Transiting Pluto: everything changes
Transformation at the deepest level
A little light in the dark by Eliza Rosca.
Transiting Pluto bring transformation at the deepest level and this can be exceedingly painful. The areas of life touched by Pluto, by planet and house placing, are going to see some pretty profound changes on both the inner and outer sphere of existence.
My own experience of transiting Pluto has been difficult and this is just the beginning of a series of conjunctions to Venus, the Sun and finally the Moon in Capricorn. These Pluto conjunctions will take place over a five or six year period. As Transiting Pluto conjuncts my Venus I am experiencing many changes in my life due to my marriage. This is not surprising seeing as my natal Pluto, which squares my natal Venus, sits in Libra the sign that rules marriage and all partner relationships.
The lessons that transiting Pluto is asking me to learn are about self-control, power and control in relationships, and how to get what I want without resorting to manipulation. Pluto seeks that we let go of the truth-denying escapist tendencies of Neptune, and allow the parts of us that no longer serve us, thought, behaviour and emotional patterns, to be burnt and destroyed. Having died a new me will rise from the ashes, the mythological phoenix.
What does transiting Pluto have to teach?
Fortunately, my natal Venus has a strong sextile aspect with natal Uranus, the energy of rebellion, ecstatic new ideas and (r)evolution. It acts, often in opposition, to Pluto’s controlling side. This ultimately helps maintain balance, but can lead to some pretty extreme inner conflict. With its placing in the 8th House transiting Pluto is advocating deep intense relationships. Uranus, which is natally placed in Scorpio, the sign ruled by Pluto, has always basically agreed.
However transiting Uranus, currently in fiery Aries, is not so sure. Transiting Pluto in Capricorn is like a totalitarian overlord in the eyes of this revolutionary! Uranus in Aries advocates a guerrilla warfare approach of running for the hills, periodically emerging to initiate rash, ill-thought-out attacks that ultimately leave me more wounded than my adversary.
Ah well, one can only remember that when you come out on the other side of a Pluto transit, or should we say transition, we emerge shed of our old skins, shining new in the sunlight. For more on working with transiting Pluto in your own life check out this excellent article by Astrologer Mary Shea, Making Choices with the Outer Planet Transits.
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Image by Eliza Rosca.
Thanks for this Faith… I have retrograde Pluto returning for a soiree with my DC before continuing his journey to his first rendezvous with my Saturn in Capricorn in the 7th next April. What fun (as they say)! Needless to say your article got my attention and I’ve certainly ‘joined the club’… I’m sure deep insights are on their way… and I think of Melanie Reinhart’s keyword for Pluto as ’emptiness’… in the fullest sense of the word!
Oh yes it’s fun alright! Actually I’m finding my Pluto transits a lot easier as I’ve come to a place of surrender. It’s taken me a while but eventually I just lay it all down and said – ok do with me what you will. And after that there was a release… Still, it’s an ongoing process of letting go and I often forget and start struggling again! Would be interested to hear how things go when Pluto meets your Saturn. That’s not a transit I’ve encountered very often.
Your chart sounds very similar to mine: Moon, Venus and Sun conjunction in Capricorn in 6th, natally square Pluto in Libra and sextile Uranus in Scorpio. The Pluto transit for me started with the Moon and focused around mothering, nurturing and a house move. With the Venus it has been about divorce, creativity and values but not quite finished with that yet. It’s been an intense few years and set to continue as Pluto approaches the Sun and then the Descendant. Is the point where it’s exactly square to its natal position also significant?
Hi Eva… it sounds like we were probably born on the same date, perhaps a few hours apart. Yes transiting Pluto square natal Pluto is certainly significant. I might write a post about that actually… xx
That’s interesting, nice to meet you :) Do you have Jupiter conjunct Lilith opposite Mercury too? I’m fairly new to astrology and came to your blog looking for anything about the Pluto situation. Would love to read what you think about the transit to the square. I’m going to subscribe to your posts.
Yes it sounds like our charts are very very similar… though the placement of the planets in the houses makes a big difference to their expression… x
Hiya Faith. X This is great Thank you ~=} Pluto 3* from Ascendant in Cap and 5* from Mars in 1st Cap… Uranus 2* away from Sun in Aries. I’m a Plutonian with MC, Moon and Neptune in Scorpio 9th and Pluto Natal in 8th trine Mars and Saturn (on DC 3/4th). I’ve had it tough my whole life but after reading ‘Making choices’ I know now this is MY TIME. I’ve lost so much but my inner strength is good. Had to be! Without it I wouldn’t have cheated death! My will to Live is where it’s at. Big Hugs ALL:) Keep-on Shining. XXX
Thanks for sharing Ellen. So much admiration for your strength and determination…
That’s very kind Faith, thank you. Although nothing is *Conjunct* as yet! lol. I swear by my tin of MAGIC RELEASE GREASE… I put some-on everyday then the S*** doesn’t Stick. X Much Love. X ~=}
My friend is experiencing transiting Pluto with Capricorn heavy with 6 planets. I am not sure how to wait this out except to accept this is not and is not going to be easy.
Hi Liv… I think your approach – acceptance – is the only one that really works with Pluto. But given that the transits are so long in duration it’s hard to remember this… and so we start struggling! Then things get really hard… I’m in the middle of heavy Pluto transits myself so I feel for you :)
Hi again Faith X would you say Pluto transits are harder on those with/without loads of Pluto aspects in their Natal Chart?? I’m confused…? I’ve seen so many recently with really tough things happening yourself included! Just trying to understand all this Crazy. X
Good question Ellen. A Pluto transit is difficult when it touches a planet in the natal chart that has existing challenging aspects. Of course if Pluto itself is in difficult aspect in the natal this can also make things difficult. But if you have Pluto in harmonious aspect, in a sign and house that suits it, and the transit is to a sign that is also well aspected, then the Pluto transit can be very empowering.
Thanks Faith. X Blessings to You and Yours. X
I found very interesting this article.Transiting Pluto is starting to be in opposition to natal Venus on 12th (ruler of my 4th and Taurus which is located within my 10th). The ruler of my 10th is on my 4th house and I am also having uranus transit opposition natal pluto in libra (Libra and conjucnt IC)….workwise I feel stuck, homewise the same, careerwise even more , financially no results from my efforts, lovewise nothing moves ….any hope with this transit?
Thanks!
How can pluto square venus transit manifest in marriage if natal venus, pluto, uranus and jupiter are all conjunct in the 7th house? Can it mean divorce?
It’s possible, but it could also manifest in many other ways. Certainly it will be a time of big changes and probably an end to old ways that are no longer useful. But if you and your partner can adapt to meet these changes then it doesn’t necessarily mean the marriage will end…
Posts like this make the internet such a treasure trove
This Pluto transit has been been squaring my 8th house Libra moon at 12 degrees for some time now.
I have had enormous temper outbursts, especially when things have been unfair or I have felt they were unfair. My moon also squares Mars so this has been very dramatic and I often end up hurting both me and my partner. I don’t know how to “let go”…. Only when pressured to the max maybe? Then I will realize how these things which Pluto digs up from the 12th house truly is outdated and no longer nessecary.
I can’t wait for this transit to move the butt out of my moon! Some time later he will sextile my sun, venus and jupiter Stellium, and THEN he will make a difficult square, also from his position in the 12th) to my natal Saturn/Pluto vonjunction in the 8th/Libra at 28 degrees.
When Pluto conjucted my sun-stellium in Scorpio I was very young, and I was very isolated in school. The only persons I truly liked were my teachers. I was a nomade amongst stupid kids. I was emotionally abandoned by my parents, especially my alcoholic dad who didn’t want girls (could not understand female emotions) – preferred boys, and my Venus in that stellium suffered Hugely, all made bigger by the involvement of Jupiter.
Thank you Faith! I have Mercury at 11, Moon at 16 and MC at 19 Capricorn. All my cardinal points are at 19, so you can imagine how hard my chart is being hit by Pluto. At the moment Pluto conjunct my Moon and life seems to be always in the dark night of the soul. It’s a tough transit.
Transiting Pluto has been working on my natal Mercury in Capricorn, squaring my natal Pluto in Libra, and squaring my natal Chiron since 2008. These configurations have compelled me to witness an extensive exposure to my inner woundedness and to engage in a painful reconsideration associated with how I relate to people and to my past.
Over the last eight years, since Pluto entered Capricorn, I’ve also been experiencing a movement toward connecting with my soul. Definitely, what has been transpiring under these constellations has not made for a very pleasant sojourn in this world, but it appears I’m experiencing a necessary reprogramming which is the only way I can let go of what imprisons me in the darkness I still reside. I’ve seen the glimpse of light already, but the pull of darkness still weighs on me as I aspire to taste the freedom I’ve yearned to attain since my arrival here.
Forgot to mention that Pluto in Capricorn is transiting my 7th house, while my natal Pluto is in an intercepted sign of Libra residing in my chart’s 4th house. Today has been a mentally foggy day for me. :)
Transit Pluto will be conjuncting my Ascendant, Sun, Moon and Mercury in Capricorn in the next few years… I am a bit nervous but also excited about what it will bring!
I’ve just had Pluto transit my asc. Hit it exactly 12 months ago, and when he was retrograding back and into the 12th it honestly felt like it would never end. Long slow trip. It’s come back over the asc again and finally has finally moved along a bit. The day it was exact the first time, I had a radical almost shaved head haircut, it didn’t appeal to me at all, but part of me knew it was time to submit and let go of artifice. LIfe’s transience and my own precarious mortality were acutely felt, I didn’t expect the 12 H to be so hard, its seemed that Pluto’s job was to get me in there to do a clean out. A few degrees into the first house now, I have much more energy, and fewer morbid iimaginings.
Natally I have Pluto Moon conjunct, in the 8th,& Sun Venus Merc and Saturn in Scorpio. So perhaps I was a a bit inoculated, Thnakfully I knew astrology enough to comfort myself in the transit and know that if I didn’t cark it, it would pass. It’s reinvigorated my enthusiasm for astrology, though I feel for people going thru these kind of transits and not knowing this stuff.
Now I can look back and see growth, but in it, it wasn’t easy to sense any purpose.
Thank you for this absorbing read, Faith! I wish I had kept a record of the nasty episodes in my life, for then I would whether any of them coincided with Pluto crossing my DC and conjucting my Moon. That would have given me some insight into what I might expect of my present transits, Pluto sextile my Sun and quincunx my ASC. Then again, perhaps not, for although I have a natal Sun trine Pluto(8 degree orb), my natal Scheat is exactly conjunct my natal Sun. For this reason, should I never expect any good-for-me development from my current Pluto sextile Sun transit?
Thank you for this absorbing read, Faith! It gave me several ‘Aha!’ moments, but I am still very far from understanding how Pluto works in my chart. My basic problem is this: My natal Sun is tightly square my ASC, square my natal Mars(3 degree orb), and trine my natal Pluto (8 degree orb). And as if that were not jumble enough, natal Scheat is exactly conjunct my natal Sun. How can all these facts possibly add up?
Now transit Pluto is sextile my natal Sun. It has already transited opposite my ASC and conjunct my natal Moon. What the heck does it want of me now?