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Pluto Enters Aquarius: March 23, 2023!

February 2023

Surface of Pluto

In the past two Kali Rose Spirit New Moon Astro Chats, we have been looking at the very momentous transit of Pluto into Aquarius. This transit is the biggest highlight of 2023! 

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In March and April of this year, we will be getting a taste of Pluto in Aquarius which represents a major seismic shift for humanity. We won’t see it instantly and all at once! Pluto's work in Aquarius will be a gradual transition that occurs over a 20 year period.

 

Still, we’re likely to experience a trigger event or events in the months of March and April 2023 while Pluto takes its first pass over 0º Aquarius. On May 1st, Pluto will drift back into Capricorn, but by then, we should have a distinct idea of the flavor of the next 20 year period in which Pluto will reside in Aquarius. Pay close attention to the events in your life as well as on the societal plane at this time - they are offering you clues!

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What does Pluto in Aquarius signify? Let’s look at the signature energies of Pluto and of Aquarius to get a clear picture.

 

We will start with Pluto….

Pluto has a very long orbit and hasn’t been in Aquarius for 248 years! We have never experienced this energy in our lifetime and neither has anyone else alive on the earth today. Pluto spends roughly 20 years in each sign and will reside in Aquarius until 2044. Astrologers have an idea of what Pluto’s energy in Aquarius looks like based on the archetypes of this planet and this sign. We can also look to history to get an idea of the effects of Pluto transiting in Aquarius by looking at its last passage through this sign.

 

Pluto is an outer planet. Astronomers now consider it a dwarf planet. In astrology, it's not relevant whether it’s classified as a planet or a dwarf planet. Everything we can see moving in the sky (with the naked eye or with a telescope) is considered a planet in astrology - this includes the Sun and the Moon which are known as the luminaries. Pluto was discovered by astronomers with high-powered telescopes in 1930. It’s out in the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune with lots of other friends - small and often oddly shaped dwarf planets, asteroids, etc. 

 

We have a better idea of what Pluto and his friends look like thanks to the NASA New Horizons space craft that capture the color-enhanced image above. Pluto has a complex geological and climatological story that scientists have only just begun to decode. You can explore NASA's fascinating high resolution image and all its details here.

 

As a group, Pluto and friends are known as the KBO’s (Kuiper Belt Objects) or the TNO’s (Trans Neptunian Objects). 

Pluto is one of the largest objects in the Kuiper Belt and was the first to be discovered. Many more objects have been discovered since and likely will continue to be discovered as technology for space exploration continues to improve. In astrological terms, the discovery and mapping of the KBO's is giving us new insights into human consciousness and the evolution of the human race here on Earth.

 

Pluto was named after the God of the Underworld, also known as Hades in Greek mythology. Pluto, is actually not the Roman name for Hades, as many people think! Pluto was a Greek epithet meaning ‘giver of wealth’. This was a much more positive aspect of the God of the Underworld who is otherwise known as the ruler of the dead. It was basically a euphemistic name for a god that most people were terrified of but it also points to Pluto’s transformative nature that initiates new life beyond death, life being the ultimate wealth.

 

After defeating the old gods - the Titans - the three sons of Kronos (Saturn): Zeus (Jupiter), Pluto and Poseidon (Neptune) divided up their newly conquered territory into three domains. Zeus got heaven, Poseidon ruled the waters, and Pluto the Underworld - the place where people go after death. (And, in case you were wondering, the Earth is the domain of Gaia, the most ancient mother goddess, who preceded them all. No one was going to mess with Mother Nature's dominion!

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Pluto was fairly lonely as ruler of the Underworld. Other gods and goddesses couldn’t go there to visit generally unless granted special powers like Hermes (Mercury) who was one of the few gods who could travel back and forth. Mercury was a son of Jupiter and tasked with the job of delivering messages from the other realms to Pluto.

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Pluto is best known for his abduction of Persephone. She was the sweet and innocent maiden goddess of spring. Although Pluto overpowered Persephone’s will by abducting her (and in some versions of the myth it is hinted that he overpowered her sexually as well), Pluto also offered the naive young girl empowerment as the Queen of the Underworld. This story demonstrates Pluto's immense capacity to both take and to grant power.

 

Pluto, the planet, takes on all of the attributes of its namesake god:

  • Death

  • Power and empowerment, including sexual power

  • Great wealth (all sources of wealth come from under the ground - precious metals like gold and silver, diamonds and jewels, oil, and, in Greek times grain -the greatest asset of the community that promised continuation of life - was stored in silos underground as well.)

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It is important to recognize that death was not viewed, as we tend to think of it today, as an end or a finality. The Greeks and Romans (and really virtually all ancient cultures) considered death to be a gateway or a point of transformation. Therefore, in astrology, Pluto is the transformer and evolver of the chart, both for the individual soul, and for humanity. Pluto’s intense transformative power moves us forward to new levels of consciousness. He doesn’t let us stay in our comfort zone.

His transformative action often comes through major life events that are hard and painful. 

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Jumping back to Pluto entering Aquarius next month on March 23rd, we can see that Pluto will bring transformation in this sign. There will be a power shift in this area. So, next we need to consider the themes of Aquarius. What is it that Pluto will be transforming while in that sign for the next 20 years?

 

Aquarius is the 11th sign of the Zodiac. It’s also called the ‘Water Bearer’. It has a very complex mythological heritage but has frequently been misrepresented in New Age pop culture which refers to a rosy ‘Age of Aquarius’ that is all brotherly love, peace, and harmony. Although in keeping with Aquarius’s idealistic vision, this is a major oversimplification that overlooks Aquarius’s shadow altogether.

 

Unfortunately, we’re not on the cusp of a sudden shift into the golden age, a liberal and progressive paradise of freedom and equality! We are however in the early stages of the Age of Aquarius. Astrologers vary widely in their opinions on when that age actually began or will begin (it's not necessarily the entrance of Pluto into Aquarius, there are plenty of other theories) but everyone pretty much agrees that we are on the cusp of the new age. It’s important to recognize that ages are very long periods of time from the human perspective - roughly 2000 years. Pluto in Aquarius for the next 20 years is only a tiny piece of it.

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We are not about to see the end of all corruption and abuse of power in the world. That’s a much too idealistic vision. We’re going to see some big shifts, but the ideals will have to be grounded into reality and the end product will undoubtedly have its faults and imperfections. Such is life on Planet Earth.

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What Aquarius truly represents is the need to reform society and work together in friendship to create freedom. Although Aquarius’s idealistic vision allows it to make fantastic theories and plans for change, it's not necessarily grounded in reality. Big ideas are often great on paper ,but are never going to work out in real life! Additionally, Aquarius isn’t as objective as it thinks it is and it can get caught up in group think and fanaticism.

 

As Pluto enters Aquarius, we can expect a strong desire for reform and revolution to grow. This will be especially true in the areas of societal organization, science, and technology. As this period progresses, the world will see both social and technological revolution. It remains to be seen what that will look like exactly. It’s too soon to know. But, it's fair to say that it won’t be a blissful time when all of humanity holds hands, singing and dancing together with flowers in our hair and golden sunlight streaming down upon us! That’s just not Pluto’s way and it's not the nature of reality here on earth either. That’s an Aquarian dream. Pluto is here to ground that dream into reality. We will see an evolution of humanity but it will come at a cost. Pluto doesn't give anything away for free.

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We’re going to face some really hard stuff over the next 20 years as a society and as a species. We need to be big picture Aquarian thinkers and remember that all the effort and pain will not be for nothing. It is the vision of a better future that will carry us through and keep us from buckling under Pluto’s pressure.

 

In Aquarius, Pluto will be bringing transformation to collective consciousness.  Aquarius is concerned with freedom and we will begin to see power shifting away from top down structures and becoming more flattened with more equality for all people.

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When Pluto was last in the sign of Aquarius, we saw major revolutions - both the American and the French Revolution. We saw the birth of a new method of government, modern democracy, that gave more people power. Not everyone, mind you. Women couldn’t vote, nor could people of color. Slavery was a thing. A big thing and it would be another 80 years before it was abolished in the US! Nevertheless, there was major progress in the 1770’s to 1790’s. 'The people' had more power than ever before.

 

We can imagine that Pluto moving through Aquarius over the next two decades will bring us to a new level of freedom with even more people able to fully participate in governance and more economic equality as well. Though still at infant stages, we are seeing signs of this trajectory already - the Women’s March, MeToo, BLM, economic equality protests - are all examples.

 

We can expect more of these kinds of movements and we can expect them to gain more and more traction. We can also expect to see more egalitarian governments and economic structures emerging in other parts of the world. We have seen a trickle of this already as well - with major protests for economic and/or governance equality in Iran, Peru, UK, New Zealand, South Korea, India, France, and Spain to name just a few. Checkout this really interesting site that tracks major global protests around the world. They have tracked over 400 significant anti-government protests around the world since 2017.

These protests against the status quo have been growing in number, strength, and duration over the past several years and they will continue to do so. 

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Besides shifts in power structure, we are also likely to see major transformational technology advancements in this period of Pluto in Aquarius. AI advancements are likely. ChatGPT is a big one that was just announced publicly in the last few weeks.

Here’s a nice article published on 2/10/23 about ChatGPT if you want to find out more about this extraordinary chatbot with advanced conversational abilities and why it is a significant development for AI. Expect more breakthroughs like this one that will change the way we experience life as human beings. They are going to be coming at us rapidly.

 

Pluto is also really good at revealing secrets and the dark side of things. Corruption will be exposed. This will help us to clarify what we really want from government (social organization) and also from science and technology. 

 

The dark side of Aquarius is its coldness. Aquarius is air energy. It has no sense of the physical, i.e. the body, or of human emotion. The risk we have before us in this period is a new world order that does not take the physical human body or emotions into account. Or one that is inherently unstable because it doesn’t account for natural order and the reality of human nature. Think of communism, for example. Great idea on paper, not so much in real life. Communism is a perfect example of an Aquarian dream turned into a nightmare.

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The important thing to remember right now is that we all are contributing to the collective continuously through our thoughts, words, and actions. We have the ability to create the world we want by consciously manifesting it. We need to keep our vibes very high in order to bring the best of Aquarius into existence and avoid the potential negative expressions of this energy. We have to hold onto the vision. We have to keep focus on what actually will better the world and human lives. 

Otherwise, we could devolve into the shadow side of Aquarius - fanaticism and technology for technology’s sake that is not beneficial to our species and could even harm us.

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We have to be conscious in our efforts to bring in a better world and not get lost in the weeds creating monstrosities. To do this, approach life with love. Love yourself and love others. That’s the way to achieve the next level of human consciousness, and to evolve the planet.

 

Looking at where Pluto is transiting Aquarius in your own chart will give you an idea of how this energy will impact you most directly - what part of your life is going to really feel the effects, where you'll be transforming. If you aren't quite sure how to read and interpret your own chart and you’re curious, please get in touch with me! We're about to enter the next 20 years of your life! Wouldn't you like to know more about what's in store for you?

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I also encourage you to check out my FREE New Moon Astro Chats on Zoom to discover what themes the new moon will be highlighting for us each month. You can now register for upcoming new Moon Astro Chat's on MeetUp!

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Written by Kelly Kucic. All rights reserved.

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