Bon Voyage, Pluto-in-Sadge...

Coming up next month, Pluto finally takes his final turn in Sagittarius. By the end of this year, he'll be firmly entrenched in Capricorn, and our Sagittarius days will be nothing but a memory.

Pluto entered Sagittarius in 1995-- that was thirteen years ago, folks. For those of you who are (ahem) over-thirties, here's a scary little recap of what went on that year. Yes, it's been thirteen years....

The top movies of '95 included Braveheart, Jumanji, Apollo 13, and Toy Story. Nicholas Cage and Liz Shue were hotter than hell in Leaving Las Vegas, and Val Kilmer was pretty hot himself as Batman in Batman Forever.

In the art world, Damien Hirst won the Turner Prize for controversial conceptual works such as The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (yes, the shark-in-the-tank piece) while William Robinson won the Archibald Prize for Self-Portrait with Stunned Mullet.

In music, we had Alanis Morisette's Hand in My Pocket and Natalie Merchant's Carnival, Hootie & The Blowfish' Only Wanna Be With You, and I Alone by Live. Weezer's Buddy Holly was another, as was Breakfast at Tiffany's by Deep Blue Something.

Um, 1995 also gave us Macarena by Los del Rio and Boombastic by Shaggy. But we did get Wonderwall by Oasis, too, which helped.

So, where were you in 1995? Maybe we should have a going-away party for Pluto in Sagittarius. But please oh please, no line dancing.

AstroNews: Domination, Anyone? Pluto into Capricorn

The big news: as of late January 2008, Pluto has shifted into Capricorn. The slow-moving dwarf planet Pluto moved into Sagittarius in 1995, and will now reside in Capricorn until 2023 (with one quick visit back to Sagittarius, for old times' sake.)

From here on out, it's all about the power.

Pluto represents deep transformative experience, and in the fiery, philosophical sign of Sagittarius, it expressed itself as the power of ideals. Now, all those grand visions and sky-high standards come to ground in the Earth sign Capricorn.

Capricorn is the sign of authority, the sign of the father-figure, the paternal urge, the noble and nurturing king, the terrible devourer of sons. It represents power channeled into the material world as leadership or domination.

Pluto in Sagittarius helped us refine the visions. We need to decide what it is we really want to build, and then start experimenting with the most effective way of making the vision happen. Of course, there’ll be competition for limited resources (it's just the nature of this particular universe, I’m afraid) and so shifting power roles will come into focus.

Could be an interesting decade, huh?

On a personal level, many of us will learn our deepest lessons through relationships in which power or authority is a key ingredient. We’ll face transformative experiences that center on dominance/submission dynamics—just who is in charge here, and when, and why?

Leaders and dominant figures will emerge from this period either utterly broken, or with a new respect for the true meaning of the phrase “in charge.” Hint: it’s the leader who exists to serve, not the other way around. Those who don’t already know this will have ample opportunities to learn; we’ll face a series of challenges in which the lower-case ego threatens to overpower the selfless desire to serve (the world, our friends, our partners, our selves) through responsible mastery.

Followers and subordinates will emerge from this period either as neurotic wrecks or as energized team members who are more consciously aware of the other half of the dynamic: subs must choose their masters, and choose them very wisely. Personal power given is personal power used. We’ll all be called to account for the energy we’ve lent to whatever leader we’ve chosen, wisely or otherwise. There’ll be very little room for weaseling out of consequences by saying “But they were in charge, not me!”

And the biggest secret we should learn from all this? We’re all both by turns. We all choose whom (and what) we serve and who (and what) serves us, and then we find out along the way which role is best in different situations.

Where this next chapter spins itself out-- the bedroom, the boardroom, the war room, the classroom, wherever-- will depend on countless factors. Most of us will get a taste of at least a couple of these scenarios. It might not always be painless, but it’ll be powerful.

Count on it.