Is it time to ghost your ChatGPT boyfriend? Or finally admit your parasocial relationship with your AI therapist is interfering with your offline life? As seductive Pluto turns retrograde in Aquarius from 4 May to 13 October, distance from the digital realm might be the most luxurious gift you can give yourself.
Icy, faraway Pluto isn’t the loudest member of the solar system, but astrologically, it’s one of the most powerful. Like a cosmic psychologist and investigator all in one, Pluto operates on our unconscious realms. As the ruler of transformation, shadow work, and the cycles of death and rebirth, this dwarf planet helps us evolve by revealing all the things we buried away. Not exactly fun, but definitely impactful.
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Pluto only changes zodiac signs every 12 to 30 years, which means its movements are slow and generational. When it shifts, culture shifts. Pluto first teased its way into Aquarius in spring 2023—moving into a sign that rules technology, community, innovation, and revolution. Since then, life has become decidedly more sci-fi. And we’re only at the beginning; Pluto is on a solid tour through Aquarius from 19 November 2024 to 19 January 2044.
This retrograde isn’t unusual. Outer planets like Pluto shift into reverse every year for approximately five months. But this one is significant. It’s the first time Pluto’s full retrograde is happening in Aquarius in over two centuries. Pluto’s last full lap through the Water Bearer’s domain was from 1778 to 1798, a period that saw the United States carve out its independence, draft the U.S. Constitution, and attempt to define freedom on its own terms. Now, as Pluto returns to this futuristic, idealistic air sign, we’re in the middle of a new kind of revolution, one that’s unfolding in the digital realm as much as in IRL spaces.
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We’re not going to sugarcoat this: The early years of Pluto’s passage through a sign are often marked by tumult and massive change. Pluto is the ruler of mysterious Scorpio, and in mythological lore, it’s the shadowy god of the underworld who kidnapped young Persephone.
To wit, in 2008, at the same time Pluto moved into Capricorn — the sign that rules the economy, governments, and corporations — markets crashed. Banks and institutions needed government bailouts. Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme was discovered. On the plus side, the United States got its first Black president. Sweeping reforms and unexpected curveballs followed for the rest of Pluto’s time in Capricorn (until 19 November 2024)—from President Trump’s first win to the 6 January insurrection to the adoption of cryptocurrency.
The early years of Pluto transits can be fear-inducing, making life feel like a Black Mirror episode. So what can we do to stay centered? Everything might be moving at quantum speed, but Pluto retrograde offers a chance to pause and reassess the systems you’re plugged into. You don’t need to delete your apps or renounce your digital life entirely. But what does it look like to be both connected and protected? To be informed, but not consumed?
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And then there’s the question of community, which is Aquarius’s sacred domain. Are we participating in meaningful organizations or hiding in groupthink? This is the sign that governs humanitarian ideals, but also the tension between fitting in and standing apart. During this retrograde, we’re being asked to examine our resistance to being part of something bigger—as well as our willingness to get lost in the echo chamber instead of thinking for ourselves.
Go easy on yourself, please. With Pluto newly in Aquarius, we are definitely in uncharted territory here. The five-month retrograde is a chance to process all that’s happened since last November. Our hope as astrologers? That this shake-up will foment a response rooted in Aquarian ideals: freedom, equality, strength in community. At its best, Pluto is like a phoenix. It can burn away illusions and lift the veil, allowing us to transform systems that have been operating without integrity. This season can remind us that the future isn’t something we just inherit; it’s something we create, one truth at a time.
This article was first seen on ELLE US.