Scorpio/Pluto and Saturn Returns: Tests of Time

My partner's Mom had a sudden and major stroke a week ago today and I've been here at the hospital daily and thought I'd take a moment to check in with you all.  My Reading Schedule is on hold but will no doubt be  back on track soon, as she is showing signs of recovery.

Diane has 4 planets in Scorpio and is going through an EXACT (and second) Saturn Return in Scorpio. Her stroke happened on the same day, in fact, that Saturn turned retrograde, right over her Natal Saturn, degrees away also from her Sun. Saturn of course relates to restrictions and rules/regulations. Scorpio is a tough sign - its transformations are deep, intense and the circumstances that arrange themselves to move through this sort of evolution are tough and arduous. To watch her tied  to the bed (Saturn limitation, Scorpio loss of control), unable to move her left side and choking on a breathing tube is a reminder to me of many things - the fragility of the human body, the sheer strength of the human body, the resilience of the spirit and the outstanding courage and strength of Scorpio.

Scorpio and Pluto are two energies you don't want to (or rather can't) mess with. Locked away in these two energies, are often lifetimes of pain and lifetimes of survival. Certainly there is understanding of life's extremes. Pain creates an inner fire, and those around us who seem fired up are no doubt the same ones that have lived through emotional turmoil of varying levels. There's a strength to Scorpio/Pluto that arises just as all seems lost. I see it time and time again.

With 6 planetary bodies in Pisces currently, we all are finding we're choosing or being forced to Submit and Surrender. Something Scorpio/Pluto just doesn't jive with (unless it's under their control). Sometimes we don't want control. Sometimes we don't have any. Pisces as the last sign dissolves everything but our connection to our core, our Soul, or Center and our Source. But the way there can involve the loss of many things. Sometimes our apparent safety. Sometimes our sense of security.

Saturn Return's are notorious times of hardship. Soul-testing. We go through it ages 28-30 and then again somewhere between 58-60. If you're around those ages, you too were born with Saturn in Scorpio. If you were, you'll be going through your own initiation, but don't worry. You have the credentials to pass every test with flying colors. You just have to put in the time and work and learn what needs to be learnt.

Throw in the sign of Scorpio and you know it's going to be Intense (Scorpio). And it's going to take Time (Saturn). Diane, unable to talk yet, is scribbling away on pieces of paper with her good hand. She has stories of 'the other side' it seems, seeing those who have already passed over. How's that for another Scorpio theme - life after death!

Here's to all who read this who have gone through, are going through or who find themselves at the doorstep to Major Unavoidable Changes. We like to believe that life is interrupted by events such as these, that something has gone 'wrong', that we are somehow to blame, but if you dig a little deeper (another Scorpio theme) you'll find that THIS IS LIFE - every moment that makes up our story. Scorpio/Pluto moments (and our Saturn Return) pull us back to THIS moment, to what really matters when we strip away (or are forced to give up or lose or say goodbye to) various parts of our life that have become 'home'.

Which reminds me of another strong soul I know - my publisher and Virgo Moon editor at the Wessex Astrologer, Margaret Cahill (born with the Moon conjunct Pluto in Virgo) who was diagnosed with Cancer just after the publication of my book at the end of 2012. Another soul tapped into Pluto who is on her own journey into the Scorpio/Pluto Underworld. You can follow her story by clicking here aptly titled "Undercover of Darkness". And finally, my father-in-law Jess is also battling Cancer. He's born with Pluto conjunct his Leo Sun.  I know these three souls have the strength to get through this, and to come out the other end of the tunnel, with even greater strength, purpose, passion, will and soul surrender, something earned only after ordeals of the "Pluto" kind. How else would we grow so much unless we're nudged a little (or a lot) sometimes? And the greatest Shadows, must come from the Greatest Lights. I'm sure you know some in your own life.

I believe in each of you.

I'm appreciating a lot more these days, thanks to these brave spiritual warriors. And for the rest of us:

Nothing lasts forever, so are we enjoying it all 

as much as we could be, 

while we still have it?  

You're tougher than you look,
Your Astrologer,
Neil
www.NewWorldAstrology.com

PREDICTION RECAP: Pluto in Capricorn square Uranus in Aries

I thought it was a good time, as we enter the Chinese New Year (of the Water Snake) to recap on the Predictions I made for the period of Pluto in Capricorn and Uranus in Aries (which is happening right now and repeatedly until 2015).

You can find my full predictions in the link above. Here are some as a recap, taken from predictions made five years ago  (in January 2008):

" A DISPLAY OF FORCE
More military presence, more uniforms and more bullying tactics out of a fear of loss of control.

Only just this week, we heard that:

Amazon used 'neo-Nazi' guards to control workers in German factory scandal. In the article:

The firm that supplied the security guards to Amazon is known as HESS Security. The film showed guards dressed in hooded black uniforms of the Thor Steinar clothing brand. The brand became prohibited apparel for both the Bundesliga football association and the federal parliament due to its neo-Nazi associations. The documentary adds that Amazon stopped selling Thor Steinar brand clothes in 2009, and suggests that the name HESS is connected to Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler’s deputy and a neo-Nazi icon. Officially, HESS stands for Hensel European Security Services.

PARENTS:
The history of child abuse within families and governmental and other bodies of power may surface showing a web of intrigue that spans the globe and has been kept secret for quite some time. Abusive families are brought to task. 

BOSSES:

People who own their own company, are bosses or in positions of power and control - 
will face tests of power - if they abuse their position they will be stripped of their title, or fall from grace. Pluto takes without mercy. People will lose their reputation, respect in the eyes of the world, their social standing, and everything they have spent time building to date if they abuse their position and responsibility and trust, entrusted to them.

England was shocked to discover that child entertainer Jimmy Saville had been sexually abusing children for 50 years throughout his television career. 

This week, an ex-teacher was arrested over sexual abuse claims stemming back to the 1980s.

Police are following more claims of sexual abuse by another teacher, in Manchester, England.

India's child sex abuse is hidden, says Human Rights Watch.

An alarming new trend in online child sex abuse, is reported.

A new computer virus accuses victims of viewing child porn.

An Oxford Child Sex Ring is busted.

Victims welcome Australian child sex abuse investigations.

Even Religion is brought into the spotlight as Catholics urge the Cardinal tied to sex abuse to skip the papal vote and that if he remains in the Vatican (which he says he will) Pope Benedict (who just stepped down) he will be immune from any child sex abuse prosecution.

The man who treated 30,000 rape victims.

 Each day we are hearing news of those 'at the top' who are suddenly 'at the bottom'.

WORK WORLD:

The biggest mergers we have seen to date - and the biggest crashes and bankruptcies we've ever heard of. Bank closures, foreclosures and a LOT of talk on debt - as countless people suffer the backlash of living outside of their means.

Just look at how many banks closed in the US the past five years.

Only five days ago, American and US Airways announced an $11 billion merger

BOSSES:
People who own their own company, are bosses or in positions of power and control - 
will face tests of power - if they abuse their position they will be stripped of their title, or fall from grace

Like Jesse Jackson Jr who is expected to soon plead guilty to spending more than $750,000 in campaign money. Or Shanghai Shenhua who has just been stripped of his 2003 title . Or just like Alberto Contador who also was stripped of his title after being found guilty of doping. The list goes on. Just type "corruption" in any news media search and you'll see just how much this has played out globally the past five years especially.

NEW WORLD RECORDS:
Some outstanding and astounding people "getting to the top" (either physically with mountain climbers or those who scale to great heights in the physical world or those who do so by making a comeback or rags to riches stories from people who appear from nowhere). As Capricorn is achievement, Pluto could bring some surprising and profound people to the top.

Only just last night I saw ads for a new World Record TV show.  And according to Wikepedia, just last year:

 Warner Bros. announced the development of a live-action film version of Guinness World Records with Daniel Chunas scriptwriter.^[29]

Pluto type people will be elected

In the United States, President Obama is reelected - with a Scorpio Midheaven (his career, public profile and world legacy) and Pluto conjunct his North Node of Destiny in Virgo ("Obamacare").
Hillary Clinton is still one to watch in the years ahead, being a Pluto-ruled herself.

In the latest Ecuador election, President  Rafael Correa wins a new term - he has his Moon conjunct Pluto also in Virgo. An guess where Mexico's new President Enrique Pena Nieto has his Moon? Also in Virgo Moon conjunct Pluto. Sweeping social reform will be the theme and the result of these people in office. Pluto is definitely finding his way through the Halls of Power across the globe, for better and worse.

And finally just today I saw news that Montreal City Hall was raided by "anti-corruption" police.


NEWS FROM MY NECK OF THE WOODS

You may have seen it on the news. Chrsistopher Dorner, an ex-cop (fired for reporting a colleague who kicked someone they arrested in the head) wrote a manifesto that threatened the entire LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department) for the abuse and racism he alleged he's suffered through and witnesses in his tenure there. his wrongful dismissal caused him to shoot family members of the team and wind up hiding in a cabin down the road from me in Big Bear, California. If you've been following my work, you'll know that I have pointed out the strong likelihood of there being more 'rebels against the System' with Uranus in Aries, and especially when it squares off against Pluto in Capricorn.

One man against the System. A very obvious manifestation of his energy we all feel bubbling up inside. Perhaps Christopher had a point to make, a valid one. Perhaps some heard, but perhaps a lot was lost in his activities and decisions on how to best bring down a System  (here, the LAPD) that he found to be corrupt. Either way, racism and power-abuses within a major police dept in the US, are being talked about and no doubt we'll hear more similar stories from across the planet.

                                                                            ***
Just shows you that no one is immune (save for Pope Benedict, perhaps - and perhaps not even him) from this progressive and sweeping transformative energy purging all that is dark, exposing all that is wrongfully hidden so that we may progress ahead as a species, free from the pollution of power abuses from those we trust and rely on. Freedom comes now from The Great Purging we are all finding ourselves living through.