Pluto News

The origins of the crisis

The economic crisis that broke out in September 2008 during the first Saturn-Uranus opposition originated in a purely financial crisis, unrelated to the real economy. As we know, "risky" financial products, i.e. based on bad loans, have been introduced on the stock market for the sole purpose of exploding the profits of banks and financial institutions. Of course, when the repayment of these loans began to fail, the entire financial system was shaken because these "dirty" products, that is to say, corrupt products, were inextricably intertwined with the others.

The financial crisis

This led to the outbreak of the economic crisis, which was said to be the most serious of all time just a year ago. In fact, it has as its real origin the misuse of the role of the banks: instead of financing the economy, they have oriented themselves towards the exclusive search for maximum profit in a minimum time, what is modestly referred to as "financial capitalism". Encouraged by the neo-liberal policies of the previous American administration, this diversion corresponds to the fascination exerted by money from speculation, instead of that generated by labor. As for the money symbolized by Scorpio and not by Taurus, it is therefore under the influence of Pluto (plutos means rich in ancient Greek) and exerts a power over its holders proportional to its quantity.

The power of money

This phenomenon of large-scale enrichment concerns all countries, rich and poor, and the number of dollar billionaires has jumped over the last ten years. From now on, it is the exclusive law of profit that is exercised within large companies, and no longer the development of real activity and even less the fulfillment of employees. Proof of this is the permanent takeovers of companies by their competitors with a view to forming vast holding companies, with their procession of redundancies. Wealth is thus concentrated in the hands of a tiny category of people in the world, who could be called the "plutocratic oligarchy". And to this accumulation of "legal" wealth, we must add the illegal wealth generated by the mafias that flourish everywhere. Their development, particularly in Russia and China, is the basis of a real parallel economy strongly tinged with the colours of Pluto since it is based on drugs, prostitution, racketeering and arms trafficking. In this regard, it should be noted that in Afghanistan, money from poppy harvesting is used to arm Taliban groups and other radical Islamist movements.

Terrorism

Obviously, the latter also represent a contemporary expression of Pluto: their blind fanaticism, their unfailing determination, their mode of action marked by secrecy and self-destruction (the human bombs), their implacable, extraordinarily violent and inconsiderate character, as well as the hatred they profess for what is not like them and particularly for the West, All this leaves little doubt as to their symbolic signature. However, if you think about it, whether it is Islamic terrorism or the current excesses of financial capitalism, these are two branches, admittedly diametrically opposed, of the same underground forces at work.

Islam

If Christianity is based on the symbolism of Pisces, Tradition reports that Islam proceeds from that of Scorpio. However, the growing presence of the Muslim community in Western Europe, particularly in France and Germany, is causing concern among part of the population. These are maintained by cultural differences, religious customs, sometimes by difficulties or refusals of integration and claims to identity. They are further fuelled by media reports of the activities of Islamist terrorist groups (Al Qaeda), but also of the countless conflicts between Muslim communities (Shia and Sunni), Muslim communities and other communities (India, Lebanon, Southeast Asia), as well as conflicts or threats of conflict involving Islamic countries (Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc.), not to mention the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. From these fears, which are more or less irrational — or more or less justified, depending on one's point of view — but which have been maintained for a long time, the feeling of a latent threat is born, at least in certain regions and certain environments. However, this feeling appeals to the deepest buried instincts that only awaken in the event of real or supposed danger: the instinct of defense and survival, which we know is symbolized by Scorpio.

The extreme right

Clearly, this is a major reason for the slow but seemingly inexorable rise of the far right in Europe. This is gaining ground not only in sensitive regions, but also in countries not particularly concerned by immigration, such as the Netherlands, Belgium or Eastern European countries. As history shows, these extremist movements are obviously also part of the Plutonian dynamic, with its procession of excess, violence, manipulation and hatred. Democracy is symbolized by the sign of Cancer and by its mistress, the Moon, symbol of the collective unconscious. However, analogous to the fall of the Moon in Scorpio, the collective unconscious is obscured when it is permanently subjected to fear and gives way for a time to the instincts responsible for ensuring the survival of the collective. It is then that violence is unleashed and the worst atrocities ensue, as is the case in the civil war.

The security temptation

Of course, we are not there yet and hope never to succeed. However, here and there we see a tendency on the part of politicians to become more secure, to tighten controls, to tighten the rules that could be likened to the desire to raise the bulwark of the Law (Saturn) against the forces of instinct (Pluto). In view of the technological means that currently exist and which are likely to be oriented towards security purposes, it would only take an exceptional situation for individual freedom to be no more than a memory. All this is part of a context in which Saturn has arrived at the square of Pluto.

Manipulation of nuclei

As we have seen for money, Pluto exerts his power over those who are fascinated by power — the ring of power of Germanic mythology, revisited by J.R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings. After having found the source of infinite energy in the nucleus of atoms, Man will now look for the source of life in the nucleus of cells with genetic manipulation. Even before they have proven their harmlessness for humans, GMOs are in the process of being massively introduced into human food, after having been introduced into that intended for animals. Livestock varieties are no longer obtained by crossbreeding, but by genetic manipulation in the laboratory. "Genetic engineering" promises the eradication of diseases, the replacement of failing organs, a substantial increase in life expectancy in the future... and soon eternal life.

Power and fascination

Pluto let Man take possession of the nucleus of which he was the guardian, and it is in the nucleus that the key to life and omnipotence lies. But if today the forces contained in the nucleus belong to him, Man does not seem to be aware of the fascination that these forces exert on him. Moreover, it even seems that decision-makers in turn use this power of fascination and no longer hesitate to multiply its sources in order to satisfy the instincts of a large part of the population, probably in order to better control it: pornography, violence and gambling are now easily accessible via television and the Internet.

The depletion of energy resources

Of the underground wealth held by Pluto since the formation of the Earth, only a part remains, less than half as far as oil is concerned and barely more as far as gas, the main sources of energy with nuclear power, remain. A few decades will have been enough to extract resources from the underworld, but what will happen when, in thirty years' time, they are on the verge of exhaustion? Unless alternative energies develop significantly and manage to take over, there is a major risk that there will be a bitter struggle between the major industrial countries over the use of the remaining resources. China, the most populous country on the planet and now the world's second industrial power, cannot afford a recession without causing serious internal disorder and jeopardizing its regime. This was clearly demonstrated by the failure of the Copenhagen Conference in 2010.

The destruction of the environment

Let us come finally to the two most salient and probably the most characteristic points of Pluto's mark on our time. The first concerns the accelerated and probably irreversible degradation of our environment, a direct consequence of excessive industrialization and the exponential increase in the world's population, which has doubled in less than half a century. Pluto has therefore already begun its work of corruption by gradually submerging the Earth of the waste produced by humans and by making a growing number of plant and animal species disappear. He thus appears here as an "immanent vigilante", who manifests his effects as often unforeseeable but always irremediable consequences of the acts performed.

Nuclear proliferation

The second point is no less worrying and brings us back to the major discovery of the time of Pluto's discovery: atomic energy. Since the end of the Cold War and the "balance of terror", new countries have acquired nuclear weapons or are on the verge of doing so: India, Pakistan, North Korea, Iran. Nuclear proliferation is indeed the greatest danger, because it renders obsolete the consensus reached by the great powers. Since the passage of Pluto in its home in Scorpio, the control of atomic weapons by these same great powers has become more and more problematic and the doctrine of deterrence no longer applies in the same way. Among the countries involved, the Pakistani regime is weakened by the corruption of its administration and has ambiguous relations with the Taliban extremists, North Korea is under the yoke of a totalitarian dictatorship and Iran under that of a fundamentalist religious government. This situation shows that it is futile to believe that Pluto's powers can remain under control indefinitely. And if they are so for a time, it is because this time is used to create in the invisible the conditions that will allow them to escape from their illusory holders.

The deconstruction of society

The exponential disparity in the income scale, the growing mistrust of the rulers, the gradual dismantling of public services, the muted threats linked to communitarianism and the fear of foreigners, and more generally the lack of visibility concerning the future, especially for the younger generations, all these factors correspond to the work of undermining, characteristic of Plutonian energy, which profoundly affects the foundations on which our societies rest, insidiously distilling uncertainty and loss of bearings. Even if this phenomenon has been in place for some time now, the entry of Pluto into Capricorn in 2008 only makes it more obvious and accelerates its course.

Conclusion

This overview of trends that I consider to be specific to our time is by no means exhaustive, nor does it claim to provide new information; no doubt it also reflects my own subjectivity. Its purpose is to invite reflection based on the symbols offered to us by our science and no other. Moreover, it is obvious that the effects of the trans-Saturnian movements are closely intertwined and give rise to complex phenomena, such as economic ultraliberalism (Uranus) leading to financial capitalism (Pluto), the freedom linked to the use of individual vehicles (Uranus) associated with the impact of emissions on the greenhouse effect (Neptune), or oil spills involving both oil (Pluto) and the ocean (Neptune).

It seems that a double movement is taking place: an upward movement inspired by Uranus, by which man conquers freedom, space, universality and comes close to his own transcendence, and a downward movement inspired by Pluto, by which he conquers omnipotence over the world and, potentially, the keys to his own transformation. These two movements are obviously linked since Uranus is exalted in Scorpio: the overcoming of the human condition seems to have to go through the fall into the world below, the one ruled by Pluto.
In the following article, The future of the world in 10 years, we will deal again with the trans-Saturnian planets, this time from a dynamic perspective by placing them in the course of their respective cycles, which will lead us to propose a forecast scheme for the years to come and to formulate some hypotheses.
Published in "L'Astrologue" n° 171, October 2010.

Continued in The Future of the World in 10 Years.