Today it’s all about Pluto. With less than thirty minutes still to travel in apparent retrograde before direction (28 September), the god of the Underworld squats on our chests like the succubus of legend, making it pretty darn hard to breathe. Other energies, at least somewhat more timid than Pluto, sidle up and form aspects, and the result is an almost constant testing of our relationship to Power, and to the ideas of transformation (do you believe?) and destruction (do you feel the pull toward the cliff?) Most of us aren’t completely at ease with the idea of actually being as powerful as we have the capacity to be; we take refuge in cynicism (“People don’t change”) or in Self-sabotage (“See? Nothing ever works out for me!”). If we truly felt our own power, we would believe in the power of transformation, and would have no need for destruction–the clearing out of the outmoded or worn would happen without effort, falling away as we move forward–and change would be, not something that stirs fear or uncertainty. but something that has an almost magical quality, a kind of infinite possibility as our everyday atmosphere.

So, what outlets for power do we have right now, as the dark one sits oh-so-still, making us watchful and uneasy? There’s Venus, moving into opposition, almost begging us to project our negative qualities onto others in relationships, or financial dealings; there’s Mars, moving into quincunx, pugnacious and perhaps looking for a fight over slights, misunderstandings, over a too proud or insistent ‘I Am’; and there’s a square from Zeus, intimating we might fear destruction of our ambitions, dreams, and goals, possibly from our partners (Zeus is in Libra).

Those are all fear scenarios, where we might go if we were unconscious of the Universal flow–but we don’t have to. Instead, we claim our Plutonian power, and we see it united with the contacting energies to make some very positive outcomes. With Venus we may experience the transformations that occur when we apply Love or Money in a completely Self-responsible way, probably in a difficult situation or scenario (the opposition). With Mars we see that true Self-assertion from a position of power requires adjustment, a subtling-down of the ego, so that we move the Universe not through a punch-in-the-nose, but through a quantum vibration that acts in our own best interests–action through inaction, you might say. And with Zeus, we confront the parts of our own power plans, our ambitions and desires, that are calling for others to make it happen for us, or that will disempower us if we attain them–and we take back that initiative, that can-do-ness, for ourselves.

And, through roughly 16 September, we see Jupiter sextile Black Moon Lilith. This makes the bogey man bigger; it exaggerates our anger and our sense of righteousness, too. Beliefs or facts may cooperate with matters ignored or denied to make a potent stew bent on righting (or subjecting others to!) injustice. With Merc retro this could hijack thoughts and make for some over-the-top scenes. Those with natal placements around 20 Taurus need to be especially vigilant, as these transiting elements form a Finger of God with the natal point, prompting expression of this combo in some unfortunate ways related to the natal body or the House(s) it rules. (If you have a natal point 19-21 Taurus and you’d like my brief guess as to what it might bring, leave a comment that includes what body is in this range and what House, if any, it rules.)

Today’s word image is a red and gold paper Chinese dragon, the kind you see dancing through the streets at Lunar New Year. Think back to late January–how does what was happening then figure into now?