2024 is as important as the end of an era as it is the beginning of another. Before we set our sights on the next season in the drama that is Earth (or is it better titled, "Humanity”?), we’ve got the conclusion of an era that began in 2008, with Pluto in Capricorn.
Where Pluto goes, obsession and transformation follow. There’s an elemental or chthonic intensity at play with Pluto—something dark and powerful, focusing intently, fearfully, and piercingly on a particular subject matter. This laser-like gaze burns through veils and into the shadows, hunting for the naked, raw reality. Sometimes, there’s a kernel to be found and accountability to be held; sometimes, the suspicion is unwarranted. Sometimes, the conflagration results in a catharsis and resurrection, like a phoenix.
With Pluto in Capricorn since 2008, there’s been an intense focus on the structures of human life. Capricorn is associated with the past, tradition, authority, and concrete systems. It’s an earth sign, associated with differentiation and stratification, with long processes of construction and ambitious climbs to the top of things. Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, a cold, hard, and heavy force, and often one depicted as an old man.
Pluto’s first splash into Capricorn brought about the election of the United State’s first black president and the creation of Bitcoin. We had a financial crisis, the subprime mortgage crisis, due to blind greed and Occupy Wall Street. There has been fascination or obsession with power, with plutocrats and their perversity, inhumanity, or incompetence.
Institutional racism has become recognized, as have the long-term consequences of burning fossil fuels for centuries. Climate anxiety—the concern for the long-term survival of the earth or the current death of existing, previously robust ecosystems—is recognized as a leading source of psychological distress. The Me Too movement brought awareness to the chronic, pervasive misuse of power. The Land Back movement is calling for the return of stolen indigenous lands, and there’s been a broader obsession with traditional, premodern, or indigenous ways of being, whether those are diets, crafts, aesthetics, or spiritualities.
There’s also been an intense fixation on anti-aging and the supplements and diets that lead to longevity. Covid—which was set off at the moment when there was a buildup of slow-moving planets in Capricorn, intensified our relationship with regulations and authorities, as well as death and our relationship with health limitations, our own and others. For some, this led to a double-down on the idea of discipline—it led to the ascendancy of folks like Jordan Peterson and David Goggins. For others, it’s led to a rejection of unhealthy expectations or standards, to an acceptance of our limitations, or even to reveling in degeneracy.
In short—our relationship with time, authority, and tradition has radically changed.
On January 20th, the Sun will make their last conjunction with Pluto in Capricorn. Later that same day, each of them will move into Aquarius. Thus, the next ten days will intensify the themes Pluto in Capricorn has been bringing since 2008. It’s thought that this last degree of a sign (the “anaretic” degree) brings themes of culmination—think of a series finale or a super potent condensation of a particular energy. This co-presence of the Sun right now gives an extra force to the issues at play—think of it like a spotlight on the dynamics or the presence of a boss or leader who stirs up energy when they come around.
Pluto will move back through Capricorn from September 1st till November 19th, and I expect these themes to be a significant flavor of the election season. The United States was founded the last time Pluto was in Capricorn—and how do we relate to structures set in motion 250 years ago when the world has so radically changed? What is worth preserving, and what has become decadent, decrepit, or obsolete? What do healthy authority and honorable power look like? With the other energies at play - especially the Jupiter-Saturn square and Mercury’s Fire Year, this will likely play out in an exceptionally blustery, confusing, and likely disappointing manner.
It’s also worth emphasizing that this transit of Pluto through Capricorn is also the United States’ Pluto Return. The United States was born during a similar moment as we’re in now, when folks were fed up with empire. In turn, it seems that the US’ role as World Police is coming to an end. There are great consequences to the end of the Pax Americana (a term that is true from one perspective, but also conceals the extensive violence/coercion of American imperialism/colonialism)—I’d recommend Peter Zeihan’s work in exploring the implications of the breakdown of this World Order (primarily through the potential ripple effects of the end of fragile naval trade routes). More locally, we’re deep into the end of the status quo in American politics—Obama signified one (primarily symbolic) end of that, Trump another, and Biden an attempt at a return to normalcy, albeit one that seems mostly symbolic as well. What is beyond that?
Regardless, on a micro, personal level, the New Moon we’re experiencing right now can renew a healthy sense of timing and relationship to tradition. Perhaps we can find the focus to pierce through trapping conditioning and external constraints and find paradoxical freedom in the acceptance of our legitimate restrictions.
I love the Chandra Symbol for the degree of this New Moon: A stately old house in a ruined condition. Ellias Lonsdale has a sort of sour interpretation of this line, about being stuck in the past or entangled in karmic patterns. Perhaps that’s a useful perspective, and this old house, like some structures in life, needs to be destroyed, paved over, and space created for something else. But I still have a sense of opportunity here, perhaps from my appreciation of how some old, traditional architecture in Texas has been tastefully renovated or preserved. Maybe this old house has a nobility that’s worth renewing, and perhaps that’s one of the most noble ways to relate to the old Capricornian structures around us.
It’s also worth mentioning that the exit of Pluto from Capricorn signifies the end of a drama in our personal lives related to the house that Pluto’s been dredging since 2008. For me, it’s the 7th house, the house of relationships, and I’m looking forward to a bit more ease as Pluto enters the 8th house, which is a more natural space for him. It’s worth considering where Capricorn and Aquarius fall in your chart and the way those realms have been and will be places of intensity and change.
In the next look at 2024, I’ll cover the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction more in-depth, to coincide with Uranus’ station direct. Until then, I’ve got a coupon for those interested in looking at their astrology for the coming year—you can plug in the code “NEWYEAR” at checkout to get 25% off Long-Term Forecast or Full Readings at my site.
And now, the forecast for the couple of weeks ahead for my lovely paid subscribers: