Pluto is the first name that comes to mind when exploring keywords related to sexuality and mortality. In terms of the sex life, it is fundamentally powerful and passionate, and the act of sexual union can be a profoundly spiritual experience, evoking the highest levels of human love and closeness. Pluto rules over sexuality because it represents penetration, intense pleasure, and release; the French refer to the orgasm as la petite mort, or “the little death,” a phrase that has been overused in astrology but is nevertheless worth remembering because of its association with finality. Anxiety, guilt, and shame are also Plutonian terms, usually associated with sex and the body. Some people feel that the consciousness of our mortality is associated with sex, and  it’s a taboo (Pluto) issue that nobody talks about in polite society.

Sex is sometimes divided into two polarising groups:

1. The sexual act is transformed into a sacred exchange of energies.

2. The act of having sex is dirty and demeaning.

To quote Dane Rudhyar:

The compelling potency, the vivid realization, and the depth experience of this common humanity are Plutonian factors. Sex has become so glorified in this century of the common man because sexual interaction is one of of the most basic ways of obtaining such a depth experience of the power embodied in all organisms. This experience underlines all personal distinction and scorns racial-cultural classification and prejudices. It is the experience of “life” in its impersonal, or rather subpersonal, manifestation as sex and orgastic energy. The person has to descend, and it is a Plutonian descent. If at times it turns out to be a descent into hell, it is because, in our present humanity and for immense periods of time, the sexual function has been perverted by the ego-will seeking to use the life force of the biosphere for self-enforcement and power. In this sense, Pluto forces individualized and “civilized” men and women to descend not only to the level at which the animal power of the life dominates, but below it.

According to astrology, Pluto is associated with radical change, a deep sense of purpose, and even some animal tendencies. With his special about the seven curse words you can’t say on tv, George Carlin discussed the prohibited relationship between sex and excrement. Pluto is where we plunge into basic darkness, stripped of our safe conceptions, and called upon to submit to the unknown, dragging us straight into the gutter of human nature.

Pluto represents the passage from one form to another, which includes both death and rebirth. Many people think that after death, their spirit, consciousness, and other energies are set free and that a new chapter in their lives has begun. A near-death experience, according to those who believe in survival after physical death, might alter a person’s outlook on life and the things they hold most dear. The things that used to matter have long since been pushed aside in favour of the things that truly matter in life. Death forces one to let go of the known and familiar in favour of the unknown and a higher level, and this equilibrium between life and death is depicted as being in a constant state of change and development as it probes questions of rebirth and the afterlife. Pluto’s energy seems to combine both the most base material form and the most refined spiritual essence; it has to do with height and depth. If Pluto is strongly aspected in a person’s natal chart, it can have a profound impact on their lives. Like in sex and perhaps death, when the psychic plane reaches its limit, it discharges, releasing the built-up tension.