Pluto in Astrology
Pluto is a dwarf planet that exists on the outer edge of our solar system. Pluto is the farthest planet in our solar system, and it is also invisible to the naked eye. Due to Pluto being so far away from the sun, it is a hidden planet as you do not get to see it. The same can be said for how it represents the qualities in us that are hidden. This is the side to ourselves that we dont usually show to the world.
Depending on how your Pluto is placed, you can either be a person who is incredibly aware of your shadow side, or you can be utterly oblivious to it and not be aware of it at all. For example, I have my moon in conjunction with Pluto. That means that all the darker hidden sides to myself usually get exposed to me through my emotions. With a Moon-Pluto conjunction, I tend to have an immensely increased awareness of what my darker inclinations are, and it is difficult for me to hide this. Depending on how your Pluto is aspected, it will manifest itself in a different area of your life. For example, if your Pluto aspects your Venus, it could be that the Pluto energy manifests itself in your relationships. For each person, it is different depending on how Pluto is aspected in your natal chart.
Pluto can be a difficult planet to understand in astrology, and it took me a long time to fully appreciate its symbolism and what it represents. I had to go through some personal experiences with the energies of this planet in order to understand what it is all about.
Pluto represents the parts of ourselves we aren't aware of, to an extent. What is amazing about this planet is how it shows us how we need to go into the darker sides of ourselves and that we need to get to know our shadow side. We need to unearth it; we need to look into it and explore it for us to uncover and get to our greatest potential and our higher truth.
For example, let's say your inner truth is a gold mine beneath a thick layer of ground and rocks. Pluto represents the struggle you will have to go through in order to dig through and penetrate the thick layer of ground in order to reach the gold mine underneath, which is your ultimate truth. Pluto is the penetrative energy that can get through anything, destroy anything, to eventually reach the bottom, or in this example, the gold mine or inner truth. Without the struggle of having to penetrate through the rocks, without the blood sweat and tears, you will not reach the gold mine at the bottom, which is your ultimate truth. Pluto energy represents a deep intense struggle that you will have to go through to access the truth.
For some people, this can manifest in different ways. Pluto represents taboo topics, but the reason for this is that in a lot of cases, people need to discover these taboo topics for them to learn about and discover themselves. For example, Pluto represents sexuality. It also represents death and rebirth. With a strong aspected Pluto, a person will have to go through many transformative sexual experiences for them to discover themselves, especially if Pluto is placed in Scorpio. Without these transformative sexual experiences, it can be difficult for the natives to discover themselves, where they belong, how to connect, and what their ultimate purpose is. Pluto also represents the occult, and in many cases, people need to learn the teachings of the occult to find themselves. Without the guidance of these esoteric teachings, it can be difficult for a person to find the right direction they need to find themselves.
Pluto is a planet that represents destruction, and where it is placed in a natal chart, you will experience a lot of destruction in that area of your life. It will be like some kind of death and rebirth cycle. Like the Phoenix, in this area of your life, you will go through struggles and hardships just to be born again and to rise above your circumstances. A person with Pluto in the second house will accumulate a lot of wealth and money into their life; they will have a lot of disposable cash until, at some point in their life, this income is cut off from them. They have no more access to cash, they cannot live the lifestyle they used to live, and they have to transform and recreate themselves in terms of how they spend their money and how they value themselves.
Pluto can show a lot of the darker elements of the human personality in a natal chart. It can represent where emotions such as jealousy, hatred, obsession, anxiety, worry, and isolation present itself in a native. The native must learn to improve and better themselves through these negative emotions. If the native experiences jealousy, they need to learn to find their ultimate inner value, self-value, and self-worth, that cannot be affected or afflicted by the external environment, circumstances, or another person. Through the negative mention of jealousy, they will learn to transform themselves and become stronger. Pluto encourages taking something negative and turning it into something positive.
Pluto tends to change you at your core. When you experience an event or experience due to a Pluto transit, it will change the person you are. When there are transits with Pluto in relation to the planets in your natal chart, that is when you will go through the most relevant transformative periods in your life.
We all know the saying, "the truth will set you free." That is basically how Pluto operates. It is the inner truth inside yourself that you do not want to accept, that you are scared to show to the world, scared to expose, however, Pluto is that truth that will eventually set you free from the barriers, bars, and constraints you create for yourself. When you can shine a light onto your shadow side, when you can shine a light onto your darker side, that is when you make everything as to who you are at your true essence known, when you make your authentic self known, and you do not need to hide anything anymore. This is when you can operate at your ultimate form.
Wherever Pluto is present in your natal chart, it will bring a sense of "I need to hide this." If Pluto is in your 4th house, you could've had some negative experiences in your childhood or early life, and because of this, you do not expose this side of yourself. You will not share anything about your childhood to anyone, as this is an aspect to yourself that you keep hidden because you might be fearful of exposing it. Wherever Pluto is manifested, it will be an aspect of yourself that you will keep secret.
Negative keywords for Pluto are: abuse, compulsions, dark drives, darkness, death, decay, destruction, elimination, and endings.
Positive keywords for pluto are: evolving, rebirth, the courage to face the darkness, and power focused on self-transformation.
Finding your natal Pluto placement can help you to understand how you need to change and evolve certain aspects of your life for you to develop and transform into the person you need to become.