Pluto - To Be or Not To Be a Planet?

Pluto - to be or not be be a ruler, and should Uranus benext?

Today our solar system has gone from nine planets to eight. The IAU has downgraded Pluto from the big planetary club to a dwarf planet, (at least for now). Many astrologers will be dismayed and upset. They'll say, even if it is such a tiny little thing, it packs such a powerful punch, how can they do that? The vote may not be the last word, and may lead to a fight among astronomers around the world. Fights are not foreign to astrologers. We’ve been arguing about definitions and classifications for a long time.

It's ironic that Michael Brown, the discoverer of UB313 which was up for planetary status, said that "Pluto is dead", how apropos. For those of you just learning astrology, Pluto is associated with death. This proves that the legends of planets live on, no matter what we do to them.

Because Pluto is now labeled a dwarf does this mean it will be less powerful? Or does this mean it will truly come into its own? We have seen the power of Pluto over the years. When it passes by, it leaves nothing the same.

One of the big squabbles in astrology is over what is called rulership and domain. Shortly after Pluto was discovered in 1930, several astrologers wanted to modernize astrology by changing the system of rulership. They weren't satisfied with the way ancient astrologers mapped out the system of rulership. Now with the demotion of Pluto, its co-rulership is no longer valid. However, take heart, even if Pluto is no longer a ruler, it will still be active in any astrology chart.

As I jokingly said to a Scorpio last night, if Pluto is downgraded, you won't have to be manipulative and intense, instead you can be full of martian assertion and energy. She knew what I meant, just smiled with relief and said, "thank you." People love to dump the manipulative tag on Scorpios. We should remember that Scorpio first got its association with intensity and transformation from its connection with the eighth house, not Pluto.

We need to meditate on, and ponder, the meaning of rulership. Maybe we need to redefine our guidelines just as the astronomers have done. We must think about why the ancients used rulership. Put yourself in their shoes, their culture, and their time. They were working with a known visible world, and applied planetary rulership to signs, which they then drew on a map signifying their three dimensional world. Do we need outer planets to describe the known physical world, or are they trying to lead us beyond it? Do they want to be rulers for just one sign? Does Uranus want to be stuck with Aquarius?

We need to honestly look at the co-rulership of Uranus. Should a rebellious, planet causing sudden, unexpected, events, rule Aquarius, a fixed sign? If the new age of Aquarius is one of peace and brotherhood, do we want to think of the planet of rebellion as the ruler of the Aquarian Age? Often whenI discuss rulership with an Aquarian astrologer, I find they're very fixed and stubborn about the Uranian rulership. They don't want to give it up. They want to be thought of as rebellious, independent and different, not stodgy and boring like Saturn.

Uranus certainly has a mind of its own. Uranus is the only planet that has three pronunciations.

Ur-Ahn-Us which sounds like I should bow down to the queen.
Urin-Us which sounds like a bathroom.
U-Rain-Us which sounds like I need my umbrella, or maybe I'm looking at the Moon.

Astrologers are very protective, or even uppity about how they pronounce Uranus. Have you ever noticed when you pronounce it your way, someone immediately chimes in with his or her way? Leave it to Uranus to create havoc with just a word.

The demotion of Pluto will be food for discussion for many days, weeks, months, and maybe years.

Go to the links listed on this site to find more discussions. The astrolgers on these sites have been posting some good articles. Phil Brown at Astrofuture has quite a few, as well as Lynn Hayes at Astrological Musings.