The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

On 12 January 2020, we will have a very special conjunction of Sun, Mercury, Ceres, Saturn and Pluto. When Saturn and Pluto come together you can expect an intensification that most people do not “like”.

In astrology certain planets are looked at as Good, Bad or just plain Ugly. In this first half of two posts, I will write about the Bad and the Ugly, in part two I will describe the Good.

You may be aware of malefic and benefic planets already as they are millennia old constructs. Malefic, or “bad” planets are Mars and Saturn, whereas Benefic or “good” planets are Venus and Jupiter. Eastern traditions include additional planets and sensitive points to each of these categories.

Why would we look at planets as good, bad or ugly? The malefics are parts of the chart which require us to do work, be responsible and challenge ourselves –all of which takes time to experience and learn. Each of the Malefics takes time for their planetary processes to unfold. Working hard and being challenge don’t feel good to the ego, we may feel put upon and at worst, feel martyred or victimized.

Let’s look at these planetary characters and see what may be considered challenging about them. Mars teaches us lessons of power and force. This planet is about weapons, war, cutting, fights, driving, strength, courage, leadership, NO, my way and other self determining experiences. Think of a toddler having a temper tantrum and you understand an aspect of the Mars expression. Mars returns to the same place in your chart about every two years. The first return happens when, yes, you guessed it, we have our “Terrible Two’s” and begin to say no and my way and I don’t wanna. These are the first declarations of differentiation and self hood. Some parents indulge or shame this behaviour and we can see the results on both the world stage and in our personal lives, as these resolved and unresolved issues play out. Whether your Mars is retrograde, poorly or well aspected to other planets, you will have experiences about your force/strength/vitality. Depending upon your consciousness or your choices between what is in your best interest versus what your toddler self wants in the moment will determine your Mars experiences.

Saturn is the heavy Lord of Time and Consequences. The planet of physicality, limits, burdens, “chop wood, carry water”, maturity, authority, reality, bones, structures –all about getting you to understand what it is to be a spiritual being having a physical experience. Saturn returns are all about re-visiting your Saturnian issues and hopefully moving into your next phase of maturity cleared of the past. Most of us do not care for limits, responsibilities and duties. Wherever you find Saturn, you find the long process of maturation and hard-earned life experiences. Your Saturn placement shows you the area in life that will require effort and work on your part and, and you Saturn’s placement and aspects will show you where and how you will experience them.

Pluto is so far away and yet is called the Great and Terrible Simplification. How can something so far away and seemingly so small exert such force? Pluto is about Power. Pluto is the next octave of Mars energy (no surprise they are co-rulers of the deep and intense Scorpio!). If Mars is War, Pluto is Nuclear War. More often seen as the transformational force that affects us in collective conscious and unconscious ways, Pluto impacts us personally when we have planets in aspect with it or when it transits or progresses any of our personal points (Moon, Sun, North and South Nodes, Ascendant and Midheaven).

Pluto places you into the crucible and burns away all that is not truly you. Like a sort of X-Ray-Crematorium-Impurity-Remover, it knows exactly where your untruths lie and makes sure to burn them away. The more you hold on, the more painful it becomes until you learn about surrender and let it go. Before Pluto, you believe you are the master of the universe and believe you can get away with so much. During personal Pluto experiences, you find you can live on so little and your humility grows. If you successfully face and work with your Plutonian experience, you will come out the other side more ensouled and aware of a knowing in yourself you could never have gained following your old path.

I remember a class I attended on Pluto. Everyone in the room was of a certain age and had all gone through significant Pluto experiences in their lives. There was a knowing, a humility, a perseverance and a presence that filled the room. I appreciated being in a room with others who understood Plutonian experiences. Pluto experiences can be isolating and alienating. Our society doesn’t allow us the space and time to go off for a month or 18 months and strip down to our bare soul. We have to find a way to bear and bare it simultaneously while usually maintaining jobs, households and relationships. This often strains relationships and truly pushes us to the brink of what we believe we can handle. False ideas about what you can and cannot do are brought front and center for you to have to see and release.

Pluto is not graceful, cares nothing for your social standing or beliefs about yourself or your relationships to people, places and things and especially not your version of the truth or how you perceive the world. As ruthless, secretive and absolute as when the King’s men would storm a Noble’s home back in the day, Pluto knows exactly where to go and what to take. Pluto is not known for giving a lot, but it gives you enough to make it through. It is a most painful process and attempts at suicide or other self directed escape are futile as this is your experience to be lived through, not escaped from. Pluto wants no prisoners, no bodies and plays for keeps. Like another octave of the ancient Egyptian Weighing of the Heart ceremony, Pluto is looking to remove all of the false weights and less than desirable deeds attached to the soul so as to be lighter –but while you are alive.

So, after reading all of this, do you see the ways in which people see these planets as Bad and/or Ugly? Or do you see the simple yet absolutely necessary transformation of the self on one’s path of awareness thanks to the malefic influences? The malefics bring you kicking and screaming until you have no more energy and must submit and surrender into your Truth. No giving up, no abdication, no way out but through.

If you are on a path of consciousness, you use the experiences to grow and become more open, more alive, more present to all that is and your place in it. Not all life is conscious, spiritual or aware, so everyone will have a different relationship to these energies and experiences. The Universe doesn’t see good, bad, ugly, aware or unconscious, the Universe is simply energy, we are the ones who create and categorize it into all of its many forms. The Universe simply Is. We tend to judge that which is challenging as bad and that which is easy as good. Dolly Pardon says, “You cannot have rainbows without rain” –this is simple and profound and completely true. How do you transform the rain in your life into the rainbows you seek?

Thank you for reading. I hope what I write helps you deepen your astrological and self awareness. I look forward to your thoughtful feedback, questions, input or comments.

Wishing you grace in these challenging times,

Michael