Digging Deeper with Pluto in Chthonic Capricorn
Digging Deeper with Pluto in Chthonic Capricorn
Digging Deeper with Pluto in Chthonic Capricorn
Astrologer Maureen Richmond, Ph.D.
Chthonic: Of or pertaining to the underworld, the underground world, the dark and hidden places of deep geology, and by extension, the hidden parts of the human psyche lying deep beneath the surface appearance.
The Years of Pluto in Capricorn in the Twenty-First Century
With Pluto back in Capricorn from early September through late November 2024, there comes a nearly three month opportunity to revisit the themes generated by the long-term transit of Pluto through Capricorn. In place since 2008 except for a few months in 2023 and again in 2024, the transit of Pluto through the sign of Capricorn has been a major influence on world trends and individual experience for the last 16 years.
The Power of Outer Planet Transits
By virtue of persistence and endurance, long-lasting sign transits of this nature count for much in the astrological causes of human experience. All long-lasting sign transits have a way of burrowing deep into the human psyche, there to implant seed ideas and abiding concerns which of necessity must find expression in outer activity. It is no exaggeration to hold that the outer planet sign transits drive much of world happenings and personal growth. And so it is with the long-lasting transit of Pluto in Capricorn.
Capricornian Symbolism
The key to understanding this particular sign transit lies in understanding Capricornian symbolism. As a cardinal sign traditionally associated with the formal onset of winter chill in the northern hemisphere, Capricorn initiates action and draws attention away from pleasantry and comfort toward the critical foundational essentials of existence.
Whereas summer affords a constant leafy entertainment in the plant kingdom, winter drives the life essence of all nature back into the interior of the earth. As an earth sign, Capricorn signifies a focus not on reassuring leaf and intoxicating flower, but on rough bark, tough root, dirt and soil, and the layer of rock which is the foundation for life on the surface of planet Earth. As an earth sign, Capricorn therefore refers to all the substances and materials of the tangible, physical Earth itself. These substances include dirt, soil, sand, clay, stones, rocks, metals, crystals, and gems, all of which are connected with and either ruled or co-ruled by Capricorn. Further, as an earth sign, Capricorn is intimately connected with the interior processes of the Earth itself, including plate tectonics, volcanism, geomagnetism, sedimentation, mineral metamorphosis, igneous action, and all the work carried on in the mineral, geological, and terrestrial domains.
Hence, Capricorn is connected with the creation and maintenance of geological features, including mountains, rock outcroppings, caves, caverns, stalagmites and stalactites, and the like. Other places and activities connected with Capricorn are underground graves and above ground stone crypts, ancient rock art paintings on cave walls, places of mineral extraction such as mines, places of metalworking such as forges, metallurgy in general, manufacture of metal objects, heavy machinery, and all dense or heavy materials which stubbornly resist the ravages of time to persist for eons.
A Two-Fisted Impact
Yes, Capricorn on its own is quite enough to drive human attention underground, but there’s more, for the impact of Pluto figures in as well. Wherever Pluto is by sign transit, there is to be found a great intensification of the issues associated with that sign. With Pluto in Capricorn, that means the whole matrix of Capricorn-ruled places and issues is massively emphasized and made vastly more potent in human experience. From 2008 to 2024, then human experience must take account of the rock-hard realities taught by Capricorn, as focused by intractable Pluto.
Down Into the Underworld
Pluto connotes a territory very much like that of Capricorn. Based on the figure of Greek Hades, king of the underworld, the Pluto archetype refers to the chthonic dimension, the underworld located below the surface of the Earth. It was there to which the souls of the departed went in Greek myth to undergo catharsis and preparation for rebirth. This is the world of Pluto. It is also the world of Capricorn, a sign intimately connected with the interior geological workings of the planet. As is evident, with chthonic Pluto in chthonic Capricorn, human experience is inescapably drawn to a contact with the processes of the mineral kingdom deep within inner earth.
Within the inner earth are the geological formations and structures which serve as the literal foundation upon which life is based on the surface of the planet. All the minerals required by the plant kingdom are created in the molten material at the core of the planet and work their way from the core the surface, doing so over vast stretches of time. The gradual processes taking place over long timelines is a Capricornian thing in itself, to which human attention is inevitably drawn while potent Pluto activates this sign.
Thus, with Pluto amplifying the implications of Capricorn, the sign of the earthen Mountain Goat is of prime importance during the period 2008 – 2024. Pluto with its connections to matters concealed beneath the surface of the earth figures significantly as well. In fact, the combination of Pluto and Capricorn is particularly potent because both concern the chthonic region.
That chthonic region can be understood as the inner earth, literally the lasting foundation on which all of Earth life is based. Quite naturally, then, individual human experience seeks a connection with permanent or enduring foundations while Pluto is in Capricorn drawing attention to the massive geological structures underlying the surface where human life transpires.
Ghob and the Gnomes
In the western magical tradition, this is the zone of Ghob and the gnomes, with Ghob as the regent overseeing the legions of earth elementals referred to as gnomes while they go about their work of seeing to the decay and decomposition of organic matter, creating soil, maintaining the mineral content of the geological world, forming, cohering, and moving continents, synthesizing both precious and common metals and both precious and semi-precious gems in the interior furnaces of the planet, and supplying nutrition to the roots of the plant kingdom. Capricorn is therefore inherently connected with the entire geological region upon and under the surface of the Earth.
Permanence and Endurance
An earth sign ruled by stately and unhurried Saturn, Capricorn stands for tough and enduring substances which are so long lasting as to be permanent by human standards. In addition to the sturdy materials of the geological zone, in the biological zone Capricorn rules bones, teeth, and tough hides, materials which are also expressions of Capricornian ability to withstand hard use and pass the tests of time.
The symbolism of Capricorn presents an apt image: the scruffy mountain goat with its scraggly but protective coat and rough but highly efficient hooves as it toils up an impossibly steep incline toward the snow-clad heights. The goat’s tough hide and utilitarian hooves permit the mastering of an inhospitable environment given to steep and stony inclines, life-threatening rockslides, freezing precipitation, and blasts of frigid air. An impervious coating is essential in this battle with the elements. Capricorn stands for just that: hard outer coverings toughened by the tests of time and needed for survival in a life-threatening situation.
Considering both the geological and biological connections, it is apparent that Capricorn deals with and cultivates the capacity to withstand and outlast harsh conditions, to move amongst impediments and manage heavy weights, to survive intense pressure, and to remain standing in spite of repeated earth-shattering impacts.
Adversity the Domain of the Goat
As is evident, Capricorn all on its own supplies more than enough dramatic material to explain the drastic experience many have had under the influence of this cardinal earth sign. This has been particularly the case while a major outer planet has been transiting this sign during the years 2008 – 2024. With the presence of powerful Pluto in this sign, the effect has been intensified all the more, for Pluto exponentially magnifies and intensifies the nature of whatever sign it transits.
Thus, with relentless Pluto in chthonic Capricorn from 2008 – 2024, persons have experienced some of the most challenging conditions of their current incarnations, struggling like the upward trudging Mountain Goat to encounter severe tests of character and endurance, appallingly harsh work-life conditions, egregiously unfair treatment, gross insensitivity from the government and from employers, devastating personal and financial losses, destruction of dreams and projects, and the onset of bleak hopelessness. This was particularly true when transiting Pluto in Capricorn was squared by transiting Uranus in Aries during the years 2012 – 2016, and again in 2020 when transiting Pluto in Capricorn received conjunctions from first transiting Saturn and then transiting Jupiter.
In addition, all persons born with Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune in Capricorn have been profoundly affected by the passage of Pluto through Capricorn. Most recently, Saturn was in Capricorn 1959 – 1961 and 1988 – 1991. Uranus was in Capricorn 1988 – 1996, while Neptune was in Capricorn 1984 – 1998. When transiting Pluto in Capricorn made conjunctions to these planetary positions in the natal charts of individuals, all the Capricornian themes were activated in their personal lives. As a result, the transit of Pluto through Capricorn has correlated to massive challenge in the lives of individual persons the world around. Many have been pushed the brink, forced to call upon their deepest inner resources.
The Gift of the Goat
The capacity to withstand enormous adversity is precisely the gift of the churlish sign of Capricorn. Certainly, Capricorn does not bestow this spiritual gift readily. No, like the possessive goblins who ruled the inner earth in the Harry Potter novels, the earth sign of Capricorn does not yield up its bounty easily. Instead, stingy Capricorn exacts exhausting labor before the good of which it is capable is allowed to shine forth amidst the dross of defeat and desolation. Even so, enhanced strength and power are indeed the product of a Capricornian activation survived, as many can now attest.
The severe and untoward circumstances encountered under Capricorn force the individual and the collective to dig deeper within. The rites of excavation decreed by Capricorn ultimately impel the individual toward his or her deepest foundations. It might even be said that Capricornian influence poses the question: What are your foundations? This indeed was the conundrum with which many tangled while Pluto transited through Capricorn. Intense challenges served as an impetus to an unrelenting search for an inner source of power and strength.
Digging Deeper for Sturdy Foundations
As a result, the distress and disappointment inherent in the Capricorn experience of the last 16 years have driven many to search for truths or teachings grounded in rock bottom certainty or security which can stand as a fortress against the onslaught of deeply troubled world conditions. At its best, Capricorn not only knocks humanity down, but also points humanity toward that which is lasting or even permanent. Precious few things fit that description. However, some come close. Nature with its eternal cyclicity and stone foundation in the interior of the Earth would qualify, a fact which has turned many toward Earth based Pagan spiritual paths while transiting Pluto has been in Capricorn.
Within the Pagan path exist many paths or traditions, including Celtic, Druidic, Witchcraft, Norse, Greek, Roman, Gypsy, and other traditions. Perhaps one of the most Capricornian of values available in the human domain is in fact the notion of tradition. Certainly Capricorn with its emphasis on the passage of time, memory, and authority is emblematic of tradition. Deeply entwined with history, ancestry, heritage, and custom, Capricorn respects the past and draws strength from that quarter. While Pluto has transited Capricorn, many have felt this call to an authentic past and have consequently been driven to dig deeply into the well of archaic traditions.
The Results in Late 2024
Thus, with Pluto amplifying the implications of Capricorn, the sign of the earthen Mountain Goat is of prime importance during the period 2008 – 2024. Pluto with its connections to matters concealed beneath the surface of the earth figures significantly as well. In fact, the combination of Pluto and Capricorn is particularly potent because both concern the chthonic region.
That chthonic region can be understood as the inner earth, literally the lasting foundation on which all of Earth life is based. Quite naturally, then, individual human experience seeks a connection with permanent or enduring foundations while Pluto is in Capricorn drawing attention to the massive geological structures underlying the surface where human life transpires.
As a beloved Pagan chant says,
Earth and fire, wind and rain, when we are gone, they will remain.
Under the touch of Capricorn, the individual digs deeply within and understands that while the human frame is temporary, the natural realities of the planet are far more lasting. In that understanding lies the foundation for an enduring sense of meaning. With Pluto back in Capricorn during the months of September, October, and November, the astrological energies nudge us all toward that realization.