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This article is in response to an email from a Scorpio client, who posed the question: What are your thoughts on Pluto not being a planet? While Pluto is not considered a classical planet by the IAU as of August 24, it now has a new definition of dwarf planet. A statement that the definition does not mean it is a planet sound silly. Why did the IAU use the word planet when the definition could have been dwarf object...? By the way, the word classic means that it has stood the test of time. Time will tell whether Pluto did in its role as an outer planet. Maybe Pluto is more…
Pluto was reclassified by 424 astronomers as a dwarf planet . Our Sun is a dwarf star according to astronomy—not a full-fledged star. The term implies that it is smaller, less luminous with lower mass compared to others of its kind. Pluto did not vanish from the sky . Astronomers have reclassified planetary bodies before. In 1801-02 when the four major asteroids were discovered, they were deemed planets and the textbooks reflected that. All four were demoted to asteroid status. The reclassification of August 2006 elevated Ceres formerly an asteroid—also formerly a planet—to a dwarf planet. By the way, not all astrologers use asteroids in their work.
Presently we have five bodies that influence our daily lives : the Moon, the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Mars. Astrologers refer to the Sun and the Moon as planets, yet we all know that the Moon is a satellite of the Earth and that the Sun is a star. We further have two societal planets —Jupiter and Saturn—they teach us about expansion and limitation. Beyond Saturn, we have Uranus and Neptune, which are collectively referred to as transpersonal planets . Up until August 24, Pluto as a planet was an outer planet along with Uranus and Neptune. With the reclassification, perhaps we can re-conceptualize the role of Pluto. Pluto is associated with the god of the underworld and his domain is Hades. Astronomers state that Pluto is now an important proto-type for planets that lie beyond its eccentric orbit. Proto-type, of course, means the first of its kind. The new bodies yet to be discovered beyond Pluto are going to be analyzed based on the model provided by Pluto, who by the way, has its own satellite—Charon— just like the Earth and its Moon. To me this seems to state that it took the scientific community 76 years to realize that Pluto was perhaps more (or less) than a planet. Perhaps it took that average human lifetime for astrologers to familiarize themselves with what Pluto might mean. Now we need to move beyond those boundaries set by Pluto, which is astrologers deem an evolutionary planet—developing in small accumulative increments in order to foster significant change. It might suggest another dimension to life and to astrology, which we are now free to conceptualize, imagine and perceive.
Scorpios, who were born prior to the discovery of Pluto in 1930, were considered to be ruled by Mars. At what point did astrologers and textbooks first state that Pluto ruled Scorpio? Back in the 1980's, the consensus was split on this question. Pluto was considered to have affinity with Scorpio thus it quietly became the ruler, however many astrologers continued to use Mars in that role.
Astrologers are not likely to drop Pluto out of the equation simply because of having to add the word dwarf in front the word planet. As the decision was taken, Pluto was stationing direct at 24°Sagittarius—the date of the station is September 4, 2006. The immense Galactic Centre is centered on 26°Sagittarius. I had an email from a Scorpio client that stated she is now LOST IN SPACE . What an appropriate comment based on where the 'modern' ruler of Scorpio—Pluto—was situated at the time the IAU took their vote.
Classical astrology considers Mars a planet that belongs to the night sky and has affinity with the Moon and Venus. Mars in Scorpio is in a feminine sign and has a different nature from Mars in Aries (a masculine sign). Mars is in Virgo until September 7.
The words astrologers have used to identify Pluto are intense, deep, transformative, etc. These words were partially derived from the sign Scorpio. Some of the concepts are linked to the 8 th house in the horoscope, which is associated with the zodiacal sign of Scorpio. Scorpios continue to be that kind of archetype. Over the past decade, while Pluto has been in Sagittarius, the Internet has become a major source of information thus the information that Pluto unequivocally rules Scorpio has become 'fact' due to the multitude of astrology sites stating it. Just as many astrologers continue to use the classical rulership of the signs, the trend with modern rulership hierarchy only gained momentum over the past quarter of a century.
It is likely to take another quarter of a century for a new consensus to emerge. Astrologers did not toss out Pluto; it was the astronomers who attempted to define what qualities are required in order for something to be a planet. At this writing, the debate over the validity of those definitions in the astronomical circles is fierce. So the saga continues.
It will be interesting to watch the articles that emerge from astrologers about the subject. Is it all semantics or did Pluto become a 'portal' to new realms. I personally do not see this as the demotion of Pluto. However, sometimes the facts get lost in the sensational headlines— Pluto dead or Pluto demoted . News has become headlines and we scan those rather than read the actual news item. Did our (astrological) world change? Note there are billions of people who haven't even heard the news. Symbolically, Mars and Pluto are approaching an exact square aspect. I think that it still means that over the next six days or so, people are likely to be more willful, autocratic, and less willing to compromise.
See my earlier notes on the IAU vote
Copyright Anne Massey, August 27, 2006
© Anne Massey 2006
Anne Massey, CAP (ISAR) is a certified professional astrologer. For personal consultations with Anne call her office at 604-888-9552. More details on the services page. Note you can now purchase reports and charts via email or regular mail and pay for personal consultations using your credit card. The pricing and types of readings are listed on the services page.
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