Mars at odds with Pluto will be the unwelcome spirit of the times until next April as Mars retrogrades and then advances across the zodiac from Pluto moving out of Capricorn into Aquarius. The first exact opposition is tomorrow, with another on January 3rd and finally April 27th 2025.
Understanding the nature of this most intractable opposition may offer clues about how best to negotiate the challenges ahead.
Mars Pluto operates in three arenas. Firstly in personal and event charts. Secondly in relationship dynamics. Thirdly out in the cosmos as a general trend affecting everyone.
The simplistic interpretation of Mars Pluto highlights force, brutality, fanatical and obsessive ambition, ruthlessness, excessive effort with resulting violence and calamities. The ultimate expression of power, with domination and submission being two sides of the same coin. The individual either becomes a bully, as a result of mirroring the behaviour of a dictatorial father, or remains a submissive and powerless victim, continually attracting Mars Pluto experiences and relationships from outside.
In extremis, Mars Pluto results in events like the savage and barbaric Hamas attack of October 2023 with targeted, hate-filled killings and rape, which occurred on a close Mars Pluto square.
Though it would have to be emphasized for most when these influences come around the prevailing sense is of being stuck, acutely frustrated and on occasion enraged about facing immoveable obstacles in the way of progress.
In relationships in a composite chart it is a supremely challenging dynamic to handle. There is such a strong power drive in the dominating partner (coercive control) that the other is forced to continually give away their autonomy and freedom of choice to allow the partnership to continue. Confrontation won’t work and could result in physical violence. There is a faint hope that the relationship could be creative rather than destructive if love is allowed to mellow the need for control. “Where love rules, there is no will to power, and where power predominates, there love is lacking. The one is the shadow of the other.” Carl Jung.
Robert Hand shines an illuminating light on Mars Pluto in relationships and elsewhere. He says Mars has to do with ego drives. Pluto is a more cosmic energy, bringing intense and fundamental transformation. ‘A cosmic power is subjected to purely personal and selfish drives.’ Buried in that profound thought is the reason why Mars Pluto can be so immensely destructive.
Driving Mars, the warrior, forward with its aggressive and competitive need to win is an almost supra-human Plutonic power. Although Pluto is essentially about transformation, it can resist change with extraordinary stubbornness in a bid to maintain control. So there is something almost mythic in the conflict and cooperation between the two – human and inhuman, man and the god of the underworld – anger and power combined.
Hand says in order to deal with the energy constructively, it is necessary to reverse the roles of Mars and Pluto so that the ego-drives are transformed by the cosmic power of Pluto. He says (hopefully) ‘You must let this relationship change and transform you without resistance.’ Though it does take two to tango so not too sure this would work in most individual Mars Pluto partnerships.
But again there is a glimmer of a solution to handling Mars Pluto in general – use the experience to become aware of where your Mars (ego-drive, assertive, competitive instincts, has to win) requires to transform.
The standard response to Mars Pluto aspects celestially is to feel blocked and frustrated with less chance of forward movement. Accepting that the Mars energy (anger) is backed up for good reason – in order for a new awareness to develop and necessary changes to take place – may make it easier to handle.
John Townley adds his thought from Composite Charts – Mars merging with the intractability of Pluto. Don’t fight it. That sounds defeatist but in a deeper sense may be what allows Pluto’s transformation to work its magic – if it is allowed to, which is a fairly large IF as below will indicate.
Recently I have been keeping a tally of Mars Pluto types in the news. Twitter X launched in 2006 on a Mars opposition Pluto, perhaps one reason why it has fostered an echo-chamber for hate-filled rants. Mike Amesbury, UK Labour MP involved in a much publicized physical brawl has a Mars square Pluto. Nicola Sturgeon’s 2014 elevation to the Scottish premiership (now on the skids) came on a Mars Pluto conjunction. Tommy Robinson, the far-right, anti-immigrant, ranting and raging activist, jailed for contempt of court, 27 November 1982, has his Mars square Pluto and Saturn. Richard Dawkins, with a new book out, a forceful exponent of his scientific viewpoint which allows little leeway for nuance or tolerance has a Mars opposition Pluto. The loopy Russell Brand with a Mars opposition Pluto as well, is involved in a village squall over his plans for a local pub. Angelina Jolie, ditto, is still ongoing in an endless divorce squabble with Brad Pitt.
The latest prime example of Mars Pluto’s inability to let go is Rebekah Vardy, a nonentity, who is fighting an eternal legal battle with a footballer’s wife over who leaked what to the press. Vardy, 17 February 1982, no birth time, has a ferociously difficult chart with a Mars, Saturn, Pluto conjunction in Libra trine an Aquarius Sun. She was abused as a child, abandoned by her mother and ended up homeless at 15, suicidal, with a brief early marriage, upgrading to a footballer and after a few years of spending his money moved, onto her present even wealthier footballer spouse.
She did have brutal experiences early on which toughened her up. Given the choice between becoming a doormat and letting life/anyone tramp over her, she refuses to give in and fights for the upper hand. Mars Pluto is known as do-or-die determined. For this temperament, the opposite of ‘do’ is annihilation. Accepting failure or submission would mean her personal autonomy was eradicated so she embarks on a desperate fight not only to regain control but at some fundamental level to show she exists. [See previous posts: Rebekah Vardy – a hard start in life left its mark, 30th July 2022; Rooney v Vardy – sound and fury signifying nothing, 11th May 2022.]
Letting go is the hardest thing for Mars Pluto types. Which may be understandable given what has moulded their defences but it does not make them easy to handle or necessarily likeable and often makes their actions self-destructive.
Where Mars Pluto excels is in coping with crises since it endows courage and its iron grip on control means panic is kept at bay in situations where everyone else is getting hysterical. It does give tremendous strength; and operating in the right context, usually where there is risk and emergency or calamities it does flourish. In an ordinary life not so much.
Anyways some rambling thoughts on a celestial companion over the next six months.
For women Mars Opp Pluto can manifest in their animus projection. Their husband father lover etc. my thesis for Centre of Psychological Astrology wa on this opposition in the charts of famous women authors such as The Brontes, Mary Shelley, and others who are famous for their dark, brutal animus figures. I have th Mars Pluto opp myself and have always attracted highly sexed, rageful, frustrated men though never been harmed by them. Like c harlotte Brontë, I find them deep and powerful and attractive! In my youth my mother was the powerful one who squashed my personality totally. I escaped into marriage but it took years to find myself.
Yes, I can relate. Stressful Mars/Pluto aspects can appear in the natal charts of abusers as well as the abused themselves – the bully as well as the bulled, the rapist as well as the victim. The energy can be overwhelming if one struggles to incorporate it into one’s being and women and girls have traditionally been discouraged from expressing the energy.
Interestingly, I was looking at the chart of Quentin Crisp the other day. Crisp was known for his flamboyant appearance and effeminacy and wrote often of the ‘great dark man’, a mythical figure of desire he felt was the answer to every gay man’s yearning. In his own words; …’who embodies everything “they wish they themselves were: young, frail, beautiful, and refined” Crisp had Mars in Scorpio sextile Uranus in Sagittarius. His Mars made an exact sesquiquadrate to Pluto in Gemini, making the interaction of those two planets highly tense. But ultimately he came to see: ‘There is no great dark man. Even under an exterior as rugged as a mountain range, there lurks the same wounded, wincing psyche that cripples the rest of us. Where we are led to think we will find strength, we shall discover force; where we hope for ruthlessness, we shall unearth spite; and when we think we are clinging desperately to a rock, it is falling upon us.’
This is the last of Pluto in Capricorn and in someway it seems fitting for Mars to be in opposition as the final struggle to hang onto the status quo, a status quo which may be as comforting as it is confining, before breaking with the knowable past and moving (or being kicked) into an unknowable future. AI and climate change, are just some of the huge transformations with unknown consequences. Climate change alone will bring about major transformations in populations as masses of people are forced to migrate and economies with foundations in fossil fuels collapse and new ones arise founded on different energy sources. AI is a whole other transformation with unknowable outcomes. And, another dimension to this is young people. As a 70 y/o, it seems to me that young people are very different in the way they think and see the world. Instead of the binaries of thinking that we older people have been locked into, good/bad, black/white, even male/female; young people seem to have evolved or are evolving into a more spectrum consciousness that transcends binary consciousness. I think this Mars-Pluto opposition is the final break before we move into the future.
Yes!!…. I totally agree!!!
Thanks Marjorie! Perhaps the personal manifestation of this opposition came just 2 days ago in the form of relatives (who have planets in Cancer, a sign where I have none) attempting to push their agenda on me (which usually translates to my having to sacrifice myself, in this case so they can profit from a future inheritance, very much a Plutonian matter), and they would have succeeded when I was much younger and thought that I needed to do everything because no one else would or could.
Nowadays, decades later, I’ve learned to let go (and also not to let such interactions upset me as much, conflicts not being my preference yet necessary to protect myself), and advise them to let it go as well. My natal Jupiter conjunct tr Pluto probably helps protect me from their plots and pressure.
Oh joy….The Mars/Pluto opposition will be messing with my Sun in scorpio by square at the same time as Uranus is Square to Natal Uranus and Saturn is messing with my Nodes…Why did I sign up for this 😉
btw Love the cartoon 🙂
Welcome to my world. Mars has been sitting opposite my Saturn and Jupiter for weeks now and the opposition to Pluto will move forward this month only to square my Scorpio natal Moon until April next year. Then I just have Pluto squaring my Moon to cope with. At such times I find think of that quote from Churchill: ‘When you’re going through hell, keep going.’
I have uranus, pluto and venus in 7th house virgo for sun leo. GMATTA
SuHu – you, the animals, trees, and vegetation, have my deepest empathy. I don’t know how much it does, but sending love & light. Hopefully, the creatures will survive as it seems like they can be adaptable….felled trees not so much. We all have a beginning and an end but then a beginning again (it is said — but I still feel sad).
Thank you Sharon. I really appreciate that and very much believe in the power of collective energy directed towards a given outcome. We will see it manifested in many different ways next week. Fear blocks, focus creates, IMO.
@SuHu, so sorry you are having to cope with this loss! I love your statement “ ear blocks, focus creates”. Wonder what Astro could represent your statement?
Is my new mantra addition, thank you <3
Oh, dear, that was supposed to state your quote…
“Fear blocks, focus creates”
I have been doing a seriously long relationship with Pluto transits and SA’s since 2005 when tr. Pluto crossed my Asc. In 2017 it was opp my Sun in Cancer in 7th then quickly followed by full on square my Mars in Aries… then a ridiculously long dance with squaring my S. node Aries-Moon / N. node Libra. Finally now… it has passed a wee bit.. getting ready to square my MC/IC. Now?… let’s throw in that opp. with Mars, eh? Add that SA Pluto is active, as is Pluto at 0 Aquarius in my solar chart (moving into the 8th.. oh lucky me!)
Knowing astrology has been HUGELY helpful in navigating this and getting the most out of it.. rather than have it DO me. Certainly things have happened… Crushing endings to long time friendships, the death of my Mother (a blessing), and numerous sparking conflicts in casual conversations with people. Just me being in the room or nearby seems to have been a trigger!!!
My solution is pretty much what Marjorie shared in the post above. To surrender to this process. To listen and allow and let go when possible. To wake up my awareness of ME. Lots of words there, however it’s not about words. I honestly feel like my molecules are transforming somehow.
THE one thing I have done and that I would suggest is to find something.. for me it has been martial Tai Chi…. the forms, the swords, the spears… the Power!!… find something that makes USE of that power and helps your body experience and integrate it. Could be horseback riding. Could be flamenco dancing! Bring that ego change into your physical body.
Find that and USE it.. commit to it… surrender that way. At least.. that has been my true touchstone these past years. Nothing light and fluffy…. grounded and powerful.
I have also not driven a car in about a year!…. With Pluto square my Mars in Aries.. I just felt like I was too close to an accident. So I’ve been full of care when out and about. Not tense and fearful.. just super aware of this huge energy working its way through me. I’ve spent a lot of time quietly at home, too…. reading about Mao Tse Tung….now reading about understanding the origins of religious terrorism. So also using that Pluto to deep dive into the Shadow of the collective.
All to open and understand……
Sandra Thanks. That makes a good deal of sense. Find a way to utilisethe energies without being crushed by them
Sorry for your long haul.
Is this about the opposition or about all the other major aspects between these two planets as well?
I think the opposition activates all the other major aspects. I hadn’t expected to be triggered like I have been. I am just wondering what the two follow ups will bring. Acceptance? Or more anger and frustration at not being heard?
Hard aspects.
I have Taurus Mars in out of sign trine Pluto in Leo in the 7th. I have a hard time letting go in relationships. Taurus is part of a fixed grand cross. When I finally cut them out of my life, everyone is surprised.
I have sun-mars-pluto conjunct in Leo (2nd/3rd) and have felt pretty powerless all my life. I make my life small enough so I can control what I can control. Having reached my 70th year I stupidly thought I had a handle on this now and would no longer become enraged by things I cannot control until this week that is, when again I find myself feeling pointless, powerless and irrelevant in trying to the get the local council not to clear the 30 year old coppice behind my house which is teeming with wildlife (squirrels, bats, owls, birds, a couple of hedgehogs, maartens, all animals that have migrated from barren monoculture farmland to suburban coppices where they can survive and even thrive). The council call it ‘maintenance’ (nothing done in the last 20 years), I call it wanton destruction. Mighty oaks that took 30 years to grow, dismantled and felled within 15 minutes. Undergrowth cleared to “improve biodiversity”. It breaks my heart. And indeed I am again enraged and feeling helpless as my mails and calls go unanswered. We’ll get back to you, they say. (When the job is complete, I bet). And the wildlife dead or dispersed. I heard the owl last night, probably for the last time, as they’ll be back on Monday to finish the job by the end of the week…
Is this in Britain?
Wherever it is, I am so sorry to hear about it. Reading your comment, I also feel despair and deep exasperation.
Wish I could help in some way.
If you are comfortable sharing the name of the council, I’d be happy to try to exert some pressure myself.
Kind of you to offer but no, it’s not in Britain but in the oh-so-no-longer liberal Netherlands. We used to have town hall meetings for this sort of thing so that citizens could have their say, but councils increasingly find ways to dodge that type of accountability. The measures were only announced by letter two weeks ago leaving no time to mount a coordinated response and indeed some neighbours think it’s about time, apparently unaware of what will be irretrivably lost.
On the subject of rage I did once ask a therapist why I was so often so angry and he responded that what he saw in me was not so much rage as frustration. Frustration that I couldn’t get others to see what I could see, whether that be bad decisions or loss of vital natural biodiversity. The Dutch do seem to be obsessed with over managing every centimetre of the land even though it has all been thoroughly tamed by now. Letting nature take its course is somehow not part of the culture with often disastrous results. Hence my frustration. I decided to live here so I suppose I just have to accept that this is the downside of an otherwise fairly civilised society. A bit like what happened in Sheffield really, the frustration being that we as humanity seem to be incapable of learning from one another’s mistakes.
My brother starts a new job next week. How should we interpret Mars-Pluto in the context of a new job? Nicola Sturgeon’s tenure as an approximate comparator does not exactly fill me with confidence.
Thanks for sharing this with us, Marjorie. I have a Pluto=Mars/Uranus natal midpoint which is happening off and on for the next year or so. It’s a bit intimidating to me, but I have survived now past 60 years old and have survived thus far.
I’ve found this past week physically unbearable as this opposition began to close and Mars dragging opposite my Sun at 27 Capricorn. An actual gut-wrenching feeling of doom and angst; my mother felt this too (she has Saturn at 27 Cancer).
Looking forward to it moving on from tomorrow, as the following pair of oppositions have a more benefic effect on my chart. Not looking forward to Mars dipping back into Cancer across this point next year, but thankful Pluto’s grasp on Capricorn will have finally moved away by then.
Hi @JB,
Sorry for the difficult times you express… in addition to Marjorie’s wonderfully informative site, I follow JBuss (Jim) who also has an exceptional website devoted to teaching astrology in “real-time” (just like Marjorie <3)
I interpret his theory of transit planet moving first direct (then retro and finally direct, again) over a point in the chart as a “can-opener” ( the first time being the most challenging…)
I try to see it as a lovely learning / growth opportunity, albeit with a a significant impact …
I love Jim’s analogies and naming (as I do Marjorie’s), it is a very rich site. Hopefully this is helpful information. Take care amd for your mum as well <3
A few excerpts…
“Initiations are often “Can-Openers” that can Shock us by Opening a New “Can of Worms” that we may not have Felt coming, especially if we weren’t Paying Attention to impending astroevents. If we are Paying Attention, we can often Identify the Energy of the New Cycle as the Initiation approaches, reducing our Surprise or Shock.
Subsequent Conjunctions in the “set” are considered “Expositions” because each one Exposes more about the New Cycle. The final Conjunction of the set is considered a “Confidence-Builder” because by then we Recognize the Energy as it’s Intensifying, and we know we’re Prepared for it.
The best way to Prepare for impending Can-Openers, is to look back over your Experiences with previous Can-Openers of Cycles of the same two planets. When a Transiting (in the Sky now) planet crosses one of your Natal planets, the Can-Opener/Exposition/Confidence-Builder sequence also applies, and again, reviewing previous occurrences of the same Transits are your most effective Homework.”
‘https://astrobuss.wordpress.com/category/astologuese/can-opener/‘
Can-Openers and Expositions
“ Astroevents often Repeat, as planets turn Retrograde (Backwards), as most do once a year.
* In a repeating series of Challenging astroevents, we refer to the first one as the Can-Opener, as it often sneaks up on us and opens a Can of Worms for us – it Triggers a Held Emotion or other Difficult Challenge.
* Every Initiation is a Can-Opener. Many of us remember, not very fondly, the Gonggong-Saturn Initiation, or Gonggong-Saturn Can-Opener, of 4 May 2023.
* A Can-Opener is an Announcement – the Cosmos is Announcing, Now We’re Going to Work on This Here Held Emotion (or other Challenge). For me the Challenge was to Become Conscious that I was Stuck in an Ancient Habit of Thinking about a Complex Web of Interconnecting Thoughts that Justify my Negative Self-Worth. With my natal Gonggong Conjunct my South Node, that shouldn’t have been a Surprise. I’m still there, but I’m Beginning to Notice – Oh, there’s Negative Thinking Again!”
‘https://astrobuss.wordpress.com/2023/06/30/can-openers-and-expositions/‘
Was meant to say I love his interpretation of “transit planet moving first direct…”
I have the sextile only Mars is conjunct Neptune. It gives you grit. I honestly wouldn’t be without it since it has enabled me to keep going during difficult times.
Same as me, totally agree with you re: giving us strength and not giving up!
I had a very bad relationship with a woman who had her mars widely opposite pluto (and therefore opposite mine too). Any time there was an argument – she went straight to the nuclear option. I would try to placate her and come up with solutions that were win-win; but it always had to be her way or no way. Eventually I broke it up and she continued to be a pain for the next five years or so – as sometimes contact was unavoidable.