Pluto ingresses into Aquarius on March 23, 2023.
Photo by Deep Mind
The Month that will (eventually) Change the World
Ready or not, the new era of humanity started on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. The new moon in Aries on March 21, 2023 occurred during the spring equinox, at 0 degrees in Aries. This in itself is relatively rare and truly symbolizes the beginning of a new era for humanity, because just two days after that on March 23, 2023, Pluto ingresses into Aquarius for the first time in 248 years. Jupiter and Saturn also met at 0 degrees Aquarius on December 21, 2020 and started a new, 200-year cycle of meeting in air signs. The zero degree Aquarius is very symbolic. It is as if the past has been reset and we get the chance to start all over again. This is it - there's no going back.
March is by far the most dramatic month of the year 2023. Saturn entered Pisces on March 7, Mars is finally done its 7 month stay in Gemini and moves on to Cancer, and Pluto starts its transit into Aquarius.
Pluto in Aquarius for 20 years
Pluto will enter Aquarius for the first time in March 23, 2023 and will eventually stay in the sign of Aquarius for 20 years. Our world will look quite different in 20 years. Pluto is the planet of transformation, power, wealth, trauma, obsession, fear, depth and permanent change.
Aquarius is the sign of the people, groups, technology and future in general. Pluto's job is to dig deep in these areas! And he will find both problems and treasures. Many very wealthy people have a prominent Pluto placement in their chart - because they dig and find opportunities where others don't.
To give you an understanding of the scale of the massive societal changes ahead, the last time Pluto was in Aquarius was in 1777-1797, during which both the American and French revolutions happened. So we are truly facing changes that will leave a permanent impression on the world. They were not pretty, but still necessary changes.
The changes will not however, happen overnight, but be mostly gradual, as Pluto will be dipping into Aquarius and then go back to Capricorn a few times to finish up the old matters. However, during the times when the outer planets change signs, they usually make themselves known. Any planet on its last and first degrees, is usually something that can be felt on a societal level. This and next week will truly give us a glimpse into the future.
Indeed, the current world wide disasters and general crankiness is partly due to both Pluto and Saturn approaching the finish line of their respective stay in the signs of Capricorn and Aquarius. We are on the verge of stepping into the weird and new, while still clearly washing and drying the dishes of the old. This will be the mood of this entire year - finalizing what we learned the past 4 years, while already clearly seeing inklings of the future that is ruled by the air element. Seen any balloons lately? Been talking to ChatGPT?
The last time Pluto moved into another sign (Capricorn) in 2008, the global economy collapsed. This is also happening now, and in an incredibly metaphorical way, this time it specifically concerns technology, an area that Aquarius rules. (The Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in March 2023)
Individuals, will however only feel Pluto's most intense transits when he makes an exact aspect to one's natal chart. Any natal planets conjunct, square or opposite to the transiting Pluto will have an impact. Pluto is the ultimate test of our resilience and depth of our convictions. Saturn in Aquarius paved the way, but now comes the final test of Pluto. Ultimately Saturn cares about our development and leaves a gift when we have worked hard and not avoided his tests.
Pluto on the other hand, is a lot more impersonal, being such a far away planet. He is the ultimate transcendental planet - our individuality matters less, in Aquarius society matters a lot more. Pluto can grant both great wealth or bring a finality to a matter - yet how you feel about it or what you do with it, doesn't really concern Pluto. But if you are reading this, you survived the Saturn in Aquarius transit, so you are well prepared.
Power to the People...?
In the best case scenario of Pluto in Aquarius, we will see amazing technological and medical advances. Imagine free and environmentally friendly energy sources. Imagine artificial intelligence creating a custom curriculum for each child. Imagine everybody having free access to excellent medical care. Imagine communities with special talents and different skills, improving the world from their corner of the world to heal the environment and brainstorm amazing solutions to make daily living healthy and happy to everyone. It is imperative that we will imagine and visualize positive outcomes and possibilities to encounter the endless media diet of fear and apocalypse.
Fake it until you make it, if you must, because at the end of the day, the biggest threat of Pluto is simply our own fears manifesting. There is a saying: garbage in, garbage out. In other words, you can't hope to improve the world when you choose to take in a steady stream of fear and live in fear. The best policy now is hope (hope from the heart, and visualize it too) for the best, while prepare for challenges.
Or Power from the People...?
Power always comes with big responsibilities. With Pluto, we are always on the look out for the abuse of power, and in Aquarius, specifically the abuse of technology and masses. Censorship of information, or power struggles over information and digital currencies is pretty much guaranteed at this time. Different fringe groups will resist to challenge the main narratives.
One of the most concerning features already is the lack of professional reporting. News agencies relying on advertising money don't seem to want to invest in thorough reporting anymore. Finding neutral, professional, factual reporting is already difficult. We must stay alert and get our information from several sources to stay of top of purely factual information.
Aquarius is opposite from the sign of Leo, the ultimate sign of individualism. Therefore we will feel a lot of pressure to pick a side or belong to a group, small or large. We will really feel the pressure between our own individualism vs. society at large. We already saw a similar dilemma during the pandemic, but this time the battle has to do with the air element - so ideas, information, communication, digital currencies and the like.
Questioning authorities and large corporations is a must during this time. But equally dangerous is never believing the authorities, especially when it is for the greater good. If we get rid of governments, it will simply lead to some kind of new hierarchy or structure, eventually leading just to yet another government. Government is simply a way to organize society and it is made out of people, after all. The most difficult thing for individuals during this time is finding factual information and deciding who to believe and when - this is something that everybody needs to decide for themselves.
Artificial Intelligence and Metaverse Will Change the World...some day?
However, some of our worries at least about technology are slightly premature, because we are only at the beginning stages of artificial intelligence. Much like the internet was 30 years ago, (and is now sort of scattered and in crises on some level). Big power shifts will be seen with big technology companies and where we get our information. But Pluto transits are extremely slow. Metaverse currently doesn't look that impressive. AI currently makes lots of mistakes, is awkward at best, and knows only the information we feed it.
And what we are feeding AI is 30 years of internet! It is truly like looking at ourselves in the mirror and seeing all the good and the bad from the internet reflected back to us - one can hardly imagine a more Pluto-like situation. At the moment, artificial intelligence only gathers information and guesses what will happen next based on the thought patterns of the human mind. But we know human patterns - inspiring and compassionate at best, inhuman and illogical at worst.
Human out of Humanity?
The impersonal nature of both Pluto and Aquarius is perhaps the most worrisome feature of this powerful pairing. Worst case scenario, Pluto can symbolize us taking a human out of humanity, and in the impersonal Aquarius, it has a better than average chance of succeeding in the name of common good. Just because we can make machines do many strange things, doesn't mean we should. We need to guard our humanity well and right from the get-go, which is right now. We all know that technology is only a tool, and only as good as its creator, and should only be used after careful considerations.
Pluto is famous for making small things big and big things small. So yes, right about now a coder may be inadvertently coming up with seemingly the most innocent looking coding invention, that will eventually change everything, for good or for bad. Indeed, hope for the best, but prepare for unexpected challenges.
From Large Masses to Smaller, Independent Groups
People have already started to retreat into their own little groups. The openness of the internet is no longer as popular, but people rather pick their own, smaller group of like minded individuals. We are truly stepping deeper into the Aquarian times (an interview of the legendary evolutionary astrologer Steven Forrest) if there ever was a time for that. Yet it is not quite how we imagined: love, peace and understanding, but rather impersonal and futuristic, yet oddly conventional. (For excellent, detailed information see YouTube astrologer star Nadiya Shah's video: When does the Age of Aquarius Begin?)
The nature and politics of work will inevitably change, because machines will replace people in many fields and we will have to completely rethink the division of labor and social safety nets.
Unidentified Encounters
Unidentified objects, balloons... and alien encounters? It is possible that we will see some signs or other evidence of alien life in the next 20 years. An actual alien encounter I believe, is still years away.
Summary
It is crucial that we remain positive but vigilant. There is absolutely as much to be very excited about, as there is to be concerned about. It is important to realize that Pluto only reflects our own fears back to us. We can choose to watch our fears calmly in the light of day, without acting before we are sure of our direction, and succeed to even heal our traumas and actually improve the world.
While I already touched upon the Pluto transit in each sign briefly in my previous Saturn in Pisces for each sign-blog, I will go through Pluto in Aquarius for each sign in detail in my next blog.
Namaste,
Ursula
For natal and other personalized readings, please see the list of my services at
Comments