Pluto in astrology

The planet Pluto was identified by Clyde W. Tombaugh in Arizona on February 18, 1930 (the
time seems to differ according to different sources). Its position had previously been
predicted by Percival Lowell. Pluto is currently the furthermost known object. Its orbital
journey around the Sun takes 247.69 years. Thus, twenty Earth years equate to one month
on Pluto, or expressed the other way round, Pluto stays approximately 20 years in any one
sign. Its axial rotation is about six and a half Earth days. Pluto's brightness equals that of a
star of the 15th class. It is smaller than Earth and the smallest planet of our system.

In earlier astronomical literature, Pluto was given a diameter of 4038 miles (6500 kms), but
following later measurements, Pluto was found to be much smaller--its diameter being
approximately 1800 miles (3000 kms). Pluto is orbited by a Moon, which is named after the
ferryman of the Greek myth, Charon, who carried the shades of the dead across the river
Styx into Hades.

In 1999, International Astronomical Union considered re-classifying Pluto as a minor planet

(or trans-Neptunian object number one), due to the very eccentric orbit of this icy satellite.
This eccentric orbit actually takes Pluto inside the orbit of Neptune for a short period of its
path.

When Zeus became king of the gods, he gave an empire to each of his brothers. All of the
underworld was made subject to Plouton/Pluto. In mythology, the kingdom of his brother,
Neptune, was the primeval stream, called Oceanus. This primal river is surrounded only by
the banks of Hades/Pluto, the Underworld. Translated into psychological concepts, it is often
mentioned that everything originates out of a primeval source--the individual slowly emerges
from it as well (in a sense, still embedded in the collective). Thus, Hades/Pluto may also be
seen as the symbol for power and its influence on the masses.

Pluto is considered to be a higher octave of Mars, and it finds its attachment next to Mars in
the sign of Scorpio. It expresses a subconscious intent in the horoscope, yet Pluto is now
more commonly known for its power of transformation. With its long cycle through each
zodiac sign, its position in a chart by house and primary planetary aspect is far more
important.

Pluto's aspect to the Moon and other bodies can indicate lessons gained from past lives and
what lessons need to be learned in this life. Pluto depicts the higher order of our spiritual
evolution and a purifying element between dimensions--a heavenly gate that throws back
negative energy to its source and not necessarily immediately. In order to perceive Pluto's
far reaching effect for each individual, it is recommended that the reader obtains Jeff Green's
book Pluto, the Evolutionary Journey of the Soul.