The Sun/Pluto Cazimi Is Making Me Quit Instagram

It’s time for a little astrology lesson (and I mean little). Today, let’s talk about the Sun/Pluto cazimi that happened on Tuesday, January 21st, 2025. Because it really shifted things for me and I’m wondering if it did the same for you.

Ok, so naturally, in astrology the Sun illuminates. Where the Sun is shining is the part of the astrological chart that is most in focus and highlighted. Right now the Sun is in the sign of Aquarius, as is Pluto, in fact they are in the same spot. This is called a conjunction or a cazimi, when two celestial bodies are in the same place in the sky as viewed from Earth. So, the Sun is illuminating Pluto right now, giving Pluto energy a special boost.

Pluto is the planet that transforms or reforms. It is the underpinnings of our society, the substrata that holds us together and defines a time. It has a subtle energy that plays out over the long haul, revealing its shifts to the structures of our lives over years and decades. Pluto first dipped into Aquarius in March of 2023 (remember when ChatGPT was suddenly the new thing, that was Pluto in Aquarius manifested).

Aquarius defines our collective humanity and information structures. It is an interesting sign as it represents our need to individuate, be our authentic selves, and express our unique nature. At the same time, it wants to be part of the group, to raise up the community, and to be connected to the world. Aquarius is happiest when it is able to play its own personal role in helping the group. We each have our part to play and everything works out for the best when we find that special role.

Pluto will be in Aquarius until March of 2043. It will cazimi with the Sun 18 times during that transit. This first cazimi sets the stage for the next two decades of shifts that Pluto wants to create for us all. Maybe you won’t notice any big shifts happening this first meet up. Still, take note of what you do notice. Are there any ideas that represent a break with your status quo that are slowly filtering into your consciousness? Oftentimes, astrology is easier to read in hindsight, so if nothing is coming up for you, give it a few years! 2043 is a long way off indeed.

For me, Aquarius rules the 3rd house of my astrological chart which is the house of communication and social networks. It also has to do with writing and speaking, siblings and cousins, short term travel and transportation, early education and experiences, research skills, sharing knowledge (teaching), and technology. I could not think of a sign that feels more like it “rules” social media than Aquarius.

I’ve been avidly waiting for Pluto to dive fully into Aquarius for a couple of years now. My prediction of what it would bring to this space in my life was a transformation of content, effort, followers, value, and popularity when it came to my writing. I thought I would finally be able to commit to a consistent content creation cycle, that I would reach more people, and that my expanded reach would be profitable for my tarot business.

From the vantage point of this cazimi, I see why prediction is not the best use for astrology (or tarot for that matter). My prediction feels wildly wrong today. It’s not that Pluto going into my 3rd house ruled by Aquarius couldn’t mean what I predicted, just that there are many other things it could mean as well and one of those other options is now unfolding.

I’ve decided that I need to cut ties with Instagram. All of a sudden, I just can’t continue ignoring the disconnect between my values and my actions. I have known that Meta is an unethical company that exists to use my data against me as part of the capitalist machine. I’ve known this for years. All they want is to keep my eyes glued to their stupid little apps so that I buy things, waste my time, and get influenced by their ideological agenda (which is basically just the propaganda of staying asleep to the world so they can make more money).

Suddenly, I feel like I can’t be a part of it anymore. Before, it felt like I could just ignore my misgivings because I wanted that creative space that Instagram originally proffered me. It felt worth the sacrifice of my morals. Whatever, it’s just posting a picture of tarot cards that 20 people see, it’s not like I’m really supporting the system. But I was (ok, I still am, I haven’t backed out yet) supporting it with my continued presence there and interactions with other users.

I do love writing my “daily” posts on the tarot card of the day on Instagram. It feels fun and creative, and offers me a quick and easy way to practice tarot. Reading a card combination, writing a short interpretation, and sharing that with others has kept me motivated to learn and study the tarot on a very regular basis over the last ten years. I will miss that! And I haven’t really thought up a replacement for that creativity and study time.

But sometimes you gotta leap before you know where you’re going to land. In this case, I just feel like I gotta get out of there! I have been trying to think of how I could use my blog or newsletter to do a tarot card of the day practice, but one thing about Instagram was that it was really time effective and all-in-one. I’m considering moving over to Bluesky but there is the definite threat that any social media company will just morph into a clone of Twitter or Meta in the near future as well.

Maybe it’s okay to just keep my morning practice to myself. I can still draw the cards and write about them, but instead of posting it, I could make a journal that only I see. There are very few people who look at my Instagram posts as it is, maybe 50 accounts see them and 10-15 people interact with me. Those people could easily interact with me some other way and maybe I’d be doing them a favor, giving them less things to get sucked into on social media.

I’m also planning on signing up for the newsletters of all the people I follow that I really enjoy and will miss hearing from. I think most are tarot readers that have mailing lists so it won’t be goodbye forever. Now what about the friends that I only see on Instagram? Um, is that a friendship!? I will just make sure I have their phone numbers and text them more frequently. That solves that connection issue; there are other and better ways to connect than Instagram.

I actually encourage everyone to get off the thing, especially if you’ve been kinda of subtly wondering why you’re still on there for a while now. You’ve seen other people jump ship and swim away to safety and you’re wishing you could do the same thing. Go do it! You should follow your intuition on this one for sure. I’ll swim with you.

Okay, that’s about it for today. I will let you know when I totally quit the Instagram. First, I gotta actually go through it and make sure I can still connect with the people I see there in some other format and give people the same chance to find me in some other way as well. I’m guessing it will take a couple of months.

Thank you Pluto/Sun cazimi, I feel really good about this brave new world I am entering that involves a lot less social media. It used to be fun and make sense to spend my time on it, but the times are changing and I’m moving on. What will you change in 2025?