and, now, pluto and my two cents on the ruling by the 2006 international astronomical union (or IAU) which reclassified pluto as a 'new' type of planet for which it is the prototype.
well, now, this is how i think about all of this ...
first, pluto hasn't been 'demoted', it has been reclassified. with all the dialogue and the discussion, people are talking about this reclassification as if pluto is less than what it was before the decision was made.
the truth is ... pluto is still the same object, in the same orbit, with the same 'moon' doing the same thing its been doing since before we discovered it even existed on its tilted orbit back in the 1930s.
pluto has not changed in the least bit. but, in our modern society of our socialized habits and prejudices have jumped on this new classification as if pluto is 'less' than it was the day before the vote. well a 'dwarf planet' isn't less than. its just a dwarf planet, a different definition.
the meanings and astrological impact it has on an individual's chart is the same as it ever was ... sort of. with this reclassification and way of looking at pluto, we now have to look at it in this way as well, and integrate these types of information into our synthesis of the meaning of the symbol of pluto ... because like the decision or not, it has been made and, while the future may change this decision as well as this one changed the one to make it a planet in the first place, we must consider the symbolic implications for pluto the dwarf planet and astrological symbol.
1. pluto is the proto-type for all cosmic bodies that will be defined in this class. talk about living up to your 'key words' of 'transformation' and 'transmutation' ... if creating a whole new classification of cosmic objects isn't transformation, i do not know what is!
2. pluto has a partner. it is a dual planet system. it does not exist or operate alone -- and in fact it never has. it always has had and will always have charon to zoom around our solar system. charon, pluto's partner in crime is also pluto's equal.
no longer a satellite of pluto, charon comes into his own and is now 'visible' ... think of pluto and charon as the ruling couple of scorpio, if you will. i will not be one of those who will debate the 'rulership' implications of this decision, i will simply leave pluto ruling scorpio and, if he is the 'king', charon is the 'queen' of scorpio (that charon in greek mythology is a man, well, i'll just leave that discussion there for the moment). the mythology of these two also help along that notion that, to me, just seems to fit so well. pluto, king of the underworld; charon, the 'gate keeper' to the underworld.
this discussion harkens me back to the discussions in the '50s and '60s amongst astrologers when pluto was named and the arguments and debates over meanings and glyphs and things of that nature were happening after the discovery of pluto.
'minerva' was the other name, with keywords such as 'wisdom' and 'enlightenment' given to this new planet, its glyph is the venus with the circle elevated above a crescent moon ... as if venus' top got cut in half and then a new circle appeared from its former center; the new planet was decidedly feminine. but as the debate ended, and there had to be decisions made, notions to be settled on, its name was pluto and the commonly used glyph, ♇, and given the keywords of 'transformation' and 'elimination' and pluto was defined as masculine.
so, when charon was reclassified not as pluto's moon, but as its equal, well, to me, it made perfect sense given the history of the astrological debate relating to this planet. that this reclassification happened at a time in our history where the legality of gay marriage is on our front page and being debated in the halls of congress as something we must create a constitutional amendment against, it was hard for me not to see the allusion to the gay male relationship ... perhaps the most socially taboo relationship of our times in terms of acceptance by the 'mainstream.'
ok, that may be a bit of a stretch, but here we have a planet that had a gender issue to begin with, then it comes out that it has a partner that was just 'a moon' (e.g., 'just a friend') for so long, and now, well, i just like to think that pluto has come out of the closet can embody both the traits and energies that wanted to be ascribed originally to the planet, and its partner is now here to help pluto be totally and completely pluto in all his glory and power, uniqueness and transformative self ... that's just how i see it at the moment.
3. pluto is a part of our solar system and the kuiper belt. he and charon live in two worlds, interacting and as the connection of the two 'neighborhoods'.
i once described the kuiper belt to a group of children as a 'green belt.' i explained that the kuiper belt was like that space of lawn between your house and the neighbor's house. yes, some of it is definitely on 'your side' and some of it is definitely on 'their side', but then there's that space that belongs to no one or everyone. there are parts of the kuiper belt that definitely belong to our solar system, but there are parts that truly do not. it is the space where "our house" extends into our neighbors and we connect, overlap and even cross for a visit when we have finally moved in and settled.
and, i do believe that we are finally getting our bearings within our solar system. our understanding of our planets and their satellites has grown exponentially in the past 30 years. we are planning for colonies on the moon and mars, mining and resourcing type operations within the other objects of our solar system (no, not anytime soon, but anything you want to happen, takes lots of planning). and soon, deep space travel or alternative forms of space travel will be emerging as reality. with the commercialization and privatization of space travel already, it is only a matter of time before mining operations for H3 on uranus is a reality. (for more on long term investments within our solar system, check out john s. lewis' book, 'mining the sky -- untold riches from the asteroids, comets and planets.')
so, does the IAU's ruling change the way i view pluto in a chart ... yes, it does. does it diminish the impact of pluto because of its reclassification? no it doesn't. the IAU's rather unpopular ruling for me is a welcome one. it provides clarity, focus and a new lens with which to view pluto/charon in the relationship to the energies reflected in an astrological chart.
peace & harmony,
elaine
'freedom must be exercised to stay in shape!'
Stephen Colbert and Neil DeGrasse Tyson
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