In The Astrology of Fate, Liz Greene interprets Pluto as symbolically connected to the figure of the Black man, referencing a dream she was analyzing with a client. Similarly, astrologer Sue Tompkins has associated Pluto more broadly with Black culture, highlighting its connection to themes of power, transformation, and the collective shadow.
Black Culture and Our Historical Roots
“White people who have black lovers often have Venus and especially Mars in aspect to their Pluto. In less enlightened times such intermingling was considered to be taboo. However, black people with white lovers do not on the whole have the same aspects. This leads me to believe that Pluto has a lot to do with the black culture itself. There is much evidence to support this view. For a start, there is no doubt that, right across the globe, black culture has been suppressed by white cultures. Also black people fared much better and gained greater political power when Pluto was in its own sign of Scorpio.” Sue Tompkins – The Contemporary Astrologers Handbook
I actually think there’s a valid point being made here. If we were to take the idea literally and associate planets with race, it seems to me that white people might align more with Saturn. Of course, many astrologers would likely take issue with this suggestion. Astrologically, Pluto governs the collective shadow—the parts of the psyche that have been deeply repressed over time and now require transformation or elimination. When Pluto transits a sign, we often witness eruptions of hidden tensions, power struggles, and control dynamics related to that area of life. Pluto also reveals where we may feel most vulnerable, persecuted, or exposed.
A major turning point in American history occurred when Barack Obama became the first Black president. At that time, transiting Pluto was on the threshold of entering Capricorn. Symbolically, this marked the culmination of a long journey—45 years after the end of legal racial segregation in the United States. Obama rose to power during a period of profound national crisis, in the midst of a major economic downturn. The ascent of a Black man to the highest office in the country carried deep symbolic weight. Astrologically, Capricorn rules the 10th house—the highest point in the chart—associated with government, authority, and those in positions of power. Pluto’s entry into this sign signaled a transformation in how power structures are perceived, challenged, and redefined.
If we are to whimsically assign planetary archetypes to human constructs like race—bearing in mind we’re aren’t binding ourselves to empirical truths, but playing with symbols—Saturn is the old man with a long grey beard, planet of restriction, order, control, tradition, there’s a case to be made. Saturn builds institutions, enforces boundaries, sets the tone of what is considered “civilized.” Historically, the dominion of colonial Europe and its insistence on rigid hierarchies, timekeeping, capitalism—it’s Saturn all right. And Pluto, ruler of the underworld and all things hidden—he’s the perfect planetary patron for the emergence of suppressed voices. When he creeps into a new sign, he tunnels beneath the floorboards and explodes the house from below. The symbolism of Pluto entering Capricorn just as Obama ascends? This is the universe speaking in Jungian riddles. The ultimate underdog breaching the very pinnacle of the establishment—the 10th house throne room—while Pluto mutters, “Let’s tear this old structure down and see what’s underneath.” But with transformation comes exposure. Obama’s presidency didn’t usher in a post-racial utopia—it revealed the festering undercurrents still alive in the collective psyche. Pluto doesn’t erase shadow; he drags it up for all to see. This wasn’t merely a feel-good moment. It wasn’t the end of racial struggle; it was the beginning of a deeper confrontation. Pluto doesn’t let us rest in symbolic victory. Pluto’s hand was pulling the curtain, revealing the unfinished business of America’s soul.
Saturn is the keeper of time, the lord of karma, the enforcer of boundaries and the planet of civilization. He is slow, measured, conservative—both in the political and energetic sense. He values control, legacy, and tradition. Pluto is the subterranean force that exposes what’s been buried, disowned, denied. It is the planet of death and rebirth. The death of illusions, death of pretense, death of lies we’ve built our identities around. Pluto rules trauma, power, the taboo, and the deep psychological undercurrents that are often too uncomfortable to name.
We don’t need to take it literally to see its resonance. It’s about the way symbols move through collective consciousness. The stars don’t control us—they mirror us, exaggerate us, reflect our deepest currents. And right now, Pluto is holding up the mirror, and it’s asking all of us—regardless of race—what power we’re holding onto, and what we’re willing to let die in order to evolve.