Pluto Retrograde: A Potent Pause

Growth is a necessary part of life, and it’s often exciting. Sometimes it’s still exhausting, though!

Fortunately, Pluto Retrograde, which happens for a few months out of every year, provides a cosmic breather. This is an opportunity to look inward and gives us a chance to process whatever has been shifting for us lately.

What’s a retrograde?

A good way to visualize how astrology works is to think of a clock with many hands moving at different paces. The face of the clock is the 12 Zodiac signs. The Sun moves through all 12 signs over the course of one year. The Moon would be a faster clock hand, moving through all 12 signs in less than one month. Meanwhile, some of the planets take many years to complete a full cycle.

On a typical clock, the hands only move in one direction. The Sun and the Moon are like that, moving in only one direction in terms of their relative position to Earth.

However, the planets sometimes appear to move backward in terms of their relative position to Earth. These periods are called planetary retrogrades.

You might be most familiar with Mercury Retrogrades, which last a few weeks and can cause visible chaos with communications and technology. For the slower-moving outer planets like Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto, retrogrades last longer and have more subtle effects.

What’s important about Pluto?

Pluto is the planet of change and transformation. When Pluto interacts with your natal chart, expect that you’ll be pushed to confront the deepest, darkest parts of yourself. Even if you feel like your whole life is totally breaking down, the rest of the story is that you’re being purged of whatever wasn’t truly working in the first place.

Whether or not Pluto is strongly interacting with your personal chart at any given time, Pluto shapes trends in the larger society. Pluto tends to bring out the shadow side of whatever sign it is currently transiting. For example, the sign of Libra is associated with relationships. When Pluto moved through Libra during the 1970s, it became much more common for married couples to divorce!

When does the next Pluto Retrograde begin?

Pluto turns retrograde at 1:09 pm EDT on May 1, 2023. This Pluto Retrograde will continue until October 10, 2023.

During any Pluto Retrograde, Pluto moves back over the past few degrees of the Zodiac. The transformation Pluto brings to both individuals and the larger world is deep. No matter how urgent it may seem to keep charging forward with progress on an important issue, there’s only so much change people can process at a time. Pluto Retrogrades, which typically happen for a few months each year, are a very necessary time to let the dust settle before digging even deeper.

This particular Pluto Retrograde is more significant than most because it involves Pluto moving from one Zodiac sign into another. Pluto entered Aquarius on March 23, 2023. However, as Pluto backtracks through the Zodiac during the retrograde period, Pluto will return to Capricorn, the previous sign, on June 11, 2023. Pluto will then remain in Capricorn until January 20, 2024 — through the end of the Pluto Retrograde and a bit longer.

How can I make the most of Pluto Retrograde?

During Pluto Retrograde, it’s crucial to remember that the change you can see isn’t the only kind of change that matters. You might get frustrated that you’re not getting the results you think you’ve earned quickly enough.

However, Pluto plays a long game. This planet rules the subconscious mind. While it’s hard to alter the deeply rooted programming that keeps you attached to your current habits and routines, putting in the time necessary to do so will make your efforts to improve yourself more likely to stick.

If you know what house of your birth chart Pluto is currently transiting, look at the associated life issues to see how you’re making subtle progress. For example, if Pluto Retrograde is taking place in your 4th House of Home, your efforts to change your residence might seem frustratingly blocked — but perhaps you’re strengthening your finances in a way that will improve your options when you are finally ready to move.

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