Pluto's Wealth

A seemingly vast number of people have presented me with the question: can Pluto be a good thing? I approached this question in my last article and made the seemingly unequivocal answer of ‘no’. Whilst, upon initial examination, this is as much as the topic needs, there are of course other nuances to consider.

The fact is, we all have Pluto. This isn’t to say that all Plutos are created equal, or even that Pluto remains quantitively static throughout a human life, because the level of Plutonic force varies, and massively, from one person to the next, and even from one life passage to the next. If you measure planetary strength using the Hindu Shadbalas, for example, it is possible to see that each placement has a certain power, and indeed that power can vary over a lifetime. Some are born with formidable Plutonic force only to have it dissipate over the long years, while for others the reverse is true.

Astrology does not occur in a vacuum. This means that outer events stoke the internal fires which in turn create anxiety upon which Plutonic force is predicated. The purpose of your life is to experience that anxiety and to experience the helplessness of it and, as a result of that painful alchemy, to become less attached to outcomes. The key spiritual truth of human life is that we cannot control anyone or anything beyond ourselves. That simple realisation, apprehended at a visceral level, and at the cost of astonishing levels of conflict, compulsion and control, is Pluto’s greatest gift.

So it is very much unavoidable to have Pluto. This means that Pluto is part of our reality, even if we would prefer to leave him, and his infernal terrors, buried for eternity.  So it is not therefore necessarily helpful to simply say that Pluto is a problem and can do us no good, especially for those who are forced, by dint of his great influence in their nativities, to cope with him… somehow. But the trick is to see that it is in his propensity for causing difficulty that his gift is realised. Seeing Pluto as evil is senseless, because in the same way that if there were no conflict then peace would be a meaningless concept, so it is that if there were no powerlessness then we could not experience the true and exalting power of self-control. And all because we would never be given the opportunity to learn the futility of attempting to control the world.

We journey from the solar moment of birth into the oblivion of our lunar cradle and on and on, through the lessons that are offered us as we grow and mature until we find ourselves scrabbling in a tailor-made Plutonic murk, living in a hostile world, full of manipulative, shadowy arch-controllers and from there, the only viable choice is up into the light. The single, hateful alternative is a final, piteous collapse into living death accompanied by the cry of “poor me!”

For the few who are able to let go and accept that everything is as it should be, Pluto remains, but now his power is transformed, through this crucible of powerlessness, into a pure and radiant self-awareness and a sense of pervading lovingness for the world.

Even this, a state of grace for sure, is a spectrum, but like the dawning of a new day, it is still a blessing and worth all the pain and struggle.

This is the way in which Pluto is ‘good’, so if you have Pluto strong, then a benevolent universe has given you a great gift, but one which will take courage, suffering and dedication to realise.

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