America’s Pluto Return and Black Lives Matter
At the moment, Jupiter is exactly (within a degree) conjunct Pluto in the natal chart for America, and Pluto is very close by. America is undergoing its Pluto return (currently amplified by Jupiter), which only happens once every 248 years, and lasts for several years (it will be ongoing through 2023). This signifies an upwelling of the shadow--namely the racisms and violence on which America was founded, and all the resultant, largely repressed or suppressed or unacknowledged, rage, pain, trauma, grief.
“The shadow” doesn’t refer to only positive or negative things. It refers to what has been repressed or not fully visible, and in this case that means police brutality and racism (which of course has been obvious to many people, but is surfacing within the collective in a bigger way right now, and made more widely visible through video footage), and the deeper systemic and historic forces of racism, as well as the accumulation of hundreds of years of anger and rage in response to such racism. What’s happening in The United States is not about one or a few isolated incidents, but about the accumulation of many, many incidents and injustices and violent and racist acts, large and small, that go back to before The United States existed and was the ground of its founding.
The murder of George Floyd, and the resulting protests have unfolded as the Sun in Gemini approached Uranus in the American chart (exact on May 29th, the day Derek Chauvin was charged), and as Mercury and Venus were conjunct Mars in the American chart. Uranus relates to freedom, rebellion, and revolution; and Mars to action, impulse, anger, violence. So, while the long term transits (Saturn, Jupiter, Pluto) indicate a slow but total transformation with America at the epicenter (due to its Pluto return), the short-term transits ignite (Uranus) the deep anger (Mars) in America that has been brewing for centuries. Mars in Neptune suggests that underlying the anger is deep pain, grief, and love.
Pluto’s work can be destructive or transformative (or both), depending on how it plays out, and to what extent we can collectively rise to meet the challenge to change: to confront what is being revealed, take responsibility, and evolve. That is the potential, and that is my prayer; that humanity addresses the shadows of the past and present and chooses a higher way. And that happens through us as individuals addressing our own shadows. I wish it didn’t take such injustice and suffering; yet at least there is growing compassion and solidarity, more visibility and more open discussion about these themes within the mainstream.
Those of us who are white have the responsibility of interrogating the white privilege we benefit from; of examining how we’ve benefitted from systemic racism; of challenging our own assumptions regarding race; of listening to and centering the voices of people of colour; of bringing awareness to our own racist inclinations (and yes, we all have them—take a test to learn about your implicit biases here) and the ways we may inadvertently perpetuate racist ideologies and systems; and of fighting for systemic change. It’s very common for white people to experience defensiveness, discomfort, guilt, embarrassment, or shame, when exploring these themes. It’s important to be with and explore and move through such feelings rather than use them as excuses to turn away. Personal reflection, accountability, and responsibility are some of the higher potentials of the ongoing Saturn-Pluto alignment; this is precisely how we can make the most of this time. (A quick word about “whiteness”. Biologically, race doesn’t exist. But because it’s a social category, those of us who can be identified as white benefit from it nonetheless. Please read this for more.)
One of the reactions I’ve seen from some white folks is to support the protests in general but to condemn the violence, and that sentiment is itself racist. The murder of George Floyd is not an isolated incident but represents how black people have always been treated in America; as less than human. After hundreds of years of such continued treatment, after so many instances of the police killing unarmed black people, after so many injustices, it’s no wonder there is violence in the streets. As Martin Luther King Jr. said “riot is the language of the unheard.”
But it’s more complicated than that. There are some reports that the protests have been infiltrated by white supremacists seeking to take advantage of the situation and wreak havoc; seeking to incite further chaos and violence and further polarize the issue. There’s a lot of confusion, and it’s really not clear what is happening (Mars conjunct Neptune in Pisces).
Nevertheless, can we acknowledge the insanity of condemning property damage when people are being murdered in the streets? To see property and money as more valuable than human life is at the heart of capitalism. Looting is a symbol of the rage at such a system that consistently reveals its disdain for the very people on who’s labour it depends. Capitalism and racism go hand and hand; to address one requires we address the other.
It’s also racist to focus on the reaction to police brutality rather than the police brutality itself. There have been way too many instances of police-instigated violence for us to think it’s not part and parcel of police culture itself (and the very basis for the founding of police forces — watch 13th). And there are so many videos showing excessive use of force against protesters. It’s past time for us to collectively take a good look at policing; what its value is, what its effects are, and the history that gave rise to it. Many people have been pointing out that community programs are regularly defunded, but policing budgets rarely get cut. Community programs that support people in having housing, work, food, mental health services, etc. have been shown to be much more effective in supporting thriving and safe communities than policing is. Divesting from policing, and redirecting those funds to community programs would save lives and make our communities safer.
This isn’t just an issue for America; but for all of us. There are so many stories of police-instigated violence in Canada too (data showing systemic racism in policing in Canada) and Indigenous people and people of colour are many times more likely to be killed by police in Canada than white people. We are still waiting for more information regarding the death of Regis Korchinsky-Paquet; information we would have access to if the police were required to wear body-cameras; information we shouldn’t have to wait for at all because people shouldn’t be dying at the hands of the police.
These are really big issues, and we can’t just say a few words and leave it at that. Those of us who are white are challenged to really sit with these themes, to examine how we may be racist in ways we perhaps didn’t realize, to examine our own complicity, and our responsibility in supporting and benefiting from white supremacy. This isn’t about going into guilt and shame (although those are feelings we may have to confront along the way)--that doesn’t help anyone. It’s about considering what our role is in creating a world that is more just, and that supports thriving communities. When we think we aren’t racist and so we don’t have to do anything; that’s racist. Because racism is systemic, it’s inherent in the very structures of our societies, and those of us who are white inherently benefit, which means we have a responsibility to do something about it.
By writing about this, I in no way wish to suggest I’m an expert, or have it all figured out, or know what is right. I have as much work to do around these themes as anyone. Those of us who are white can’t expect people of colour to educate us on these matters; we have to support each other in this work. Here are a couple resources for white people seeking to better understand these issues: White Awake is an organization at the intersection of anti-racism work and spirituality and there is a good list of resources on their site. See this great list compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein for anti-racism resources for white people,. Here is an incredible library compiled by Charles Preston in honour of Black History month. Here’s a list of Canadian anti-racist organizations to support.
There is so much more to say about these things, and with the final Cancer and Capricorn eclipses coming up in late June and early July, I want to revisit these themes within that context.
Some Astrologers who address topics of race and intersectionality
(The rest of this post was mostly written before the death of George Floyd. Sorry for publishing so late, but it didn’t feel right to publish this stuff without at least first addressing the current events.)
An Astrological Overview of Gemini Season
As restrictions ease in many parts of the world, many of us venture out, back into our neighbourhoods, just in time for Gemini season. Around here, more shops are open, although some are boarded up; more people are out and about--many wearing masks. There is even a little bustle. Gemini tends to be lighthearted, curious, playful, and always on the move--if not out and about, then internally: learning, thinking, talking, writing. The shift in seasons brings a lighter, more energetic mood and the impetus to gather with others and play and shake off the dust we might have gathered at home alone
But of course, it’s not so simple. Jupiter and Pluto continue to hold court in Capricorn, not far from Saturn in Aquarius, maintaining the undertone of intense structural upheaval, transformation, and doubling down. The historic global shifts we are undergoing will likely be front and center again come eclipse season in June and July, and given Mars’ extended stay in Aries (June 27th - Jan 6, 2021), square to the Capricorn action, we can expect it to preoccupy us for some months to come (sorry).
The New Moon in Gemini was at 10:39am PST Friday May 22nd at 2 degrees of Gemini. The Sun and Moon were trine Saturn, offering, perhaps, for a short-lived moment anyway, a more harmonious relationship with authority, limitation, and structure. The New Moon was ruled by Mercury, which was conjunct Venus retrograde, both of which were square Neptune, suggesting it’s not smooth sailing quite yet, and that there is an enormous amount of information, much of it confusing, contradictory, or overwhelming, that we must wade through.
Venus is retrograde in Gemini from May 12 until June 24. Venus governs what is important to us, what we value, what we love. A retrograde is always a moving back and in: against the grain, challenging the norm. In Gemini, we re-question and reevaluate how we engage with communication, and information. We reconsider our relationship to facts, data, knowledge; and to gossip, conversation, and dialogue (I wrote more about Venus retrograde for Patrons). And we reflect on what we value, what is most important to us.
Mars is currently swimming through Pisces (May 12 - June 27), making our movements dreamlike, for better or worse. Mars meets Neptune on June 13th, heightening the Piscean vibes. The potential is to align action with compassion and universal love, and follow the currents of the imagination. And/or confusion and chaos are in order.
There’s more water in the air: Mercury, Gemini’s trickster ruler, sped through Gemini (April 27th - May 28th), and is now in Cancer (May 28 - Aug 4), slowing, as it gears down to retrograde later in June (June 17 - July 12). Mercury retrograde in Cancer will highlight the eclipse axis, amplifying these final Cancer (June 21) and Capricorn (July 5) eclipses in the current eclipse series that began in 2019.
But before we get to those eclipses, signalling the final chapter of some big stories; we encounter some new stories. The first eclipse in the new eclipse series (which will see us through to the end of 2021) along the Gemini-Sagittarius axis:
Penumbral Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius
The full moon eclipse in Sagittarius occurs on June 5th at 12:12 pm PST at 16 degrees of Sagittarius. The Sun is in line with Venus retrograde, and the Sun and Moon are both exactly square Mars, not far from Neptune, in Pisces.
Gemini has to do with data and information, while Sagittarius represents the processes and philosophies by which that information is organized. Information is not knowledge. In order for us to make sense of the data that Gemini gathers, systems or theoretical frameworks are necessary. This can be anything from a feminist analysis to a religious framework--just two examples of possible lenses for understanding. There is no knowledge without such frameworks.
In popular astrology, Sagittarius refers to long-distance travel, higher education, philosophy, and religion. Notice that these are all ways in which we seek greater understanding. The quest that Sagittarius is on is ultimately for truth; for a personal understanding of the world. As every sign has its shadow, the danger is in assuming that one’s worldview is capital T True and then what was a philosophy, or a framework for organizing information, becomes dogma and ideology. The thing with ideology is--we see it in others, but not as easily in ourselves. But we are all prone to ideology.
Given the square to Mars and Neptune in Pisces, we cannot expect a straightforward relationship with truth at this time. Pisces, in its relation to information, tends toward confusion, deception, misinformation, and delusion. I wouldn’t be surprised if some surprising truths are revealed, perhaps around the eclipse, and/or in the coming weeks, as the Venus retrograde continues, Mercury retrograde begins, and we approach these final Cancer and Capricorn eclipses. What do we not yet know?
In our personal lives we may simply not yet have all the information necessary to make a decision; or we may experience gossip, lies, or miscommunications. In the collective, it may show up as misinformation and lies; but it also may refer to more nefarious campaigns to manipulate the collective through deception, misinformation, and ideology.
“Conspiracy theory” has become a derogatory term, which is interesting in itself. Sure, there are loads of harmful, and false conspiracy theories out there. And conspiracy theories aren’t always necessary to explain the phenomena they grapple with (oppressive outcomes are sometimes the result of systems and rules and policy, not a nefarious group of overlords). But that in itself doesn’t mean that there are no actual conspiracies. Given some of the extreme behaviour of those with power, would it really be surprising if there were conspiracies at work? Conspiracy, by its very nature, is hidden, so no wonder there is little information about it, and much of the existing information seems rather shady if not outright ridiculous. I suspect there is an enormous amount of manipulation of narratives going on that we don’t yet fully understand.
There is a fine line between the mainstream story and conspiracy theory. Either option, when accepted part and parcel, buys into ideology. Perhaps the challenge now is not to figure out what is true, but to rest for a moment in not knowing; in that space in between consensus reality and conspiracy theory. The human mind wants to know; that wanting drives us to explore and question and study and learn. Ironically, the very process that gives rise to knowledge necessitates not knowing. We can’t learn anything unless there is an openness to what is new and different. We can’t truly listen to another when we think we already think we know what they mean. No one alive has undergone a transition as massive as the one we find ourselves in. How can we possibly transition to something truly different unless we enter the unknown and rest there for a moment?
Whatever group or party or camp by which we identify, no matter how noble, will eventually grow rules and norms that silence our questioning and philosophizing and thinking for ourselves. The rules may be logical, may be born of acute analyses and accurate data; but as soon as analysis hardens into the party line, free thinking dies. My point isn’t that any particular ideology is wrong, or bad, but that it is ideology. My point is: what lines of thought and beliefs have you adopted, do you conform to, out of habit, out of belonging to a particular group, out of a particular identity--rather than something you’ve come to on your own terms, through open minded seeking and asking? Knowledge is only knowledge when we remember that it’s a picture of the world, a frame, a way of understanding things that are truly too vast to be fully grasped. When we take knowledge for granted, when we take it for Truth, it becomes ideology.
The spiritual path is one of deep questioning, all the way down; questioning everything we thought was true, everything we’ve been told, everything that seems obvious. My first encounter with spirituality in the mid 2000s was with Zen Buddhism, and this path perhaps represents the pinnacle of breaking down ideology. Its approach is: learn to unlearn all your habits of thoughts, all the assumptions, the categories, the names by which you organize the data of your experience. Learn to sit with the raw data, with experience itself. Learn to simply be present with what is, without naming, organizing, categorizing, commenting. It’s not that there is anything wrong with those mental processes; that’s how the mind operates. But those processes tend to become so habitual that we’ve forgotten how to be present. As soon as we observe something we are already analyzing, categorizing, processes, and then we are not observing anymore.
There is no philosophy in Zen, no rules, no metaphysics. It’s simply a method of unlearning and observing, and finding out for oneself. When one sits in meditation, one practices being present with what is, and is able to take a step back from the mind and observe all its processes, the ways it seeks to organize and make sense of data. And after a while of stepping back from the mind, even those processes may calm down, and one may find it possible to stay present for more than a few seconds at a time. And when one does practice this way, one can enter non-ordinary states of consciousness. One can experience the world in an utterly different way, simply through removing the habits of mind, the ideological frameworks, the philosophical lenses through which we see the world.
One also makes way in this way, for feeling. We can’t access the heartspace when the mind swirls with information and analysis. The mind is beautiful and helpful, but sometimes it runs on autopilot, and so runs over the heart. Its programming is flawed. It tries to protect us from the pain of the heart without realizing that pain is a passageway to love.
An eclipse square to Mars is certainly tense. A square to Mars always holds the potential for confrontation and conflagrations, as well as the impetus to fight for what is right, to stand up for what one believes, and to protect those who are vulnerable. But in Pisces, Mars also speaks to the deep pain and grief and despair rising within the collective at this time. There may be anger and chaos, but in Pisces, the suggestion is that those are born of pain and compassion. Anger can be a way of dealing with hurt that is too painful to bear. Anger can be a way of empowering oneself when the sea of grief threatens to overwhelm. There is nothing wrong with anger. But, as difficult as it is, it’s through feeling that we move through grief. Grief isn’t a wall; it’s a passageway, and there is renewal on the other side, and the energy to fuel revolutions of love.
There is much to grieve. The pain of hundreds or thousands of years of oppression. The wounds of our ancestors that we still feel in our bones. The senseless loss of lives, the suffering of so many at the hands of unjust systems. The inordinate pain caused by a world that denies soul and life and love. The pain of the earth who we haven’t treated as our mother. The loss of thousands of species--each unique expressions of the creativity of the cosmos. The loss of a way of life that may have been compromised but still is what we’ve known. The end of the world as we knew it.
In grieving what’s been lost, we are in the underground, in the darkness. We can’t yet see what comes next because we have yet to traverse this passage. This journey can’t be rushed. This station in the night, this land of sadness and pain, this is the road, this is where we are. We can’t jump to the destination. The only way to get there is by being here first. Here is the way to there, and by the time we get there, there will be here too.