Pluto, the Stuck, Stagnant and Unstable Opportunist: Lord of the Underworld in Relation
A previous Pluto article has described how people with a strong Pluto in their astrological make-up, tend to look at other people as resources to be mined, utilised, and used. In the lower expression they are opportunists and fortune-hunters extraordinaire… targeting people for what they can get from them…
Every trans-Neptunian object discussed on this website has a lower and a higher expression polarity, and Pluto is no different.
It’s as if they see a dollar sign above the heads of others, or covet the influence or power that comes from being associated, working with, or partnered up with them. Lower expression Pluto individuals can come up with corrupt ulterior motives fast, planning to use the success, power, or influence of others; to fuel their own agenda. Looking at how the situation can be manipulated, because there is lucrative potential in the other’s position, talents, skills, reputation or abilities. Using others who are in the driving seat of their lives, to stimulate and produce the life the unstable Pluto person wants for themselves…
And how once they have depleted the resources of others, the Pluto lower expression may end up ghosting them, or be stingy with their time, or put them on the back-burner or in a third-party situation; no longer appreciating those who had become useless to them. Pluto lower expression revealing that; in truth, they are only out for themselves, to take from where the grass is greener. Only to be interested again, when the once mined breaks glass ceilings, and has an Eris glow-up, by which time the tables had turned in the relationship dynamic, and Pluto is interested once more in a relationship he/she did not appreciate in the past. It’s a dynamic of: what comes around, goes around for Pluto who refuse to see people’s true worth, and this is the cause and effect that is at the heart of this article. Relationships suffering, because the cold-hearted only has an eye for selfish, materialistic exploitation of others, perhaps not willing to give them their share, or a return-on-investment in relation. So unstable and greedy is Pluto lower expression, that they are always looking for better, greener pastures, never satisfied with what he/she has… perhaps refusing to commit… always playing… Superficial. Frivolous.
The powerful but precariously unstable Pluto needs to recognise, that with great power comes great responsibility, and if they abuse fragile human relation, expect that others may not want to be in relation with them at all...
Image: Scales of Justice via Wikimedia Commons.
Why? Because one sided relationship is not relationship worth having, and co-dependency can also become toxic. When Pluto is exploitative, inconsiderate, and cold-hearted, not wanting to give an inch, why should another make an investment of their time? When Pluto is refusing to be supportive in turn; to give equal amount of energy, effort etc.… Instead letting the other party down, taking from them, perhaps leaving them in the red, hanging, or with a mental disorder.
Bullying and destroying people, breaking the trust, and having others pick up the pieces in their ego battle.
ABiggerPicture.com contains a multitude of stories about the very interesting relationship dynamic between trans-Neptunian planets in the Kuiper belt, Pluto and Eris. It is through this interplay that we truly come to understand why Pluto in astrology represents the energy of transformation. It can focus on the lowest elements of human nature such as lust, betrayal, manipulative secrecy and unbridled power. As an agent of transformation, it can also provide a process whereby we can eliminate those behavioural patterns and elevate our consciousness. Ultimately, by letting go of the lower patterns we can use this process to realise our potential to understand and embody universal laws. As such we can begin to understand the nature of reality.
No Solid Foundation, yet Wanting Value and Investment to Ensnare another Soul
Lower expression Pluto’s intentions have a murkiness to their energy that frightens, but alerts sensitive people as red flags. The image above vividly illustrates the lower expression’s general intentions when left to play out: they pretend to be some kind of expert for people who are at the top of their game, and scheme to use them, inevitably taking from them until they land at the bottom of the wheel of fortune; spent. Those who have already experienced this exploitative behaviour in relation, may choose not to invest from the get go. Many people have learnt the importance of keeping their own energy safe and balanced, because there are some unbalanced people in this world who will gladly stuff up another’s good energy, should they get the chance. To get others locked up in contracts or investments, where they will be set up for risk of failure. To be held captive or in shackles.
To be flipped upside down, taken out of character, or taken out of their game completely. It’s divisive by design, to get people addicted to, or locked in, on some bullshit… as a secret, yet alienating enemy.
To be attached or stuck on something unhealthy or unholy, questioning what they know to be right or true. All manner of lying, scheming, love-bombing, pity partying or story-telling are sometimes employed, because there are ill intentions and motivations to disadvantage.
The Pluto lower expression person wants others to install him/her as an authority in their life. As someone who knows better than their own judgement, in effect invalidation their own feelings and intuition. To make others unbalanced and insecure (an Eris lower vibrational state) is unhealthy, invasive, and toxic…
There are tactics of deliberate confusion, or a lack of transparency, because the Pluto lower expression person is not interested in building solid foundation…
The more confused the next target is, the better… because then they won’t be able to utilise foresight into the future, to see where the snakes in the grass are lurking… And all the more easier to rope in… All of the details or information are not divested either… because there is some kind of a threat, or trap ahead… The Pluto lower expression person wants to steal other people’s souls, to bind them up, and keep them dependent on him/her; to need them. Perhaps to get the victim to accept, allow or tolerate something that is less than what they deserve; to ensnare them or unravel them… So that they are at risk of allowing another person control over their lives, which is not healthy for them… Again, being a vicious secret enemy smiling in their face. They want others to trust them, and hand over control and authority to them, to make them the boss of them, yet they are not worthy of that trust, due to innately being saboteurs that create obstacles for others in self-worth and self-confidence.
To keep others in toxic life cycles - for their own satisfaction - feeling burdens, worries, doom and gloom. To create imbalances within others, so they don’t take action and are habitually afraid to be proactive in life. To second-guess themselves all the time; creating Eris lower expression individuals through scapegoating, shaming, confusion, illusions, propaganda, not wanting their victims to go within, do shadow-work and have breakthroughs. It’s through self-care that other people step into their power, which is what they don’t want. Pluto lower expression want others sad, their energy and their vitality down, to perpetuate their emotional toxicity, in other people. To make them forget who they really are; free and sovereign beings. The victims have to learn to separate themselves from those who don’t have good intentions for them… Evolving out and away from this false, oppressive and emotionally putrid energy that want to cut them down, keep them mentally trapped, by working against them with covert or overly aggressive control tactics.
Why do we need Transformation and Regeneration after Stagnation?
Even powerful surging Pluto energy - directed with abusive intent against another- sometimes result in stuck and stagnant karmic consequences, due to ruthless misconduct or duplicity.
People need time to sit and think about the dynamics behind stagnancy in their life, so they can break the cycle, and change the pattern. Perhaps to realise that to sabotage another for a gain - thinking you are justified - is often self-sabotage in disguise… Making others lose, results in everyone losing; that is the nature of low vibrations… It is what it is… Misfortune, resulting from dishonourable behaviour, like emotional manipulation or jealousy.
It is not a comfortable situation to be stuck or stagnant in a karmic cycle, but often the forced slow-down is necessary, and the challenge is to make lemons from lemonade while in time-out. Having to allow for the seeing from a different point of perspective: what is really going on… Perhaps finally having realisations after being stuck for a long time.
Pluto’s sign of rulership is Scorpio, and a lot can be learnt from the Taurus/Scorpio axis. Both signs represent being a builder of sorts, but while there is building going on, there is also fragile human relationships invested and at play; people needing to feel valued, respected, supported, loyalty, and a sense of commitment. This is vividly illustrated in Pluto’s discovery chart. The Moon in Scorpio is conjunct the South Node in Scorpio in the fourth house, which vividly amplifies the base qualities of lower expression Scorpio as a sign; that desire to probe too deeply beyond other people’s personal boundaries, to see the riches there, with the potential to want to manage it as a resource (read: to exploit emotionally). The North Node is in Taurus and it is conjunct Chiron in Taurus, which illustrates how the energy that runs across this axis has instability on three sides. The whole configuration show just how shaky, out of control, and reckless one’s experience can be when there is no true internal integrity to the structure (with Mercury and Mars in Aquarius on the bendings in the seventh house). In the extreme, this energy is ugly, dark, jealous, reckless, angry, toxic, crazy, etc. It’s energy that acts without thinking, that is sloppy, disorganised, and all over the place. It’s devil energy bullshit, fighting dirty, and f*****up shit.
Moon in Scorpio trine Pluto in Cancer in free flowing water element is in mutual reception, showing the strong level of emotional control at play, that does work to an advantage in the higher expression to nourish, but not the lower… it stagnates and putrifies the waters… resulting in being emotionally manipulative.
These are some of the many areas in Pluto’s discovery chart that illustrates the shaky/stagnant emotional ground that Pluto energy is made up from.
There is a strong sense of a lack of control, and difficulty maintaining stability, or integrity… that is real obvious…
It’s the tension between order and chaos. Nature has a cycle and rhythm by which we can regulate our behaviours, to keep balance and order, but when oppression, ego, drama or cruelty violently disrupt this order, then abhorrent, chaotic, self-destructive behaviour can ensue. People in relation become controlling, enslaving of others, being violent, having anger-fuelled outbursts, or being abusive, seemingly addicted to low vibrations. Shortsighted and ignorant of cause and effect.
Despite the building commonality, it is also important to note that of the builders, Taurus is more the dedicated builder than Scorpio, because Scorpio destroys and demolishes foundations. And herein lies the fate of lower vibrational Scorpio people, who act carelessly in human relations. Why? Because the wheel of fortune turns on their bad behaviour, and those they had disadvantaged do have their come-up; which is their justice.
At times, obsessive Pluto lower expression become the one stuck in their head. Perhaps stuck, stagnant or shaky on the person they had tried to lure in - to take unfair advantage of - who are now experiencing their divine recompense.
Oddly enough, this “stuck situation” is what Pluto lower expression had originally intended for those he/she once used and discarded, devalued, backstabbed… or left for dead… Those people who he/she left hanging, cut off suddenly, jumped on like a tarantula, gave the silent-treatment to, or threw obstacles in their way, find their way to the top of the wheel of fortune. Those who were once devalued, made to feel worthless, or who had to take an emotional/material loss, perhaps now shining their light brightly. Illuminated, doing well, independent, prospering… Perhaps enjoying the Eris higher expression state, after having been marginalised or disenfranchised… and having elevated above the experience.
Pluto perhaps did not see the value in, nor the true strength of character or stability of those he had been in relation with. He did not recognise the blessing that some people are, because he played with them. This is the moral of the story… or lack thereof (pun intended).
Self-serving Pluto did not consider these people worth his time, once he had extracted from them, played mind-games, and left them on empty. He underestimated those who appeared to him to be weak, or powerless. He wanted to break their heart, betray them, to hold them back and make them stuck. Yet this dishonourable behaviour can come back to bite, with the perpetrator having his/her own season of getting what they dish out. Loss, sorrow, regret and grief are Pluto issues, as well as realising in hindsight the value of what one once had. The point of transformation and eventually regeneration is to sit and think about what kind of human being treats others so poorly… that cannot practise temperance…
Where are the morals, principles, and values?
Where is the sense of fairness?
Is there any conscience or consciousness in there at all?
Pluto energy is very much about magnetism, entwining energies, emotional bonds, sharing, stability in give and take etc. It entails
an alliance or kindred spirit with an emotional component. Pluto energy is about a person who has the power to advance, challenge, or wrong another. Pluto energy has the potential and power to support, protect and invest in healthy bonds with others, or to make a huge stuff-up. Falling from grace, shamed or ostracised, after being discovered to secretly dig graves for others as their secret, but very deliberate enemy. Backfired.
Like all the other energies discussed on this website, Pluto too need to consider the lesson, and learn it, so that there can be regeneration and new life. Lower expression Pluto needs to come down to earth, and learn what it means to be a divine being having a human experience; who is fully accountable on an energetic level for the choices made during that experience… and the consequences… When one is innately bestowed with great power over others, abusing that ability can come back to bite in the form of being in energetic debt… Pluto transits are between 3 - 4 years… that’s consequential…
“Define Conscience
1. that inner sense that makes you aware of your actions or motives, as being either morally right or wrong;
2. sensitive regard for fairness or justice;
3. a feeling of guilt because you know you have done something that is wrong.”
Charon, the Ferryman of the Underworld, Evolution, and Judgement
On the Pluto Blog, we’ve seen multiple examples of Pluto lower expression, who want to cause instability, chaos or entrapment for other people, yet Pluto’s discovery chart shows that the heart of the instability lies in Pluto’s make up. This is why those who cause instability and chaos for others, sometimes bring self-destruction to their own door. Some Pluto lower expression people go “so far off their rails” that they destroy their own life, their own foundations, and even alienate everyone close to them.
This is when a visit to the Underworld is necessary, to reflect on all of the bad choices, lies and unethical indulgence in low vibrational bullshit, to maim another… that ends up disadvantaging Self… Self-inflicted karma.
The time spent in reflection is an opportunity to assess one’s past life, motives, values and progress, as a rite of passage as Charon would guide others through the Underworld, to consider the impetus behind evildoing while journeying. There is great benefit in evaluating one’s moral conscience, and to question what one has believed. To clear away the dogma, outside expectations, or unquestioned wisdom that has accumulated and
entombed one’s life. Accepting and taking self-responsibility for how one’s actions have affected others, and having the courage to make necessary changes to bring about growth and new purpose. In various religious traditions and myths around the world, the Underworld / netherworld or hell is a supernatural world of the dead.
In Greek mythology there are several Underworld characters, like Pluto, Persephone, Charon, Orcus, Cerberus, Keres, Ixion, and Thanatos, etc. Charon, or Charun in Etruscan religion, is the Underworld guide and boatman carrying the “ghosts” of people across the rivers Acheron / Styx. In ancient depictions of Charon, the boatman carry symbols of the decay of death, sometimes with snakes around his arms, or a pale cream, grey or blueish colouration to the skin.
These are the symbols of toxic, stuck and stagnant energy… Death. Melancholy. Being trapped in schemes backfiring, karmic destruction, and muddled thinking.
In mythology, Charon’s journey across the river carries souls of the newly deceased who had received the rites of burial. Charon taking souls across the river, is also a metaphor, for some people who are spending time adrift in the stagnancy of spiritual jail until they can finally learn to reflect on their past choices, gain clarity, and treat other people right.
In ancient artwork, the people in the boats often look like they are in agony, torture or lament. They are in fear of judgement in this place where nothing is hidden, unless you purposely drink from the river of forgetfulness…
In the mythology, Pluto keeps other people around him, stuck in the Underworld or a Dark Night of the Soul, yet this place can also become the metaphorical hell for those who take the innate Pluto power they carry for granted, and use it for selfish ends. They end up having to metaphorically travel in the Underworld, or live in the “stuckness” of it for some time, as Persephone did, until she learnt her lessons, found her empowerment and elevated…
An Underworld journey may entail an ego bruise or ego death, and an encounter with the change that is feared; seeing how life has to be handled from a grounded and fair perspective, because change is the only constant in life.
It entails the making of choices and taking action - from a grounded perspective - that will always yield a better outcome, other than charging in, in a reckless, thoughtless manner. There comes a time when it is
imperative to relinquish the old programming, patterns and conditioning that keeps Pluto lower expression tempted and trapped in a prison of their own making. Stuck and stagnant due to all the indulgence in low vibrational choices, belief patterns and emotions. Just as Pluto lower expression causes other people’s plans to be scuttled or turned upside down, due to being tricked into situations that are not in their best interest, so too they have to allow for their own life to be catapulted into the chaos of their own making; to force them to let go, and allow transmutation. Pluto lower expression are often invested in causing either a stuck state of being, or a shake up for others. However, when these experiences visit them in a cycle of their life, they have to bear it, in turn… There comes a time when everyone has to temper themselves, and move to calmer waters, after manipulating situations that cause wounding to others.
An Underworld visit, and rising from it, entails having detoxified the lower vibrational energies, into vibrant new energy.
Eighth House, Endings, and Pluto in Astrology
GLYPH for PLUTO
In the previous article we see that, in Pluto’s Greek mythology, after all the karmic cycles played out, and lessons were learnt between Pluto and those in his sphere, they all found temperance, value and equilibrium in their changed circumstances.
Persephone became Queen of the Underworld and together she and Pluto ruled it wisely. None being more superior than the other… Demeter discovered a new identity in being goddess of the grain, re-committing her efforts to her own affairs, no longer in charge of guarding a maiden.
GLYPH FOR SCORPIO
Just as Pluto rules the zodiac sign Scorpio, the eighth house in Western astrology too is associated with Pluto. It is a a Water house, and likewise, it is about emotional intelligence. It is viewed as the house of hidden enemies, intimacy, psychology, secrets, taboos, trauma’s, fears, debt, sorrow, jealousy, unstable emotions, possessiveness, deceit, inheritance, and other people’s possessions / shared possessions. In the end Pluto, and all those around him, had to find their own power and sovereignty, without attempting to steal it from other, or deprive another of what is their energy currency. Both the eighth and second houses are ‘money’ houses. The second is the house of income, and the eighth the house where relationships solidify, assets are merged, and joint bank accounts are opened. It entails what people share, but often it turns into a power struggle, as people hold different visions. Eighth house relationships can cause people to ruminate and obsess intently. They have a heart-wrenching quality, as all the tortured feelings of obsession, revenge and rage well up as part of the letting-go process. Besides Pluto, the eighth house is actually co-ruled by Mars, and is about endings and things to be discarded. Pluto lower expression relationships in general, is unrealistic, or on a road to nowhere… therefore change is a vital part of the equation.
As this article was published, the South Node was at 13 degrees Scorpio and Pluto retrograde; a fine time to be examining the rotten cause and effect of manipulation, control, secrets, and dark magic. Double karma time for ravaging savages.
A lot revolves around Pluto…
Pluto has his fingers in many pies, despite being the Lord of the Underworld.
Image: A side view of the Pluto-Charon system. Pluto and Charon are tidally locked to each other. Charon is massive enough that the barycenter of Pluto's system lies outside of Pluto, thus Pluto and Charon are sometimes considered to be a binary system. via Wikimedia Commons.
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