Saturn Conjunct Pluto in Capricorn: Introduction
Saturn and Pluto have been conjunct transiting in Capricorn since forever it seems – however, have you really noticed the effects they’re having on you? Saturn conjunct Pluto transiting Capricorn is currently one of the loudest background noises in astrology right now and it carries some pretty heavy messages with it. Profound frustration. Destroy the establishment. Irrevocable structural change. Deep fears. Rigid control. Get the picture? We can see some of those scenarios playing out all around us with massive changes occurring in our political and economic systems. But how will it affect you at a personal level?
This Saturn Pluto conjunction will be transiting in Capricorn and will be transiting though one of the houses in your birth chart – maybe more than one house if there’s a house cusp involved – and perhaps leaving a trail of destruction in the part of your life most directly affected. As with most big planetary transits to your birth chart, this transiting conjunction will set off a process of change that has a beginning, a middle and an end – though the end of this particular transiting conjunction is some way distant. For those of you with planets or angles in aspect to this Saturn conjunct Pluto transit – there will be some upheavals that’s for sure.
So, in this post, I’m going to look at what you may experience when Saturn and Pluto transit together through your birth chart. To make it easy, I’m going to do this by house position. I say easy, however, one thing is for certain – this Saturn Pluto transiting conjunction will be anything but easy! Also you need to keep a few things in mind.
- Pluto and Saturn move slowly. This process will take a long time.
- This transit will affect houses, planets and angles in your Natal Chart.
- This transit will also affect houses, planets and angles in your Solar Return forecast for the this year, 2019, and 2020 too.
- In 2020 expect bigger things as Jupiter joins the party.
- In March 2020, Mars will act as a trigger to many events – personal and global.
So, where predictive astrology is concerned, this slow moving but powerful conjunction of two of the Zodiac’s heavyweights is having – and will continue to have – a powerful effect for some time to come. With this in mind, in this post I’m going to look at the potential effects on a ‘house by house’ basis. You can read this for both your transits and solar returns but please note the essential difference – transits take longer as it’s a slower process and they can be more subtle (though not always!). Solar return Chart placements are much more immediate and concentrated over a shorter time period.
Saturn Conjunct Pluto Transits First House
With this Saturn conjunct Pluto transiting your Ascendant and first house, the thing that’s got to change? Well, that’s you. Need to be blasted out of your rut? Or maybe need to present yourself as someone reliable and in control? If you were under any illusions about yourself it’s likely a major shock to your system will cause a serious reality check about how you regard yourself – and how you appear to others.
This can affect everything from your own internal notions of identity to your outer appearance. However, one thing is certain – you will end this transit with a much more realistic and permanently altered notion of who you are – and potentially this will be reflected in how you present yourself to the world.
With this transit to your Ascendant and Natal First House, there is an obligation placed on you to take yourself more seriously, to mature and ‘grow up’. With Pluto, it’s possible an external factor forces you into this realisation. Similarly, if you’ve been in a rut for years, ignoring the need to change – Pluto will force you out of that too and again, an external challenge to your usual view of yourself will drive that process.
The aim of this Saturn Pluto transit is, therefore, to enable your personal transformation. It kickstarts the process of building a new you. However, this can be painful as everything you thought you were is demolished. With this Saturn Pluto conjunction in your Solar Return First House, the same principles apply – however the process is much more intense.
Saturn Conjunct Pluto Transits Second House
When the Saturn and Pluto transiting conjunction moves through your second house, expect profound structural changes to your finances, your value system and your self esteem. So, if your finances are not as secure as they could be, you may experience a monetary crash that forces you to take your personal financial security much more seriously than before.
It’s inevitable that when you suffer a financial blow, your self esteem may also be shattered – after all, we live in a society which often measures self-worth in a material way. Pluto and Saturn conjunct in Capricorn in the first house don’t just bring you down to earth – they threaten to bury you and the only way to rise again is to reappraise your value system and identify what is truly important to you.
It’s vital to remember that any crushing blow is part of a process. The object is not to crush you but to prompt you to rebuild your material life on more secure foundations. You will need to develop a more realistic appreciation of your self worth, your earning potential and your financial stability. When we are down on our luck we often have to look deep inside for inner resources and talents to begin to rebuild. This is what Saturn and Pluto want you to do.
The rewards can be considerable if you are prepared to learn your lesson. With this Pluto Saturn conjunction in the second house of your Solar Return Chart, the effects can be shocking and more intense. You will have little time to adjust to the situation. However, the lesson is there to be learned so make the right responses and you will profit from the experience.
Saturn Conjunct Pluto Transits Third House
When the Pluto and Saturn transiting conjunction moves through your third house, it can be a difficult time mentally. It’s not unusual for your reactions to life’s circumstances to result in quite a depressed state of mind and low moods. This can be the result of external issues and pressure that has built up elsewhere in your life and it’s unlikely to be eased by your interactions with others.
Why? Well, you may find yourself – or others – having difficulties in the way you communicate. Conversations and exchanges can become power struggles and you may find yourself enmeshed in some serious disputes. This could occur with siblings or neighbours. You could be the one on the receiving end of what seems to be unreasonable behaviour – or you could be the one dishing it out. You could also have to deal with a sibling maybe experiencing their own life changing experiences. You may need to be the strong and supportive one – yet this may not be without it’s own price.
What Pluto and Saturn are trying to do here is make you realise you need to reconsider the way you think, speak and interact with the world. One thing is certain however. What you are going through now has been a long time coming. You’re not being punished but you are being asked to work hard at changing your habitual responses – mental and verbal – to those around you.
Again, if you have Saturn conjunct Pluto transiting through the third house of your Solar Return Chart, the effects will be potentially more sudden and intense and you may find yourself having to deal with issues more suddenly. It’s less of a slow process compared to the transit of your natal house.
Saturn Conjunct Pluto Transits Fourth House
When the Pluto and Saturn transiting conjunction moves through your fourth house, you tend to be affected at the most personal level. This is the house of your home and family, your roots, parents and your personal foundation. Your core stability will be affected and at least one of the matters connected with this house will experience irrevocable change.
The process of change is often difficult to live with – especially (as I’ve mentioned before), if you’ve become used to the security and stability of a particular home and family situation – or, even in extreme cases, living in a particular country. This conjunction can be extreme so it’s not unreasonable to assume that some of you will be making huge adjustments in connection with this house – or even your own home – as it passes by.
So what can you expect? It’s about structural change. Quite literally to your family or home. This transit will sometimes bring change through bereavement or divorce – yet just as often change occurs with birth, marriage and forging new structures out of old ones. You may decide to relocate – often in a new country thus leaving behind your roots, family background, culture and old way of life. You could also decide to renovate or rebuild your home as part of the process of moving your family life onto another level – often financially.
When the Saturn and Pluto conjunction falls in your Solar Return fourth house, the effects are more sudden and intense and you will need to adjust to new and more difficult domestic or family situations more quickly. This transit is asking you to accept change and move on – but you also need to process it emotionally too. And though Pluto especially is a hard taskmaster – he will give you the tools for the job. Saturn will, of course, make it hard work – but also make it work for you.
Saturn Conjunct Pluto Transits Fifth House
When the Saturn and Pluto transiting conjunction passes through your fifth house, your creative expression is going to be changed significantly. The fifth house is regarded as a happy house – and why wouldn’t it be? It contains the things you do when you’re having fun, the ways you express your own personal creativity and that can be anything and everything from artistic creativity to all of the hobbies and interests you have that make your life worth living. It also includes the results of your pro-creative efforts – your children – who bring great joy into your life.
So how will the ‘house of joy’ be affected by this powerful transit? The answer with this transit is inevitably a mixture of pleasure and pain. However, the main theme to be aware of with this house is the need to identify what is important to you and to commit to it totally. This may mean having to ask – and answer – some difficult questions about how fulfilled you are as an individual.What could you do to make your life more complete? Are you frustrated or simply coasting thorough life?
This transit is asking you to develop your self confidence and become the person you were meant to be. You need to take pride in yourself and feel ready to say to the world. ‘look at me’. This isn’t meant however in a boastful way. Having personal interests, engaging culturally, having children – all of these are ways of developing yourself and taking your place in the world. As this transit passes through the fifth house, you will find yourself pushed into a developmental process – either through a series of personal disappointments, big life changing decisions and sheer hard work.
With Saturn conjunct Pluto transiting through the fifth house of your solar return chart, your responses will need to be much more immediate as issues present themselves in a much quicker and more obvious way. For example – a pregnancy means you need to mature and take responsibility. To see through a creative project you may need to rein in your social life – but you feel it will be worth it in the end. The message is you will need to work hard and make sacrifices in the short term – but in the long term? It’s worth it.
Saturn Conjunct Pluto Transits Sixth House
When the Saturn and Pluto transiting conjunction moves through your sixth house, you will need to pay attention to your health and wellbeing, work ethic and personal organisation. It’s not unusual during this transit for you to feel stressed by overwork and for this to have a ‘domino effect’ on other areas of your life. A crisis of some kind can trigger a total review of how you approach your daily life.
The message this transit wants you to hear is about being more efficient in your life. I know this sounds trite but this transit is a message that you’re currently not doing yourself any favours. Whether you’re a slob, tend towards OCD or (like most of us) fall somewhere between the two, you need to take a good look at yourself in a much more holistic way to ensure you’re looking after yourself well. This also applies to those you look after – and that includes the dog.
When we’re out of synch it’s not only our own wellbeing that’s at stake – it’s that of others too. We often find ourselves the first to complain if we’re burdened by other’s failing to take responsibility for their actions. However, we need to ensure we comply with our own responsibilities – and that starts with our own wellbeing. If we fail to take responsibility for our own lives, we can hardly complain when others do so – and impact on us in a negative way.
So, when this Saturn and Pluto planetary combination appears in your solar return sixth house, be prepared for a crisis of some kind. You may have problems with your own work routine. Health issues may come to light. Maybe you find you have increased responsibilities or stress because of the actions of others. The solution? Take responsibility for yourself. It’s about finding what works for you and enables you to look after yourself and your own interests. There is always a good way to do things – and that’s what this planetary pairing is teaching you to do.
Saturn Conjunct Pluto Transits Seventh House
When Saturn conjunct Pluto transits your seventh house, your partnerships and relationships will be subject to review and change. It’s easy to assume that simply refers to your love relationship, however, all ‘one to one’ relationships will be affected by this transit – and that includes professional relationships too.
What Saturn and Pluto want you to do is review your relationships – or even contractual obligations – and see what works and what doesn’t work. Often brutal honesty is required here – about yourself and your attitude towards your ‘other’. It’s no surprise that therapeutic relationships with counsellors and psychologists match the symbolism of this transit – and often we consult them because we’re having issues with, you’ve guessed it, relationships.
However, not everyone experiences this kind of crisis. It’s equally valid to experience a personal transformation regarding your attitudes to relationships. Commitment issues – avoiding it or embracing it – will be common and having to work hard to transform a relationship is a process many will experience. Business partnerships may be intense – often because there is a great deal of money at stake or because one person may have more experience, influence and power than the other. Again, there are clearly issues to be worked through in this situation and drawing up a legal contract between parties may be one way of doing so.
Where your relationships are concerned – and whatever the nature of those relationships may be – the message of this transit is to put those relationships on an honest and equal basis and make them work. If that can’t be done then you need to transform or end the association. In your solar return seventh house, the effect of this is more immediate and intense.
Saturn Conjunct Pluto Transits Eighth House
When Saturn conjunct Pluto transits your eighth house, it’s affecting an area of your chart that is often feared and misunderstood. However, this transit in this house is likely to effect great change in your life as you have to deal with things you are naturally reluctant to deal with – and the thing we find most difficult to deal with are things that make us feel vulnerable..
So, during this transit you may be faced with matters such as owning your sexuality or major life changes such the emotional fallout from childbirth. Some of you may have to deal with bereavement and death and in so doing will have to confront the nature of your own mortality. You could even be a victim of crime. This is the house ruled by Pluto and these are plutonic issues – so how does Saturn affect them?
One answer would be to say, Saturn makes things real. Saturn often gives you a reality check like no other. So, you may also find yourself dealing with big financial matters – not big spending but making investments, paying off or taking out loans and mortgages and dealing perhaps with inheritances (money or other property) during this time. You will need to step up to the plate – and this is the essential message of this transit. You can’t function in this world without acknowledging your debts and responsibilities to others.
When this Saturn and Pluto conjunction occurs in the eighth house of your solar return chart, a major crisis may occur in your life which relates to the symbolism of the eighth house and the planets it contains and you will have to rise to the occasion and deal with whatever comes your way. Remember – anything you gain you will need to have paid for.
Saturn Conjunct Pluto Transits Ninth House
When Saturn conjunct Pluto transits your ninth house, your world view will be subject to total change. However, you are likely to have been feeling some pressure building up in this regard. Your understanding of the world may seem lacking or fixed and outdated. Your judgement may seem questionable and your long held opinions on social matters seem now to cause you deep unease. You could even be subject to – or take – legal action.
The object of this transit is a root and branch review of your, often, most cherished and long held beliefs. It’s not necessarily that you’re wrong about things – though you may be – it’s more likely that you feel you need for more education – or others feel the need to re-educate you. It’s possible you could find yourself in dispute with others who differ from you in their political or religious ideology. It’s equally possible you feel compelled to engage with matters of social justice or immigration. These things now feel personal to you in a way they didn’t before.
So, one response you could have would be to engage with higher education to learn more of the world in an academic sense. If you have tended to be limited in your outlook you may be pressured to alter that stance and open yourself up to new ways of looking at the world. You could decide to travel in many senses of the word – and it’s likely your journey will have a profound and lasting effect on you.
When this Saturn Pluto conjunction occurs in your solar return ninth house, your crisis is more immediate and requires a much more rapid response. The matter will be too important to ignore as it’s a game-changer – you can be sure of that. You will be pushed into making a new and better response to life’s circumstances and in so doing you will realise there is more to life than you thought possible.
Saturn Conjunct Pluto Transits Tenth House
When this Saturn conjunct Pluto transit crosses over your Midheaven and enters your tenth house, it’s your career and profession we usually associate with change. However, it can be so much more than than that. The tenth house also rules the legacy we leave in this world so it’s not only your professional achievements that are affected, but your life’s work in the broadest sense.
So, it’s likely that an external event will cause this period of realisation. You could find career change forced on you by circumstance such as redundancy or retirement. The company you work for could fold or you could even find yourself being promoted and having to adjust to new and heavier responsibilities. You could even decide to start your own business or decide doing so is too stressful.
The pressure for change can also be internal. This could be a deep dissatisfaction with the recognition you are getting for your current role. You could be questioning whether you have taken to right road in life or you could feel you are in need of change as you’re in a rut. However this unfolds, it will need a complete and honest review of your ambitions and capabilities. Can you look back on what you’ve done with pride or do you feel the need to make up for lost time?
When this Saturn Pluto conjunction falls in your solar return tenth house, you may be more likely to experience an external crisis as I’ve described earlier, followed by an internal resolution as the year progresses. This will be a much more intense process than you would experience under the transit and it will alter your life path in a much more conscious and immediate way.
Saturn Conjunct Pluto Transits Eleventh House
When the Saturn Pluto conjunction transits into your eleventh house, the major underlying change will be to your sense of purpose. This comes about as you feel compelled to re-examine your personal goals and aspirations. What is it you really want out of life? How connected so you feel to society? Is your social life rewarding? Do you act according to your beliefs? This is a forward looking house and it’s the place we go to for a sense of belonging.
When this transit takes effect, expect to start asking those basic questions. You may have always made the assumption you belong to a particular social group. This could be based on many things – your political affiliation, social class, social causes, social interests, friendship groups and even your social networks. You may find you’re not such a keen member as you used to be – and why is that? Do you find the company stale or have you started to feel alienated from the group?
Either way, the message this transit carries to their house is one of reviewing your affiliations and closing down those which contradict with your goals and underlying purpose. If you no longer believe in the cause then stop fighting. Turn your attentions to the things you really feel a connection to – and that goes for people too. You may have friends you suddenly find are no longer there for you – or you for them. We change over time – and this transit wants you to acknowledge that and be your authentic self with other like minded souls.
When this Saturn Pluto conjunction falls in your solar return eleventh house, you may experience an issue with friends – or develop a strong feeling that there is something out there more important than you. You could find a cause to fight – or become a keyboard warrior. Your goals will change during the year. But will it last? Everything changes.
Saturn Conjunct Pluto Transits Twelfth House
When Saturn and Pluto transit through your twelfth house, you feel yourself sailing into uncharted waters. The twelfth house is mysterious and deep and it will be impossible for you to experience this transit without lasting psychological effects. That sounds scary but no – it’s about clearing out stuff you’ve been hoarding in your mind for too long – and that can only make you stronger as a result.
As a process goes however it’s not easy. Pluto demands change yet Saturn is the most change resistant planet there is. Overcoming mental and emotional blocks is what this is about and that’s so important for healthy emotional development and wellbeing. The stuff you’ve been hiding in the bunker will have to be dealt with – and Pluto is determined to blast open Saturn’s defence.
So, how does that work out? When I first drafted this post I called it ‘Immutable force meets immoveable object’. Deep down, you may feel a massive need to change and confront your issues, however, you will also feel an equally huge fear of doing so – as if you cannot bear the thought of what you could unleash. This transit is the original ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’ transit – and that is basically the only way to deal with it.
In your solar return twelfth house, this Saturn Pluto conjunction may work out as an emotional crisis of some kind. It could show up as a delayed response to an earlier trauma – maybe one you had the previous year – and it’s a way of coming to terms with what happened to you in the past. The message is to work hard, locate the problem, root it out – and move on. It’s way too exhausting to carry emotional baggage forever.
© Sara Shipman 2019
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