With the second re-ingress of Pluto into Aquarius this week, I thought I would collate some of my previous thoughts on this big shift into one article. 

We had an 82-day glimpse into the life of Pluto in Aquarius last year as it entered into the water bearer’s domain on 23 March 2023, stationed Retrograde on 2 May 2023 before it retreated back into Capricorn on 11 June 2023. During this time, the slow-moving Pluto only managed to travel 21 longitudinal minutes of Aquarius, so it’s clear that we’ve only just touched the sides of the Pluto in Aquarius story. Nevertheless, this 82-day, 21 minute instalment gave us a few clues into the seismic shifts we’re in for.

Just for context, Pluto is the slowest moving planet that Astrologers observe in the conventional suite of planets. A day on Pluto equates to around six and a half days on earth. It takes around 248 years for Pluto to orbit the Sun, meaning that this will be the only time in your lifetime that you will experience Pluto moving into Aquarius. In a typical lifetime, you will generally only experience Pluto changing signs about four or five times. Therefore, this shift into Aquarius can mark a new chapter coming forth in your life.

Some reflections on Pluto’s past few ingresses

In 2008, Pluto moved into Capricorn and catapulted the world into a global financial crisis. We’re only just finishing that chapter now, but looking back it’s easy to see how the Capricorn-ruled big banks, corporations, governments and organisational frameworks were shattered by Pluto’s influence.

Between 1995 to 2008, Pluto’s ingress into Sagittarius began a new chapter that disrupted the normally stable terrain of this Jupiter-ruled sign usually known for its values towards peace, unity, cross-cultural exchanges, morality and travel. During its tenure here, Pluto’s influence produced major shifts in the airline industry, saw some major legal cases unfold (ie. Clinton/Lewinski, OJ Simpson), civil wars and ethnic cleansings. In fact, W. Joseph Campbell wrote a book about it, “1995: The Year the Future Began”. (not The Joseph Campbell, but a writer and professor of media studies).

In 1983 Pluto entered Scorpio and stayed until 1995. The Cold War ended along with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, European communism, Yugoslavia and apartheid. Mars, planet of war, rules the secretive water sign of Scorpio and when Pluto entered here, we saw major developments in submarine innovations such as stealth operation, nuclear propulsion and missile technologies.

Prior to this between 1971-1984, Pluto entered Libra, a sign known for relationship management. During this period, the liberation movement of women’s gender equality built momentum post the 60’s revolutions that opened up discussions around sexuality, contraception and reproductive rights. Pluto seems to shatter the themes of the signs it travels through and the increase of divorce rates and the rise of single parent families during this period makes sense given Libra is normally associated with rites of marriage and conventional partnerships. Even dating norms were changed during this time as it became more acceptable to date outside of one’s social and cultural circles.

Looking back gives us some clues as to what to expect for Pluto’s ingress into Aquarius this century. In 2024, Pluto will be spending 226 days in Aquarius giving us a longer opportunity to experience this transit following the first instalment in March to May 2023. You may find some resonance between the events and sentiments of March to May 2023 reflected this year as Pluto traverses back over the same minutes of Aquarius.

Some Pluto in Aquarius insights from consultation work

In my consulting space, I experienced the muse of Pluto in Aquarius play out in my clients’ lives.  The key themes ranged from major upheaval to encounters with death to facing one’s personal intrinsic power.

In terms of upheavals, I mainly noticed this on the inner worlds of clients  in 2023. There seemed to be huge ideological shifts occurring that shook the containers of safe, secure living. The breaking of old habits, forced or self-motivated, along with stagnant relationship patterns being resolved was a key theme. All of a sudden it seemed, things became intolerable. 

Sometimes, unsettled tensions were instigated from external situations, like abusive working relationships or financial issues. But the core purpose I noticed was to eliminate a very calcified slate for a new beginning it seemed, and helping my clients to reframe the upheaval in this way was part of the process of healing. Coming to terms with a necessary ideological, emotional or spiritual death was apparent.

Sometimes, real encounters with death, morbidity and longevity were heard. Personally I experienced a death of a good friend. Though he passed after Pluto returned to Capricorn, the intensity of coming to terms with his imminent end and the support required earlier in the year was real. 

It was also the themes that surrounded death that were obvious – considerations like ‘how will I support myself when I’m older?’, superannuation, mortgages and longer term succession plans were discussed. And if it wasn’t literal death, there were many cases of endings and closures, made particularly difficult because of the long, drawn out nature of the topic itself. The idea of regenerating oneself from the ground up, be it physical, emotional, spiritual or philosophical was apparent.

Listening to my clients’ stories, I got the sense that Pluto doesn’t necessarily bring death, but instead, takes you to the edge where you can experience both life and death in a very visceral way. My clients stood on the boundary between the two worlds and some noticed the peaceful and powerful potentials of this, while others gripped their toes with fear and trepidation. Perhaps this also led to the themes of health and longevity that I noticed. New ideas, trends and trials to support physical and mental health was a more positive observation.

I also noticed that clients were involved in digging into old and ancient topics. I’m not sure whether this has something to do with Pluto’s moving back into the last degrees of Capricorn, but certainly themes of ancient wisdoms, ancestral explorations, journeying into the deeper, more unconscious aspects of the Self was a thing.

In my lecture, Winners & Losers: Assessing Planetary Strength, given at the Kepler College World Astrology Day event, I presented the example of Georges Cuvier, the ‘Father of Paleontology’, and Graham Hancock, author and researcher of ancient civilisations. 

Cuvier became interested in natural history during the time Pluto went into Aquarius in 1777-78 which eventually led him to a prominent career in Paleontology. His works around extinction theory was controversial at the time, which opposed Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution which was the accepted model of species development. Cuvier believed that major catastrophes occurred throughout history which completely wiped out entire populations of animals and he used this theory to explain the differences of fossils he found at varying stratas of the earth.

As Pluto entered into Aquarius in 2023, Hancock was in the spotlight again for his controversial Netflix docuseries, Ancient Apocalypse. He too argued that major catastrophes wiped out entire populations, this time of people. Hancock’s research is unpopular amongst current archeologists, claiming that his works are phoney and pseudo science.

Interesting that both men touched by the influence of Pluto in Aquarius were considered heretics of their time and caused outrage to their fields (Aquarius) while focussed their work on catastrophism (Pluto) and the evolution of species (Pluto in Aquarius). It also shares sentiments to themes I observed in my client work in terms of (emotionally) digging into the past and unearthing something. Both Cuvier and Hancock were interested in physical excavations.

Some local mundane issues

I’m not a mundane astrologer so for a more comprehensive study into the geopolitical implications of Pluto in Aquarius, the works of Chris Brennan, Nick Dagan Best, Dan Waites, Peter Burns and Gordon White are good places to start.

However, being located in Australia, I found  that the three Pluto in Aquarius events over the past 750 years speaks of an interesting story about Colonialism.

In 1533, Queen Elizabeth I was born with Pluto in Aquarius. She led England to a colonial conquest around the world, claiming many countries for the British Commonwealth.

In 1788 when Pluto next moved into Aquarius,  the First Fleet of convicts arrived in Australia to relieve English goals of overcrowding. This was the beginning of colonisation for the Indigenous Peoples of Australia – their lives and culture as they knew it changed forever.

In 2023, on the day Pluto entered Aquarius, a referendum was announced for Austrlians to vote to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Constitution through an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

The Australian Referendum Vote for Indigenous Voices was held on the exact day of the South Node Libran Eclipse in October 2023 and Pluto by this stage, had returned to Capricorn and was in its powerful Stationing Direct phase, making a close square to the Nodes and Mars. The entire campaign leading up to the vote was highly criticised for the lack of information and clarity provided on the referendum and that the vote was planned on the day of the eclipse, it seemed doomed anyway. It was a day of sadness where no one felt equality was served on each side of the argument with the draining South Node at the Libran scales of justice. Rather, what resulted was a lot of anger, frustration and division (North Node in Aries) amongst the community and the resurfacing of deep wounds of wars, tribalism, invasion and colonialism (Chiron conjunct North Node in Aries).

Now that Pluto is re-entering the same space where the Referendum was announced last year, it will be interesting to see whether new developments in indigenous affairs will be announced, not least, some closure or resolution for the Australian community.

Transits of Pluto in 2024

Looking forward to this year, the transits of planets made to Pluto will define the Pluto in Aquarius story this time around. As you can see in the list below (which excludes monthly transits to the Moon), Pluto will make aspects with the inner personal planets only this year, suggesting a year of personal acclimatisation to the conditions of this transit.

I’ll be writing about these transits in my weekly news as they unfold (which you can subscribe to here), but it’s interesting to note the Mars-Pluto aspects as they occur throughout the 0 degree point of your fixed signs in your natal chart as this could suggest rather explosive releases. Check out these places in your chart to see what areas of life might need some extra spaciousness this year and start making plans as the first one is less than a month away on Valentines Day. Book a consultation if you need an update with your chart.

Another interesting time to note is in July when Venus makes her Heliacal Evening Rise whilst making an opposition to Pluto. This could dredge up the Venus Retrograde in Leo themes from July – September 2023 for your attention. Worthwhile checking out which axis these Aquarius-Leo signs fall upon to prepare for some reflective work around relationship issues, personal values, sexuality themes, vulnerabilities and subtle power dynamics. Given that Venus’ evening half will have commenced at 14 degree Gemini, the 11th place from Leo, Venus may be looking to resolve her themes with the idea of moving forward towards a better future.

• 14 Feb – Mars conjunct Pluto
• 17 Feb – Venus conjunct Pluto
• 1 May – Venus square Pluto
• 17 May – Mercury square Pluto
• 11 Jun – Mars square Pluto
• 3 Jul – Mercury opposite Pluto
• 13 Jul – Venus opposite Pluto
• 23 Jul – Sun opposite Pluto
• 23 Sep – Venus square Pluto
• 14 Oct – Mercury square Pluto
• 3 Nov – Mars opposite Pluto
• 8 Dec – Venus conjunct Pluto

In summary…

Pluto in Aquarius speaks to the theme of our human evolution. Through destruction, reform and the breaking down of outdated narratives, a paradigm shift will be experienced by the collective. The next 20 years will see a step change in what it means for us to be human, at every level – from our ideologies, to our technologies and our lifestyles. The shifts you’re currently undergoing (or the life that you’re resisting the change in) are here to stay – so the real question is, how comfortable are you with holding this space for the next 20 years?

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See you next Sunday for the next installment of planetary news.

Shu xx