Life + Culture

Pluto in Aquarius

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What were you doing between March 23, 2023  and June 11, 2023? During that time period, we got a preview of Pluto in Aquarius. The last time that Pluto changed signs was in 2008.

For me personally, some extremely significant things happened during both of these times. There has been a lot of chatter in the astrology community about Pluto and its impact.

When I first started hearing about it at the beginning of 2023, the first thing that I thought about was that I had somewhat major surgery in 2008. But it was planned surgery. I didn’t have any surgery planned during 2023, so I hoped that Pluto wouldn’t impact me the same way.

Unfortunately, it did. It just wasn’t planned. In the beginning of June 2023, I ended up in the hospital and had emergency surgery. As someone who is usually healthy, this was so out of the blue and bizarre. I was truly shocked.

Both transits weren’t all bad though. Especially between March and June last year. I was starting to make my way into the world and back to focusing on me again after COVID and moving my mom closer to me.

At the end of March, I saw Jill Scott in Boston and the next day traveled to Maryland and DC. I also went on a short retreat at Kripalu in the Berkshires in May. I had so much fun spending time with family and friends and focusing on wellness. Oh, and I got Wordle in one try!

I haven’t mentioned all the changes that happened to me personally, and there are also many things that happened to us as a collective during these times. The 2008 financial crisis, then in March 2023 there was the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

Also, I will never forget where I was when I learned that the former president was indicted by the state of New York. I was on the train to DC and had just arrived in New York!

A lot happens when Pluto changes signs. It’s really quite remarkable and something to take note of. Pluto’s orbit around the sun takes 248 years. So it spends a lot of time in each sign. Astrologer Chani Nicholas gives a nice summary of the last time that Pluto was in Aquarius.

“The last time Pluto journeyed through Aquarius, between 1777 and 1798, the world’s balance of power massively shifted. These two decades saw the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The monarchy was toppled in France, showing that even the world’s most powerful institutions can crumble in the face of Pluto’s wrecking ball.

The Age of Enlightenment also reached a crescendo at this time. Aquarian ideals of reason, rationality, and humanity’s power to steer its own destiny fueled this epoch and laid the groundwork for democratic institutions and human rights.”

So why is all this relevant now? Pluto moves into Aquarius again this Saturday, January 20, 2024. An article on Stylecaster explains more about the dates and upcoming changes.

“Pluto has been transiting down-to-business Capricorn since 2008, so its initial move into airy Aquarius on March 23, 2023 marked the first sign shift for this planet in nearly 15 years. This was Pluto’s first dip into the revolutionary sign of the water bearer since the late 18th century—but in true Pluto fashion, it’ll take time to fully complete this zodiacal transition.

Thanks to Pluto’s slow orbit and annual retrograde periods, it reverted back to Capricorn on June 11, 2023, but as of Saturday, January 20, 2024, it will move forward into Aquarius once again. However, this is another temporary dip into Aquarius, as Pluto retrogrades back into Capricorn on September 1. Luckily, it will return to Aquarius for good as of November 19, 2024. From there, Pluto will remain in Aquarius until 2043 and 2044—giving the planet a solid two decades to work its transformative magic in the Aquarius-ruled parts of our chart.”

There is so much happening in the world right now, that I probably cannot even come close to imagining how this will all play out. But I expect there will be some revolutionary changes. Let’s hope for the best.

Baby Boxes Coming to America?

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Recently, I was watching a reaction video where American parents react to a video about baby boxes received by all expecting parents in Scotland. The boxes are amazing!

They include clothing, toys, books, swaddles, thermometers, a mattress, sheets and much more. The box itself can even be used as a bed for the baby if needed.

The baby box idea first started in Finland. It’s shocking that governments in so many other countries support new parents in ways that don’t happen here. Much of it is because we don’t have guaranteed health care in the United States, but that’s another post. More support needs to be given to parents, especially with the increasing assault on reproductive rights in this country. Again, another post.

I was so intrigued by this idea of baby boxes, that I was curious if there might be something like that here. Surprisingly, the answer is yes. The Biden-Harris Administration realizes that families need more support and recognized that other countries have some good ideas on how to do that.

“Today, basic newborn supplies like diapers can cost an average of $1,000 a year for each diapered child in a home In addition, nearly 1 in 8 women – regardless of age, income, or race – will suffer from some form of postpartum anxiety or depression, a number that is on the rise for women in America. Further, mental health conditions now comprise 23% of pregnancy-related deaths – more than any other single category.

In an effort to alleviate some of these stressors on new families, governments in at least 91 other countries and municipalities offer new families a “Baby Box” upon the birth of a child. In addition to offering much-needed physical goods, these baby boxes are designed to offer critical postpartum care information and to promote increased interactions between parents and their healthcare providers.”

In May 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a pilot program in collaboration with Baby2Baby, a nonprofit organization. The program provides Newborn Supply Kits to new mothers.

“The Newborn Supply Kits consist of more than 20 items including diapers and wipes, clothing, hygiene items, blankets and thermometers for newborns, and postpartum pads, lotion, cold packs, breastfeeding supplies, and carriers for new moms. HHS and Baby2Baby will first distribute 3,000 of the Newborn Supply Kits across Arkansas, Louisiana, and New Mexico – three states experiencing deep levels of family poverty – via hospitals and community-based partner organizations. Any mother giving birth during pilot implementation at one of the partner sites will be eligible to receive a kit.”

The intent is for the program to expand with a focus on addressing the maternal health crisis. “We need bold solutions that recognize and respond to the unacceptable disparities in maternal health outcomes in this country,” said HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson. “Through this new funding, health centers will be able to tailor their response to the needs of their patients and communities and take action to save lives.”

As we move further into 2024, more information will be available about how the program is doing and plans for expansion. This kind of help for new families is long overdue and I’m looking forward to learning more about it!

Quote of the Week: Joseph Campbell

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“We must be willing to get rid of
the life we’ve planned, so as to have
the life that is waiting for us.”

                                                                                                  ~ Joseph Campbell

People Do Change

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change

With 2024 just a hop, skip and a jump away, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’m hoping for in the new year. Thinking about these goals means change. Changing what I’ve been doing, so I can get different results.

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you always get what you’ve always gotten.”

This quote and similar ones have been attributed to many people, including Jessie Potter, Jackie “Moms” Mabley and Albert Einstein. We may never know the truth of exactly who said exactly what, but the essence of this quote resonates with many people.

It all comes down to change. We can’t keep repeating what we’ve done in the past, if we want something new in the future.

When I was young, I remember always hearing people say, “People don’t change.” The older that I’ve gotten, I’ve come to realize that there is a lot of nuance to this saying with a few themes.

You Can’t Make People Change

One level of the saying that people don’t change is sort of true. What is most true would be to say, “You can’t make people change.” This is so absolutely painfully true. No matter how much we try and want to change someone, if they aren’t willing, there is nothing we can do.

We have to learn to let it go and maybe they can decide to change on their own. Whether we want to wait around and see if they change is up to each individual. Depending on what changes are needed and how they impact our lives, it might be best to make a change of our own and remove ourselves from their life.

Life Will Change You

In a way, it’s rather quaint to think that people don’t change. Even if we don’t want to change, things will happen to us over time that we could never expect. Accidents, illness and time will change us. They will definitely change our physical bodies.

Nobody stays young forever. Even if you are lucky enough to never deal with any accidents or illness, if you live to be 85 years old, your body will be different than when you are 35 years old. There will be many changes.

If you win the lottery, get a big promotion, get married and have children, you will change. The circumstances of your life will be different and usually it’s impossible to stay the same. A “new you” will be born. Our minds and ways of thinking will change and we adapt.

This reminds me of a post that I saw recently on Arielle Lorre‘s Instagram. I don’t follow her, so this just randomly came up in my feed and was quite serendipitous. Because I can be a worrier and need to find ways to stop. Below is what she says.

“I had a clinical psychologist on my podcast, who shared the best advice for worry that I’ll never forget. She said, ‘The version of you that will handle that tough thing – if or when it happens – will be born into existence in that moment … trust your future self to handle future problems.'”

The comments on her Instagram post are mixed. Some believe it and others say that sometimes that future self cannot handle those problems and are broken by them. I can’t argue with them, because sometimes life is too much and people literally die.

But also, sometimes we do rise to meet seemingly impossible circumstances. Over the past few years, I’ve dealt with a lot more than I thought I could. At 59 years old, I am a very different person than I was at 29 years old. That version of me was not ready to handle what I’ve handled over the past few years. And I’m so glad that she didn’t have to.

Live & Learn

This is sort of similar to life changing you. Through our life experiences we learn new things and sometimes realize that we were wrong. Maybe we were wrong about lots of things and can’t do much or anything to change the past. If we can seek forgiveness and make amends for what we’ve done, maybe we should, depending on what that entails. But that is very hard and can cause pain for ourselves and maybe others too.

Sometimes all we can do is accept what we’ve done and strive to do better in the future. I think this is something that most of us will go through at one time or another. If we weren’t the one that did wrong, we may have been the one who was wronged. Then we have to decide how to proceed if someone apologizes and seeks forgiveness from us.

We get to decide how to move forward. It took me a long time to truly realize that I’m the boss of me and act accordingly. I wish that I had known sooner. It now seems obvious. But over the years, I’ve realized how often I did not behave like I was the boss of my life.

I’m glad that I’ve had the ability to self-reflect, keep learning and change — often on my own terms. I’m grateful for what my past self was able to do to get me to the present. And I’ll trust in my future self to handle the rest.