By now, you’ve heard about Planet Nine, the mystery planet on the far reaches of our solar system that has been more or less confirmed by the mathematics of two Caltech astrophysicists. They have not seen the planet itself — nobody has; but they’ve been able to infer from the highly erratic (yet similar) orbits of several other objects orbiting our Sun at vast distances that Planet Nine exists. I think that working to parse out the threads of insight offered by a Mercury retrograde can work similarly (we’ve just come through one of those phases, and Mercury is still slow, powerful and rather Trickster-ish).
Mike Brown, professor of planetary astronomy, points to the gold ring showing the orbital path of Planet Nine at Caltech on Jan. 19, 2016 in Pasadena, Calif. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon for The Washington Post.
That is, sometimes when Mercury takes us on its inward review of our psyches, obvious insights and bits of information pop right out at us. But other times we have to survey our notes about what’s happened and what we think about it, and make some inferences.
We can’t always look directly at the thing that is waiting for us to discover it and integrate it into our personal inner ‘cosmology’. Maybe it’s because that thing is painful; maybe it’s just from a time so long ago, we were too young to have much context for it; maybe it’s something that simply runs so counter to how we’ve structured our lives, that to acknowledge it would ask for some serious rearrangement.
Or, it could be that we’re in the habit of fearing things like success, intimacy and our true potential; because, those things — positive as they are — ask us to change, and to take risks. Risk is stressful, even when we’re pursuing our deepest, happiest desires. The primitive parts of our brains interpret all stress as a threat to our safety, compelling the ego to throw up resistance to change.
Now, in astrology, Pluto is the god of change. Mars relates to our desires and motivation, but Pluto is the planet that demands change as a requirement for living life, and transforming along the way. Life is growth; sometimes you choose growth, and sometimes you are thrust into it. Either way, it happens. And as one new phase of life emerges, the previous phase is left behind. That transition can come with a lot of emotion, yet it can also feel very liberating.
When Mercury — the planet of the mind — conjoins Pluto, as it has been for more than a week, awareness of what is necessary for growth and development increases. Thoughts may penetrate deeply. In Capricorn, those thoughts might concern the past; though when Mercury was retrograde, you might have noticed difficultly in getting much traction to see what to do with your thoughts, beyond simply observing them.
Mercury stationed direct Monday afternoon in Capricorn, conjunct Pluto. On Saturday, the Mercury-Pluto conjunction becomes exact for the second time in just more than a week (12:58 am EST Jan. 30 / 5:58 UTC). This time Mercury will be in direct motion as it retraces its steps through Capricorn and then into Aquarius.
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One of the things I see here is the potential for you to dive deeper with any metaphorical puzzle-pieces or intuitive nudges you encountered on Jan. 25 (or at any time during the retrograde). With Mercury in direct motion, how to move forward with your new understanding might seem clearer.
In fact, you might even be able to move past inferences of this ‘personal Planet Nine’ in your awareness, and grasp something tangible about its presence in your life. Further investigation and analysis might be called for, though watch for any signs that you’re obsessing about it; getting stuck on something is not the point — growth is.
When Mercury-Pluto is exact, they are also in a rough T-square with the Moon and Black Moon Lilith (a hypothetical point) in Libra, and Vesta and Uranus in Aries. Notice, Saturday, if you feel any pressure from one side to please others (or the imperative not to, and to stand alone in your newfound truth) — especially in relationship matters. Also, notice if, on the other side, you feel the push of an unexpected creative spark or sense of devotion to reinventing yourself.
Do you dare follow that spark, and your truth (even in a small way, or just within your self-understanding)? Do you cling to the past, even if its concreteness is crumbling to make way for a new structural awareness? Can you let your personal Planet Nine into your cosmology?
Thanks for this great piece, Amanda. Gradually emerging from a bit of a dark night of the soul, which, awful as it is, is always a time of deep growth for me. It is a truly challenging , but also amazing time, explained so well by you. For anyone who is going through it right now, hang on in there, and weather that storm – only good can come of it.
Lizzy, I’m gratified to know this piece speaks to you, and is helpful. You will weather the storm, for sure. Hang in there as you explore the new growth!
You recognize some important stuff going on here Amanda, thank you. This whole Mercury-conjunct-Pluto business happening as astrophysicists detect signs of a 9th planet orbiting the Sun, could be called – on a less technical level – intuition. Here again we see the cosmos guiding us to include those other powers of being human beyond the mind alone.
This evening transiting Moon made a conjunction to transiting retrograde Jupiter who was conjunct the North Node, all 3 of them at 22+ Virgo, an earth sign. At the same time transiting Eris at 22+ Aries, a fire sign was sextile transiting Hermes (another name/version for Mercury energy) conjunct Damocles (could be dangerous) at 22+ Aquarius, an air sign. These 3 degrees made a Yod formation that put 22+ Virgo at the apex point where the combined energy is released. If Virgo is practical and Earth is reality, and Moon is emotional, and Jupiter is philosophical and North Node is hypothetical, how does all that energy of the Yod play out in real life?
My guess is you start with what is real (Earth), and look at the Big Picture (Jupiter) from a practical (Virgo) perspective, allow your feelings (Moon) some say in that viewpoint and then see what your intuition (unseen NN) advises you. In other words, don’t just depend on statistics and technology to guide you. Once you arrive at an acceptable (to you) conclusion of the Big Pix, this must be adjusted due to your (22+ Virgo) relationship (quincunx) with the sextile of 22+ Aries and 22+ Aquarius.
I believe that the recent multiple Mercury-Pluto conjunctions in Capricorn are/have been facilitating that process. Pluto’s level of understanding comes from those primitive parts of our brain which include discarded (in favor of logic) abilities to “know” things that were once heavily relied on by our species.
Also taking place today was a conjunction of Juno to Mars at 12+ Scorpio. We could call Mars impulsive and unthinking and see Juno as vigilant regarding equality. Perhaps they started a new cycle today that plays out in the human psyche to Act, but not just on emotional (Scorpio) impulse (Mars), but with a blend of tools at our disposal equally (Juno) reliable. This conjunction between Mars and Juno is within orb of a sextile to the Mercury-Pluto conjunction (primitive instinct thinking) at the same time that the Moon activates the Jupiter/NN conjunction.
Another step in the process of becoming less dependent on technology alone and relearning or getting reacquainted with our latent/dormant faculties. Thanks for flushing that out today.
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“My guess is you start with what is real (Earth), and look at the Big Picture (Jupiter) from a practical (Virgo) perspective, allow your feelings (Moon) some say in that viewpoint and then see what your intuition (unseen NN) advises you.”
I really appreciate this take on the Virgo cluster from last night, be! I saw it in my astrology software and thought, “Oh, that looks interesting!” but did not have a lot of time to dive into the implications. Same with Mars-Juno in Scorpio; I could definitely see shades of that pair in my non-PW life, particularly regarding my sense of / desire for “equality” in certain activities related to the theatrical project my partner and I are collaborating on. It was an interesting afternoon and evening, for sure, with much learned.
Also, for those who keep really good journals or happen to have clear memories of what was going on around the Capricorn solstice, the first of the three Mercury-Pluto conjunctions was Dec. 19, prior to Mercury’s retrograde. I trimmed that out of this blog post for the sake of efficiency, but I realize some people might find that information helpful.
For sure, even though the Caltech astrophysicists took their cue from their mathematical calculations and physics, the idea of these Mercury-Pluto conjunctions surrounding the Planet 9 announcement relating to intuition rings a bell for me. Monday’s station had a lot of intuitive-level “a-ha” to it for me. It was not easy material that was coming to light, but I think I can integrate it rather than shove it back into the darkness of deep (inner) space.
Be, love that Planet Intuition as a working name and working idea. Amanda, thank you for keeping the Mercury Pluto conjunctions front and center. Important for me to stay awake during this passage and make the most of it.
Mercury (Mind, thoughts, ideas) in direct motion, conjunct ×3 Pluto (transformation) = INITIATION!
No matter how you slice it, the potential is there indeed.
Thanks Amanda.
Amanda: Love your “take” on Pluto (as distinguished from Mars). Gonna’ make that a continuous point of reference henceforth. Once again, you provide a verbal star to guide us.