Ruler of birth, sex, death, power and transformation – dwarf planet Pluto is often referred to as the ‘soul’ of a natal chart. Functioning much like a void or ‘black hole,’ Pluto energy not only connects us to our root chakra (belonging, safety, security) but to Kundalini energy itself, the seat of our creative-erotic life force. While we live in a surface-level world that rewards ‘winners,’ Pluto reflects the infinitely vast subterranean underworld – the realm of demons, devils, monsters and anything we’ve buried. Ask yourself, are you manifesting from love or lack?
Desire churns the world, and whether we are conscious or unconsciously manifesting, we are always in the process of creation. As the ‘higher octave’ of Mars, Pluto is essentially a more potent, refined and transformative version of our Martian warrior drive. While Mars is associated with raw, impulsive action, aggression and desire – Pluto embodies the capacity for deep transformation and change, including one’s ability to confront and overcome destructive patterns. Mars rules anger and Pluto resentment. Aged like fine wine, resentment is fermented anger turned against the self – poisonous enough to kill, potent enough to inspire evolutionary growth. When one experiences Plutonian energy outwardly as a crisis, loss or stagnation – it is an indication that one has failed to complete the inner work. In this way, Pluto highlights where we are clinging and where we need to let go – surrendering outworn beliefs, habits and patterns in an ongoing process of rebirth and regeneration.
Corresponding to archetypes of the scholar, alchemist, researcher and detective; Pluto is ‘The Hermit’ card in Tarot. Pluto people are true loners in the deeply generative sense of having the ability to focus powerfully on their goal and see it through to completion. In myth, we associate Pluto with the creator/destroyer power embodied in Hindu deities Shiva and Kali. In the West, we have the Pluto-Persephone myth associated with the threshold between winter death and spring rebirth. In my BEAUTYSCOPE on Persephone’s Mother – CERES: NOURISHED or Neurotic? – I explored asteroid Ceres through the zodiac. Her story of loss begins with the kidnapping of her daughter Persephone by Pluto, Lord of the Underworld.
In her rage at the disappearance of her daughter, Ceres retired to her temple where she prepared mankind for a cruel, unbearable year. The Earth would heretofore remain barren, fruit rotting in the trees. Ceres as all-nourishing Mother symbolizing the cultivated, fertile soil that feeds and provides for humanity – her rage left the whole world hungry. Eventually, Zeus stepped in commanding Pluto to release Persephone. With cold and frozen beauty, Persephone had been following her mother’s lead in mourning by waging a hunger strike. Pluto agreed to let Persephone go but first offered her several pomegranate seeds, a symbol of sexual consummation that would render her marriage union with him indissolvable. When Ceres reunited with her daughter only to realize she had in fact been tricked and that Persephone was not really free, she refused to lift her curse on the land.
Ceres, Divine Feminine Goddess of Grain, withdrew her blessings from the world causing plants to die and masses of people to go hungry. Eventually, a compromise was made. Persephone was allowed to spend six months each year above ground with her mother and six in the underworld with Pluto. Plants grew, flowers blossomed, and crops filled the fields once again, only to perish come fall, when Persephone would make her annual descent into Pluto’s hell realm. Metaphorically speaking, Pluto’s rape of Persephone symbolizes the damage done by patriarchal cultures to women, non-white and indigenous peoples whom have always had great reverence for the Earth and all living beings. More broadly speaking, one can envision Persephone’s horrific coming-of-age tale as stages of psychic transformation, aka ‘shadow work.’
Before we get into Pluto placements, let’s talk about the month of May. Before the sex-negativity of religion shamed the masses into betraying the body, our ancestors spent this time of year in festivals of sexual licentiousness. May Day, a pagan European festival of fertility, began at sunrise, when young girls would go out in the pre-dawn hours to wash their faces in dew, considered to be fortifying as well as beautifying. Celebrated as ‘Floralia’ by the Romans, ‘Walpurgisnacht’ by the Teutons, ‘Whitsuntide’ by the Dutch and ‘Beltane’ by the Celts – May Day was originally held in honor of the trees and their mistresses, the virgin vegetation goddesses. Old Europe’s May Day festivals began with great public gaiety and ended in orgiastic display. Marriage vows were temporarily forgotten during this ‘honey month,’ when lovers were allowed to copulate freely in the woods and fields, fertilizing the soil and each other, sharing a fervent participation in the regenerative magic of the Earth. This custom continued well into the twentieth century in the practice of leaving May baskets filled with flowers and sweets and rhyming love verses at the door of one’s beloved at dusk. It is no wonder that the puritan Anglo-Saxon Protestant fathers were deeply offended by the Maypole ceremony with its not-so-subtle sexual connotations.
Annual festival rituals centered around romantic devotions to the nubile goddesses of spring, Flora, Walpurga and Maia, for whom this month is named. Maia can be traced back to Maya, the pre-Vedic mistress of perceptual reality who was the virgin mother of the Buddha. This connection comes full circle in the awareness that the annual Flower Moon in Scorpio (falling on May 12th this year) coincides with ‘Vasek,’ the festival of the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death. Meanwhile, her descendant, Mary, the Blessed Virgin Mother of God, has also been named patroness of the month of May, which the early church dedicated to her. And while it might be enticing to envision ourselves singularly as the all-nourishing Mother Ceres or ageless maiden Persephone, astrology is not about hanging personal identity on one consistent hook, even if the predominance of popular sun-sign astrology seemingly assists us in that regard.
Rather, Pluto energy calls us to the center of the void – where we dance with the devil, reclaiming his shadows as our own in order to conquer the insidious ego and gratify the soul’s urge toward endless rebirth. As one of the most demonized of archetypes (he is the Western world’s first rapist) Pluto’s misdeeds blow-the-whistle on the violence against women which has permeated every age and culture since the onset of patriarchy. And yet, when we work with this archetype not as the victim of our circumstances, but in terms of what we can discover within ourselves, we begin the inner alchemical work that sets us on the path of the phoenix. As you read on for your personalized astro-insights, keep in mind this is not your typical sugar and spice BEAUTYSCOPE! TRIGGER WARNING: Proceed only if you are ready to embark on the descent of the goddess and reclaim the darker aspects of the psyche one has attempted to sweep under the rug of life.
When dwarf planet Pluto was discovered in 1930, it became the co-ruler of Scorpio along with Mars. A sign traditionally ascribed a heavy load of metaphorical mojo, being co-ruled by the Lord of War & Lord of Death, what is less understood is the multifold power of the Scorpio archetype and its totem encompassing several evolutionary checkpoints. At the bottom, we find the stage represented by the scorpion’s deadly stinger (one is ruled by emotions and out for revenge), followed by the vengeful and dangerous lizard. In these lower expressions, there is no such thing as remorse. The native with Pluto problems not only makes each love conquest pay for every violation ever done to them, they subsequently suffer so much guilt that they feel free to do it again. The following stages are the serpent (watch and learn), the wolf (wise and protective) and the soaring eagle (self-aware of one’s power and less destructive soaring above the drama and lower-expressions). Finally, at the top of the totem is the phoenix (healing abilities revealed). At this final stage, deep peace and compassion multiply Scorpio’s unrivaled powers of regeneration.
In Healing the Soul: Pluto, Uranus and the Lunar Nodes, evolutionary astrologer Mark Jones highlights the importance of the language of the soul in our healing journey. Drawing heavily from his book in the astro-insights by house to follow, in this article we’ll explore Pluto as a fulcrum of soul growth. Based on his work at the intersection of spirituality, psychotherapy, hypnotherapy and astrology, Mark Jones calls Pluto our primary agent of healing, what together with the lunar nodes of the moon he terms the ‘Evolutionary Axis.’ Jones writes that in looking more deeply at our suffering – whether depression, despair, anxiety or existential confusion – we begin to rekindle our capacity to see through the nature of the field itself. Pinpointing Pluto as the lynch pin of a chart’s evolutionary axis – the work here involves acknowledging where we cling to the illusions of the solid self, disavowing the multi-dimensional self, of which the consciousness is but one part. The goal rather is to acknowledge the charge of the karmic spiritual body set over many lifetimes. What we call karma is NOT to be misconstrued as punishment and reward. From the soul-growth perspective of the infinite field, karma is simply the nature of who we are mirrored back to us by reality. Likewise our natal chart is a snapshot of our karmic potential held within the greater unified field.
Adopting the term ‘Pluto Complex,’ Jones highlights how the placement of Pluto in a chart by sign and house determines the baseline understanding – the context – of the entire chart. As the Lord of death, regeneration and riches – working with Pluto is about mining for those glittering gems of metaphorical truth (the specific content of the wealth of subterranean wisdom guarded by the walking dead). In other words, to become aware of the immortal soul’s evolutionary instincts. Symbolizing the gravitational pull of the past, Pluto is essentially about our security needs at a subconscious level and the ways we feed or deny them. From this push-pull dynamic of soul growth vs. ego security springs forth the Plutonium paradox of attraction and repulsion, which accounts for the obsessive tendencies of the Plutonian type.
As one’s Pluto Complex emerges into full awareness, the ego shies away from this knowledge of the greater depths of the psyche, creating a subsequent resistance to the very object that we were initially attracted to for the purpose of growth. Our ensnared ego ascribes meaning to the shadows of life, while the soul sees the freedom of change as the ultimate passport to the future. Essentially, it all boils down to the choice between love and fear. Only to the ego does the duality of ego/self, pleasure/suffering and reward/punishment appear to be real. In non-duality, there is no-thing to strive for and no-self to assess. There is nothing to control, only enlightened insight grounded in material reality. To balance out the dramatic pull of our natal Pluto, we must look to the Pluto polarity point (the point of the chart exactly opposite our natal Pluto). The polarity point anchors us into an identification with future evolution and the balancing energies that will help us accelerate growth.
Planet of compost, swamps, sewage and… orgasm?! Speaking of which, in preparation for this piece I had the delight of chatting with founder of She Births Bravely Suzzie Vehrs, a doula and mother of two. Ironically, we don’t often equate motherhood with sexuality, nor with pleasure. And while it is not the center of her work (which you can read all about by scrolling down to Pluto in the 4th), there’s a reason why the French call orgasm la petite mort — ‘the little death.’ When I asked her about so-called orgasmic birth, Suzzie replied:
“Orgasm, delicious, toe curling, deep moaning orgasm, demands total surrender—of the body, of control, of emotional barriers. That loss of control, if fully embraced, can feel like falling into the void, a kind of symbolic death… followed by rebirth. In this surrender, you release all tension, all holding, all will. What follows is often a wave of clarity, peace, or even spiritual renewal. The orgasm is not just pleasure; it’s presence. It’s the moment you stop doing and start being. It pulls you out of the mind. There is no past or future—only now, and you have no capacity to be anywhere else. In deep orgasm, the boundaries of the self begin to blur. Your body isn’t ‘separate’ anymore—it merges with sensation, breath, the other person (if you’re with someone), or even the universe.”
As a certified doula and birth advocate who has served hundreds, Suzzie guides women to embrace the fullest expression of their birthing capacity, toward “Birth as a full expression of life.” That is, “Deeply meaningful, pleasurable, embracing the sensations, fully embodying the act of the creation.” In her work with expectant mothers she is not only ensuring safe passage for the newborn child, but aiding mothers in their personal process of rebirth. “Women who have done this work truly become sovereign. They no longer need to look to their provider for more than their medical needs. They both lose themselves and find themselves in the sacred act of giving birth,” explains Suzzie. Read on to learn more about her work with She Births Bravely.
In the meantime, let’s get back to S-E-X. If sex is the problem, the real issue is often power. Sex used as a hedge against abandonment. Intimacy as a defense against intimacy. In her book Healing Pluto Problems, astrologer Donna Cunningham outlines the dramatic dimensions of the Plutonian archetype inspired by case studies from her therapeutic practice. Cunningham names guilt and resentment the ‘Siamese twins’ of the Plutonian. Guilt being resentment turned inward. Pluto is a sign about control, and when we get involved with power-tripping people, we perceive our own resentment as guilt. For Plutonian people, as with watery types in general, power is often gleaned in less direct (less socially acceptable) ways. EMPATHS to the death, Plutonians often make themselves expandable in the lives of others. Here the means of control is carefully disguised as ‘helping,’ but can easily become emotional blackmail. A guilt trip is still a power trip. Guilt-laden people are usually those who have retreated into infantile dependency we call symbiosis – a classic Pluto pattern. “Guilt is the price we are willing to pay for holding onto a false self-concept while continuing to violate it,” writes Cunningham.
We all have Pluto in our chart somewhere, and depending on where it is by sign and house this is how we relate to issues of power, sexual intimacy, secrecy, betrayal and sharing. Donna Cunningham’s work helps Plutonian types who have come to be tormented by guilt to learn to love themselves again. A Plutonian is someone who has a strong Pluto signature in their chart, for example in aspect to the Sun, Moon, Ascendent or Midheaven. Having three or more planets in Scorpio (called a ‘stellium’) also indicates a Plutonian. As the co-ruler of Scorpio, Pluto’s underworld depths remind us the more we release our secrets and recover our self-worth, the more likely we are able to relearn sharing, and this time with the right people. Power and how to deal with it being a primary concern of Pluto – at the individual and collective level – Plutonian work involves establishing right use of power.
How do we establish right use of power? First we must look deep beneath the surface of the subconscious – at the games we play, the secrets and the company we keep. The more we admit, confront and confess our guilty conscience – the more we become free of the compulsive cycle. For Plutonians, what often happens is that they wind up being controlled by the person/place/thing that they want to control. “So often, the deep, dark secret is a sexual one,” writes Cunningham. Hurt people hurt people is a good way to describe the lower-level Scorpio mindset. Per Cunningham, “The person with a difficult Pluto placement can be a scorpion in that area of life, acting out venom on others, usually in a covert or twisted manner. I call this syndrome the vengeful victim, in that here is where the person feels wronged, yet feels most justified in returning that wrong to others.” With critical issues such as betrayal of trust, abandonment, guilt and resentment playing into the power sexuality wields – once we sift through the emotional overlay – we ultimately find that just like the underworld riches Pluto guards, healthy human sexuality can be a force of healing rejuvenation.
After all, while Pluto tends to be associated with defense mechanisms like control, manipulation, symbiosis and power struggles – on the flip side is the Plutonian higher ground affirming the power of healing and transmutation. The deeper the descent, the higher the rise. Healed Plutonians can purify resentment and other highly toxic conditions, spinning poison into gold. Which is perhaps why the Millennial Pluto in Scorpio generation is seemingly ageless. Why so many Scorpios, the pressure-cooked diamonds of the zodiac, only grow more stunning with age. “The Plutonian who has worked through the negative is in the best position to help the rest of us,” claims Cunningham. With a probing psychic sense, in youth, this certainly contributes to the Plutonian’s negativity and conviction that everyone is fake, or at the very least, denying the deeper truths of life. Plutonians see in others what they simply aren’t willing to see or confront in themselves. And it can be maddening.
Not only are they born counselors, Pluto persons attract troubled folks throughout life. Pluto being the planet of crisis – not much phases them. And yet, when it comes to love, matters quickly become brutal. “Plutonians don’t form relationships, they take hostages,” writes Cunningham. Sexual desires and sensations are so intense for these natives – ironically one of the advantages of being a Plutonian – that they are gifted lovers. Often scaring off folks who need a longer time to make a commitment, their obsessive/possessive tendencies however can suck the life out of romantic entanglement. Fearing abandonment, they attempt to keep the lover at any cost, only to essentially drive them away in a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Plutonians are so used to being betrayed, they often unconsciously select partners who will betray them. If you can see past their brittle defenses, deep within you’ll find the most sensitive soul to ever exist. Plutonian passion and animal magnetism not only makes them ‘too hot to handle,’ their psychic sixth sense gives them near mediumistic abilities in the bedroom, or boardroom! After all, Pluto is the planet of sex, power and other people’s money. Sex becomes compulsive when the need for power and control overwhelms. The more risky the enterprise, the more turnt up the Plutonian becomes. If a Plutonian isn’t the ultimate ‘bad boy’ then they’re probably falling for one. Often, sexual conquest is a covert form of revenge against the current or former partner, or a parent. In most cases, the Plutonian was sexualized too young and misuse of power coexisted within these early, painful childhood experiences. Intimacy is sexualized for the Plutonian, who may not know any other way to become close to other people.
In essence, Pluto problems are deeply entrenched, somewhat obsessive and often involve a temporary intensification of the struggle via a ‘healing crisis.’ Pluto energy is about where we go off the deep end. And yet, Pluto is always working slowly behind the scenes. To the degree that we resist change, we are confronted with loss and peril. Cycles of crisis and trial-by-fire prove hard to endure, and yet, build character and integrity until we have begun to love in a more conscious way. For better or worse, Plutonian types are magicians, manifesting all sort of good and bad circumstances through their thoughts, intentions and deep-seated desires.
Cunningham informs that when working with Pluto problems, it is usually a matter of changing one’s behavior or expectations. And here is where we must call on our natal Venus – which rules relationships between equal partners. While lopsided power-dynamics fuel passionate Plutonian longing, real intimacy occurs between equal partners – impossible to achieve if both partners don’t experience the freedom and agency to address and resolve conflicts as they arise. When anger is held in out of fear, eventually so much resentment accumulates it can destroy the relationship. Then the fear of abandonment actually happens. “The more power we give up, the more we are controlled,” writes Cunningham, and thus unfolds the viscous Plutonian cycle of attraction/repulsion.
When it comes to healing Pluto probs, forgiveness and reconciliation of differences are key ingredients, but nothing more so than genuine self-love. When anger becomes resentment, resentment becomes self-hatred, which eventually inspires one to seek out, from a place of lack, the symbiotic ‘love’ relationships of the Plutonian power-trip sort. Whichever side of the power balance one finds oneself on, the divide is nonetheless a pit where agony and ecstasy collide. When one’s love life becomes a battlefield, one must come to see it as a mirror of inner work that has yet to be completed.
When we look with an open heart and mind, Pluto confronts us with laser beams of clarity, hence Pluto’s association with surgery, sex magic and alchemy. To the degree that we refuse to change, we will experience this same energy as a loss, abandonment, bitter ending or all-system collapse. While abuse and sexual violence are some of the most extreme manifestations of this dynamic, covert betrayals and secrecy indicate the root of the same distorted power complex. The cycle of power and/or powerlessness prevails, often tracing through families for many generations. Body work like yoga is a killer way to begin to release stored-up emotions. Flower essences call us back into our skin. Just as we look to the Pluto polarity point (the sign opposite Pluto), we can also bring balance to our natal Pluto by drawing on Taurus qualities (Scorpio’s polarity), accessing the peace and serenity achieved through simple self-sufficiency and voluptuous presence.
Pluto’s Generational Influence
As one of the outer planets, Pluto’s energy is less personal and more transpersonal. A slow-moving planet that takes roughly a decade to transit a given sign, Pluto reveals an entire generation’s inner pulse. As a generation raised on Father Knows Best, Pluto in Leo ‘Boomers’ collectively taunt: Who’s your Daddy now? But are they kings of the jungle or apex predators? In her boundary-breaking book, Nicole R. Fleetwood writes about how this was the generation led by neo-liberals like Hillary Clinton. Enlisting television media to portray BIPOC youth as criminal ‘SUPERPREDATORS,’ they sparked fear in the mainstream white American public, justifying the supposed ‘War on Drugs’ and the rise of the for-profit prison industrial complex. Through a consensus of American liberals and conservatives who privileged punitive responses to urban problems, the US prison population mushroomed by 500% in the aftermath of the Civil Rights movement. The U.S. now not only has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, but extracts youth from poor neighborhoods by way of targeted police brutality to secure a source of free-labor abolitionists term ‘neo-slavery’ or the ‘School to Prison Pipeline.’ Blaming historically marginalized populations for the very widespread social problems that led to their imprisonment, as Pluto in Leo natives took to power, profit continued to amass in the hands of the most wealthy.
A generation with a giant chip on its shoulders, Pluto in Virgo natives came into this world under the heavy shadow of the Pluto in Leo generation’s excessive pride, arrogance and undoing. As the lions of pride toppled from their thrones, Pluto in Virgo ‘Gen X’ highlighted the importance of humility and the sacredness of work. Enter Virgo’s lessons of service, duty, criticism, analysis and improvement. Quintessential ‘latchkey kids,’ the Pluto in Virgo generation went through their formative years as one of the least parented, least nurtured generations in U.S. history. Irony, appropriateness and living in the long shadow of their egoic predecessors conditioned a collective of souls who incarnated in this lifetime to learn lessons of service. Grounded, practical, detail-oriented and analytical, perfection and self-purification was the order of the day. Letting their Pluto in Leo elders blaze ahead and take all the credit – Gen X followed behind doing the heavy lifting. In determined defiance of the ‘slacker’ label Boomers tried to brand on their collective psyche, the Pluto in Virgo generation self-started as a new class of entrepreneurs.
Next up we have the Pluto in Libra ‘relationship’ generation, led by folks like Beyonce, Kanye West, Angelina Jolie, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kim K and Britney Spears. This generation learned the hard way there’s no-such-thing as ‘Happily Ever After!’ lllusions crashed, divorces spiking as resentments intensified, destroying unequal partnerships. Coming-of-age in the era of online dating, this breed adapted to interaction within a digitally surveilled information superhighway. Destined to occupy this critical juncture in history, many became vanguards of human development, working quietly and patiently towards a world where everyone gets along. Call it the end of compulsive people-pleasing, for these folks, the ‘Law of Attraction’ became undermined by all things emotionally dirty and raw. Sometimes, we need therapeutic isolation in order to grow. Speaking cyclically, Pluto in Libra is embittered and needs to move into Scorpio, where it will learn how to be alone.
Branded as a bunch of overly coddled emo brats, the following Pluto in Scorpio generation aka ‘Millennial,’ has meanwhile come-of-age in an unprecedented time of decay, collapse, institutional corruption and change. Virtually indestructible bringers of radical transformation on a pathway strewn with annihilation, trust issues are off the chain! Facing humbling loss of power and confrontation with death itself, what their BOOMER parents can’t see is how brave these ghetto gothic babies actually are. Millennials NEVER shy away from reality – they simply don’t have a choice!
Enter Gen Z, aka the Pluto in Sagittarius lot. A generation responding to Millennials with their overly positive outlook on life and ability to think outside the box. Get Z incarnated with a collective soul purpose to understand the phenomenological world and discover their place within a greater cosmic unfolding. A ‘big picture’ generation of non-binary philosophers, metaphysicians and spiritualists (sometimes called ‘influencers’), they are reshaping society for greater social integration and integrity. Incarnating on the brink of a new millennium, bombarded with the rise of globalism, information overload and artificial intelligence – this generation’s trigger point stems from their audacity to question the Source. ‘Too smart for your own good’ comes with the turf when born into an era of ugly truths. Idealism and lust for life become excessive, magnified by polarizing Pluto. As the quest for the ‘bigger picture’ became this group’s demise – enter dependency, compulsive use of the internet and the birth of the Dark Web. Any yet, this group is full of spirited social activists, explorers and pioneers transforming society through open dialogue. More spiritual than religious, Pluto in Sag natives are the free thinkers and non-conformists seeking knowledge to fuel the quest for societal transformation.
Following in the wake of Gen Z’s storms of the mind, we have the more solidified Pluto in Capricorn generation here to literally build a new world order, led by folks like Pluto in Capricorn Ivy Blue. Named ‘Get Z’ & ‘Gen Alpha’ (Born 2008-2024) Pluto in Capricorn can be characterized as a generation of old souls that collectively reincarnated with profound past-life knowledge about survival in difficult circumstances. Pluto here amplifies the desire for structure and restraint. Taking cardinal action amidst harshly limiting circumstances, this group is about making calm, executive decisions and building new, more sustainable social structures from the ground up. With all of the old order’s power, profit and greed-based systems-of-control on the verge of collapse (destroyed by Pluto in Scorpio! Reimagined by Pluto in Sag!) Pluto in Capricorn folks roll-up their sleeves in solid commitment to building a New World Order with humanity’s longevity in mind. This group is up to the task of complete restoration. As a mother of this generation, I can attest to their inborn authority issues! Pluto in Capricorn folks REFUSE to be controlled – it’s simply locked into their cellular DNA! Under the determined care of these old souls, previously unfathomable notions of peace and equity are made amazingly real and practical.
During 2023-24, we experienced Pluto’s dissonant crossover years into Aquarius, before it settled for good in Aquarius this past November, where it will stay until 2043. New World Order or Frankenstein at the Wheel? Despite the bright promise of an Aquarian-type revolution aka ‘Aquarian Golden Age’ of equality, many of us still feel stuck in bondage to outdated institutions, financial peril or worse. Pluto entails a total transformation, which is long, deep, permanent, and uncomfortable – it is an energy that has plunged us to the depths of our fears and undigested emotions so that we might reconnect with our most authentic self. Pluto unlocks the frequency of our eternal power. As Pluto moved back and forth between Capricorn (maturity, mastery, commitments, responsibility) and Aquarius (rebellion, revelation, enlightened detachment, freak flags, collectivity, equality) we experienced a time of cognitive dissonance, shocks, revelations and discomfort. Uncomfortable truths coming to surface, ousted leaders, movement backlash. The supposed ‘end of repression’ felt disruptive, unsafe and uncertain for many. Ask yourself, have you anchored your passion into some form of responsibility that generates collective bliss? It’s up to us to make sure the new structures we are building are of the utmost integrity.
Not only that, in the week leading up to this BEAUTYSCOPE, Pluto joined the Sun, Black Moon Lilith and Mars in a grand cross formation astrologer Kaypacha is calling ‘the End of Innocence.’ With the New Moon in Taurus on April 27th opposite Lilith in Scorpio square Mars in Leo and Pluto in Aquarius, it was a ‘things fall apart’ kind of month. With Lilith, the ‘Queen of Shadows’ in the ‘Sign of Shadows’ (Scorpio) it’s an optimal time to work with turbulent feelings like lust and rage. Secrets are coming to the surface involving manipulation, jealousy, seduction – even debt is indicated here. And with Pluto in Aquarius, we must realize that the bankruptcy of one is a failure on the part of the whole community. In his weekly Pele report, Kaypacha reminds us that ultimately the gift of working with the shadow-aspects of Pluto, Lilith and Mars (a frightful meeting of the minds if there ever was one) is self-awareness.
There are many aspects Pluto can potentially make in a natal chart, some more or less severe than others. When Pluto squares your lunar nodes, called a ‘skipped step,’ it is an indication of an intense battle stirring between the ego (adaptive self) and soul (higher self). Mark Jones calls it a fundamental encounter with deeper unconscious forces in order to either “evoke radical transformation” or “become trapped in psychological attachments and compulsions.” Herein we find that Pluto represents our greatest interest, strength and blind spot. By exploring the entirety of the chart with the Pluto Complex as its anchor, we can acknowledge the deeper concerns of the soul within this lifetime as generative of a continuity of presence, moment to moment. As the defining signature of our deeper psychic orientation, Pluto magnifies experiences of psychic pain – making the present loss feel overwhelming and intolerable with its link to legions of resonant feelings over many lifetimes. In contextualizing this experience as meaningful, in the sense of having an evolutionary purpose which is not personal or condemning, nor rooted in the mind, we can begin to free ourselves to access the full potential of the field. That is, spinning our poison into gold, our pain into power. Pluto Probs, or Phoenix Risen? If the shoe fits, wear it.
In the astro-insights below I’ve delineated Pluto by house. Pair the house of natal Pluto with your generational Pluto above to get the fuller picture. If you don’t already know the sign and house of your Pluto at birth, you’ll need to download a free natal chart HERE. Read on for personalized insights on the Lord of Transmutation & Regeneration through the zodiac, with Pluto Rx proscribed by Midheaven Or Nah.
Pluto in the 1st *Impossible to Ignore*
Celebrity Doppelgänger: Beyonce
An intense, passionate person with a formidable presence, this one is hard to ignore! A magnetic personality, many are irrationally drawn to you, responding (at times) with extremes of love/hate. In the 1st house of self – one is blessed with a strong physical body that can endure a lot and may have experienced a painful childhood. Lending a dark, intense aura and loads of charisma, one can easily become a control freak, or develop an obsession with power. If you work through your own issues, this placement suggests intense healing ability. An inner pulse at the instinctual level drives one toward independent experience, claiming freedom to perpetually grow and express one’s will. There’s a tension between the pull of the soul desire (Pluto/Scorpio) and the instinctual need for perpetual expansion moving toward freedom, novelty and the unchecked expression of desire (1st house/Aries). This could feel like an identity crisis!
Don’t let cravings for the familiar leave you feeling stifled or purposeless. Letting your martial anger implode? If anger is repressed rather than expressed, it can become a source of cyclical and deep depression. Conversely, feelings of frustration could lead to a breakdown of one’s narcissistic focus culminating in the need to initiate relationship. New relationships offer the sense of adventure one needs to feel alive, shocking and inspiring steps in an unfamiliar direction. Caution around becoming cyclically consumed by your erotic passions. When all too brief relationships become a source of disappointment and frustration, acknowledge that your own subconscious fears are instrumental in maintaining the scenario. Reaching out for the other once you have reached a plateau within yourself, the critical factor in transcending the intimacy paradox lies in the nature of the partner chosen. Ideally, your mate becomes a portal through which you reengage with your life mission.
Rx: Ginger Turmeric Jackfruit Chews
Given the double Mars-signature of this Pluto placement, you’re not only as spicy as they come, but feel supremely fueled by the fires of life. With an explosive approach to success, what better way to performance-enhance all the adrenaline-pumping fanfare than snacking with purpose. For the 1st house Pluto native on a mission, Ginger Turmeric Jackfruit Chews balance warming and earthy notes of ginger and turmeric in a vegan, nutrient-dense snack flavored as boldly as you! Never tried Jackfruit? Imagine a super chewy cross between an apple, banana, mango and pineapple. As tasty as it is healthy, Jackfruit is packed with natural antioxidants, immunity-boosting micronutrients and fiber. Plus, it’s spliced with mouth-watering ginger and anti-inflammatory turmeric. A spice and medicine cabinet staple with a history of use tracing back nearly 4,000 years, tumeric was prized by the Vedic mystics of India, who used it both ceremoniously and medicinally. Modern science has identified the versatile root as an effective remedy for arthritis, digestive disorders, respiratory infections, allergies, liver disease and depression. As a plant-based powerhouse tropical fruit snack, Ginger Turmeric Jackfruit Chews are brought to you by Amazi Foods, a mindful company helping you snack with purpose. The female-founded brand is not only famous for their sticky, chewy, fiber-backed bites – but partners with communities in Uganda to ensure a more sustainable and equitable supply chain from start to finish. No added sugars, hydrogenated oils, additives or preservatives.
Find it HERE
Pluto in the 2nd *The End of Self-Reliance*
Celebrity Doppelgänger: Uma Thurman
With an ongoing need for internal security, prolonged periods of survival mode and subsequent social withdrawal limits your field of vision. Harboring memories of prior lives when survival was threatened, one developed simple coping strategies in order to endure intense difficulties. While useful at the time, there is a karmic hangover of habitual self-imposed limitation that no longer supports growth. There may be excessive significance applied to money, which in turn distorts all other forms of value. If the pattern is one of cyclical gain/loss, any highs of deception involved with amassing wealth will contrast with lows of shameful confrontation. Pluto encourages one to break free, lessening the importance around expressions of personal power as identification with self/soul becomes the enduring resource. Clear all prevailing consensus influences and reconnect with innermost values. Blessed with heightened sexual energy, learn to harness frustration as the basis for evolution. Eventually one arrives at the practical realization that much more can be achieved in collaboration with others, and that shared experience is inherently valuable. The 8th house polarity point offers an evolutionary crossroads between the self-reliance of the past and the need to confront existing limitations that such self-imposed meaning has generated. Ultimately, through the opening of personal boundaries, one finds that self-reliance is an inner strength which can be brought to the next adventure rather just an outworn pattern of rigidity.
Rx: FreshCut Paper Flower Bouquets
In the house of values, self-worth and peaceful, uninterrupted presence – Pluto roots deep into the soils of the primordial femme, unearthing the Empress within. With the scent of foliage on the sidewalk and the strength of 1,000 goddesses in your step, celebrate this Mother’s Day with FreshCut, an alternative greeting card that could woo the Divine Mother herself. With a carbon footprint 300x smaller than an imported bouquet, Freshcut eliminates the jet fuel, pesticides, refrigeration, spoilage and landfill. You’ll not only snail mail mother dearest the card of the century, but support a cutting-edge brand partnering with reforestation organizations – Freshcut having contributed to the planting of 3.5 millions trees worldwide. Each paper bouquet comes with a blank greeting card and an envelope ready to mail. Choose from Grande Garden Lilacs, Sorbet Roses, Grande Peony Paradise, Lavender & Butterflies and more…
Find it HERE
Pluto in the 3rd *Addicted to Content?*
Celebrity Doppelganger: Drake
Like a contrary teenager, Pluto in the 3rd is learning how to expand into their environment to intellectually engage with life. Studies of feral children reveal that human contact stimulates areas of the brain related to speech acquisition. Children raised by dogs become more comfortable with the canine idiom. Children raised without human contact do not survive at all. Hence, the 3rd house curiosity about the environment and beginning of classification (Mercury/3rd) must follow having survived infancy (Mars/1st) and established a link with our inner needs (Venus/2nd). With the discovery of new data comes the destruction of the former intellectual scaffolding that upheld prior individual experience. Associated with restlessness, the evolutionary intention here is movement. Driven to expand and grow, this process becomes compulsive to the extent one feels incapable of digesting or making use of all the input. Caution around a disintegration process where one loses all sense of meaning and truth. The 9th house polarity suggests the need to develop a larger integrated vision – the antidote to the addiction to content Pluto in the 3rd invokes. Find an intuitive meta-system that serves as a protective canopy; understanding one person’s system is another’s prison. The capacity of the mind to filter experience cannot be equated with the soul’s complete reality. Rather than using the mind to keep the world at bay, develop the capacity to perceive reality as a harmonious fusion of self and world.
Rx: Superfood Greens Gummies
As you work on your capacity to sift information thoroughly in an ever-expanding canopy of truth, let Pluto’s radar take the guesswork out of achieving peak performance! You probably know the nutrient content of half the products on the market, but are you zeroing in on what truly supports optimal energy levels and a thriving gut? From the convenient supplement brand redefining healthy from the inside out, Grüns brings you an expertly formulated, comprehensive nutritional gummy.
Supporting cellular health and optimal functioning, Superfood Greens Gummies are packed with 60 premium ingredients designed to fill nutrient gaps. The snack-pack of 8 gummies not only ensures you get all your daily essential vitamins, but antioxidants, prebiotics and adaptogens to enhance absorption. All in one tasty pouch which can be enjoyed daily. Grüns whole-food ingredients promote brain, immune and skin health, all the while reducing stress. Vegan, nut-free, gluten-free and dairy-free – with no artificial colors, flavors or fillers. Superfood Greens Gummies are available in low-sugar and sugar-free options, with superfood formulas tailored for both adults and kiddos!
Find it HERE
Pluto in the 4th *Suffering Becomes Wisdom*
Celebrity Doppelgänger: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex
With Pluto in the house of home, the soul intention is to generate security in response to excessive attachment, which has centered meaning outside of the self. Maybe one was born into a family in which one was fundamentally misunderstood. The impact of emotional shocks or failures of care during early childhood generates compulsive emotional patterning that lingers. Present life emotional circumstances become the backdrop for feeling transferences rooted in the past. One develops emotional problems to the extent that needs were not met in childhood. Maybe one of your parents manipulated you in order to resolve their own unmet childhood needs, perpetuating narcissistic wounding and/or cycles of familial abuse. Maybe it’s prior life memories of emotional abandonment that have created an impossible void. Entering adult relationships with displaced needs, one attracts partners who only mirror back to you the same unsuccessful parental responses. Unresolved anger from childhood inevitably spills out into one’s close relationships. Tantrums, emotional withdrawal, feigning illness or emotional crisis may be used to gain attention. The cycle repeats until the removal of external dependencies causes you to see yourself in an entirely new light. Another reaction is denial, whereby one shuts down prior to any natural connection arising with another – thinking it is better to risk no contact than keep experiencing disappointment. Maybe one is more passive-aggressive, displaying sulky moods and subtly dominating the emotional atmosphere. The intention is to get to the bottom of every mood and feeling in order to understand the interplay between consciousness and the emotional body. In this lifetime one is learning that when faced with full awareness, even suffering can become a wellspring of wisdom, power and magic.
Rx: She Births Bravely
If you’ve read this far you know that working with Pluto is not for the faint of heart. With Pluto in the house of family, there is no sense in sugarcoating matters. While mainstream feminism is content to keep fighting for the right to abort, an increasing number of mothers and would-be mothers are getting woke to the language of birthing justice! As you might have guessed, it’s NOT about who can afford expensive birthing technologies, or how to avoid the presumed ‘pain’ of childbirth. While the Plutonian process of ‘letting go’ is step numero uno, we don’t always know what we need to let go of. And when it comes to the business of birthing, we don’t always know who to trust.
Nationwide maternal health outcomes faced increasing scrutiny as Spring blossomed, with April 11-17th officially touted as ‘Black Maternal Health Week’ by birth justice advocates around the country. In a groundbreaking new study, New York state clocks in at #1 when it comes to the number of birthing-friendly hospitals and specialized facilities, exceeding the national average by over 760%. But nothing ensures birthing justice like finding the right support. Did you know women who take childbirth classes or work with a doula are less likely to need interventions and more likely to have a successful vaginal birth? Take it from Suzzie Vehrs – Mother, certified doula and founder of She Births Bravely.
Suzzie helps clients understand and unlock their innate ability to give birth naturally. Using a toolbox of somatic practices to reduce the amount of pain felt in labor and cope with contractions, Suzzie helps expectant mothers stay calm, centered and present for the birth of their child. In her What You Didn’t Expect Podcast, Suzzie gets real about her personal birthing journey and the feelings of loss, overwhelm and fear, heartache and longing that surfaced along the way. Since founding She Births Bravely, Suzzie has helped hundreds of moms dream about, plan for and ultimately create a positive birth experience.
When I asked her about her work as a doula, Suzzie responded “I think most women have set the bar for the birth at the level of I just want to survive. As a doula and childbirth educator, I believe that mothers deserve support when they are in their Goddess mode, embracing the deepest meanings of what creating and bringing life to the world means. It’s always important to create space for the spiritual and emotional journey of birth. Women are so much more than their medical picture. And the potential of birth has so much opportunity for accomplishment, joy, connection, bonding. Speaking to the threshold between maiden and mother, like many birth workers, Suzzie reflected on the way in which each mother-to-be experiences a figurative death upon the birth of her child. “We have a bounce-back culture that acts like you can be the same person you were before, just with a baby at your side. Many parents find that no, that is not the case,” informs Suzzie. One way she invites clients to consider the link between death and birth is to consciously mourn the part of them that is lost. “Ask the questions about what beliefs need to die in order for you to step into your power to give birth authentically,” says Suzzie. And in doing this very much Plutonian work, mothers access the kind of inner strength necessary to make informed, conscious and divine decisions – no matter the terms of their physical labor.
As for who you enlist to help, that’s an incredibly important choice. Suzzie explains, “I think there are doctors and midwives who are very prudent and careful with the recommendations they make and extraordinarily respectful of a woman’s individual wishes and needs in labor. But, there are also those who couldn’t care less, are burnt out, or just have too much on their plate to really give much attention to any one mother. And there are those who see mothers as a billing machine. They will put them through as many procedures as they can get away with.” From instructing clients on how to look up the C-section rate at their local hospital to keeping in mind Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (physiological, safety, love and belonging, self-esteem, self-actualization) Suzzie is a well-spring of critical insight for any woman who dares to BIRTH BRAVELY. Follow her on Instagram @shebirthsbravely
Get her services HERE
Pluto in the 5th *Illusions of Grandeur*
Celebrity Doppelgänger: Adele
In the 5th house ego development reaches its fulfillment through a focus on creativity and self-actualization. Pluto in fire signs or houses tends to feel some kind of special destiny, nowhere more than in the 5th. A conscious sense of creative purpose and direct knowingness comes with a sense of entitlement, not to mention a burning desire for attention. Testing beloveds with an endless pursuit of love and recognition, intense narcissistic self-focus is an evolutionary necessity with this placement – a drive to generate recognition for powerful creative urges overwhelms. The delusion is believing oneself to be the sole cause of the creative impulse, rather than simply its channel. Don’t let diva mentality lead to over-identification with one’s creative role or purpose, whereby inflation blinds one to the way ego corrupts the original intention, destroying joy inherent to the creative act. When you fail to find yourself at the apex of the pyramid barking commands, do you feel entitled to spoil the party for all? Talent can become the focus of many a power struggle, especially with partners who think love is a grooming game about teasing out your mate’s budding genius. Risk-taking may be expressed as an illicit affair, as romance and transformation are all jumbled up with this placement. And yet, using others to satisfy temporary dissatisfaction proves a recipe for disaster.
Ultimately, the need to promote one’s own creativity is so strong that one must promote it in others. The evolutionary intention expressed by the 11th house polarity point is to develop objective awareness. Cut through the illusion of being special to consider the social usefulness of your work with respect to the needs of the collective. Let your creative impulse be informed by the perspectives and needs of others. Become friends with your children and family, respecting them for who they are rather than indulging in fantasies about what you’d like them to become. When children are used as a means to power, or alternatively, the parent’s ticket to never being alone, ties become symbiotic and co-dependent.
Rx: Yuzu Lime Elixir
As you situate all of your talents and genius on the high moral ground of objective service in community, High Ground Elixir is here to assuage your truly royal thirst for life! A refreshing wellness beverage designed to lift your mind and body, Yuzu Lime Elixir offers a deliciously sippable fusion of five organic adaptogenic mushrooms, natural nootropics like GABA and L-Theanine, rejuvenating electrolytes and essential vitamin C. My favorite flavor is made with Yuzu, a citrus fruit used in Asian cuisine for centuries for its natural anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting properties. When Pluto in fixed fire gets hot, cool down with this all-natural adaptogenic sparkling mushroom elixir from the company pioneering functional plant-based sips. Mood-lifting mushrooms, stress-busting nootropics and ultra-hydrating electrolytes make drinking from this 100% recyclable can as revitalizing as a dip in the lake. Designed for environmentally conscious living, High Ground seltzers are non-GMO and vegan!
Find it HERE
Pluto in the 6th *Crisis as Catalyst*
Celebrity Doppelgänger: Penelope Cruz
If in the 5th house subjective creative power reaches its apogee, the 6th affords a period of re-evaluation and re-examination which feels sharp and humbling in contrast. One must deconstruct the self to place it at the service of others, of useful work. The ego bows to larger forces, to a proper assessment of the self and environment. Virgo/6th house essentially denotes a crisis – bulldozing any feelings of supremacy so that one can make the transition necessary to accept the other in the 7th house. Finally, understanding an inflated sense of self-importance is essentially delusional; the yin function of the Mercury-ruled 6th house teamed up with Pluto initiates a spring cleaning of body and mind. The danger here is that the very process of mental self-analysis becomes the end rather than the means. Don’t let healthy self-criticism become a habitual pattern of self-negation and immobility. Don’t get so lost in the deflation of 5th house grandiosity you forget the original intention for it in the first place. Rather, let your pity party galvanize you into a whole new state of affairs. With Pluto in the house of purification, feelings of lack can quickly dominate to the point of developing an inferiority complex or psychology of meaninglessness. Maybe one comes to always feel as though one has done something wrong, experiencing perpetual cycles of crisis and guilt. If one bows to endless distractions, compulsive self-sabotage and physical illness likely arise as a result of self-denial, exhaustion and emotional blockages. Surrender the frenzy of inner activity as a defense against reality and let crisis be a catalyst for determined change. The 12th house polarity point highlights the need to simplify mental life and trust the deeper sacred process unfolding.
Rx: Momentous Whey Protein
Having travelled half-way around the zodiac, the integration of body/mind which occurs in the 6th house is an opportunity, not a given. And when it comes to the 6th house purification process – less is more. With Pluto stationed in the house of holistic health – simplified, steady, mindful routines set you on the path to happiness. From the supplement brand dedicated to elevating human performance and daily wellness, grab these new mouth-watering Whey Protein flavors from Momentous. Consistency can be hard when you’re flavor fatigued by the time you finish your protein tub, but gym goers and smoothie lovers alike can easily achieve their goals while enjoying a rotation of sexy flavors. Literally shake up your morning routine with whey protein now available in Strawberry, Chocolate Coconut, Chocolate Fudge, Mint Chocolate and Spiced Chai. Add a dash of deliciousness to your breakfast smoothie with 20g of whey protein isolate in each 1 scoop serving, plus ProHydrolase® enzyme for clinically-proven max protein absorption and digestion. Zero artificial ingredients or sweeteners. No gums or stabilizers.
Find it HERE
Pluto in the 7th *Love is Healing, if not Haunted*
Celebrity Doppelgänger: Cardi B
With Pluto in the house of marriage/divorce, love can easily become an obsession, as symbiosis with the loved one is often sought. Some may continue to have a relationship in their head with the last one who did them dirty, haunted by it. Others may elect to stay single, equating love with control. In order to let go, forgive and become whole, one must work through hurts and resentments about each love affair that ever went wrong, arriving back at an understanding of love as the ultimate healing force. Understanding self through the mirror of others alerts one to a new evolutionary cycle underway. A variety of relationships informs an understanding of the nature of the self as experienced in various social contexts. The ongoing lesson is learning how to listen and understand where others are coming from, releasing any projections related to how they might fulfill personal needs. To the extent that the 6th house purification was insufficient, narcissistic wounds and desires cloud thinking. Balance often being more a goal aspired to than a reality, more than other placements, extremes in love dominate the psyche. Often destabilized by the myriad opinions and reactions of others, ensuing overwhelm can be a detriment to fulfilling one’s personal desires. Co-dependency stems ultimately from the incapacity or fear of being alone, which is ultimately a death anxiety. The other (experienced as desire/love) becomes a shield to one’s existential vulnerability. Many relationships never evolve beyond this need for mutual protection. Caution around living in a world where everyone else supports the fantasy that you are merely the role you are playing in a couple, far after the romance is gone. Tune into the 1st house polarity point, which lends one courage to maintain individual purpose, including freedom to grow at your own pace.
Rx: Classic Dress Pant Yoga Pants (Skinny)
With Pluto in the Venus-ruled house of partnership, it’s time to focus all the care you show to others back on yourself. But nobody ever said wellness had to be dusty. Having started a fashion revolution less than a decade ago, these ‘classic-for-a-reason’ Classic Dress Pant Yoga Pants are your enduring ticket to triple-tackling your commute, workday and evening yoga session. Made with 4-way stretch ponte that feels like a second skin, these mid-rise pants are fitted through the hip and legs, just like leggings. Faux pockets make for clean lines, while a 2″ elastic waistband with belt loops makes you ready for virtually anything. Throw on some heels and descend on date night!
Betabrand is the premier company reimagining workwear by turning everyday looks into all-day favorites that are comfy, stylish and versatile. In addition to posh, curve-hugging Yoga Pants Betabrand procures a range of apparel including denim, skirts, shorts, jackets, tops, sweaters and dresses. Wrinkle resistance and machine washability makes them hard to resist.
Find it HERE
Pluto in the 8th *Edge of Metamorphosis*
Celebrity Doppelgänger: Aaliyah
Pluto in its own house represents a deep confrontation with the limits of self. The soul is learning to identify its own resources from within, and must create a limited field of awareness in order to do so. Seeking out symbolic forms of power – the paradox of this search lies in painful cycles of attraction/repulsion. In order to change one must first experience dissatisfaction (if not revulsion) with current circumstances. The ego seeks familiarity and defends its comfort zone, the soul seeks growth. Cycles of power/powerlessness unfold – an apparent paradox depending on one’s level of integration. This energy is processed through conflict with the object that inspires a will-to-power, and subsequent fear of weakness. Often hurting those one espouses to love, an unconscious desire for change leads to obsessions and compulsive behavior which pushes up against the limits of the conscious definition of self. Sex is a sticky issue. Giving it enormous power in the mind, one tends to seek the upper hand at all costs. Giving or withholding sex as a means of control – other issues of power in the relationship (or in the outside world) get acted out in the bedroom. When resentments or mistrust build up in relationship, responses freeze-up. Even after the end of a difficult relationship, this type may remain frozen and unwilling to open up to someone new. The way someone ‘makes you feel’ can become addictive, making discrimination a lifelong lesson. Blaming your lover or spouse for your personal misery, one fails to see the primary love affair is with one’s own narcissistic wound or incomplete self. In learning to meet one’s own needs from within, compulsivity in relationship resolves itself. Poised at the cutting edge of metamorphosis, in this lifetime one is drawn to all things taboo. With experience, you ideally develop a radar for which experiences serve soul growth and which do not. This is the death-life-rebirth cycle celebrated along the 2nd/Taurus and 8th/Scorpio sex axis, which deals directly in our creative-sexual-energy, Kundalini or serpent-power. While the 8th house symbolizes the soul-merging ‘ego death’ aspects of sexuality, the 2nd house symbolizes the physical pleasure/fertility aspects. If the 8th is the swamp of the unconscious, the 2nd is the pristine lotus flower that emerges out of the muck.
Rx: Forbidden Rice
Introducing Lotus Foods, a global pioneer in heirloom, organic and regenerative rice cultivation and a leader in rice-based noodles. Simply delicious in a bowl of bone broth or miso, not to mention the charming purple color! Made from heirloom black rice instead of wheat, in addition to being gluten-free, Forbidden® Rice (black rice) is one of the most nutritious ancient grains. Named after the Forbidden City, the Chinese Imperial Palace, black rice is a natural source of antioxidants, magnesium, protein and fiber with a deliciously nutty taste. And, it’s ready to eat in less than five minutes! From the award-winning brand known for their commitment to preserving rice biodiversity, increasing farm incomes and producing high-quality, organic rice products. Sharing their love affair with heirloom rice with American consumers since 1995, click below to check out the full line-up of innovative rice-based Lotus Foods!
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Pluto in the 9th *Borderland Mentality*
Celebrity Doppelgänger: Catherine Zeta-Jones
Evolutionary desire is to understand oneself within the context of the greater cosmos by way of travel, study and education. With Pluto in the 9th, the impulse to understand the nature of greater reality is pressurized and intense. As this need exalts into a fever pitch, avoid fundamentalism. The 9th being the beginning of the development of intuitive faculties, these natives often become natural proponents of teachings that include the spiritual potential of all living beings. Just don’t let this be the basis of your feelings of cultural alienation… A danger with this placement would be to become rootless, wandering the Earth in a compulsive search for meaning. Espousing a borderland mentality, one may voyage endlessly, the loner whose vision has overtaken any conventional need for security or achievement. And yet, wherever you go, there you are… Make sure you develop the ability to distinguish intuition and reality from your own personal prejudice and narcissistic wounding. The 3rd house polarity point necessitates tolerance and an understanding that there are multiple approaches to truth. Rather than weaving an inner lie to contradict all those questioning voices, recall that constantly seeking precludes finding. In fact, it is in dealing with one’s own existential agitation, shame and repulsion that one begins to enlighten from within (rather than on the tailcoats of some trending guru). In most cases, unmet needs stem from insecurity at an existential level – a vulnerability which can’t be compensated for with a hectic bricolage of cosmological knowledge. Release the need to convert or preach to others, even as you find your way…
Rx: Glutaryl Antioxidant Spray
With Pluto in the 9th, the shadow often involves some kind of excess. Eating to excess, praying to excess, traveling to excess. One is so incumbent on finding the truth, one may even feel inclined to abort the body altogether along the path of ascension. And yet, as our first home, our body is constantly sending useful information, which we can hear when we learn to listen and observe rather than judge. As you continue to distill your canopy of truth, harness the latest in sub-nano technology to detoxify your body. Brought to you by Auro Wellness, Glutaryl Antioxidant Spray is a first-of-its-kind product optimizing antioxidant absorption and efficacy to deliver Glutathione to the body more potently than ever before. By delivering high doses of ‘Master Antioxidant’ Glutathione (GSH) – a naturally existing tri-peptide amino acid, the second most prevalent molecule in the body next to water – your body more effectively combats daily toxins. Your next-level essential for overall well-being, Glutathione plays a crucial role in promoting cellular health by serving as the body’s primary defense against free radicals – boosting immunity and energy levels while having anti-aging properties and helping the body fight off disease. With this easy to use, targeted wellness technology, four sprays morning and night defends the body against future oxidative stress – supporting liver health and detoxification, improving athletic performance, recovery, immune function and quality of sleep.
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Pluto in the 10th *Top of the Mountain?*
Celebrity Doppelgänger: Kim Kardashian
Exiting the 9th, one ideally embodies a consistent cosmological understanding. In the 10th, criteria adopted for understanding is tested by family, social groups and society – with all of the perilous interwoven value judgments and conditioning factors. The desire here is to find a meaningful role within community, achieve goals and express personal power based on self-determination and self-discipline. Stay in touch with the deeper meaning and significance of your work. To the extent that you place your own power outside of yourself, you position yourself as a victim of circumstances. Accept responsibility for your actions. Foster security and well-being from within, lest one unnecessarily rely on power and status to bolster self-regard. Memories of past lives of status and power produce subconscious entitlement and the potential for manipulation, control or misappropriation of resources. The super-ego having fused with strict internalized standards of right/wrong in early childhood, this native has a strong and enduring Saturn signature. Caution around inadvertently raising your kids in the same cold environment – absent or judgmental as your own parents may have been. Maybe one simply feels guilt for having failed to live up to the expectations of self, family or society. If power cannot be had, one may revert to depressive feelings or a sense of futility. Call on the 4th house polarity point to ensure that the roots of your family tree are impeccably divine, heart-centered and sensitive to the needs of the inner child.
Rx: Macadamia Nuts
Very much like the ‘climb up the mountain’ the 10th house represents, Pluto’s work is hard, and often unrelenting. Pluto in cardinal earth says slow and steady wins the grace, just make sure to give yourself little rewards along the way. Are you reducing yourself to your capitalist capacity? Rest need not be earned! While they’re relatively high price point and luxurious, creamy texture gives them a bit of ‘luxury snack’ reputation parallel to the 10th house ‘high class’ mentality – did you know the benefits of macadamia nuts include improved gut health, potential weight loss and protection against diabetes and heart disease? Not to mention these nuts are nutrient-rich, loaded with antioxidants and proven to improve brain function. When it comes to conscious snacking, why not invest in a brand dedicated to creating food that’s good for you, good for farmers and good for the planet. Introducing GoodSAM, the brand committed to building strong, meaningful connections with supply networks, manufacturers and indigenous farming communities practicing regenerative agriculture. With every buttery bite of GoodSAM goodness, your 10th house Pluto quality-control rests assured knowing you’ve invested in organic, direct trade, non-GMO whole food that not only promotes wellness, but reflects a commitment to both sustainability and community. Click below to explore GoodSAM’s full line-up of vegan, keto-friendly fuel!
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Pluto in the 11th *Every Flavor of Loneliness*
Celebrity Doppelgänger: Courtney Love
Pluto in the 11th reacts to the pressures of the 10th, with the Lord of Regeneration only intensifying the need for rebellion. Seeking to liberate from social conditioning, one must renew the concept of self free from externally-imposed constructs. The desire is for a radical act of separation from the karmic past – from who you have been and how others have seen you. So many brilliant souls have been burned or tortured for daring to have an original view. Nietzsche said that while individual insanity is rare, within groups it is the norm. In the 11th, Pluto’s evolutionary intent for radicalism breeds insecurity and resistance in most. One may experience periods of emotional and cultural isolation from the mainstream, and yet, pretending to fit in leads to a much worse feeling of loneliness. At the extreme, one may feel ostracized, bullied or violated for ‘heretical’ views, even as one day these same visionary ideals are accepted as commonplace. There is an imperative to form supportive alliances with like-minds through friendships and networks. While this support cannot be underestimated, keep in mind counter-cultural groups often become sources of their own oppression. Aquarius’s dual rulership by Uranus (Chaos/Life) and Saturn (Structure/Death) symbolizes how the issue of structure becomes so great that it dominates the revolutionary network formed – members are paradoxically asked to follow new rules of conformity or liberated by force. Lean into the 5th house polarity point to find a balance between individuated creative expression (5th/Leo) and self-development that serves the whole (11th/Aquarius).
Rx: Matcha Boost Protein Strengthening Treatment
To busy with the revolution to condition your locks? The Pluto polarity point in the Leo-ruled 5th house roars, how dare thee! In the Leo-ruled house of royals, no mane will be left behind. Does yours need a little boost? Do it the Ecoslay way. Ecoslay’s newly released Matcha Boost Protein Strengthening Treatment not only helps prevent breakage and add volume for perfectly defined curls, the company’s commitment to the environment means your self-care supports global stewardship. Packed with hydrolyzed quinoa protein, keratin protein and matcha extract, this plant-based strengthening treatment is designed for wavy, curly, coily and kinky hair types. Did you know that our scalps are porous, absorbing the products that we slather onto them? At Ecoslay, the brand’s nature-first philosophy ensures that your hair products are chock-full of organic vitamins and minerals. Not only that, Ecoslay partnerships with Global Village Project, Painted Pink and Truly Living Wellness Center for Urban Arfriculture support community agriculture while reducing the carbon footprint. Paying tremendous tribute to Mother Nature while not ignoring science – that’s the Ecoslay way.
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Pluto in the 12th *Playground of Spirit*
Celebrity Doppelgänger: J-Lo
The 12th being a culmination of the entire zodiac, the essential issue here is how to relate to humanity as a whole and surrender in the spiritual sense. There is an invitation to explore what barriers one has erected to ward off transpersonal consciousness. To the extent that the personal identity produces security, its continuity will be rigidly adhered to. One may cling in fear to one’s familiar representations of individual power – the seeming solidity of a current relationship, core idea, sub-culture or the mind itself. Nonetheless, before you stretches the great ocean of pure potential, beckoning one to dive in. The stable self must surrender to the abyss of the soul, the immortal essence of which consciousness is merely an aspect. If the evolutionary impulse toward psychic unity meets resistance, inner cycles of meaninglessness and despair result. One needs to experience the power of larger forces in order to integrate personal identity within a higher order of meaning. A conduit for the collective, one easily channels the energy of the masses. Attracting a variety of scenarios hoping to discover the truth of self, one plays the various roles each self-created drama demands. One may alternatively feel restricted by one’s public persona, aware how it constricts growth to maintain what feels like a mask. If one takes the Piscean lower road – sexual frustration, anger or a perceived lack of success drives one deeper and deeper into a destructive, purely fantasy world where one exhibits vanity and expects due reward from a place of martyrdom or victimization. Distinguish which fantasies serve the evolutionary impulse and which stifle it.
Rx: Brightening Face Oil
In the 12th house of endings and dissolution, as you surrender to a rejuvenation of the psyche, releasing worldly burdens and coming to perceive space and time as playgrounds of spirit, you have a brightening effect wherever you go. The Brightening Face Oil hailed as ‘sunshine in a bottle’ by users is just what your Pluto ordered! It’s straight to you from SOLÈY À DEUX, a company founded by two friends that came together around a dream to create small-batch, all-natural beauty remedies. Not only is Solèy à Deux’s lightweight, balancing face oil packed with Vitamin-C, Seabuckthorn oil and antioxidant-rich Red Raspberry Seed Oil to brighten, protect, and revitalize dull skin – it’s formulated by skin type. Whether you’re dealing with oily, dry or combination skin, Vitamin C-packed Seabuckthorn oil promises long-lasting moisture and protection. Powerful antioxidant Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate helps boost the skin’s collagen production and neutralize free radicals to promote a more youthful appearance and a glowy, hydrated look.
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To learn more about your natal chart & cosmic potentials *written in the stars* book a reading with Midheaven Or Nah HERE. Follow her celebrity Astro-oracle on Instagram @midheavenornah
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Healing Pluto Problems by Donna Cunningham, Maine: Samuel Weiser, Inc. (1986)
Healing the Soul: Pluto, Uranus and the Lunar Nodes by Mark Jones Portland: Raven Dreams Press (2011)
Astrology 101: A Journey through the Signs, Planets and Houses of the Horoscope by Tom ‘Kaypacha’ Lescher, New Paradigm Astrology (2013)
Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration by Nicole R. Fleetwood, Cambridge: Harvard University Press (2020)
“Study Maps America’s Best Birthing-Friendly States. Where Does New York Stand?” Fact Sheet distributed by the Birth Injury Lawyers Group (2025)
“10 Health and Nutrition Benefits of Macadamia Nuts” by Alina Petre, MS, RD. Healthline, published online May 23, 2019
“Astrology for the Soul April 23, 2025” by Kaypacha, New Paradigm Astrology, Youtube, published online April 2025
