Pluto in Capricorn- Hades and Transformation

Jan 23

In my previous blog post, I discussed the current position of the nodes of the moon-- the north node is Cancer while the south node is in Capricorn. The nodal axis is where eclipses occur; the January and July eclipses of 2019 will be occurring close to where Pluto, a slow-moving planet, is hanging out in Capricorn for the year.

Pluto is the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Hades, αΐδης, meaning what is unseen in Greek. He rules underworld realms-- where the dead dwell, where unseen riches lie in the form of earth, and what is not seen in this world.

Hades and Initiation Rites

In preparation for my retreat this summer, I'm reviewing the literature on the Orphic Mysteries, a set of ancient Greek ritual practices and initiations designed to improve a soul's fate in the afterlife. The Orphic Mysteries rely heavily on the symbolism of underworld journeys and death and resurrection. We have limited knowledge about the initiation practices or how these beliefs fit into parallel practices and philosophies of the time, however there are a few tantalizing bits of evidence such as the Derveni Papyrus, a 340BC papyrus discovered in Greece.

The text of the papyrus dates to 500 BC and is in fragments. Scholars have been discussing the meaning of the text since it was discovered, but it seems to describe the origin myths of the mysteries, how to propitiate important underworld deities using proper ritual, and what happens if you don't.

The Horrors of Hades

Sarah Iles Johnston is a scholar of ancient beliefs about the dead and the underworld. In an essay on the Derveni Papyrus entitled "Divination in the Derveni Papyrus," Johnston discusses the phrase Ἅιδου δεινά, or the "horrors of Hades." Johnston argues that knowledge of Hades and the entities contained in Hades-- inauspicious spirits and avenging souls (daimones and psuxoi timoroi, respectively)-- is key to initiation into mystery cults and divination. It seems that in the logic of mystery initiations, inauspicious spirits and avenging souls can prevent initiates from being successful and gaining the results that initiation promises-- a positive afterlife, transformation, and underworld knowledge. Moreover, these spirits from Hades are frequently associated with blood pollution which was thought to be contagious in the ancient world, according to Johnston.

What is blood pollution? A good place to start is the Oresteia trilogy by Aeschylus where an archetypal murder of a family member inaugurates a chain of retributive killings, led by the avenging goddesses the Furies (Erinyes). Blood pollution is is an endless chain of negative karma that affects those in the bloodline who had nothing to do with the original event.

These are the "horrors of Hades."

Pluto in Astrology

How does this relate to the planet Pluto?

Aside from the obvious connection between Pluto the planet's association with Hades and the underworld, there's a deeper connection between the "horrors of Hades" in the Derveni papyrus and modern astrology. The astrology of the late twentieth century, usually called evolutionary astrology or the astrology of the soul, is based significantly on the position of Pluto in the birth chart. Nowadays, most modern astrologers take the concept of reincarnation as a given and assume that the birth chart is a map of how your soul intends to "evolve" or aspire towards change in this lifetime. In this schema, Pluto represents both past tendencies ("karma") and the way to overcome them. Frequently, modern astrologers ascribe ancestral as well as individual karma to Pluto in the form of patterns or obstacles needing to be met and transcended.

In reading about the way mystery initiations handled the "horrors of Hades," I'm struck by the similarity between inauspicious spirits and the avenging dead and the planet Pluto's modern significations in the birth chart. Both gravely affect the average person's circumstances, success, and spiritual progress.

In both cases, remediation comes through transformation-- either of the karma/spirit itself and/or through a person performing a ritual or initiation. In the ancient world, you consulted an oracle, itinerant seer/spiritual worker, or took initiation into the mysteries. Each of these options involved ritually prescribed actions to transform the spirit/energy/curse. Now, in our modern world of western materialism/rationalism, there is no overarching ritual frame unless you happen to be a Christian (and there are varying degrees of ritual in modern Christianity). But there are quite a lot of psychological and transpersonal energy healing modalities in the marketplace-- you can see a practitioner for everything from reiki to an exorcism to mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapy.

The important thing in both the ancient and modern paradigms when working with Hades/Pluto is knowing that underworld journeys are a prerequisite for transformation. It seems that the "horrors of Hades" must be confronted skillfully and directly to make any progress toward freeing yourself from past trauma in the present.

In this way, the horrors of Hades can be overcome and a person can move towards greater wholeness.

Easier said than done!

Note: the ancient Greeks did not use the planet Pluto in their astrological calculations.