A new collective dream is about to emerge, but one could say we're still in the start up stage. Since 2008, Pluto has been orbiting the sign of Capricorn, and has been the governing cosmic officer for our historical institutions. The financial district, education, and the corporate landscape. It’s hard to notice that we've seen the bullish demolition of each of these sectors, heralding the signal of the downfall of capitalism and nepotism. The jig is up so to speak, and the timing couldn’t be any more convenient for Pluto to pass the torch onto the Aquarius clan until 2044. Just to note in your diary, Pluto will make its last-of-our lifetime appearance in Capricorn between September 1st and November 19th, 2024.
What happened the last time Pluto was in Aquarius, and how long will this transit last?
The phrase "revolution" has been circulating on the ground and in the cyber airwaves since the pandemic hit, and it clearly hasn't gone away. Whether it's a curation of #revolutioncore dystopian outfits on TikTok or group discussions about the spells of crises the world is under, the voice of the people is here to stay. Pluto in Aquarius is on the hot seat to answer the existential question of our time: How can we co-create a more diverse, fair, and equally merited society? After all, the last time Pluto was in Aquarius between 1777-1797, we had the Haitian Revolution, the French Revolution, and the American Civil War. As Gil Scott Heron once said ‘the revolution will not be televised’ but as it stands the collective ‘uprising’ is still in question. Nevertheless, Pluto’s 20 year reign in Aquarius is a matrix game-changer, so let the hackathon begin.
Curious about Pluto, are you? Well, in mythic realms, Pluto reigns as the underworld's divine host. Think of Pluto as the guy who hosts chic dinner parties with departed souls.
Commanding the guests to expose their secrets and past life confessions in a game of Cards Against Humanity. In short, he is known for helping us reveal the truth of our scars and embrace the entirety of who we are, so that we can step into our true power. Whenever we transition through the gates of pivotal life experiences, whether that be love or loss. We are born again, and we’re forever changed. Think about the last time you danced with these tender moments, and then you can time when you had your last personal appointment with Pluto.
Now, when you mix Pluto with the zodiac sign Aquarius, you get a rather strange but brain-altering concoction. Aquarius is the most rebellious sign of them all, and as an air sign, the term 'knowledge is power' comes to mind. It’s kind of kitsch that George Orwell’s book 1984 was once banned in the Soviet Union, due to its underlying political message. This is just one example of how texts can potentially influence the masses, and the entities that fear it.
The Pluto in Aquarius transit will have a huge impact on creative collaboration and technology
So, it leads us to the next point: when people believe in a shared vision, anything is possible. It's going to be an incredible moment to form creative collaborations with those who share a similar ethos, as you can collectively climb to new visionary heights. Start reaching out to people in your DMs who are doing some cool radical stuff in the world. Spread each other's core message. Speak each other’s names in invite only rooms. We're now in one of the most important eras to write an edge-cutting humanitarian manifesto to break down glass ceilings.
Aquarius is also associated with technology, and owing to its humanitarian attitude, we can anticipate groundbreaking healthcare innovations. According to the World Health Organisation 'healthcare innovation is accelerating at an unprecedented scale, particularly in the digital sphere.' Once upon a time, we stumbled upon the cure for antibiotics, so who knows how many lives we can save from once incurable diseases.
The shadow side of this new tech revolution is the cyborgian fever dream that we might be taken over by robots—perhaps we can thank the film "I, Robot" for fuelling this collective fear. Perhaps, if we had a clearer picture to see how AI will impact our culture at its most fundamental levels would help to smooth over any fear mongering narratives.
Yet, if we look closer to home, let’s deal with that fact that a lot of us feel spied upon by data harvesters. So, instead of creating fictional stories that belong in a sci-fi drama, we can begin to look through the telescope of our current reality. Zoom in on the question ‘does technology control us, or am I in control of my own technology?'
Looking at our tech usage from another angle, it’s easy to forget that whatever we post, share and upload on a webpage is ephemeral. Apparently some websites only last a few years, before they are stuffed down into deeper corners of the net due to never ending creation of new websites. What if one day Pluto decides to go zero-dark-thirty on our wifi? In the question of ownership, perhaps a way we can own the technology we use is by archiving our creative projects, think pieces and sentimental Myspace profiles. It is a piece of history after all.
Mindy Seu, a designer, technologist and author of ‘Cyberfeminism Index’ gathered a group of hackers, artists and activists to contribute to an online collection of resources for techno-critical works from 1990–2020. In essence, the index declares that a URL is a living piece of consciousness that needs a concrete home. Nothing online lasts forever, so make sure that your legacy lives beyond the E-world. Either way, Pluto in Aquarius will be a sharp reminder that the online world is a part of our real world.
And last but not least, aliens. I was obsessed with extraterrestrial beings during my teenhood, and, go figure, I'm an Aquarius Moon. But I digress. Did you notice that when Pluto briefly dipped into Aquarius last year, NASA held its first-ever public meeting on UFOs? It's no coincidence, as due to Aquarius's planetary rulership by Uranus, the sign also hovers over all things space-related.
Tapping into the crystal ball of 2024, the biggest currency we can carry with us into the year is hope. It's going to take each and every one of us to define our roles in this new collective mythology. Do whatever it takes to believe in your art, your vision and the passions that serenades your heart. Whether that looks like reinventing our virtual avatars or unionising for a grass roots cause, we all need to play our part to write the script of a shared utopian society. And who knows, we might see some special (alien) guests on the front line.
Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash
