Mars and Venus Join Pluto in Aquarius
As the collective waits for all (possible) hell to break loose, the dramatics get louder, walls crumble, and something fascinating may be revealed.
What is happening?!
The skies are positively alight with active transits and sizzling Aquarius energy, bringing astrological drama and priming many of us for anger at the status quo, unorthodox solutions, and the slow demise of some old ideas. Pluto in Aquarius was always a guarantee of dramatic upheaval, and now we are experiencing planetary aspects that last appeared 248 years ago as both Mars and Venus enter Aquarius, immediately going conjunct to the small but formidable planet. 248 years ago, American colonists were gleefully kicking British ass on both land and sea, invigorating them to the point of formally declaring independence and basically putting the words “CoMe gEt soMe, biTch” on a piece of parchment in July of 1776.
World history and cultural origin stories are key to understanding this Pluto return, in much the same way that a tarot card in the past position of a spread informs the interpretation of the future-positioned card. We can’t know where we’re going if we don’t know where we’re coming from.
Spring of 2024 is part one of a cosmic quake that centers new, startling, and possibly dangerous ideas in our collective conscience. Waves of frustration are fueling a need to destroy and rebuild integral frameworks, like the distorted echo from a world on the cusp of a messy 19th century, wrestling with a moral compass that humanity can’t seem to straighten out.
It feels impossible to overstate how collectively insane the world has gone in a very short amount of time - or, rather, how quickly we seem able to forget our own historical lessons and missteps, like…how terrible the Victorian age was for most people, or, the intention behind ominous harbingers like book burning. I must admit, as a child of the nineties my generation thought we had an inkling of how fucked we would be as adults, but a quick Google search on world news shows how our most dour, apocalyptic expectations are being met and raised. Right now, land grab wars are being waged throughout the globe. Two wealthy countries are dedicating resources to bombing the shit out of a small, densely populated strip of land, and the body count of mostly women and children numbers in the thousands. That wealth, the unthinkable amounts of cash it takes to wreak such devastation, is money that the citizens of said countries produced but never enjoyed, as it belongs mostly to the richest 10% of citizens. The bottom 90%, meanwhile, continue to labor for a fraction of the pay they made 50 years previously, unable to feed their children, unable to secure shelter, and unable to access education. All of this doesn’t just keep Americans poor and uneducated - it has finally begun to cut our lifespans short. Instead of working to live, Americans are now working to die; they die from neglecting their teeth, they die from preventable diseases, and they die from despair. They die from their infrastructure, they die from corporate pollution, and of course, they die anywhere and everywhere that someone with an automated weapon has a grievance.
Lest Venus feel left out, around the world and in America, women have progressed to something of an accelerated death cult experience; they have the option of dying young at the hands of men, dying in childbirth, dying due to denied healthcare, and increasingly dying from suicide. In fact, the more man-adjacent a woman’s existence, the higher her odds of dying prematurely climb. And that’s just the White people - because of course, all this death comes faster and messier for Black, Brown, and Queer bodies in America and across the globe.
Pluto, a.k.a. Hades, acts as a sort of judge and jury for entities passing from one realm to the next, determining whether someone (or something) languishes in the pits of Tartarus or lives again as a shade in the afterlife. With his return to Aquarius, Pluto is judging ideas that were seeded 248 years ago and forcing us to face the reality those ideas wrought.
It can be useful to step back and survey our existence, even when it’s depressing; not because we want to wallow in a catalogue of horror, but because it explains why so many of us are simultaneously fatigued and enraged, wishing for something to improve but frustrated by the traditional routes to said improvement.
We know something massive needs to happen, but we aren’t sure what it is. If Earth is a stage, the planetary transits and aspects occurring this week are a bit like the house lights dimming before a raucous variety show begins; we are holding a collective breath as we wait for the space to be inhabited, just as primed to hiss and throw rotten fruit as we are to clap and cheer, and in both instances, hoping we’ll make it out of the theater alive.
Why would this affect me?
Unless you have an anvil for a heart, the severity of world events is probably affecting you in some form or another, and personal planets moving into Aquarius could certainly amplify feelings about collective problems. However, the retro cosmic cha-cha happening in Aquarius might not affect us on a deeply personal level. Yet. Pluto moves slowly and deliberately around the sun and spends about 20 years in each sign, so we have until March of 2046 for the disruption, innovation, and ultimate rebuilding of societal structures to take place. Mars and Venus are faster, more personal planets, though, so their conjunctions with Pluto could get very loud in our homes and places of work.
Mars, a.k.a. Ares, is our man of desire, action, and hotheadedness, so when he pairs with Pluto we might find ourselves super keyed up to change things that have been unsatisfactory for a while. Pluto is the excavator, and he reveals subterranean issues that have affected the surface of things for a while without us noticing; anything from unresolved relationship drama to workplace policy that has always chafed but never been confronted could set us off with a need to DO SOMETHING. The recent union activities and labor gains come to mind as an example of long-running injustices finally reaching a boiling point and spilling over into immediate action.
Venus, that saucy minx emerging from the sea, becomes very circumspect in Aquarius, because she’s in a less comfortable position there to due Aquarius’ restrictive ancient ruler, Saturn. The discipline and boundaries of Saturn in combination with the eccentricity and rule-breaking of Uranus have an interesting effect on Venus, which could show up in intimate relationships, community groups, and financial endeavors.
The planet of love and beauty will inspire us to look in odd places for pleasure, art, and money; think of an artist abandoning traditional oil painting in a studio for mixed media installations under a viaduct involving fruit and computers. It could get weird!
We might find ourselves in exhibitionist territory as well, because Aquarius likes to share experiences and broaden mindsets, which might also lead to public art shows and a more collective approach to love and money, i.e. an increase in donations to public charities that are close to our hearts, as well as more date nights out than cozy nights in.
When do I have to deal with this?
Mars conjuncts perfectly with Pluto on February 14th, but he stays within 4 degrees of the powerful dwarf planet until Saturday, so don’t be surprised if people seem revved up about things throughout the weekend. Venus ingresses into Aquarius on Friday, February 16th and immediately conjuncts Pluto on Saturday, February 17th and stays within 4 degrees of him until Monday, February 19th, so we could spend the entire weekend looking at our relationships and creative projects with a new, possibly clearer lens. Never forget that Pluto, like the strange arachnid he rules, is ultimately a destroyer. Issues that have been creeping around the periphery for a while could be thrust beneath a microscope when he joins up with our personal planets, i.e. Mars and Venus. So if some small unhappiness has been bubbling beneath the surface of our love lives, friendships, or money situations, something that we simply haven’t seen or felt comfortable addressing before, do not be surprised if it makes itself known this weekend.
Cool, what does the Tarot say about this?
Money, action, and a good deal of retrospection seem to dominate themes of our week and weekend leading into Pisces season, which aligns accurately with Mars (action) and Venus (love/money) bear hugging Pluto (retrospection and endings).
The Ace of Pentacles reversed and the Queen of Swords hovered over the beginning of the week, indicating difficulty or delay acquiring new resources and a clinging to rationality and equanimity to solve the problem, instead of letting our emotions get the best of us, despite the denial of essential resources being a huge, heavy bummer.
Judgement reversed wants us to assess our situation and take the long view - are we ignoring or avoiding something that needs to be addressed? And if we are, is it because we fear we are not up to the task?
A pull of Judgement reversed for 2.15.24 indicates the need to move past this fear and indecision, because confidence and joy might wait on the other side. How many of us are standing on the sidelines, waiting for someone else to take action and change circumstances here on Earth? Judgement tells us to stop waiting and take action.
The Knight of Swords shows up for Friday, 2.16.24, asking us to take swift action to implement an idea or plan, lest we lose our window of opportunity. A companion crystal pull of smoky quartz might reveal something that needs to be purified or eliminated from our lives in order for our ideas to work.
On Saturday, 2.17.24, a Memory card will force us away from the present and into the past to confront something left unfinished. Something we thought long buried might have significant connotations for the future, and we will need to synthesize that information before any new ideas can be manifested.
Sunday, 2.18.24 moves the focus back to resources and money, and a scarcity mindset prevails with the 4 of Pentacles - people are not going to take any chances with finances, and a conservative approach to funding and earthly security will dominate. This is not the day to get extravagant or generous, rather, it is the day to make and watch a Tik Tok about budgeting.
