Well just as with the opposition, the solution is cultivating the energy of Mars & Pluto's opposites: Venus & Earth.
It's funny, because nobody talks about Earth (or how 'your Earth' is found on the IC). I was
extremely excited by Robert Hand's suggestion that Earth (as the IC) would be a better ruler for Taurus, and it immediately sent my thoughts to the future horoscopes of people born on Lunar/Martian colonies (that would actually HAVE Earth on their charts).
They say there's "no earthier planet than Saturn" in the horoscope, but I do see a distinct difference between Saturn/Capricorn and Earth/Taurus.
Of course, all of this conjecture would probably send Robert Hand into a fit since he's been advocating classic rulerships as of late.
He probably wishes he'd never wrote it by now.
In any case, what I believe is that Saturn differs from Earth in terms of
magnitude. Saturn & Capricorn have to do with logic & pragmatism with regards to the public sphere, but Earth & Taurus probably have to do with logic & pragmatism within the
private sphere: NOT some "
cold equation" of what's good for someone "in terms of the many" (or what's good for the many in terms of the few), but what's good for someone, period.
To me, it's no coincidence that the only two signs that fire & earth occupy in the final half of the horoscope are Sagittarius & Capricorn, because both (fire & earth) are very self-oriented energies; those are their last chances at manifesting in the outer world.
On the other hand, only two air & water signs (Gemini & Cancer) exist in the first half of the horoscope because
those energies are best suited for the
outer world.
In other words, Earth BELONGS "to the self". A definite "keyword" would BE "belonging". Taurus/Earth are where the "self" feels most natural.
Saturn & Capricorn are places where the self tries to INTEGRATE with the outer world, but we all know how
unnatural it feels to be in the position of authority or to obey authority (as well).
Something we've ALWAYS wondered (throughout the history of
civilization) is why people have a tendency to follow leaders without leading themselves.
And Tauruses exemplify that: a "connection" to the Earth, the idea of being comfortable in one's own skin, and
not needing to lead.
In fact, the effect of Taurean transits is to "slow" the transiting object to what feels like a halt; i.e., to force the object to "be itself".
On the other hand, Saturn tends to
age whatever it touches before eventually tranisiting through. Many have said that Saturn transits can feel like ossification
also, but it's my belief that rather than rigidifying whatever it touches, it simply scours and reinforces it instead. And the chaff that falls off during the process explains the aging.
And while that scouring process can FEEL like paralysis, it's definitely not the role of Saturn to make things stand still (to the contrary, Saturn rules
time itself).
So Saturn, Capricorn and leadership aren't "bad". It's just that leadership is a role that should be "thrust" upon people, not something they always look forward to—like the idea of "success". If you think about "success" linguistically, we "succeed" in a "line of succession" only when someone gets fired, gets promoted, dies, or abandons their post.
But Western culture has given way to the idea that success is something that should be
chased, not waited for.
So in the end, I guess you could say Saturn is "authority" while Earth is "authenticity".
I'd say the same applies to Earth (as an object): anything Earth (or the IC) aspects will lend a feeling of "inner nature" to the object. Not the emotional comfort of the Moon, but a simpler, physical & matter-of-fact comfort.
This idea about comfort helps you understand the mutual receptivity between Earth & the Moon and how the Moon is exalted in Taurus.
Speaking of which, since Earth would be "in Dominion" in Taurus, that means it would be "in Detriment" in Scorpio.
As far as the position of its Exaltation or Fall, I'm not sure. Though I'm sure it would be something counter-intuitive like with Saturn (which is exalted in Libra). Maybe Earth is exalted in Aquarius and in Fall in Leo?
Anyway, where Earth tends to "go wrong" is in its inability to branch away from the mundane. Whereas other signs & objects may be able to go from concrete operations to abstract operations, Earth's tendency is to avoid that. It's where the abstract goes to die, get buried, and forced to be grown from the ground-up again: the slow, thorough and sometimes painful cycle of life (as opposed to Scorpio's death).
And speaking of its Detriment in Scorpio, this explains its discomfort in that sign: Scorpio is the realm of extremity & pure relativism, where good becomes evil and evil becomes good through some kind of existential post-modernistic twist.
But Pluto needs Taurus just as much as Earth needs Scorpio, so while they tend to "bristle" by being in their opposite signs, there's definitely something to be learned for each of them being there.
By the way, the last generation of Pluto in Taurus (Detriment) children were born between 1853 and 1884, and the next will be born in 2098.
And you can see how the Pluto in Scorpio (Dominion) children (1983 - 1995) are definitely the Millennials who've sent our world into the post-modern relativism that makes us question the authority or authenticity of anything. Which is completely natural for the age of the world wide web and the internet; the event of their emergence is unprecedented in the history of humankind.
As far as Earth being "in Dominion", the chance comes about as often as the Moon, since it has to do with the subject's time of birth more than anything.
Under relatively equal-sized houses (i.e., someone who's born close to the equator), the IC would be in Taurus for people born with Aquarius rising. But without equal sized houses (i.e., someone born in a northern or southern latitude), the IC could fall just about anywhere (because of Earth's axial tilt from that location).
And the opposite would go for Earth "in Detriment" (IC in Scorpio = Leo rising toward the equator, with anyone's guess the further you get away from it).
As for its "Exaltation in Aquarius", maybe that has to do
with Earth's disinclination to abstract from a concentric position. Aquarius' natural eccentricity may be just what Earth
needs to make that departure from its core. Ideas of a united or global humanity come to play here.
And as to its "Fall in Leo", the combination of Earth and Fire works
sometimes, but has traditionally been an uneasy one. Hand comments on this in "Horoscope Symbols":
I honestly think this fall assignment (Earth in Leo) makes sense, since both are "fixed" energies (forming a kind of square tension)… just as Saturn and Aries are both "cardinal" ones.
OKAY—so with that being said, my opinion is that getting in touch with your Venusian or Terrestrial energies is the solution to handling the difficulty of the Mars-Pluto square.
So where's your Earth (IC)?
In which of your houses is Taurus?
What planets do you have in Taurus?
What's the dispositor (ruler) of your Earth (IC)?
Likewise, where's your Venus?
In which of your houses is Libra?
What planets do you have in Libra?
What's the dispositor (ruler) of your Venus?
Once you answer those questions, you can explore how it is that
you filter their archetypes and transform them into channels you can send the Plutonic/Martian energy through more distinctly.
IF THAT MAKES SENSE... does it? I hope so.
Of course, I could spend more time explaining Venus or how Earth is the opposite to Pluto, but it seems to me that Mars-Pluto squares are victims of their own tremendous energies and are literally blind to seeing the importance of integrity (Earth) or partnership (Venus) in their lives.
More often than not, "people" are just resources "to be used" in the scheme of their impulses and conquests. So I think it's important that you begin to see what Earth & Venus mean to
you particularly.
Also let me know if your Venus or IC (Earth) is conjunct anything. Conjunctions often signify archetypes that the subject has trouble making distinctions between. So if Venus was conjunct, say, Pallas, the subject would see patterns (Pallas) and relationships (Venus) as one and the same, and could benefit
greatly from studying the difference between the two.