Pluto, everyone’s favorite dwarf planet, moves very slowly through the zodiacal wheel (the map used in Tropical astrology to track the planets)l. since it is a trans-Neptunian object, far beyond the planets of our solar system, it has a lot longer of a distance to trek as it makes a full rotation around the sun
Each year Pluto goes retrograde, meaning that it moves backwards through the zodiacal wheel for a few months, and this year the process begins on April 29th. But how does this backwards momentum of one of the farthest away (dwarf) planets affect us here on earth?
What is a retrograde?
It’s easy to see how the push and pull of the moon affects us here on earth as it waxes and wanes, but the energy of a retrograde, especially the outer planet retrogrades, is a much more subtle shift. It’s much less abrasive than a Mercury, Venus or Mars retrograde! But to truly understand how Pluto retrograde will affect us, we first have to understand a bit of astronomy.
Astrology is a geocentric study of the celestial bodies, meaning that we track the movements of the planets from our perception of them here on earth. Tracking these movements geocentrically means that earth becomes the center of our solar system. Of course, in actuality Earth is not the center, the sun is (don’t worry, astrologers are aware of this), but since we live here on Earth it’s far more useful for us to study the way in which the planets dance around the solar system in relation to us.
Next astronomy thing we need to get clear on is that all of the planets move in an elliptical orbit. What this means is that it’s a bit more egg shaped as opposed to a perfectly round circle. Each planet also has a certain degree of eccentricity; the more eccentric it is, the more oblong it is. So they aren’t even moving around in similarly shaped ellipses!
During certain months of the year, the orbits of Earth and the other planets are thrown into such an alignment that it makes it appear as though the other planet is actually moving backwards in its orbit. It’s not, the planets never actually move backwards, however it does move backwards on the zodiacal wheel. It is in fact growing in it’s distance to Earth while it is retrograde, so the energy and influence of that planet is also moving farther away from us here.
Pluto Retrograde 2022
The energy of pulling away during a retrograde means that the energy of this planet is affecting us on a much more inward level. We are being drawn to recede inside and reflect upon how the lessons of this planet take hold in our hearts and our minds. Because of this the key words for any retrograde are reflect, reorganize, retreat, and realign (honestly, anything that starts with “re” is going to fit the vibe).
Pluto is the planet of the underworld, because of that it represents death and transformation in our own lives as well as in societies and nations, since they tend to far outlive human lives. When it’s retrograde our focus becomes that of inner transformation. This is a hard earned metamorphosis that comes from looking at yourself honestly. Pluto tends to pull up the skeletons we’ve buried deep and asks us to look at them in order to put them to rest once and for all. Because of this, Pluto retrogrades can be a challenging time, however, the gift of an outer planet retrograde is that it’s long, usually taking 5-6 months before it stations direct again, so we are given ample time to work with our shadows and understand them better.
Not everyone will experience a challenging Pluto retrograde, for some it will be quite easy. This is because our birth chart is as unique as a fingerprint. We are the embodiment of the planets and celestial bodies at the exact moment of our birth, so not every cosmic event will affect us all the time. For instance, those born under a Pluto retrograde will actually experience much more outward flow and transformation in their lives, since Pluto retrograde is their “home” energy.
Pluto will also be interacting with our natal planets (the ones in our charts). The aspects to look out for (and then one’s I’ll be talking about later on in this article) are conjunctions, squares or oppositions to one or more of the planets in your chart.
On April 29th 2022 Pluto will slow to a stop at 28°35’ Capricorn and by the time it stations direct on October 8th 2022 it will have moved 2°29’ backwards, stopping again to station direct at 26°06’.
This is important to keep in mind because the degrees will tell us not only where Pluto will be in our own charts as it travels backwards, but also which natal planets will be interacting with Pluto while it’s retrograde.
What House Will Pluto Be In
To understand how this Pluto return will be affecting you on a personal level you need to find where 26°-29° of Capricorn is in your chart, meaning which house those degrees are in. These are the last 4 degrees of Capricorn, so simply find the Capricorn symbol ♑on your natal chart and look to the right hand side of it (if it’s located on the bottom half of your chart) or the left hand side of it (if it’s located in the top half of your chart). Once you’ve located where the end of Capricorn is in your chart you should be able to find the house number it is in. The astrology chart is merely circles within circles, so there will be one circle that is numbers and lines, like numbered pie slices, that circle denotes where each of the houses fall.
Any chart calculator you use online should give you the degree where each of your houses begins. So if your 6th house begins at 17° Capricorn and your 7th house begins at 20° Aquarius that means that 17°-29° Capricorn and 0°-19° degrees of Aquarius all fall in your 6th house, so this Pluto retrograde would be taking place in the house of habits, health and day to day activities.
Once you’ve found which house those final degrees of Capricorn are in, check the list below to figure out which area of life will be experiencing this internal transformation and truth finding.
This has to do with you, your body, and your personality. You should be seeking to understand yourself better, part of this requires radical honesty with yourself.
This has to do with money, possessions, but most importantly your self worth. Figuring out what makes you feel worthy, and your relationship to feeling worthy of the things you want, is the focal point.
Communication and learning take on a new and different approach with Pluto retrograde in this house. The way you think, process and communicate with yourself is where to focus your energy and powers of transformation at this time.
Home and family are the areas of life where Pluto is enforcing deep change. This can obviously be very challenging since, with Pluto retrograde, things like trauma from the past may come to the surface, but they are resurfacing so that you can work with it instead of leaving it hidden and obscured.
Many things fall under the reign of the 5th house, but Pluto invites us to gaze inward in order to work through things that we’ve hidden from ourselves, so our relationship to alcohol, drugs and sex will come to light when Pluto is retrograde here.
Our health, habits, and day to day routines are the bread and butter of the 6th house. Inner conflicts regarding work, habits, and the ways in which you show up for yourself are likely to be the big themes of this retrograde.
This is the house of serious partnerships such as marriage, business partners and even lifelong friendships. Serious partnerships require serious work and a deep understanding of how we show up (or fail to show up) in these relationships. Pluto will help you understand the underlying components of these partnerships at this time.
The 8th house is all about emotional connections and the energy shared between people, so with Pluto retrograde here you’re being called to check in on the energy you give to others and the energy they give you in return.
This is a fortunate house to experience challenging planetary movements, the effects are usually more benign or even enjoyable. Pluto will invite you to look deep and get honest about your personal life beliefs and philosophies and in doing so it will give you a revived and refreshed outlook on life.
This is the house of career, public appearances and our legacy, so the work of Pluto retrograde in this house is to help you get clear and honest about the forward trajectory of your life. A career shift may result due to this retrograde.
Pluto retrograde in the 11th house is going to invite you inward to reflect upon the groups and communities you are a part of. This helps you to better understand your purpose and goals within them, as well as your dreams for society!
Pluto thrives when it is retrograde in the 12th house, but that doesn’t mean it’s an easy transit. Here Pluto works to invite you to reflect upon your guilt, fear and shame with the ultimate purpose of deep deep internal transformation in every aspect of your life.
Aspects to look out for
A conjunction is the strongest aspect felt in astrology. It means that two planets are in the exact same spot in the chart, the same sign and same degree. While technically there is an orb of 7° between aspects (meaning that they can be 7° from each other and still count as a conjunction), when it comes to outer planets I think a 2° orb is going to be most relevant, but that’s purely my opinion. That means that if you have Capricorn placements from 24°-29° or Aquarius placements at 0°-1° then they will experience a conjunction with Pluto while it is retrograde.
This is going to be most deeply felt by the millennial generation who have any combination of Uranus, Neptune, Saturn and the north node at the later degrees of Capricorn. There will be some Gen Z people who have Neptune and/or their south nodes here as well. And, of course, many others will have the faster moving personal planets (sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars) at these later degrees of Capricorn, too.
If you’ll be experiencing this Pluto retrograde conjunction that means you’ve likely been feeling the intensity of its energy in your life already while it’s been direct. When Pluto aligns perfectly with one of our natal planets, whether it is direct or retrograde, it means that it’s getting to work in your life by transforming that area of your life. To understand what that transformation looks like you have to reflect upon the energy of the planet as well as the house it’s in.
For instance, if you have a 27° Capricorn Venus in the 3rd house, then Pluto has been inviting you to deeply change the way you communicate in your relationships for over a year now. However, when it goes retrograde you’ll be called to get honest about the ways in which you talk to yourself and change the way you view yourself in relationships.
Much like a nation is not the same after a Pluto return, our lives are not the same after a Pluto conjunction, that’s because Pluto pushes you to get real and honest with yourself about what you’re doing and what you have done in the past. So prepare to turn inward and get real about who you are during this Pluto return.
Squares happen when planets are 90° apart and then tend to happen in the same modality (cardinal, fixed, mutable). Since Pluto is in Capricorn which is a cardinal sign, planets in Aries and Libra near the 26°-29° will experience this retrograde square*. Since Pluto moves so slowly, you’ve already been experiencing this square but in a more outward expression.
*Since Pluto will be moonwalking through the final degrees of Capricorn, any placements at 0° or 1° Scorpio and Taurus will be feeling the energy of a Pluto square.
Squares bring tension, so imagine that Pluto is arguing with the planets it is squaring in your chart, meaning that the changes it is seeking to enact are particularly challenging for you. When two planets are squaring one another it’s as if they’re fighting about what to do next, both planets believing that they know what is best for you. This produces internal conflicts when Pluto is retrograde, so you’ll be feeling like you’re being pulled in two directions.
For instance, if Capricorn Pluto is squaring your natal Aries Mercury at 28° you will be pulled into a deep questioning of what you know and what you’ve been led to believe while it is retrograde. Pluto aspects last for about a year, so while it is direct you may learn new information that changes your perspective on life.
The last aspect we'll talk about is oppositions. These happen when planets are 180° apart, AKA right across from one another in your chart. So for Pluto in Capricorn, any Cancer placements at 26°-29° will experience this retrograde opposition. Your natal planets at 0° Leo may also feel the energy of the Pluto opposition.
Oppositions mean that energy is being pushed and pulled from one planet to the next, like a cosmic game of tug-o-war. To discern how the opposition has been, and will continue to affect you, you’ll have to judge the strength and power of the two planets involved. Pluto is pretty powerful so it tends to win it’s games of tug-o-was, meaning that it's drawing the energy away from the Cancer planet it is opposite. To understand how this shows up in your life you have to reflect upon how the natal Cancer placement feels and what the ultimate goal of Pluto retrograde is.
For instance, if you have a 26° Cancer Chiron in the 11th house Pluto has been working towards joy and creativity, lessening your reliance on being loved and accepted by others. While Pluto is retrograde, and the energy is more internal, you’ll be reflecting upon the ways in which acceptance has held you back from enjoying the things you love.
How the US Will be Affected
The US had its very first Pluto return on February 20th 2022 at 27°33’. Because Pluto will be retrograding back to 26°06’ by October of this year, that means it will also be passing through 27°33’ meaning that once again the US will experience an exact Pluto return.
Whenever a retrograde planet returns back to a degree, making an exact aspect with a natal planet, that means it will do it a third time after it stations direct and moves forward again on the zodiacal wheel. Imagine parallel parking, you have to go in reverse and in drive and in reverse again. Because retrograde planets will, in the end, create an exact aspect in a chart 3 times it helps to think of this aspect like a play in 3 acts.
The first act introduces the characters and sets the tone of the play. The 2nd act introduces the conflict while the 3rd act wraps everything up in a nice bow. So the US experienced act 1 in February and it will be experiencing act 2 in July, reaching that exact degree of 27°33’ on the 11th. The final act will be on December 28th of this year.
I have a longer article focused on the nitty gritty of a Pluto return and how it has affected other countries that you can read to get the lowdown on what Pluto returns are all about and what it might mean for the US.
What we know about retrogrades is that they are a much more internal working of the energy, as opposed to external action, so while the Russia Ukraine conflict broke out 4 days after the last conjunction, this upcoming conjunction is likely to be less about global action and more about internal affairs.
The date for the next Pluto return may be on July 11th, however the energy will be building up to that date and then receding afterwards, so it’s always good to pay close attention to the news for a few days or weeks around the exact date. Since the last conjunction brought a conflict outside of the US into the news (the outward energy of Pluto direct), it’s likely that in July the news will be more centered on the US specifically.
I could speculate and proselytize about what this might mean, but in all honesty, astrology is best learned through experience. It’s good to know the energy of what is to come, but there is no need to seek to pinpoint exactly what might lie in wait for us this year as Pluto completes acts 2 and 3 of its play. Life and astrology are meant to be lived, so live.