Pluto, one of our slowest moving planets, will enter into the sign of Aquarius on March 24th, 2023. Pluto being in Aquarius is something that no one alive today has ever witnessed as it takes the planet 240 years to complete a trip around the zodiac. What will Pluto in Aquarius mean? Pluto is the great change maker–the planet of death, destruction, and also regrowth. It is metamorphosis, symbolized by the phoenix and the butterfly that emerges from the nearly dead cocooned caterpillar. Aquarius is the collective. It is groups of people, ideally a utopian society that doesn’t operate for greed–ruled by the planet Uranus which symbolizes instantaneous changes like electricity, lightening striking, and the internet. It is progress and out of the box thinking. The combination of these 2 radical change makers is bound to leave society in a state that we cannot currently imagine.
Astrological Warm Up
It seems like the universe is preparing us for this big shift in consciousness as Saturn is currently “warming up Aquarius” having itself spent 2 and a half years there. Saturn is the great disciplinarian, father time himself. He brings structure and has been preparing us for the destruction/regeneration that Pluto will eventually bestow. Saturn will ceremoniously exit Aquarius just 2 weeks before Pluto makes its grand entrance. When Saturn entered Aquarius in December of 2020, he was escorted by Jupiter, who always makes everything grander and more exciting. The pair essentially held hands across the threshold as Saturn crossed into Aquarius on the 18th of December and Jupiter followed just 2 days later on the 20th. Jupiter remained in Aquarius for roughly one year.
Another oddity that seems to be demonstrating that the universe is preparing us for monumental change is the extent of time we will experience the current Mars in Gemini transit. Mars typically spends around 2 months transiting each sign but because of its retrograde being contained in just one sign, it will spend a full 7 months (August 20th 2022- March 25th 2023) in Gemini. The planet that symbolizes action and our internal drives and motivations is in the sign of communication and actually thinking about what we’re doing. Mars will leave Gemini, in (you guessed it)–March of 2023–just 2 days after Pluto enters Aquarius. This certainly feels like a cosmic preparing to me and perhaps even a time for strategizing.
A New Era for the Outer Planets
Pluto entering Aquarius will start off the beginning of a whole new era for the outermost planets, one where they all reside in Air and Fire signs (masculine energy that encourages action and thought). In the year 2025, Pluto will have been in Aquarius for a little over a year, Neptune will enter into the sign of Aries on March 31st, and Uranus will enter Gemini on July 8th of that year. Below is the chart of July 8th, 2025 when ALL of the outer of the planets will be in the first few degrees (0 to 2) of air and fire signs, making beautiful sextiles and trines to one another. Saturn will also be in Aries conjunct Neptune bringing structure to our dreams and an ability to achieve them. Uranus will also be in a conjunction with the planet Venus, hopefully bringing a sense of harmony to any sudden changes that may occur (most likely in communication considering the sign of Gemini).
The outer planets symbolize our unconscious minds– the parts in the shadow (since they aren’t visible to the naked eye). Our unconscious minds will finally be free to think and take action. They have been locked up in feminine signs since 2003, which has kept the collective unconscious receptive and reflective. These 3 outermost planets will remain in their respective air and fire signs for 7 years until Uranus (the fastest of these 3 planets) exits Gemini and enters Cancer. It will be an exciting time to see what our society can accomplish with all of that fire and air energy in play for such a long period!
The Age of Aquarius
Pluto entering Aquarius certainly seems like a good enough marker that the Age of Aquarius it is actually here. The dawning of the age of Aquarius is not a new concept but it is something that astrologers do not agree on. There are a few good theories of when it began to “dawn”, one of the most interesting being Feb 2, 1962 because on that day ALL six visible planets were in the sign of Aquarius (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Saturn) this was during the hippy movement of peace, love and collectivism which are totally Aquarian concepts. My personal favorite theory is that the age of Aquarius began in 2012. This is based on the fact that in 2012 the fixed star Regulus moved from being in Leo to Virgo. That would essentially imply that all things equal, the sun should also shift to being in the sign of Aquarius and no longer be in Pisces at this time. A 2012 Dawning of the Age of Aquarius fits a lot better with my personal experience than does the 1962 date.
The previous age was the age of Pisces, the main themes being the dependence on religions for society to function. I truly believe that I was born in the age of Pisces. This is what I feel and what my deep “knowing” tells me because the world just did not make sense to me. It was a scary place where I was expected to respect my elders even when they were abusive and nasty. I was taught to stop asking questions and to rely on praying to God when I was scared. The world did not feel like it was mine and I certainly did not fit in. Slowly, overtime, the world became less scary to me. I changed, but also the world changed. I am an Aquarius sun, Mercury and midheaven, which to me makes sense why growing up in a Pisces age was so difficult for me. An Aquarius sun is a sun in detriment–an oxymoron. The sun is what lights you up from the inside out and where your ego selfishly shines. But an Aquarius has no ego because the it has an ego of the collective. I feel like things got easier for me as we moved away from the Age of Pisces.
The word dawning, means beginning–like the early light of dawn itself when its neither bright nor dark but somehow you begin to see. Things fade from one thing to another. This is why astrology is based on orbs of influence. With each astrological age lasting roughly 2150 years (and each sign being comprised of 30 degrees) that means that it takes the sun 71.66 years to move one degree. How many degrees of an orb should Aquarius get to dawn for? Perhaps the dawning of the age of Aquarius did start in 1962 with all of the visible planets being in Aquarius at once. But maybe it only really comes in full force once Pluto also crosses the finish line into Aquarius. Pluto is the outermost planet and is the planet of death and rebirth so it seems appropriate to me that to birth a new age you would need Pluto to be in Aquarius.
Regardless, We Will Never be the Same
Great change IS coming our way, whether Pluto in Aquarius has anything to do with the Age of Aquarius or not!! Another interesting thing about Pluto entering Aquarius is that my generation, the Pluto in Scorpio generation–Millennials will be going through their Pluto square. Squares in Astrology mean conflict, contrast, and a general disagreeing (often for the greater good). Scorpio energy can be secretive, manipulative, but also regenerative and healing. Pluto rules the sign of Scorpio so my generation has had Pluto operating in its truest and purest form. We are the generation that is finally taking a stand and breaking generational curses. Many of us are speaking up about family secrets and refusing to remain obedient to traditions and shame in general. We will not continue to respect our elders based only on fear. We need our respect earned. I see my generation standing up for what they believe now and even more so in the coming years.
The Greatest Generation (Boomers), made up of Pluto in Leos, will be collectively facing their Pluto oppositions during the 20 year period that Pluto is in Aquarius. There will be a collective tug-of-war of ideals for this generation. Hopefully this means evolution and growth for them and an understanding of the need for collective good and evolution in the world. I hope that they can begin to relinquish control of the world and political landscape and pass on the torch with grace. How can we not expect great change to be coming? Honestly, I feel it is inevitable and oh so exciting!!