Pluto stationed retrograde in Aquarius this week, and if you’ve been feeling a quiet internal reckoning, a pull to reassess how you are spending your time and energy, it’s no coincidence. Retrograde cycles are reflective, which suits Pluto who loves taking a deep dive into the invisible realms of energy and power.
In Aquarius, the questions are pointedly…Aquarian. What will bring me into the future? What do I want the future to be? And always, with Pluto, the deeper ask: What am I resisting honestly facing, and how is this hurting me?
Lately I’ve been frequently declaring “Nope. I’m taking my power back.”
It springs to my lips when considering Substack, publishing, social media. Or when thinking about my artwork, relationship, and what’s working and not.
And unlike my younger days, when taking my power back involved much deep breathing from my yoni, and days or, let’s be honest, months of working up to doing a hard thing, perhaps less estrogen has given me ease within my power.
I would call it moxie, such a great word (!), but that’s not descriptive enough for the feeling which is also pragmatic, embodied, and self-caring.
It is a no-nonsense ‘why ever would I do that …when (x) feels so much better?’
A Few Reflections On How True Power Feels
I had to work through so much survival-based conditioning before I could explore and relax into the power within myself, but once trauma and victimization healed I could feel how this energy operates in my body and being.
1. True Power is Calm, Not Reactive.
Power is an embodied feeling of ease within the deeply aligned truth of one’s own inner being. Even when tested by circumstances or people, energetically it communicates, “I don’t need to convince you for this to be true for me.”
Like Bean, who if she doesn’t like how I’m petting her lets me know or walks away, power is ably drawing a boundary, walking away, and re-centering in oneself. Less than a minute later, Bean the cat is back to loving you dearly.
Not emotionally reactive, true power is responsive to the deeper needs of the innermost self. It knows itself, what it needs and wants, and honors its own true nature. This creates calm. More deeply, this supports self-trust and safety.
2. True Power is Patient & Kind.
One thing I consistently notice about people is that those centered in their innermost self, and therefore connected to their inner power, are patient and kind. Even amidst stressors, and types of things that would trigger anyone, they radiate a steady presence, patience and kindness towards all involved.
Triggers come (and they do) and triggers go, but steadiness rules.
Authoritative personalities who subtly or overtly hold themselves above another generally cannot be patient or kind. I grew up with this style. But it’s not a relic of an era, obviously. Today, many still mistake power for power-over others.
3. External Power Waxes and Wanes; Inner Power is Always Available.
Power is not having power-over anything (that’s just another conditioned thought). Life usually disavows most of us from having that level of control!
Like all of our soul’s treasures, power is an inner experience. It is the capacity to respond to one’s life and its predicaments in helpful, healthful ways.
Your responses will create either safety, self-trust and calm (healthful, helpful) or insecurity, confusion and victimization. Power is an inner experience.
Intuitive Invitation: Take Your Power Back
Pluto in Aquarius can have us ruminating on structures, ideologies, expectations and systems that feel disempowering and subtly draining. It can also give us ideas for transforming ourselves within those same systems.
Here’s a 1-2-3 process for taking your power back from something bothering you.
Call to mind a topic, idea, or issue that you’ve been ruminating on that doesn’t feel good. Are you in resistance to a reality, when finding a way to work with it would feel better? Are you tolerating something you honestly no longer want?
Decide to approach this from your true inner power by aligning with 1, 2, 3.
Ask: Am I feeling reactive in my body?
If so, wait to feel calm before acting or speaking.
Ask: Can I act kindly and patiently toward all involved, including myself?
If not, wait until you can locate these feelings inside yourself.
Ask: Am I drawing on my inner power, or am I trying to force an outcome?
If it’s the latter, take a breath and recenter before doing anything.
When you are aligned with all three, you’ll feel steady. You’ll feel like you’ve got your own back, without the baggage of emotional reactivity. That’s power.
You have such a way with words - able to distill things to such simplicity!