Semi-sextile Mercury – Pluto
(Transit Mercury → Natal Pluto)
Avesalom Podvodny. Aspects
Semi-sextile of Mercury: When aliens from space wish to establish contact with humans, they will announce it through the press. At a low level, this aspect brings a light mental interest in abstract cosmic themes and twists of thought in the areas governed by the planet, along with individual ideas that do not fit into the standard social framework—ideas to which the person often pays little attention. A strong activation of the aspect sharpens the mental picture in the planet’s sphere, distorting it sharply, and the person may reject it or even fear their own thoughts. This happens because public subconsciousness imposes particularly strong censorship on rational thinking; cosmic ethics are largely unacceptable to it, primarily for anthropocentric reasons: after all, “man is the master of all, he decides everything,” and the ultimate spiritual goal of evolution is not defined by these barely comprehensible words. At a higher level of development, the person begins to sense their unique way of thinking and mental control in the planet’s sphere as fresh, creative, and potentially very promising, though they may struggle to find common ground with others or even explain to themselves the hidden meaning of their thoughts and words—yet they feel something is amiss. Deep processing of the aspect leads to a rational understanding of earthly and, to some extent, cosmic karma in the relevant areas, and then earthly and cosmic rational visions align to a significant degree (at a low level, this is impossible, and with a debilitated semi-sextile, mental disorders may sometimes occur).
Semi-sextile of Pluto: From a cosmic perspective, Earth is not threatened by the underworld but by a garbage dump. This aspect brings a cleansing in the planet’s sphere, carried out from the standpoint of cosmic ethics. This cleansing occurs both within the person and in their environment, ideally harmoniously, though cosmic ideas of earthly beauty may clash with the person’s own views. Usually, this aspect brings minor troubles that prevent greater ones, and if the person recognizes this, they may see the aspect as highly beneficial—especially if they find the strength to accept inevitable, often minor, yet from an earthly perspective, seemingly irrational and incomprehensible losses. In principle, this aspect holds great scientific interest, as it allows the person to encounter a cosmic version of karma in its most harmonious form. While remaining relatively safe, they can explore cosmic ethics in the planet’s sphere, at least learning what the Cosmos deems unacceptable and subject to destruction. A debilitated semi-sextile may foster a sharply negative attitude toward the planet’s sphere, which should not (though the temptation exists) be taken as cosmic truth: here, earthly disharmony combines with a cosmic critical perspective, and constructive processing and criticism of the planet’s sphere can yield exceptionally high results and strong evolution of the external world.
