Pluto in Astrology: Transformation, Power, Scorpio and the Dwarf Planet

Pluto in the sky

Pluto is a small icy world of the Kuiper belt, beyond Neptune. Its diameter, about 2,370 kilometres, is smaller than that of the Moon. It takes about 248 years to orbit the Sun, on a very elongated orbit tilted by about 17 degrees; for part of its path (from 1979 to 1999), it was closer to the Sun than Neptune. It has several moons, including Charon (discovered in 1978), so large relative to Pluto that the pair is often treated as a double system. The spacecraft New Horizons flew past it on 14 July 2015.

A planet… that is no longer one

Pluto was discovered on 18 February 1930 by the American Clyde Tombaugh, at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona, during a search for “Planet X”. Its name was suggested by an eleven-year-old girl from Oxford, Venetia Burney. For more than seventy-five years, it was counted as the ninth planet. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union reclassified it as a dwarf planet, because it does not dominate its orbital neighbourhood. This choice is still debated by some astronomers.

Many astrologers continue to use it: for them, it is a symbol, whose meaning does not depend on the astronomers’ classification. Others do without it. It is a matter of convention, not of proof.

Hades, Pluto and the underworld

The name comes from Pluto (Dis Pater in Rome, Hades in Greece), god of the underworld, whose Greek name Ploutôn also evokes the riches hidden beneath the earth. The planet’s astrological symbol, which combines the letters P and L, at the same time recalls the name of the astronomer Percival Lowell, whose observatory housed the discovery: a modern tribute, unrelated to antiquity.

What Pluto symbolises in astrology

Astrologers associate Pluto with deep transformation: the crises that force change, power and how it is used, cycles of death and rebirth, taboos, passions, what is hidden, regeneration. Its reading took shape in the twentieth century, alongside depth psychology and the atomic age, which coincide with its discovery. This meaning is therefore more recent than that of the ancient planets, and authors disagree about how to interpret it.

In a chart, Pluto’s position in a sign is shared by a whole generation, since it stays there from twelve to thirty years: it mainly describes collective tendencies. It is its aspects with the personal planets that concern the individual.

Scorpio, between Mars and Pluto

See the portrait of Scorpio.

A 248-year cycle, very irregular

Because its orbit is so elongated, Pluto spends as little as twelve years in Scorpio and as long as some thirty years in Taurus. It crossed Scorpio from 1983 to 1995, then Sagittarius until 2008, and Capricorn afterwards. It entered Aquarius in 2023-2024 and will stay there for about twenty years. Astrologers use these durations to speak of “Pluto generations”.

Eris, Ceres and the birth of the dwarf planets

The reclassification of Pluto did not happen by chance. From the 1990s on, astronomers discovered many other objects in the Kuiper belt. In 2005, the discovery of Eris, a body slightly more massive than Pluto, forced a decision: should Eris be counted as a tenth planet, or should the definition be revised? The General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union, meeting in Prague in August 2006, defined the category of dwarf planet, which also includes Ceres, in the asteroid belt. Some astrologers use Eris, Ceres or other bodies (such as Chiron) in addition to the ten basic ones: it is a personal choice.

An exercise in metamorphosis, with no promises

If this symbol speaks to you, you can reflect on it by writing. Take a page and note an important change in your life (a move, a bereavement, a new job, a separation). Describe what it made disappear, what it brought to life, and what you kept. Depth psychology, which is often associated with Pluto, speaks of the “shadow” to designate what we would rather not look at within ourselves. In case of serious distress, turn to a professional: a birth chart is not a form of support.

An honest view of this reading

Pluto is a symbol of metamorphosis and power. The astrological reading finds strong images in it, but no scientific evidence links the position of this small body, almost six billion kilometres away, to the destiny of individuals or societies. One should be wary of readings that announce “crises” or “catastrophes”: these amount to prediction. See the history and limits of astrology.

Frequently asked questions

Also read

The meanings mentioned belong to tradition and symbolism. They are neither promises of results nor medical advice. Back to Guide to astrology basics.