Pluto in Gate 38

March 26, 2012

It’s always a big event when Pluto moves gates. Pluto draws us away from what’s safe and comfortable, slowly and inexorably breaking down our existing stories and creating them anew. It’s essence is the surrender of the lower self to transformation at the Soul level, to bring our will into alignment with the divine, and to make our efforts count towards our higher collective purpose.

“The birthing of an individual out of the womb of his previous forms of containment (no matter how secure and comfortable) is absolutely essential for evolutionary development.” Alan Oken

2015 Pluto Update:

There are no significant activations to Pluto during it’s time back in Gate 38 during 2015 and 2016.

Our role in working with the energy of Gate 38 is to resist the Root Centre’s tendency to reflexive fear based reactions. When people or events seem to oppose us we can take time to reflect on how we can restore unity while honoring individual differences.

Here are the movements of Pluto as he shifts between Gates 38 and 54 during 2015 and 2016.

8 March 2015 Pluto in Gate 54

18 April 2015 – Pluto in retrograde : 54 line 1

3o May 2015 – Pluto in Gate 38

26 September 2015 – Pluto goes direct : 38 line 4

3 January 2016 – Pluto in Gate 54

19 April 2016 – Pluto in retrograde : 54 line 3

29 August 2016 – Pluto in Gate 38

27 September 2016 – Pluto goes direct : 38 line 6

25 October 2016 – Pluto in Gate 54

Pluto’s new Galactic Role

Remember when Pluto got demoted and everyone was sad? Of course it hasn’t stopped Pluto doing what he does best, creating powerful transformation at the level of soul. It’s not just about personal transformation. Pluto is an outer planet and therefore has a collective influence. And now we know about his galactic influence as a Dwarf Planet in the Kuiper Belt, it’s clear he’s got a bigger agenda than we realised.

Pluto in Gate 10 – 2008/9

We often experience Pluto’s influence as change that is forced on us from outside. Take the Global Financial Crisis. It began in 2008, just as Pluto shifted into the Gate of Treading (10). Hexagram 10 tells us the story of the father and his youngest daughter. He can choose to be a supportive father, or cruel and withholding. In 2008 we got a good look at the cruel withholding father as the illusion of a benevolent paternalism in our governments and industry came crashing down around us.

In true Pluto fashion, external events pushed us into a profound shift in our concept of “wealth” – how it is stored, how it is measured and how it is shared.

Pluto in Gate 58 – 2010/12

In November 2010, Pluto moved to Gate 58 in the Root Centre, the Gate of Joy. This was a whole new ballgame. The Root Centre is the fight and flight response, the impetus to struggle to survive and on a more positive note, the energy to engage in life. Gate 58 is called Joy – it’s about our ability to give and receive in sheer joyfulness of living, to move and flow with the life force energy. There’s an immense vitality in this gate, to challenge anything that stands between us and our joyful experience of life.

As Bradford Hartcher says in his I Ching, the world changes in resonant ways when we improve our mood. When we can calmly consider the true circumstances of our lives, it’s much easier to join with others to create what we need, our security is more stable and our joyful vitality spreads. Reality bites and that is where Pluto wants us to find our edges.

Pluto in the Gate of Joy has taught us to dig deep and search persistently for more joyful solutions to the problems besetting us, both personally and globally. The Occupy movement is a great example. People often react to social order – government, religion, education and the economy, in a very unconscious way – resentment, greed, complacency, cynicism. Pluto in Gate 58 helped us become more conscious of this relationship, to release our negative reactions and recognise that our health, wealth and security lies in our ability to live in wisdom, thanksgiving and abundance.

Pluto in Gate 38 – 2012/15

On 6th January 2013 at 0:40am UT, Pluto shifted into Gate 38 – the Gate of Opposition – in the Root Centre. This gate is about diverse people and ideas that naturally seek to head off in different directions. It’s important that elements be able to go their own way unhindered by interference from other elements. There’s nothing worse than feeling we have to fall in with someone else’s ideas when we don’t want to.

Pluto transits tend to bring some old form to an end. In Gate 38, the form is opposition.

If you can’t see eye to eye, what can you see? Hilary Barrett, Gate 38

The Gate of Opposition carries within it our ancient fear response from a time when humans lived very small lives and anything out of the ordinary was almost certainly a threat to survival. It’s not really working for us anymore, our lives are expansive and diverse. The shadowy influence of ‘us and them’ has been receiving a huge makeover.

At the same time, we are learning not to try to hold onto people, places, experiences that are trying to ‘diverge’ out of our lives. This is a powerful experience of trusting that what we need will come to us, and that it will be fine to let go of what we don’t need.

Pluto in Gate 38 is likely to trigger a lot of movement of stagnant and stuck energy, both personally and collectively.

The last time Pluto was in the Gate of Opposition was 1766 to 1770.

The years 1766 to 1770 saw the events that led to the American Civil War, as the colonists demanded the right to go their own way. The first Methodist Church was founded in the US, splitting from Anglicanism and forging the current religious right. Marie Antoinette married the future King Louis XVI of France, and we know where that led!

In 1769, Captain Cook arrived at Tahiti in time to see the transit of Venus on 3rd June. Pluto retrograded back into Gate 58 for 2011’s Venus transit, but it still represents an interesting parallel in the move towards ‘globalisation’. The discoveries in the South Pacific brought many European assumptions into question, not the least of which was the issue of women’s rights over their own sexuality. We saw that particular issue in the news again when Pluto popped into Gate 38 in April 2012, in the Planned Parenthood debates for example. The fiscal cliff has also demonstrated that we’ve outgrown the oppositional nature of the two party system of government. Pluto in Gate 38 is likely to bring profound shifts to how we govern ourselves. A much higher proportion of swinging voters will be just the start.

Another interesting theme in the period 1766 to 1770 was the invention of the steam engine and the spinning frame, both of which contributed to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. This was the time of William Blake’s ‘dark satanic mills’. Pluto and his connection with wealth are significant here I think, as the distribution of wealth began it’s shift from land owners to industrialists. The concept of ownership changed as well. Someone who leased a factory could be more wealthy than someone who owned significant swathes of property. This mobility of wealth was shocking back in the 18th and 19th centuries.

We are seeing an echo of another shift of wealth and power as the Information Age reshapes our economy. Wherever Pluto goes he shifts our economic system, in Gate 38 I expect to see an outbreak of diversity working creatively together. Co-operation will become more common that competition in business, and the distribution of wealth will change again. I expect to see faster movement of smaller amounts, creating greater wealth without the need for accumulation.

Pluto and Neptune – 2013 to 2014

While Pluto was in Gate 38 in 2013/4, Neptune was in Gate 55 on the opposite side of the Root Centre. The years 2013 and 2014 were a Pluto/Neptune team event.

Pluto brings deep transformation, revealing the exhaustion of old ways of doing things. Pluto is bringing to an end the old survival patterns of struggling against what opposes us. This is a reactive gate, a gate that lives on fear and adrenal energy.

Neptune sensitizes and refines our understanding so that we can allow the dissolution of what has become too dense. In the world today most people are under the spell of media based glamour and Neptune in the Solar Plexus Centre has been helping us get clear of this form of unconscious manipulation since 2008. Neptune is helping us find our own personal truth free of collective thought forms.

Let me explain a little bit about the effect of these two channels on our lives.

One of the qualities of the Root Centre is containment. It is a place where we contain (hold) our energy until the time is right to release it. Often we misunderstand this mechanism and react too quickly, releasing our energy before it’s properly ‘cooked’, or we hold on tight, too afraid of possible consequences if we take action. We can act too quickly, ignoring our Splenic awareness and not taking time for our Emotional awareness because our adrenal system (Root Centre) tells us we are under immediate threat. No time to check in .. just ruuunn!!

Neptune and Pluto are bringing us the power to wait, to tune into our own personal information / awareness and make a clear choice about our responses.

This is a powerful way for us to unravel complexity arising from ancient fears, to step out of dramas arising from collective emotionally based goals, to become natural in our responses, rather than culturally influenced.

Perhaps you can see in the chart that there are two channels coming out each side of the Root Centre. Pluto is in Gate 38, which is on the left, and Neptune is in Gate 55, which is on the right. The gate that connects those two gates is Root Centre Gate 39, called Obstruction. It comes out of the Root Centre at the right and hooks up with Neptune in the Solar Plexus Centre.

Between April 2013 and March 2014, Pluto and Neptune got a whole pile of transits that connect them (like the one you can see in the chart above). We will also get many connections of the Spleen Centre (embodiment/wellbeing) to the Solar Plexus Centre (emotions), with Pluto and Neptune right in the middle. This happened over and over again, bringing the powerful influences of Pluto and Neptune together. The result – calm embodied bliss that creates a powerful transformative presence in our own lives and our society regardless of external events. Net result – a grounded connection with our true abundance.

Back to 2013. What happened when our energy tries to release along one of these gates – Opposition (38) and Obstruction (39) – we can often got blocked, which means our energy got stuck in the Root Centre. We tried to move our energy out and hit opposition and/or obstruction and decided it’s all too hard. So we stayed put. We can experience this as depression, although if the family patterning is strong enough, or we are trying to move through unconscious gates, we may not even realise that the energy is stuck. The pressure for change may bring up resistance and if we resist strongly enough the change may be violent (Pluto) breakdown (Neptune).

If we surrender to these powerful forces, what Pluto and Neptune bring to the table is one huge global anti-depressant. And a brand new connection with our own power to manifest on the physical plane (Root Centre) with awareness from the Spleen (intuition) and Solar Plexus (emotion).

They will start out by making us sensitive to all the places in our lives where we have felt opposed and obstructed, where we’ve been unable to hold our own reality, stand our ground. And they will gradually reveal what needs integrating to resolve the duality we’re experiencing. With Pluto and Neptune you just know it’s going to hold a big reality check, giving us a clear option to release our lower selves, and discover what we have to offer for the higher good.

I’m expecting an explosion of powerful new forms of employment and business, huge changes in the way we relate to each other economically, and the beginning of a sensitivity to the needs of all humanity. I also expect that relationships will be unrecognisable by mid 2014, as we disentangle from the ancient ongoing dramas (and what’s called romantic love) and begin to truly see the wealth we bring to each others lives.

As Neptune is involved I imagine the media, and particularly movies, will play a pivotal part in these shifts.

Uranus Pluto Square

The other big event for Pluto over the next few years is the Uranus Pluto square. Between June 2012 and March 2015, Uranus and Pluto will make a ‘square’ to each other no fewer than 7 times! The basic principle involved is a compulsion to break free of limitations, to revolutionize our own role within the collective, to release the small self and find something that’s truly connected to the whole.

The challenge is not to get caught in rebellion, but to open up to the influx of new ideas. It is likely to feel as if time is speeding up in 2013. That’s the powerful galactic forces impulsing us. It will feel as if they are turning up and knocking on our door. Come out to play! The more easily we can stay present in the moment the less baggage we’ll carry and the more we will be able to slow down time and enjoy this powerfully creative process.

The first two squares – 24 June 2012 and 19 September 2012 – happened when Uranus was in Gate 17 and Pluto was in Gate 58. Here’s the details for the next 5 squares.

21 May 2013 – Uranus in 21.2 and Pluto retrograde in 38.2

1 November 2013 – Uranus retrograde in 17.6 and Pluto in 58.6

21 April 2014 – Pluto retrograde in 38.5 and Uranus in 21.5

15 December 2014 – Pluto in 38.4 and Uranus retrograde in 21.4

17 March 2015 – Pluto in 54.1 and Uranus in 51.1

We’ll have three Uranus Pluto squares while Pluto is in the Gate of Opposition. I’ll be blogging about them as they occur.

Timelines

If you were born between August 1957 and October 1960, Pluto in Gate 38 will be making a channel with your Neptune, which is in Gate 28. For some – those born between 7th July and 27th September 1960 there will be a bigger influence, with Personality Saturn in 38 and Personality Neptune in 28, Pluto is likely to cause a lot of confusion till you regain your balance. You’ll need to make some very sound and practical choices. When Pluto meets Neptune there is a powerful spiritual force unleashed and it will take much care to ensure that it doesn’t overwhelm. Be aware of a more subtle perceptive ability opening up, and expect periods of profound sensitivity and other times when it can feel as if you have so much more on your plate than you can possibly deal with. Watch to see what the Moon and Mercury in particular bring to your awareness as they transit through either of these gates over the next 3 years.

Those born between October 1975 and November 1976 have Uranus in Gate 28. It will be very interesting to see what they come up with! Pluto meeting Uranus is an unstable and unpredictable force, promising an unimaginable awakening that defies convention and even existing ideas of what is possible.

Here’s the timeline for the most important events during Pluto’s time in Gate 38.

2012

26th March at 2:04am UT Pluto in Gate 38 line 1

12th April Pluto goes Retrograde

26th April at 7:24am UT Gate 58 line 6
17th June at 16:40pm UT Gate 58 line 5
25th July at 21:22pm UT Gate 58 line 4

19th September Pluto goes Direct

8th November at 22pm UT – Gate 58 line 5
10th December at 7am UT – Gate 58 line 6

2013

6th January at 0:40am UT – Gate 38 line 1
3rd February at 0:48am UT – Gate 38 line 2
15th March at 4:27am UT – Gate 38 line 3

14th April Pluto goes Retrograde

12th May at 4:24am UT – Gate38 line 2
26th June at 5am UT – Gate 38 line 1
4th August at 17.30pm UT – Gate 58 line 6

Pluto goes direct – 21st September 2013

4th November at 13:30pm UT – Gate 38 line 1
8th December at 3:10am UT – Gate 38 line 2

2014

4th January at 8:37am UT – Gate 38 line 3
1st February at 2am UT – Gate 38 line 4
9th March at 23:48pm UT – Gate 38 line 5

15th April Pluto goes retrograde

22nd May at 5:45am UT – Gate 38 line 4
3rd July at 11:32am UT – Gate 38 line 3
13th August at 21:21pm UT – Gate 38 line 2

24th September Pluto goes direct

31st October at 16:57pm UT – Gate 38 line 3
6th December at 16:41pm UT – Gate 38 line 4

2015

3rd January at 10:28am UT – Gate 38 line 5
31st Januaryat 1:33am UT – Gate 38 line 6

7th March Pluto moves into Gate 54

Feature Image attribution: Doug88888 @ flickr.com

References:

Donna O’Connor, Insight To Astrology Study Notes, 1998
Alan Oken , Soul Centred Astrology, 2008
Jeff Green, Pluto – The Evolutionary Journey of the Soul, Volume 1, 2003
Richard Rudd, Genekeys
Hilary Barret, I Ching
Master Huang, I Ching
Bradford Hartcher, Yijing – Word By Word

Raeline Brady, A Path To Spiritual Voyager Cards (Divine Will)

More about Pluto in Gate 54