The Achilles’ Heel and the Sword of Damocles – Vulnerability and Danger

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Mars square Chiron and Mars opposition Pluto

From Trauma to Radical Change

The Mars square Chiron (Cancer – Aries) and Mars opposition Pluto (Leo – Aquarius) aspects are active during an extended period from October 2024 to the end of April 2025.

Due to Mars’ retrograde motion through Cancer and Leo during December 2024 to February 2025, these aspects occur three times. The relationships and interactions between these planets are rich in symbolism, and because of the repetition, they bring us into contact—both individually and collectively—with themes of initiative, threat, assertion, strife, desires, autonomy, in connection to vulnerability and intensity. They also highlight our perception of crises, fears, or radical changes around us, as well as our position in relation to events and group energies in the collective sphere.

Activation Dates:

Mars square Chiron:

  • October 13, 2024 at 21-22 degrees Cancer/Aries
  • February 4, 2025 at 19-20 degrees Cancer/Aries (Mars retrograde)
  • March 26, 2025 at 21-22 degrees Cancer/Aries

Mars opposition Pluto:

  • November 3, 2024 at 29 degrees Cancer/Capricorn
  • January 3, 2025 at 01-02 degrees Leo/Aquarius (Mars retrograde)
  • April 27, 2025 at 03-04 degrees Leo/Aquarius

The Achilles’ Heel and the Sword of Damocles within a broader conceptual framework seem like appropriate metaphors, that describe the transformation of internal vulnerabilities into external dangers.

Our vulnerabilities often become the starting point of a perceived Threat

The Achilles’ Heel symbolizes a hidden internal flaw that may seem insignificant at first, but if revealed, can become the reason for downfall or make us vulnerable. The internal weaknesses of an individual, group, system, or society often remain concealed until a crisis emerges, bringing them to the surface. In astrological terms, these planetary transits (Mars square Chiron and Mars opposition Pluto) can trigger such crises or anxieties, where our hidden vulnerabilities are exposed in the heat of conflict, struggle, or external pressures.

In this context, the challenge is that we may not always be aware of our vulnerabilities until they are put to the test, often through external forces that seem to act as catalysts. This is how the weakness itself can become a foundation for a larger threat to our well-being, whether on a personal or collective level.

How the Threat Becomes a Reflection of Weakness

The Sword of Damocles represents the external manifestation of danger that comes from this weakness. When a system has an inherent flaw, it gradually attracts external threats. The sword remains above the head as long as the weakness remains unresolved, creating a constant sense of threat. Our personal fears or weaknesses, if not addressed, often transform into external obstacles, either as self-fulfilling prophecies or as opportunities that others may exploit.

The same happens in every system—political, social, and economic.
Internal weaknesses often manifest as external threats because what is hidden inside, sooner or later, is revealed and finds a way to threaten us. The connection between the Achilles’ Heel and the Sword of Damocles shows us that real security comes not from avoiding external threats, but from addressing internal weaknesses. The magnification of external threats can serve as an avoidance mechanism to prevent us from confronting our internal flaws. The internal flaws of every system. This strategy can be conscious or unconscious and is applied both individually and collectively. We continuously experience and observe the escalation of this strategy and during the periods when these planetary aspects are active, it becomes more evident. These aspects will trigger and surface deeper wounds.

We observe very strongly in the world the mechanism of shifting responsibility, lack of accountability, which is also part of the backdrop of the slower moving planets (especially Saturn and Neptune in late Pisces).

When someone cannot or does not want to confront an internal weakness, finding or even creating an external enemy can provide a psychological outlet. Instead of acknowledging a weakness, we blame someone else for it. We construct or exaggerate a threat to justify our faults or failures. We create the need to rally around an external enemy. These mechanisms imply an intention to maintain unity and identity without addressing the deeper issues that need to be dealt with.

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Pluto in Aquarius Diary Notes I

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24 March 2023-11 June 2023,

21 January 2024-2 September 2024

20 November 2024-9 March 2043

Last time Pluto was in Aquarius, 1777-1798.

When a slow outer planet changes signs it is a big moment. Pluto the agent of transformation, is changing signs from Capricorn to Aquarius where it will stay for 20 years. The transition from Cardinal Earth to Fixed Air, means that something is surfacing and rising, or maybe changing from something tangible to something intangible. Earth gives form to things, while Air disseminates information and ideas. As this is a slow planet, it will take one and a half year to make its full entry into Aquarius. Pluto is still a subject for astrological reasearch. So, it may be more helpful to appreciate its effects in this sign, slowly in our lives and collective experience, observe, ask questions and take notes:

  1. With Pluto in Aquarius, the Moon in cardinal signs is finally free since 2008. This besides other interpretations could mean on a collective level that the vox populi (public opinion) will be liberated, more impulsive, and adventurous, and certainly harder to control, manipulated or coersed. It maybe easier to initiate, yet things will be tested for their follow up and consistency.
  2. Do you find that the period that Pluto ingressed in Aquarius last Spring liberated your intuitive mind, the way you reflect on things, your responses, your natural self, habits, and needs? You may feel less ‘blocked’ about the area the Moon is placed and rules in your natal chart. There is still a bit more Pluto in Capricorn from Sept. to November 2024, yet we may have already noticed some fresh changes on the above, that we will practice more as this long transit of Pluto fully engages with the territory Aquarius. I have certainly started to change some unhealthy habits and I have become more aware of them. It maybe helpful to also look at your natal Pluto and Uranus placements, as well as the house that Pluto transits in your chart.
  3. It would be interesting to see if Pluto in Aquarius will see the radical change of the way astrology is viewed as a therapeutic tool. We may see a strengthening of the practice of astrology and psychology joining forces. I mean therapy or healing through astrology, which isn’t at all something new for astrologers, but maybe it will evolve, and psychologists would acknowledge its value and start collaborating with astrologers. Aquarius is sextile and trine Aries and Libra (the partnership and consultation axis). Pluto in Aquarius will generally tend to act as an agent of transformation for all kinds of ‘marriages’, partnerships, contracts, treaties. Personal, national, or international.
  4. Has the group dynamic or energy changed in your life? Aquarius is a sign of social aptness and aloof. Did you notice any changes in your creativity? Leo is opposite Aquarius. Did you notice any significant changes on the way you give and receive love, between you, your creativity, and your friends or groups of like minded individuals? Depending on which age group and generation we belong, this may take an altered meaning.

To be continued…

© Eleni Kostika 2024