The Pluto Effect: Fear of loss

In all the talk of the credit-crunch, one factor seems to be missing: the human effect of it. All the talk seems to be about money, about the billions of pounds, dollars, euro’s needed to prop up the economy. About shares, or about pointing the finger of blame at those bankers whose huge profits and bonusses have created the problem for the rest of us. Or about how governments must prevent stock market dealers making huge profits at other’s expense. What is missing in all of this is any mention of the human impact and the psychological misery of losing your job, your position and your status. Yet this is a vital part of what the Pluto effect is really all about. Specifically with Capricorn, sign of the ambitious climber involved, issues surrounding loss of status, loss of position, and the fear of the dramatic fall from power, will certainly come to the fore.

The Pluto effect is about this very real fear, and about the totally demobilising sense of things unseen, lurking in the shadows, ready to pounce at will. Pluto is the aboslute King of free floating anxiety, ruler of that which threatens yet cannot be precisely pinned down. Pluto always wore the helm of invisibility when walking amongst men, and we know that he is never direct or straightforward in his dealings. Pluto would rather whisper in your ear, “the rug is just about to be pulled out from under your feet” leaving you to wrestle with the next question,  “when”? The Pluto effect is what caused people in 1929 to jump from tall buildings. The Pluto effect is what leads people, as I write, to take their attache case, and kiss their wife goodbye as usual, and pretend that they are leaving for work. Only thing is, there is no longer any work. The Pluto effect is fear of downsizing, the fear of saying to one’s friends, “guys, I lost my job”. Fear of loss is one of the most debilitating and frightening feelings known to man. Yet, collectively we seem to be ignoring it. This time round, the Pluto effect will also be about ageism, Capricorn is the natural ruler of age. Some people who have worked for years at Lehmann Brothers and are now in their fifties, are highly unlikely to find employment in the banking profession ever again. There is an enormous personal (Cancer) factor to the current crisis, that we hear surprisinlgy little about.

When we look at Pluto in Capricorn, we must always remember that we are dealing with an axis. Capricorn issues dominate but Cancer issues will also be invloved. It is a question of Yin and Yang. Darkness and Light. Male and Female. You can’t have one without the other. The Wall Street Crash happened with Pluto in Cancer. And yes, of late, we are talking about the Crash once again. What we should remember however, is how out of the chaos of the 1930’s and the devastation for families (Cancer) the need for the strong leader arose – the Capricorn effect: Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Churchill.

Now we have the situation in reverse. Solutions to the current crisis – will most likely be sought in Cancer. Cancer is the most nurturing sign. It is the sign of the family. Of the small business as opposed to the multi-national which is much more a Capricorn affair. It is moving away from BIG to SMALL. It’s about re-evaluating the role of the family, and probably of national interest as opposed to joint interest. It is about recognising the importance of the individual role in the big picture. One man running scared – means that a whole group of people around that individual will be affected. Fear – as we have seen – is highly infectious – and is able to seriously disrupt.

In the time to come, I hope that we will start to pay more attention to the effect the current crisis is having on the individual and what we will do – collectively – to help people through it. Pluto in Capricorn, could actually help us to move away from the current dominant narrative which seems to suggest “you are what you own” Capricorn, as opposed to “who you are, matters” – Cancer.