Pluto has a well-deserved association with negative behaviors such as obsession, manipulation, and power struggles. But are these traits always bad?
Obsession often precedes acts of genius such as a great work of art or an invention that benefits the collective. These are examples of how Pluto can work through us in a positive way. However, when people manipulate others, often for “their own good,” we see Pluto’s dark side. The type of aspect Pluto makes to personal planets and angles, either natally or by transit, provides clues about how this powerful force will manifest in an individual.
The conjunction brings a deeper intensification of the qualities of the sign in which it is found. When Pluto conjoins a planet or angle, the intensity is exponentially greater. Here is the possibility for either end of the spectrum, from genius inventor to heavy duty manipulator. As with all conjunctions, it is difficult to get perspective on our behavior, because we’re just too close to the situation. Feedback from a friend or loved one can be very helpful or the start of battle royal.
Those with Pluto in a sextile or trine with personal planets or angles have the best chance to manage your obsessions and to be productive without your desire to pursue a specific path taking over your life. You can spend time deeply involved in the act of creation and yet still remember to stop and make dinner for their family. The intensity and drive is softened by the harmony found between the signs and elements involved.
If you have an opposition with Pluto, there are a couple of different ways this can go. Often with the opposition, it can be a person or situation outside ourselves who will brings demands and expectations into our lives. The key to any opposition is keeping in mind that the signs and elements are always compatible, and if confrontation is avoided, then dialogue is possible. Working with a Pluto person can be very challenging but also very rewarding, because they will be very tenacious in pursuit of your mutual goals. However, if there are escalating confrontations between you due to differences in expectations, and stepping back and detaching does not work, then you may need to completely remove yourself from the situation – a totally Plutonian option.
Of all the aspects to work with, a square between Pluto and personal planets is the most difficult and yet the one holding the greatest potential for clarity and growth. It can fuel great creativity and the most persistent obsessions. If the energy generated by this aspect can be channeled into creativity of one kind or another, great things are possible. For example, Pluto square Mercury is wonderful for writers, because they will just keep working until they get it right.
If you have Pluto aspecting personal planets or angles natally, you become accustomed to handling these over time, but Pluto transits can be very unsettling for those with no natal Pluto influences. Typically, Pluto transits are in effect on and off for four to five years.
Many of us are feeling Pluto’s energy intensely as he stations in preparation to turn retrograde on April 4 at 3°18′ Capricorn. Letting go of attachment to a specific outcome is sanity, because that opens the door for the universe to bless us.
posted by Neith . . .
Image: This is Frida Kahlo’s painting, “Loose Hair.” She had a very tight conjunction of Venus and Pluto in Gemini square to Saturn in Pisces, and her genius is undeniable as was the pain she lived with every day.
RealAstrologers 
This post is more in the nature of a collaboration between Pat & I. Two heads really are better than one in this instance. :-D
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I don’t know about genius…but I have a natal Pluto opposite my Sun. And Pluto has been squaring my Sun for about a year now. It’s out of phase right now, but will be coming back in August and I am not looking forward to it. One Pluto is enough!
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Wow, it looks like I take the prize, and I don’t know if that’s genius or madness. I’ve got Pluto sextile the Sun, square the Moon, square Jupiter, oppose Saturn, oppose Chiron, conjunct Uranus, sextile Neptune, and square the Nodes of the Moon. The opposition with Saturn and Chiron is angular, with Pluto-Uranus in the fourth house and Saturn-Chiron in the tenth. Uranus is just out of orb to oppose Chiron.
What advice would you give someone with a mess like this? I’m a writer and actress, extremely intense, sometimes in a way that scares me. I think I just have too much Pluto!
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Yikes, Raven! That is intense. The creative professions do sounds like a good place for you. But I’ll leave Neith and Pat to the advice.
I have Venus conjoined Pluto (2Virgo) in the 1st house, with Mercury also conjunct (0Vir). I think it’s softened by a close sextile from Neptune and Jupiter in Scorpio in the 3rd. I *wish* I was a genius!, but I don’t *think* I’m particularly manipulative – at least I’ve never been accused of it. I work as a writer, doing corporate work (was hi-tech, now medical) – lots of research and detail! Transiting Pluto is giving me a nice trine these days (unfortunately tr Saturn has been sitting on my Sun – hope to enjoy the Pluto trine when that’s over!).
I also have Pluto square my Mars (27Taurus), but out of sign. Really not sure how much this is in play.
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I think people with Pluto aspects also have the potential to right certain wrongs; there could be an element of sacred vindication on the behalf of other victims. Sometimes people and institutions really have to face the harsh consequences of the situations they created; letting things go and forgiving everything automatically is not always the right thing to do. People with Pluto aspects can have the motivation and the intensity to take on these missions. It might be harder for women to get a handle on Pluto energies. I remember back when I hated myself for my intensity, a lawyer uncle of mine told me that there was such a thing as knowing how to use it correctly. I just didn’t understand. My Pisces Moon was soooo afraid of the discomfort others might feel from my Pluto in Virgo–even if they had created those same situations that were making them squirm under my intense grilling. So I would back off. That really did not serve me well at all. I’ve slowly learned to tolerate the discomfort I make others feel under my intense scrutiny and I’m learning to make the intensity work for me. People never expect it bc they see that Cancer rising and that Pisces Moon and they think I’m all sugar and spice. But if humans were sugar and spice, we’d melt in the rain! I now see myself as one of those black and white cookies; there’s a dark side and a light side and they’re both good.
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That’s a *great* pair of analogies, Mem, the sugar & spice and the cookie. I’m aware of my own intensity and my darknesses, and it’s strange to be told I’m sweet and adorable, because I know I’m not, not really.
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@Mem and inishglora: if you didn’t have a dark side, you wouldn’t be so lovable, IMO! :-D
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“Letting go of attachment to a specific outcome is sanity, because that opens the door for the universe to bless us.”
You know these words of yours that you keep repeating, I keep repeating to myself (thank you for the gift of them) because I don’t know how else I could continue to live (literally) otherwise. (Heavily Plutonian here, as you know.)
“She had a very tight conjunction of Venus and Pluto in Gemini square to Saturn in Pisces, and her genius is undeniable as was the pain she lived with every day.”
Wonder if someday ~I~ will awaken to ~my~ genius and how much longer of the “daily pain”…
Luckily for me, the very thing I have been needing for years and finally found last summer — TAURUS energy — is still around and keeping me grounded and “here”.
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Neith: Smooch!
Inishglora: I bet you really are adorable. Maybe you just also happen to be formidable.
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