{"id":6613,"date":"2011-01-18T09:00:37","date_gmt":"2011-01-18T09:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sasstrology.com\/?p=22307"},"modified":"2011-01-26T00:30:39","modified_gmt":"2011-01-26T00:30:39","slug":"pluto-relations-in-synastry-part-1-of-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/astrologyblogger.com\/?p=6613","title":{"rendered":"Pluto Relations in Synastry: Part 1 of 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PlutoThe following guest post is by Dawn Bodrogi<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

All of the outer planets misbehave in synastry. Even the best of contacts give us something to struggle with, though the positive shows itself more readily with the easier aspects. Any outer planet contact is at its worst when we\u2019re taken by surprise. When we\u2019re older and have risen up from the metaphorical ashes a few times, we learn what we\u2019re up against. If we\u2019re taken in our innocence, the experiences of the outer planets can be life-altering. They\u2019re meant to be. It\u2019s difficult enough if we have major outer planet contacts within our natal chart, but when the contacts come from outside, via synastry, they can shock, stun and paralyze us, because we never see them coming. The experience comes to us via another, because we are blind to that dynamic within ourselves.<\/p>\n

Pluto<\/a> has a dangerous reputation in synastry. He\u2019s the guy in the room who causes everyone to back away a little. It\u2019s well-deserved. With Pluto comes jealousy, obsession, compulsion, fearsome desire, terror, rage—a fight to the death, to the last gasp. In its more self-destructive phase, it can be a wish for death. With Pluto can come the experience, and hopefully an understanding, of the deepest, darkest desires of human nature: the impulse to destroy, to break taboos, to experience the forbidden. But Pluto is also about the impulse to cleanse, the impulse to heal. Pluto strips away the crust, the rot, the poison that is preventing us from experiencing our own spiritual wholeness. He doesn\u2019t ask our permission or compliance. Pluto will get what it wants, by any means necessary—we only go along for the ride. When Pluto contacts another\u2019s planet, it is to discover these dynamics within itself.<\/p>\n

The Martian side of Pluto, in his role as the higher octave of Mars<\/a>, is the one most visible in synastry. Pluto, in relationship mode, sets out to satisfy desire. No matter the planet it contacts, Pluto desires to be reborn through a deep psycho-sexual exchange with another human being. Pluto can go after whatever it needs to this end with a frightening intensity. There is a vast difference, though, between the way Mars and Pluto operate. Mars simply satisfies desire.<\/strong> In comparison to Pluto, Mars is rather mindless—it sees something it wants and it goes for it. On the other hand, Pluto has an agenda, a purpose, which is ultimately soul-oriented. Pluto wants to test our limits, to strip us down to the essence.<\/strong> Mars is direct. Pluto is not. There is an attraction\/repulsion dynamic to Pluto that is interesting to observe, particularly in synastry. Pluto is torn between the known and the unknown; it senses that the unknown offers a kind of death, and is not fool enough to embrace it wholeheartedly, even though it knows that particular death is necessary. Pluto will do this \u2018dance of death\u2019 until desire inevitably wins out (it is<\/em> Martian, after all). Then Pluto will hang on until its mission is accomplished, no matter the suffering. Life may be divided into \u2018before\u2019 and \u2018after\u2019 this Pluto contact. We are still ourselves, but we are not the same.<\/p>\n

Transformation is Pluto\u2019s ultimate goal.<\/strong> Whatever the aspects, Pluto strips away the ineffective coping mechanisms and false confidences of any planet it touches. Pluto will explore that planet\u2019s depths and seek out what isn\u2019t working. Pluto doesn\u2019t involve the willing seduction and surrender that Neptune<\/a> implies. With Pluto, the attraction is hypnotic, and very often feels unavoidable. The old Self, with all of its imperfect coping mechanisms, struggles to stay alive. Usually, the old Self loses. (Or it runs away, living to fight Pluto another day.) Relationships with heavy Pluto contacts have a Nietzschean tinge: that which does not kill me makes me stronger.<\/p>\n

It would be nice if we could say that all these Pluto contacts were for the best, but that would be like putting a Good Housekeeping<\/em> seal of approval on an earthquake. It\u2019s good to rebuild, but the method or means or timing can be in question, and it doesn\u2019t always have to be from the ground up. Pluto has the task of stripping away any psychological dross that no longer works for us<\/strong>, or affirms what has been shakily established. But Pluto, too, has to learn its limits. The best of Pluto goes forward with awareness. The worst of Pluto doesn\u2019t know the difference between pruning dead branches and uprooting the entire tree. He can be a healer, allowing new growth, or he can be a thug, leaving us lying battered in the street.<\/p>\n

Next Week: Pluto and the Inner Planets<\/i><\/p>\n

This post has been republished by permission of the author and appeared in its original form at The Inner Wheel<\/a>.<\/small><\/p>\n

About the Author<\/h3>\n

\"DawnDawn Bodrogi<\/b> has studied astrology since the age of twelve, and has been a practicing astrologer for over twenty years with a special emphasis on synastry. Her studies in Jungian psychology, alchemy, and Buddhist philosophy inform her work. Her upcoming book, The Inner Wheel<\/em>, takes a new look at interpreting secondary progressions. You can see more of Dawn’s work at her blog, The Inner Wheel: Living with Astrology<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Related posts:<\/b><\/p>\n