This wild week arrives with an unmistakeable snap crackle and pop that will only ramp from here as we bound towards the Leo full moon roaring. More than expecting the unexpected from the already surreal, the next round of storms are designed to alter us forever. Radical by design, their power coiled inside shock value and sudden irrevocable change. Every little notch there is no going back from.

In far less interesting times than these, the annual tête-à-tête between the sun king and our dark lord had a tendency to turn the tables. Happening now in the revolutionary portion of the zodiac, the annual meeting of Pluto and the sun generates a mighty force that ripples new truths through ageing power circuits, blowing all manner of fuses and wiring crossed by design.

Until June, Pluto makes his first foray into Aquarius and a new generational chime rings out. More deep sub than bell tower, Pluto's impact is occulted and works from the ground down and the inside out. The last time he descended into the water bearer's realm was an era of revolution and invention but we cannot infer the same direct impact in the age of information and tech. How Hades' clarion call to our humanity takes root is yet to be understood, cloudy forms taking shape in dark crystals that defy gnosis.

Today in the middle of storm and consequence, an important meeting is transpiring. In a world slavishly built on the false altar of eternal life and endless youth, the refused shadow curls around our ankles like a snake. Anaretica, thy name is transition. The fabled degree at the end of all the mansions holds change in its palm, throwing open a back door into something entirely different.

The unholy trinity at play in Capricornia, as giant swells lash our world in the wake of the new moon, is nothing less than absolute transformation. Shocking and devastating in its way as it pulls the curtain all the way back on late stage humanity and demands we view its full spectrum unblinking.

The strange ripple in this day and the one after is more than the constant glitching of what once was matrix. It is something beyond regular programming and far below its cause and effect. And it has Pluto's spiny fingers all over it, tickling underbellies and shadows out of hiding.

Our intense weekend continues unabated thanks to Pluto exerting his significant charm and challenge from the swishing tail end of Capricornia. Today Pluto squares off with Merc as prelude to his rebirth tomorrow, giving us all a great deal to muse upon.

Hang on to your horns / hats darklings, as our two galactic power players challenge each other to more than a duelling solo. Under these clanging stars arrives a weekend fairly crackling with baptism by fire in the lashing tail end of Aries. The Sun squaring Pluto always makes for interesting conversation.

Hot on the flaming heels of the new moon in Aries, Uncle Pluto is making his presence felt again. This week he claims the frame, drawing our attention backwards and forwards - and possibly sideways - to see what has changed. And what hasn't.

Batten down the hatches and don the Aquarian cyberproof lady armour, darklings. February's day of reckoning has arrived in a strange huffy haze designed to get under your skin. Merc in full retrograde flight today squares off with our twisted firestarter hankering for the clash like a bull in a china shop.

Personal power is actually built by chewing on your own gristle. It is strengthened in times of adversity and challenge, particularly those that kick out the crutches and leave you to go it alone. Power is not restricted by external conditions, dictates or the actions of others - though all can knock you off your spot. It pivots on perspective and is nourished by our whole truth.

Last weekend's meet cute of Jupiter and Pluto sent a chime through our rebirthing world, yet another veil dropping to reveal. So riddle me this darklings, now with time to muse upon it. How did the bell toll for you?

Today the cosmos delivers a welcome chime designed to ripple favourably through dystopia, as Jupiter and old captain chaos himself Pluto meet in Capricornia. This bell will toll three times this year, marking it a key influencer. They meet again at the end of June mid eclipsia and once more in November before their age of Aquarius rewrites history.

Grateful as we may be for the ebbing away of that discerning lunar close up, there's no rest for the wicked. Not this week anyway. Claiming centre stage now as the lights dim are our lady Venus and Uncle Pluto, arm in arm in Capricornia.

This week's square dancing has certainly kept us on our toes. With every change in the music we have had to pivot or scramble by degrees, pushed towards the constraints. The tune momentarily discordant, the steps unfamiliar.

just how, pray tell, do we lift the anvil from our chest and drag the shipwrecks from our belly? Because they sure as shit are not sparking joy, their interminable weight crushing our optimism and flattening fresh hope. Letting go, like healing, is a moment to moment wonder. Suddenly it drops or lifts, shifts or evaporates and you wonder how you dragged it around for so long.

One of my most brilliant teachers, a rakish afficionado of high school history, taught me two most important life lessons. The first was critical thinking: that it is crucial not to slavishly believe what you have had plopped in front of you. The second was to remember your history because as he proved to us ad infinitum: those who refuse to remember their history are condemned to repeat it.

Pluto's grind is here again as the dark lord of our underworld turns retrograde in Capricornia. Only five months to go. Unlike other rx's where we get to slow down, this actually amps Pluto's unholy purpose: to create the kind of chaos that forces us into our dark corners. We are transformed finding our way out. His retrograde takes us deeper and holds us under longer.