Pluto

Pluto is a dwarf planet, which was previously recognized as the outermost planet in our solar system, and was discovered less than 100 years ago in 1930. Pluto takes 248 years to completely transit the zodiac signs with an eccentric orbit offset from the ecliptic line of the Sun, which leads to a portion of its cycle being closer to the Sun than Neptune. Because of this the planet spends a varying length in each sign, anywhere from 12 years in Scorpio to 32 years in the opposing sign of Taurus. 

Ever since 2023 we have been in the throes of the transit of Pluto from Capricorn and into Aquarius. Pluto first entered Capricorn in January 2008, right after the US began an economic recession in December of 2007. Before that Pluto had spent roughly 13 years in Sagittarius. Sagittarius is associated with interconnected economic markets and is ruled by Jupiter, the planet of luck and expansion. Pluto on the other hand represents power and brings complete death that ends in transformation. 

As Pluto lends its energy to a sign during transit, the sign itself is empowered. This starts as the lower levels with the earliest degrees and moves to the uppermost levels in the highest degrees of the sign. As power became concentrated amongst the banks peddling predatory financial products the credit risk spiked. Pluto danced between Sagittarius and Capricorn from January to November 2008, during the Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy and the bank bailouts, settling in Capricorn right as Barack Obama was elected President. As Pluto moved out of its retrograde shadow in Capricorn the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act was enacted under the philosophy that the decrease in public spending had to be supplemented by government spending. These early degrees of Pluto in Capricorn also saw the creation of the Tea Party Movement. 

Now, Pluto has been treading back and forth between Capricorn, a sign associated with social order and governmental regulations, and Aquarius which is associated with personal freedom, communal awareness through shared perspective, and humanitarian actions. On Sunday September 1st Pluto moves back into Capricorn for the last time, only retrograding as far back as the last 21 seconds of the 29° of Capricorn, breaking down and causing a complete release in the highest echelons of government and organization leadership. On November 19th Pluto will move into Aquarius, where it will spend the next 20 years.  

Pluto in the Signs

You will find that I only ascribe the traditional rulership of the Chaldean plants to signs, as they are the planets that are visible from Earth with the human eye. However, modern astrology assigns planetary rulership of Scorpio to Pluto. While I can not agree to outer dwarf planets ruling a zodiac sign that is defined by the Solar and Lunar ecliptic orbit through the galaxy as viewed from Earth, there is a clear affinity between Scorpio and Pluto. This is marked by Pluto spending the shortest amount of time transiting Scorpio, at which point it is the closest to Earth. Apparently the Scorpionic affinity with death and endings takes less time for Pluto to transform.

Pluto is a generational planet with Libra Pluto’s being Gen X, Scorpio Pluto marks the Millennial generation, and Gen Z has Pluto in Sagittarius. While the time a planet spends in each sign is subject to the effect of the transit, each generation carries those lessons and acts with a focus that in many ways completes the mission in our ever evolving world. As Pluto spends a lengthening time in each zodiac sign we will begin to see two and then three generations being born in the signs. 

Time in each Sign 

• Scorpio - 12 years
• Libra, Sagittarius - 13 years
• Virgo, Capricorn - 16-17 years
• Leo, Aquarius - 20-21 years
• Cancer, Pisces - 25 years
• Gemini, Aries - 30 Years
• Taurus - 31-32 years

For insight into how Pluto may present in Aquarius and what that means for the other signs please subscribe to our Sun Cycle Astrology newsletter here: https://www.naturalmagickcoop.com/products/season-cycle-astrology-sun-planet-and-asteroid-meanings