Pluto as a planet remains a highly controversial topic in astronomy and astrology circles. Pluto was the third new planet-sized body discovered in our solar system in recent history. Some large asteroids had been discovered in the asteroid belt before Pluto, but they were not the size of a planet. From ancient times until 1781 our solar system consisted of seven bodies: our Sun, which is a star, our Moon, which is a satellite of the Earth, and the five planets besides Earth: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
The Earth is common to all of us, it is not visible as an external body (to us), and it is under our feet, so it is the center of any geocentric (Earth-centered) astrological wheel. These seven bodies are visible without technical assistance. With the advent of telescopes and other astronomical equipment, our ability to see farther into space led to the discovery of Uranus on March 13, 1781, Neptune on September 23, 1846, Pluto on February 18, 1930, as well as hundreds of thousands of cosmic discoveries. up to date and counting. Astronomy is really expanding our knowledge of our universe. That means astrologers can figure out what it all means in terms of human experience.
For many years, Pluto’s status as a planet was continually questioned and finally, with the discovery of more planet-like bodies at the edge of our solar system, the IAU (International Astronomical Union) on August 24, 2006 downgraded Pluto to dwarf planet status. . The dwarf planet is a new classification of bodies in the Kuiper Belt region, which is the inner edge of the Oort Cloud, which lies at the outer edge of the solar system. In the Kuiper Belt you will find a large number of bodies made of rock and/or ice, some of which are or may be larger than Pluto. Dwarf planets are rocky bodies and comets are icier bodies. At such great distances, it takes time to identify and categorize these bodies.
Meanwhile, astrologers around the world have been constructing definitions of the three recently discovered planets, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, as well as thousands of asteroids, planetoids, dwarf planets, and comets… too many at this time to count and define. Many IAU members still question the change in Pluto’s status because very few members participated in the voting process. Astronomers are still arguing over the designation, so astrologers the world over have to personally determine whether Pluto should be treated as a planet when reading an astrology wheel or downgraded to new dwarf planet status. Because I have successfully used Pluto as a planet for over 35 years astrologically, I choose to pursue my own research; Pluto is still a planet to me.
Huge in distance and orbital range because it is so far from the center of the solar system (our Sun), Pluto has a highly eccentric orbit and has every reason to be at the center of controversy with passionate views on all sides. Pluto is…
- huge in the time it takes to make one full orbit, 248.09 years
- huge in distance from the Sun, average 39.5 billion miles
- eccentric because when it is at perihelion (closest to the Sun) its distance is 29.7 billion miles and when it is at aphelion (farthest from the Sun) its distance is 49.3 billion miles.
- eccentric in the sense that it is inclined 17 degrees with respect to the ecliptic (plane of the orbits of the other planets)
- eccentric because the orbit is very strangely shaped compared to the other planets
- eccentric because during its orbital cycle it glides within the orbit of Neptune for about 20 years, most recently between February 7, 1979 and February 11, 1999.
astrology What does Pluto represent astrologically? Please note that we have not had the opportunity to consciously observe Pluto through each of the signs because he has not completed a full cycle through all twelve signs since his discovery. It was discovered halfway through Cancer in 1930 and has only traversed the signs between Cancer and early Capricorn at this point in 2010. We must trust our historical records (textbooks) for the balance of Capricorn and the rest of the signs halfway through. . Cancer to fully understand what Pluto could mean for our current and future circumstances. what he was No visible and therefore unconscious has become visible and therefore aware.
Myth After much controversy (apparently, Pluto is always controversial, which makes sense in itself), Pluto was unanimously named by the astronomical community for the Roman god of the underworld. Pluto’s Greek counterpart is Hades and as is common, the myths of both cultures have been merged to be applied astrologically. Pluto was a full brother to the Roman gods and therefore his namesake deserves full authority and billing. After Saturn (father) was defeated, the myth says that the three brothers: Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto were in control of the world and divided it into three separate parts: the heavens, the seas and the underworld. Jupiter ruled the heavens, Neptune ruled the seas, and Pluto ruled the underworld.
Definition What would one do as a god of tea underworld? Pluto physically rules everything that is buried or below the surface, such as caves, mines, minerals. Psychologically, Pluto rules every human emotion or impulse that works below the surface, such as passion, obsession, possessiveness, deep, dark secrets. In other words, Pluto rules the unconscious of humanity. He rules the kidnapping and rape of the maiden (goddess) who became the queen of that Pluto underworld. Pluto also represents the descent of the hero in mythology to face his own darkness and death in order to be resurrected or saved. While Pluto may represent the depths of human behavior and depravity, he also represents the concepts of transformation, revelation, resurrection, salvation, and transcendence once we’ve faced our own negativity. Pluto rules the extremes of human behavior and experience. How the hell do you turn that into an interpretation of the human experience?
Pluto rules the depths of humanity, some of which are known and many of which are hidden. The more we discover and bring to light, the more must be consciously known. He has quite a psychological definition and has a tendency to play roto-rooter with the dark side of our psyche when activated. Pluto elicits all that he wishes to remain hidden to be seen, recognized, embraced, and healed. I especially like the application of Pluto to psychology and psychiatry from both the perspective of the patient and the perspective of healing, which are two sides of the same coin.
This is what I call the can of worms that exists in each of our psychological bases. We all have a personal can of worms. Occasionally, one or more surfaces force us to confront and embrace our own darkness. The best way I have found to understand the depth and breadth of Pluto’s rule and activations from this very human psychological perspective is to look at the development of psychiatry/psychology techniques through the signs.
The subject of psychology as a philosophical concept dates back to many ancient civilizations, but it was not a codified or comprehensive study. From my reading (and I’m not a trained psychologist or psychiatrist), the formalization of the field of psychology appears to have begun in earnest in the early 19th century. It developed throughout the 1800s as pioneers researched and developed concept by concept to build the framework for what would become the established field of psychology.
- In the late 1800s, Pluto in Taurus would emphasize slow, thorough research and technique, building step by step, very earthy and practical, with strong sexual themes, suggesting Freud’s approach to me. Pluto was invisible at the time, so trying to make the unconscious conscious was a painstaking process.
- Jump forward a generation to Freud’s successors, Carl Jung and Alfred Adler. When Pluto traveled in Gemini, the focus of therapy was more mental, intellectual, conversational, exploratory, and dualistic. Expansion of teaching and the role of the teacher/student. Pluto was not yet visible and therefore was still unconscious. This was still a period of intense research, but now more intellectual in nature.
- Pluto entering Cancer emphasized family background and involvement, clan to nationalism and master race thinking prior to World War II. Pluto became visible, therefore conscious, in the middle of this sign. 1930 was during the great depression with enormous impact worldwide when the weaknesses of man emerged in our consciousness, a focus more on emotional security.
- As Pluto entered Leo, focus shifted to self-identification, Id, ego, self-seeking and self-approval and World War II negative ego-manic axis world leaders.
- Once Pluto entered Virgo, therapy shifted to analytical processes like Transactional Analysis. You may remember the phrase “I’m fine, you’re fine.”
- With Pluto in Libra therapy changed to relational, teamwork, group therapy, with the counselor sometimes sharing or participating with the patient or a group of patients.
- When Pluto moved into Scorpio (the most powerful position for Pluto), digging and delving into the unconscious, past lives, deep-seated sexuality issues, bringing such issues into consciousness, plus hypnotism and even confrontational therapies emerged.
- Pluto’s journey through Sagittarius turned into philosophy, self-help, alternative and cross-cultural techniques, mood lifters, excess as in more is better.
- In 2008 Pluto entered Capricorn which is a very practical, organized and sensible energy that will look into duty, responsibility, authority and obligation and we might experience that less is better. Look what we are learning about abuse of authority, lack of supervision, lack of regulation and limits only in our daily lives. These are the concepts that can be part of the therapies developed as Pluto passes through the sensible sign of Capricorn.
As mentioned, in previous passages through the signs, Pluto was not visible (had not been discovered) so it operated more unconsciously. As Pluto’s problems are visible, we must bring those same old problems into full consciousness. Astrologically, will our previous delineations hold or will we find adaptation or change necessary? Pluto’s astrological passage through the balance of signs is in front of us. New or revised material will be provided by the current cadre of astrologers. Also remember that the old myths are not just fictional stories. They were ancient humanity’s archetypes for human behavior. The psychologist Carl Jung was an astrologer and felt that astrology and its use of archetypes from myths were the psychology of the ancients.
It is possible to choose a subject that Pluto rules other than psychology and do the same basic sign-by-sign visualization. If he takes the lead, I’d love to read a copy of his findings.
Recommended reading: Astronomy declared Pluto a dwarf planet – What is Pluto astrologically?