Working with Pluto Retrograde & Pluto Retrograde Tarot Spread

Pluto Retrograde Dates:

In 2021, Pluto will be retrograde on April 27 to October 6 – 26° to 24° Capricorn.

In 2022, Pluto will be retrograde on April 29 to October 8 – 28° to 26° Capricorn.

More about Pluto retrograde at Astrology King.

Pluto retrograde is a time to destroy, dismantle and let go of controlling things that hinder our physical and spiritual growth.

Although Pluto retrograde normally doesn’t have a large impact on individuals as the personal planetary retrogrades have (i.e. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn), Pluto can still affect us on a wider scale.

Pluto retrograde may be more acutely felt personally if the retrograde makes a significant aspect to a planet in your natal astrological chart.

The best way to find out how Pluto retrograde may influence you is to see where Pluto will retrograde in your natal chart.

To get a basic chart and find the aspects in your natal chart, check out Astrodienst to compose your free astrological natal chart – be sure to click “Natal Chart and Transits” to find where Pluto is transiting in relation to your natal chart.

To understand transit Pluto’s influences (when not retrograde) in the houses, be sure to read Transit Pluto by The Dark Pixie (also includes Pluto aspects.)

What does Pluto Retrograde mean?

When Pluto retrogrades, it’s a time for us to reassess how we view power, control and figuring out what we need to let go.

Generally, a retrograde is when the planet is viewed as going “backwards” so for many retrogrades, this is a time to slow down, review, go over things again, reassess, re-analyze, repeat steps, go through processes.

Most often this involves things that we thought we had finished and were done with, but we end up having to do them over again and make sure to get it right the next time.

Pluto (whether retrograde or not) has a tendency remove people, things, jobs or relationships from our life – often it’s for our own good, but we may not realise it at the time.

When Pluto is in retrograde, we have to have a look at what we are trying to control and who is trying to control us; who has all the power and who doesn’t have the power.

While Pluto works on a larger scale in terms of generations, society and the masses, we can use the energy of Pluto to explore our relationship and connection to the themes of Pluto.

These themes are represented in our shadow self, the hidden undercurrents of events – everything that we often don’t want to admit, face or acknowledge.

Pluto retrograde gives us an opportunity to change any negative or destructive behaviours that hinder us from being physically or spiritually fulfilled.

Pluto is destructive, often leaving us to pick up the pieces afterwards – but we become more resilient because of it.

During this time, we may feel a need to transform ourselves, but going through this transitional period, detox or therapy may be a grueling process and may end up feeling like “going to hell and back.”

Yet, during these moments of going to the depths of the psyche and the dark corners of the mind, we witness ourselves and our shadow, forced to face what we have been hiding all the years – only after going down can we come back up again.

Plouton / Hades, the God of the Underworld

In Greek mythology, Hades is known as the god of the Underworld who is married to Persephone.

Hekate is also closely associated with both Hades and Persephone, most notably in the story of Demeter and her search for Persephone.

While in Roman mythology, Hades is connected with Pluto (which the planet is named after), he is also euphemistically known as Plouton (Pluton) in Greek mythology which means “the Wealthy One” or “the Giver of Wealth”.)

Working with the energy of Pluto in spiritual work and wanting can help you to understand how the planet affects and influences who you are.

You can choose to connect and work with Pluto / Hades / Plouton to better understand these themes and go deeper into shadow work.

“Your throne rests on a dark realm,
the realm of distant
of untiring,
of windless and
of impassive Hades;
it does not rest on gloomy Acheron,
the river who girds the roots of the earth.”
– “To Plouton”, The Orphic Hymns: Translation, Introduction, and Notes by Apostolos N. Athanassakis and Benjamin M. Wolkow

A note while working or connecting with Plouton / Hades / Pluto:

If you find that your shadow work, meditation, communication becomes too deep, intense or dark while working with Pluto, call upon the goddesses Persephone and/or Hekate.

Persephone and Hekate can help bring you back to the surface again as they are able to be between the worlds (above and below.)

Read here to know more about working with goddesses of witchcraft, the underworld and death.