Pluto Power: How to Evolve and Harness Yours
Pluto signifies both the soul and personal power in an astrology chart. Its goal is to trigger both personal and collective evolution in often intense and dramatic fashion: death, birth, rebirth, transformation, sex, and merging with others to cause change.
Pluto is the Lord of the Underworld - the unconscious, the hidden realms, the unseen depths of the soul. It rules over our drives, willpower, obsessions, desires, and gnawing needs. It pushes us to evolve through sometimes seemingly destructive means, and the more we resist the changes, the more painful these evolutionary crises can be. Clarity and growth is the reward. We level up in life through Pluto.
Unconscious or shadow Pluto can be destructive, power-hungry, controlling, temperamental, possessive, obsessive, fearful, and over-sexed. Conscious or noble Pluto can be elevating, laser-focused on evolution and growth, easily lets go of things that do not serve that evolution and growth, wise, spiritual, intuitive, and empathetic.
Pluto energy can feel intensely controlling and intimidating to others because there is so much targeted power behind it - and that can be frightening to both wield and to behold. Once harnessed, Pluto people realize that whatever they put their focused will (intention) behind, they can achieve. The trick is to control oneself, not other people. That’s where Pluto people can go wrong. We can only control ourselves.
Fear is the delineating factor here - Fear is the mind killer - because real power is driven by Love, not Fear.
(See the Litany of Fear, a powerful, and very Plutonic, willpower and intention directive, from the Dune series by Frank Herbert.)
Pluto Power can be heaven or hell. It’s up to us in each moment to choose to harness this energy consciously or to let it control us. To harness it successfully, we must remain present and transcend fear.
As the ruler of Scorpio, it is represented by either the snake or scorpion as the unconscious expression, or by the eagle or phoenix as the conscious expression.
The sign, house, and aspects Pluto makes to other planets – especially tight aspects to personal planets, as Pluto transforms through merging energies – as well as planets or points in the sign of Scorpio, can inform how it will express through the individual. And of course, the individual’s personal conscious awareness will determine if Pluto’s power is expressed as either the scorpion or the phoenix, though it may vacillate between the two throughout their lives as different layers of shadow are exposed and dealt with.
What Sign and House Is Your Pluto In?
If you know your Pluto sign, placement, and aspects to other planets already, look through the following lists to find descriptions on how your Pluto expresses itself through you. I also describe in the “Pluto With the Planets” section below how Pluto typically expresses though us in unconscious ways and how we can transform that to an elevated, conscious expression.
Finally, tips for raising consciousness are described, in detail, in the “How to Elevate an Unconscious Pluto” section at the end.
If you need assistance finding your Pluto placement, I would be happy to assist you! Or you can go to astro.com and put in your birth data in their extended chart section and find out for yourself!
Pluto Through the Signs:
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Power through the self, individual power, individual physical strength and vitality.
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Power through material possessions, the body, physical pleasure, and money.
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Power through communication, learning, information gathering, and connections.
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Power through emotional expression, emotional withdrawal, the home, and family ties.
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Power through gaining attention, fame, acknowledgement, preferment, and entitlement to special treatment.
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Power though health, organization, discernment, and perfectionism.
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Power through beauty, social hierarchy, social connections, relationships, and justice.
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Power through intelligence gathering, sexual conquest, domination of others, and secrets.
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Power through knowledge, one-upping others, experiences, seeking and exposing the truth.
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Power through wealth, status, hierarchy, achievements, ambition, and discipline.
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Power through social groups, collectives, tribes, scientific breakthroughs, and innovations.
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Power through surrender, detachment, fantasy, imagination, religion, and faith.
Pluto Through the Houses:
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Pluto in the 1st house is obsessed with self-expression and with being and appearing powerful; self-esteem is power.
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Pluto in the 2nd house is obsessed with security, money, hoarding, materialism, food, the physical body, stasis; possessions are power.
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Pluto in the 3rd house is obsessed with communication, gossip, data, variety, chatter; information is power.
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Pluto in the 4th house is obsessed with secrets, imagination, having a house and all that goes with it, security, emotional vulnerability, victim mindset, attachment, family secrets; security is power.
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Pluto in the 5th house is obsessed with play, creativity, flirtation, risk taking, and romance, sex without commitment, fun without responsibility, being a child and not a grown up; being admired is power.
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Pluto in the 6th house is obsessed with routines, schedules, health, supplements, daily chores; perfection is power.
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Pluto in the 7th house is obsessed with relationships and being partnered up, how to be in control or have power in a relationship, how to keep a partner from having too much power in a relationship; harmonious love is power.
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Pluto in the 8th house is obsessed with sex and money, investigating, uncovering information and truths, finding out the truth, merging with others, hiding, secretive; acquired power is power.
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Pluto in the 9th house is obsessed with learning, enlightenment, seeking, finding the truth, lifelong learning, teaching, sharing wisdom; knowledge is power.
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Pluto in the 10th house is obsessed with status, wealth, infamy, achievement, work, discipline, power signaling, hierarchy; authority is power.
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Pluto in the 11th house is obsessed with social activism, social status, being involved in powerful groups, unearthing new methods of survival; innovation is power.
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Pluto in the 12th house is obsessed with liminality, transcendence, surrendering to the divine, dedicated religious service like becoming a monk or a nun, abdicating personal power to a higher power; letting go is power.
Pluto
Pluto with the Planets - The Unconscious and Conscious Expressions:
This includes Scorpio placements, i.e. Sun in Scorpio, Moon in Scorpio, etc.
Note: Hard aspects (conjunction, squares, oppositions, inconjuncts) between Pluto and other planets will not make it impossible to evolve from unconsciousness to consciousness; it will just make it harder.
Soft aspects (trines, sextiles, quintiles, noviles) between Pluto and other planets will not mean unconsciousness never occurs, it will just be an easier time for the native to evolve from unconsciousness to consciousness.
If you need help reading your chart to find what planets your Pluto interacts with, please don’t hesitate to contact me! I would be happy to help you.
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Unconscious: I am afraid of being overwhelming to others so I hide or give away my power. I am afraid others will not think I am powerful enough or worthy, so I overcompensate by being overbearing, controlling, or by hogging up the spotlight. I perform what I think others want me to be. I feel anxious because deep down I sense that I am giving away my power. I think power is a finite resource that must be competed for.
Conscious: I am powerful when I transform myself and evolve into my highest expression and live in my authenticity. I am powerful when I love myself and devote myself to not abandoning myself. I am powerful when I do not operate from my ego. I am powerful when I encourage others to shine, knowing their light will not take away from my own. I source my power from deep within myself, a boundless ocean of divine wisdom and love.
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Unconscious: I feel that others are attacking me and my emotions feel overwhelming to me; I blame others for how I feel, which I rationalize as justification for my defensiveness. I have issues with mistrust and I feel acutely sensitive to others’ energies in a way that overwhelms me.
Conscious: I perceive and intuit vibes and emotions effortlessly; I trust my intuition and rely on it without question. I trust my feelings to guide me to where I’m meant to be. I take responsibility for my own feelings and care for my internal world appropriately.
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Unconscious: I suspect others of malicious intent against me or others. I read others’ minds or motives against their will or without their consent. I project my thoughts and motives onto others. I think I am invincible and that my intelligence is greater than others’ and this often comes out in condescending language. I obsessively fantasize about power or dominance, and will manifest scenarios where I can live out these fantasies, often secretively.
Conscious: I use my powerful perception to solve difficult problems that elevate as many people as possible. I choose my words carefully and with the intent to foster meaningful change. I transform my own mind and control my own thoughts with my focused will.
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Unconscious: I attract, and am attracted to, powerful people who tend to dominate me. I often lose myself in love, and am prone to confusing sexual attraction with soulmates. I tend to become obsessed with my love interests. I easily become overwhelmed with dramatic, intense desire and often find myself engaged in power struggles in my relationships. I give my power away in ecstatic unions in the hopes of receiving the same in return, but am often bitterly disappointed. I love vampire stories and erotic fiction or art.
Conscious: I am powerful when I channel my intense erotic nature into artwork and money-making instead of playing dangerous games with love. I value my intense emotional nature and reserve it for people and things worthy of my devotion and commitment. I turn my intense gaze inward so I can fully understand my own values - and my own worth - and I know soul-felt, authentic love anchored in truth is the only thing I truly desire.
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Unconscious: I plot against others and seethe when they undermine me or have something I want. I can be passive aggressive, or straight out aggressive, when I feel I need to settle a score, though I will go about this as secretively as possible for as long as possible - though when I strike, it is with a volcanic intensity that I ensure my opponent will never forget. I can be ruthless and fierce, and sometimes violent and abusive. I have a hot temper and tend to be emotionally reactive. I have a strong sex drive and my energy levels are exceedingly high. My relationships are often a battleground for me, and I refuse to be energetically dominated, though I do prefer to be in a dominant position, myself.
Conscious: I am powerful when I know that the only person I can control is myself. Therefore, I use my abundant energy stores to improve and elevate my whole self: body, mind, and spirit. I engage in regular exercise or physical training that requires immense focus and self-control, like martial arts, and I use my intense willpower to control my reactivity and my aggression. I fight for the rights of others to be as free from domination and abuse as I want to be. I am a conscious warrior for truth.
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Unconscious: I tend to think that I am the wisest person I know. Even when I meet new people, I presume I am more knowledgeable than they are. I loudly denigrate those in positions of power, yet I secretly love being powerful and authoritative myself. I want others to see me as the greatest, most powerful, most admirable person they know. I am jolly and adventurous with a high sex drive and a magically accurate intuition for making money and just sensing things in general; however, I hoard wealth and resources - and I often see both knowledge and people as resources - to the detriment of others, even though I tell myself fantastical stories otherwise. I am not above manipulating or dominating others in order to get what I want out of them.
Conscious: I am powerful when I know that true wisdom comes from grounded authenticity, a release of ego, and an openness to experience the Truth. I know that true power comes from empowering others from a place of self-love and self-respect. I know that true wealth comes from inner peace and inner union with the divine. I use my abundant power, intuition, and wisdom to enlighten others, not to extract from them for my own egoic enrichment.
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Unconscious: I am obsessed with being in control and having authority. I need to be the one making decisions and being the boss in all situations. I will create conflict until I am the one with the bulk of the power. I can be very defensive and territorial about my areas of power and control (which I really prefer to be all the areas). I demand high levels of loyalty and respect from everyone I engage with. It terrifies me to think about being dominated by others, so I dominate them to prevent that ever happening. I can be very dry and boring as all I can think about is how to be in charge of everybody else.
Conscious: I am powerful when I know that whatever I put my focused mind and intense willpower to I can achieve. I recognize my intensity and use it to build structures that enable others to grow and flourish. I am mindful about what I put my abundant power behind, and harness my ample ambition and hard work ethic toward worthy goals. I see mistakes not as failures but as steps toward success and mastery. I learn from these experiences and allow them to transform me into a wiser version of myself who can then empower others to learn from my own mistakes. I focus on creating a meaningful life instead of controlling others.
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Unconscious: I react extremely and viscerally to any perceived threat of authoritative control over myself. I am independent in the extreme. I am suspicious of any type of conformity and keep to myself so as to avoid anyone getting any ideas that I might be under their control. I think of myself as punk rock, a hardcore activist and a radical revolutionary continually fighting for freedom and progress. I am fearful of emotional closeness and would rather self-sabotage a relationship than feel powerless or vulnerable within it. I prefer the cutting edge of novelty and innovation over anything tried and true. I can sense energy shifts with lightning precision and act before I am acted upon.
Conscious: I am powerful when I know that whatever I put my focused mind and intense willpower to I can achieve. I recognize my intensity and use it to build structures that enable others to grow and flourish. I am mindful about what I put my abundant power behind, and harness my ample ambition and hard work ethic toward worthy goals. I see mistakes not as failures but as steps toward success and mastery. I learn from these experiences and allow them to transform me into a wiser version of myself who can then empower others to learn from my own mistakes. I focus on creating a meaningful life instead of controlling others.
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Unconscious: I have powers of suggestion, glamour, and manipulation that I employ when I need something from someone. I have a sixth sense about others’ weaknesses and intuitively know how to manipulate their energy in order to get what I want. I blur the lines between what is real and unreal and use this to my advantage. Sometimes I lose myself in my own delusion and I find myself under the spell of dark spirits or substances, such as drugs or alcohol, which I use to sedate myself and others or to bind them to me so that I can siphon their energy. When I lose control, I may cause drama or trauma that takes a long time to recover or unwind from. I have vampire energy.
Conscious: I intuitively know how to heal another’s inner wounds and traumas and seek to empower others toward their healing and their higher selves. I can sense what lies behind their addictions and escapist behaviors and how to elevate them from isolation and self-destruction to remembering their connection with the divine. I am diligent about my own shadow work (shadow love), and know that self-love involves self-forgiveness for any self-abandonment. Because I know this, I can help others to realize it, and to do so is empowering for everyone. I understand that true power comes from being willing to see the truth clearly and accept that reality holds room for paradoxes.
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Unconscious: I take full advantage of my powerful presence and hypnotically pull people toward me like a tractor beam, knowing that I am intensely magnetic and alluring. I easily manipulate others to spill their secrets to me and save this information for a time when I can use it to my own advantage. In fact, I can usually easily intuit others’ weaknesses without them having to say a word. I enjoy being intimidating to others as it gives me a sense of authority, superiority, and invincibility. I use my intensity as a shield for my own insecurities.
Conscious: I take the time to ground myself in Truth before I engage with others and am careful to project only my own authenticity as I interact with others. I am aware that others look to me for leadership and guidance and I mindfully lead with clear intent. I aim to help others find their authenticity and support them through their personal transformations where needed, empowering them to see themselves clearly and truthfully. My goal is to make a positive and meaningful impact upon others. I use my impeccable intuitive powers for pattern recognition so that I can guide myself and others through dark or difficult scenarios.
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Unconscious: My sense of powerlessness and insecurity leads me to project my pain onto others. I treat others as if they were the cause or the root of my pain and trauma that I am unable to face and heal, even if they had nothing to do with it. I try to dominate or control others in order to avoid feeling dominated or controlled, because it triggers my pain or trauma. I overcompensate for my feelings of inadequacy by making others feel less-than. I avoid my healing because I am terrified of facing it, so I unconsciously act out my trauma towards others, continuing the cycle of pain in myself and creating pain for others.
Conscious: I am a powerful healer because I have faced my pain, trauma, and fears. I have sat with the pain and grief I carried and allowed it to pass through me and teach me what I needed to learn from it. I learned to let go of the trauma and the person I was before I was hurt, so I could become who and what I am today: a wounded healer who uses the power of experience to evolve into a fully conscious, empowered being. I use my painful experiences to assist others on their healing journeys.
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Unconscious: I give myself, body, soul, and service, to others in the hopes that they will give back to me. I require the provision of others so that I can feel happy and secure. I dwell in scarcity and am continually in a state of wanting: more attention, more time, more connection, more drama, more food, more money, more material goods, more sex; I am not easily satisfied. I see all my possessions - including myself - as transactional commodities. I can become emotionally distraught or explosive if I don’t get my needs met and will blame others for my unmet needs.
Conscious: I source my own happiness and satisfaction internally; I no longer seek contentment outside of myself. In choosing myself, I prioritize my own needs and my own provision is up to me alone. I am able to share my possessions and my sexuality with those I choose to of my own free will and generosity, and do not expect to receive anything in return. I tend my inner world like a bountiful, beautiful garden.
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Unconscious: I hyperfixate on health issues and am openly hypochondriacal. I obsess about symptoms, both in the body and in the mind, and I research everything I can in order to become the authority of all things health-related. I have a personal relationship with my physician, and may be in a health-related field myself. I panic at the first sign of something being “off” in my body or in my regular environment (home or office), which I keep tightly under my control and surveillance. I have a sixth sense about health issues or diseases, both in myself and in my loved ones. Emergency services is on speed dial. I probably have white-coat syndrome (medical PTSD) as well.
Conscious: I take excellent care of my body and my health, and maintain clarity by eating whole, fresh foods and exercising regularly. I stay conscious of new trends, but keep from obsessing because I know I am living a clean life. I apply my intuitive prowess to maintaining healthy boundaries between myself and any negative thoughts or obsessive overthinking, ensuring that I stay balanced and serene which also benefits my physical and mental health in a positive way. I am in complete, peaceful control of my body and my mind and what I choose to put into them.
Hades, the archetype of the unconscious, from https://istruzionemessina.it/en/hades-larchetype-of-the-unconscious/
How to Elevate an Unconscious Pluto:
1. Realize the Truth: This can only be achieved by first realizing there is a problem, and the problem is your behavior.
2. Accept the Truth: Those with a strong, unconscious Pluto signature will often be intensely defensive and combative, fiercely protecting what they perceive as their truth and their “rightness.” What they are often actually defending is their fear, which they mask with obsessive control. The real Truth is that you are choosing fear over love, hoarding power, and seeking to control others instead of empowering yourself by releasing others to exist with their own agency, and seeking to retain your own agency by controlling only yourself.
3. Release Non-Truth: Once you have determined that which is True versus that which is untrue, you can begin to let go of your former attachment to your fear. This may not be easy, and it may take some time, perhaps even years. But it is the work you must do to evolve into consciousness. It may involve therapy, working through childhood wounds, even past life material. Whatever you have a death grip on subconsciously is that which is holding you back. No one can do this work for you, and only you can choose to engage in it. In fact, if others try to bring you to this process before you are ready to embark on the journey, you will likely fight them tooth and nail and defend your rightness and your mind will tell you that they are in the wrong, or are stupid, or selfish, or delusional. This is just your ego defending its fear. Eventually, you will need to walk through this door, and you know it. It will feel like dying a little, because in a way, you are dying unto yourself. This is the “ego death.”
4. Rebirth: After you have thoroughly gone through this process, you will feel a sense of being reborn. You will have a new perspective and feel you have leveled up. You are a more authentically powerful being now. The pain that you will have gone through to get here will have been worth it. You are no longer the biting snake in the grass or the reactively stinging scorpion; you have the gained clear sight of the high-flying eagle. You can now assist others to see their own Truth more clearly now.
Note: You may need to repeat this process multiple times throughout your life; growth is not linear, it is a spiral.
Lotus blossom
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
― Viktor E. Frankl
If you would like to know more about your Pluto placement and how to harness it and other placements in your chart for your own self-empowerment and personal evolution, please contact me for a reading!
