The
Neptune Pluto
Conjunction
Backdrop to all other Planetary Cycles
by Wendy Stacy
T
he largest cycle in our solar sys-
tem is that of the two outermost
planets, Neptune and Pluto.
The last time these planets came into
conjunction was in 1891 and 1892 at
8° and 7° degrees of Gemini. This con-
junction marks the start of the current
cycle and set the scene for the follow-
ing 492 years.
Cycles do not operate in isolation and
when considering mundane cycles, such
as the current Uranus – Pluto square, we
are reminded that we need to consid-
er the wider context in which they are
played out. Neptune and Pluto and their
cycle will provide the backdrop to which
all the others will unfold.
With conjunctions of the outer planets
we try to understand what happened or
may happen by exploring the combina-
tion of these planets’ characteristics com-
ing together and what this could mean
for the social, political and economic
landscape. We analyse the point of con-
junction as the ‘seed’ point, the end of
something and the beginning of some-
thing else. In this case, the characteristics
of the planets Neptune and Pluto will tell
us what we can expect, what will develop
and what will become important to us.
Charles Harvey quotes Barbault, Doolard,
Jayne and Rudhyar, ‘who have pointed
out the importance of this cycle in terms
of major epochs of civilisation. Both
planets have to do with the deep uncon-
scious/superconscious of the collective,
to an opening up to higher, transcendent
collective ideas and ideals’. Harvey and
Rudhyar considered the Neptune-Pluto
conjunction to be the accelerated move
towards a global culture.
With Neptune comes an element
of mysticism, an imaginative period.
Neptune is about alternative reality and
fanasy, and has a tendency to romanti-
cise and inflate. Neptune rules things we
cannot touch; it is elusive, subtle, manip-
ulative and mallea-
ble. Neptune does not
bring interest in what
rationality is, or what
tomorrow may bring,
but rather shows
how we can see or
experience things in a
different way. Pluto on
the other hand brings
our attention to what
is real, dangerous, sordid
and what needs purging –
destroying in order for renewal
to spring forth. Pluto penetrates, is
compulsive, ruthless and seeks to get to
the heart and depth of any matter. Both
planets can be overwhelming, supersti-
tious, dark and frightening – they trigger
the deep-rooted ills in the collective
unconscious. Neptune wants to hold on
but Pluto demands to let go. Positively,
together they can both be healing but
indicate a time where illusions can
become real and where reality becomes
indefinable.
The 1890s period is often referred
to as the ‘naughty nineties’, or ‘the gay
nineties’, where sexual morality was con-
sidered lax. It was named ‘the mauve
decade’ due to the colour being used
so frequently in fashion and was also
considered the end of the ‘gilded age,’ a
term coined by Mark Twain who referred
to the period later as ‘glittering on the
surface but corrupt underneath’, a very
apt Neptune-Pluto description. Neptune
and Pluto are both associated with areas
of psychology and here we saw the
development of the study of psychology,
psychopathology and psychiatry. Pluto
is about death and Neptune associated
with escape and during this period Emile
Durkheim embarked on one of the great-
est pieces of social research ever con-
ducted, which was on the subject of sui-
cide. Magic (with an edge) was brought
to the public as Harry Houdini started
practising magic and risking his life from
the year 1891. His work was about escap-
ing (Neptune) death (Pluto) and brought
gimmicks (Gemini)
to the public
attention.
We saw
the
inven-
tion
of film
(where fan-
tasy and reality
became combined)
and true to Neptune and Pluto’s pene-
trative and boundary-breaking charac-
teristics we observed the invention of
x-rays and the discovery of radioactivity.
Literature such as Sherlock Holmes (mys-
tery crime stories) became popular and it
is interesting to note that Agatha Christie
who was one of the most famous crime
mystery writers was born with Neptune
and Pluto conjunct in her tenth house. In
the healing industry, organisations such
as the Lister Institute of Preventative
Medicine were formed (1891), which was
the first medical research organisation to
become a charity (Neptune) and a leader
in laboratory aspects o