One exact 84-year Uranus cycle after the discovery of Neptune in 1846, the planet Pluto was discovered in 1930 through the technology which Neptune is associated with – it was seen as a faint moving pinprick of light on a series of photographic plates. With the discovery of Pluto, vast new areas of the solar system were seen to be under the gravitational influence of the sun, and subsequently even more planets and interplanetary bodies have been discovered beyond Pluto, where at this moment (2017) the spacecraft New Horizons is venturing forth.
Inner and outer demons
With this discovery of outer space, light has correspondingly been cast on the inner space of the unconscious mind. Inner demons have been outed for what they are – repressed mental constructions consigned by us to the inner regions of the psyche. The discovery of Pluto led to the rehabilitation of dark forces previously associated with the devil and all his works through the growth of psychology. Sexual desire was reclaimed from religious fundamentalism to become a major factor
in today’s society, dominating media and advertising.
Pluto rising in Arizona on the day of its discovery 18 Feb 1930, 21.44 GMT, Flagstaff, Arizona.
In the displayed horoscope for Pluto’s discovery, Pluto has been placed on the Ascendant at the exact position of its discovery – 17.46 Cancer. Later we will see just how this degree is forever marked by Pluto.
Small is Big
The principle of Pluto is miniaturization and the concept that the smaller something is, the greater power it can have. It is related to the exponential release of energy, once its power is unlocked. Pluto represents the original energy of the universe locked into matter, and Einstein’s equation E=mc2 describes what happens when atoms are destroyed to release this primordial energy. As such Pluto is associated with atomic energy and its profound effect on society. After Hiroshima, humanity understood that it had the power to destroy itself. Pluto collectivized the fear of death and forced us to take a global rather than a national view of warfare, because radioactivity respects no borders, and because atomic war leads to MAD – mutually assured destruction.
Development of the Bomb
Up to and during World War II the idea that a nuclear bomb could be constructed was well understood theoretically, and both the Allied Powers, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany threw enormous resources into developing a bomb. The first nuclear reaction took place in December 1942.
HOROSCOPE: First Nuclear Reaction Dec 2 1942, 15.25 Chicago, IL. AS 25.01 Taurus
This is an interesting chart, because the Ascendant falls precisely on the fixed star Algol at 25 Taurus. Algol is associated with the Medusa, who was so terrifying that one glance at her face turned people to stone. There are a lot of significant planetary factors in this chart, but it is worth focusing on Saturn, which is at 8.56 Gemini (opposing the Sun at 10.04 Sagittarius.) Saturn is exactly sextile Pluto, which gives the idea of a controlled nuclear reaction, and it conjoins Uranus. It can subsequently be seen that Saturn/Uranus combinations often show significant events connected with the harnessing of nuclear power. The Moon conjoins Neptune, which is in exact trine to Uranus, which may represent the fulfilment of a technological dream as well as the euphoria of the team, who had been working for years on the process.
Algol and Aldebaran
The significance of Saturn is that it is precisely on the earlier conjunction point of the 492-year Pluto/Neptune cycle, which took place three times at 8-9 Gemini from 1891-1892. In other words it keyed in to an influence that takes place only twice in a millennium, which profoundly affects the mentality of humanity. Saturn in this chart is also on the star Aldebaran at 9 Gemini, whilst the Sun is on Antares – these two stars comprise two of the four Archangel Stars and are associated with powerful and dangerous deeds.
American scientists quickly built on their successes and just over two years later the first atomic bomb was tested (Note 1). Mars at 25 Taurus was on Algol at this time, and Venus on Aldebaran and the 1892 Neptune/Pluto conjunction degree. The Ascendant at this moment was exactly opposite USA’s Pluto at 27 Capricorn. Saturn had separated from its earlier conjunction with Uranus when the controlled reaction was being worked on, and was now semi-sextile (2 minutes of orb)
First Use
America could not wait a moment longer to finish their desperate Pacific war with Japan and only 21 days later the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
First Atomic Bomb Aug 6 1945 8.16 Hiroshima AS 17.54 VI (Book of World Horoscopes)
It was at this time that Saturn reached the discovery degree of Pluto. In fact a month earlier the solar eclipse fell on that same degree… 17 Cancer. Now Mars had moved from Algol and reached 9 Gemini, once again confirming the significance of the fixed star Aldebaran, also known as the Eye of the Bull. At the very moment this atomic bomb flashed in the sky above Hiroshima, the MC conjoined Uranus. Mercury was exactly stationary at this time, so when the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki only three days later, Mercury had not moved.
Since this decisive military victory for the USA, 8 other countries have acquired the bomb, and although the earlier paranoia of the Cold War has receded, the possibility of nuclear accidents and atomic destruction has not really diminished. Hydrogen bombs today are a thousand times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. USA and Russia have about 8000 bombs each.
North Korea
It’s enough to make you a bit nervous, and with unpredictable leaders like Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un (born January 8th 1984) currently on the world stage, nuclear brinkmanship seems to be increasing. Kim Jong Un’s Sun is at 17 Capricorn, exactly opposite the discovery degree of Pluto, and in the years 2016 to 2017, Pluto transits his Sun five times. Clearly North Korea’s dictator is under extreme pressure. He has his Venus at 8.29 Sagittarius – on Antares and opposition Aldebaran – and Venus conjoins Uranus squaring the Moon in Pisces. This T-square is currently being transited by Neptune, which only further obscures his motivations. As Trump is born with a lunar eclipse on the Moon in Sagittarius opposing Uranus, both leaders use are unpredictable and use unpredictability as a negotiation tool.
New Horizons
The New Horizons spacecraft made its closest approach to Pluto on July 14th, 2015, just before Pluto reached an opposition to its discovery degree. This degree, 17.46 Cancer, is activated by Pluto in January, July and November 2017, which clearly will also be a crisis time for Kim Jong Un. As space exploration has traditionally triggered planetary effects when new planets have been mapped – witness the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger just as the Voyager spacecraft flew past Uranus – the New Horizons flyby of Pluto makes the current nuclear standoff with North Korea very significant. This need not be a bad thing; after all the US made a deal with Iran restricting nuclear development precisely on July 14th 2015. It was shown that Pluto had a heart.
Some History
If we follow nuclear development since the discovery of Pluto, we see Pluto’s discovery degree often being activated, but strong aspects to Pluto, variations of the Saturn/Uranus cycle and other factors are also apparent. For example, when the first hydrogen bomb was detonated (November 1st, 1952), Saturn had reached a square to Uranus, and Uranus was at 18.30 Cancer, within a degree of discovery Pluto.
In the fifties there were a number of serious accidents with nuclear power. The British, eager to build up their supplies of plutonium for H-bombs, had a development facility at Windscale, where, on October 10th 1957, there was a meltdown. At this time Saturn had reached 10 Sagittarius – on Antares and opposition Aldebaran – and was exactly trine Uranus. Only 11 days earlier a far worse disaster had taken place in Kyshtym in the Soviet Union. In both cases there was a failure in the cooling system and the atomic reactions got out of control. Pluto had just changed sign and moved from Leo to Virgo, heralding the domestic use of nuclear energy.
At Three Mile Island on March 28th 1979, a nuclear meltdown also occurred, and at this time Saturn was at 8.32 Virgo within 1 minute of orb from a quintile to Uranus and square the Antares-Aldebaran fixed stars. Pluto at the time of this accident was at 18.09 Libra, 23 minutes of arc from a square to Pluto’s discovery point.
Chernobyl and Fukushima
The Chernobyl meltdown has been the most serious disaster to date, resulting in the depopulation of a large zone in Ukraine. This happened on April 26th, 1986, when the Sun at 5 degrees Taurus opposed Pluto at 5.58 Scorpio which is exactly on the position of the North and South Node respectively of the Pluto discovery chart. Saturn was at 8.34 Sagittarius – on Antares and opposing Aldebaran. The Fukushima meltdown took place on March 11th 2011. At this time – when Uranus was in the last minutes of Pisces – a tsunami generated 13 meter high waves, which washed over the 10 meter high walls of the facility. Then, exactly as Uranus entered Aries, the cooling generators broke down one by one, causing a meltdown in three of the five reactors. It was as if Uranus on entering Aries already picked up on the square to Pluto which was at this time at 7 Capricorn.
Future Perspectives
Very few people have been killed through the peaceful use of nuclear power – nothing like the number who have died of lung problems through the coal industry. On the other hand, radioactive contamination does have disastrous effects with whole populations having to be moved. The risks involved have been deemed so serious that many countries have either decided never to build nuclear power stations (for example Italy, Australia and others) and some countries are phasing out existing systems (Germany, Sweden and others).
Humanity is now at a key phase in the evolution of nuclear power. In 2017 Pluto is exactly opposite its discovery position. Uranus moves from Aries to Taurus on May 15th 2018, and will dwell on the nodal axis of the Pluto discovery chart for all of 2019. Saturn and Uranus are in trine for an extended period of time ending with a final close trine at 2 degrees Capricorn/Taurus in September 2018. Saturn will once more conjoin the discovery degree of Pluto from March to December 2019. (Note 2) This marks the years from 2017-2019 as significant for nuclear events.
There could be speculation as to whether the erratic leadership of USA and North Korea will go head to head to out-bluster or out-nuke each other, but with a bit of luck that will remain in the realm of words rather than actions. Some people say that the last recourse of leadership in trouble at home is war. But it is also possible that what we will witness is a new peaceful development of nuclear energy. In 1917 Rutherford “split” the atom. Right now, one hundred years later, amazing progress is being made in exactly the opposite direction – nuclear fusion. This mirrors the process taking place on the Sun, which fuses atoms together rather than splitting them apart. This does not produce radioactive contamination, or byproducts like plutonium for nuclear bombs. Tokamak Energy in Great Britain (Note 3) actually expects to deliver fusion energy to the national grid by 2030, with no pollution and no carbon emissions.
Whether it is through renewable sources like wind and sun, or through fusion, we are entering an era when energy will be abundant. Nothing will burn. Cars will be electric and share their power on a grid just like computers share information. Within a few decades, nothing man-made will add to global warming, although this may be a bit late to stop ice caps melting and oceans rising.
Adrian Ross Duncan
May 7th 2017
- First atomic bomb: 16 Jul 1945 12.29.21 Alamogordo, NM AS 27.25 CN
- Saturn also conjoined Pluto’s discovery degree in 1975 and 2004. There were smaller nuclear meltdowns in Russia and Japan at this time.
- First plasma event:
https://futurism.com/a-world-first-fusion-reactor-just-created-its-first-plasma/