Pluto in Capricorn: Enough Happiness Already

Last updated on: February 8, 2008 at 1:52 am by Lynn Hayes

Pluto in Capricorn: Enough Happiness Already 2008-02-08T01:52:00-05:00 Lynn Hayes

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Capricorn is known for its dour nature and embrace of the difficult, the challenging, and the just plain sad. After all, it is ruled by Saturn whose domain encompasses all of this and worse. So with Pluto having just entered Capricorn perhaps it’s no coincidence that this article appeared in the latest Newsweek, declaring:

The plural of anecdote is not data, as scientists will tell you, but consider these snapshots of the emerging happiness debate anyway: Lately, Jerome Wakefield’s students have been coming up to him after they break up with a boyfriend or girlfriend, and not because they want him to recommend a therapist. Wakefield, a professor at New York University, coauthored the 2007 book “The Loss of Sadness: How Psychiatry Transformed Normal Sorrow Into Depressive Disorder,” which argues that feeling down after your heart is broken—even so down that you meet the criteria for clinical depression— is normal and even salutary. But students tell him that their parents are pressuring them to seek counseling and other medical intervention—”some Zoloft, dear?”—for their sadness, and the kids want no part of it. “Can you talk to them for me?” they ask Wakefield. Rather than “listening to Prozac,” they want to listen to their hearts, not have them chemically silenced.

Mr. Wakefield would find it useful to know that his students are of the Pluto in Scorpio generation, trafficking in the realm of the dark and the intense, but that’s another story. For the past thirteen years there has been an ever more relentless pressure to take little purple pills and pills of many other colors in order to “fix” problem emotions. For many people, one antidepressant is not enough and thus we find the tragedy of Heath Ledger who in his panic to alleviate his pain, had no fewer than six separate physician-described psychotropic medications in his system when he died. Perhaps Heath’s death was the wakeup call that will help to end this madness.

Not only are we trying to lift our moods, we’re also hoping to erase our memories. After the movie “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” proposed surgery to erase bad memories, a new pill (propranol) is being tested for people who suffer with PTSD and hope to eliminate those memories.

Now I’m all for positive thinking, and in fact I teach workshops on it as many as you know. But this is far from the compulsion to avoid mental and emotional discomfort that took hold under Pluto’s journey through Sagittarian optimism. Pluto in Capricorn lacks any optimism, preferring reality no matter how depressing or dour, and corresponding with Pluto’s entry into Capricorn is a new study (cited in the Newsweek article) that concludes that people who, on a happiness scale of 1 to 10, scored 8s were happier than those who scored 9 or 10.

That probably reflects the fact that people who are somewhat discontent, but not so depressed as to be paralyzed, are more motivated to improve both their own lot (thus driving themselves to acquire more education and seek ever-more-challenging jobs) and the lot of their community (causing them to participate more in civic and political life). In contrast, people at the top of the jolliness charts feel no such urgency. “If you’re totally satisfied with your life and with how things are going in the world,” says Diener, “you don’t feel very motivated to work for change. Be wary when people tell you you should be happier.”

Motivation, hard work, success – all good Capricorn traits. “Studies show that when you are in a negative mood, says Diener, “you become more analytical, more critical and more innovative. You need negative emotions, including sadness, to direct your thinking.” Abraham Lincoln was not hobbled by his dark moods bordering on depression, and Beethoven composed his later works in a melancholic funk. Vincent van Gogh, Emily Dickinson and other artistic geniuses saw the world through a glass darkly.”

So here we see another example of the change of perception brought about by Pluto’s shift into a new sign. But let’s not go overboard and start celebrating sadness; everything in life needs to occur in balance. But I for one will be glad to see the frenzied need to evaporate difficult feelings become a thing of the past. It’s only by going through the normal cycles of emotions that we can heal and evolve.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

February 7, 2008

Obama, Early and Late Boomers, and Pluto generations

Next Post

February 9, 2008 From the Advice Column: What's wrong with my mom?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2012 Age of Aquarius Astrology Astrology in my world Astrology in the news Astronomy Business Celebrities Consciousness Conspiracy Crime Death Ecology Events Fate Favorite posts Featured posts Financial Markets Future Shock Generations Health & Healing Holidays Inspiration Jupiter in Leo Lessons Life Lynn's favorite posts Mercury retrograde Miscellany Money and markets Moon Mysteries People Planetary cycles Planets Podcast Politics Popular Culture Predictions Psychology Relationships Religion Saturn in Scorpio Saturn Return Science Signs Skywatch Sports Sun Sun signs Technology Uncategorized Uranus square Pluto Wonders of the universe

Select a Month September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 August 2000

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I told my daughter-in-law to uncover a man's feet and lie down at the threshing floor. Who am I?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Bathsheba Rebekah Ruth Naomi