Conditions are Changing: Pluto in Aquarius

In a therapy session earlier this month I was talking about how my feelings towards a long standing annual commitment were changing. I questioned things I hadn't thought I'd ever question, wondering if I should keep doing what I've always done, or whether a different pattern moving forward might be better.

I was puzzled because when I began this thing that ended up becoming a regular part of my year, I couldn't imagine not doing it at least annually.

She responded with:

"Conditions are changing."

And now I can imagine something that I would have thought impossible so long ago - and I'm wondering if reducing the frequency of this thing would make more sense for where I am in life now. It might not, but I'm questioning something that until now was a given.

It was such a simple but evocative phrase. Conditions are changing.

And of course my responses, needs and choices might be different too. I have grown and evolved. I might not need the thing I used to need - or I might not need it as often.

This struck me as so appropriate for the major astrological moves that have happened during March. Pluto moving into Aquarius, Saturn moving into Pisces, even Mars finally moving into Cancer signs after an extended stay in Gemini.

Maybe you too have noticed something similar? A long running pattern, commitment or feature in your schedule that you're now questioning?

If so, it would make sense.

Pluto in the Move: A New Era Begins

Pluto moving after more than 15 years in the same place is a powerful indication that conditions are changing, that influences that have guided you for more than a decade may not be such a big factor any longer. Maybe there are new or different factors to prioritise? Emerging choices that now capture your attention?

We have time.

I'm not planning to make my final choice regarding this thing anytime soon - in fact, I've said I will stick with the current pattern for at least 12 more months and I'll reassess in late 2024.

Which turns out to be exactly when Pluto will settle permanently into Aquarius and the new chapter more definitively begins. Which seems like a divinely guided timeline.

Maybe it's helpful for you too to consider end of 2024 a point at which you want to finalise major new choices?

A Time of Transition: Between Old and New

This also reminded me too that 2023 and 2024 are transition years. During these next two years, Pluto is between two places, moving back and forwards into and out of Capricorn and Aquarius, juggling the close of the longer Pluto in Capricorn cycle AND getting curious about what might be important in the new Pluto in Aquarius cycle (which will last for 20 years!).

Maybe you too feel like you're straddling old and new, past and future at the moment? At least about one or two areas of life or Big Things.

These shifts have acted like a prompt, reminding me to check in and ask myself "How have my needs and priorities changed?"

As I've sat with that, awareness has bubbled up that yes, circumstances are different. This has helped me give myself permission to consider making a new choice, like updating my patterns.

For me, a huge part of this has involved exploring my underlying motivations, like "Why have I been doing what I've been doing?" or "What's the purpose/intention of doing this thing?"

Reflecting on these often unconscious drivers has helped me explore the best ways to meet those "whys". I've realised there are different ways to meet those "whys" in the present than what existed when I set up the current pattern 10, 12, 14 years ago.

The word is vastly different in 2023 than it was in 2008, when Pluto last changed signs and moved into Capricorn. There was no face time or whatsapp video call then. Facebook was in its infancy and Instagram didn't exist. The GFC hadn't happened. I didn't have nephews or a niece.

Life is different now so why shouldn't our choices and regular patterns be updated along the way?

What about you? Is there a major thing in your life you've started to question in the past few weeks? Are you contemplating shifting a big thing, or dropping one thing to focus on something else? Or are you just cruising along, same same as always?

Now that we're a week or so into Pluto in Aquarius - and have had a few weeks to tune into Saturn in Pisces - I'd love to hear what's shifting and subtly changing for you?