Rules: Scorpio
Key Words and qualities: Death, rebirth, transformation. The alchemy of desire. All initiations of descent into the Underworld. All things that are unseen: death, sex, spirits, ancestors. All that was sacred in the ancient world and that has become taboo in the modern.
Color: Intense blue-green
Metal: Plutonium
Physical body affinity: Sexual organs
Length of time to orbit: 248 years. Because of its elliptical orbit, it ranges in time per sign of 11 to 32 years.
Way of honoring: Releasing control. Feeling comfortable with not knowing. Remembering that anyone who was anyone in the ancient, mythological world had to make an initiatory descent to the Underworld. Restoring to sacredness that which was sacred and has now become taboo.
Shadow, when not honored: Exploring the taboo, but forgetting to restore it to sacredness. Forgetting that mere intensity does not necessarily make something or someone interesting. Obsession.
Pluto is the powerful transformer of your life. It burns away the conditioned voice of family and society that limits our vision of what is possible for us and for the world. It takes you down to the deepest part of yourself, encompassing emotional fears, abuse, fear of death, and the darker areas of sexuality.
From earliest childhood, many of us feel that we have a mission. We may not always be clear as to what that mission is, but the feeling that we have one is a constant companion. The degree to which Pluto is conscious in our lives or in our charts corresponds to the strength of that force or feeling.
There is scientific controversy over whether or not Pluto should continue to be classified as a planet (due to its small size). When you have a Pluto transit across another planet in your natal chart, you will feel like a volcano has erupted in your life. So, most astrologers agree that Pluto is a planet! A Pluto transit can knock you back with overwhelming intensity and usually comes in three phases. The first one shows itself as a disruption of your outer world, this is the catalyst for your trip into the Underworld where Pluto resides. Phase two, is a period of not-knowing. With your world turned upside down, it’s difficult to know where your path lies. Releasing the need to know is what this stage requires of you. Phase three, is the rediscovery of your remembered mission for this life and your re-dedication to it.