A Chorus Of Obliteration
The Final Mars-Pluto Opposition
It's time for a showdown. On Saturday, Mars makes his third and final Pluto opposition at 6:05 PM PT. Loud and proud in Leo, Mars defiantly confronts Plutonic attempts at coercion and control while Pluto aggrandizes Mars’ dangerous nature. With both planets interested in power, the stage is set for a battle of wills as competing interests draw us into the fires of conflict. With Mars so close to exiting the shadow of his retrograde, this final opposition is like the boss battle at the end of a video game Victory is nearly at hand, but there is one last challenge before the credits roll.
The first of these oppositions was delivered on November 3 last year when Mars opposed Pluto at 29° Capricorn while moving through the shadow of its retrograde in Cancer. Once Pluto entered Aquarius for good on November 17, it moved the site of the following oppositions to the Leo-Aquarius axis. The second fell on January 2, just as Mars retrograde was leaving Leo to return to Cancer. With Mars due to leave the shadow of its retrograde on May 1, this opposition can be seen as the last hardship in a story that started in September last year when Mars first entered Cancer. Last year in a piece I wrote for the December issue of OPA’s magazine The Evolving Astrologer, I said of these Mars-Pluto oppositions:
“Lying at the outer edges of the solar system and named for the Greek god of the Underworld, Pluto rules the libidinal and liminal - that which lurks at the edges of awareness. While Zeus held the thunderbolt and Poseidon the trident, Pluto’s prize possession was a helmet of invisibility. Often unseen, Pluto wielded immense power in the Greek pantheon. Similarly, Pluto the planet signifies that which is unseen yet wields tremendous influence. In every shady backroom deal, every covert operation, and every coverup, there you will find Pluto. He governs underworlds, realms of secrets and experiential depth. Venturing into these dark, arcane spaces is dangerous business but can yield rich rewards. Within Pluto’s cold crypts, one may endure corruption or catharsis. In his dungeons, one can encounter terrors or treasure, ghosts or gold.
Of the many hidden forces held in Pluto’s portfolio the most pertinent to Mars is power. At face value, it seems that both planets are interested in power, but their definitions diverge wildly. Within Mars, we can locate willpower, the volitional ability of individuals to make choices, develop competence, and act in accordance with desire. However, Pluto is an amoral force of change. It is the archetype of the raw thrust of life itself. In this way, Richard Tarnas finds Pluto to be aligned with Schopenhauer’s concept of the Will, a primordial drive operant within us all (Tarnas 45). This blind will to live propels our every action. It is ravenous and instinctual, yet hidden underneath our interactions, often influencing them subconsciously. Power to Pluto then is the ability to exercise this will, often coercively or covertly.
Since Mars often acts as a trigger, a frictional force that brings things to a head, these Mars-Pluto oppositions will bring coercive power plays out into the light of day. Oppositions themselves are one of the so-called hard aspects and are of the nature of Saturn. By their nature, they are adversarial. They create a push-pull dynamic that often manifests in 1:1 interactions with others. Therefore, under these Mars-Pluto oppositions, we can expect to see battles of the will that have heretofore unfolded unconsciously now surge into open warfare. Whatever dynamics have developed in a clandestine manner will now be unearthed. Unspoken agreements will get articulated then argued over. There will be strife over secrets.
Another ability of Pluto is to aggrandize. When in a hard aspect, Pluto can amplify Mars’ own intensity and ferocity. There arises the potential under these oppositions to take things too far. Righteous anger becomes excessive rage. A battle becomes a bloodbath. A scorched earth policy leaves no survivors. As relationships fracture and conflicts emerge, be vigilant of the energies upwelling within you. Ultimately, those energies seek catharsis, but the danger lies in allowing them to mutate in an overwhelming desire to destroy.”
Uniquely, this last opposition will be reactivated by tomorrow’s lunation and baked into events for the next fortnight. When the Sun and Moon rendezvous at 7° Taurus to set a new lunar cycle, they will form a T-square to Pluto and Mars. Taurus New Moons are typically bucolic affairs, but there are fires in the fields and problems in the pastures. Attempts at renewal must contend with friction and opposing forces. The paradisiacal nature of gardens rarely arises easily. Rather it is gathered through great efforts of sowing, weeding, trimming, fertilizing, and uprooting of unwanted plants. Working with this New Moon creatively will require embracing sweat and toil to reap something sweet from the soil.
The title of today's Martial musing is drawn from the 2004 debut album of now defunct metalcore act The Showdown. With Easter and 4/20 falling on the same day this year, I celebrated by getting stoned and listening to some of the Christian metal soundtracks of my childhood. Back in middle school, A Chorus of Obliteration was one of my favorite albums. I am happy to report that it was worth the revisitation. While later releases were either straightforwardly heavy metal or metalcore, The Showdown’s first effort displayed an eclectic mix of melodeath, black metal, and even Southern rock. With songs announcing “fire rains from the sky, the hand of justice falls,” The Showdown presented Old Testament style fire and brimstone over a vicious soundtrack of squealing guitars and brutal breakdowns. If the early 2000’s metal scene is your jam, I suggest you check ‘em out!