Hello Reader,

Pluto has been on my mind a lot lately. What with its entry into Aquarius in a few hours (at 7:40 pm EST today, Jan. 20) but also because my Mercury/Midheaven cluster lies just across in 01/02 Leo. This Plutonian influence has been building slowly, so don't expect to feel the peak tonight and then no more.

I know some of you have been feeling the Pluto transits as well. In the past week, I have already seen it in the charts of at least three of the people who have reached out to me for help in understanding their charts and the new energies they are experiencing.

So, what does this Pluto transit mean and why the fuss? I'll start with the latter first - Pluto takes fore-e-e-ver to circle through the sky. If 00Aquarius is a sensitive spot for you, the Moon triggers it once a month for a couple of hours. It is a bleep on the canvas of life and you may easily ignore the momentary fleeting feeling of vague anxiety, unsettlement, or confusion. Mars will trigger the same spot every two years and it will last for two to three weeks. Enough to feel it and become aware of the same feelings, but not enough to cause much concern. Then, comes Pluto who will sit at the same sensitive spot not a moment, a day, or a week, but a whole year. It starts quietly and most of us usually do not notice it at first. But then disquiet piles up, anxieties pop up and do not go away, and we start to notice. Six months later, we are exasperated, wondering if we are loosing our mind and whether we should find a therapist. This sense of confusion, lack of motivation, sometimes even dejection, begin to bear down on us. Six months is a long time, we tell ourselves, and we've been patient like a saint, but whatever is happening is not going away. Perhaps, it is a time for a major intervention. But is it?

In the timeline of Pluto, however, six month are merely a bleep. Think more like 12 or 18 months before Pluto moves away from that spot and leave you with its unexpected gifts. And they are are wonderful gifts - empowerment, truth, clarity, strength, a renewed sense of who you are and what you can do.

The lesson here is to be patient and keep an eye on the cosmic cycles. If Pluto is transiting a spot somewhere in your chart, give yourself a year before you begin to spiral down in self-doubt and desperation. Take one day at a time. If anxieties strike, remind yourself "I am being released. I am being released. I am being released."

Pluto also brings zero tolerance for untruths. You might find yourself speaking up your mind, calling people on their lies, or simply having the urge to drop your masks and defenses and express yourself in a way that is your true self.

For the JSJ students here, my self-help recommendation is to keep SEL 19 open for a while. It reminds us that we are "My Own Authority" in the words of Mary Burmeister. My current favorite way to open SEL 19 is with the opposite SEL 14 and thus directly involve the Diaphragm FE, which corresponds to the Astrological Sagittarius and helps us get a new perception, to view the world in another way.

Best,

Tatiana