Healing Parental/Childhood Trauma: Pluto And The South Node Oppose The North Node

Capricorn is the sign of authority and fatherhood, Cancer is the sign of nurturing and motherhood, and Aries is the sign of independence and beginnings. During April 4th and 5th, key planets are coalescing in these signs, giving us the chance to reframe childhood traumas and to create new narratives and possibilities. Pluto, though relegated to dwarf status by astronomers, is respectfully viewed by astrologers as the potent planet of the underworld and transformation. It unflinchingly peers into the darkest places in the psyche, with an eye towards reformation. Only when we recognize and acknowledge our most painful experiences can we heal them and create new outcomes. On April 4th, Pluto will align exactly with the South Node of the Moon, the astrological component that describes the past, in Capricorn. The two will oppose the North Node of the Moon, the component illuminating the future, in Cancer.

Oppositions are rarely about either extreme. They ask us to examine each point of the polarity and to find our unique place along their created axis, that is, to synthesize the information each point is shedding light upon and to find our truth within it. Paternal Saturn rules Capricorn and the maternal Moon Cancer, and we also associate Capricorn with parenting and parents and Cancer with childhood and children. At this time Pluto is forcing traumas we experienced in childhood, from father or mother, to the surface, so that we stop recreating them now and in the future. Following the opposition of April 4th is not only the new Moon, but the new Aries Moon. Aries is first sign of astrology and respresents the Self, individuality and autonomy. Indeed, an entirely new trail to blaze is being placed before us.

The Aries Sun will move on to square Saturn on April 10th and Pluto on the 13th, and that new Aries Moon will crescendo to a momentous 29 degree full moon in Libra on April 19th. The traumatic incidents in our lives are never easy to face. We tend to prefer to look away. But doing so doesn’t make their effects disappear. Pushed all the way down or stored in the back of the mind, they continue running us. When we encounter similar circumstances in our present lives, the old scripts come back to life and replay. So, as this opposition builds, the ensuing squares pass and the new Moon mounts to a volcanic 29 degree Libra full Moon, it will be very instructive to notice the situations and people who trigger us. They are showing us what is yet unhealed. At one point or another, each of astrology’s four provocative and initiating cardinal signs will be involved in these alignments. The alignments forming here are also astrology’s contentious squares and oppositions. In order to create the new, something has to give. Obviously, there are a myriad of therapies and processes for unpacking and reframing trauma. Some experiences might require conventional therapy in a formal setting. And, we are also capable of doing inner work ourselves. The one question that it all boils down to and that is most helpful is this: What does safety look like? When we can begin to imagine ourselves being safe, being cared for and protected and being unconditionally loved, new perspectives emerge. With the North Node in the sign of emotional security, care-giving and nurturing, the Cosmos is pointing a way forward. Should we sip that legendary Aries bravery and face down those Plutonian shadows, we may walk into nothing short of an internal paradigm shift.

Beginning on April 30th, Capricorn’s ruling planet Saturn will begin a series of three oppositions to the North Node. It’s as if Pluto opened the door on April 4th, and over the next six months, Saturn will be encouraging us to walk through it. Also both Saturn and Pluto turn retrograde in late April, another indication that cleaning up issues from the past is being supported. Look for further coverage about these North Node oppositions at this blog in late April.

Apr 4th Pluto opposes True North Node 23 Can 03
Apr 5th New Moon 15 Ari 17
Apr 10th Sun Square Saturn
Apr 13th Sun Square Pluto
Apr 19th full Moon 29 Lib 07

Extra: I tend to avoid writing about current events in these columns. However, in this instance, I will go on record to predict that during the time of the astrological events described in this article, extending through the Saturn series of North Node oppositions, the subjects of child sex trafficking and child exploitation will be making the news. With Pluto in institutional Capricorn, it is highly likely that a large operation will be exposed or at least one that has ties to people in prominent positions. Capricorn deals with both banking (money laundering, dark money) and personal reputation and stature. Pluto is digging up dirty secrets, things that have been going on for years (the South Node), and on April 4th both will be confronted by the North Node in Cancer, the sign concerned with children. Saturn represents law enforcement and authority. Lastly, assertive Mars moved into Gemini (the news cycle) on March 30th. Several stories are brewing as of late March 2019. Let’s see what comes into the public sphere between now and early October.

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