Pluto

All things must come to an end, and that is where Pluto's energies come in very much handy. While no longer officially considered a planet as of 2006 but instead relegated to "dwarf" status, the influence of this celestial body is anything but small.

Pluto, along with Saturn, is one of the most feared celestial bodies when it comes into our lives. This is because most of us have some aversion to the concept of death. And Pluto transits bring endings in all forms, though not usually actual physical death. What it will do is put an end to long cycles in our lives of things that were not serving us or holding us back from moving forward. Uranus does this too, but in a very different manner. Uranus brings wild change and an end to stagnation, but Pluto brings permanent endings to major cycles. Usually, this death involves letting go of a way of life, belief structure, idea, or obsession that was holding us back from being a better person. Here is the difficult part, though: we rarely want to let go of what needs to die. In this way, the release is extremely painful but ultimately allows us to exist in a much, much better situation.

One misconception in Astrology is that Pluto is a symbol for the "Phoenix rising from the ashes." But this assumes that Pluto ushers in brand new, exciting beginnings on the heels of the death it created. That somehow it shows us the path we really need to walk. It actually doesn't do this: it just clears the junk in our lives away so that we can eventually start anew. In a way, Pluto is the great garbage collector of the night sky. Or perhaps it represents a group of buzzards. But don't make the mistake of thinking that Pluto's influence is minor or not important. It is an extremely critical element of our lives. Just as the death of old forests is critical for allowing space for new ones to grow, the elimination of things that no longer serve us is a requirement for a better life.

When Pluto comes around and demands you to move on, the best thing to do is listen and let go. The longer you hold on; indeed, the harder you cling tightly to the thing that is no longer serving you, the more painful it becomes to continue. Pluto will make the handle of your favorite kitchen pot so hot that you can't keep holding it, even with your best oven mitt. Bad analogies aside, Pluto is far from subtle. It will hit you over the head.

Here is the real key to understanding this influence by transit: often, you see Pluto come about when a relationship, job, or friendship needs to end. But it isn't actually the "thing" that needs to end. It is the entire concept you have bought into. It will usually force you to let go of an entire lifestyle. So it is far more likely that Pluto will say, "you will never marry again" than it is to say "this person just isn't working out." Nope, not at all. It wants you to remove the entire broken system from your life! If you are finding yourself in one bad job after another, the answer isn't a perfect job. It is to stop getting jobs. Pluto won't tell you the next step. Is it entrepreneurship? Is it a hedge fund? Who knows. It will just tell you what you need to stop doing.

It is among the most challenging transits a person can have, but it is a necessary step in our evolution to better versions of ourselves.

Pluto rules the sign Scorpio and is very at home in the transformative and powerful eighth house.