Transformation is one of the most common keywords describing Pluto. It accompanies a complete re-haul of a person’s life, image, and personality. In Relating by Liz Greene, the author refers to a Pluto mythologem where the king must descend beneath the earth, to consummate a union, and at the moment of ecstasy, he dies, and is torn to pieces and devoured by the dark woman with whom he has united.
When astrologers look for a massive change in an individual sense they examine Pluto transits. Pluto transits pave the way necessary for alteration in the person’s character. The process of transformation often involves undertaking a journey into the underworld, and this may involve the darker aspects of life and psychological being. The return to the upper world suggests renewal and transformation have taken place.
In a person’s life, Pluto sweeps everything clean and when the whole thing is removed it offers us the chance of starting a new life. Pluto says, “Let’s get rid of it all and start all over.” Matters involving Pluto’s natal house and aspects become too intense and passionate because it usually matters so much. Pluto needs to merge and unite our energy fully (not superficially) and is an important part of the process.
Pluto as the “giver of wealth” involves some final letting go, and moving on. Entering “The Dark Night of the Soul” and journeying to the very depths – a journey which is inevitably painful, for it forces us to confront our psychological complexes. Pluto challenges us to penetrate our being until we find renewed strength, but throughout this process, we are left emotional, vulnerable and exposed. It is thought these characteristics are present when a transformation is imminent.
Deep impenetrable changes cannot really happen in Pluto’s house unless we really want them. We need to feel an urgent desire behind the need for transformation, and sometimes it takes a massive trauma and underground eruption to bring us to such a turning point, crisis and resolve. Pluto is associated with the extremes of life, death, power, and sex.
The process of life, death and rebirth are the ultimate transformations. In death, our body decays and soul emerges from it and soars above the material world. Pluto represents the deeper will at work in all of us; there is a sense that we are freed from one form into a new life. The positive aspect of Pluto’s transformation is living a deeper and enriched life. Pluto is a fixed planet and is focused, intense and determined, changes are lasting and profound.
A quality of depth is needed beyond superficial layers, bringing a new stage of life. Something about our former world will change, and we draw upon latent abilities that have always been present all along but were undeveloped, hidden, and repressed. Pluto represents the area where we are blocked and need to be freed by developing a new attitude and relinquishing old structures. Pluto can also feel like some kind of fate, and make us believe that we are stuck in an inevitable situation with no way out. When in fact, the planet is the bearer of transformation and is a potent symbol for change.