Maggie Nalbandian
&
Gregory N. Nalbandian
Stop the world, I want to get off! Nothing seems stable, events that drastically change our lives seem common place, and we all are holding our breath in anticipation of which way to jump. Will we stay in the frying pay or jump into the fire? The decade of the nineties started off this way and there has been no let-up. The Cold War ended only to be replaced with ethnic and religious wars. Old enemies are now allied and old friends are foes. The Reagan years left worldwide economic disaster and our children are killing each other. Is it the apocalypse or are we in the death throws of ending an era and preparing for the new world to come?
We have been having spectacular transits these past few years and it appears that we have been following the astrological road map faithfully - more to the negative reaction that to the positive. Human nature tends to resist change tenaciously which leads to drastic events to make us let go. We have seen the major transit of the Neptune/Uranus conjunction which happens every 172 years. The Saturn involvement happens every fourth Uranus/Neptune conjunction making this event once in approximately 688 years. Pluto transits the sign Scorpio once in approximately 265 years. While it is in this sign it is inside Neptune's orbit and reaches its closest point to the Sun. All of these astrological events have been occurring since the mid eighties and nineties with the Neptune/Uranus/Saturn event starting in 1990. Any one of these transits is spectacular but to have them happening at relatively the same time is a MAJOR event.
But wait - you ain't seen nothing yet!! We've got more to come in the last half of the nineties. We have two major planets getting ready to change signs next year (Pluto into Sagittarius and Uranus into Aquarius) and the third, Neptune, will go into Aquarius in 1998. With Uranus changing signs approximately every seven years, Neptune every fourteen years and Pluto changes signs anywhere from twelve to thirty years, this is indeed rare for these changes to happen at relatively the same time.
For the past year or so we have been in what we call the balsamic or mutating phase of these coming changes. When a planet reaches the 28th degree of a sign it is in this mutating or changing mode. It is leaving behind the old sign or archetype and mutating into the new. It is not yet the new sign and yet not the old sign purely. It is a time of disorder and discontent with the old sign yet not having any idea of the new to come. Like the caterpillar in its cocoon, it doesn't know it is changing into the beautiful butterfly but realizes it cannot stop whatever it is that is changing.
Pluto reached the 28th degree of Scorpio briefly in February, 1994 and then began it's retrograde at that degree. It will again reach the 28th degree in late November and will be at 0 degree Sagittarius on January 17, 1995. It will be in Sagittarius only until April 26th when it returns to Scorpio in retrograde motion. On November 10, 1995 it will again enter Sagittarius to stay for approximately thirteen years. The twelve month period between November 1994 and November 1995 is the crucial time of mutation. It is what I call the critical changing year for the Pluto cycle. Since February, 1994 it seems that we are collectively (unconsciously) holding our breath. Emotions and frustrations seem bottled up creating a sense of non-action or lethargy. The economy is a reflection of this with everyone feeling insecure about the future of their job, the stock market, the dollar, etc. The inordinate number of other retrograde planets is only adding to this feeling. November should see movement again - one way or the other.
What can we expect for the 1995 changing year? Pluto in Scorpio forced us to not only take a look at our dark side but also the personal and social use of the power of regeneration. We have had to face our greed through our excesses and extremes in sex, violence, death and the compulsive pursuit of the dollar at any cost. We see it symbolized in our artistic expression through motion pictures, TV, newspapers and magazines. The rise of "reality" TV, and it's focus on violence and tragedy is made even more painful when a victim or criminal can then sell his or her story for the masses to consume. The era of profiting from someone's personal tragedy has never been greater. We have seen death played out through horrifying and bizarre ways from random, senseless shootings to serial killers. We see it played out through our Aids plague and the deadly foot dragging by the government to find a cure. In the area of health/regeneration we also see a clamping down on herbs and vitamins, with the major feeling of foul play between the FDA and pharmaceutical/drug companies. Once again profit from the sick and misery. Though throughout history the strong have always manipulated the weak, it seems that right now it is at a cyclic plateau. On a more positive spin of this time, we the people, have responded positively by making commitments (Scorpio) to our environment and to the Aids victims, the homeless and to sexual abuse. We have learned we can no longer hide our heads in the sands of innocence that such dark human nature exists and that we can CHANGE it, not just pay money to see it. We, therefore, may see in the critical 1995 changing year a confrontation (negative) or a commitment to resolve (positive) all the above. More than likely some crisis situation will occur that will force us to come to terms with our human dark side as well as the ways in which we regenerate it.
What are we to learn from Pluto in Sagittarius? Possibly we will be learning just what true freedom is and that truth is relative as we are all unique individuals with our own needs and perceptions of truth. The underlying emphasis will be the movement of ideas that push the human experience beyond the severe black and white spectrum we are in now. The Sagittarius energy is one of higher philosophies and Truths, which will come into play in the form of religious and philosophical beliefs. Hopefully we will learn tolerance for other's truths/beliefs and not feel threatened by them. The 1995 critical year could very well be the crisis year to break into this lesson of freedom and tolerance. If we follow past events, it could be a religious war - their truth versus our truth. Possibly the different religions will become even more militant and rigid in their intolerance -- we usually choose to experience the extremes of the negative before making the positive changes. Another possibility is the public encounter with ET's. This may sound a little far fetched, but all the factors are in place for a strong collective consciousness jolt about religion. Wouldn't an encounter with extraterrestrial do it! Hopefully we won't need the crisis of conflict in order to change but, knowing human nature, I wouldn't bet too heavily on it.
However, we as individuals can do something. We can begin by looking at our own prejudices and see where we can start learning to accept different beliefs and life styles as non-threatening. We can speak out against the tyranny of intolerance and seek out like minded people to join our own voices. Remember the caterpillar is changing into a beautiful butterfly. The change may be scary or even painful at times but the beauty and freedom is worth it. So as the end of the Pluto in Scorpio generation is put to bed for the next 265+ years, and the awakening of the Sagittarius generation is upon us in 1995, we as individuals can only have faith in the chaos that causes evolution, and the strength of the human spirit to find order from the growth.
--finis--