Sailor Pluto

The Astrology of Sailor Moon – Part V: The Outer Planet Senshi

September 3, 2018 by Cynthia J. Thinnes, posted in Neptune, Outer Planets, Pluto, The Astrology of Sailor Moon, Uranus

In the third story arc, we meet two new Senshi, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. Just as the second story arc had a background of Plutonian overtones, the third story arc has a background of Uranian and Neptunian overtones. The plot of this arc is incredibly complicated. Even after watching it several times, I still am not sure that I completely understand all of the twists and turns. If we let them, Uranus and Neptune can greatly complicate our lives.

A full explanation of the plot is not necessary to discuss the astrological principles involved, so I will just give a synopsis of the relevant cast of characters.

Cast of Characters

In this story arc, we have characters that we have had from the first story arc, Princess Serenity/Sailor Moon/Usagi Tsukino, Tuxedo Kamen (Tuxedo Mask in English)/Mamoru Chiba, and the regular Sailor Senshi, Sailor Mercury/Ami Mizuno, Sailor Mars/Rei Hino, Sailor Jupiter/Makato Kino, and Sailor Venus/Minako Aino. There are also the cat companions, Luna and Artemis. In addition, this story arc features:

Chibi Sailor Moon/Chibi Usagi Tsukino (Chibi Usa)

After the completion of the second story arc, Chibi Usa returns from the future. Apparently, her parents sent her back to train under Sailor Moon and the other Sailor Senshi. Her cat companion, Diana, who was the daughter of Luna and Artemis, also comes.

Sailor Uranus/Haruka Tenou and Sailor Neptune/Michiru Kaiou

Haruka-san and Michiru-san are students of Mugen Academy, a school for very gifted students that we discover is being controlled by the villains, the Death Busters. Haruka-san is androgynous to the extent that the Inner Planet Senshi originally mistake her for a boy. Michiru-san is very feminine and is an accomplished swimmer and violin player. The two of them have a very close relationship and spend a great deal of time together.

Sailor Pluto/Setsuna Meiou

It appears that after her sacrifice in the future, Sailor Pluto somehow appears/incarnates in the present as the scientist, Setsuna-san. I am not sure of the details of how this happened were ever explained, and if they were, I did not fully understand them. In this incarnation, Sailor Pluto is able to fight along with the other Senshi.

Hotaru Tomoe

Hotaru-chan is also a student at Mugen Academy, and she is also the daughter of the Headmaster there. She is tormented by seizures but also has mysterious healing abilities. Chibi-Usa becomes her close friend.

The Outer Planet Senshi

The portrayal of the Outer Planet Senshi in Sailor Moon is quite interesting, and it suggests a way of understanding them that is largely in line with Traditional principles.

Allies or Enemies?

At the beginning of this story arc, it is unclear as to whether Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune are allies or enemies. They do seem to help with fighting the monsters, but they refuse to join the other Sailor Senshi. This is quite upsetting to Sailor Moon, who thinks that as they are all Sailor Senshi, they should fight together.

In their civilian identities, Haruka-san seems to flirt with Usagi-chan and Michiru-san seems to flirt with Mamoru-san, even though they both know that Mamoru-san and Usagi-chan are a couple. The flirting gets so obvious that it causes a rift between Usagi-chan and Mamoru-san when he sees Haruka-san kiss Usagi-chan. This is in line with how the Outer Planets tend to behave if we let them. They violate the accepted social order and can cause strife and chaos.

Later in this story arc, the enemies pit the regular Senshi and all of the Outer Senshi against each other. Astrologically, the Outer Planets do seem to work at odds with the Traditional Planets.

Special Abilities

The powers of all three Outer Planet Senshi seem to be stronger than those of the original Senshi. They certainly act as if they think that they are superior to the regular Senshi. The Outer Senshi are all older than the regular Senshi, and Haruka-san and Michiru-san attend Mugen Academy, a school for prodigies.

In Modern Astrology, the Outer Planets are sometimes treated as if they were more important than the Traditional Planets. Indeed, there are those that think that the Outer Planets represent “Higher Octaves” of the Traditional Planets. The Outer Planets, especially Pluto, are given special significance in the modern branch of astrology known as Evolutionary Astrology.

Yet, in spite of their greater powers, the Outer Planet Senshi seem less pure and less good than the regular Senshi. Even the names of their powers sound ominous. Sailor Uranus’ power is “World Shaking,” Sailor Neptune’s is “Deep Submerge,” and Sailor Pluto’s is “Dead Scream.”

The Role of the Outer Planet Senshi

After the appearance of Sailor Pluto, we learn that the role of the Outer Planet Senshi is to protect the Solar System from outside enemies. Apparently, they have appeared on the scene to deal with invaders from the Tau Planetary System. They kneel in allegiance to Sailor Moon in her role as Princess Serenity. Despite this, they insist that the regular Senshi stay out of the fight, and the Outer Planet Senshi handle the problem. They claim that the regular Senshi will get in their way.

This seems consistent with the way the Outer Planets are often used in Modern Astrology. Astrologers tend to see them as more important and more useful than the Traditional Planets, and strip associations from the Traditional Planets and give them to the Outers.

The regular Senshi are unwilling to stay in the background, and Princess Serenity does not understand why they can not all be allies. When pressed, the Outer Planet Senshi confess that their true mission is to consign the ultimate enemy, the God of Destruction, to oblivion.

The God of Destruction

As the story progresses, we learn the identity of the person the Outer Planet Senshi think is the God of Destruction. It turns out that they believe that the ultimate enemy is inside of Chibi Usa’s friend Hotaru-chan. According to them, she is Sailor Saturn, the guardian associated with the Planet of Destruction, the Senshi of Silence.

They explain that after the end of the Silver Millenium in the past, the three of them woke up, which allowed Sailor Saturn to appear. It was her that completed the destruction of this world long ago. They believe that the end of the current world is coming and that in order to prevent it, they need to kill Hotaru-chan before she can manifest as Sailor Saturn.

Naturally, the regular Sailor Senshi disagree with this plan and insist that there must be another way. This is the real reason that the Outer Planet Senshi refused to ally with the others. They suspected that Sailor Moon and the others would oppose their plan.

In the original anime series, this conflict was even more pronounced as the Outer Planet Senshi continued to want to kill Hotaru-chan for many episodes until the very end of the story arc.

The animosity between the Outer Planet Senshi and Sailor Saturn seems to represent some of the conflicts between Modern Astrology and the earlier astrological tradition. The Saturn principle can be extremely harsh, and there seems to be a belief that the Outer Planetary principles can be used to get beyond the Saturnian principle, or even get rid of it altogether. The reality is, though, that even though the Saturn principle is generally malefic, it serves an important and indispensable purpose.

Part VI: Sailor Saturn

The Astrology of Sailor Moon – Part IV: Chibi Usa and Black Lady

July 9, 2018 by Cynthia J. Thinnes, posted in Astrology in Popular Culture, Outer Planets, Pluto, The Astrology of Sailor Moon

It is now that we arrive at the heart of the second story arc of Sailor Moon. In Part I of this series, I discussed the Plutonian overtones and continued with them in Part II. In Part II, we also encountered Sailor Pluto for the first time. In Part III, we arrived in Crystal Tokyo of the 30th Century and learned about Planet Nemesis. Now we are ready to learn Chibi Usa’s story and to discover what happened in the 30th Century.

Before we begin with that, at the end of Part III, we left with the abduction of Sailor Moon. I will briefly state that with the help of the spirit of Neo Queen Serenity and her own determination, Sailor Moon is able to free herself and Sailors Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter. While this is an interesting and dramatic part of the plot, there is not much astrology involved, so please forgive me for this cursory description.

While all of these events were taking place, Chibi Usa, seemingly upset by Usagi-chan’s jealousy and coldness towards her, runs away to Crystal Tokyo, and we learn her backstory.

Chibi Usa/Small Lady

Chibi Usa is the central character in this story arc from an astrological point of view. Her full name is Usagi “Small Lady” Serenity, and she is first born Princess of Crystal Tokyo. As discussed in Part III, in the manga and Sailor Moon Crystal, despite her appearance, she is approximately 900 years old. She is the Heir Presumptive and the hope for the future for Crystal Tokyo. There is one serious difficulty, however. She is unable to transform.

It seems that Chibi Usa’s inability to transform led to her being ridiculed by other children. They accused her of being a nisemono Princess, or a pretend or fake Princess. Upset with the ridicule which likely echoed her own insecurities, Chibi Usa ran off and found the forbidden door guarded by Sailor Pluto. Sailor Pluto befriended her and taught her ways to cheer herself when she was sad and upset. It is often our fears and pain that lead us into Plutonian territory.

Later Chibi Usa went to the Crystal Chamber where the Maboroshi no Ginsuishou was housed and she stole it. The Maboroshi no Ginsuishou was the item that Sailor Moon used to transform, so presumably, Chibi Usa was trying again to see if she could transform. Immediately afterward, the villains from Planet Nemesis appeared and destroyed Crystal Tokyo. Her father, King Endymion, had told her that Sailor Moon from the past was muteki, which literally means, without rival, but is often translated as invincible. It was for this reason that Chibi Usa stole one of Sailor Pluto’s time keys and returned to the past to find Sailor Moon, which is where the second story arc began.

Toxic Shame, Guilt, and Trauma

It was toxic shame that led Chibi Usa to find the forbidden door and Sailor Pluto in the first place. She was ashamed that she was not yet able to transform. I think that what made this shame toxic was that there was nothing that she could do about this inability. There was not a training course she could take; it had nothing to do with anything that she had any control over. She believed that being the daughter of Sailor Moon and the Heir Presumptive to Crystal Tokyo “should” have given her the ability to transform, but at that point of time, it did not. Yes, other children ridiculed her, but I do not believe that this ridicule would have affected her had it not echoed her own internal shame.

The villains from Planet Nemesis arrived and destroyed Crystal Tokyo immediately after Chibi Usa stole the Maboroshi no Ginsuishou, which led her to believe that she was responsible for this destruction.

Returning to the present storyline, when Chibi Usa runs off, she is captured by Wiseman, who is the leader of the villain group. In the older anime, Wiseman manipulates her memories, planting two traumas in her mind. The first trauma was of her falling and her parents refusing to help her get up, and the second trauma was everyone refusing to acknowledge or celebrating her birthday.

In this story, the memories were altered and twisted. When Chibi Usa’s parents would not help her up, it was because they were trying to teach her to get up on her own when she fell, and the reason that everyone ignored her birthday was that they were planning a surprise party for her. Wiseman used true memories and manipulated them so Chibi Usa saw them in the worst possible light. This made Chibi Usa believe that her parents did not love her.

The toxic shame, guilt, and in the earlier anime, the trauma planted in her memory, all led Chibi Usa to be vulnerable to being recruited by the side of Evil. Toxic shame, guilt, and trauma, real or imagined, are all dangers of Plutonian forces. Chibi Usa literal found the door to the Dark by entering into forbidden territory and finding Sailor Pluto, and the villains seized the opportunity and completed her journey into Darkness.

Black Lady

After being taken over by the side of Evil, Chibi Usa does transform, but not in the way everyone had hoped for. She became an adult instantaneously and called herself Black Lady. As Black Lady, she became one of the villains, and indeed, became one of the most powerful of the villains. She managed to also turn Tuxedo Kamen, her future father, into an automaton under her complete control and began to engage in what appeared to be a romantic relationship with him.

I think that this dark transformation is one of the real dangers of the Plutonian principle. In our day and age, children seem to grow up very fast. They engage in many adult behaviors at a very early age and thus grow up warped and skewed.

The metal of Pluto is the radioactive plutonium, which is used for nuclear weapons and nuclear power. Plutonium is inherently unstable, and in a sense allows us to “grow up” or gain power very quickly, but the consequences of this are obvious. In Modern Astrology, Pluto is often considered the planet of transformation, and all of this does represent “transformation” of a sort, but I do not think that it is quite a dangerous one, not one to be celebrated.

Restoration

The story climaxes as Black Lady and Prince Demando, who was the leader of the villains before Wiseman, and who brought the villains to Wiseman, go back to Crystal Tokyo to complete their destruction. During the battle that ensued, Prince Demando came into possession of Sailor Moon’s Maborishi no Ginsuishou and the one from the future. We learned earlier that if both of these Crystals come into contact with each other it will destroy everything everywhere, Good and Evil alike.

In the midst of all of this, we return to Sailor Pluto, who senses the danger and is told what is happening by Diana, the kitten we met much earlier. Sailor Pluto knows it is forbidden for her to leave her post, but she wants to do something to help. The kitten Diana offers to guard in her place, and she goes through the door to fight with the other Sailor Senshi. We also get a flashback to a conversation between a younger Sailor Pluto and Queen Serenity from the Silver Millennium. In this conversation, we learn about three taboos. It appears that Sailor Pluto has the ability to stop time, but that it is forbidden for her to use this ability, and if she does it will destroy her.

When Sailor Pluto enters the scene, she sees Prince Demando bringing the two Maboroshi no Ginsuishou together, and she uses her power of stopping time, which enables Sailor Moon to take back the crystals. As per the taboo, using this power does destroy Sailor Pluto. Black Lady is moved by the destruction of her dear friend and goes towards her crying. Through her tears over love for her friend, she reverts back to her true child state, and she then transforms into Chibi Sailor Moon.

I think that the destruction of her friend does lead Chibi Usa towards a feeling of true shame and remorse, which is very different from the toxic shame and guilt that led her to the side of Darkness. Chibi Usa had turned away from the Light, and feeling shame for this led her to tears of repentance. She was also able to then tell her mother, Neo Queen Serenity of her belief that her theft had led to the original destruction, and her mother was able to tell her the original destruction was not her fault.

After this, Chibi Sailor Moon chose to assist Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen in the final destruction of Wiseman, who we learn is actually Planet Nemesis. All is restored, and there is a happy ending.

Pluto and Transformation

I think that in this story, Sailor Pluto does not represent the Plutonian principle, but instead represents the guardian protecting us from this principle. She is the keeper of the forbidden door. Chibi Usa ventured into this forbidden territory, which led her to a Plutonian transformation into Black Lady, which was marked by an unnatural growth into adulthood and a turning to the side of Evil. Sailor Pluto protected her and the world from the consequences of this “transformation” through her own self-sacrifice. This, in turn, enabled Black Lady to shed cleansing tears of repentance, which led to a true transformation into Chibi Sailor Moon.

Did the Plutonian principle enable Chibi Usa’s eventual true transformation? Perhaps. An argument can be made for this. On the other hand, all of the previous Sailor Senshi had gained their transformation abilities without ever venturing into Plutonian territory. The common thread to the transformations of all of the Senshi was the willingness and courage to resist the Dark and stay strong in the Light. The difference is that Chibi Usa needed a longer and more complicated journey than the former Senshi.

Part V: The Outer Planet Senshi

The Astrology of Sailor Moon – Part II: More Plutonian Overtones and Sailor Pluto

May 11, 2018 by Cynthia J. Thinnes, posted in Astrology in Popular Culture, Cycle of Time, Outer Planets, Pluto, The Astrology of Sailor Moon

In Part I of this series, I talked about the rich astrological symbolism in Sailor Moon, beginning with the very first story arc, which is a very traditional story, with classic mythic and fairy tale elements. In the first story arc, we met the Sailor Senshi* associated with the Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus, and from an astrological perspective, everything about them is absolutely correct.

I then discussed the beginning of the second story arc, which began with many Plutonian overtones. We met Chibi Usa, a child who was far from innocent. Sailors Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter were all abducted by villains who called themselves Black Moon. Sailor Venus was almost abducted, but was rescued just in time. Tuxedo Kamen discovered his power, the power of the Earth. We learned that Chibi Usa was from the 30th Century, which was in trouble. We left as Sailor Moon, Sailor Venus, and Tuxedo Kamen had agreed to accompany Chibi Usa to the 30th Century.

More Plutonian Overtones

After the rescue of Sailor Venus and before the decision was made to go to the 30th Century, at Chibi Usa’s insistence, they all spent the night at Mamoru-san’s (Tuxedo Kamen’s) apartment. The night was a difficult one. Usagi-chan admitted to feelings of jealousy over Mamoru-san’s attention and affection towards Chibi Usa. She said that Chibi Usa was in love with him. Mamoru-san dismissed this, saying that Chibi Usa was just an elementary school student, and Usagi-chan said that she was a girl, and that her age did not matter. They both became embarrassed at this conversation. As they were talking, Usagi-chan seemed to fade away momentarily, which alarmed Mamoru-san. Mamoru-san and Usagi-chan embraced, and Mamoru-san reassured Usagi-chan of his love for her and his commitment to her protection. They then retired to the bedroom together.

These are interesting developments from the perspective of the overall Plutonian themes of this story arc. In Modern Astrology, Pluto is seen to represent the deeper and darker recesses of our psyche, as well as death and destruction. Modern Astrology considers all of the Outer Planets as “transcendent,” and there is a tendency to see Pluto as a “Higher Octave” of Mars. Some even go so far as to consider Pluto a planet of “transformation.” Modern Astrology also assigned rulership of the sign Scorpio to Pluto, which was traditionally ruled by Mars.

Pluto is not visible to the naked eye, and was not discovered until 1930. As such, it is not one of the planets that was used in Traditional Western Astrology. Many Traditional and Classical Astrologers do not use Pluto at all, and if they do, they do not assign Pluto the rulership of any sign. In my own work and practice, I have come to believe that Pluto represents the modern poison of deformation, or the fascination with disturbing images and the inversion of right and wrong.

The time of the discovery of Pluto was near the end of the life of Sigmund Freud. Freudian psychology, tended to probe into the darker recesses, which coincides with the modern interpretation of Pluto, proposing that our emotional difficulties stemmed from “repression” of these feelings. In modern times, there is a popular belief that these deeper, darker feelings are our “real” feelings, and that our kinder, gentler, and more noble feelings are “phony” or just for show. I think that this way of thinking is part of the poison of Pluto, and that yes, all of us have both virtues and flaws, and all of us have darker emotions and impulses: however, we all also have the choice as what feelings to embrace and what feelings to set aside. I believe that this is what Free Will is truly means.

That night, Sailor Moon’s feline partner, Luna, had a dream that she was back in the past in the Silver Millennium. Sailor Moon’s mother from that time, Queen Serenity, was looking for Luna. It appeared that Luna found her way to a forbidden doorway. Queen Serenity became alarmed. She retrieved Luna from this place, instructing her to forget about it. There is a theme emerging in the story of hidden and forbidden places being found and disturbed.

The next morning, they do leave for the 30th Century, with Chibi Usa leading them. As they were traveling the Senshi and Mamoru-san became separated from Chibi Usa, and in the process, they almost lost Luna. They arrived at a mysterious door and encountered Sailor Pluto, who attacked them. It appears that Sailor is a guardian for this doorway, which is the doorway to space and time, and it is her job to defend it from anyone who breaches it.

It is clear that Sailor Pluto is not a part of the regular world of material existence. She is the guardian for a forbidden area outside of space and time. As an astrologer who uses Classical methodology, I found this really interesting. While Classical Astrologers and those who use Classical methods are divided on whether the Outer Planets have meaning, they agree that they are not a part of the planetary rulership scheme. In Modern Astrology, Pluto rules Scorpio. Classical Astrology teaches that Pluto does not rule any sign, and uses the traditional ruler of Mars for Scorpio. Whether or not the role of Sailor Pluto has any metaphysical accuracy, it is in the realm of possibility. To my surprise, I found that I had no issue with Sailor Pluto from a Classical Astrological perspective. Whatever she represents, it is certainly not a New Age notion of a Higher Octave Mars. I also am in complete agreement with Pluto representing a place where we are not supposed to go.

Before Sailor Pluto delivered the finishing blow, Chibi Usa arrived. Sailor Pluto stopped her attack immediately and talked to Chibi Usa. Chibi Usa confessed to stealing Sailor Pluto’s key and bringing the Senshi there in order to rescue her home. Sailor Pluto was stern, but then embraced Chibi Usa and said she had been worried about Chibi Usa’s disappearance.

We then learn that Chibi Usa is a princess in the 30th Century, and after a brief discussion, Sailor Pluto allowed them to go through the door. When they did, they found a world, the 30th Century Crystal Tokyo, that had been completely destroyed by an explosion, followed by the appearance of a large, mysterious black crystal.

Chibi-Usa began to lead them to her home, the Crystal Palace, but some villains from Black Moon appeared. During the battle, Sailor Moon’s powers would not work; however Tuxedo Kamen’s did, and they were able to win the battle.

After the battle, they arrived at the Crystal Palace, and found a woman who looked like Usagi-chan sleeping inside a large crystal, who was the mother of Chibi Usa and whose name was Neo Queen Serenity. They also met a kitten by the name of Diana. Then, from behind a curtain, a man appeared that looked like Tuxedo Kamen.

Part III: Crystal Tokyo and Planet Nemesis

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*In Japanese, senshi means soldier, and the transformation outfits of the Senshi are reminiscent of sailor themed school uniforms