The dwarf planet Pluto moves into Aquarius at 5:23a PDT on 23 March 2023 for the first time since 1778! There will be a little retrograde dance on both ends of Pluto’s time in Aquarius, but Pluto will return to and travel exclusively through Aquarius from 20 January 2024 through 08 March 2043 before it makes its solid move into Pisces on 19 January 2044.
- Pluto in Aquarius: 23 March 2023 to 11 June 2023
- Pluto begins retrograde motion: 01 May 2023
- Pluto re-enters Capricorn: 11 June 2023 to 21 January 2024
- Pluto returns to direct motion: 10 October 2023
- Pluto re-enters Aquarius: 21 January 2024 to 02 September 2024
- Pluto begins retrograde motion: 02 May 2023
- Pluto re-enters Capricorn: 02 September 2024 to 19 November 2024
- Pluto returns to direct motion: 12 Oct 2024
- Pluto solid in Aquarius: 19 November 2024 to 08 March 2043
- Pluto enters Pisces: 09 Mar 2043
- Pluto begins retrograde motion: 01 Jun 2043
- Pluto re-enters Aquarius: 01 Sep 2043 to 12 Nov 2043
- Pluto returns to direct motion: 12 Nov 2043
- Pluto re-enters Pisces: 19 January 2044
For those of us who are Pluto watchers, you’ll notice that Pluto’s time in each sign is starting to increase again. That’s because we’re moving out of the “faster” end of Pluto’s elliptical orbit (Leo-Capricorn) and gradually getting back to the “slower” end (Aquarius-Cancer). The time Pluto spends in each sign ranges from 12 years to 30 years, so if you’re currently under the age of 14, you may only get to experience three or four Pluto transits (Pluto in four or five signs) in your lifetime as opposed to our elders currently living, some of whom will be experiencing up to SEVEN Pluto transits (and eight Pluto sign positions) (!!!) in their lifetimes – the eldest of them being born into Pluto in Cancer, many of these elders will likely pass on during Pluto in Aquarius.
Pluto will spend approximately 20 years in the sign of Aquarius.
Pluto represents power/empowerment, influence, control, manipulation, impact, destruction, and transformation. That latter word gets used a lot lately, but often erroneously.
That’s because the process of transformation is the experiencing of a death in order to enable a near-total rebirth. The old form cannot remain – it must become something new. Think caterpillar to butterfly – from a worm-like creature with legs to building a chrysalis around itself, to dissolving into goo within that chrysalis, to that goo somehow knowing how to form into a different being with a body and wings, to realizing its new form is growing too large to stay inside the chrysalis, and eventually busting itself out of the chrysalis to fly into the world as a new being.
The thing with transformation is that it’s a scary process. Many of us don’t know what we’ll turn into once we allow ourselves to go into the chrysalis. Our fear may have us trying to control how we go into it or trying to control others around us for fear they may set our personal transformation into motion before we’re “ready”. Some of the people around us will go into their transformations, and we may find our relationships with them strengthening or dissolving. Some of us may even use our power or influence with others to try to convince them to undergo the process so (we think) we won’t have to. Yet the experience we resist most is the experience we must have – allowing ourselves to be reborn.
We’re often afraid to die, even if it’s a symbolic or ego death. We fear it even if we understand that if we don’t allow ourselves to be transformed, we will die anyway… but likely without the benefit of experiencing our rebirth in our current incarnation. And that’s the craziest part of it all! Some of us may not choose to step into our transformative power in our lives, and we may very well lose our actual lives as result of our fear.
Transformation is an essential part of our personal journeys, allowing ourselves to learn how powerful we can be, to learn what we are capable of through use of that power, and to grow in our ability to use our capabilities. Part of that learning and growing process is allowing ourselves to shed what no longer serves us along the way. We must let go of what holds back our transformation and the development of our power. We must release what’s keeping us from flying.
To that point, Aquarius is fixed air energy. This may sound like a paradox, but think about being in room without windows or doors open (stagnant air) or living in a vacuum (no air at all). The key to making the greatest good of Aquarian energy is to actually step outside of your intellectual and communicative status quo – to step outside of the box and discover different ideologies and different ways of expressing yourself as an individual in collaboration with others to create something greater than any of the collaborators involved could create on your own.
Maintaining one’s individuality within the group context is extremely important if not an essential part of experiencing Aquarius energy. Otherwise, Aquarius can lead to you or others quickly and easily into closed-minded beliefs and stagnant thinking when you don’t move outside your community or don’t engage with people who think, act, and/or look different than you do. “Group think” can be a dangerous development in these situations because there may not be any truly original or creative ideas, only a recycling of what has come before. We’re seeing this to some degree already – unnecessary sequels, remakes, copies, etc. “Everything old is new again”, even though nothing is really new. We have to put forth effort to bring about change, and effort requires responsibility.
Once someone takes responsibility for their individual journey through the world and has the courage to step outside the box of “normalcy” or institutional acceptance, Aquarius can bring innovative, progressive, and/or completely original thought – the innovators, inventors, eccentrics – the trailblazers of our communities and societies – these are the free-thinking and creatively-conscious individuals who have been and are continuing to be exposed to a variety of ideas and experiences, and are coming into their own understanding of themselves, their communities, the world, and humanity itself as result. These are the people who inspire the rest of us to lift ourselves up and lift others with us as we rise to bring about large-scale changes in our world. In this way, Aquarius represents the collective voice of humanity, presented through collaborative efforts of many unique individuals fully expressing themselves to create something together that none of them could do alone, for the greatest good of all involved and possibly for the greatest good of us all.
The ruling planet of Aquarius in traditional astrology is Saturn, and in that context, Aquarius represented the child intellectually testing the authority of the father only to discover that in order to distinguish themselves from their father, they must separate from the father and take responsibility for themselves. In modern astrology, Aquarius’ ruling planet is Uranus, which interestingly enough, was discovered the last time Pluto was traveling through Aquarius – in 1781. Uranus, the eccentric planet with its unusual “vertical” rotation, stands out from the rest, perfectly reflecting Aquarius’ eccentric individual role in the Zodiac.
With the planet and sign energies together, Pluto in Aquarius reveals the transformation and evolution of humanity and/or the ways of the world as humanity perceives them to be. This dynamic will especially be the case in matters of power and influence amongst various factions of humanity. This is why history proves Aquarius Pluto periods to be times of evolutions and revolutions. In fact, it should be noted that this energy could be labeled as an “empire killer”, having been in effect when Roman Emperor Nero’s regime began to fall to Christianity in 65 AD; when Henry VIII separated England from the Roman Catholic Church in 1533; when the British were finally defeated by what is now the United States in 1783 (thought the revolution began in 1775); when the French working class successfully revolted against Louis XIV and the bourgeoise/wealth classes in 1789-1799; and when Haiti began its (successful) revolution to gain its independence from France in 1791.
We see a common thread with those historic events in our “modern” societies now – the social class and ideology inequities are growing again. Just as they were during the late 1700s and in times before, there is a growing chasm between the upper/”elite”/owner classes and lower/”commoner”/worker/labor classes which lends itself to the people rising up to level the playing field. Social matters such as religion, gender identity, and racism are being used as wedge issues, and though there are legitimate questions is these regards, the main issue that seems to topple the powers-that-be every few hundred years are rooted in class inequality and the fight for fundamental human rights and simple human dignity and respect for individual freedoms within a collective and collaborative whole.
Pluto in Aquarius will emphasize the stark contrast between the societal structures and institutions we’ve traditionally held and the social organizations and collaborations humanity actually needs now. During Pluto in Capricorn, we got to see how centralized patriarchal leadership styles operate and exert power and influence in our societies and institutions on a number of different levels. Under Pluto in Aquarius, we’ll begin to understand why these leadership styles are decreasing in their effectiveness. Collaboration is increasingly being sought after in creative, societal, business, and political projects – cooperative models in which each party involved is respected in its own individual right and power, and its unique offerings are welcome and encouraged in contribution to a collective goal. Everyone brings to the table something only they can bring, yet everyone involved is made greater and stronger as result. This is a non-competitive model, something that may be very difficult for some people and entities that have built their identities upon competition, comparison, and hierarchy to accept or embrace.
Those who cannot acknowledge and take ownership of and responsibility for their unique and individual gifts and those who cannot work (or play) with others in ways which celebrate the uniqueness and individuality of each and all parties involved in their collaborative efforts will not easily find a place in the emerging greater whole. They may find themselves becoming outcasts… which may lead to those individuals or groups rebelling against the evolving world. Again, Aquarius brings rebellion, and it can bring it both ways – for progress and against progress. Don’t be surprised to see groups fighting for things to remain the same or to go back to the past, just as much as we will see groups fighting for things to change.
Aquarian energy can disrupt closed-mindedness and tradition by rebelling against societal power imbalances or abuses. Aquarian energy has been present when rebellion takes on a mass or popular uprising. Yet that rebellious nature can also be seen in individuals who feel they’re not able to express their unique or original selves in contribution to their community, organization, or to humanity-at-large. They may start their rebellion alone, but it’s not uncommon for it to grow. Sometimes, an uprising may even grow into a revolution.
To that point, mass communication is essential; and technology has been and still is the vehicle by which individuals and groups can make themselves seen, heard, known, and understood to as many people as possible. However, the same technology can also be used as a tool to keep people inside their closed ideology or keep them from expanding their minds. It’s in these situations of deception or withholding that one aspect of Aquarian energy tends to surface most strongly – the rebellion factor.
To that point, Pluto in Aquarius also brings forth questions about how humanity will choose to use technology to forward its social and societal agendas. There’s a fine line between convenience and surrendering your freedoms, and an even finer line between privacy and security. You can be certain there will be many debates and decisions which will bring opportunities for us to individually and collectively choose how we apply technology in our lives. It is crucial for each and all of us to understand that the choices we make now about technology’s role in our lives and the existence of humanity will be setting the course for how humanity and technology co-exist for well beyond the next 20 years.
Here’s a list of thoughts and questions we may want to consider as we enter this Pluto in Aquarius period:
- What is the role of humanity in technology? Is humanity using technology to make humans more efficient and effective in their use of time and resource… or does technology have humans surrendering and/or sacrificing their unique and individual talents, skills, and abilities to computers and robots?
- Do humans dictate or determine the role of technology in our society, or do humans want technology to determine their roles?
- How is technology currently being used to dictate/determine how humanity lives?
- How will technology be used in the future to dictate/determine how humanity lives?
- Is technology is being used to control or hold power over people? Will technology be used to exert more power over and/or to impose more controls on humanity as a whole or on certain individuals in particular?
- Will technology be increasingly used to control the movements or behaviors of the whole of humanity in the future?
And back to the process of transformation, during this 20-year period of Pluto in Aquarius, we will witness the transformation of both technology and humanity.
- Which aspects of technology will we see die off during these next 20 years in order for technology to evolve?
- Which aspects of humanity will we see phase out or die off during the next 20 years in order for humanity to evolve?
Because one thing will be crystal clear during this upcoming Pluto in Aquarius period:
Technology can give humanity its wings, but humanity could also clip its own wings with technology.
Beyond the technology, Pluto in Aquarius will also bring questions about how humanity will relate to itself. Will societies and governments become more collaborative and celebrate the unique individuality of each group and/or nation as they work together to create a world that works for everyone; or will there continue to be a world divided or segregated by class, culture, or other characteristics or qualities. This will be a major focus of these next twenty years – to see which global ideology will emerge as the standard, though it seems we are moving toward a multipolar, multicultural world in contrast to the imperialist, unipolar past that has been established and collapsed time and time again.
It would be wise to beware of “the Icarus Complex” – tech development people “flying too close to the Sun” with their enthusiasm for how far they can take technology – how human-like can they make it. Their enthusiasm may make them blind to the fact that once they go too far, they won’t be able to pull back. Sadly, many of these developers will have little to no ethical awareness or practical discipline in what they’re developing until what they’ve created begins to stagnate or detriment humanity. Only when there are consequences that can’t be reversed will the people eager to push technology to equal footing with humanity realize the course they’ve put humanity on.
To that point…
- Is humanity’s use of technology actually holding its humanity back from its own evolution, maybe causing humanity to devolve/regress instead of evolve/progress?
- Are humans using technology to improve the way the world works for everyone, or are they only improving the way the world works for a few?
And ultimately… is humanity replacing itself with its eagerness to replicate itself?
To that point, these next twenty years of Pluto in Aquarius will be a time in which we will determine how the human-created world operates now and forward. The question for this 2023-2044 Pluto in Aquarius period is… who or what will determine the way the world works now and forward, and will the way forward be determined by humans or by the technology they develop? This will be especially interesting when transiting Uranus in Gemini is within trine aspect with the transiting Pluto in Aquarius early on (mid 2025 through late 2026) as I suspect major advances in our development and use of artificial intelligence during this time will be a determining factor. More on this later…
Pluto will exit from Aquarius into Pisces on 19 January 2044.
Thank you for reading and sharing Signs and Numbers. Until next post…
~ Light and Blessings,
Grace
