Pluto in Aquarius - Collapse of Social Order.
Maybe this time the revolution will be televised.
The planet of transformation and destruction made its grand entrance into Aquarius on Thursday, suggesting that the world is in for some more maladies of a different flavor. As I’m writing this, protests are underway in France to prevent Macron’s government from raising the retirement age for pension reform. Here in Canada, the government is crisis mode since the intelligence agency keeps leaking information suggesting that the Liberal government may have benefitted from Chinese interference in the last two elections. North Korea is raising eyebrows with its testing of new militarized technology with nuclear capabilities. Lastly, some in the US await the arrest and indictment of former president Donald Trump in a hush money case. Between the political unrest and the acceleration of the interest in AI and all things digital (especially currency), the preview of what is to come during Pluto in Aquarius is becoming clearer by the day. In this newsletter, I hope to provide some food for thought about what Pluto in Aquarius might be as a transit.
Critical Mass
Before we even touch the concepts of AI and political upheaval with a ten foot pole, I think it’s important to assess how the meanings of Aquarius the sign an Pluto the planet will come together. Since we are talking about a fixed air sign, and the preferred domicile of Saturn in both Western and Vedic astrology — it is critical to get to the fundamental core of what these symbols mean. Sorry to the modernists, but Uranus will not be mentioned in this article, except to highlight the relationship to Cronus (Saturn). If three years of Saturn in tropical Aquarius did not teach anyone what ideological rigidity means, then surely Pluto’s 20 year transit here will.
To understand Aquarius and the things it represents, it is key to understand the element, the planet that rules the sign, the planet(s) that may be debilitated in the sign, and the modality of the sign. Like the other air signs Gemini and Libra, Aquarius is one of the only signs that is said to be human rather than bestial (I am ignoring the first half of Sagittarius for convenience, pls don’t come at me). Air signs are often associated with the capacity of speech, thought, and reason — which will discuss at length later in this newsletter. Air is hot and moist, and while it doesn’t change the nature of the substances it interacts with, it is able to stir them into action or move them in some way. I know a lot of people versed in the modern rulerships struggle to understand Aquarius as being Saturnian, but I think the juxtaposition of a less tangible element and a planet with connotations of solidity speaks to the “quirkiness” of the sign. However, the symbolism of Saturn as an undifferentiated other or someone at the margins is very fitting for the Aquarian archetype. Furthermore, Saturn does get associated with the collective masses, which are in opposition to the monarchs— i.e. the luminaries. It’s no surprise that the Sun is exiled here! I find that an adage to think about the Sun’s debility here is the phrase, “if everyone is special, then how is that unique?” There is an uncomfortable truth in this statement, but what Aquarius suns may fail to realize is that projecting some sort of identity is still worth doing, even if everyone is trying to participate in such an act. Finally, Saturn has connotations of time— not just the past but also the future. Where Saturn in Capricorn may look to the past to inspire new foundations to build, Aquarius looks to the future in order to stabilize things of the present that have potential. Therefore, it’s not hard to get to future-oriented rebel looking at the sign through this lense.
When looking at the planet, Pluto, we think about transformation. This dwarf planet and its movements are associated with making small things seem large and reducing massive things into something miniscule. This planet is also associated with some difficult “d” words— death, destruction, decay. You get the idea! When Pluto transits a sign or makes significant aspects to other planets, it has the tendency to bring about disaster or decay for the purpose of forcing transformation. It exposes the rot in a particular domain of life or with respect to key archetypal themes so that changes can be made on a deep cellular level. What happens to things that fail to withstand this pressure to change? They die. The last 15 years of Pluto in Capricorn has done quite the job exposing the rot within structures of authority and how they are shaped to abuse power— most notably financial institutions. Aside from the syncretism with the underworld god, Hades, the planet is named after the Roman god associated with wealth. Since crops and other commodities come from under the ground, it’s obvious that Pluto rules commodities as well— especially hidden things that are worth a lot. Therefore, it’s interesting that we started Pluto in Capricorn with the Great Recession of 2008 and we seem to be ending the transit with more bank failures and questions about the global financial systems as they stand. It remains to be seen whether the banks will receive the same government bailout that they did last time (since Pluto is not in Capricorn, my guess is no).
Though Pluto will only spend a few months in Aquarius this year, between now and 2044, we get to experience a breakdown of themes in society associated with Aquarius. Social structures seem to be the thing we are coming after next. Whether you are an insider or an outsider, Saturn can speak to social stratification, and Saturn in Aquarius will force us to confront these things. As technology advances, it creates efficiencies that may benefit some at the expense of others. Here, we are forced to confront the utility of the categories we use to make sense of our roles in society based on the spread of technologies that can serve as “equalizers.” We need to revisit key principles and assumptions which govern how we organize ourselves, and eliminate those which will prevent us from maintaining social order.
(r)Evolution of Thought
One key feature of Pluto in Aquarius will likely be the reformation of the fundamental principles by which we understand the nature of reality, what it’s composed of, and how it’s organized. This is especially applicable when it comes to how we understand social interactions, especially those involving power. I find it relevant to invoke the mythology of the Titans and their overthrow of their parents. I’ve been thinking of this myth since having the privilege of hearing Sam Reynolds talk about the Astrology of Policing for the Association of Young Astrologers (PS - join the organization today if you want access to the talk), since it makes the archetype of Aquarius quite clear! Basically, Ouranos (Uranus), father of the gods was overthrown by Cronus (Saturn) and the Titans were established as the new seat of power within the pantheon. Not only this but Cronus and his siblings castrated their father upon ascending to power. However, to avoid the same fate, Cronus eats his children to prevent being usurped by his own offspring—which proved to be in vain. I think this myth makes clear that Aquarius is not necessarily about innovation for the sake of constant change, but the establishment of a new status quo. Pluto here is only going to enhance the themes of old regimes being replaced and overthrown by new ones.
The seeds of revolution are often born out of changes in ideology and thought. As a result, the locus of power shifts and becomes less centralized. Astrologer Angela Cornish does a great job of outlining major historical shifts of loci of power in this article. She goes through some major shifts that took place during the last three iterations of Pluto in Aquarius. In 1533, Henry the VIII gets excommunicated from the Catholic Church due to his desire to end his marriage to Catherine of Aragon so he could marry Anne Boleyn instead. This split would lead to the formation of the Anglican church, and represents a major turning point for growing protestant sentiment that was already taking hold in much of Western Europe. This marked a shift away from the papacy in influencing the affairs of different monarchies within the West. In the era of 1778-1798, the American Revolution that was largely in progress inspired a wave of revolutions in France and throughout adjacent colonies in response to perceived overreaches by monarchist regimes. This move led to the idealization of republican democracy as the ideal form of government, as opposed to rule by an imperial monarch in some places (perhaps Pluto in Pisces can speak to the imperial power of the British Empire). We can go back even earlier and see that even the “Great Schism” between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches in 1054 occurred under Pluto in Aquarius, reflecting the political and philosophical differences between the different branches of the Christian faith.
Considering the events of the past, I think that we are likely moving towards more of a multipolar world, and away from one centralized form of power or authority. For a long time, American hegemony was the order under which the world operated. By extension, the European Union and NATO were also major forces that seemed to dictate the global agenda. However, China and some other nations are forming the newly minted BRICS alliance, which may prove to be a formidable competitor when it comes to defining global interests.
Technological advancement as an obstacle to progress
Since Saturn and Mercury (Mercury does not exalt here, but has triplicity dignity and a nice decan here) do well in the sign Aquarius, it’s no surprise that the sign gets associated with technological innovation. However, there is this seemingly innate assumption that technological advancement serves the purpose of bringing about progress. While technology (Mercury) pushes us past the constraints of reality (Saturn), it does tend to create new problems while solving old ones (more Saturn). I would argue that this becomes especially apparent when Pluto transits the air signs, but most notably the sign of Aquarius.
One example of technological progress creating new problems to solve is the invention of the cotton gin in 1794. This invention made the processing of cotton much more efficient, and while this cemented cotton as a major commodity of the American South, it further entrenched the region in its dependence on enslaved Africans as a source of labor. This stands in contradiction to moves by colonial powers of France and Britain, which moved to abolish slavery in 1792 and 1794, respectively. The ethos of the times was generally centered on recognizing the power of individuals and an emancipation from certain structures of authority, however, this sowed the seeds for future problems to be faced by the US and other colonies within the Americas in dealing with the legacy of slavery. So while the technology was economically beneficial, it maintained the oppression and othering of a group of people, and against the ethos that the land was prevailing upon (supposedly, but that’s a dialogue for another time).
The co-presence of Neptune and Uranus in Aquarius in the late 90s and the aughts was associated with the spread of the internet and the digital age, and served as the great equalizer of sorts. This is because information has become increasingly accessible to large masses of people, rather than tucked away for privileged groups to access. While this has also allowed more people to be interconnected and be aware of things happening outside of their local sphere, there has been extensive documentation on the ways in which social media has contributed to the decline of mental health amongst youth. While this trend seemed to worsen during Neptune’s movement into Pisces, it can be argued that the floodgates were opened during the movement of the other two outer planets in Aquarius. Not to mention that the age of social media has enhanced the amount of digital surveillance that governments and corporations have been able to develop for means of social control and to make profits off of regular people. Pluto coming to these degrees over 25 years later is going to provide a stress test to redefine how this structure can integrate within our social frameworks. TikTok is the newest player in the social media sphere, and politicians and experts in psychology have expressed concerns about the effects constant exposure to this platform may be having on the social and emotional development of young people. With TikTok also coming under fire for geopolitical reasons, it is possible that a culmination of factors may lead to the demise of this app, and by extension the attempts by Western governments to be more overtly heavy-handed in their regulation over the internet and Big Tech.
While everyone seems to be keen to hop on the AI craze to generate anything from essays, to editing media, I feel that not enough people are discussing the potential downsides to accelerating our use of this new technology. There are a plethora of problems that could arise from this expansion of AI. To name a few - the obsolescence of laborers in many industries, major disinformation campaigns to influence politics, and issues with ownership over creative and intellectual property. Neptune in Pisces happening in parallel is already creating problems in the form of disinformation campaigns that threaten social cohesion (this is a huge problem of Saturn-Neptune hard aspects, and we are under this influence with Saturn being in Pisces). Now that these deepfakes have become more enhanced, we run the risk of exacerbating these issues. On twitter the other day, there was a funny but alarmingly realistic picture of Donald Trump’s arrest circulating on the web. More concerning are the reports that AI is being used to create fake pornographic images of women, which has the potential to ruin people’s lives.
What does it mean to be human?
At the core of how these shifts in thought and technology is a key question that we will be forced to reckon with — what humanity is and why is it important to identify with the concept? No matter how you slice this pie, this transit may be associated with an existential crisis for humanity and how it assigns the locus of power to decide its fate. Pluto in Aquarius can be associated with the desire to distribute agency across larger masses of people, rather than allowing it to remain in the hands of a few people.
As uncomfortable as the topic might be for people, I feel like the emancipation of colonies from their imperial overlords taking place around the same time that people were pushing for the abolition of slavery are worth examining deeper. On the one hand, giving more people the right to self-determination propped up many democracies that are still (barely) functional today. On the other hand, the hypocrisy of denying whole groups of people agency is one failed realization of this transit that we are forced to reckon with today. As an American, I think often of how the document that is worshipped and hailed as the thing that protects the rights and freedoms of all of us is actually used on a regular basis to deny people their rights, depending on who is entrusted to interpret it. Throughout the history of America, people like myself (woman, racialized, etc.) were routinely excluded from the definition of “human” to keep power within the locus of a specific set of people. I do think that some themes of the times will force us to revisit these past failings and the lasting effects they continue to have.
I think the advent of AI is also forcing people to think about their relationship to their labor, since many of us in the global north especially have transitioned to service based economies. Humans have long held themselves as separate from the rest of the animal kingdom due to the capacity for intellect, language, and complex social structures. Additionally, capitalism has forced people to see their value in terms of their productivity and capacity to perform labor. If a man made structure can outperform humans in some of the tasks that made them unique and “of value” to the social structures they have created, then what does it really mean to be human? What is the purpose of being a human in society beyond the capacity to use intellect and language for the purpose of endless production and consumption? Perhaps we will spend the next 20 years trying to answer these questions, and maybe the answers we come up with will push us to fight for social structures that reflect this.
If you enjoyed reading about the thematic elements of Pluto in Aquarius, please consider booking a session with me! I would love help you navigate the themes of these turbulent times as they apply to your life. Also, if you are a fellow Saturn in Pisces like myself, I am treating you to 30% off one reading of your choice between now and December of 2025. Please email me for access to the discount code.