The Neptune Pluto in Gemini conjunction of the late 19th Century spawned the brutal megalomaniacs who wreaked destruction in the 20th century – most notably Hitler and Mao Tse Tung, with Stalin being born earlier with Neptune and Pluto in Taurus. But Neptune Pluto also has a supernatural streak, a yearning for and a connection to a parallel universe of unseen forces and information. Control-freak dictators and practitioners of magic are more interconnected than you might imagine, since both are concerned with manipulating extra-human power. White magic for good; and black magic and ruthless leaders for personal ambition and revenge.
Hitler had Neptune Pluto conjunct in his 8th house which gave him the ability to tune into the masses and wield power from behind the scenes, drawing on his training from occultists, black magicians and others. Iconic film stars often have Pluto or Neptune in the 8th and for certain individuals it does appear to allow them to project a powerful image out to society, most often unconsciously. Hitler appears to have tripped by accident into the occult just before WW1 when his Solar Arc Sun was just moving into his 8th house, pushing him deeper into beyond-reality realms, crossing the conjunction to his Neptune Pluto during the war. He was apparently treated with psychotropic drugs in 1918 after an episode of blindness which was deemed psychosomatic after the Battle of the Somme. And he did dabble in hallucinogenics which resulted in visions of power, which sent him into politics in the 1920s.
Dion Fortune, the ‘white witch’ who organised rituals in WW11 to protect the UK, was born 6 Dec 1890 with a rectified birth time of 2.11am Llandudno, Wales, which puts her Neptune Pluto conjunction in the 9th but it could as easily be late 8th. It opposed her Sun Venus in Sagittarius and squared onto Saturn in Virgo so was very strong in her chart. She studied psychoanalysis, then moved towards theosophy and mediumship in which she connected to ‘Advanced Masters’ on the other side. She died in January 1946 aged 56 just as the war ended of leukaemia.
Churchill also had Neptune (in Aries) and Pluto (in Taurus) in his 8th though not conjunct. Aleister Crowley, whom Dion Fortune met several times, had Neptune and Pluto in Taurus in his 10th. He was a bit of a thug with his Pluto square Saturn in Aquarius opposition Uranus and trine Mars in Capricorn. Dennis Wheatley, the novelist, also tied into esoteric circles, had Neptune Pluto Mars in Gemini in his 10th. He had an 8th house Moon, as did Mao and Stalin. So the 8th house of transformation, death and rebirth, which is the most potent of the occult houses, is a recurring theme. The founder of Theosophical Society, Helena Blavatsky, born in 1831 had Jupiter Uranus in the 8th and a 10th house Pluto.
There was an upsurge of interest in esoteric matters throughout the Neptune Pluto conjunction in the late 19th Century and those born under it were drawn to spiritualism in the dreadful aftermath of World War 1 to connect with lost loved ones.