“We often experience incredible feelings of power or powerlessness with respect to those planets touched by Pluto. What we do with that power will vary. Whilst it certainly is the power behind the most annihilating destruction it is also a power that can be used for the good.”
Sue Tompkins, Aspects in Astrology, Destiny Books
Pluto takes, and takes over. People, organizations or situations which do the same are a classic feature of a Pluto transit.
He was found in 1930 as Hitler rose to power, ahead of the global power struggle of World War Two and the power-sharing agreement of the United Nations which came after the most powerful weapon of all, the atomic bomb, devastated Japan.
Writing in her book, Making the Gods Work for You, Caroline W. Casey observes, “Pluto says, “The order you are clinging to is inhibiting your life. You may think you need it, but in fact, letting go will give you more life.”
This is a function of the Pluto myth. Pluto took Proserpina, the daughter of Ceres. In doing this, he took over the world, as Ceres was in charge of agriculture and the loss of her daughter resulted in her depression manifesting as famine.
Ceres asked Jupiter to stop Pluto, and return Proserpina to her. Instead, he suggested a power-sharing agreement. Pluto would have Proserpina for half the year. Ceres would have her for the other half.
A new order is a typical result of a Pluto transit. And letting go is essential. Pluto, Ceres and Proserpina all had to learn to release their control, and then share it.
Dennis Elwell, writing in The Cosmic Loom, notes “When Pluto was discovered in 1930 the outstanding British astrologer of the day, Charles Carter, set about investigating the new planet by a careful observation of what happened in his own life when Pluto had been active.”
What Carter found was this: “Pluto is concerned with beginnings and endings. He is the planet of climax and crisis, and thus, in a sense, of upheaval. He brings matters to a head, ending one chapter of life and ushering in another.”
This is exactly what happened in the myth. Pluto ended the mother-daughter relationship between Ceres and Proserpina. By doing so, he started his own marriage to Proserpina.
The Pluto transits will remind you of the simultaneous ending-beginning story in your own life. The house of your horoscope where Pluto is transiting will show you where this monumental process is taking place.
On a global level, the sign that Pluto transits shows which area of life the world will experience the climax and crisis that Charles Carter first noted in 1930.
In Capricorn, the sign which rules corporations and big business, Pluto will continue to deliver crisis for many years, as he is only one-third of the way through his journey in this sign. In 2012, large global companies will be taken over by others – or just ‘taken’ by unstoppable trends.