Aquarian Age Update
With its grand entrance into Aquarius, Pluto is currently energizing a massive frequency shift. As of January 20th, Pluto’s location at 1° Aquarius represents just one of several historic markers indicating that we are now fully living and operating in the Aquarian Age.
In astrological terms, the importance of this energetic shift of Pluto moving from Capricorn to Aquarius cannot be overstated. As it activates new frequencies of freedom, its impact will be experienced indefinitely. In the short term, however, humanity as a whole will be dealing with the shadow element of Pluto moving into Aquarius. Among those struggling to hold these higher frequencies, this powerful shadow will be triggering new levels of fear, trepidation, anxiety, and confusion.
This temporary problem of fear stems from Pluto’s historic transit through Capricorn. When Pluto was in Capricorn, our lives were regulated, managed, and structured so that we were more easily controlled and manipulated. Now that Pluto is activating Aquarian energies, those regulatory energies are being lifted, and the corresponding control mechanisms are beginning to fail completely.
With this new Aquarian freedom come new choices and new experiences of self expression. Now that humanity’s creative power has been unleashed, the crucial question is “How will we collectively choose what comes next?”
The question of what comes next is one of the prime causes of our fear, triggered by the unknowns we all face. Another prime cause of our systemic fear is the exposure of our programmed concepts of identity. In Aquarius there is a new type of freedom that has much deeper implications than many of us have considered. The rules have changed, and there isn’t a new rule book.
Individually, we’re beginning to see how identity in our modern society has been programmed through fear and doesn’t represent the authentic Self, which needs no identity. The way this misconception works is that we have been taught that without personal or group identity, we don’t know who we are, or even worse, that we don’t exist. We’re not suggesting here a nihilistic viewpoint and loss of the self. This is simply more fear. Instead our understanding of identity is shifting to a higher-dimensional knowingness of our true essence, which is an energy signature and can’t be labeled.
The dilemma we now face is how to move forward without our programmed identities, especially when they have been part of everything we’ve ever known. This is the process we’re all facing now. We are learning to experience ourselves as infinite spirits, rather than the labels and social constructs we’ve been taught to believe. These are simply control mechanisms that keep us tethered to a 3d world of fear. The leash is off, and courage is required.
I’m so inspired to bring this information to you about our shift to transpersonal identity, and how this is functioning within the new Aquarian Age. This can be very difficult information for some people to hear, especially because we often lack the words to express new concepts. It’s important that we all remain patient and willing to explore new Aquarian ideas.
The Aquarius-Leo Polarity
The Aquarius-Leo polarity is activating new ways to express our authentic self, without the fear of judgment.
Qualities of Aquarius
The qualities of Aquarius that are active at this Full Moon include fearlessness, the freedom of independent thinking, the ability to question what’s true, and to make high-frequency choices. The quickening of perceptions leads to questioning what’s been deemed as fact, exposing what’s been hidden, recognizing the positive shifts in society, and moving beyond the need for group identity.
The shadow qualities of Aquarius include choosing limited perspectives and ideologies, digging in and resisting higher-frequencies, and being manipulated by fear. These shadow frequencies result in being stuck in a crumbling 3d world.
Qualities of Leo
The qualities of Leo that are active at this Full Moon include feeling the power of creative choice, courage, and individualized expression. These qualities help us move beyond limited beliefs, and enable us to recognize the authentic self beyond social or individual identity.
The shadow qualities of Leo include subservience to what’s fashionable, the fear of not fitting in, pride in personal identity, and the exalted feeling of being on the winning side. This shadow creates a general quality of trepidation and anxiety regarding what others are thinking about you.
When the Aquarius-Leo polarity is functioning with coherence and balance the individual is completely energized with independence and freedom of expression. The shadow qualities, including subservience to fear-based perspectives, anxiety of one’s social status and the need to belong to a group as the basis of one’s identity, will all quickly fall away.
Aquarius Sun: The New Role of Identity
Our Aquarius Sun is energizing a frequency shift in how we perceive our self. This is a new transpersonal role which speaks directly to the ways in which we have been conditioned to think about our own identity. With Pluto activating the first degree of Aquarius, this is an ideal time to question what we have been taught to believe about the role of identity.
The following Sabian at 6° Aquarius features a “masked figure” that exposes the true meaning and relevance of identity.
☉ — 6° AQUARIUS — A MASKED FIGURE PERFORMS UNEXPECTEDLY IN A MYSTERIOUS PLAY
THEME: TRANSPERSONAL IDENTITY
ARCHETYPE: When one’s authentic essence of self is discovered, false identity falls away and one is ready to play a more significant role in life.
COMMENTARY: The anonymous performance of a creative act remains a mystery to those who seek recognition. Identity, which is often misunderstood to be the self, is the biggest mystery to those who are compelled to chase after the desire to be ‘something’. Each spirit is unique, made from Source energy, and has its own unique frequency or blueprint. Searching, looking, and wanting to be labeled is only the illusion of belonging to an external ‘something’. The need to belong to something external is limited to those who haven’t yet felt their own Source energy. There’s no need to qualify or quantify Spirit, which is inherently more powerful than anything a label could describe.
This mysterious Sabian is about expanding our understanding of identity. We have been led to believe that without personal identity we cease to exist. What’s becoming clear is that this simply isn’t true. We are eternal spirits with no need for labels or roles. Identity is a social construct that limits the way in which a person understands their true nature and from where their power emanates.
One way to experience transpersonal identity is through our ability to feel our essence. Our essence is an energy source, not a tangible identity. The ascendant (AC) in a natal chart describes the quality of essence as an energy source. In the past, traditional astrology has described the AC as a ‘thing’, which has an identity. The modern understanding is that we are energy. Our essence of spirit needs no identity to live, function, relate, or create. This deeper understanding of essence frees us from the constraints of the social programming of false identity.
Leo Moon: Preservation of One's Essence
Our Sabian for 6° Leo Moon beautifully describes the impermanence of social values, through a conflict in which identity and the status quo directly collide.
☽ — 6° LEO — A CONSERVATIVE OLD-FASHIONED LADY IS CONFRONTED BY A “HIPPIE” GIRL
THEME: THE RELATIVITY OF SOCIAL VALUES
ARCHETYPE: The need for non-judgement in order to transcend cultural subservience and fear-based outlooks, as well as the recognition of unhealthy devotion to what’s fashionable.
COMMENTARY: An emotional crisis involving personal social values can bring to the forefront the realization of the ever-changing nature and impermanence of popular social ideology and fashion. When fear or distorted ideology dominates cultural thinking, a distortion occurs as to what’s really important. Each generation needs to preserve only those universal values and principles worth conserving for the continuity of healthy cultural expression. When a surprise encounter is energized by non-judgement, then the potential conflict of cultural differences, identity, and social values becomes easy to transcend.
This archetype emphasizes the need for healthy self-expression, and the ability to interact authentically whenever confronted with the status quo. Non-judgement frees us from needing to conform, or lock ourselves and others into a particular set of cultural values. Non-judgment also helps us put in perspective social values which are in constant flux.
When we are able to preserve our connection to our own essence, within the energy and power of our true self, then we drop the need to project our false identities onto ourselves and others. When personal and group identity is replaced with an authentic connection to our essence, we lose the need to project our cultural programming onto others and the fear of being different fades away.
Transcending the Illusion of Identity
The Sabian archetype of “the hippie and conservative lady” at 6° Leo takes on an expanded meaning when we consider its complementary polarity of “the masked figure” at 6° Aquarius, which describes an expanded understanding of identity and essence.
The Full Moon polarity is exposing an expanded insight into the fluidity of identity that is currently at the forefront of our culture. The more closely we observe how all types of identity rely on external acceptance and judgment, the more we realize how the fluidity of Spirit supersedes our changing social constructs.
These changing social constructs are everywhere. For example, the current social trend of gender fluidity overlooks the fact that in the Aquarian Age, everything—including identity itself—is fluid. This means that identity becomes meaningless in a world in which the authentic self no longer needs to conform to external cultural standards that are disconnected from one’s true essence.
Our current social structure is built upon the erroneous idea that we must choose a side or an identity to participate in our dystopian society. With Pluto in Aquarius, this notion of “fitting in and choosing a team” is coming to an end.
What is becoming increasingly clear is that fear and false identity are integral companions, both stemming from a similar shadow of control. To cope with the emotional crisis of social division, we are taught to fear that with which we don’t identify. Societal division is the name of the game, whether it’s race, gender, sexual orientation, political teams, sports teams, or differing beliefs about what’s true and what’s a conspiracy. War is the ultimate expression of these divisions. In all ways we have been compelled to choose sides as a form of control. This controlling shadow was strengthened during the fifteen years that Pluto resided in Capricorn.
Fortunately, this illusion of division and identity is beginning to fall away and will continue to dissolve. It will be revisited again when Pluto reaches 6° Aquarius in the future. In the meantime we’ll continue to witness the intensification of the dimensional and frequency shifts as we move further into 5d and build a more sustainable reality. We can also expect to see more of the 3d constructs, such as identity, continue to fade away.
Summary
The contrast of this Full Moon is illuminating our limiting beliefs and social constructs of fear and identity. The dilemma and question of the day is whether or not we will continue to be subservient to a culture based on divisions, judgment and fear, or whether we will quickly transition into a new era of higher-frequency Aquarian values such as freedom, independence, and collaboration.
As our 5d Aquarian reality continues to unfold, expect major societal shifts to occur as much of what has been hidden, false, or programmed into our thinking processes will become exposed so that we can clearly see the path forward in our new era.
In All Humility,
Steven Shroyer
1 thought on “Pluto’s Grand Entrance into Aquarius: A Masked Figure and the Dilemma of Identity”
Steven:
I look forward to your work twice each month. Thank you. The Sabian symbols resonate so deeply with me and I love to hear you “flesh them out”. Such hope lies before us!
May I ask if you would consider have an audio button on each of your Lunar Journals? It is so handy in a busy life to be able to listen while I do chores etc.
Thanks again,
Ingrid Alexander