Pluto in Scorpio

Pluto’s orbit is extremely eccentric, wildly off the ecliptic and sometimes closer to the Sun than Neptune, spending 14-31 years in a sign. It was discovered in 1930 at a time when fascism was ascendant in the world, when humanity gained awareness of fundamental atomic forces which if broken cause apocalyptic explosions. Accordingly, Pluto is a planet of extremes, making big things small and small things big. It’s also associated with tyranny and corruption, absolute control and absolute power, figuring into the charts of people who are movers and shakers in elite systems such as government, banking, corporate boardrooms. The condition of Pluto at the time of our birth shows what role we may play in our 14-31 year generation’s deconstruction and transformation in the topics of its sign and house placement.

Pluto in Scorpio is in a fixed water sign, empowering, warping, corrupting, deconstructing, transforming the topics of its ruler Mars, associated with the profane, obscene and scary, as well as combativeness, dark matters and secrecy. So Pluto in Scorpio empowered, warped, distorted, corrupted, deconstructed and transformed these significations. Scorpio is the sign Pluto spends the least time in, which has some interesting implications for its transit through this sign. The last time Pluto was in Scorpio was from 1983-1995, roughly spanning the period sociologists assign to the birth of the oft-maligned and misunderstood millennial generation. What’s so Scorpio-like about millennials? They’re a generation of children brought up on Harry Potter, and show more interest in the occult and witchcraft than organized religion. Addictions to the horror series Goosebumps as kids has led to millennial fascinations with horror genres, zombie apocalypse scenarios in particular. They turned Tim Burton’s charmingly macabre “Nightmare Before Christmas” into a cult hit. In their teens they were emo and shopped at Hot Topic.

Since Scorpio is ruled by Mars which rules blades, cuts and scars, it’s interesting to see how millennials have distinguished themselves by largely embracing and mainstreaming tattoos and piercings, even in the workplace. The millennials were the first generation to go to school as mass shootings at schools became a tragically common phenomenon. Pluto makes big things small and small things big, accordingly millennial sensitivity to trauma, triggers and microaggressions have led to debates about whether it’s more extreme to allow hate speech or too extreme to protect others from it. This generation may have its demons, but in time, millennials may prove themselves to be ruthless, brave, savage, fearsome and uncompromising as a group. And hey, no one is more afraid of millennials than family friendly restaurant chains and other industries beloved by Boomers who preach about the free market while struggling to understand that markets are dynamic. Individuals with aspects from Pluto to more personal planets and points may stand out as their transformational iconoclasts and resisters.

People also take on characteristics of the time they come from. Accordingly, the 1983-1995 Pluto in Scorpio period distorted the notions of aggression, danger and covert warfare into apocalyptic arms races and other close encounters with death on a grand scale. The fear of nuclear war reached a new height with the terrifying realistic depiction of a nuclear attack in the movie “The Day After”, as well as the actual real-life close calls with nuclear war between the US and Soviet Union in the same timeframe. The Chernobyl disaster also underlined the grave danger posed by nuclear power. AIDS killed millions through sex and the transmission of blood.

On a pop culture level, this is when many classic cult horror movies were released, but even more family friendly movies took a turn toward the dark, gory and supernatural, with movies like Ghostbusters and Gremlins, and Tim Burton was at the height of his powers in crafting dark, gothic fairy tales. Pluto in Scorpio also featured the advent of industrial music, a dark and extreme rage-filled anti-musical art form that was characterized by a focus on transgressive, violent, sexual and disturbing topics and themes, use of shock tactics, employment of noise music and a flirtation with fascist iconography and the occult, typified by acts such as Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails. In short, Pluto in Scorpio was when we stared down the abyss to see apocalypse staring back, and we quickly moved on.

This is especially true if you were born with Scorpio rising. Whether you experience the better or worse significations of this position depends on the kind of aspects it makes with the other planets.

To learn even more specific and customized information about your natal chart and ask questions about what it indicates for your past, present and future through the use of transits, profections and Zodiacal Releasing, schedule a consultation with me today!

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