©5-15-14 by Donna Cunningham, MSW
Recently, I held a contest contest, where readers were asked to suggest a topic for a contest to be held here on Skywriter. The entries with the best suggestions would win one of my ebooks of their choosing. I started with Eunice’s suggestion of the best thing that happened to you under a Pluto transit.
I liked it because we hear so many tales of woe about awful things that happened to people under Pluto transits, but seldom does transiting Pluto get rave reviews. Admittedly, sometimes we only see the transformative effects by hindsight, because events under Pluto transits are often intense and life changing.
So I asked Readers to tell your positive Pluto transit story in the comment section. Include the sign and house of the natal planet or angle (Ascendant, Midheaven, IC, or Descendant) as well as the sign and house of transiting Pluto. Then tell us the transit story, in simple, clear language, but not your whole life story. Be succinct. (Be advised, also, that a blog is a public venue, so don’t tell what you’d want kept private.)
As an example of a positive Pluto transit, under an opposition from Pluto in Capricorn to my natal 12th house Jupiter in Cancer, I moved to a modern apartment with a sustainable rent in the best neighborhood I could ever have chosen. It’s a senior housing project with a huge grocery store half a block away that includes a pharmacy, deli, Starbucks, and bookstore. There are six good places to eat within a two-block radius.
Jupiter is considered especially fortunate in the 12th and in Cancer. My Jupiter in Cancer in the 12th historically is just about the best feature in my chart. Capricorn is a sign that often relates to elderly people, and I find that Pluto transits (with their natural connection to the 8th house) often go along with people getting their entitlements like pensions.
NOT SURE WHEN YOUR PLUTO TRANSIT UNFOLDED? DOWNLOAD THIS Transit Tracker: This one-page reference summarizes the transits of Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto from 1990-2020. Print it out and use it to look back on past transits and to look forward for the next few years. Download it here: HO-transit trackingtable-1990-2020.
UPDATE: 5/26/14 The contest itself is over and the comment section is closed, but the stories were so moving and so indicative of how Pluto transits can work in the long run, that you can learn a great deal from reading the stories people left there.
I should make clear that the planet Pluto has never done anything to anyone, so don’t put the blame for your difficulties on it. It only symbolizes certain traits and events in our lives, but does not create them. Blaming “the stars” for our difficulties is a very fatalistic, old school version of astrology.
Okay, folks, let’s hear your positive (or semi-positive) Pluto story.
You might also like to read a related post since Pluto in Capricorn has some similarities to Saturn in Scorpio. How Have You Grown from Saturn in Scorpio’s Transits?
Sky Writer 
Re: Pluto transit. Pluto conjunct my natal moon in Capricorn on my 5th -6th cusp. I thought something terrible would happen to me, my mother dying, etc. Turned out to be my first grandchild was on the way. But the feeling of doom and gloom was unforgettable
By: Debbie Hanson on May 15, 2014
at 12:59 pm
Yes, you were at that Plutonian place where both birth and death are in the realm of possibilities. I do hear from people who know just enough astrology to freak out in anticipating the outcome of Pluto transits.
I recall one student/client of mine who became very upset when she noted that Pluto was going to cross the Ascendant in her high school student daughter’s chart. She was afraid the girl was going to die because when my student’s mother had Pluto cross her Ascendant, she did die. I don’t know if she was more relieved or alarmed when I suggested that at her daughter’s age, it might signal the beginning of her sexual activities. I did suggest it might be time to have a talk with her daughter about matters like birth control. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on May 15, 2014
at 2:17 pm
FROM DONNA: THIS ENTRY IS CONTEST WINNER #1
“When Pluto transited conjunct my capricorn mars in the sixth house, the hospital where i worked “restructured” to force all nurses to work full time – 12 hour shifts. This was horrible as far as i was concerned because i am an older nurse and my work in a fast paced critical cardiac care unit left me exhausted working just part time. I was certain that those long shifts would either kill me or i would make a mistake that caused someone else’s death.
“Being a nurse ‘of a certain age’ did not bode well for me finding a new job in my small community, but i could not retire unless i was ready to be one of the millions of women in this country living in poverty.
“who would hire an old nurse?
“Hospice!!!
“I love my hospice work; it is the most meaningful nursing job I have ever had! My job also allows me to work (mostly) independently, to drive through my beautiful valley daily to visit patient homes, and requires me to respond bravely and quickly when pain or emotional crises occur with my patients or their families.
“i love this work; i only wish i had come to it sooner in my life.
“Thank you pluto.
“p.s. mars is the ruler of my aries midheaven.”
By: rosa on May 15, 2014
at 2:04 pm
Oh, my, Rosa, that’s a wonderful–and wonderfully Plutonian–story about a Pluto transit to your Midheaven ruler. Yes, hospice work is a beautiful service, and it takes a special and very strong person to handle such emotional intensity. If you don’t mind sharing, do you ever hear from your patients after they’ve passed on? Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on May 15, 2014
at 2:12 pm
Yes, I do, Donna. I have not worked with a patient or family that has not taught me something significant about relationships with others. I “hear” those lessons again and again in my daily life.
By: rosa on May 15, 2014
at 2:41 pm
Ooops! That’s not exactly what I was asking. In a round about way, I was asking if you’d had any mediumistic experiences with the patients themselves after they passed. Pluto does rule mediumship as well, and a Pluto transit is often the trigger for developing those abilities. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on May 15, 2014
at 2:45 pm
Hi Donna,
Three days ago I did a horary reading on “will I win the contest,”
and it shows that I’ve already won, and today I happened to open your email
when Jupiter was approaching the local 2nd house cusp. Thank you for the ebook!
By: Eunice on May 15, 2014
at 3:00 pm
Hi Donna,
I’m new to astrology but in the last few years I had a healer friend of mine send me photocopies of my transits to help me understand some of what was going on.
Mid March 2009 until Oct 2011 I had Pluto square pluto. Pluto is in my 8th house in Libra. I have natally moon (2nd house) opposition pluto. Relationships were often very challenging psychologically and my relationship with my mother is perfectly described in all I have read on Moon opposition pluto. Im sure the two go hand in hand!
During this Pluto transit I had a very difficult relationship that felt like I was in another zone….Hades!! I left where I had been living for 5 years and headed to my Mother’s for some time out. Here all those lifetime triggers were triggered very powerfully. In this time I ended what had always been a very difficult relationship with her.
I left and have never looked back. I closed many doors during my Pluto transit, they were blessed endings! I moved to another state, met my fiancee, went back to Uni and started life all over again!
Pluto was painful, difficult, bleak, dreary, powerful, strong, cathartic. I felt empowered when I realised that I needed to go through this as it yielded healing and positive change.
Pluto will dredge your depths but will reward you for your courage and bravery!
By: Jo on May 15, 2014
at 3:48 pm
Hi, Jo. As you’re new to astrology, you may not know that the square of transiting Pluto to natal Pluto is a part of the midlife cycle we all go through in the early 40s, and it is a time of working through any difficult patterns related to natal Pluto’s aspects–in your case, mother issues. But, yes, there is often a combination of grief and relief in letting go of the more painful ones. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on May 15, 2014
at 6:16 pm
My answer to the mediumistic experience is no. But Pluto is now transiting square mercury, ruler of my sun and my third and twelfth house, so maybe i’ll be open to it.
By: rosa on May 15, 2014
at 3:48 pm
My first reaction was “surely you jest”! But I gave it the good ol’ college try and–lo, and behold!–I found something good! Had to go back to the 60s to do it, however. :-))
With Pluto transiting my 7th House and trining Venus in the 3rd, I fell MADLY in love. Alas, it didn’t last. . .
By: Mary on May 15, 2014
at 5:12 pm
Sigh! Pluto-Venus transits (OR natal aspects) can be passionate and intense. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on May 15, 2014
at 6:17 pm
Hi Donna,
March 15, 1985 was the very most significant and important day in my whole life. My ascendant is 15 degrees of Libra, 13 minutes and the cusp of my second house is 14 degrees of Scorpio, 51 minutes. On that day, 3-15-85, Pluto was in about the middle of my first house at 4 degrees, 21 minutes of Scorpio Retrograde. Saturn was also affecting me at 28 degrees, 4 minutes of Scorpio Retrograde. Saturn and Pluto are conjunct in my 10th house in Leo so they both affect me strongly. I was working at Exxon and had been there only seven weeks. I had met a new male friend at Exxon in the office where I was working and had felt the excitement building between us. But, I have to say that on Friday, March 15, 1985, an huge internal explosion of romantic feelings transpired between he and I. It was interesting to me that the boss just happened to be out of the office on that particular day because the other workers in the office were our audience. It was spontaneous combustion between myself and this unusual gentleman and I heard whisperings from some of the other workers saying that they had seen, “Love at first sight!” And, it certainly was. Only a robot could hide feelings as strong as these were. Our faces were flushed Bright Red. Or, at least, my face was. He was a Capricorn with moon in his ascendant of Scorpio so he may have been able to keep somewhat of a poker face. But, me, with a Grand Trine in water, has never been good with keeping a poker face.
To sum up a long story, he was the catalyst that released me from a miserable life and an even more miserable marriage. Yes, I received mediumistic communication from my dad in Heaven but at the time, I thought my dad was God speaking to me. Anyway, I totally felt like I had been shot out of a rocket from Hell into Heaven. It was certainly the very best experience of my whole life. For weeks and months afterwards, I felt that I was walking on air about three feet higher than most other normal people. In recent times, I have learned that Heaven is only about three feet more elevated than planet earth.
My whole life had been changed in just one day.
By: Elisabeth Barry on May 15, 2014
at 5:31 pm
Wow! Thank you for sharing that spontaneous combustion….so rare! Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on May 15, 2014
at 6:19 pm
Your Welcome! I have just had several very interesting insights and brain opening revelations about the time we are all living in!
By: Elisabeth Barry on May 15, 2014
at 7:15 pm
DONNA: THIS IS WINNING CONTEST ENTRY #2, AS IT SHOWS HOW MUCH COURAGE AND HARD WORK GOES INTO TRANSFORMATION.
MARCIA WRITES:
I had the most life-changing experience with Pluto transiting the cusp of my 7th house, at 27 degrees of Sagit. When it was 3 degrees from the cusp, I moved from my hometown (Rio de Janeiro, Brasil) to a city that I hated for the first two and a half years, but that later became my actual home on Earth (Buenos Aires).
I got divorced from my Scorpio husband, with whom I have been married for 8 years at that time and with whom I had a very toxic relationship. I found out things about my childhood that I had totally repressed and forgotten, but that was still doing damage to my adult life (Pluto comes from my 4th house and was in Libra when I was born). I could finally break up a very toxic relationship with my mom, defining at that moment in my life that I would never allow toxic relationships in my life.
I went deep down in my soul in an intense and painful soul search, where I got stripped from everything that wasn’t real and was left with only the things that were really solid. It was painful, but this transit changed the course of my life and destiny. One year after the move to Buenos Aires and the separation from my husband, he and I decided to see if we could fall in love with each other again and maybe build a different relationship. And we could! We have been together ever since, deeply in love.
Our bonds became extremely strong. Our relationship is entirely different from what it used to be because we are different. We have now an honest happy family. The move to Buenos Aires triggered two years later a move to a country where I have always dreamt of living – the United States. The discoveries about my past allowed me to do some serious healing. As the ruler of my 5th house, transiting Pluto in my 7th allowed me to deepen the bonds and the honesty of my relationship with my daughters.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t heal the relationship with muy mom, because it takes two to fix a relationship, and she can’t do any better than she always have. But at least I can deal with the truth of it now. Painful and all, Pluto is the best thing that has ever happened to me.
By: Marcia on May 15, 2014
at 7:00 pm
Marcia, you’ve done a hero’s job of healing and transforming your relationships with that Pluto transit. It had to be terribly painful, and it took great courage to free yourself and to move away from those bad situations. Pluto can be like that–taking all we’ve got to make a needed change, but with a better life at the end of the process. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on May 16, 2014
at 4:55 am
just for posterity’s sake….My mother died in1997 and I was 37yrs old…the same age she had me….I have a moon pluto conjunct in Virgo.
Historic. during charming, recent mars in libra transit…with Pluto smack dab on my saturn…I had to get a restraing order and initiate divorce…from a LIBRA!!!
…love coping Capricorn wife of 54 yrs 🙂
By: Paulette on May 15, 2014
at 8:12 pm
I met and fell in love with my now-husband when Pluto was transiting biseptile to my Venus. Boy, are you right about that “passionate and intense” quality!
By: MargaretD on May 15, 2014
at 11:23 pm
DONNA: THIS IS WINNING ENTRY #3, AS IT ILLUSTRATES HOW GRANTS AND OTHER FINANCIAL WINDFALLS CAN BE EARNED DURING A PLUTO TRANSIT.
ROHANA’S STORY GOES LIKE THIS:
Here’s my positive Pluto transit story. When transiting Pluto conjoined my natal Venus in 2 Scorpio in my 4th house I was awarded a prestigious travelling Fellowship by the Winston Churchill Memorail Trust. This funded a trip to Ireland and Norway where I investigated the origins of Aran knitting. As a result of my researches I wrote and illustrated a book which sold internationally and became a standard work on the subject.
Significators: Venus (art) in Scorpio (investigations), My natal Venus is sextile my natal Mercury (writing), and Pluto is the ruler of Scorpio. My natal Venus is also in square aspect to natal Pluto in the 1st, so this is a double whammy and emphasises the link between the two planets. Natal Pluto rules my 5th house of creativity and natal Venus rules my 4th house of home. Pluto represents funding opportunities and Venus also represents money as well as art. I wrote this book at home (4th house) and consequently was offered a job as an art therapist with psychiatric patients (Venus in Scorpio) which I loved and worked at for many years.
Best wishes
Rohana
By: rohana darlington on May 15, 2014
at 11:56 pm
Marvellous story, Rohana! Fellowships, scholarships, and grants all fall under the Pluto/8th house/Scorpio spectrum. As well as various kinds of therapy and healing.
The other point your story brings up is that when a transiting aspect repeats a natal one, that period is crucial in working the natal aspect through to a higher level (as here you have a natal Pluto-Venus square set off by a transiting Pluto conjunction to Venus). Since transiting Pluto is conjunct Venus, I would imagine you were also having a square from Pluto to natal Pluto, a midlife aspect we all have that gives us a chance to bring Pluto to a higher expression. Donna
Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on May 16, 2014
at 4:47 am
Paulette, I would love to hear more details of your lengthy marriage. Capricorn wife of 54 years! Yours must be an amazing story! I am a Cancer but I have Sun, Mercury in Cancer and Saturn, Pluto in Leo all in my 10th Capricorn House so I think those four planets in the 10th gives me a whole lot of coping skills! I would also like to hear more about your Moon and Pluto conjunct together in Virgo. That combination must give you amazing strength, also. My dad was a very strong Virgo with a very strong Scorpio ascendant. Even though, I have been divorced since 1985, my former husband and I have remained in a fairly cool friendship because we had two wonderful children who are now 38 and 31. We have been blessed and just recently enjoyed visiting our very first grandchild, a girl, born on 12-9-2013. My Pisces Moon has helped me to be kind and forgiving.
By: Elisabeth Barry on May 16, 2014
at 3:05 am
When transiting Pluto conjoined my first house Sun at 23* Scorpio in 1991, I walked out of an abusive marriage of 18 years with just the clothes on my back. Best thing I’ve ever done. Went back to school and got my BS in Pharmacy at age 46. And I got a bonus of a wonderful second husband.
By: Paula H. on May 16, 2014
at 2:51 pm
You used the transit in a brave, powerful way to transform an ugly, dangerous situation into a new life. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on May 16, 2014
at 6:19 pm
Well it took some thinking but here is what I found… transiting pluto entered my 3rd house (6º sag) when I was 17 and I found out I was getting a new sibling! A few years later when pluto conjunct neptune (still in 3rd) my sister left home for a few months on a neptune style binge but agreed to come home and clean up her act when she got pregnant. The reality check of pregnancy helped her find purpose and get herself together. Also as pluto started to leave my 3rd house two years ago my oldest brother took his life…while this doesn’t seem positive he was very mentally ill and I feel that he finally escaped. Pluto moving into the 3rd added a brother but pluto leaving it took one away…I think this shows the true nature of pluto, it’s not just about death but about birth and balance…
By: Vanessa Lo Piccolo on May 16, 2014
at 2:54 pm
Let’s see how this experience qualifies as a positive Pluto experience.
My name is James Edward Page. I was born 12/11/1951 – 1:15 pm in Cleveland Ohio. My Sun is18 degrees 54 minutes Sagittarius, Moon ’40 minutes Gemini, ASC 3 degrees 49 minutes Aries, M.C. 2 degrees Capricorn.
Focal Determinators: Stellium in Libra in the 7th House (Mars, Saturn and Neptune), asymmetrical Grand Cross in Cardinal signs and two fingers of Yod. I use the Equal House system.
Pluto entered Capricorn on January 27th 2008. On March 3rd 2009 it transited the 3rd degree of Capricorn entering my 10th house and forming a transiting square to my natal ASC and my natal Jupiter which is 4 degrees
28 minutes Aries and conjunct my natal ASC. On April 4th 2009 Pluto stationed retrograde at 3 degrees 18 minute Capricorn. On April 7th Pluto was 3 degrees 17 minutes retrograde Aries.
On Tuesday April 7th 2009 I was attended a meeting of community organization I belong to, the African Wisdom Circle. It was 1:50 pm. I called the woman I am in love with to tell her I was on my way to see her. I’d just had a very good cup of coffee and lit a cigarette when I went outside. I had been trying to quit smoking and after about 3 weeks without them I’d bought a pack a couple days before. The temperature was about 38 degrees and there was the usual ‘rush’ those of us who have smoked know when you take your first cigarette of the day. I was walking across the parking lot of the Severance shopping center in Cleveland Heights and I began to feel nauseous and then I felt a “pop” near my left collar bone. I thought to myself, “what was that?” Mentally checked myself for any numbness of extremities or any chest pain and feeling none kept walking.
When I got to the bus shelter I was almost finished with the cigarette which as smokers know is the best part and something told me to throw it away. The next thing I knew I “saw” myself on the ground sitting under the bench in the bus shelter and I asked myself how I had gotten down there? Then I “came to” and found I had passed out and was laying on the bench. I sat up and a young woman in the shelter was calling 911. I thanked her but seeing as I was unemployed and had been for some time I was not interested in going to the hospital. EMT rides cost upwards of 4 to 5 hundred dollars. My bus was coming however a friend who I had not seen in more than a year whom I’d studied some esoteric ideas with got off another bus and seeing I didn’t look good took me immediately to the Kaiser medical facility which was several hundred yards away from the bus shelter. (He said he’d come to the shopping center to cash his pay check, something he usually did within walking distance of his home.) When we got in the Kaiser facility the doctors were whispering that they could not stabilize my pressure. I called my lady and told her in as joking a mood as I could I wouldn’t be there because I was in the hospital. Then a doctor told me that they thought I had a tear in my aorta. Now I know what the aorta is but I though the tear must be some little inch, inch and a half razor blade cut. To make a much longer and more detailed story somewhat shorter I had an aortic aneurysm My entire aorta was 8 centimeters wide. It become aneuristic at 5 centimeters and is due to smoking cigarettes (although I am a recovered addict and I’m sure smoking cocaine didn’t help the situation, I had been clean for three years at this point). I understand after some research and discussions with my doctors Arie Blitz and Jerry Goldstone both formerly of University Hospitals of Cleveland, that 85% of the people who have this kind of aneurysm don’t survive and in fact Dr. Blitz who performed two surgeries on me and my daughter told me that my aorta rupture while I was on the operating table which means I died. I had an ascending aortic dissection on April 7th 2009 but because the tissue was like wet toilet paper he had to wait and I had a second surgery on January 9th 2010 a descending aortic dissection.
The pertinent astrological aspects were: T- Pluto 3 degrees 17minutes Capricorn (retrograde) square natal ASC 3 degrees 49 minutes Aries and natal Jupiter 4 degrees 28 minutes Aries T- Sun 17 degrees 18 minutes Aries trine natal Sun 18 degrees 54 minutes Sagittarius, T- Mars 17 degrees 53 minutes Pisces square natal Sun !8/54 Sag. and T-Venus 1 degree 33 minutes Aries (retrograde). Note: Jupiter is my Sun sign ruler (and why I think I am still alive) and Mars is my ASC ruler and ruler of the chart.
Several other things before I close. On December 13 2010, I heard on the news that Richard Holbrooke the late US envoy to Afghanistan had an aortic aneurysm and had died of complications. I knew immediately what those complications were. I later found out he had had the same thing I had, the rupture of the aorta after the tear is what kills most of us.
One of the reasons I believe we don’t appreciate properly Plutonian transits in particular and all trans-Saturnian planets in general is the generation effect tends to mask the individual affects in our personal lives. The delineation in a nut shell for Pluto transiting the 10th house is the native’s all out drive to be what he or she most desires to be as seen in the pubic arena and have the power to achieve this aim. Pluto’s transit in this case is 16 years from 2008 to 2024. I have had several things happen since Pluto entered Capricorn which I am attempting to delineate and take advantage of on the way to 2024.
I read either here or in the Grand Trines site something which helped me appreciate both Saturn and Pluto in a way I never had before and that is in both cases in order to get the positive results one has work slowly, methodically, diligently and develop patience and endurance. (I also noticed during this study of Pluto in Capricorn that the United States of America will experience it’s first Pluto return when Pluto transits 27 degrees 55 minutes Capricorn…but that’s another article or three).
So Donna Cunningham how is that for a positive Pluto story. I died and was re-born literally and have a chance to fulfill the promise in natal chart still since the subsequent and major transits: Uranus in Aries, Neptune in Pisces, Saturn from Virgo-Scorpio in mutual reception to Pluto in Capricorn Jupiter in Cancer all contribute to the regeneration process as outlined by this particular Plutonian transit. And by the way the night before on April 6, 2009 my great-grand was born. How about that!
By: mephistopoles on May 17, 2014
at 5:24 pm
A Near Death Experience and coming back reborn has to be just about the best Pluto transit experience possible, James. Have you ever read a book by P.M.H. on her own NDEs and those of other people–not just the experience itself, but the changes people go through after? She has a website with lots of material about it. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on May 18, 2014
at 2:38 am
No Donna I haven’t read P.M.H. however thanks for the referral. Actually I had wanted to continue what I had written earlier since during that period I had two operations not just the one. What happened was my doctors told me that after the initial repair even though the rest of my aorta was aneurystic they could complete the repairs at that time because; 1). My tissue was like wet toilett paper and 2). about a 3rd of the repair was a vascular operation.
As astrologers know the trans-Saturnian planets have long retrograde periods every year. When I had the aneurysm in 2009, shortly after Pluto stationed retrograde and moved back across the 3rd degree of Capricorn. When I looked I saw after it stationed direct again it would pass back over the 3rd degree of Capricorn in December of 2009. Dr. Blitz informed me of the continued danger I was in and advised me to have a subsequent operation. Obviously this was another aspect of Pluto’s transit referring to the psychological anxiety which can produce the transformative changes associated with Pluto both creative or destructive depending on the psyche of the native and the situation under consideration. So I spent most of the rest of the year with the need to have this second operation weighing over me. As I believe I related in the previous post I had the second operation on January 9th 2010. The vascular region of my aorta is still aneurystic that Dr. explaining that as long as my blood was flowing correctly and everything else was in order there would be no need to operate a third time which obviously I was glad about.
But more important astrologically is my interest in this Pluto transit in it’s entirety that is from 2008-2024. So far within the context of this transit we have had: the mutual reception of Uranus and Neptune, the Uranus ingress into Aries, the Neptune ingress into Pisces (its own sign and in my view co-ruler of Neptune along with Jupiter of Sagittarius) the activation of the various T-squares and grand-crosses in Cardinal signs which appear to have triggered mundane phenomena like Arab spring, the mutual reception of Saturn and Pluto, grand trine in water which occurred in a dance with the configurations in Cardinal signs, the movement of Jupiter from detriment in Gemini to exaltation in Cancer. These are the configuration which I can recall off memory and obviously they provide the forms and structure as to how the transformation of modern global society will manifest in the 16 years that represent this transit. Apparently baring any unforeseen circumstances or candidates not on the horizon at this time politically we will see the first African-American President followed by the first woman President in Hillary Clinton should she decide to run. On the more personal side my life will change dramatically even if I just manage to stay alive since I am 62 as of this post and will be 73 in 2024. I am on SSI and though I am in good shape other than the aneurysm I am a recovered drug addict (another story in astrology having to do with transiting Saturn and Neptune) and so had started over with nothing in 2006 when I recovered. This is one of the reasons I am so interested in this Pluto transit because though I have the same dreams I basically had when I was in my 20’s I see even less evidence as to how I will be able to accomplish any of them now than back then since my material resources and financial resources are at a subsistence level. However, as we know theoretically Pluto transits are transformative (and Neptune transits – this transit through Pisces will overlap Pluto’s movement
from Capricorn to Aquarius can make dreams come true) so I am very interested to see what will happen in the next several years in my life. I have had a great deal happen even under the bare subsistence circumstances but how I would like to be seen in the public is not quite like I am able to portray myself however and on the other hand I have to constantly remind myself I have come from nothing to where I am now and as my sponsor says, “the best is yet to come”. This seems to be the growing general consensus of astrology regarding the effects of all trans-Saturnian planets (beginning with Saturn itself) that is if one can withstand and endure the results of the transits of these planets especially if there is something we have been doing or not which has to do with our essential self-development than the most primary effect of these planets is to separate us from that which is no longer necessary so we might be able to develop more in line with our…destiny(?). At any rate however it may be articulated it quite certain I am in the crucible of self development and regeneration and should I stay alive will be a product of that very process. I hope to be present as much as possible to it’s fulfillment. Ashe!
By: mephistopoles on May 22, 2014
at 8:50 pm
A long and arduous life passage that has required tremendous courage not to be crushed by. I always say that Plutonians have the strength of diamonds. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on May 23, 2014
at 3:25 am
On my birthday in 2008 when Pluto was retrograde at 1 degree in my 2nd house, trining my natal Saturn and SN at 1degree of Taurus in the 6th house, as well as transiting Saturn at 1 degree of Virgo in my 10th house, inconjunct my natal Pluto in Leo in the 9th house, I made my decision to leave Chicago (where I had lived since 1982). I had lost so many loved ones over the previous year (my mother in Oct. 2007, my Son in April, 2008, my husband in Dec. 2008, and my dear friend, Hilda, in January 2009), that I was totally wrung out and ready for change.
I was set to retire in February, 2009 and knew that I would finally have time to finish writing my book (had been taking notes for 40 years). But I really hadn’t thought about where I would live. There wasn’t much holding me in Chicago. I had been feeling very empty, like I always did, before a major move actually occurred. So I knew the move was near – but where. It wasn’t until my birthday in 2009 that I decided on SoCal. Most of the same aspects were still in effect, along with the transiting Moon and SN now crossing my natal Pluto in the 9th.
Now you might be thinking – with all of the above sadness – what is the “best thing that Pluto did”.
Well, consider this:
• My mother was 98 years of age, not in good health – she truly was ready to leave.
• My beloved son (a Scorpio) had fought the cancer valiantly for 5 years – he just wanted peace.
• My husband was a tortured alcoholic with severe diabetes – had no will to live any longer
• My dear friend had been in failing health for over a year, was 93 and ready to go.
Isn’t it amazing – that Pluto, who rules the 8th house of death, would bring so much sadness, yet so much release, when he entered the earth sign of Capricorn, (I have a grand trine in earth, including Mars, Uranus and Neptune, albeit later degrees).
I had been frozen for so long, that the release was palpable. I could finally let go.
By: Judy Spencer on May 18, 2014
at 8:45 am
So typical of a major Pluto transit, Judy–an ending (with all the grief that entails) and a new day dawning (and lots of work to be done to make the transition). Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on May 18, 2014
at 9:11 am
On January 5th 2006 Pluto was square my natal Neptune and I was scheduled for surgery and obviously anxious about the outcome. The positive result of the destruction and removal of my cloudy right lens with the implant of a new plastic lens resulted in me being able to see clearly again.
Mars was conj MC, Uranus trine nSun, Chiron opp nPluto,
Definitely the phoenix rising from the ashes. Sybil
By: Sybil Whiston on May 18, 2014
at 11:18 am
The best thing that has happened during Pluto transiting my first house is that I finally got the courage to divircse my cheating husband. He was mean to our son. He was hiding money from us. He was sleepind around. And he blamed me for all of his woes. We had two young children when all this came out and I was unemployed and scared that a divorce would harm my children the way that my own parents’ divorce hurt me (even though I was only a baby at the time of the actual divorce). All classic zero degree Capricorn rising traits. The Ex moved out after 20 years of marriage and in with the girlfriend he’d had before I came along.
I was my own person for three years until a friend of mine became much more. It turns out that he’d been waiting patiently for me to come to my senses. He’s a Virgo Sun, Pluto, rising, Venus, Mars with a Taurus Moon–talk about patient! And I wouldn’t have been able to put my Jupiter return in the 7th house by marrying my Virgo man had it not been for that Pluto weeding my 1st house and transforming my sense of self.
By: Jeanette McKinney-Belle on May 19, 2014
at 10:36 am
Pluto conjoined my moon and I entered AA. I’ve been sober & healthy for 9 years and I am enjoying a completely different life… new man, new house, new relationship with my children, new self respect… healing is good.
Thank you Pluto!
By: VT on May 19, 2014
at 1:33 pm
I have Moon in Cancer (6.11) conjunction with MC (9.29), so Pluto transit happened in opposition. I had in childhood many separations of my mother and my father was an alcoholic. I started to write a book of my experiences and handle that way my painful childhood. I may publish it, but not yet sure about this.
By: PirjA. on May 19, 2014
at 8:39 pm
Hi, PirJa, a Pluto transit is in effect for 3 degrees from exact, and it moves very slowly, so you might still finish that book. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on May 19, 2014
at 11:47 pm
When Pluto entered Caprincorn in 2009, I got a diagnosis of cancer (tumor in my left kidney). Pluto was exactly square my Ascendant in the first degree of Libra. The first house is the physical body, and Libra rules the kidneys. I had the kidney removed less than two months later and am now cancer-free. I believe Pluto brought the problem to light.
By: Jack M on May 20, 2014
at 6:42 am
had stroke may 14 more when able
By: maryjane on May 25, 2014
at 9:19 pm
Sorry to hear, MaryJane, and hope for a good recovery for you. When you’re further along in your healing, if you still find writing at the computer difficult, you might consider looking into Nuance/Dragon’s program that you can dictate into and it types for you. I got it when my hands were injured in a fall several years back, and though I’m mostly recovered, I still use it often for articles and books, because it doesn’t make half as many typos as I do, and it just lets me get my thoughts out without focusing on the typing itself. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on May 26, 2014
at 2:36 am
Pluto is transiting my fourth house (sun in libra) and I have come into some money, and I feel more liberated than I have for years. At the same time, I am still working out my slave/servant past life hang-ups (sixth house south node) and trying to find a decent career for myself.
By: Cherry on May 26, 2014
at 12:06 pm
I was thrilled to have my positive Pluto story chosen by Donna as qualifying for her prize, and I chose her book on Stelliums. She also asked me to share my experience of someone I know who has a full 8th house (including Sun in the 8th) who has worked as a midwife, in palliative care with the terminally ill and who has also recently founded a charity to help people die in dignity and with caring support. This charity trains volunteers in the skills of how to support people make the transition from this life to the next in the same caring way that a midwife helps new life into this world. The 8th house of course is the house ruled by Pluto and is concerned with birth, death and regeneration.
Rohana
By: rohana darlington on May 28, 2014
at 8:04 am
What wonderful work, Rohana! To minister to the dying is one of the greatest gifts you could give. Pluto at its purest. Thanks for sharing your story with me and on Skywriter. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on May 28, 2014
at 5:45 pm
I turn 51 in August and have Pluto in my natal 3rd house, opposed Pisces moon/chiron conjunction. I noticed Pluto was transiting my IC when my dad left for good when I was only 11. My dad had Pluto conjunct Mars natal and my mom had Pluto opposed Mars natal. My dad had previously beat my mom to a pulp, leaving her hospitalized. He subsequently left her for a younger, childless woman and happily remarried for the rest of his life. For me, the Pluto IC transit was a horrible nightmare. My life as I knew took a turn for the worse and the latter part of my life was far worse than the family violence I knew initially. All I can say positively is that I ultimately learned to be a better parent than what I had been dealt and that I would love to write a book about it all as it makes for an interesting story. I have Jupiter in my 10th house, moon in my 9th and Uranus/mercury/pluto 2nd and 3rd opposed moon. I have Scorpio Neptune at the end of house 4 T squaring Venus, Sun and Saturn in the 8th and Mars conjunct my IC.
Before I ever understood astrology, an astrologer drew up my chart and began asking me about my parents and life at home. She was so accurate and I asked her how she knew that and she told me it was evident in my natal chart. So I always say astrology save me, it made me understand why I am so unusual and where I can excel. If I had to live a status quo life I may not be here. It explained the unexplainable. I cannot wait until next spring when Uranus conjuncts my Jupiter for the first time. Pluto is sitting under my descendant and I am not looking forward to that pass at all.
By: Sherry Hanson on July 5, 2014
at 1:00 pm
Pluto has entered my fourth house this year. I am experiencing a lot of sad feelings related to my childhood and my parents relationship. I have encountered me with a lot of things from the past that I’d left unnoticed and it is very enlightening, as doors that I had been left and now I must to open it. My career was affected too, I have left my job and started college, but I am still very insecure and apprehensive about this new ways my life is going to.
I am Libra ascendent, with saturn in cancer conjunt with the MC.
By: Narah Farias on September 20, 2014
at 1:47 pm
The best thing? 7 Pluto transits at one time?….I didn’t put an end to my life. It’s still going on, but I’ve learned to step back and observe my reactions, accept things as they are and be open to the lessons. It’s all a gift in the end, isn’t it Donna?
Can’t wait for things to lighten up now that Pluto’s gone direct and can get off my ascendent (11 capricorn), mid-heaven, mars, venus, mercury, neptune and pluto….it’s been really, really difficult.
By: Kat on October 4, 2014
at 7:10 am
Difficult is probably a mild word for it, Kat, you brave soul. With all those planets clumped at about 11 degrees, I’m imagining that you might have a stellium or major configuration like a t-square in that degree range. If it’s a Capricorn stellium, there’s a FaceBook group for that generation, and I also have a blog with info about it at http://capricornstellium.com.
One thing I will promise you is that once finished, that intensity of Pluto transits clumped together won’t happen any time soon. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on October 4, 2014
at 8:28 am
Best thing: letting go a complicated love triangle with a Scorpio (Virgo rising conj pluto, moon 15 degrees in capricorn). It was a very damaging and painful long distance relationship. I met him 12 years ago. At some point I left home and he disappeared. My moon is in Sagittarius square pluto in the 7th. I
Decided to get pregnant to save the marriage – found myself pregnant with twins and one died. My daughter has a strong pluto in her chart. The lover came back after that to complicate things and I had a hard time with him around the last two years, while I was awakening from a long neptunian denial! I split with him now – for good – under the influence of pluto-uranus on my venus (15 degrees of capricorn). It’s liberating! My husband has sun 12 degrees of libra – he left his stable job and we moved to a new country. Scorpio (a 40-something bachelor) is ruminating a moon conj pluto in his 4th house, for his espiritual growth. It is an amazing death/rebirth for all of us!
By: Natasha on November 7, 2014
at 3:14 pm
Ps – my difficulty in letting go of this triangle had a lot to do with guilt. You book healing pluto problems has helped tremendously!
By: Natasha on November 7, 2014
at 3:18 pm
Thanks, Natasha, I’m glad it helped.
What strikes me about the comments on this post about “the best thing” is how convoluted the stories are…Pluto is no easy thing. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on November 7, 2014
at 7:04 pm
Just a note about the accusations against Bill Cosby. Transiting Pluto is conjoined his MC and Saturn has just crossed the cusp of his 8th house.
By: VT on November 18, 2014
at 9:15 am
Hadn’t seen the chart, thanks. Wasn’t the BEST thing that ever happened to him on a Pluto transit, but surely the RIGHT thing. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on November 18, 2014
at 3:33 pm
Dear Donna, here’s my very own Pluto love story.
I have Pluto in the 8th house at 28 Leo conj.Jupiter at 0 Virgo in sextile aspect with Neptune and Mars exactly conjunct at 29 Libra in 9 and trine Venus at 28 Sagittarius in 12.
From early childhood on I was convinced that I had a soul mate out there somewhere whom I would eventually meet at some time in my life. As I grew older I became impatient and settled for the bird in the hand instead and married a man who turned out to be a jailer rather than a fiend (his Sun at 28 Pisces square my Venus, his Mars at 29 Aries exactly opposite my Neptune/Mars). Although I realized quickly that I had made a terrible mistake I wasn’t able to leave him.
While Pluto was moving through my 12th house the sitiuation things got worse, and by the time Pluto was approaching my Venus I was sure that he would leave me. At the same time, however, I found myself almost magnetically drawn to someone I’d only heard rumors about and whom I recognized at first sight as my soul mate, lover and dearest companion through many former lifetimes. Pluto was then exactly conjunct his moon at 28 Sagittarius and trine his UranusVenus/Pluto stellium in Virgo in 2nd house, Mercury in Leo in 1st and Jupiter in Gemini in 11th…
We have lived happily together ever since. Who would have thought that Pluto who would help me find my sould mate and make a fairy tale come true..?
By: Annelie Z. on December 7, 2014
at 8:51 am
Sigh, that’s a wonderful story. You are blessed! Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on December 7, 2014
at 9:54 am
When Pluto entered my Capricorn ascendant I felt a strong urge to declutter but kept putting it off. Then the guys in the apartment above went out, left their washing machine on and the hose fell off, and I came home to waterfalls in my apartment.
All the cupboards/wardrobes in the 2 bedrooms and hall were emptied and put in the spare bedroom so the walls could dry. Having all that stuff so visible in the middle of the spare bedroom for weeks annoyed me so much I had no choice but to go through it and happily discard over 50% of it (donated to Salvation Army). Great feeling after the initial shock!
By: Dianne on May 17, 2015
at 11:01 pm
I had to smile at that outcome, Dianne. I’ve gone through purgings like that several times, and it’s not just about getting rid of stuff. Every object is more than just an object…it means something… it triggers memories, emotions, the people involved, history tied to that object is brought up and re-examined and insights about those circumstances that surrounded it, our attachment to that part of our history. It’s kind of a life review and catharsis. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on May 18, 2015
at 1:05 am
When transit Pluto conjuncted my Saturn in Sag. in the 12th, 3 degrees from my asc., my father had a stroke. When Pluto then conjuncted my Sag. asc., my mother died. Four months later my daughter was born. She is my first and only child.
By: Jeanie on June 17, 2015
at 10:04 am
Mixed bag, Jeanie! Sometimes, though not aways by any means, Pluto giveth and it taketh away. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 17, 2015
at 10:31 am
Well, Pluto started pacing about my natal Uranus in Capricorn (6th house) well over four years back.. It was something alright! It started off with serendipitous moments that subtly rocked my life. The most surprising of which was an unexpected tarot reading (my first ever and only one since). A lady reluctantly pulled out her medicine cards to entertain us, her guests. I got to pick a card- the lynx, the keeper of secrets. It represented tarots, astrology, palmistry, numerology and basically everything else I was interested in but never touched for fear of burning in hell ( an old Christian belief in the ‘wickedness’ of fortune telling that I’m ashamed to admit, had succumbed to). It did two things; it made me incapable of ignoring my inherent interest in those subjects and it had me positively obsessed with learning them as a profession. That resulted in two things; I started leading a double life one where I was astrologer and tarot reader and the other where I trying my best to keep up the pretence of being the ‘righteous’ Christian. But Pluto wasn’t happy with that. I wasn’t completely reborn. The second thing that happened was the breaking away of my facade! I was an astrologer n tarot reader, no more a Christian. I don’t mean to offend any Christians here but to me my old beliefs and my new could not exist together. So Pluto forced my Uranus into an immersive journey of reinvention and career shifts. Naturally, there were nuclear explosions of the emotional variety, of course there were demons crawling up from the recesses of my mind and the double life was no cake- walk nor was the death of it but in the end I count the transit as a very fortunate one.
Pluto isn’t done with me yet though… It’s now shaking my Neptune silly and soon there will be a show down with my Saturn all in Capricorn, all in the same house. It won’t be pretty but I look forward to being born again. Wish me luck!
By: Sage on August 8, 2015
at 10:50 am
An excellent summary of your journey, Sage. And a journey is so often what occurs under transits from slow-moving Pluto–often several years of a gradual change in direction or way of operating. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on August 10, 2015
at 9:36 pm
For someone who deals with a lot of charts I completely ignore my own. I wrote this only after properly analysing my chart n transit. Wonderful thing about doing that is that I got to view all those hard times as part of an exquisite design! It goes a long way to relieve stress,,,,
By: Sage on August 11, 2015
at 4:16 pm
We do learn a lot about our transits in retrospect. Good work. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on August 11, 2015
at 4:47 pm
Hi, I am from Australia. I have read most of these Pluto transit. I have been going through a Pluto conjunct to natal sun now from 2014. Although in saying that I think there been some major influence before say 2012. When the first direct bulling from staff at my work place, really up set me and I became ill and had to take time off work. Cut this story down. I return to work at a new location not far from my previous job ( school teacher). And six months into my job the bullies turned up and two days later I was hit with a false code of conduct charge by my boss. Knowing that as a Capricorn and Capricorn raising sign. I would not break code of conduct rules so it has taken some months to sort this out and I developed an illness that is difficult to cure but I cleared my name 100% but not return to work.
I lost a lot of confidence in my teaching and frighten that I will be set up again. Currently I am trying to prove that the bullies had a major dirty dealing with my boss as they are best friends.
But it’s is difficult because they have greater resources with government departments.
I have one more Pluto pass over to unfold again this 2016 now only. A few months away. ( I have been checking out moving away, although I am short of finances and I would leave my son and community be find). So personally I am not sure which way to go at age 60 years, as I am very tied of the battle I have gone through clearing my name. And battling an illness that took some time for the medical teams to treat correctly
Cecilia. Date of birth. January 6 1956 (kogarah New South Wales) Australia (5.25am) birth. I do have a lot of Uranus ( unusual) style of life.
Marriage has not worked out so basically I was a single mother. Studies a lot gave several teaching qualifications. Work with students who have learning impairment or disability. ( but) again the boss at the top has blocked that making it very challenging for me to do the job I am passion about because they want me out of the system.
I lost at the time I write this. How do I fit into this society when justice is constantly covered up by powerful people like my authority department and many principles of schools.
I really need an astrologer who would help for free / I gave paid good money but the advice did not work out for me. Between lawyers and astrology my budget is now too short until I return to the work force. I certainly have lost faith in the justice system and some people eg lawyers.
My medical team has been good and supportive all through these last 4 years I will approximately say 2012 / 2016
By: Cecilia on April 24, 2016
at 7:15 pm
Hi, Cecilia, you might try sending the description above to Eileen McCabe, the advice columnist at Dell Horoscope Magazine. Dell Advice Column Her background is very similar to mine–a Master’s Degree in Social work, years of counseling practice, and about 30 years as an astrologer. There’s no charge for letters used in the column. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on April 25, 2016
at 7:44 am