Pluto will conjunct the Galactic Center this year for the first time in 248 years. The Galactic Center is the center around which a spiral galaxy such as our own galaxy, the Milky Way, rotates, in the center of which may be a “Black Hole. Although the conjunction will not be exact until December 28, Pluto is within 1 degree of this conjunction all year. Because of the rarity of this event, it could have great significance and astrologers are widely discussing its possible meaning.

Pluto last approached the Galactic Center in 1758, the year of the discovery of Halley’s comet. The 1750s were an enormous time of change, with the reshaping of the European continent during the Seven Years war, and the expansion of the United States during the French/Indian War. 1758 saw the publication of the first treatise on the Atomic Theory, termed one of the most important theories in the history of science.

There is some evidence that the Mayans studied the alignment of the Galactic Center in their astronomical work. They knew its location and had a glyph for it called “Hunab Ku.”

Hunab Ku was, to the Mayas, the supreme God and ultimate Creator. It represented the gateway to other Galaxies beyond our Sun as well as all of the Consciousness that has ever existed in this Galaxy. Hunab Ku, according to the Mayas, is also the Consciousness which organized all matter, from a “whirling disk”, into stars, planets and solar systems. Hunab Ku is the “Mother Womb” which is constantly giving birth to new stars and it gave birth to our own Sun and Planet Earth. They also believed that the “Creator” directs everything that happens in our Galaxy from its center through the emanation of periodic “Consciousness Energy” bursts. Today, modern astronomers have verified that at the center of our Galaxy is a “whirling disk” with a “Black Hole” at its center that is both swallowing and giving birth to stars.

Pluto rules change and transformation, and the death of that which is no longer needed. Astrologer Eric Francis writes: The delineation for the point that I’ve come up with [for the galactic center] is, “That which we perceive as outside us but which is really within us.” He also quotes Philip Sedgwick, the father of Galactic Astrology:

“The Galactic Center radiates brilliant insight to anyone connected with it. This insight craves implementation. This infrared information reveals how to let go of what is in the way to make a clear path for the next step. As soon as an idea is grasped and brought forward, the path of accessing new information refreshes. At all times, new and newer insights spew forth. This carries the tone of consciousness evolution. The collective aim refocuses and retargets with higher and clearer insights at each minute in timelessness. The more considered, the broader the band of consciousness acceptance, then the more assurance can be taken with the focus of life, personal or collective. All this, by the way, occurs a step at a time. “

This was certainly true in the discovery of atomic theory and the process of war during the 1750s which led to the establishment of power bases in the US and Europe that we see today. At the current time on the planet we are seeing the beginning of the breakdown (Pluto) of those power structures, which will continue as Pluto completes its turn through Sagittarius and in 2008 enters the Capricorn, the sign that represents power structures. Until then, over the next few years as Pluto dances within the Galactic Center, we have the opportunity to clear the path as Sedgwick says, and move into the next phase that life has in store for us.