Ketu (the transiting lunar south node) entered Capricorn in November 2018. It met Pluto late December 2018 and will join Saturn early March 2019. This leads to a Ketu, Pluto, and Saturn conjunction, active from March to September 2019. This particular astrological event may bring tangible consequences.

Inseparable from philosophy and the meaning of life, astrology illustrates how our lives and destinies–terms that refer both to usage and destination–tend toward a finality, or self-realization unconnected to wealth, power, or fame.

It’s probably because most of us have lost sight of the goal of self-realization that our world is in such a sorry state. To change it for the better, we must radically transform our consciousness. In this sense, the configurations working currently in Capricorn may bring modification to our personal and collective behavior, and hopefully transform our environment. Of course, this won’t be easy.

The Capricorn

Saturn-ruled Capricorn colors any planet that passes through it with energies related to hard work, and material or spiritual achievement. At home in its own sign, Saturn evokes mental strength, determination, structure, and the quest for security in the concrete world, though it can also display a tendency toward controlled emotions and coldness in order to hide feelings of vulnerability.

Pluto has been transiting through Capricorn since 2008, symbolizing ambition, materialism, financial powers, and strengthening multinationals and dark underground worlds. Ketu, also in Capricorn, has the ability to weaken materialistic compulsions, but can also magnify self-importance and attempt to profit through spiritual greed and religious fanaticism.

Understanding the Nodes

Clear perception of this triple conjunction requires an understanding of just how much the lunar nodes are associated with the deployment of our lives and destinies. The meanings of Rahu (the north node) and Ketu (the south node) are many, but as psychological tendencies they emphasize our fundamental associations with attachment (Rahu) and detachment (Ketu.) Attachment and detachment refer not only to loved ones, objects, or pleasures, but above all to the ego–or the nucleus of one’s primary identity centered around our memories, thoughts, sensations, and interests.

Most importantly, Rahu and Ketu are directly involved in the materialization of thoughts into actions.

At first glance Rahu seems favorable, an energy that nourishes the self through rewarding experiences. However, it can be associated with the notion of a poisoned gift because often the gratifications obtained generate a desire for more. And this whole process can create attachment, anxiety, and dissatisfaction.

Ketu, associated with detachment from the material world, rejects this mechanism so that we can approach serenity, and if our mentality allows it, find our way toward spiritual awakening. Of course, not everything is so clearly defined: experiences (Rahu), are necessary for growth, and Ketu, if not refined by intelligence, results in inexplicable fears, compulsive tendencies, and spiritual greed.

Ketu and Pluto in conjunction: From late December 2018 to September 2019

Pluto, associated with the intensity of sensations & driven by the fear of nothingness, displays strong materialistic tendencies in direct opposition to Ketu’s principles. Pluto enlarges and thickens the self, while Ketu seeks to detach us from it and ultimately to dissolve it.

Pluto corrupts, and as a result Ketu’s spiritual greed is strengthened, orienting us toward various forms of material or occult power, possibly in the context of secret practices. This encounter reinforces mental torments, fantasies, and instinctive fears, paving the way for materialism, self-interest at all costs, and soulless trans-humanist ideologies.

Fortunately, more favorable meanings are conceivable, such as control, detachment from desire, a containment of impulses and, at best, liberation from the fear of death. We may hope that many intelligent individuals will approach Pluto in his alchemist form, the one that works to free oneself from trauma and regenerate the mind.

Inspired by Ketu’s spiritual quest, the superficial ego can recognize itself as the real obstacle to serenity and understand that it must “die.” The exploration of fear, desire, and substance of the self then leads to a true awakening. While power and wealth are perceived as childish and destructive illusions, consciousness explores the power of meditation, which consists of dying while being alive.

2-L’astrologie et la mécanique de la pensée, Bernard Duchatelle (Saturn aspects to Pluto). Amazon 2015

Ketu and Saturn in conjunction: From early March to mid-November 2019

Confronted with Ketu, Saturn crystallizes difficult, shameful, or painful memories which often transform into secrets. Mental blockages, fixed memories, and fears of revelations can poison consciousness and darken destiny, leading to morally hypocritical behavior such as hidden compulsions that may explode when tensions become high.

The release of the weight of such secrets requires they be defused by no longer giving them importance. However, often our saturnine nature clings to these secrets, having built the self around them. The solution consists of “purifying” Ketu through true detachment from self–all too often captive of its frozen memories.

Using a natural, non-confrontational discipline, it’s necessary to prevent consciousness from hardening into compulsions of austerity or chastity, many of them inspired by religious conditioning around sin, fear of punishment, or bad karma. Often, ambition and greed hide and become hardened under masks of simplicity or renunciation, and manifest themselves as unhealthy self-control, mental hardness, moral domination, and the exercise of power.

Saturn and Ketu nevertheless move in the same direction, inspiring a subtle, discreet, and profound search for intelligence based on their authentic tendencies toward simplicity. They are indicators of wisdom and spiritual quest. Able to lead us to temperance, their encounter promotes the depth and richness of thought. Ultimately, this helps us conquer mental silence, which is the key to our happiness and, ultimately, the healing of the world.

Saturn and Pluto in conjunction: From February 2019 to the end of December 2020 (1)

Standing at the opposite end of the spectrum of values, Saturn and Pluto do not agree. Saturn represents law, control, structure, and discipline. Pluto manifests as instinctive forces of death and sexual impulses present in both body and mind. As mental strength (Saturn) tries to control the intensity of desire (Pluto), fear, prohibition (Saturn), and transgressions (Pluto) torment us, generating some of our darkest expressions–such as religious intolerance, self-hatred, sexual obsessions, and so on.

It’s up to intelligence to convert these destructive contradictions into positive dynamism and transformative energy. And it’s a question of progressing patiently, starting from blockages and hardships and moving toward regeneration of the whole organism. The necessary wisdom of renunciation (Saturn) must sometimes be employed. The liberation (Pluto) of captive thought conditionings is to be targeted. The key lies in gentle and intelligent self-control, with an understanding of the body and its needs without the intervention of a tyrannical mind.

The Saturn/Pluto conjunction under the aegis of Ketu has the capacity to illuminate these orientations and help us take major steps forward in the indispensable transformation of collective consciousness, actions for which we are all responsible actors.

1- The conjunction strengthens considerably the parallel of declination active between the two planets from December 2015 to February 2020)

Ketu, Saturn and Pluto in conjunction: From March to September 2019

“Leaving the bridle on Pluto’s neck nourishes desire, because you don’t put out a fire by throwing oil on it. On the other hand, a castrating Saturn leads to frustration. Thus, in its relationship to desire, each voluntary movement of the mind takes a wrong direction”. (2)

Ideally, during this triple conjunction, Ketu might allow many of us to resolve this conflict between Saturn and Pluto, which has undermined our psychological foundations throughout human history. “Ideally” because the fight is a tough one. Saturn is attached to moral beliefs and conditioning, and often exhibits a selfish psycho-rigidity fed by fear of change, attachment to the past, and to tradition.

On the other hand, Pluto imposes the rule of self-interest through the search for intense experiences (mostly sex and power) in order to avoid the fear of nothingness. As for Ketu, if not intelligently comprehended, it will harden the heart of the psyche through the mechanisms of greed and compulsion made visible through Saturn and Pluto, i.e., Pluto’s compulsion toward pleasure, power, and manipulation and Saturn’s toward obedience, constraint, refusal, and control. And so, even Ketu, whose role is to detach from the self, thickens (Pluto) or hardens it (Saturn.)

We understand that neither Saturn nor Pluto must prevail. Imposing laws (Saturn) in the face of instinctive impulses (Pluto) only generates the kinds of conflicts that lead to all manner of psycho-emotional disorders, deep-seated fears, and unhealthy comportments. Conversely, Pluto–left without the control or limitations imposed by Saturn–leads to a perverse permissiveness, staining a world where love, beauty, and innocence can no longer find their place.

Ketu represents the deep meaning of this gathering, where the very purpose of our lives is at stake. But it cannot be separated from Rahu; they are both opposite and complementary. It is between the two the heart of the fight is located, since Rahu represents attachment to the self, while Ketu signifies detachment.

Detachment allows us to experience pleasure in a serene, natural and joyful way, which corresponds to a pacified Pluto. It is born of wisdom and simplicity, that is, from an integrated Saturn. But, just like love, humility, or renunciation, detachment (Ketu) cannot be sought or found by will, analysis, or introspection.

Present throughout the astral structure, intelligence must do this indispensable work, which consists not in seeking detachment, but in understanding that attachment (Rahu) to the superficial personality concerns only its own interests. This orientation will clearly show us how attachment generates fear, violence, selfishness, and dissatisfaction which poison the collective consciousness and bring humanity to the brink of the abyss at which it finds itself now.

Victory of intelligence becomes all the more crucial as Capricorn builds and concretizes as the lunar nodes materialize. This celestial episode–according to our collective behavior—may find the world sinking even more into self-destruction or, more hopefully, finding its lost direction, the one which leads to the finality of existence.

About the “Secrets”

If Rahu is linked to clandestine and secret maneuvers, Ketu shows close links with secrecy itself. I have repeatedly noticed the importance of family secrets in conjunctions involving Ketu and Saturn. We know that secrets (family, political, historical, economic, or occult) influence the orientations and decisions of communities and individuals.

During this conjunction, all kinds of secrets could be revealed, in some cases amplifying an already well-established movement, such as “#me too” involving sexual harassment, acts of pedophilia, and shameful or despicable crimes.

Interestingly, motivated by regeneration, but also by cynicism or perversity, Pluto urges us to expose the truth. Saturn, through fear of exposure, shame, or tradition, prevents us from doing so. Conversely, Pluto keeps secrets hidden when they are sources of power, blackmail or manipulation, but Saturn tends to reveal them out of guilt, honesty, concern for truth or the desire for inner peace.

Located at the heart of occultism and esotericism, Ketu symbolizes the knowledge of the initiates. In these fields, secrecy is sometimes necessary in order not to desecrate beauty and truth. But hidden, obscure, and dangerous paths also exist, linked to occult societies and hierarchies, dark rituals and practices. Pluto tries to break through and use these paths, but silent Saturn opposes it.

Finally, let us remember that Pluto is the alchemist, Saturn the wise one, and Ketu the key to immortality. Thus, during this conjunction, through simplicity and detachment (Ketu), wisdom and renunciation (Saturn), and the light of transmutation (Pluto), revelations may illuminate the wisest in the secret of their hearts.

2-L’astrologie et la mécanique de la pensée, Bernard Duchatelle (Saturn aspects to Pluto). Amazon 2015

UPDATE EVENTS in Christchurch NZ _ March 15th 2019

It has been highlighted throughout this article how Rahu and Ketu are directly involved in the materialization of thoughts into actions. Indeed, we are not only talking about psychological tendencies, but also about tangible facts. These can be brutal and cruel, as the New Zealand terrorist attack demonstrates when racism (Pluto), compulsive tendencies (Ketu), mental hardness and lack of empathy (Saturn), manifest themselves in an orgy of violence. The Christchurch massacre in New Zealand is indeed very precisely connected to the Ketu-Saturn- Pluto conjunction. Its two sides, frighteningly dark and brutal, but nevertheless able to bring important progress in the fight for intelligence, are present. This is what we are interested in: how does it tangibly affect the collective consciousness?

Christchurch NZ, the 15th of March 2019, 1H40 PM (local time)

Darkness

Considering the ascendant (the “self” at the time of the act) as the terrorist, the chart of the shooting speaks clearly:

– Mercury, ruler of the rising Gemini, culminates very precisely. The Sun, Mercury and the Midheaven appear to be on the same exact 24th degree of the Pisces! The anonymous “me” is suddenly becoming a celebrity.

– In exile, in fall, retrograde and combust3, Mercury depicts a self with a disordered intellect, lacking clarity and discernment.

– Mercury, however, is strongly supported: it relies on Mars (violent action), Saturn (preparation, mental hardness), Pluto (dark forces4), Rahu (anger, dissatisfaction) and Ketu (compulsion)

– A very close Neptune, is poisoning the “self” (Mercury) through identification and propaganda.

3 Note the figure of the “cazimi”: Mercury at 24°13’47” Pisces is considered “in the heart of the Sun” located at 24°08’51” in the same sign. It has been written that this very close conjunction cancels the combustion and reinforces the star otherwise burned by the Sun. Many astrologers have expressed their disagreement and this particular chart seems to prove them right. Of course it depends on the perspective, it is likely that the terrorist thinks he has “succeeded”, i.e. achieved his goal.

4 The white supremacists, among others.

– Both culminating, Neptune (the mass media) and Mercury (communication), refer to Facebook broadcasting the massacre live all over the world for 17 minutes!

– The ascending degree itself is associated with the overall structure through powerful parallels aspects of declination (P) that draw a precise and meaningful network. We notice the participation of Rahu and the Moon:
AS (21°10 N) P Moon (21°24 N) P Ketu (21°21 S) P Rahu (21°21 N) P Pluto (21°43 S) P Saturn (21°41 S)

This striking chart could be analyzed in more depth, but let’s just add a few additional remarks:

– The explosion of physical violence inevitably passes through Mars in the XII (the murderous madness), to the trine of Ketu-Pluton-Saturn and to the half-square of the Moon.

– In parallel to Rahu in the second house, the same moon suggests secret schemes, anxieties, material and mental dissatisfactions. Its parallel to Saturn refers to the contractions of fear and that to Pluto to mental obsessions.

– Jupiter is particularly linked to faith, religions and foreign culture. He is home in Sagittarius, from where he rules the VII, which is the opponent’s house. Mercury, master of the AS (the terrorist) addresses a violent square to Jupiter, his “personal” enemy.

Light in darkness

However cruel and brutal this tragedy is, a lot of light has come out of it, clearly demonstrating that we are living a critical time. The important question is how humanity, in its vast majority, reacts: how we react to barbarism and ignorance. Although darkened and tormented, the bound to the collective consciousness Moon relies on Uranus at its sextile, evocative of the quest for freedom and intelligence.

Countless testimonies of support and empathy came from all sides. New Zealanders, their government and their Prime Minister, have won the admiration of the world for their humanity.

A tightening of firearms legislation came into force within a week, as a stunning response from intelligence.

The beneficial effects of the Ketu-Saturn-Pluto conjunction are thus manifested: Pluto the alchemist favors transmutation, Saturn the wise allows deep thinking and Ketu, the one who unties, allows the spiritualization of the collective consciousness.