of distance from the axis (and from each other.) In this non-aligned state we become available to new configurations, so that when Pluto enters Pisces, the sign it rules Esoterically and Hierarchically, a new cycle commences with magnetically attractive ideas creating centripetal force once more.

So, it is here, on the rim of the wheel, that we find ourselves now with familiar holding patterns no longer claiming our interest and allegiance and no longer able to do their job. As noted in previous articles, this closing phase can be expected to correspond to the closing phase of the previous cycle, the outstanding feature of which was the breakup and reformation of groupings of all kinds notably, the French Revolution; Napoleon’s subsequent overthrow of the ancient regimes in Europe; and the American War of Independence. Go back a further 248 years to the closing phase of the cycle precious to that and the Reformation was realigning Sixteenth Century Europe. 

It is not widely appreciated, even in the Astrological community, that Pluto is not simply about destruction; it is the agent which brings higher to lower and turns a whole generation into agents of change. In any given sign, as the old is being discarded, a new consciousness is germinating within those coming into incarnation. 

The new configurations are not yet ready to form and will not be for another 20 or so years because, first, the Aquarian generation must grow to maturity. Meanwhile we are like peas released from their pods: some will germinate and develop their own stalk to set another life cycle in process, others will be eaten; others will simply shrivel up. From the numerological angle peas and Man share the same number which is 5; for Man and peas alike, individuality comes after the explosion of the pods, which scatters the seeds. That explosion occurs in Man’s world when Pluto enters Leo. Having dipped into this sign in 1938, in 1939, the year WW2 broke out, it entered to stay for 20 years. There were many explosions then, scattering very many people. The post War years have been centrifugal in nature.

Typically, to those who have known different times, our present position on the rim looks and feels like things falling apart;  Indeed, to many of the very oldest still alive now, most of the major developments of the  Post War years have looked like evidence of unstoppable degeneration. Such a perception is hard to live with, but for the young who have very little to look back to, it is surely harder still because for them, the human condition has, seeming,  nothing more to offer than this unstable, seemingly pointless rock and roll circus within which even the rich and famous, ever the symbols of worldly success to the young, are ending it all with suicides that the news-hungry media is happy to publicize.

The human family has been here before.

The Course in Miracles teacher, the late Tara Singh had a saying: The wise man expects things to be none other than they are. If we can rid ourselves of the sense that things should be other than they we will have so much more energy to give to our lives and take more pleasure in them. 

Of course, we have preferences. They are part of the personality package, but the only value they have is in encouraging us to put everything we have into the contribution we are willing and able to make. We don’t help ourselves or anyone else by dousing our world with negativity, whining, and calling people out to show that even if we are sitting on our bums and doing nothing, we know better.

Gustave Mahler (Sun in Cancer; Moon in Pisces Rising;), in his ceaseless quest for perfection was an uncompromising despot on the podium. In his lifetime this dedication earned him the respect and adulation of forward-looking, music loving Europe. A highly conscious man, he knew his celebrated career as a conductor and composer was simply his frame; his centre was in the human journey which enthralled him and which as a musician he served the best he knew.  He personally disliked the music of the young Arnold Schoenberg, and later in Schoenberg’s career, Mahler was unable to understand it as a musician, but personally and professionally, publicly and privately, he supported Schoenberg unconditionally, because he said that this may be the music of the future and he considered that to protect that was his duty.

 This kind of humility is something all of us over the age of 40 need to remember when we feel like criticizing what we can’t understand.

Our freedom is in relationships we make, as individuals with the present circumstances and this depends upon the kind of individual we are, on our visions, values, and capacities. Sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg sat down in the snow with a placard and woke up awareness across the globe. That was her contribution to our times; others simply keep their heads down and make their gardens beautiful.

 We don’t have to win or even succeed in what we undertake. Winning and results are personality perspectives; we are required to be true to our intent and show our quality. This is what the Soul requires from us because the Soul’s currency is quality, not results. It is expressing our quality in the world that gives the point to our individuality. It rebuilds the axis which keeps the wheel turning and the human journey moving forward. We cannot fix the planet when we don’t understand what purposes climate change serves. We can only respond and express our quality in the challenge of changing conditions.

To see what Gandalf calls ‘all ends’ is not available to the human family.  Our scientists look for connections, not a larger picture; historians try to piece one together from records; esotericists focus upon patterns in the development of consciousness within the form; astrologers upon the effects of planetary patterns. These different foci give us a certain amount of knowledge, but understanding the plan for a planet or a solar system requires knowledge of purpose.  Of this we can find a reflection of it in ourselves, and our religious and spiritual systems give instruction in the organizing of our energy fields in line with this.  This is as much as we can hope to know. 

 All we need to know is what to do with the time available to us. I think Gandalf said that too.

 Suzanne Rough

 DKF-K July 2023