Astrology and the Galactic Center
At 26 degrees Sagittarius, the Galactic Center of the Milky Way is hidden behind a veil of dust and gas. With Pluto, the outermost planet of our Solar System (symbolizing the least accessible parts of ourselves) moving to this same degree, we are experiencing seismic shifts deep within our universal unconscious. The last time this happened was in 1745, the birth of the industrial revolution. Daily life changed irrevocably as workers moved from farms to weapons production due to the Jacobite rebellion in Britain and textile expansion. The polarity of religious fundamentalism and religious exploration was represented by the birth of Hasidism and the Universalists. Ben Franklin ran his kite to harness the electricity. And of course the voices of the American and French revolutions were gaining momentum.
In the 1500s, when Pluto was at this degree, the first map of America was published and the Protestant Reformation swept through Europe, laying the seeds of the ground on which the United States was established. Every time Pluto faces the Galactic Center, we experience the death of the familiar routine of life as we embrace the “new birth.” It becomes impossible for us to go back to the way things were before, while dealing with changes that we may not be able to deal with in the most progressive way.
When Pluto traveled past this point in the 1250s, spectacles were introduced and Marco Polo headed for China. The illuminating piece about looking at a transit historically is that we can see parallels of what happened in the past with the present. Our medical technology continues to provide options for people, but we must deal with its ramifications. As of today, more than 7,500 wounded US soldiers from Iraq are unable to return to duty. Our technology has altered the potential casualties of this war, but the long-term consequences of maimed survivors with limited services available will have a high impact. making an impact in our society.
Historically we see how technology has changed the way we “see” life. At this moment, a spa owner tells me how her clients do not relax in the massage or treatment. Everyone has their cell phone on or Blackberry on; we’ve “married” technology and it seems to have the hallmarks of a codependent relationship at best, or battered at worst.
Another issue has been religious expression and fundamentalism. America is rooted in this and we continue to wrestle with the inherent paradox of giving everyone complete freedom of religion. Pluto’s message is always about meeting the Shadow in the mirror. Do we embrace and integrate it or do we try to eradicate it, never finding its lessons?
As Pluto retrograde returns to the Galactic Center point, we are given the opportunity to choose how we will face the Age of Destruction that the Mayans predicted. We can reevaluate the decisions made when early explorers tried to capture new worlds to make them their own. We are integrating cellular changes caused by the increase in the electromagnetic field caused by our technology, which will affect the evolution of all life forms on our planet. We can choose whether we will revisit the Sagittarian celebration of the earth and the inherent information that we can extract from it. When we took the plunge into the Industrial Revolution, did it have to come at the expense of an agrarian culture and family strength? Can we balance the freedom that technology should give us with a sophisticated farming and education cooperative? We have the power to choose what will be destroyed and what will be born. But make no mistake about it, the more each individual takes responsibility for the destiny of our culture, the more spiritually evolved our decision will be. We have the opportunity to align our spiritual evolution with our technical evolution and every time we miss the opportunity, it becomes harder to catch up. The impulse of Pluto’s path is to allow us the opportunity to travel light years in life.
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