Pluto (and aspects to Neptune) in the 21st and 22nd centuries

Despite its demotion from planetary status six years ago, Pluto is still a fascinating object astronomically and astrologically.

In the period since Pluto was discovered in 1930, it has moved into (February 7, 1979) and outside (February 11, 1999) the outermost planet Neptune. As a consequence, a continuous waxing sextile, or aspect of 60˚ in geocentric longitude, has been created which will last until Pluto enters Aquarius in 2023 - after which it moves further from the Sun and Neptune easily overtakes it. However, because of Pluto’s inclined orbit, during its perihelion Pluto does not come within seventeen astronomical units of Neptune.

In this post, I will look at the aspects Pluto will form with Neptune between the end of the current sextile and the approach of its next perihelion in the twenty-third century, along with all the sign changes. The actual perihelion will occur in 2237, but its effects will be felt as early as Pluto’s entry to Virgo in 2202. This twenty-third century perihelion will be under a continuous waning trine, or aspect of 240˚.

Because of Western Australia’s central role in the postindustrial economy with its limitless supply of lithophile metals, charts have been cast for Perth, the capital of WA. (Transforming to another locality is not hard: you just adjust the time to the required local standard time).

Entering ♒︎ in 2023:

In this chart for ♇’s first entry into ♒︎ in 2023, we see a stellium in the sixth house of work – rather at odds with a sign noted for its mental nature and rarely physically active. A New Moon in ♈︎ occurs a few days before ♇ is first in ♒︎, and in the chart for the initial ingress the predominance of active fire signs suggests perhaps that ♇ in ♒︎ may come with a great deal of political problems, especially if Eurasia, the Americas and New Zealand face continual declines in the ability to pay for their welfare states.

Entering ♓︎ in 2043:

By the time ♇ enters ♓︎ in 2043, it will be very hard to tell what the world will be like, though one can fear immigration and overpopulation in Australia as high taxes in the Enriched World drive workers and business away from a welfare-dependent, militantly atheistic and hyper-selfish remnant whose only remaining potential income source is tourism. The last period of ♇ in ♓︎ was from 1798 to 1822, and was known as the “Transcendental Generation”, which founded Mormonism and Romantic literature in its quest for new spiritual ideals. The previous in the 1550s and 1560s saw Marlowe and Shakespeare along with the last era before the first “atheist” philosophers were born. This was an uncertain generation affected by an amazingly close grand cross in mutable signs between ♄ in ♍︎, ♅ in ♐︎, ♆ in ♊︎ and ♇.

The high sun in this chart for ♇’s first entry into ♓︎ may symbolise the death either of:

1. the extremely diverse flora of southwestern Australia as Perth’s climate becomes a cyclone-dominated desert historically associated with the Pilbara or
2. the peak of militant atheist culture in the mineral-poor, big-government Enriched World as its governments cannot pay off the welfare states forced on them by the working masses up to eight generations ago. This would mean that the Enriched World simply declines into insignificance after the 2040s as its governments can do little to keep its economy going against extreme levels of old-age dependency.

Waxing Quintile, middle 2040s:

After the end of the 1940 to 2030 sextile, the next aspect between ♆ and ♇ will be the waxing quintile, a minor aspect of 72˚ signifying creativity. The waxing quintile will be in orb from about 2043, when ♇ remains in ♒︎, to 2048, though ♆ will be in ♉︎ throughout. The previous waxing quintile occurred from 1551 to 1554 and coincided with the Counter-Reformation and the growth of Protestant states north of the Alps, along with the Mennonites in Germany. It also saw conflicts in the Counter-Reformation between those popes who wanted to continue the artistic patronage of the Renaissance and such extremely austere men as Saint Pius V who wanted to eliminate these. As would be expected with a quintile, however, these conflicting needs were met adequately for the survival of the Church in southern Europe.

Waxing Square, 2063:

After the waxing quintile comes the waxing square, a conflicting aspect of 90˚ between spiritual ♓︎ and worldly, shallow ♊︎. (The last few squares and all later waxing squares from the twenty-sixth century, will have ♆ in ♋︎ and ♇ in ♈︎). The last waxing square around 1570 saw the full-time break of the Protestant nations with Rome, not to be even partially dealt with until the Emancipation Act of 1829. It also saw the growth of Puritanism under the previously noted grand cross. The next waxing square may see the complete break of Australia and Africa from the rest of the world. Welfare dependency and the impossibility of free-market based reform in the Enriched and even the Tropical World could well be viewed suspiciously by the few nations with enough “dirt” to retain affordable housing and families.

The fiery chart observed suggests there may be problems – quite likely to be environmental ones – from the end of the Mediterranean climates and the spread of drought/flood tropical conditions with their frequent fires and extreme heat.

Entering ♈︎ in 2066:

After the waxing square, ♇ enters ♈︎ for a stay of almost thirty years. It is notable that ♇ is never in the actual constellation of Aries. Instead, it moves into the more southerly constellation of Cetus at its aphelion and then moves into Taurus as it slowly journeys away from aphelion.

Previous periods of ♇ in the zodiacal longitudes of ♈︎ have coincided with the development of very new philosophies. René Descartes and Thomas Hobbes in the 1580s and 1590s, along with Häckel and Nietzsche in the 1830s and 1840s were born with ♇ in ♈︎. It will be interesting to see what these years bring, and impossible to tell now. Will Australia, likely to be separated from international organisations and affected by radical climate change, at last encounter the revolutionary political pressures that have dominated in the Enriched World since the French Revolution?? Will new political ideas emerge in Australia or Africa??

Waxing Trine, 2089:

As ♇ becomes more distant from the Sun, aspects to ♆ come more frequently, with the waxing trine, a benefic aspect of 120˚, appearing in 2089. It is not possible to say what the waxing trine will bring, but the 2080s, besides being a rare “prime decade” with four prime years, will see a number of cases where all planets are in fire or air, and a triple conjunction of ♃, ♄ and ♅ for the first time in 140 years in ♒︎. The previous ♃—♄—♅ triple conjunction occurred in 1762 in ♈︎ and before that in 1623 in ♌︎, coinciding with the last waxing quincunx of ♆ and ♇ several years after the July 1618 aphelion. The chart here suggests that Australia, now likely to be the centre of the world economy, will be hidden from view of the nihilistic Enriched World with the Sun in the Second House.

Entering ♉︎ in 2096:

♇ enters ♉︎ in 2096 after its long stay in ♈︎. ♉︎ is the sign of ♇’s detriment owing to its placid, relaxed, low-energy nature, and is also the sign at which ♇ has its aphelion, or furthest point from the Sun, last reached in early June of 1866. Past periods of ♇ in ♉︎ have manifested themselves in generations which place practical living above vested political interests, as with the “Missionary Generation” that gradually undid the political and economic system of nineteenth-century colonial Europe, and before that the “Levellers” in England who revolted against King Charles. If the Enriched World’s tiny number of young people find they can do nothing within the established political order, they could well try to override it if they do not move to Australia or somewhere similar.

  Waxing Sesquiquadrate, 2102:

As ♇ moves very close to aphelion, aspects come and go more quickly, with a waxing sesquiquadrate, a malefic aspect of 135˚, occurring in 2102. The sesquiquadrate, or trioctile, indicates subtle tension, since it often occurs between signs that are of the same element and would normally work well together. This will be the case with the waxing sesquiquadrate of 2101, although previous waxing sesquiquadrates in 1607 and 1112 were between the unrelated signs of ♍︎ and ♈︎. Previous waxing sesquiquadrates have symbolised crises in the old order, seen in East Asia in the early seventeenth century and in Europe’s religious systems in the twelfth, which were countered by new religious orders. The rising sun in this chart may symbolise a new beginning – maybe humanity will adapt to an oppressive climate and rapid soil leaching via evolution??

Waxing Biquintile, 2108:

After the waxing sesquiquadrate come the waxing biquintile, which is twice a quintile at 144˚. Biquintiles symbolise creativity and merging together disparate influences, since most occur in the same pairs of signs as quincunxes. Quincunxes and semisextiles are sometimes mistaken for biquintiles by astrologers who ignore fifth harmonic aspects. An example can be seen in the Professional Natal Report. Following on from the waxing sesquiquadrate, the waxing biquintile aims to reintegrate the tensions of the preceding aspect, as came from the foundation of religious orders like the Franciscans in the twelfth century and sects like the Puritans later.

Aphelion and Waxing Quincunx, 2113 to 2114:

Very soon after the reintegration of the biquintile comes the waxing quincunx. This is an aspect between two totally unrelated signs of 150˚ that causes tension because the two planets cannot work together even though they are not directly opposing each other as with a square.

Long-lived quincunxes between generational planets are less painful than shorter-lived quincunxes between personal planets, because in most cases the individual will simply express one sign only.

The waxing ♆/♇ quincunx follows very closely the aphelion of ♇, and sets the scene for the “climax” of the cycle at the opposition. Astrologers never note ♇’s aphelion, and even in astronomy it warrants little discussion. What author Eric Meece on pages 122 to 127 of Horoscope for the New Millennium, calls the “lowest periods of civilisation” tend to coincide with ♇ aphelia – though invariably those aphelia at waning semisextiles to ♆ (i.e. 381, 876, 1371, 1866, 2361), not aphelia at waxing quincunxes (1122, 1618, 2113 etc.).

Later Aspects and Sign Changes to ♍︎ entry, 2114 to 2202

Originally I intended to document all major ♇ aspects to Neptune throughout the twenty-second century, but I have decided this was too difficult and I have attached a diagram of the:

1. first entry into ♊︎ in 2127
2. opposition in 2139
3. first reentry into ♋︎ (the sign in which ♇ was discovered) in 2157
4. waning quincunx (coinciding with a conjunction of ♅ and ♆) in 2164
5. waning biquintile in 2171
6. waning sesquiquadrate in 2179
7. first entry into ♌︎ in 2183
8. first entry into ♍︎ in 2202

At this stage, one can see clearly the waning trine that will be virtually continuous throughout the twenty-third century as it was during the eighteenth. I get recollections of Julius Goodman’s Space Patrol, the twenty-second Choose Your Own Adventure book and set during this next waning trine, every time I think about this.