Pluto’s New Moon Vega Station

Fixed star Vega, photographed here by the Spitzer Space Telescope,

is twenty-five light years away from us in constellation Lyra

(photo credit: JPL, NASA)

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As this post hits the digital airwaves, dwarf planet Pluto is going on station. The actual station-retrograde moment occurs at 3:52 in the morning on Friday, April 17th (in the UT/+0 time zone), but given the nature of stations as indicators of things ‘taking a turn’ in life, it just isn’t unusual for things to happen just in advance - or just after - a station’s occurrence.

And the likelihood of something Plutonic happening to you...? That increases (or decreases) with how exactly Pluto aspects your natal chart.

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The closer the aspect, the stronger the effect.  And since we’re talking Pluto, the closer to the actual time and date of station, the more transformative the effect. With Pluto going from direct motion into retrograde, we’re going from just shy of seven months of adapting to externally into about five months of changing on the inside - or finding out how we’ve already changed, and what that means to us in some long(er) run.

With Pluto taking this ‘turn’ in perfect conjunction with fixed star Vega, part of what we’re going through involves a sorting through standards and ‘structures,’ be they physical, mental, moral, fiscal, occupational or otherwise - and what we’re finding there is that things are either changing ... or never were what we wanted to think they were to begin with.

And no, we can’t forget about it.

Nor are we particularly enthralled about it, even in the case of those (you know who you are...!) who are utterly determined to resist, that being one of the easiest things to read from the grand trine (in earth signs) which Pluto is in as it goes into retrograde.

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This‘resisting’ force is symbolized by Mars, though at 12 Taurus there is every chance that some of us will be beginning to tackle or work through things which have been resisted, but which for whatever reason are now beginning to be recognized as an area of life or attribute or situation in need of investment and attention, not something simply to be taken on its hard-shell face.

The other member of this triad being Black Moon Lilith at 15 Virgo, an odd combination which speaks either to a determined effort to deny any responsibility for dealing with particular facts/truths even if they will benefit your aim, goal or ‘cause’... or which speaks to some sort of determined effort which, in seeking to control how others act, think or prioritize, gets confronted by some sort of transformative energy which ends up changing the goal or the point of the effort itself.

Moreover, this particular Pluto station is also part of an ‘almost complete’ grand sextile.

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In not being complete, this figure won’t be important to many of us. However, IF you’re someone with a planet, dwarf planet, node, cusp or axis point positioned between 4 and 7 degrees of Libra in your natal chart, that point will complete this grand sextile (filling in the question mark above), telling us that what you’re doing and things which are now in progress are going to change your life - not just transform your direction or change your mind but change your life in fairly short order.

This doesn't have to be a big change - but it can be. It may be something only you recognize or even suspect. It may only matter to you. Or it may have not ever  crossed your mind until now. With this being a grand sextile in fire and air taking place as Pluto takes station in an earth signs, there is a bit of an abstract quality about something both fateful and very real ... which in time you will grow to recognize as a learning experience you were never in control of.

And even if you’re not on the grand sextile list, there are two other figures included with fire and air sign sprinkle, one of which is a Kite... 

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... and the other of which is a Magic Rectangle...

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...which unlike the possible grand sextile DO both apply to everyone - at least as ‘modifiers’ to whatever Pluto station matters we’re each experiencing.

Not that they work the same way, though. Kites speak of opportunities which we want to harness, or which need to be harnessed, lest something get off course or fail to live up to its nature. Kites ‘aim’ at a goal which is pictured by the object at the top of the kite - which in this case, is Ceres at 3 Aquarius, speaking to difficulties or people who are experiencing painful difficulties and our efforts to guard against such things, to fix whatever may be causing the difficulties, or even the determination to ‘guard’ or ‘protect’ some painful status quo from criticism or interference.

But with kites, we don’t ‘aim’ right for the goal - we ‘steer’ towards it, doing that steering from the position of the kite’s “tail” (here, Juno at 7 Leo),  which if you think of that point as where a kite’s string would attach makes total sense.

As for Juno at 7 Leo, that speaks to a (Juno) managing or management of some situation, aim or tendency through the intelligent construction (constructing) of that which is the most creative and ‘aimed at’ (this being the Aquarius part) not one’s personal aims, but those bigger or more overarching considerations which if improved will bring about the result or reward we are hoping for (and thus our personal rewards).

Pluto Station-Retrograde (glyph chart)

April 17, 2015 - 3:52 a.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Pluto station-retrograde (text chart)

April 17, 2015 - 3 52 (UT +0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Magic rectangles differ from kites in that kites are something we actively do (or are in the middle of doing) and magic rectangles refer most often to things which are, or which have been set up, created or which have come to be without all that much effort on our part, and which because they are just so ‘magical’ (and more or less magically effortless) in our lives we don’t tend to value as someone else - someone who doesn’t have our talent, our heritage or inheritance, how someone who doesn’t have our problems OR our privileges might see things.

And that being what it may, all goes well (or terribly) for us in this seemingly unending way until something ‘breaks the spell’ and the magic suddenly ends.

Once “broken” (which with a natal magic rectangle is timed through difficult transits to the points which make up the figure) magic rectangles are difficult to heal, solve or otherwise resurrect. It’s as if the ability remains, but because it wasn’t “worked for” in the “normal” sense, there seems to always be some sort of inability to put things back together.

In this case (a strictly transiting magic rectangle), the points are Ceres, Saturn, Juno and Venus, with Venus in opposition to Saturn and Ceres (as we just discussed in reference to the kite) in opposition from Leo to Aquarius. Saturn is still at 4 Sagittarius - the degree it was at when it went retrograde back on March 14th ...

-link to post-

Saturn Retrograde - Phaethon Direct

... and Venus is at 6 Gemini, a degree known for separating fact from fiction and facts from feelings, resulting in insights which though correct can prove very unpopular and a preference (or need to remain confined to) surface examinations, perhaps because this degree insists on equal emphases on ability and (emotional) motivation if success is to be achieved.

Venus/Saturn in opposition is considered one of the few oppositions which are fortunate (and even sometimes stabilizing) in business world and when it comes to dealing with money. This combination is also very good for making plans which require consideration of details and/or ‘costs,’ be they financial or to anything else - such as a schedule or some other plan which now needs to be changed.
Pluto’s station isn’t affecting any of these dynamics directly. But that they are occurring at the same time as Pluto’s station does suggest how, with regards to something in your life which you identify personally as having its reflection in either with the grand sextile, the kite or the magic rectangle (or maybe all three!) ... how that situation or effort is going through a transformative time.

Or how ‘other’ (Pluto) things around you in life and the world which are in the process of changing are causing (even forcing) you to alter your plans - maybe even fatefully so.

And that things may (read: will) change? Or that they’re changing? Or that many of us will be or become the person who enacts that change - or that we’ll begin changing in our own life?

With Pluto turning to retrograde on the 17th just a day after Earth has begun its annual Lyrid Meteor Shower (and a day before a New Moon at 28 Aries on the 18th) we are getting a double dose of finger pointing in the Vega direction. After all, not only is Pluto going retrograde in perfect conjunction with Vega, but this station is occurring one day after the Lyrid Meteor shower (which runs from April 16th through the 25th) begins.

Constellation Lyra is, after all, where Vega lives.

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And if that’s not enough, comet Thatcher (the comet which produces the Lyrids) has its radiant (apparent origination point) IN Lyra, a constellation which portrays the ‘musical instrument’ (and ‘harmonic tones,’ one could argue) used by god Apollo.

Which makes perfect sense when we think of Vega as the heart of this constellation and thus a symbol of all which softens our resistance and ‘attunes’ us to the qualities of Apollo’s enlightenment - that being so very close to what we call ‘charisma.’

So this issue of what pleases us, what we think ‘looks good’ or ‘sounds good,’ the qualities of charisma (that which enchants us) and/or our qualities of charisma (that with which we enchant others) ... all that is now up for grabs (one hopes not literally) with what others think of us as easily transformed as what we think of them (or ‘that,’ should our focus be a situation, goal or object rather than a person).

Does that mean everything will go wrong now?

Not necessarily. It all really depends on our relationship to Plutonic forces and desires - said desires so often being aimed at what we want others to do or be, when the real issue is how vulnerable we really feel. We’re all exceptionally good at fooling ourselves on this point - we tend to think Plutonic acts and choices are about our ‘strength’ instead of our fervent desire not to be seen as weak.

Or maybe worse yet, to have to live with our feelings of incapacity, weakness or vulnerability. That, we REALLY don’t like, especially at times when Pluto energies become active.

You know, like about now. So we can all expect to be going through some ‘stuff’ which we don’t like at all - and in response to what we think of as something someone else is “doing to us” (or to our efforts), we are likely to get all hot and Pluto-obsessive, which is not the way we “win” (or prevail) where Pluto is concerned.

Here’s the Pluto rule: no matter how demanding or upsetting the situation is, first, know your position. Then state it - ONCE - in its simplest and most honestly and complete terms.

Then BE QUIET. Go about your business. Let the fur fly. Let others stir up all the dust they want to stir up.

If you have understood the problem and truly proceeded on honest facts, and IF you have chosen your course of action (or priorities) based not on emotion but on an understanding of your fears as well as the needs of others (without giving in emotionally to either side) ... then, when the dust settles, you will win out.

I know - this sounds odd. Particularly odd as we associate Pluto with passion, obsession and overwhelming odds, feelings and outcomes. But that’s just the point: Pluto’s positives are outcomes which occur when we do things for the right reason, not because we desire a given outcome.

And when we don’t go that route?

That’s when Pluto becomes a symbol of an emotional world of pain ... a painfully emotional world and a world of emotionality driven by pain.

So what does all this mean in connection with a New Moon in Aries - specifically at 28 Aries?

Every New Moon is about something new, be it the phase of a continuing project, a new perspective on something or someone you know or a new plan, reason or action which leads to getting something done, whether externally or otherwise.

New Moon in Aries (glyph chart)

April 18, 2015 - 19:56 (7:56 pm) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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New Moon in Aries (text chart)

April 18, 2015 - 19:56 (7:56 pm) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Before we move on, a few notes from the ‘Oh, What a Difference a Day Makes’ file. Between the time Pluto goes on station and the New Moon, the Moon will have moved over twenty degrees, completely disrupting the grand sextile and kite formations seen at Pluto’s station.

The magic rectangle is still there. Pluto’s private grand trine is still there. But the opportunity (or perhaps the need) which might have allowed us to steer something - that’s over.

Being at 28 Aries, this New Moon will emphasize  personal issues in that we’re likely to take things personally - even overly so, as in the case of those who will see something happen in the world around them and give up or walk away. Aries is always a fairly temperamental sign this way, but its not always as prone to disappointment (and all which goes on inside of us when we’re feeling disappointed) as at the moment.

Some of this may be useful in how it may be a reflection of our realizing that something we’ve been doing is either ‘over’ or it’s not going to work (or can’t work) the way we thought it would - which for some equals defeat. But for others, maybe it just means we need to take a step back and think (or plan) through again. At least one astrologer has written about this degree as having something of a different response depending on our age as well, with younger people feeling more disappointments (or feeling their setbacks more acutely) than those who have lived long enough to think of life in less black-and-white terms.

But whoever we are, this New Moon’s degree - and thus the lunar month it is spearheading emphasizes support, help and the equal abilities of men and women to be receptive of others and generous in kind.

Evidently that matters at the moment. Not only that, it’s also part of everything we’re doing by way of sorting through the differences between what we thought was ‘worth it’ or valuable or inspirational or what we wanted ... and what things have turned out to be-and/or-become.

With Pluto going retrograde on the 17th, the two-day station allowance we give such events ends on Sunday the 19th. And since Sunday the 19th is the date that Pallas goes retrograde (at 0 Capricorn) and the second of April’s scheduled meteor showers (the Eta Aquarids) begins, in the wake of Pluto’s station ... and the New Moon ... it would appear we will be ‘sparked’ to some new (Pallas) or new level of perspective.

Pallas has been sitting at 0 Capricorn since it entered the sign just after Jupiter’s station on the 8th, promoting patience and the need for patience as much with our Self as others as we try - often ineffectively - to communicate forms of inner truth to others even as we protect our beliefs or abilities from unnecessary harm. Will Pallas’ going retrograde mean we will now gain some perspective on our Self as to why we get listened to and not listened to? Not necessarily, but maybe. What would seem to be likely apart from that would be our gaining some ‘transformative’ perspective through (or as) we simply live through these days - which in its own way will give us perspective on who we have been being ... who we can be ... and why one thing might work better for us than another. Given Pallas’ turn to retrograde as the Eta Aquarids start up (they start on April 19th and run until May 28th), we can expect some natural societal, society, social, systemic and networking energies - anything which to us defines the path to and experience of ‘success’ (however we define that) to be part of this mix. Given the Aries New Moon, there are aspects of this introduction of Big Picture Aquarian (Eta Aquarid) vibe which apply to health, lifestyle and overall functionality ... and then again, there are aspects of the current energetics which are very definitely more egocentric - and about whether our ego is getting in the way (our way).

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Plus, there is the fact that this part of the station - the ‘aftermath’ and evolutionary part which starts us into seeing what we need to leave behind and where we need to go in order to renew or reinvent our Self and efforts in times ahead ... all of that is taking place on the day when the Sun is at 29 “critical” degrees of Aries - a degree known as useful to those willing to make determined efforts (now and in the days, weeks and months to come) and which though not particularly elegant, is willing to grapple with the ugly as well as the beautiful, if only because the energy of 29 Aries seeks to build on that which is solid while eliminating the tendency to hesitate or otherwise waste time and energy on appearances which in the end are merely ‘advertising.’

In the end, we are what we do. That’s very 29 Aries - as is the inbuilt-desire and effort to work peacefully and to have everything work out for the best as the Sun moves on into Taurus, where who we are (and aren't) come back to haunt us not only through what we are (and have done through a month of Aries-centric self-motivated doings) - but through what we aren't, especially in our own soul.

Thus will we be ... and find ourselves transformed.
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The Lyrid Meteor Shower 2013

Image based on a map of constellations Lacerta, Cygnus, Lyra,

Vulpecula and Anser as pictured in 1825

(courtesy of the Library of Congress, retouching by Sidney Hall)

The 2013 edition of the sky show known as Lyrid Meteor Shower begins on April 16th and continues on through April 25, peaking on April 20th. Admission is free, all you have to do is go outside at night somewhere where’s its dark enough to actually see the depth of the sky. (Which means everyone who lives in a city probably does have to pay some price – that involved in getting to a place where the sky is dark enough to show up this glimmering rain!)

 

The Lyrids, like other meteor showers, are named for the direction the comet which produces them ‘appears’ to come from in the sky. In the case of the Lyrids, the comet’s name is Thatcher (also known as ‘C1861 G1’ in astronomy-speak) and the constellation is Lyra.

Maybe that rings a bell? We were discussing Lyra just a few weeks ago in a post on the long-term conjunction by Pluto of Lyra’s most famous star, Vega.

Transforming Charisma:

Pluto conjuncts Vega

Mind you, Thatcher evidently doesn’t actually originate inside the boundaries of Lyra. It’s ‘radiant’ point (i.e., the point from which the comet seems to radiate) is just beside Lyra. So if we think of Lyra as the lyre of Orpheus (which in Greek thinking is what it’s supposed to be), then maybe Thatcher is the ‘hand’ which holds the lyre.

I have nothing to prove that…it’s just a thought. But if so, then the Lyrids may be those ‘sparks from heaven,’ those little dapples of input from ‘beyond’ which tell us to ‘look what we have,’ be that in material, human or spiritual terms.

Orpheus had enormous gifts. He was a musician capable of charming the beasts of the field and even that implacable god of the dead – Hades (who give or take a Disney movie or two is generally known by modernists and in most walks of astrology as Pluto).

There are various stories about Orpheus’ parentage, so we don’t know whether he was a god immortal or a full-blooded mortal or one of those many mythic Greek half-and-half types. What we do know is that when it comes down to it, the Orpheus story (specifically his inability not to look back when rescuing his lady love Eurydike) makes it very plain that Orpheus had his flaws and insecurities, just like the rest of us.

(Greek gods had their flaws too, which is why this is hard to sort out.)

Should we combine that ‘don’t look back’ with the idea of investing ourselves in our talents? Are the Lyrid meteors some metaphysical twinkle about the need to move forward? Or are they a ‘shot in the dark’ which points out how off-key we really can be?

Just to toss in a quirky little note here, during last year’s Lyrid shower, a few of those meteors made their impacts literally felt down here on Mama Earth. It was not the huge ‘bang’ we all heard about early in 2012 when a big meteor exploded in the skies above Russia, no. But there were two little Lyrid chunks large enough to earn notice. One came to rest in a California parking lot near Sutter’s Mill – which if you’re up on your California history is a place famous from the gold rush days.

Fragments of what is now being called 'the Sutter's Mill meteorite' one of

thousands of meteors which fell as part of the 2012 Lyrid shower.

(photo credit: astronomer Peter Jenniskens and Eric James NASA-Ames Laboratory)

And the other came to rest in northern Guatemala.

I've highlighted the location of Tikal, the 'Queen of the Mayan Cities'

- one of many fascinating places to be explored in northern Guatemala. 

I found this out while doing research for this blog. And yes – I was surprised. After all, about the time those two meteors fell with a ‘klunk’ (one supposes) onto planet Earth, I was a person living in California working on shaping up their first eBook. That book is all about my very personal and spiritual experiences which began in Mexico, but which led me to Tikal in northern Guatemala, a place which left an endemic imprint on my soul, a place which touched me like no other place on this planet ever has.

Yes, there are a few non-spiritual moments too. More than a few, actually. But that's one of the things about human life and experience, isn't it? Sometimes its the mix, the combination, the dichotomy, the combination of ethereal and flesh-bound which makes our lives so rich.

I released that book during 2012 even though I wrote it during the 1990s for the very reason you might suspect – 2012 was the end of one of the (many) Mayan calendar counts. In launching ‘Travel Gossip,’ I took to the waves as a book author. And while that was a landmark for me, just as important – if not more important – was my wanting to make a contribution to the human pool of metaphysical and mortal thought at a time when according to Maya lore, people would be entering a new phase of awareness and growth.

And, of course, all the challenges which go with new ways and the need to grow.

Here’s the link to the page where you can get a copy of ‘Travel Gossip’ if you’d like to read it.

Link to the “Travel Gossip” page

at Amazon.com (US)

(For those not in the US, there are pages for ‘Travel Gossip’ on all the Amazon book sites world-wide.)

The real reason I bring this up (besides telling you how surprised I was to learn about those two meteors) is because this sort of ‘reminder’ is, I think, typical of meteor showers. They’re twinkles and glimmers – and yes, occasionally the big boom or the klonk on the head (hopefully not in real time) when life wants us to realize that we really are part of the All, the greater thing we call the world and the whole of life.

If we get that far, then maybe the eyes of our mind and soul become better attuned to the vision of our place in the vastness of the universe and our value to the time in which we live.

And thus the values of our talents.

And the need to accept life and not doubt what we can do for the good of all – and how that comes back to us as opportunities for growth and on occasion, the need and opportunity to work towards self-redemption.

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Transforming Charisma: Pluto conjuncts Vega

 An artist's rendition of the massive explosion which would result when an object the size of

dwarf planet Pluto would smash into the dust cloud surrounding Vega

(image credit: NASA, JPL, Caltech - 2007)

Once Pluto moved into 10 degrees of Capricorn, it came within orb of Vega, another of astrology’s famous fixed stars.

Vega is one of the brightest stars in the sky – the 5th brightest in the whole of the sky. Back around 12,000 BCE, it was Earth’s pole star. And such cycles being what they are, it will be Earth’s pole star yet again – just prior to the year 14,000 CE.

Earth procession of precessional pole stars

(Note: all the years in this diagram have been rounded off to make it

something south of a migraine to create.)

Which yes, from an Earthly ‘pole pointer perspective’ means Planet Earth is currently pointed almost as ‘away’ from Vega as Earth will ever get. If a planet can ‘look away’ from something, Earth has another 800+ years to go, and it will be ‘pointed’ in as opposite a direction as it can get from Vega. And that’s a rather interesting notion, considering that the astrological Vega is known to be a charismatic position.

Why would we think this star exudes charisma? Well, part of that comes from simple observation. Astrology is nothing if not a way of observing the heavens and how celestial objects correlate with how energy – that stuff of which we are all made – manifests here on our mother planet. And while there is a strong belief at one end of the astrological spectrum in all things happening as they should in an unquestioned manner which leads astrologers to heed the choices made by others when it comes to naming points in the sky, there are also thousands of years and millions upon millions of astrologer-administered chart ‘tests cases,’ which in this case have validated Vega as being a star which we can ‘shorthand’ as being emblematic of charisma.

Of course, charisma is as charisma does. There are entertainers who use charisma to entrance their audiences, teachers who use charisma to fascinate  students, politicians who use charisma to sway the masses, lovers who use charisma to entice their beloveds and killers who use charisma to lure others to their death.

As they say, it’s not what you have, it’s how you use it.

The mythic connection to Vega which so lends itself to this charismatic concept of charisma is that of Orpheus. There are several myths about Orpheus, but the most famous of them is known as ‘Orpheus and Eurydike’ (often spelled ‘Eurydice’) with Orpheus starring in the role of a musician of such talent that (to phrase this the Greek and mythic way) he could charm the beasts of the fields and yes, even the gods of the dead.

In this ancient Roman floor mosaic, Orpheus is seen seated amidst all

the animals which have come to listen to him play his lyre.

(photo credit: Giovanni Dall'Orto, Sept 2006 - Museo Archeological Regionale di Palermo)

As usual, this is a story with a twist – and the twist goes like this: the lovely and much-loved Eurydike is strolling through some patch of abundant nature when she is set upon by a satyr. Satyrs are beastly and lusty creatures, and this one had set it’s eyes on Eurydike and was entirely out to get what it wanted from her.

In trying to get away, Eurydike steps into a nest of vipers, is bitten, and promptly dies.

Orpheus is anguished. This not being the day and age where Orpheus would merely become a country singer and make millions on his sad, sad song of tragic love, he sings out his grief and instead of  attracting a music mogul, moves the nymphs and gods to tears. So moved are the gods that they suggest Orpheus travel to the underworld to sing for Hades (aka Pluto) and wife Persephone, daughter of Zeus (Jupiter) and Demeter (the Greek version of the Roman goddess Ceres).

This is where the twist comes in. Moved but still a wily god prone to dark challenges to try the human soul, Hades (Pluto) says that Orpheus can return  Eurydike to life. His talent is so portent that Orpheus deserves the chance to be the force which literally resurrects a mortal life. All he has to do is lead Eurydike out of the darkness of the underworld using the magic of his talent to lead the way…and he can never look back.

And it’s this last part of the bargain which trips Orpheus up. At the very last moment, just before reaching life and light and safety once again, he can’t resist looking back to check on Eurydike.

And because he broke the agreement, Eurydike is reclaimed by the darkness and forever lost.

Orpheus only has to turn and look back once to lose the love of his life (Eurydike) forever.

It's a good illustration of why the astrological Eurydike is generally known

as 'the cost of the thing.'

Orpheus and Eurydice by Christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein (1806)

Fixed star Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, a constellation which represents the lyre of Orpheus – one of his ‘tools of genius’ you might say.

Constellation Lyra

(Image generated using Stellarium software)

Seen today at 15 Capricorn, there are some curious…and maybe even disturbing qualities to this Vega positioning. Why is that? That would be because 15 Capricorn is not the most determined degree in the zodiac. It’s not even the most determined degree in the sign of Capricorn!

But then…Capricorn can be one seriously determined sign. So wouldn’t we expect that some Capricorn degrees might be less determined, less gung-ho or ready-to-run-the-world than others? Yes, surely we would.

So maybe it’s a matter of comparison?

As it happens, that’s exactly what the challenge with 15 Capricorn is about. This is a degree which is prone to taking not the easy way out, but the soft way out…maybe through not volunteering, maybe through refusing to take a stance or even through pleading inability or incapacity. Taken even further, this degree exudes a quality we might refer to as ‘playing the victim card’ – and when mixed with Vega’s charismatic qualities, that can turn into someone speaking out on behalf of a real victim or the downtrodden…or it can be someone who merely plays weak so they can work a situation to their own advantage.

How do you know which is which? That’s the problem. Much like the alexandrite – a stone with which Vega is associated – it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s the act when you’re just looking at it.

Alexandrite - a form of 'Vega-stone' Chrysobéryl here shows up one

of its various colors under UV light

(photo credit: Parent Gery, January 2011)

And just to make things more confusing, when it comes to anything which is ‘colored’ or aspected by Vega at 15 Capricorn (particularly by conjunction) it may just be that all ‘colors’ are true, which is to say that someone whose chart offers this quality is sometimes one thing and sometimes another.

Puzzled enough yet?

In case you're not fully muddled, allow me to stir your mental puddle a little more. Every chart includes every degree of the zodiac. However, though everyone alive is now living with Vega at 15 Capricorn, not everyone alive will have been born with Vega at 15 Capricorn as the following chart of zodiacal ‘generations’ (as clocked by Pluto) and how they fall vis-à-vis Vega’s position over the last 100 and for the next 50 years.

  

So is this weakness, which may be partial, may be total or may be seen in the world around you - is that more acute for someone born with Vega at 15 Capricorn, or more confusing for someone born with Vega at 14 Capricorn?

14 Capricorn placements often express themselves through a knack for being able to see things clearly provided they aren't person. When they are personal, these people are all in a fuzz. 14 Capricorn is also known for a quality of 'earning respect,' often through a form of penetrating insight.

So Vega at 14 Capricorn would be a 'figuring out' sort of time, and those born under Vega at 14 Capricorn would be inclined to follow clues to the nth degree. This is Vega in a more 'regimented' form than 15 Capricorn, and in saying that, it's interesting to think how society itself has changed as a reflection of Vega shifting from one degree into the next. 

And no, it doesn't answer my original question. Frankly, I don't have an answer, though I would suspect that people born under Vega at 14 Capricorn may have begun showing vulnerabilities or looking less 'consistent' (whatever that means when you're talking about humans!) once Vega moved on into 15 Capricorn. 

And that about those who have Vega  point focal in some way? Whether conjunct Sun, Ascendant, Nodes or anything else, during the time that Vega has been at 15 Capricorn, that point has expressed itself in some given way. And now Pluto is coming along and changing that. So something may become nothing. Good may go bad, bad may turn to good and it's a decent bet that a lot of people will spot the inconsistencies or vulnerabilities in their stances, methods or plans during this time and act to clean up their act, lest they get caught with their Pluto hanging out.

(I know...that just sounds wrong.) 

Because Pluto’s orbit is controlled by Neptune (in the astronomical and scientific sense) any astrological effect Pluto brings to us is going to have a whiff of the Neptunian about it. As outcome ruler of Pisces, Neptune teaches us to deal with emotional realities through the happy and sad quotients in life which have to do with our assumptions or ‘expectations’ which are merely idealized fantasies not exactly based in any truth. And since Pluto is the outcome ruler of Scorpio (instead of Pisces) this “testing of our emotional realities” is put in our ability to know who to choose to deal with (or to partner with or otherwise be allied with) and how to deal with others and generate support as a measure of our own self-respect and self-worth.

That’s why Pluto has so much allure. We want to feel loved. We want to feel like everybody respects us (or even envies us, if that’s your thing). But our need for that – and thus our vulnerability to be taught lessons on that basis…that comes from our own self worth and our own self respect. The really secure person can lose out on a business deal or go through a relationship breakup and be sad about it, but they don’t fear that happening. They know sometimes you win, sometimes you lose,and that anyone who is going to measure them based on their winning or losing and not their willingness to learn from life and build on what they learn…that’s the sort of Scorpio-Taurus ‘value structure’ Pluto tends to test. Those tests happen in areas of ‘emotional security’ (Scorpio) where we tend to be most vulnerable – thus the investment, matters of death, danger, war and control, sexuality and power – those are the venues where we tend to experience what which astrology refers to as the ‘transformative’ quality of Pluto because it is through such life lessons that we change by confronting our emotional security.

When Pluto moved into 10 Capricorn in January 2013, it came within orb of fixed star Vega. Pluto won’t actually conjunct Vega to the degree until March, 2015, when it will arrive at 15 Capricorn and then go station/retrograde AT 15 Capricorn in April of 2015, moving back and forth across this degree until it leaves 15 Capricorn in November of 2017.

And even at that, Pluto won’t leave the orb of Vega until late in 2019. That means the whole of this time will be experienced through a shifting of the emotional mist one might call the ‘Pluto-Vega Effect.’ Our feelings about what’s cool and what’s not cool will change. Ideas which seemed totally appealing just last year may suddenly – even startlingly – lose their glossy appeal. Some people who represent this quality will loose their gloss too – at least for us.

But as that happens, others will be revealed as new sources of inspiration…and yes, provocation. And some of us will discover our own deep wells of inspiration and feel ourselves recognizing our own potential for better outlooks through believe in our own capacities.

It’s also worth remembering that other planets will aspect this conjunction along the way – and that as ruler of Capricorn, Saturn’s travels and its sign of residence will give us big clues about where we’re likely to experience this Pluto-Vega Effect. Saturn’s current transit of Scorpio says we are going to learn a lot through the entire list of Scorpio subjects: war, death, investments, power, money, sex, conception, control, debt, the emotions connected to our ability to agree with others, garner support and create agreement – however these subjects come up, they are likely to ‘stir up’ this question of whether we like someone (or ourselves) as much as we thought we did.

Vega the star, as photographed by the Spitzer Space Telescope

(photo credit: JPL-NASA, Caltech, University of Arizona)

Given the Pluto-Vega connection, with Saturn in Scorpio we are likely to get exposed to incidences and examples of people taking advantage of others emotionally - and the consequences of that. Given the ‘soft’ side of 15 Capricorn, we may have many people denying their own feelings or not caring about the feelings of others, with all sorts of Pluto-Vega reactivity coming out of that.

Once Saturn moves into Sagittarius in late December of 2014, our growth and hardest struggles will be more in the area of application – where we should apply ourselves and what it takes to achieve our aims and goals. Knowledge, learning, the willingness to try and matters of ethics and legality become weapons of choice as well as tools for wining and losing during this two-and-a-half year cycle, which of course we’ll talk about then.

But after that…then Saturn enters Capricorn. With this occurring in December 2017 (in other words, after Pluto has finished its exact conjunction with Vega) that marks the years 2018 and 2019 as a time of emergence and fruitful potentiality for some, and a time when those who have merely ‘taken advantage’ of situational power without having earned their metaphysical keep are going to either come to nothing or recognize the emptiness of their gains.

Those who have been hoping, wishing and wanting the world to change are about to get their wish.

One only hopes they’re going to help make the world a better place – not because of the ‘evils’ which will arise if they don’t, but because they will lose out on their own respect for who they are if they don’t try.

Ultimately, charisma is about what affects us. What enchants us. What moves us.

But since this charisma is seated in Capricorn, we know this isn’t just about watching and being impressed. Capricorn is a cardinal sign – a sign of action. So we are asked to use the best of what is revealed to us going forward to improve on what is, and thus build a better tomorrow.

It's all possible when we learn to use our finest talents to the fullest. And yes, we can even save that which is most precious to us (or those we love) when we take a poisonously wrong step in life. We just have to care more about having faith in the process (or our process) rather than what it's going to cost us - which may be the great test of Vega in this day and age, especially now that Pluto is hyping the game.

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