Antidotes to the SATURN PLUTO Passion Killer
How many relationships do you know which have split or are under strain this year? The war-mongering Saturn-Pluto blight hasn't just been putting nations at loggerheads, it has been stretching personal tolerance to the limits as well.
Saturn in negative mood is cold, critical, rigid, while Pluto is controlling, contemptuous, resentful and vengeful. In opposition it can be a bulldozer-meets-brick-wall mood in the happy homestead as well as out on the streets of Palestine. Hardly a bundle of laughs, or libido boosting.
Some signs are more affected than others. Gemini and Sagittarius in particular have the eclipses to cope with, as well as Saturn-Pluto across their relationship axis. But no sign has escaped, since the influences create tensions in one specific area of their chart, which will have a knock-on effect. Since this heavenly tug-of-war will be with us until mid-2003, when it mercifully disappears, we all need to find an antidote. The circumstances may not change, but attitudes can.
While Saturn-Pluto gives great stamina, toughness and resilience, what it lacks is tolerance, forgiveness, compassion and a sense of humour. It tends to reduce life to survival mode, which ultimately becomes self-centred and narrowly obsessive. Exploiting vulnerabilities, point-scoring and manipulating is one temptation. Pulling up the drawbridge and sitting in isolation is another.
Relationships require an open sensitivity to the other, their needs, wants and insecurities. But it takes two to tango, so there must be an even-handed agreement. Where there is no give on one side with Saturn-Pluto around, then the other side will dig in stubbornly. It's a fight to the death, or in personal terms, the destruction of the relationship. And OK, some flaky, shaky emotional ties may have come to the end of the road anyway. Saturn-Pluto's destructive tendencies are one way of clearing rubbish. If apathy or fear has left you stuck in a twosome that was well past it's sell-by date, then this is when you face the brutal truth. Just watch a tendency to see only the downside of your partner. Remember there's an upside as well and you may well regret hasty decisions when life returns to easier times ahead.
So how are the different signs faring?
Gemini has Saturn in your own sign till June 2003, so you are volunteering (or being forced) to cut irrelevancies out of your life. You are also facing Pluto's intensity of feeling in close partnerships, which does not suit your butterfly air sign temperaments. You are having to learn that depth in intimacy need not involve giving away your identity, that real togetherness doesn't have to mean total submission or handing away power. Your wings may feel clipped Geminis, but you could be due for lifelong rewards if you get the point.
Sagittarius has it the other way round. Pluto in your own sign is boosting your sense of personal power, but Saturn across the zodiac is casting its clinical, critical eye over close partners. Standing still with relationships running on the old status quo feels more like a grave than a rut. Give up nagging is one hint. You may be changing, growing as a personality, maybe even getting more successful at work, but your nearest may need time to catch up. Where did your sunny optimism and adaptability go? Get it back along with a good joke book and drop the stinging comments.
Virgo feels caught between work responsibilities and a driving urge to change your home and emotional base, to leave old ways of relating and behaving behind. No surprise that you've become too narrowly focused on just getting through the daily list of must-dos. And have ended up in resentful power struggles with family members or loved ones, who have no desire to alter anything. Life isn't either/or. Use your ingenuity to find the third way. Get away from home and work hassle and step out of character. Go enjoy yourself socially. Connect to your earthier passions. They are there somewhere gathering dust on a shelf.
Pisces is similarly burdened by opposing demands from home responsibilities, which seem inescapable, and tensions at work with everyone else calling the shots but you. Remember that Saturn is over-dutiful, so put limits on what is being demanded by the family. Bring emotional tensions into the open and you will feel revitalised as a result. Power struggles at work may be a hint that you need to change direction, even find a new vocation. Set yourself free and your libido will soar. Romance can't get a look in while you have a head full of resentment and conflict. Find compassion for yourself and you will find partners do the same. Wreathe yourself in your old seductive mystique -- play-act at first if you have to.
Leo is in better shape with enthusiastic, confident Jupiter in Leo for a year from August 2002, but is still bedevilled by controlling Pluto in the chart area of romance, children and social mates. Intensity here doesn't bring passion, quite the reverse. Friends may be thinning out so socialising doesn't feel as much of a giddy whirl as before. Lighten up, loosen up. Resist the temptation to "get a grip". Do the opposite. Less fiery bull-headedness, more dynamic charm should do the trick.
Aquarius has friendly spontaneity at a low ebb with Saturn's chilly hand sitting on your romantic and social life. Responsibilities for loved ones weigh heavily. Even lighthearted, tolerant buddies seem to have turned into control freaks. Learning the lessons of tough love may come hard, but the rewards for perseverance will come sooner than you imagine. Passion was never your bag of tricks at the best of times, but you can construct a more dynamic social life for yourself. Where there's a will, there's a way. If you are not getting in party invitations, then you need to throw some yourself. Start entertaining.
Scorpio, like Aquarius, is learning to carry heavier burdens for loved ones, while not receiving much in return. Warm intimacy or indeed generosity are not the experience of Saturn in your chart area of deep togetherness. You will have to melt the icy heart of Saturn and throw away your fears of the deeper transformation that come with real sharing, caring and relating. Try to leave obdurate money troubles out of the picture when it comes to quiet moments of bliss. Easier said than done, since they have been looming large. Make a conscious effort to focus on your heart -- or lower. Work at restoring lost passion. You are the maestro. You can do it.
Taurus, even more so than Scorpio, hates being stuck in relationships where you don't have the upper hand. But with Pluto in your chart area of sexual and emotional intimacy, is there a choice? If the world won't adapt to you, then you must needs bend a little to fit present circumstances. You may not be lucky with money instantly, but that could mean you win in the love stakes, if you play your cards right. Just don't try to manipulate or control subtly. It will only harbour resentment on the other side. They may not know what you're up to, but they'll feel it. As the best physical lover in the zodiac, you can revive the fires if you put your mind and body to the task with wholehearted zest.
The other four signs are least affected emotionally, sexually and socially by the Saturn Pluto blight, but they are still distracted in different ways from sizzling romance.
Capricorn is working too hard, with not enough surplus energy for a really strenuous emotional life. With Pluto in the sign before, you also need more down and quality-me time than usual. So give yourself quiet moments to re-centre, re-charge and pamper your body. Push away heavy demands. Limit your duties and put chains on your conscience. Then feel your desires springing back to life.
Cancer has major life and career decisions to make and an uphill struggle to get co-operation at work. Health is a top priority as well. Which leaves socialising and snuggling close way down the list. Re-prioritise. If you are loving and feel adored, then your soaring physical energy will sort out ailments. Getting obsessive about work won't bring solutions closer. Quite the reverse. Find better perspectives from a horizontal position.
Aries is restricted by the pressures of everyday concerns, feeling cut off from old mates. The old fiery dynamism and wild optimism is lagging behind. Get it back. You may not like being boxed in, but this too will pass. Saturn gets your feet on the ground, which isn't where your high-flying temperament likes to be. But the ground is also connected to the body and the physical passions. There are more things at this end of the heaven and earth spectrum than you could ever have dreamed. Embrace the unknown and tune in to your physical self.
Libra, like Aries, is burdened by everyday concerns at work, and feeling restricted from travelling as far afield as usual. Work pressures tend to make for an irritable, stubborn or gloomy mood at home. Leave it all behind as you shut the door at night. Compartmentalise your concerns. Put them in a box and be firm about when you open the lid. With tremendous effort, your ambitions are being inched ahead, but you don't want to reach your pinnacle of success and find yourself lonely. Schedule nights out into the diary. Get on your glad rags and kick up your heels.
Two things to remember:
One is that the Saturn glooms lift gradually in its 2/3 years stay in any given sign and thus chart area. It moved into Gemini in late April 2001, so you are nearly into its final third, when you should begin to see some rewards for your labours and persistence.
The other: If you know your Moon or Ascendant (rising) sign, then you can read them along with your Sun sign. Thus a Cancer with a Gemini Ascendant and Aries Moon sign will pick up the Cancerian, Gemini and Aries effects of the Saturn Pluto opposition. You can find out your Moon and Ascendant sign on the Free Birth Chart calculator on my website: www.star4cast.com
Good luck!
Marjorie's new book The Astrological History of the World (Sterling Publications; ISBN: 1843330156; August 2002) is well worth a look! To read a review of this excellent book, click here.
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 Aries, the Ram
 Taurus, the Bull
 Gemini, the Twins
 Cancer, the Crab
 Leo, the Lion
 Virgo, the Virgin
 Libra, the Scales
 Scorpio, the Scorpion
 Sagittarius, the Archer
 Capricorn, the Sea Goat
 Aquarius, the Water Bearer
 Pisces, the Fishes
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