P L U T O I N S A G I T T A R I U S
Pluto enters Sagittarius on January 16, 1995. Pluto re-enters Scorpio on April 21, 1995 and enters Sagittarius for good on November 10, 1995 (Pluto then stays in Sagittarius until 2008). Therefore, 1995 was a year of transitioning from Pluto in Scorpio to Pluto in Sagittarius.
On a personal note, Pluto in Sagittarius involves each person feeling that they MUST find out what truth is for them. Whether this is through philosophy, religion, higher learning, or their own personal quest people will feel a compelling drive to find out the truth.
Since Sagittarius rules politics as well, Pluto in Sagittarius demands leaders who are truthful and have a fiery enthusiasm. They demand leaders who promise that they will not be encumbered by bureaucracy or regulations. During this time we will see political problems and want to set up reforms.
Pluto in Sagittarius is a time of openness to new ways of thinking, new ways of looking at the world. Commitment is a problem and the side of each of us that wants to be free to travel from place to place or lover to lover is enhanced during these years.
The history of Pluto in Sagittarius follows. At the end is a summation of what patterns emerge from these periods.
The last eight Pluto in Sagittarius periods were:
1749 to 1762
1502 to 1516
1256 to 1270
1010 to 1024
764 to 778
518 to 533
272 to 287
26 to 42
Starting the 26 to 42 period, Tiberius retired to Capri and was succeeded by Sejanus of the Praetorian Guard. When he died in 37 he was succeeded by the monstrous and megalomaniacal Caligula who reigned until 42, when he was succeeded by Claudius (for further info, see "I, Claudius"). Claudius, who reigned when Pluto entered Capricorn, brought some stability to the Roman empire.
Christ was baptized in 27 and crucified approximately three years later. Therefore, this was the time of the founding of Christianity and that of a mad ruler convinced of this greatness (Caligula).
During the 272 to 287 period, the Roman empire was partitioned into East and West.
The 518 to 533 period was the time of King Arthur who died around 537. During this time the schism of 484 which created Eastern and Western churches was reconciled. Saint Sophia basilica in Constantinople was started. The Benedictine order was founded and Justinian closed the 1000-year-old School of Philosophy in Athens, Greece. Persia achieved cultural heights under Chosroes I. In 529 St. Benedict of Nursia laid down the rules for the governance of the monk's daily lives. Meanwhile Justinian (527-565) codified Roman law and spread Byzantine administration to Northern Africa.
During the 764 to 778 period Charlemagne came to prominence. During this period Tibet invaded China and the boundaries between the two was settled.
In 1010 to 1024 the Danes became the rulers of England. Ethelred fled and returned. Strasbourg cathedral was initiated.
In the 1256 period, Meister Eckhart, Dante, Giotto, and Saadi were born. Machiavelli was part of government. The Hundred Years war of Venice and Genoa started. England and Wales were combined through marriage. The House of Commons was established in England. Chartres was consecrated. Thomas Aquinas and Roger Bacon were writing. Rumi, a Sufi, was penning his poetry (he died in 1273).
When Pluto entered Capricorn in 1270 Marco Polo went to China, Thomas Aquinas wrote "Summa Theologica", and Moses de Leon wrote the Zohar. This is the typical pattern, the changes brought about by Pluto in Sagittarius leads to some striking religious or political event as soon as Pluto enters Capricorn. Obviously, the Zohar and Summa Theologica were in preparation while Pluto was in Sagittarius but were published when Pluto first entered Capricorn. From 1268 to 1271 there was a vacancy in the Papacy (another turbulence towards the end of Pluto in Sagittarius righted by Pluto entering Capricorn).
From 1502 to 1516 was the middle of the Renaissance. In art, the Mona Lisa was painted, Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel from 1508 to 1512 and did Moses in 1513. Hieronymus Bosch did "The Garden of Worldly Desires" in 1514. Chiaroscuro was discovered. Durer painted "Adam and Eve". Lotto and Raphael were at their heights. Sir Thomas More wrote "Utopia" (how fitting for Pluto in Sagittarius!)
In science, Copernicus stated that the earth and the other planets revolve around the Sun. This was a major viewpoint shift, since before that time everyone believed the Sun and planets revolved around the earth. Nostradamus was born.
In England, Henry the VIII became king in 1509 and started the building of Hampton Court. The Diet of Constance recognized the unity of the Holy Roman Empire.
The new world was called America. The slave trade and spice trade began. Balboa crossed Panama and discovered the Pacific Ocean (of course, millions of Native Americans, Chinese, and Japanese knew about the Pacific for tens of thousands of years...). The first European vessels entered Chinese waters. The first toll roads came into being. Licensing of doctors was proposed for the first time.
Portugal defeated a Moslem fleet in 1509 and by 1515 had established naval stations at three strategic points in the Indian Ocean. During 1500 (the end of Pluto in Scorpio, and during the time of Pluto in Sagittarius) Europe made the seas their highways.
Politically the "new monarchies" shifted power from the weakened nobles to the more centralized royal government. This happened in many countries.
When Pluto entered Capricorn, Martin Luther posted his 95 theses in 1517, initiating the Protestant Reformation. Again, a major religious/political event initiated when Pluto enters Capricorn but having its roots in Pluto in Sagittarius (when Luther observed the venality and corruption of the Roman Catholic Church of that time). Prior to this, in 1515 it was declared that books must have the permission of the Papacy to be published.
In the most recent period, from 1749 to 1762, literature reflected the Sagittarian influence. "Tom Jones", Candide by Voltaire, "Citizen of the World" by Goldsmith, and "The Rambler" by Johnson were written. Tom Jones is about a lady's man and his humorous adventures. Candide questions the philosophy that "this is the best of all possible worlds". Samuel Johnson wrote "The Dictionary of the English Language". Rousseau and Voltaire were actively writing (Voltaire also wrote "The Disaster of Lisbon", about an earthquake which destroyed Lisbon and why it struck there and not Paris for example, an equally degenerate town...).
Rousseau wrote the "Social Contract" in 1762. This work formed the basis in thought of much of the American Revolutionary tracts. It stated that the "General Will" of the people was the basis of all government. It derided the superiority of the upper classes. In terms of the monarchies of the time, the "enlightened monarchy" movement took place at around this time.
Casanova escaped from Piombi in Venice (Tom Jones and Casanova exemplifies the Sagittarian flare in romance). The first female MD was granted her license in Germany. The Baal Shem started Hassidism (an ecstatic, mystical reinvigoration of Judaism) in 1750.
The British Navy was reorganized. The Seven Year War broke out between England and France in 1756 (it was called the French and Indian War in the states). George III took the throne (infamous in the American colonies...).
The year 1756 represented a time of major shifts in the alignment of the European balance of power. Before 1756 the alliances were England and Austria versus France and Germany. After 1756 the alliances were England and Germany versus France, Austria, and Russia.
Stubbs, an English painter, worked on the anatomy of the horse. St. Andrew's Golf Club was founded. Hambledon Cricket Club in England is founded. The Jockey Club established a permanent racetrack in Newmarket.
Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod and made improvements to the harmonica; he also wrote "Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries". The first satisfactory marine chronometer was invented in 1760 (until this invention, nobody knew where they were on the earth when exploring...).
The Minuet became fashionable. Handel and Haydn were at their peak. Neoclassicism spread over Europe. Alexander Hamilton, Mozart, and Goethe were born. Mozart, at six, toured Europe. The Viennese classical period in music (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven) stretched from 1760 to 1825-- it started with Pluto entering Capricorn.
This period of time was a period when England and the American colonies got along fine. It wasn't until 1763, and the treaty of Paris, when Pluto entered Capricorn, that tensions started between England and the colonies resulting in the Declaration of Independence in 1774.
In summation, when Pluto is in Sagittarius times are more open, more exploratory. There is humor and philosophical musings (the Philosophes of France, Kant, Goethe). Romantic entanglements are considered less binding (Henry VIII, Tom Jones, Casanova). Religion becomes more high-minded. People's minds turn to the higher spheres. Horses are in (cricket, jockies, Stubbs, etc). Paradigms shift as viewpoints change (the Earth goes around the Sun?). Religions are founded, revitalized, or codified and put on a firm philosophical foundation (Christianity, Chassidism, Zohar, Aquinas, Luther).
Problems in philosophy, religion, and politics are isolated, pondered, and oftentimes resolved within the first two years of Pluto in Capricorn. The "answer" that is arrived at makes a profound change in the power structures of the time. The decades following Pluto entering Capricorn with its "answer" or "codification" are times of adjustment to the new realities. It is as if Pluto in Sagittarius is a time of opening which is followed by a period of independence and ground breaking in Capricorn as people realize the limitations they are forced to live within and the authorities crack down. Alternatively, a new structure is codified and is accepted as the practical basis for future endeavors.
Instances of the changes foreshadowed by Pluto in Sagittarius coming about within the first few years of Pluto in Capricorn are: Luther posted his theses in 1517, the stamp act uproar in 1765 in the American colonies leading to the loss of the colonies (the publishing of Rousseau's "Social Contract", Thomas Aquinas "Summa theologica", Moses de Lon and the Zohar, and Marco Polo in 1271 to 1275. Byzantine power started its decline in 1025.
Pluto in Sagittarius is associated with quarters of this thousand year period (ie 1250, 1500, 1750, 2000) since Pluto circles the zodiac in 247 years.
copyright 1993 - 2007 by Ed Rose