Planetary news this week! Mars ignites the power of Pluto, and Saturn/Neptune

This week marks the final phase of the harmonious interplay between Saturn and Neptune which has worked for much of this year to facilitate the merging of our dreams (Neptune) with the reality check of Saturn. Where Neptune can inspire us to dream and imagine, Saturn encourages us to put those dreams to work. And where Saturn’s influence can become somewhat dull as we work steadfastly towards our goals, Neptune adds a coating of magical fairy dust to take our goals and wishes into a new dimension.

This has been a nice counterpoint to the near collision between Saturn and Pluto that took place between April and July, when Saturn’s penchant for structure and accountability combined with Pluto’s willful destruction of anything not serving the highest good. This is the final alignment between Saturn and Neptune, though, and when Jupiter (abundance and positivity) moves from its own happy sign of Sagittarius into the more serious sign of Capricorn, we will need to knuckle down and face any cold hard realities we may have been avoiding.

The final Saturn/Neptune sextile this week offers a last opportunity to integrate our ideals into our lives through careful planning and attention to detail. Because Mercury is retrograde, this may not manifest outwardly yet – we may need to stay in the planning phase until the end of November when Mercury turns direct.

Meanwhile, this week Mars continues his attack on Saturn and Pluto. Last week Mars faced off in a square against Saturn, resisting the pressure to conform to limitations and perhaps causing some internal distress as our energy and motivation (Mars) was blocked by Saturnian restriction. In the early part of the week Mars will square Pluto and any hidden anger or resentments will likely come to the fore.

The combination of Mars and Pluto is quite powerful. Mars represents the personal Will, and I call Pluto the Will of the Higher Self. When the two are harnessed we can manifest great things. But you have to be careful where your attention is when the energies are this strong!