Pluto and You

Hades/Pluto. Probably didn't have many parties at his place...


Here on my deck on this nice Wednesday evening, I'm enjoying a nice bottle of dark ale, and that got me thinking about something else that's dark, mysterious and slightly intoxicating- the planet Pluto.

Now, you may have heard rumors around the scientific community that Pluto is not, in fact, a planet. Well, that's fine and dandy for the scientific community. To me, and from my understanding the majority of the astrological community, Pluto is alive and well, as much a planet as it always has been.

This past Saturday, Saturn and Pluto formed a square, in the cardinal signs of Libra and Capricorn, respectively. This is a rather big deal astrologically, even more so because it took place within a couple degrees of the exact angles of the horoscope- 0 degrees of the cardinal signs (Aries, Libra, Capricorn and Cancer). This adds to the strength of the event.

Let's get some quick background info on Pluto. Discovered in 1930 by Percival Lowell, and named by an 11-year old girl from Oxford, England, Pluto entered the world at a time in which there was great change and upheaval. Pluto is associated with transformation, power struggle, depth and difficult, sometimes painful changes. The discovery of a planet tends to coincide with appropriate developments here on Earth- evidence, perhaps, that we tend to find what we search for- and, I would add, we search for things when we're ready for them.

Pluto is a very slow-moving planet, and as such is a generational aspect in the personal chart. If you were born between 1984 to 1995, the Pluto in your chart should be located in Scorpio. Back in the days before anybody knew about planets beyond Saturn, the sign Scorpio was ruled by Mars. After the discovery and assimilation of Pluto into astrological practice decades ago, Pluto became the ruler of Scorpio. Scorpio is a very dynamic, somewhat dark sign, and is a good match with Pluto, sharing features such as power through knowledge, transformation, perhaps even subversion. Pluto in Scorpio is in the sign it rules, and therefore at its strongest as it treks slowly around the zodiac. Those of us born during this time have a stronger Pluto in our charts, and this informs our generation in a strong way.

This, I feel, is pretty easy to see. Our generation has a deep, unsettled awareness of the balance of power in the world, along with a need to change and transform. There is a deep-rooted dissatisfaction with the way things are, along with a passion and depth that expresses itself in many different ways, depending on our circumstances. (More Gothic people, too? The Goth aesthetic screams Pluto in Scorpio to me) We also have a relationship to our sexuality that is notably different than other generations, and Scorpio is a very sexual sign. Pluto is no longer in Scorpio- it passed through Scorpio to Sagittarius, and just now on to Capricorn, where it is now squaring Saturn.

Saturn in Libra square Pluto in Capricorn is a very intense aspect in the world at large. Capricorn is often associated in astrology with the professional business realm- Capricorn tends to indicate cool, collected action, practicality, stubbornness mixed with confidence and the ability to get things done. I doubt its any coincidence that the transformative power of Pluto as it moves through Capricorn has begun to drastically change our understanding and relationship with business, money and resources. At the same time, Saturn is now in a square aspect with Pluto- a challenge between old and conservative structure (Saturn) and transformative, subversive power changes (Pluto). The last time this sort of aspect occurred was the 1970's, an era in which there were clear examples of old versus new- student uprisings, Kent state, protests, etc.

This is a tense time anyway, I'm sure most would agree- and all of us know that things need to change. My generation, with Pluto in Scorpio, feels that perhaps on an even more dire, intrinsic level. But armed with that knowledge, we can use it to our advantage. Our relentless desire for change, our connection to our subconscious and our need for peeling back the layers to find the hidden truth may help propel the great changes society needs.

Yessir, good times indeed.