Pluto in the Horoscope

Pluto is no longer called a planet, but that makes no difference to astrology and how it is interpreted in the horoscope. This small heavenly body is the farthest from the sun, and the slowest to orbit it. Pluto takes 248 years to pass through the whole Zodiac - a quarter of a millennium. Because of its elliptic orbit, it stays between 11 years (in Scorpio) and 32 years (in Taurus) in each Zodiac sign.

Pluto's speed through the Zodiac signs.

     Its slow progress makes its position in the Zodiac shared by a whole generation. Still, other ingredients in the horoscope can make its effect differ considerably from one person to the next.

     Pluto is quite invisible to the naked eye. It was not discovered until 1930, so we still haven't experienced more than its passing through half of the Zodiac. In 1930 it was in Cancer, and in 2008 it entered Capricorn.

     In the horoscope, Pluto represents drastic change, the metamorphosis from one situation into something utterly different. Its positon in the horoscope shows how and where such events take place for the person in question.

     In spite of its miniscule size, Pluto is regarded as sort of a big brother to Mars. Where the latter causes sudden dramatic events that don't last long, Pluto causes great changes that can last forever.

Pluto in the Zodiac

Here are short descriptions of how each Zodiac sign influences Pluto, your most important and dramatic changes in life, when that's where it is in your natal chart.

Aries brings sudden and drastic changes, rarely foreseen.

Taurus brings long-foreseeable concrete changes that last.

Gemini brings a lightness to great events in life, as if they are mere spectacles.

Cancer brings upsetting surprises and events that stir up emotions.

Leo brings drastic changes and a sense of destiny in the making, to one's personal life.

Virgo brings concrete and pre­dictable changes, more often small than big ones.

Libra brings radical changes on theoretical levels, and renewed ethics.

Scorpio brings a sense of doom, but little evident change, and still a kind of metamor­phosis.

Sagittarius brings premonition of radical future change, and a force to head for it.

Capricorn brings ability to handle crisis and to excel where others fail.

Aquarius brings revelations of the mind and the way to look at the world.

Pisces brings chaotic circum­stances and difficulty to foresee anything.

Keywords

Here are the twelve Zodiac signs, and keywords for the character they give to Pluto, i.e. your most important and dramatic changes in life:

    Aries   violent

    Taurus   slow

    Gemini   quick

    Cancer   traumatic

    Leo   personal

    Virgo   manageable

    Libra   foreseeable

    Scorpio   incomprehensible

    Sagittarius   revolutionary

    Capricorn   concrete

    Aquarius   unforeseen

    Pisces   chaotic

Ruler

Pluto rules over Scorpio, the sign of dark secrets, which means that it tends to be the most obvious and enforced in this sign. It exalts in Leo. There is really no Zodiac sign where Pluto is weakened, except maybe Aquarius and to a lesser extent Virgo. Also, its effects tend to be less evident in air signs.

The god Pluto abducting Proserpina, bringing her to his realm of death. Statue by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1622.

Planet age

Each of the heavenly bodies represents a period in your life of about seven years. In the case of Pluto it is really the transition from life to death, or the very last phase of life, at whatever time that happens. A change having only one equal in signi­ficance: that of birth, which can also be described as an Plutonian event.

© Stefan Stenudd