The great mythologist of our age, Joseph Campbell, cautioned us all that if we do not live our myth, our myth will live us.
The United States of America is in the throes of being ‘lived’ by its own Plutonic myth, in large part because mainstream culture throws out it archetypal babies with its astrology-is-bunk bathwater.
To begin, allow me to briefly explain why archetypal astrology is not bunk:
There is an exquisite order that underlies the entire universe, reflected back to us in the night time sky and the clock-like procession of the planets around the sun, against the larger holonic order of the starry cosmos. Because of this galactic and cosmic macro-order, everything is relative to that greater order. All phenomena, including the circumstances of our lives, are patterned. Archetypes are the symbols we associate with those patterns (e.g., Mars as the warrior archetype, sun as ego, Venus as eros, etc.).
And as physics has discovered, psyche and matter are inextricably entangled.
According to the so-called “observer effect” that flows from Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, consciousness and awareness co-create the observed world. If we look for atoms as particles, they behave as particles. If we look for them as waves, they exhibit wave function rather than appearing as particles. Likely the most bizarre scientific discovery ever, at least until we consider the phenomena of entanglement!
Also, contrary to popular belief, consciousness (psyche) – the ‘ghost in the machine’ – does not just magically emerge from inert matter or brain cells, just as you can’t get blood from a rock. If anything, it goes the other way — consciousness is the primary, inescapable phenomenon of the cosmos. Matter is just the frozen light that is infused with conscious energy.
So now that we have that out of the way, you’ll have noted that one of the primary rallying cries of the current insurrection that toppled our capitol building for about 4 hours, killing 5, coming within minutes of public executions, and spreading human feces on the walls of Congress, was:
“It’s 1776”
The United States is currently experiencing it’s first Pluto return. What that means in plain English is that Pluto, which orbits around the sun about every 250 years, is returning to that place of influence, relative to Earth, where it was in 1776. One long cycle of planetary time. That position happens to be in the constellation Capricorn, which is associated with patriarchy – like that of our founding ‘fathers‘ perhaps? You know, the ones many of the rioters dressed up like as if it were Halloween in Hell?
So from the perspective of our relationship with the dark, patriarchal lord Pluto, in the context of where Pluto happens to fall in our nation’s natal chart, it really is 1776 again.
Pluto is considered by many astrologers to be the most important planet in our charts. The accomplished scholar and archetypal astrologer Dr. Richard Tarnas devoted much of his revelatory tome Cosmos & Psyche to the axial relationships of Pluto with other outer planets throughout the history of civilization. He found striking patterns of historical resonance, for example, with revolutionary movements like the French and American revolutions – especially as Pluto and Uranus were involved. And Uranus, right now, is slowly working his Promethean way through the constellation Taurus. The last time he was there? Late 30’s/early 40’s. When Christian nationalist movements and white supremacy fanaticism had boiled over into all-out war and genocide.
So we’re not out of the woods yet here, my fellow Americans! Far from it – Pluto moves quite slowly, and our Pluto return will not be exact until 2022. We may be seeing a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, but unfortunately it is coming from the heat engine of climate chaos bearing down on us while we shelter in place, guarding ourselves and our loved ones from an unseen scourge.
Mythologically, Pluto is the dark lord of the underworld, alternatively called Hades – or Donald Trump. His energy is manifest in organized crime, toxic masculinity, corruption, plunder, and ruin. From the standpoint of archetypal astrology, Pluto is closely associated with death and rebirth, breakdown and regeneration.
And insurrection, apparently.
Where is the light? If we take the perspective of an even greater holon of order, we can take some solace in the fact that Saturn just ended a 500-year cycle of conjunctions with Jupiter in Earth signs, the most recent ending on the longest night of the year as the two outer giants marched hand-in-hand into the air sign Aquarius, marking the dawn of the long-awaited Age of Aquarius. And what was happening five centuries ago? Everyone back then was integrating Galileo and Copernicus’ mind-blowing discoveries into their worldview, including of course the very idea that Earth, God’s chosen planet, was not the center of the universe after all! Heck, it wasn’t even the center of our galaxy!
And some guy named Luther nailed a bunch of protests to his church door, signaling the end of a Dark Age ruled over by the oppressive, black-robed lords of the Roman Catholic Church.
And where do we find ourselves after the completion of this long, Saturnian cycle?
Everyone, well everyone except the Q-anons (a.k.a. Republican Terrorist Party) at least, is busy integrating the mind-blowing discoveries of Heisenberg (‘father’ of quantum physics ; ), Carl Jung (who collaborated with another father of quantum physics, Wolfgang Pauli, to explain the phenomenon of synchronicity by postulating the psycho-physical nature of reality), and the Apple/Gates gang into our worldview — including, of course, the idea that Earth, while still perhaps not the center of the universe, is a living organism whole unto itself. Even plants have intelligence!
And a child, Gaia’s chosen one, is leading us into this brave new Aquarian Age. Which is what happens when there are no grown-up leaders left in the world. Because Gaia abhors a vacuum.
So there is that.
Mythologically speaking, we are witnessing a clash of the titans here – a clash of worldviews. The old patriarchal (colonizing) worldview will, unfortunately, not go down without a fight. But we who are aware know that down that nihilistic path lies nothing but death and suffering. And it is up to us to choose a different path.
Ask any mother and she will tell you. It’s unfortunate that birth is messy and painful. But it’s the price you pay to bring a new life into the world.
Choose life.
Panpsychology NOW! 