Planet Pluto

Pluto was discovered in 1930 and was officially the 9th planet of our solar system until Eris was discovered in 2005. When Pluto was born into our consciousness, talkie films were introduced, TV had just been invented and even the very first computer, the “Differential Analyser” had been developed.

The mass media appears to give us more awareness of what is happening around the world, but negatively it is used for propaganda, mind control and consumer manipulation. Advertising became more prevalent after Pluto’s discovery. Naming this tiny, frozen and isolated planet after the God of the Underworld was appropriate since the 1930’s was an era of gangsters, the great depression and brought the rise of Hitler’s Nazi party.

The Neutron was discovered in 1932, so advancements in nuclear physics also gave us the ability to destroy ourselves with the atomic bomb. Pluto’s potential is just like that nuclear missile; it takes a very evolved subject to use this power wisely. It also takes courage to stare death in the face and go with Pluto into the inky black unknown.

Pluto is frightening because mostly we resist its wisdom, try to repress it or bury our heads in the sand. All that does is delay the inevitable. That means when the Plutonic demon does come to the surface, it will be all the more putrid, and unpleasant to deal with. Poo! Oh yes, poo. Pluto is all about eliminating..

Most of all the dark lord is best at removing all that hinders our spiritual evolution. Hard Pluto transits are colonic irrigation for the soul. We can use the nice word “transformation”, but Pluto slowly decomposes, so at some point this chemical breakdown is going to stink! This is why we can feel so isolated during a Pluto transit and why Plutonians need to be secretive on occasion. Whatever form the purging takes, it ain’t pretty.

Pluto Discovery Chart

In the discovery chart we have a striking Boomerang Yod, which explains why Pluto is so very driven and focused. Once Pluto locks it’s stare onto a person or a mission it’s 90% in the bag. The Yod pointing at Neptune is apt since Planet number Eight reclaimed Pluto’s “last-stop-in-the-solar-system’s” crown. This outer-limits position does show Pluto’s connection with the occult and spiritualism.

Pluto is pretty much isolated in the 12th house of this chart, but what is interesting is that he is on Wasat the bridge builder that sits between the Gemini twins. This is Pluto’s role helping the dead transit over to the other side. Dark Goddess Lilith is strong on the descendant too and conjunct Mercury which brings out his trickster and seducer side. It is also Pluto’s ability to become invisible or be a master of disguise.

Powering this Yod forward is love. Idealistic, yearning, soulmate love. Venus on Fomalhaut “Secret and passionate love affairs, some restriction in the life, disappointments, easily led astray.” and “The artist or the fanatic; seeing magic in everyday life…to be a dreamer.” This is not really a violent chart, which is perhaps surprising since Pluto is often accused of being ruthless and power hungry. Nature can be violent, but it is not wilfully cruel. Pluto just wants to evolve in the way of natural law. It is primal, raw and puts on no airs and graces.

Ceres conjunct Jupiter are rather smug in the house of hopes and dreams, they are both on Ain in the Hyades. But “The closer you move towards the Hyades, the more pro-active and controlling it gets. Ptolemy likened the stars in the bull’s head to Saturn and in part Mercury, which could make a dark trickster. Aldebarancan get itself into sexual scandal through greed when it is handed to them on a plate, while Hyades scandal comes from going too far with their stalking and obsessions.” This conjunction is very important as can represent a few things. Pluto’s buried treasure, his capacity for vast wealth, or even innocent Persephone as the Kore version of Ceres, cosseted by her father Jupiter.

The Fixed Stars

The Moon is on Zuben Elgenubi which is the unfortunate southern scale of Libra (Which used to be the scorpions claw), “Trouble through opposite sex, wrongful accusations, disgrace, ruin, mental anxiety, loss of relatives, many disappointments, much sickness”

I think this stems from family sorrow and a tainted upbringing since it’s in the fourth house of the father. Saturn ate his son Pluto along with his brother Neptune out of fear they would destroy him. Seems like Pluto gets the raw deal each time, as his other brother Jupiter didn’t get swallowed and Neptune stays the big planet.

Poor Pluto then, the black sheep, the runt of the litter, the bullied one with so much to prove. Pluto loses out on the most obvious, surface bling, but his eventual gains are far richer and profound. You have to dig deep though, hence the Moon at the bottom of the chart. In this chart, I like the way the Yod pierces through the earthly barrier of Ceres/Saturn quincunx Saturn. It is like Saturn vomiting back up Pluto and Neptune, after he was tricked into eating the stone.

The discovery chart has Sun opposite Neptune “They are prime candidates for projection. They seem to attract wounded and troubled partners who seek in them salvation. They may have supremely idealistic expectations in their love life, constantly searching for that perfect soul mate to make them feel whole.” Sun on Enif in Pegasus shows Pluto’s power of resurrection through the compassion and love. The elusive soul mate relationship of Venus opposite Neptune is part of the trigger too.

Love Addiction

It is important to examine the original Babylonian version of the Persephone myth. Two misfits and lonely gods; Eriskhigal (Goddess of the Underworld) and Nergal (God of war and pestilence) fall madly in love and embark on a marathon six-day sex session. After this Nergal deserts Ereshkigal and resurfaces back to the upper gods.

Ereshkigal goes mad with rage because she hasn’t had enough of him. Through reasoning with the Gods (Like Ceres) Eriskhigal manages to negotiate Nergals return. It’s like the Persephone myth roles have been reversed. Both myths imply a sexual rite of passage and an awakening. The grief of abandonment and loss of innocence triggers transformation. Like Persephone, Nergal had to forsake the luxuries of the upper world, his securities and his status.

Visually I think the discovery chart Yod describes all versions of the Persephone myth very well. The Sumarian version has Inanna/Venus descending into the underworld and of course we have Sun conjunct Venus descending across to Neptune. Of course Neptune can be poisons, anesthesia and addictions also. The Yod could even be a great big syringe piercing through the Ceres/Saturn quincunx. Love is the drug here.

That song. “I’ve got you under my skin?” is very Pluto. The Pluto discovery chart looks like carnal penetration. Saturn is on Facies, the penetrating stare of the archer. Cupids arrow? More piercing. Nothing describes the pain of mourning better than daggers through the skin as depicted in Catholic sculptures of saints and the swords cards in the tarot. Penetrating Pluto rules surgery. The first step in healing is often a bloody cut from the surgeon’s scalpel, to take out the festering tumour that is poisoning us.

We are going through a particularly black period on Planet earth so we are experiencing Pluto’s psychic surgery en masse. The dark lord has been retrograding over ruthless Facies at the time of writing (2012) which have made his transits seem like crucifixion rather than resurrection. In 2014 Pluto moves on to more fortunate Nunki in the archers bow and then onto the ancestral loyalty stars of Lyra (2016) after that. Maybe then the secretive one will reveal the heart of pure gold that lurks beneath his steely armour.

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