Lynn Koiner - Astrological Research

• When you are feeling out of control, it is too easy to hide and to allow your life to become unmanageable. And, the only thing that you can control is yourself and your immediate environment. Pluto manifests through the physical so that being physically active and doing something is essential to regulating and releasing its energies. I find myself sitting up late at night working on correspondence and projects that my Neptune transit left in a disorganized pile.

• In taking control, clean up your environment, throw out what you do not need and take care of tasks that you have long procrastinated over. If I lay in bed, I feel the over-stimulation of Pluto and I cannot sleep. Just going out does not solve the problem or release the energy. While walking to the Mall and shopping were easy and satisfying solutions under Neptune, Pluto only triggers meaningless and compulsive spending…another step in being out of control. Having meaningful discussions, mental activity and purposeful actions seem to work the best.

• Pluto transits occur when one is about to make a great new leap forward, to leave the past behind and embrace a new beginning. This is what Pluto wants us to do— empower ourselves by letting go of the past and taking a transformative leap forward in our lives.

• Physical Activity— Exercise is a great release for Plutonian energy, although the winter weather does not provide much of an opportunity for me to get out and walk. I joined a local gym and this always makes me feel better. With Pluto, there is a lot of intense energy and intense physical activity (very long walks) worked very well for me.

• In this “out-of-control” mode, my work makes me feel out of control. Sagittarius likes hierarchies so I must organize my priorities and I cannot over-load myself. I can easily feel over-whelmed. I organize my calendar and make a list of ”What to do.” I must stick to the schedule so that I do not feel out of control. I have also discovered another key to working with Pluto— KEEP YOUR LIFE SIMPLE. Avoid all complications. Learn to say NO to everything that is not absolutely essential. Your psychological survival depends upon it!

• I have observed that the transits of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto affect us through hormonal imbalances. For younger woman, there are 2 herbs that restore the hormones to a normal balance. If you are having menstrual problems, it is hormonal. I take Wild Yam and Chaste Tree, one capsule of each once or twice a day. For helpful Amino Acids, read THE DIET CURE by Julia Ross.

• Anxiety, especially at night, can cause night binging and insomnia. Around 7 PM, I make a big cup of a “Extra Strength Sleepy Time” tea. There are supplements at any good vitamin store that can help with sleep, such as Melatonin.

• The adrenals are severely stressed under the Pluto transit. I experienced acute lower back pain which is always adrenal exhaustion. My suggestion now is to take ADRENALCAPS by Solaray which can be obtained at most health food stores. Take 2 capsules upon arising and 2 more at 11am. This prescription was recommended by a medical doctor. Do this in waves— 3 weeks on and 1 week off.

• Having to deal with the surfacing long-repressed emotions, the fears and especially the anger, can be very difficult! Give yourself permission to feel angry!

• Some Pluto transits can compromise our immune system, leaving us vulnerable to viruses and infections. A good protection is Wild Oregano and Olive Leaf (Nature’s Way is the strongest). These anti-viral and anti-bacterial need to be taken daily and they build up in the system.

NOTE: If you are taking other medications, please talk with your pharmacist about how these herbs and supplements interact with your medications.

• Pluto can make you feel like the situation will last forever but it does not. You can easily lose your vision and hope for the future. It is essential to expand your consciousness in order to rise above the darkness. I found reading spiritual and consciousness expanding books and meditation to provide incredible relief! “The higher you go (in consciousness) the smaller things look below!”

• EMPOWERMENT— this is the most important lesson that you will learn under the Pluto transit but it does not come immediately or easily. When Pluto made its retrograde square to my Sun, I realized that I had given my power away to a powerless person who could only criticize and find fault with everything that I did; I had given my power away to negative thinking, to absorbing the criticisms of others and to the tyranny of self-recrimination!

A friend gave me the “life saving” definition of empowerment— “Empowerment is recognizing what you need to do for yourself and doing it even when others say that you are being selfish. Your first priority is to TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF! When a situation is bad, your first responsibility is to get yourself OUT, to remove yourself from any negative, hostile or contentious situation, whether this is a job, a relationship or an environment. You empower yourself by protecting yourself! I finally felt empowered when I developed an attitude— that I would not put up with any crap from anyone… no ifs, ands or buts! The journey from feeling over-whelmed to “not taking crap” seemed like an eternity.

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Astrologer, Mary Shea, in a lecture for the Baltimore NCGR, listed some POTHOLES that we may encounter while under the influence of a Pluto transit:

1) Power struggles, control issues, complications and the rubber-band booby traps. Often, people who are out of control are the most controlling and manipulative people that we encounter. The rubber band effect was my favorite: Two people spot a rubber band. They both want it and they crab it at the same time. The theory behind “possession is 9/10ths of the law” is that whoever holds on the longest will win.

With Pluto, they are holding a rubber band and whoever releases first, zaps the other! Whoever holds on the longest, gets zapped by Pluto…and the rubber band. The guideline here is to let go before you get zapped!! Let go before something complicates your life!

2) Escalation and getting caught blind-sided. I had a friend who was experiencing Pluto squaring her Ascendant. She started to play a game, a subconscious game, to learn how much power and control she had in a relationship. Once the game got started, she soon realized that she could not win the game. She was going to lose and she was going to lose the relationship. However, a Plutonian friend in Berlin assured me that, when a Plutonian person starts to play that game, they cannot let go, they cannot stop, even if it blows up in their face. KNOW when you are about to lose through persistent hard-headedness and LET GO!

3) Black or White polarized situations. Everything under Pluto seems black or white…but there are no black or white situations. Disengage your perspective, de-personalize the situation and work on the win-win compromise.

4) Reactionary responses, emotional overload, fear and anger and can all lead to the situation becoming stuck, frozen, mentally unbalanced and unconscious. Pluto applies pressure upon our astral body via the solar plexus and this forces long repressed emotional issues and feelings to the surface. The more unaware and disconnected we are from the feelings the more they take on a life of their own, blind-siding us and catching us unaware. Rage can explode uncontrollably, we can obsess or we can become emotionally paralyzed by what we are feeling. It is essential that we talk about it with someone and to honor the feelings that we do have. They are not facts; they are feelings.

A good example was a young woman who experienced Pluto opposing her 1st House Sun. Pluto is natally found in her 5th House of creative self-expression. Indeed, during the final phase of the Pluto transit, a pregnancy was her form of personal empowerment.

Pluto does not respect age. This woman is young, beautiful and extremely sweet and thoughtful. At the time that the transit started, she dropped out of my astrology classes because she felt that she just could not cope with the emotions that were surfacing in her life. She felt vulnerable, over-whelmed and she was extremely sensitive to criticism, by everyone. The opinion of others became too important. She felt that others could see right through her, that she could not say what she wanted and she felt great uncertainty in all of her communications and personal thoughts. Her fears became a block to the truth and these fears were over-whelming.

She saw a therapist for a few months, thinking that the therapist would solve her problems, give her the answers and figure her life out for her. Soon, she realized that she was the only one who would solve her problems, not the therapist.

Self-worth was non-existent. She felt incompetent and she could no longer do her job. She was not ready to deal with new people, make job changes, and anything new was too much to handle. She vowed not to allow her fears to dominate. She threw herself in the face of her fears and this was just too much. She searched inside for something strong but she could not find it.

The healing process began when she withdrew from life in order to regain her strength and RECONSTRUCT HERSELF INTERNALLY. Pushing too hard to face everything was the worse thing that she ever did. At this time, she became pregnant, becoming confined to the bed, and this experience allowed her to withdraw, giving her time to reconstruct her inner self. Her advice was to be gentle with yourself and slowly allow your strength to return — only then do you attempt to face your fears.

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When Pluto in Sagittarius makes a hard aspect to your natal planet, it is attempting to redefine how you use the sign energy in which that natal planet is placed:

Pluto to Gemini: Gemini is a sign that needs a lot of physical and emotional freedom. When they have given their freedom away, they cannot breathe. I have felt like an animal trapped in a room without doors or windows, scratching at the walls, trying to get out. You must break through the wall and free yourself from any entrapment. Gemini sometimes scatters its energies so that they do not accomplish anything. Circumstances may force them to get their act together and focus upon what they need to do. Gemini can exaggerate their abilities and accomplishments or they can actually lie (remember old Newt with his Sun in Gemini squaring Neptune!). Pluto in Sagittarius will force them to confront reality. I have seen several Geminis run away from the illusion that they have created rather than confront the delusion. Gemini is a sign that intellectualizes its feelings.

As Pluto opposed my Gemini planets, I first experienced health issues due to repressed emotions. I have needed to sit down and allow myself to cry but, “I am too busy now. I will do it later.” Now my tear ducts are clogged, my eyes hurt all the time and I cannot cry at all. Using my elixirs and tinctures to calm myself is not the solution. This only postpones the resolution.

Next, my mother suddenly died. This was such an emotional shock for me but it opened my heart with a wave of compassion and understanding for others. I began to “speak from my heart” rather than talk like a Gemini.

There were relationships than ended in a very tumultuous Plutonian way. This triggered abandonment issues. I found it easier to forgive others because these old enmities just are not worth sustaining.

I felt forced to focus my scattered energies and I all of these events, including the death of my mom, were immensely empowering.

Pluto to Virgo: Virgo has a strong sense of duty, order and “doing it all and doing it perfectly.” Pluto will force the individual to let go of the extraneous, the menial tasks that suck up their time and energy. And, most important, not being able to do something and letting it go is NOT FAILURE.

With Pluto aspecting my Sun in Virgo, the issues were identity, self-respect and how much I will tolerate before I say “Enough!” Initially, I saw quitting as failure. Quitting was not an option. As I talked with friends, I got a reality adjustment and I quickly realized that I cannot do it all, do it perfectly and quitting is not failure. It is just time to let go. Virgo absorbs criticism until the individual gets angry. A friend with a stellium in Virgo said that getting angry at her co-workers for dumping it all on her shoulders was the key resolution to getting out of the depression. After she read the longer edition of the Pluto article, it took her 4 weeks to work with the suggestions and feel normal. She confessed that getting angry and reclaiming her freedom was the real key to it all. Another friend with a stellium in Virgo seemed to be cursed with low-paying, hard working jobs. She has too many talents to tolerate the intolerable. Eventually, as the Plutonian energies reached “critical mass,” she became an independent contractor making double and triple her former salary.

Pluto to Sagittarius: Sagittarius always feels that it is honest but no one can always be honest with one’s self. For Sagittarius, the truth will explode in front of them and they must deal with it.

I initially saw Pluto to Sagittarius in the horoscope of a couple who were both having Pluto hits to their Sagittarius planets. As Pluto crossed the husband’s Mercury, he confronted his Sagittarius wife with the fact that he was unhappy in the marriage, he was having an affair and he wanted a divorce. She was shocked. She never saw it; she was blind-sided. She is a successful doctor who works all the time and she never has time to see anything. She took the relationship for granted. People rarely get divorced in their country. Everyone saw them as the perfect couple— even her sister saw them as having the perfect marriage. Pluto forced everyone in the family to deal with reality. It was catastrophic for everyone. If this could happen in the perfect marriage, it could happen to anyone, so they all reasoned, even in their own marriages!

I have observed Pluto ending a career, one in which the individual was very unhappy, and moving into a new, more fulfilling career. The Sagittarius-to-Sagittarius transit is more career oriented.

Pluto to Pisces: The greatest flaw of Pisces is their tolerance. Pluto forces the individual to grow quite tolerant of their martyrdom!

I remember a Pisces woman confessing that her philosophy was: If I am always soooo nice, how can anyone say NO to me or even blame me. If you tolerate the intolerable, you set yourself up for major health issues and you allow others to grow more dependent and irresponsible. Pisces likes to view life through their rose tinted glasses and Pluto in Sagittarius will quickly remove those rose-tints— reality may come crashing down upon them. I have seen Pisceans tolerate relationship problems and then, when Pluto hits, suddenly pull their heads out of the sand and wonder how the scripts got changed. When Pisces is angry or unhappy, they whine; now they need to ACT! Another Neptunian friend always believes that her perception is the correct one. “My husband and I have Mercury afflictions and we have great communication!” Her perception of people in general, while always well meaning, seems off the mark. When Pluto in Sagittarius hit her Pisces planets, she learned exactly how off the mark she was!

I know a medical doctor who found that he had relinquished control of his practice to others. He found his wife giving excessive discounts on the medical bills, his office filled with employees that were in-laws and he was working so hard but not making the salary that his colleagues were making. It took awhile but he pulled his head out of the sand, put his down, raised his fees, got rid of the in-laws and moved into a more prestigious office that he truly deserves. He felt that other people were making all of the decisions about his life and his Pisces planets allowed him to tolerate this until the situation became intolerable.

NOTE for 2007-2008: Pluto will be transiting 26-29 degrees of Sagittarius. Planets transiting the late degrees of a sign always indicates an ending cycle, specifically when it aspects our Ending Degree Planets (25-29 degrees). It is a time in our lives wherein we must draw some life situation to a conclusion. In 2008, Pluto will also be in 0 degrees of Capricorn. This always brings something new into our lives when Pluto aspects an early degree planet. With a conjunction, square or opposition, the stress does not mean that the situation is bad but it is the stress of doing something that we have never done before. It is a totally new cycle for us!