Jupiter trine Pluto: Pumping up the Passion

7.10.11


This past week (on Thu Jul 7), Jupiter formed its first of three exact trines to Pluto, an aspect that persists through March 2012.

We experience this with an emphasis on the earth element, as Jupiter in Taurus amplifies our immediate connection with the tangible and material, while Pluto in Capricorn continues to reconfigure how we structure our longer-view strategies for best preserving and deploying these resources.

Any Jupiter-Pluto trine creates a positive feedback loop between the footings in passion one already possesses (Pluto) and the new areas of expansion one is moving into (Jupiter). As such, it's typically seen as a 'good' influence… though, if you subscribe to my slant on astrology, you'll agree that nothing ought to be interpreted so simplistically. Our benevolent planetary big-boy Jupiter does make things bigger, a quality of his we often like, which gives Jupiter aspects (especially supportive trines) their positive spin. At the same time, we can all recognize that too much of anything causes its own problems of excess.

On the upside, this trine between Jupiter and Pluto fuels, to new heights of intensity, the drives that compel us toward what we most deeply lust for. Without some ripe psychological charge rousing us to stalk our goals like prey, we merely emit a lukewarm devil-may-care attitude: Either we'll triumph or we won't, and it's all cool either way. Such shoulder-shrugging indifference usually doesn't make much impact. It's those individuals with the 'fire in their bellies' that take the gold. A Jupiter-Pluto trine turns up the volume on those urges burning inside us. Maybe we didn't even know those urges existed until they started speaking more loudly…?

Passion points us, unambiguously, down a certain path our soul (or 'higher Self' or whatever you call it) craves for its ongoing evolution, but it is rarely polite with its demands on us. Sometimes, in fact, passion unceremoniously presents us with a heart-pull that our rational brains would prefer to deconstruct, contain or talk us out of wanting. Our brains will tell us anything to secure their dominance over us, of course, though they hardly are our only guiding compass. The wordless emanations of passion provide their own inconvenient instructions, which we may follow (perhaps against our so-called 'better judgment') into transcendent bliss unlike anything our cerebral side could've conjured—or into some sort of deep doo-doo, once we realize there were unforeseen consequences to our actions.

See, passion can also be something of a trap… especially if it's so powerful, it drowns out our sense of reason to a point where we're willing to defy healthy boundaries or betray a commitment. The rational brains I vilified in the last paragraph also serve us well when they step in to save us from overindulging our animalistic tendencies, preventing us from guiltlessly taking what we want at others' expense. When Jupiter inflates Pluto's lusts and power-grabs to excessive proportions, we become arrogant or domineering. We don't care who gets run down in our thrusts to quench rabid desire. We may even take pleasure in the merciless conquer, as long as we remain on top, supping on the riches 'til we're satiated-and-then-some.

Jupiter-trine-Pluto inspires us to go further with our investments of passionate intensity—a helpful effect if we've been needing to muster more oomph, or potentially troublesome if it bloats our self-importance to a blinding level.

The earth-element signature of this Jupiter-Pluto trine contributes a 'get real' quality, which asks us to take practical visible actions to demonstrate where our appetites reside. Jupiter in Taurus increases our focus on the material aspects of life… not only how we take pleasure in them, but also how we consciously devote them to advance what we most value. Under this aspect, we may choose to spend more of our personal capital (whether money or earnest labor) to bound that much closer toward our goals, perhaps to even raise the bar that much higher. Just as these additional endowments give us more to work with, they could also leave us overextended if we're not balancing ambition with responsible governance.

The parallel impact on our personal consumption habits is probably obvious, too, as we may strive for ever-finer goods, more yummy food and drink, and/or other morsels of sensual deliciousness. This isn't necessarily a problem, as long as we are legitimately enjoying what we consume… not merely checking off another box on the acquisition list or pushing past the rightful limits of either our bodies or our bank-balances. We must also beware of using the resources at our disposal to lord authority over those less fortunate, to manipulate others into submitting to us or taking unjust liberties we falsely assume our privilege buys us.

As I've mentioned before, I believe this Jupiter-Pluto trine arrives at the ideal time to magnify our collective awareness of the increasingly lopsided relationship between the haves and the have-nots, due for radical transformation under the burgeoning Uranus-Pluto square. Those with an existing foundational prosperity will likely welcome further opportunities to reap in even more affluence and, in the process, to consolidate their social power. And those without are liable to witness worsening effects, as prices rise and jobs disappear and plutocrats grip firmer to their bulging brokerage accounts. Often, it takes an exaggerated expression of existing dynamics to finally spur the disenfranchised into remedial action. Let's not forget that Jupiter and Pluto last conjoined in late 2007, a 'no going back from here' moment that kickstarted the Great Recession into motion. Since then, most people have suffered from tighter constraints on their material circumstances. The rich, meanwhile, have shockingly gotten richer.

At the end of the day, this synergy between Jupiter and Pluto in the two signs most commonly associated with money surely holds a lesson for us about how to most wisely dedicate our resources. One of the best ways to effect transformation in the economic realm is to consciously spend your coins in a manner consistent with your philosophic values. Whether you've got a single dollar or a million of 'em, you must be aware of who profits from your expenditures, what kind of enterprise they are running, and whether their business practices support the kind of world you want to live in.

Your investment in anything from a can of soda or a carrot to a car or a home makes a significant difference. What vision are you supporting? A mindful artisan's dream? Multinational executives' market-dominance strategy?

And whatever you do purchase, grow yourself and harvest, or barter with your comrades in this Great Reorientation, please savor every last morsel. Each day we can sustain ourselves on the Earth's bountiful plenty is a blessing. There is little else to want when we are thoroughly immersed in relishing that which is, right now, already in our hands.

Jupiter next perfects its trine to Pluto in late October 2011. For more on Pluto in Capricorn, review my comments from early 2008.