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Chiron and Pluto are both important planets of transformation and initiation. This contact is the tail-end of a long (58 years) cycle that began July 19, 1941, when Chiron (yet to be discovered) was conjunct Pluto at 3Le40. There's been a lot of collective psychic overhaul during this time and now it's time to start sorting out where this trip has taken us. It's also a time to begin looking forward to the next cycle (beginning Dec. 30, 1999), when our evolution must step up to a new, more conscious, level of behavior. We can no longer ignore Chiron and Pluto (this will be the first conjunction humanity has watched since they were discovered), nor can we overlook the dark recesses of our own psyches. We've got a lot of "clean up" work to do inside us the next couple years, as we plumb the depths of our own twisted motivations. It's time to grow up!
Just what we need -- a couple of Trickster planets using each other for punching bags! Square aspects are never easy, but this one seems determined to take our biggest hurts and issues and drag them into the open. It's time to take a good, hard look at these problems we'd rather ignore and examine them in a whole new light. Curiously, Uranus is very near its direct station now, intensifying the need to overhaul our current pained points of view. Be ready to let go of some of your favorite battle wounds, especially ones that prevent you from growing in awareness.
Due to the peculiarities of Chiron's motion, this contact repeats 8 times, stretching from 1997 to 2001! Obviously, we're talking about a long-term influence here. Given Saturn's connection with the physical body (especially the structural elements of skin, bones and teeth) and Chiron with healing, I suspect this period is a time to work through old injuries, chronic illnesses or "body armoring" that prevents us from being in tip-top shape. Given that unresolved emotions often take hold in the body as chronic tension patterns and deformed postures, it seems that body-based forms of therapy are more effective at releasing old emotions and hurts than merely talking about it. I frequently tell people, as a bodyworker, that the body is the deepest part of the unconscious mind, the part of us that holds onto behavior patterns more stubbornly than anything else. These days, the biggest blocks to spiritual growth are in the body itself and must be released at that level. That's one of the unappreciated side-effects of being spirits within a physical body -- the body, too, must be enlightened. Get some help from a competent practitioner for this -- you probably can't work through this problem alone.
This aspect was one of the "triggers" that announced Neptune's entrance into Aquarius. Jupiter is a mental planet of sorts, but it is also bringing in much optimism and confidence to an uncertain situation. As a mental planet, Jupiter looks at the big picture and the broad philosophical underpinnings of the situation. With Neptune looking after the part of the psyche that harnesses emotion to create the world around us, it's quite likely that this is a time to gain a deeper understanding of exactly how we weave the strands of our lives together to get different patterns. Emotions and intellect united are a powerful, even magical, combination. At the very least, this contact should improve your mood and disposition, making the burdens a little lighter and more pleasant. Note that this aspect is part of a larger 13 year cycle that began 97-1-9, when Jupiter and Neptune were conjunct at the beginning of the Grand Finale.
Jupiter-Saturn contacts usually have broad social implications, since they rule the privileges and responsibilities of being a member of the wider social milieu. In fact, this contact is the beginning of the end for the 20 year cycle that began in 1981 (when Reagan took office) and will peter out around 2001. This is not a time when things are going smoothly in the outer world. It may seem like there's too many responsibilities and too few rewards for your efforts, unless you've been working very hard for a long time. It's a period when the conflicts and problems in society are coming to a head, threatening to tear apart the web of agreements among us that give us the illusion of living together in a "civilized" fashion. Fortunately, this is a fleeting influence, not a long drawn out affair, so I wouldn't get overly worried. Still, this is a time to start thinking about what we've learned the last 2 decades in our private lives and in the public arena, seeing what should be conserved and what needs to be corrected. Make a mental note of any areas in your public life where things aren't working right. If you don't make the necessary adjustments, I'm sure the outer world will be happy to do it for you.
This aspect is right before Pluto's station and the lunar eclipse. Jupiter represents reaching out into the world, while Pluto is about reaching inward to our depths. Sometimes these opposing trends can work together, but not when there's a square going on. I suspect that our ability to make connections with the world at large is on a collision course with some of the more significant changes going on in life. Perhaps a focus on inner transformations is drawing us away from involvement with the world; maybe the concerns of the world are distracting us from looking within. If you keep a high-minded attitude in your contacts with others, the difficult possibilities will be minimized. Fortunately, this is a rather fleeting influence, so the downturns should be short-lived.
Both of these planets are "mental" bodies, stimulating the intellect and intuition. Keep an open mind to fresh approaches and focus on the big picture over the little details. This can be a time of breakthroughs if you've run out of ideas for certain troubles. Trust your intuition, even if it's telling you things that seem nuts. Sometimes, ideas need to be totally crazy before they work.
Jupiter is the principle of abundance, expansion and reaching out to the world. We often think about this mostly in material terms of prosperity, since ol' Jove is the Santa Claus or rich uncle of the solar system, but there are more subtle levels of this expansion as well. Since both planets are in water signs (Jupiter in Pisces, Chiron in Scorpio), the emotional element is emphasized here. I'm beginning to understand Chiron as an initiator into new levels of awareness that simply transcend old hurts and wounds. And trines are the most easy-going and harmonious of all the aspects. The overall picture looks quite interesting, even if the details aren't all visible. Besides the obvious interpretations of overcoming old emotional limitations about prosperity and abundance, there's an intriguing social dimension to this contact. Our relationships are often defined more by their restrictions than by the freedoms they allow. Except for a few close friends and companions (and sometimes even with them), our contacts with others are usually tightly guarded affairs. Allowing our inner feelings and concerns to come out is basically a taboo. However, the more that the inner world contacts the outer, the more we open up to people, the wider and more rich our lives become. The Jupiterian theme of reaching out to the world can't be realized unless we let our passion come out. I think part of this three-fold trine is simply to let the joy of living emerge in us. There's probably much more as well -- we'll have to see.
This aspect adds a curious twist to the Jupiter-Chiron picture. Neptune is associated with the dreamer and the idealist, with taking the heart to a level where there are no distinctions or barriers between people. At a still deeper lesson, Neptune teaches us how to work with the subtle energetic connections between things that look separate and unconnected in the visible, material world. The flip side of all these themes are our abilities to delude and entrap our vision through false beliefs. Octiles are rarely easy contacts, so it seems one of the main blockages to unleashing that Jupiter expansion includes a feeling of separation and despair in the heart, a sense that Oneness isn't real. Granted, it's easy to be seduced by Neptunian fairy tales, but the more subtle dimensions of the world are just as important to our lives as the more tangible parts are. A false vision of what's real is as much a jail as steel bars are -- more so, in fact, because Neptune's prison isn't visible to the eye. With Neptune still making its foothold in Aquarius all year, the old vision is taking an incessant pounding. We need to lighten and allow magic to happen.
The start of this cycle was heralded in the astrological press at the time as the beginning of a scientific, technological, and cultural rebirth, although you haven't heard much about it since then. On a personal level, this is a cycle concerned with overhauling the "mental environment" we each live in, since both planets have their intellectual overtones. OK, so where's the change? Unfortunately, it seems to be a law of the psyche that people don't change their minds until they have to, until the mismatch between the world and our points of view become too great to ignore any longer. That's where the harsh aspects in these cycles come in. Octiles are known for introducing friction and "grit" into the system, of pointing out the disagreements between people and making the flaws in their thinking more noticeable. If anything, I suspect the difference in styles between Jupiter and Uranus are starting to grate on each other. Jupiter is big and ponderous, trying to get the big picture, but in a very traditional way. Uranus is more daring and quick moving, into change for change's sake, a kind of intellectual guerrilla warrior. I see this 3 part aspect as a time when conventional wisdom tends to fall flat on its face, when we come face to face with our blindspots, prejudices and biases. This conventional manner of approaching the world makes "civilization" possible, but mainly by operating as a strait jacket that we all volunteer to slip on. In fact, if we all operate from a more enlightened basis, many of these restrictions become unnecessary -- and undesirable. It's time to lighten our load and take off these mental blinders. Things may get worse before they improve, but if you "get the message" quickly, you'll be amazed at how much easier life can be.
It's hard to imagine two planets that are as different in energy than these two. Saturn is about form and substance, creating boundaries and definitions, putting up the fences that separate one thing from another. He's the pragmatist, the curmudgeon, and sometimes the Head Teacher at the School of Hard Knocks. Neptune is the dreamer and idealist, however. His role is to dissolve boundaries and strip some of the "hard reality" away from our experiences. Neptune is less concerned with the individual "things" in the world than the subtle energetic connections that bind them together into one indissolvable whole. Obviously with a hard square, these two approaches are butting heads big time. This is a crucial turning point in the 36 year Saturn-Neptune cycle which began in 1989. The triple conjunction that year triggered the first cracks in the old Eastern Bloc in Europe, culminating in the fall of the Berlin Wall within days of the final contact; not to mention the Exxon Valdez and other environmental disasters and our first looks via space probes of Neptune itself. Obviously, ideals can conquer over cold hard reality, but just as often the status quo can fight back. I suspect we'll see more news stories coming out of Eastern Europe and the old Soviet Union (now a hodge-podge of separate states) in coming months, since there's so much unfinished business in this part of the world. On a more esoteric level, this is a battle between two ways of looking at the world. As people evolve into higher spiritual awarenesses, they need to incorporate these new perceptions into everyday life. Maybe we're reaching a point where the old version of "everyday life" can't accommodate any more changes. Something's got to give in order to allow further growth -- the alternative is spiritual stagnation. This is a crisis of our commonly held version of consensus reality -- boundaries need to shift, beliefs need to be released. With reality up for grabs like this, situations may feel "unreal" and even "insane" at times -- the illusory is Neptune's realm. This may be a scary ride for all of us, but it opens up some great new possibilities. Don't shrink from the task. (Note: both Saturn and Neptune are changing signs this year -- can you say transitions?)
Due to the curious orbit of Chiron, this aspect repeats 5 times total -- talk about a long term connection! Even weirder, the trine aspect between these two planets is still going on until next March, so this cycle is hopelessly confused! I'm not sure what to make of this bizarre contact, but knowing Chiron's role as an initiator into higher levels, this is another major shift in awareness going on. Jupiter is about going beyond our boundaries and limitations, making contact with the outer world. With Chiron so busy (not to mention Uranus), it certainly appears our Jupiter issues are up for work. Where are you holding back from reaching out to the world, what fears keep you from making your mark out there? What old painful experiences are blinding you to the benefits available by linking up with others?