Pluto has retrograded back into Capricorn, revisiting the last couple of degrees of the sign. Like a hunting dog chasing the rabbit back over its own tracks, Pluto will make a few loops before it moves in for the kill.
Pluto demands that we identify the issues of the current sign before it moves on to the next. Next year, when it re-enters Aquarius, for two decades, it will have other fish to fry (see this webinar). How well we handle that transit will depend on how well we’ve confronted this one.
Capricorn governs those institutions designed to keep society glued together, among them political structures, class hierarchies and cultural traditions. Over the last decade and a half, Pluto has done a number on all of these, and it’s not done yet.
Questions about consensual standards, centralized authority, and the nature of civilization will be on everyone’s mind during the rest of 2023. Will the established order reshape itself into something better, or just fall apart?
U.S. Pluto Return
For Americans, the Pluto-in-Capricorn saga has taken us full circle. The planet of endings-and-beginnings is back where it was when the country was born. All last year and through the end of this year, the national soul is hovering over a fateful threshold, trying to decide whether it wants to break down or break through.
In July, events may arise that clarify the situation, or at least amplify it, pushing it into the headlines. From 7/10-17, Mercury (media) opposes Pluto, followed up with a square to Jupiter. Then, around the 21st, the Sun opposes Pluto. These quick transits thrust into the foreground the long, slow mortal drama happening in the background.
Personal dramas
It takes decades, if not centuries, to discern the collective meaning of Pluto through a given sign. It’s easier to see on a personal level, especially if your chart features planets in its path. Do you have any natal placements at 28-29° of the cardinal signs? They’ll be getting a final long, hard look at whatever’s decaying.
You’ve already been through the wringer in this area, so whatever you’re seeing now probably isn’t news. But for this final round, find a creative way to tell the God of Death/Rebirth that you understand what he’s been trying to teach.
Especially if you have the Sun, Moon or Ascendant in this degree range, show your respect for the process. Make a ceremony of it. Bury the hatchet, burn the old letters, surrender the outdated self-imagery. Clear the ground for the direct station on October 6th. That’s when Pluto will start moving forward again, and so should you.
Cold water
Uranus, too, does some poking and prodding this month. As July begins, it’ll receive a square from Venus for a couple of days. Then, after Venus goes retrograde (7/22) and heads back over the same ground, she’ll be joined by Mercury when she squares Uranus again 
(7/23-27). The best counsel here is to add a playful sizzle of mischief to your life, particularly in relationships.
The wisest approach to Uranus transits, in general, is to defy your own routines. When we find creative ways to interrupt our lives – knowingly and deliberately wrenching ourselves out of our habits — the planet doesn’t need to throw a bucket of cold water on us to wake us up.
If you can’t think of ways to surprise yourself, not to worry, Uranus will.
