the astrology of Pluto into Aquarius | the first chess piece takes the board and the world will never be the same

We first talked about Pluto into Aquarius HERE. The follow-up now, was going to be three posts, but I decided to squeeze it all into one post and just break it up a bit. I hope something here is helpful. 

So, here we are folks. 

Together for the BIG moment when Pluto and the Sun join hands at 29 degrees and 59 seconds of Capricorn, the end of the end of Saturn's reality - can anything illustrate the end of the 'patriarchy/the end of the king', our coming face-to-face with our fall from grace, any more clearly? 

(if we think we are going to structure our life/build a career/run our business in the same old way, we had better THINK AGAIN - traditional authority will never be as strong, collectively we will NEVER be as attached to our career ever again, and never as de-tached from our roots)

AND, here we are together, you and I and all of us who have ever lived, as the Sun and Pluto jump into Aquarius TOGETHER - yes, the Sun gets a little head start to light Pluto's way - for this New Age of Aquarius defining moment. 

How seriously will Pluto transform via both destruction and empowerment Aquarian social structures, technology and science? 

How seriously, deadly-serious-I'd-say, will Plutonian power impact society? Are we looking at dystopia/utopia? Pluto isn't a 'middle-ground' kind of guy. And Aquarian cannot be known.

I have a Sun/Saturn/Pholus in Aquarius at 15-14 degrees, but my natal Mercury in Capricorn (21 degrees, so barely hanging in there since 2020) is more attuned to seeing dragons than fairy godmothers and maybe is not the one we should be asking. But here you somehow are anyway. Thank you. :) ♥

What will Plutonian INTENSITY, a natural square to Aquarius intelligence and detachment, bring? 

Will what seemed so close to being 'power to the people' when Pluto met up with Uranus (the modern ruler of Aquarius) in the 1960's, be more about "a tech plutocracy/rulership", littered with "trust the science" inspired by whatever events it takes for us to conform our collective consciousness into a giant cohesive "greater good" style machine? 

Or, is there another way, a better way, a more human way, for us to evolve into more collective individuals? 

We are not so much evolving as co-evolving. But thousands of years under the umbrella of 'patriarchy', which is NOT about old white men by the way, has left us susceptible to not knowing what REALLY supports and nourishes us. 

There is something about this Sun-blinding Cappy-close-out (who says Pluto doesn't have style?) that is screaming at us to LOOK DEEPER. 

Aquarius will ask us to put aside our old familiar ways of thinking and relating and doing things and using/building/holding onto structure. And since the transit of URANUS INTO GEMINI IS COMING/breathing down our necks and Uranus is the modern ruler of Aquarius and Uranus will be the last chess player to move onto the board before the new game begins AND will trine Pluto in Aquarius, while co-ruling him, FIVE times between 2026 and 2028 - 

it will be important to ask questions in ways that we can be surprised by the answers.

A person during the American, French or Industrial Revolutions, living on planet Earth the last time Pluto entered Aquarius, could have had no idea of what was ahead for them and we don't either. 

And that's OK. 

The answers won't be as important as the questions anyway. 

(this is kind of the way AI works now with prompts - think about it)

*****

So, what DO we know? 

Pluto popped into Aquarius last year to give us a little preview.

This was the third week of March 2023, very near the New Moon in Aries start to the lunar year/the Spring Equinox. This was the FIRST New Moon in Aries - we had two last year. The second one was an Eclipse with Pluto in Aquarius. The first one had Pluto in Capricorn and was at 0 degrees where we were starting something from the very beginning. 

We had Ceres, whom the Moon  had just opposed, turn around and station retrograde in Virgo (this year we have Juno retrograde in Virgo) and Mars, ruler of that Moon, had just started covering new degrees in Gemini after his retrograde (remember that one, everyone was changing their minds?!) and in mutual reception with Mercury in Aries, so stronger than he looked and he was on Polaris, that star we have all been wishing upon since childhood and who wouldn't think that could make us lucky? 

Venus was on the North Node (she also ruled it back then) - saying here was our path forward with money, our resources, our values, maybe our relationships, and the Sun was sextiling Pluto as he left Capricorn. It looked good. 

But, the caveat with that New Moon that launched Pluto into the brave new world of Aquarian individuality that I wrote back then was this:

"The price of admission, yes, there is a cover charge to open this new door, is the ending of an imbalanced nurturing situation or relationship that needs to culminate or be scaled back to allow this New Moon energy the fertile ground it needs to flourish (Ceres back into Virgo will help us fix it or forget it)."

I could have added - "season of life situation that need/demand to be allowed to end or EVOLVE". 

Then we had that SECOND New Moon in Aries. The second one was a Solar Eclipse. I wrote about it HERE. The Solar Eclipse New Moon, a month after the first New Moon, and on April 20th, 2023 with the Sun very near where it will be on April 22, 2024 when Jupiter meets Uranus (!) - was very DIFFERENT. 

This time, the Moon, at the very end of Aries, immediately met up with Vesta - something was or was about to be keeping us up at night and - squared Pluto in Aquarius, so we knew to expect challenges right out of the gate.

The caveat with this second one that I was writing about back then was:

"So, maybe with this second chance New Moon, we can see how we have gone off the rails with the first one in some very real way. Now we are older/wiser - although, yes, past our prime :) We get another chance from this older/wiser "past our prime" space to BE A BEGINNER.

Maybe we have started something TOO LATE. Maybe we have started something TOO FAST. Maybe we have started something TOO SMALL - that last New Moon was at 0 degrees of the very first sign - the beginning of the beginning, which is a very powerful degree, but we don't know what we don't know. So, maybe this one comes in to show us the flaws in that first one.

One thing is for certain - WE CAN'T JUST IGNORE THIS SECOND NEW MOON and continue on our merry way with the first. This one is FATED. Eclipsed. Won't be ignored. That doesn't mean that a huge event will sweep in and change things - although for some people it might. Or already has. Remember Eclipse events are tricky to time because time itself is flexible with them/so 'last century thinking'. This does mean if we don't pay attention NOW we could be building/growing something that will be a has-been before it's even been." 

By June 11, 2023 Pluto was back in Capricorn. We had received a little preview between March 23 and June 11, 2023 of Pluto in Aquarius. 

Did we build a "has-been" before it was even a "been"? Or did we heed the warning of that second New Moon (note this is echoing the current Venus/Neptune energy we talked about the other day).

So, here we are 10 months later. 

Venus has just squared Neptune from Sagittarius and is in a mutual reception with Jupiter in Taurus. She has fallen from ruling the North Node to ruling the South. Mars is strong in Capricorn and risen from rulership of the South Node to the North Node. Mercury is trining Jupiter. This time, as Pluto enters Aquarius instead of sextiling the Sun like he did last year - the creative opportunity that required effort - he is CONJUNCT THE SUN. They are merged. The conjunction NOW is way more powerful than the sextile was LAST YEAR. More eye-opening. Also more challenging.

Since we know Pluto is going to back out of Aquarius one more time in the fall, let's take a look at that before we go any further. 

It's not a coincidence Pluto pops back into Capricorn for the U.S. Presidential Election next fall and the presidential inauguration from that election is EXACTLY one year to the day from the Sun/Pluto now, so the Sun at 0 degrees Aquarius will be imprinted with whatever is happening now - which we might not see until Mars, the trigger in our 3D reality, gets here around Valentine's Day.

(I know this is confusing. It is complicated and we have an exact Neptune square today!)

Pluto will re-enter Capricorn (retrograde), for the final time in our lifetimes, on September 1, 2024.

This is the same day Uranus, the modern ruler of Aquarius, stations retrograde - so absolutely, here is a sign that the future/the change is POSTPONED. Venus will oppose Neptune then - remember we are having the square now - then move home to Libra just in time to trine Pluto as he exits Aquarius. Mercury will be at the powerful/kingly 22 degrees of Leo and trining Chiron in Aries (remember he is trining Jupiter now). Mars will be at the final degree of Gemini and squaring Neptune at the final degree of Pisces. YES, another exact confusing/dissolving Neptune square? Will we ever know what is really going on? Maybe not. 

When Pluto gets back in Aquarius in the third week of November 2024, the U.S. election will be over (the election itself on November 5th starts with the Moon void, having gone void off a square with Neptune!). 

Pluto re-enters Aquarius, this will be for the third and FINAL time, the Sun then moves into Sagittarius and sextiles him and then Venus - who remember doesn't have a retrograde this year, so will get to 0 degrees Aquarius twice - will meet up with Pluto AGAIN (this is a few weeks after his re-entry, but his next major aspect after that sextile other than the Moon's). Finally Pluto closes out the year 2024 at 1 degrees Aquarius with a sextile to the North Node at 1 degree Aries. Whew! 

Things are going to look pretty different for all of us by this time. 

And keep in mind the U.S. President is always sworn in with the Sun at 0 degrees Aquarius, but this time it will be WITH PLUTO (Pluto at 1 degree Aquarius) - January 20, 2024. For the first time ever in U.S. history! 

And it will be energized/energetically marked by THIS January 20, 2023 when the Sun/Pluto move into Aquarius together. Also on Inauguration Day, Mars will be EXACT on the U.S. natal Mercury. Jupiter will be on the U.S. descendant and conjunct the U.S. Uranus, transiting Chiron will be on the U.S. Chiron. Venus will be exactly conjunct Saturn and the Moon in Libra (answering to Venus) will cross over the U.S. natal 10h house Saturn during the ceremony. WTH! The North Node (in Pisces next year) will be conjunct Neptune - oh my - and the United States IC (root of the chart). Transiting Uranus will be exact on the U.S. natal Atlantis - do we need to know this? I hope not with the way that turned out :) I will stop looking now!

It's enough to say the next President's presidency will be important.  

And there is a reason Pluto returns to Cappy (the sign of government, structure, patriarchal conditioning) for the election and then moves into Aquarius (the future/change) FOR GOOD before the inauguration. 

Anyway, I wanted to look at Pluto's move into Aquarius through multiple lenses. This is complicated and confusing. There is a reason we got the sneak peek last year - time to change course? - the longer stay this year and that final retro back into Cappy to finish up the Cappy demolition (something about the way the U.S. does elections will certainly be changing before the 2028 election along with many other things) before Pluto hightails it back into Aquarius to polish off 2024 with arguably the most powerful planet in the sign of the future.  

I am sorry to be so U.S. specific here and this will read as astro-gobbledy goop to many. Still it could be helpful for us to have it laid out like this.

Now, let's turn back to this weekend as the Sun meets Pluto at 29 degrees Capricorn, the Sun then enters Aquarius - like he does every year at this time - but this year is followed by Pluto - which has never happened in our lifetimes. Maybe it's never happened ever. Then they are both at 0 degrees Aquarius together, although by second they never quite meet up the way they do at 29 Cappy. It is still a whole new dawn. 0 degrees was mega-activated back on the Winter Solstice in December 2020 when Jupiter met Saturn here, launching a new cycle in mature, detached, intellectual - the home of the "collective individual" Aquarius. 

Personally I will miss Pluto in Cappy (since 2008) in my 3rd house, although it has challenged me greatly. Mostly I had a blast with it. Built businesses that I loved, had many amazing like-minded people move in and out of my life over the years (mostly virtually - my natal Pluto with Uranus in my 10th), looked deeply into my own patriarchal and matriarchal stories and conditioning, thought about death way too much, but also became absorbed in astrology, had a near-death experience that changed my life, TRANSFORMED MY MIND. 

*****

Let's get personal and look at how this new transit will impact each of us. 

We ran through this transit by rising sign HERE. 

Your natal chart is your road map. It looks like a diagram/blueprint because it is. It is a picture of our Milky Way Galaxy (our known piece of it) when you drew your first breath. You, quite literally, and in many ways for your entire life, ARE the universe at that moment.

You are also, more intimately, your mother and father's lives until that point. They pass you something like a baton, but you are the baton. And you are also, if you connect with the ideas of past lives, the karma (cause and effect) of every life you have ever lived. If you do not resonate with the idea of past lives, you could think of your chart as being the karma (cause and effect/energy imbalances) of all the lives all your ancestor’s have ever lived!

 

Your chart shows your natal PROMISE. Nothing is going to happen to you that isn't shown somewhere in your blueprint/that isn't PROMISED as a potential. 

You are born and then, pretty much immediately, the planets move on. They start interacting with the positions they were in when you were born as if those planets/points were still there, because they are - in you. These are called transits. 

As Pluto moves from one sign to another, from Capricorn to Aquarius, he starts TRANSITING a different house in your chart. That chart will resonate with a different theme and hold different planets ("hold" meaning carry their positions in your natal chart, the places they were when you were born that are vibrating through you).  

When you examine any transit you first have to think about the nature of the transiting planet. In this case, the planet is Pluto. Pluto is the modern ruler of Scorpio and the God of the Underworld. He changes us through life and death type of experiences. Intensity. Transformation. Think of the caterpillar turning into a butterfly - the whole transit is very Plutonian/Scorpian, but probably especially that part in the middle, that part in the chrysalis that we don't want to think about. The caterpillar wouldn't go through this metamorphosis if he had a choice in the matter ... so, he doesn't. 

Pluto will break down, clear the ground and force us to gain new perspective in the affairs of the house he is transiting. 

Some things to think about with all outer planet transits:

1. The transit will always carry the flavor of the NATAL HOUSE PLACEMENT of the transiting planet. For example, when I was born, Pluto was in my 10th house. So, even though his change of signs from Cappy to Aquarius involves my 3rd and 4th houses - EVERY Pluto transit - will involve my career, goals, status, reputation (10th house themes).  

2. Every transit will carry the flavor of the house the transiting planet RULES. For example, I am a Scorpio rising, so Pluto rules my 1st house of myself. So even though his change of signs from Cappy to Aquarius involves my 3rd and 4th houses - EVERY Pluto transit - will involve my physical self, the way I am seen/present myself, my body, my brand. 

3. Every transit will carry the flavor of the house the transiting planet is in. In this case, for me, Pluto is leaving my 3rd house and entering my 4th house of home, family, mother, motherhood, roots, security. This is the transit info I wrote about last year and linked to ABOVE.

IF there are natal planets/points the transiting planet is interacting with - the outcome of the transit will most often depend on that natal planet's natal aspects. In other words if the natal planet is well aspected the outcome of the transit will be BETTER - gains will be greater and losses will be less than if the natal planet is poorly aspected. For example, if the planet getting transited by Pluto has trines and sextiles - within the natal chart - this planet will generally have better outcomes than a planet with squares and oppositions, EVEN if the Pluto transit is forming a square or opposition. IF the natal planet is well placed the outcome can be even more positive. For example, if you have a transit to your Leo Sun or your Sun in the 5th house, both of which are strong solar placements, your outcome will be more positive.  

Transits from the outer planets to your natal planets/points are considered major transits because the outer planets move slowly and these transits TAKE A LONG TIME. They have a fated quality to them and work on a subconscious level as well as through real-world events. 

For a major transit of Pluto - this means he is interacting with a planet/point in your natal chart through an aspect (this doesn't mean he is just changing signs) such as a square, sextile, trine or opposition, you would use a very tight orb to determine dates, probably when Pluto is 1-2 degrees from your natal planet is when you will really be in the thick of the transit. 

So, right now, for this transit, if you are a Scorpio rising with Pluto ruling your chart or have a very Plutonian chart or maybe a strong Aquarian chart - 29 degrees of the cardinal signs and 0-1 degrees of the fixed signs will be most strongly impacted. 

If you have planets or points in these degrees - near 29 Aries, Cancer, Capricorn and Libra OR planets/points in 0-1 degrees of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius - you are likely to be dealing with Pluto out of Capricorn and into Aquarius in bigger ways than other people. You will almost certainly have this confirmed in your chart in other ways, too. 

But everyone will feel this SHIFT OF AGES.

Collectively some ways to work with this transit as it starts are -

1. Become more self-sufficient/pare things down - with Pluto in Aquarius, the collective (which is ruled by Aquarius) will be 'transformed', mostly through what is lost, and you will want to have ways to stabilize yourself as much as possible

2. Maybe cut back a bit on group commitments if you are wavering on them. Pluto/Scorpio is a commit or quit energy and Aquarius rules groups, causes and friendships. We are going to have to focus on what we are truly passionate about and we will find new things that stir our passions during this transit. 

3. Pluto is the planet of elimination, so it is always a good idea to eliminate what you do not need when he is active - clean closets, inboxes, etc. 

3. Tech is likely to become way more powerful before its eventual transformation/destruction. This means you HAVE to be proficient. If you are a hands on/old school person who wants to avoid this stuff, you can't. But we also can't become obsessed. Don't add to this power any more than you need to. Stop scrolling, value your time on this precious planet and take it back, commit large chunks of time to things that matter outside of technology.

I just talked to someone who was once a voracious reader who tells me she now spends the evenings when she was once lost in a book, playing video games while she multi-tasks/watches old movies and tv shows she has seen before. She doesn't watch new movies because she can't finish them. AND I admit I am drawn to short-term things, too. Youtube, etc, This may not be something everyone has to think about, but Pluto in fixed air Aquarius is going to be way more effective, and less dangerous, if we can focus and not scatter ourselves. Once we get used to the 'scatter' it can take something big, and Pluto will be more than happy to oblige us with something BIG, to pull us back to center. 

4. As with all outer planet changes, hold on loosely and with Pluto 5. Expect to feel more intensely about things you were once more detached about. 

Keep in mind Pluto has to be somewhere in your chart. There is always a house he is busy dismantling/empowering and as he changes signs - a house he is LEAVING. Whew!

Let's see what we are dealing with and how we are feeling over the next few weeks. This is brand new territory and we are going to have to keep checking in with ourselves. 

We should have felt some motivation recently for something with ALL THIS CAPRICORN. 

But, just keep in mind all the inner planets are going to touch base with Pluto at 0 degrees AQUARIUS, starting with the Sun today and continuing until the middle of February with Mars. 

Stay flexible. 

I am looking forward, I think :) to 2026-2028 when all the chess pieces will be in their places and Pluto and Uranus will form FIVE empowering trines. Aquarius/Gemini. 

In the meantime, we will make ourselves useful :)  there is a reason Pluto and Uranus last met in Virgo. 

I have a 29 degree Capricorn South Node and last spring, as Pluto sat parked there the first time, I had a past life regression with a hypnotist named Alba Weinman in Florida. A very Capricorn-focused past life came up (plus a couple others) and I was able to find this fellow's chart on astro.com and even his date of death on wikipedia. Maybe I will write about it here sometime. He lived in the 1500's and died just before Pluto entered Aquarius. His natal Pluto and Neptune were exactly the same degrees as mine. His South Node was my Moon. His Sun was my Jupiter. His mid-heaven, 22 degrees Capricorn, conjunct my 21 degree Mercury - the Mercury whose transits have splintered my life more than once. When he died, Mercury was exactly where Venus was when I was born and Venus when he died was exactly where Mercury was when I was born. Our stories are very different as you can imagine, but there are connections with children and childbirth and "one sons/Suns" and "kings" and it has helped me to see the path from there to here. 

Maybe lots of people, with Pluto at the end of the end of the world that Saturn built, are making connections now, too. 

xo all - excuse any typos/nonsense

I would be happy to look at your chart regarding the new Pluto energy. Leave a comment or shoot me an email. If I have previously looked at your chart I probably still have your birth data. If not, I will let you know. I will need birth time, place and date.