If You Were Alive During Henry the 8th's Reign, Would You Want to Play in His Court?
One of my favorite uses for astrology is to examine the cycles in history. This moment in history 2020 is not for sissies! On January 12, Saturn meets Pluto, a meeting that hasn’t taken place in this position since the 1500’s. It's a dark appointment. This conjunction forces us to look at issues we'd love to avoid; the dark side of humanity. Things we'd like to flush. Abuse of power, modern forms of slavery, corporate power (Capricorn rules hierarchical, pyramid shaped structures in society).
When we see a clear example of POWER in the world, our own power issues activate. Therefore the archetype of power abusers will not be perceived the same by everyone. It's fascinating that people see the same thing differently. It's bizarre that a slave can be seen by one person with compassion and as a commodity by another. What's the defining difference? Consciousness. So with this new year, new decade, buckle up to perceive both your inner SLAVE and your inner MOB BOSS because you'll see them in the world.
History repeats so we can collectively evolve. Tracking past cycles sheds light on the present. Here are a few examples of the 1517 meet-up between Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, and what was going on in the world that made it to the history books.
During this last conjunction, 500 years ago, the transatlantic slave trade brought the first Africans to the American colonies, and slavery became our economic system. Brutal and unjust but profitable, a genius idea at the time, based on current values.
Did colonists know they were causing pain for the enslaved? Sure, but folks were okay with the institution if it kept them comfortable in their social paradigms. For slavery to exist so openly for 300 years indicates that most people alive at the time accepted its benefits while turning a blind eye to the human suffering it installed in the culture.
During this time, others in society (such as the Quakers) made conscientious objections, morally, to slavery but didn't know how to stop it until the idea for an Underground Railroad emerged. This was a way of subverting power and taking it into their own hands. Another Plutonian concept- the dark, underground, in the night, secret, hidden, powerful, occult.
Also during the last Saturn/Pluto conjunction in Capricorn, the same cultures that created the new slave trade, themselves wanted to be free from their own dictators. Martin Luther began the Protestant reformation, questioning religious power structures. But it's obvious that last conjunction hasn't finished its work in our psyches, because the issues still plainly exist. Five hundred years later, we continue looking at religious organizations, and black culture is still haunted by a racist terrorism. But we don't want to look at these things- they are plutonian.
We like to say we'd never abuse power. But let's not kid ourselves: we all possess an inner road-rager that can go out of control. Think about yourself with hormonal fluctuations on your worst day, poorly slept, without a candy bar in sight, ready to wreak havoc on a line in Starbucks if you don't get your coffee soon.
The infamous Henry the 8th, demonstrated unprecedented singular power. Studies of this king speculate he may have been mentally ill and if you want to watch the Tudors, you’re in for a lively illustration of "high society" at that time run by a tyrant. Capricorn rules high society, autocrats and the Devil card in the tarot. It teaches that the wolf is always at our backs as we are driven by our thirst for power, (and that the life of a mercenary is frightfully short.) Those wanting to play in the fire get burned. The world of power brokers is NEVER safe because it’s heartless, soulless, essentially sociopathic. What goes around keeps going. But we don't have to play in that field. Today we have an opportunity to create a world we choose. Shall we do this?
The gift of these astrological cycles is seeing history-being-created within each of us. Consciousness is an evolving spiral so we visit the same issues but try to handle them at a higher level. As the cycle resurfaces in modern times, we have the chance to evolve our understanding of power and the "god" of money.
Think about the social change that happened in the 1960's. This was largely due to the Uranus/Pluto conjunction at that time. The new conjunction on January 12, 2020 between Saturn and Pluto will also impregnate the collective consciousness with who we are, and what we value. Our consciousness is creating culture and society this very moment. Think of this conjunction as a massive installation of values that will become our new way of being. Can you see yourself as the scribe of the next thirty years, that will create history?
This week, check into your feelings about these issues. How do you look at current Henry the 8th Archetypes? Dictators & Mob dons? Do you feel free? If not, what/who holds you back? Where have you turned a blind eye to exploitation? How much authority do you give yourself to overcome obstacles that are presented by the powers that be? Do you fall into a victim space? (Saturn) requires us to restructure things we’d rather not look at (Pluto). Pluto rules the underbelly and the things we turn our heads away from so we don’t have to look at them! This is not a time for apathy. What if you chose this time to be alive? It's an opportunity to own your power and decide where you want to take that power now.
