Alchemy and the Cardinal T-Square

I was recently thinking about the quote I put on my Scorpio Musings blog; "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly" and it got me thinking about alchemy. When the caterpillar is transformed into the butterfly within the chrysalis, it goes thru a sort of alchemy. In short, alchemy is the process of turning base metal into gold. The caterpillar is a worm-like creature that crawls on the ground, which could represent the lower or more base aspects of things. The butterfly on the other hand, rises above ground soaring freely in the air, which could represent the higher more exalted nature of things. To get from the base aspects to the higher form of the butterfly, the caterpillar is essentially transfigured. Its body and immune system breaks down into mush. It is wiped out, becomes no-thing...basically unidentifiable, only to emerge into the beauty of the butterfly. This can be likened to the Blackening phase in alchemy, which is like a death or a "dying-off" of the old (habits, behaviors, structures, thoughts, ego). The emergence of the butterfly can be compared to the White phase in alchemy, like an upliftment of the soul. This all sounds very Plutonian, wouldn't you say.

Isn't this what we are all going thru right now with the Pluto/Saturn Square...and Uranus to join soon? Are we not all being transfigured or "alchemized" in one way or another? Whether we are conscious of this or not, the fact is IT'S HAPPENING, slowly but surely. Pluto is the catalyst of transformation, the deepest and most soulful kind. With Saturn and Uranus coloring this process, we are all being turned inside out in some way, some much more than others (folks with planets in early cardinal degrees). Cardinal energy is all about new beginnings and initiating new things. However, in order to proceed with new beginnings, we have to clean house first and get rid of the old garbage (Pluto), one step in the alchemical process.

I have planets in early degrees of the Cardinal signs, so I am definitely feeling much personal pressure and tension in certain areas of my life. However, I am also feeling a more universal or collective stress as well, like a massive collective existential crises. I think that is undeniable at this time in our history. We are a "soul-sick nation", as astrologer Jessica Murray puts it, in need of much soul searching in order to heal our collective madness. If you object to this, you are in denial. To heal, we have to purge the old, become transfigured like the caterpillar, and emerge in our newness, rising above the lower aspects of ourselves, personally and collectively. This is alchemy, and our time of transformation is at hand, via Pluto, Saturn, and Uranus.

Remember: "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly".