Richard Tarnas links the Saturn-Pluto conjunctions to “international crisis and conflict, empowerment of reactionary forces and totalitarian impulses, organized violence and oppression.”² (Tarnas, Richard, “Cosmos and Psyche,”p. 585 )

 

In the third part of the The 2020s: Beginnings and Endings series, we will look at the Saturn and Pluto cycle. Click on the links that are just below this sentence to navigate around the series.

Introduction: The 2020s: Beginnings and Endings

The 2020s: Part 1: Character of a Crisis

The 2020s: Part 2: Saturn Jupiter in Air Signs

The 2020s: Part 3: Pluto Saturn Conjunction 

The 2020s: Part 4: USA Pluto Return

The 2020s: Part 5: Cyclical History, 4th Turning, Uranus in Gemini

The 2020s: Part 6: Conclusions

 

Saturn-Pluto cycle

Early 2020 saw a Saturn-Pluto conjunction, and the next one won’t occur until June 15, 2053. The Saturn-Pluto cycle is 31 to 37 years long. The conjunctions and hard aspects of Saturn and Pluto are identified as cycles of crisis and contraction.¹ Richard Tarnas links them to “international crisis and conflict, empowerment of reactionary forces and totalitarian impulses, organized violence and oppression.”² He includes amongst other characteristics the “irrevocable termination of an established order of existence.”³ The conjunctions often bring the final demise of certain structures and the creation of new orders. Previous conjunctions occurred in October 1982 to July 1983, July and August 1947, and October 1914 to May 1915. Therefore, for the first time in three and a half decades, the 2020s is the start of a new cycle. It is a departure from the cycle that occurred in October 1982, which corresponded to the post-Cold War order. The cycle before that was related to the Cold War order, and the cycle before that the post-First World War order. In recent times, in addition to many chilling events and critical moments, it has largely been about the order that was embodied by the Federal Reserve and the Versailles Treaty, Bretton Woods and Pax Americana, and the financialization of Wall Street and Neoliberalism. The other recent conjunctions were in Libra(1982), Leo(1947), and Cancer(1914). The 2020 conjunction in Capricorn stands out as its the domicile of Saturn. There hasn’t been a conjunction in Capricorn since 1680, though there was a conjunction in 1786 in Aquarius, the other domicile of Saturn. Libra, the sign where the last Saturn-Pluto conjunction occurred, is the exaltation of Saturn. So, the last conjunction and the conjunction that just occurred(2020 in Capricorn and 1983 in Libra) are both capable of being more malefic and aligned with Saturn then other conjunction periods. From the vantage of the early 2020s, it seems that the conjunction that occurred on January 12, 2020 is about furtherance of the digital economy, the erosion of privacy rights, new governmental structures gaining acceptance, and the consolidation of the Neoliberal order. The main events that occurred as a result were the Covid-19 pandemic and everything that occurred as a result: mask mandates, social distancing, mandatory testing, lockdowns, restrictions on travel, and establishment attacks on critics of government policy and health experts. It led to apps like Zoom being mass adopted for communication, socializing, meetups, and work, while remote work became a norm for many people. It also led to many governments printing money, leading to inflation. Supply chain breakdowns also occurred. The US had its own Color Revolution like event with the BLM protests and the similar counter-protest at the US Capitol on January 6th. The bifurcation of American society on largely culture war lines was another consequence of this event. But most of all, it led to the on the one side seeking a complete end to human rights while on the other side it created oppositional forces that would fight back in the years that followed. On November 20th, 2024, it seems that the 2020’s Saturn-Pluto conjunction is either about the bifurcation of the America led world order into two camps, or the death of the old order and the Democrat led uniparty, the managerial class, and neocon foreign policy. At this moment, it is difficult to see which of the two options will materialize.

 

 

Notes

1. Richard Tarnas, Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View, (Plume, April 24, 2007) 581.

2. Tarnas, Cosmos and Psyche, 583.

3. Tarnas, Cosmos and Psyche, 585.

Bibliography

1. Richard Tarnas, Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View, (Plume, April 24, 2007)

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