There’s an old story about an astrology student who, fearing his Saturn return, dug a deep hole and buried himself in it, hoping to escape the challenges of Saturn. The irony of the story is that in confining himself in a dark space with no light and from which he could not escape, he created his own Saturn experience.

I have a Moon/Pluto conjunction near the IC and have always had a difficult relationship with my mother. After a long estrangement she moved to the town where I live, and it takes an enormous effort on both of our parts to maintain a relaxed relationship with each other. Last summer Saturn was approaching a conjunction to my Moon, and I told my mother that due to a planetary event I was going to need a break from her because I would be more sensitive to her and less able to manage difficulties. Of course I was hoping to escape problems of the Saturn/Moon conjunction. As fate would have it, that week my mother noticed a tumor that needed to be removed by a specialist, and she and I were tumbled together into a Saturn experience despite my best efforts of avoidance. However, like all Saturn experiences, the work that we did in the process helped me to overcome some old patterns which had been limiting my ability to grow.

Challenging planetary cycles aren’t always difficult, but if there are issues that have ripened to the point where they need to be considered by us the planets will force a confrontation. That is not always the case, and sometimes we sail through so-called “challenging” transits without a hitch. In my own house, Pluto is currently making a square to Rich’s Sun. I had warned him about this transit for months, but here he is in the middle of it, having a blissful experience of expanding power. He was elected Soil & Water Conservation District Supervisor in the last election and is making a name for himself in our county. Pluto more than any other planet hands out our fate, but it shows that for now Rich is successfully navigating the path which is overseen by his higher self and no course corrections are necessary at the moment. He is just in the first pass of the cycle, and it may be that he will begin to experience challenges later. But if he surrenders to the process, which as a Pisces he has a tendency to do anyway, he will flow through a Pluto transit as he does other aspects of his life.

Many clients come to me quaking in fear of an upcoming Pluto or Saturn transit because of what they have read on the internet. While it’s true that the cycle cannot be avoided, there’s always a way to use it to our advantage.