From Twitter:
AstrologyLesson@Astrology_ca
But, if a bully is beating you, "accepting that" does not make the bully stop hitting. That is part of the equation.
I decided to answer you on my blog because I think this topic deserves more than 140 characters <g> ...
The problem with the analogy between Pluto and a bully are the judgments and issues we all have with bullies. As a survivor of peer abuse I know a lot about bullies. Bullies beat on you for a variety of motivations. They can be after power. They can have anger management issues. They may be abused at home themselves and are taking out frustration on you. In no case are they considering your higher good or well being. They have a desire, they go after it, and will make you suffer if they don't get their way. Sometimes, their only desire is to feel better about themselves through causing others pain.
While metaphors are useful to a point, we need to remember that Pluto has none of these motivations. Pluto is not after self gain. And the idea is not to bring pain. Pain may be our reaction to the events we experience, but a great deal of the time, that pain is entirely self caused by our resistance to the changes Pluto is bringing, changes we have chosen to experience at a higher level, but that our ego is resisting in the physical. Pluto's job is to break down our egoic attachments so we can grow (I highly recommend Eckhardt Tolle's book "A New Earth" - this link has a free audio version courtesy of Oprah).
Good examples - A man needs to lose weight but resists making the lifestyle changes that could speed up the process. So Pluto in his 6th house brings on an ulcer that forces him onto a restrictive diet. A woman refuses to dump her abusive boyfriend but stays because she fears living alone. Pluto in the 7th brings a nasty divorce. On some level, if we are honest, often the changes Pluto brings are things we desire, or at least know are in our best interests. Caroline Myss once said (paraphrasing) that part of the job our angels have is to cause necessary chaos in our lives to wake us up. That's a very Plutonian concept. Her example was of a person who knows they need to leave a job (2nd, 6th or 8th house) and refuses to do so. They get more and more humiliation, more workplace abuse, or actually get fired, because they refuse to leave on their own volition. But in the end, the chaos is a blessing because it opens up an opportunity for them to do what they truly desired all along.
So by acceptance I do not mean "fail to take action". It's action Pluto is calling for, 9 times out of 10! It's our refusal to act that brings more pain. By all means take action if you can. The point I was making originally is that sometimes action isn't possible, or that we continue with the same response even though it isn't effective. Some conditions one cannot change. Take Nelson Mandela, imprisoned for years. He said "Resentment is like taking poison and hoping your enemy will die". He could not escape the prison physically, but he would not allow his mind to be imprisoned in resentment.
The Dalai Lama once said (paraphrasing) that if you have a worry or a fear, there are only two options. If you can do something, do that thing. If not, accept your circumstances. Remember in the Law of Attraction that what you focus on you expand - if you focus on hating the changes Pluto brings you and resisting them, you will only bring more of what you hate.
During a particularly brutal Pluto transit over my Asc, my entire life changed because of an unwanted psychic experience. This was an incredibly painful time in my life. I was terrified at first. I'd been raised as a fundamentalist Pentecostal ("holy roller") ... you just didn't turn up psychic one day. I ended up being estranged from virtually my entire family - it is still a tender point between my mother and I. The worst part was losing my faith - I could handle losing my family, but it was like I also lost God for a time. I felt utterly alone, abandoned and confused.
I wanted to know "why" this happened to me, because it seemed so pointless at the time. I threw myself into studies of religion, metaphysics, etc., and became virtually obsessed with the initial event. The more I fought against it, the worse and more negative my psychic experiences became. Finally I chose for the sake of my sanity to accept that this was going to happen, and that I might never know "why". That was my first step into the positive use of these abilities. I began to rebuild my faith in a new way. I found others and started to help them through their experiences, which is now one of the central joys of my life. When people read Living With Your Psychic Gifts and write to me saying they are in tears just to find someone who understands, it makes every minute of my own experience tremendously meaningful. I have finally found the "why" ... but I would never have discovered it if I had not accepted it.
If we view Pluto as an evil bully who is out there to rape, pillage and cause us pain, then that's exactly how we'll experience those transits. They aren't fun, but they represent absolutely critical stages in our personal growth. That being said, I am definitely looking forward to Pluto leaving my 2nd house! (laugh).
Many blessings,
Brandi Jasmine (AKA @Astrology_ca).
