History of Pluto in Aquarius: 1,000 Years in Analysis (Full Length Article)
- Alexandra
- Jan 27
- 38 min read
Updated: Jun 26
Between 2023 and 2044, Pluto – the planet of death and transformation – journeys through the sign of social change and radical revolutions, inventions, and reinventions, Aquarius.
This article is the original text I wrote about the history of Pluto in Aquarius back in 2022 which never saw the light of day. Back then, I had the plan to analyze the past 3 times that Pluto was in Aquarius (13th-14th century, 16th century, and 18th century) and get a comprehensive picture of how this major, extremely significant astrological event impacted us in the past, which then shows the patterns we can see for the future (and by now, present moment). I also added the fourth timeframe of Pluto in Aquarius in the 11th century to my research after further consideration of the timeframes I would need to use for a comprehensive point of view. Upon the foundation of my historical analysis, I then wrote further articles of analyses and predictions for life from 2023 to 2044. Originally, I only published a short version of this article and the other pieces that built on this research.
Writing this piece was incredibly rewarding, especially as this was my first crack at writing/publishing something about astrological events as they were happening in real time. What I also learned through this historical exploration was that there were indeed major historical patterns that could show us quite well what to expect from the future, though we’d of course meet the repetition of history within a whole new context – same theme, different expression, so to speak.
So, why did I only end up publishing a way simplified, shorter version of this article? In summary, it was way too long. With all I’d wanted to do, I ended up having about about 20 pages spread out over 3 documents in Word. And I wasn't even done.
Despite the practicality of a shorter article, making this decision never sat quite right with me because I loved the original, and because even speaking on a panel about Pluto in Aquarius November 2024 didn’t give me enough of a chance to bring all the information in my head to the world at large. But I didn’t want to post anything too long that no one would read, so I stuck with my original choice.
… but then, I was approached by someone who did want to read the entire breakdown of history, so I decided to go ahead and actually publish this long work reaching back to Summer of 2022.
So, this is why this article exists. I hope someone here other than me will enjoy this.
Shortcuts:
Let’s dive in.
What is Pluto in Aquarius?
Pluto is the planet of transformation, death, birth, rebirth, and power. It shows us the shadow side of whatever it touches. It also puts an end to outdated things, but in a way that’s usually harder to deal with than we want it to be: the ending is earned rather than a gentle walk into the night. Where Pluto journeys, we (as a society) encounter abrupt endings and the fight for lit. or metaphorical survival (for example, survival of power structures). It also tends to extremize us since it concentrates, radicalizes, and then expels energy and power: kind of like how a vacuum would suck particles in and then destroys them.
Aquarius is the sign of mental constructs, progress, ideals, liberation, and revolutions. It seeks freedom, especially freedom of ideas and speech, and freedom from oppressive forces. It brings rebellion against restriction, especially mental restriction or restriction of an individual's choice. If one person is on top of the ladder and misuses the power, Aquarius brings that person down: often through the avenue of many people coming together to work towards the same goal. It’s also the sign of outcasts and those unique individuals who are radically different from others. But more importantly, Aquarius deals with the future. It seeks something that hasn’t been there before – or hasn’t been there for a long time, sometimes for millennia. Aquarius deals with progress: technology, science, and social change are part of its domain, as are education, mass education, and belief systems (or ideologies) of any kind: the more theoretical and logically explicable, the better.
This is the sign where belief systems, once established through logic and questioning, can become elevated to a more fanatic worldview that may be defended or spread with little thought to its consequences. Groups and social structures/endeavors are also part of this sign: power distributed equally in groups, a betterment for large groups of people or humanity at large, and a focus on humanitarian belief systems are all themes of Aquarius (and Pluto therein). What is interesting here is that Aquarius doesn’t necessarily make us like people: when Aquarius is highlighted astrology, we often see humanity as a nice concept that's worthy of flowery words and complex hypotheses, but only as long as interactions with actual humans are minimal. Aquarius, in its shadow, is liking the idea of humanity... but only as long as actual humans are removed from the equation.
This sign's seemingly paradoxical topic of individuality AND groups of people en masse means that it symbolizes themes regarding outcasts and people who break away from groups, innovators coming to change society at large, and groups/alliances in which the genius or strength of the individual has a place - and betters the entire whole. Do not conflate Aquarius's focus on groups with a desire to fit in, or the theme of "mainstream." Aquarius is the opposite.
So: how do Aquarius and Pluto interact with one another?
To answer this question, we’ll first look at the cycles of Pluto in Aquarius throughout the last millennium (a.k.a. 1000 A.D. onward). As Pluto needs 248 years to return to a sign and stays in Aquarius for 21-22 years each time, there are only 4 timeframes to look at: 1041-1063 (great separation of powers),
1286-1308 (birth of many global superpowers, ending of a cycle),
1532-1553 (rise of religious wars and the inquisition, ongoing colonialism),
and 1777-1798 (American Revolutionary War, French Revolution, Terreur, genocide on Native Americans, and more.)
Obviously, the timeframe after that is 2023-2044, which is not subject of this article.
After we talked about the last 4 timeframes we lived fully already, we’ll analyze the common themes and draw conclusions for life today. Let's start with the chronological order.
The Last 1,000 Years of Pluto in Aquarius
Note: In the following article, you’ll see multiple analyses of events that had major components of church politics – specifically of the Christian churches. The reason for that is this: in the past millennium, especially the selected timeframes from the 11th-16th century, the church played a very different role in the Western world than it does today. Today, in most parts of the West, religion is a choice, and church affiliation is not only optional, but has little implications for you outside of your spiritual life.
But back then, religion was mandatory (and having the wrong faith/wrong way of believing/wrong church could get you in serious trouble, including getting you involved in wars, keeping you from taking the crown, prohibiting you from getting married, or even putting your life in danger). The diverse churches themselves held political power and had a certain amount of control over different countries’ rulers and even had geographical boundaries for their spheres of influence. And this isn’t even counting the massive role that religion and religious institutions had in everyday life for everyone.
As religion played a major role in every aspect of everyday life and politics alike, something that affected the church or faith in, f.e. the 11th century, was felt in all areas of life: personal, social, political, international. The church had a flow-on effect on the social and political events vice versa. Besides (and interestingly), a lot of the historic events from the timeframes in question that still impact present-day life for us right now have actually come from major upheavals in/of the Christian churches, so I can’t not cover them in this article.
Besides: especially for the 11th century timeframes, there aren’t many historical sources outside of European/church history that are well preserved (or translated into a modern language I understand), so getting information on what happened in a very specific timeframe of ca. 21 years is a lot more difficult.
However, I’m not just focusing on Christian or Eurocentric history. You’ll find events from all sorts of countries and cultures in this article as well as breakdowns on why they mattered (and in some cases, still matter). I also included multiple events per time frame and tried to explain as many as feasible in a (still relatively short, given the subject matter) article.
With all of this out of the way... let's jump in.
1041-1063: Separation and Ripple Effects.
We’ll start with the first pass of Pluto in Aquarius through the 2nd Millennium A.D., a.k.a. 1041-1063 A.D. Part of this timeframe overlaps with Neptune in Aries 1042-57. To read about that, click here.
Two of the most interesting developments of this time frame take us to Europe and its Christian history – we’ll start with the (Great) East-West Schism.
In summary, there are three major Christian factions of the church that have seemingly slight but in actuality profound differences in theology (f.e. about the Holy Spirit) and thus, practices of worship: the Catholic Church, the Protestant Church, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Protestantism only came about in the 16th century, so during the 11th century, we're down to two: (Roman) Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Before the events during this timeframe, they were one under the leadership: the pope in Rome. Despite the fact that they were one church, they'd already been at odds for centuries already.
Catholicism’s center of power was (at the time, as it is today) the city of Rome… but in the 11th century, Rome wasn’t the only center of Christian belief and power. There was a rivaling city, Constantinople (today's Istanbul) in which the differences in theology and worship overweighed: and it also happened to be the capital of a major world power called the Byzantine Empire.
Because of the Byzantine Empire's power (and thus, Constantinople's power), the head of the Church of Constantinople was only technically under the pope in hierarchy. Given a mix of geographical distance (it takes a long time for messengers to get from Rome to today's Istanbul), the power of the countries Rome and Constantinople were affiliated with (which always brings political implications), and those insurmountable religious differences, the Church of Constantinople tried to assert its own power in its own ways... and during this timeframe, this led to the church splitting in the (Great) East-West Schism.
In 1053 A.D., the Patriarch (read: local religious leader within Christianity, though technically under papal authority at the time) of Constantinople closed all Roman Catholic churches in the city. Pope Leo IX attempted negotiations with Constantinople, centering the argument around the religious legitimacy of Rome’s pope over all of Christianity: the result? Patriarch Michael I Cerularius excommunicated* Pope Leo IX and broke his church from the rest of the Catholic churches in the following year. He then convinced several patriarchs close by to break with Rome as well and essentially set up a rival papacy.
*Excommunication: expelling someone from the church and removing them from church-based positions of authority while prohibiting them from seeking church services such as (at the time) funerals, marriage ceremonies, eucharists, etc. Can only be done by religious authorities.
By the way, the Patriarch's excommunication of Pope Leo IX came too late given that he had already passed away, but the news of his death hadn’t reached Constantinople yet. The excommunication was only taken back by what had now become the Eastern Orthodox Church in 1965.
So, the church that used to be one split into two.
The political world at the time reflected the change: as rulers at the time, especially in Europe, claimed that their position of rulership came via divine appointment, the Church had a foothold (and sometimes much more than a foothold) in politics. They could decide a ruler’s legitimacy… and they could take it away again (f.e. via excommunicating the ruler!) Throughout the millennia, the church(es) used that foothold to push for advantages either for the people (social change), or their own power. With two churches connected to two major political powers, the European world split in two: some powers decided to orient toward the East, and some powers stayed with Rome. This led to a political schism of countries that had, theoretically and often practically, common goals based on their shared religion… but now were part of a rivalry.
This split of the church had large-scale implications that rippled throughout history – for instance, the crusades waged by Roman Catholic Christians against/inside the Byzantine Empire wouldn’t have happened had the Eastern Orthodox Church remained under Rome’s authority. The rivalry between the Byzantine Empire and several European Roman Catholic-aligned world powers would have also not been as big (and this played out for centuries upon centuries). Even today, tensions between the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches remain.
So, that's one major event of this timeframe.
However, we see a second major shift in political and social nature originating from the Christian church, here the Roman Catholic version of it: and this shift is actually the one that shapes our Western world today, at least culturally.
Let’s start with the aforementioned posthumously ex-communicated Pope Leo IX: he started his papacy by refusing the authorization of the elites that elected him into the papacy, unless both the common folk and low-level clergy in Rome elected him as well (which is very Aquarian and highly unusual at the time, as this was neither necessary nor something that would bring him an obvious political benefit). He was a revolutionary to boot and started a movement that demanded that the clergy, from the high-ranking popes and patriarchs to the low-ranking village priests, held themselves in a manner that reflected their beliefs. He also pushed for the clergy's education... and a more specialized training for skillsets that the common folk wouldn't have access to.
At the time, the church had a tiny problem with the proverbial Bob and Barbra down the street thinking they held just as much authority on matters of the faith as their local priest or bishop. Depending on the region, the common folk in Europe were pretty convinced that their faith did not require a church’s authority or participation. So the church's influence on them was effectively zero. And their reason? The common folk didn't believe that the church had any right to lead people, given that they didn't walk their own talk. If the priest is just as human as everyone else and made just as many mistakes, why would anyone need to listen to them? Obviously, this was a major issue for the church. Part one of the solution? A more disciplined clergy.
Pope Leo IX established stronger rules and consequences around priestly (mis)behavior and called for more behavior/a higher standard to do with piety. Simony was also punished much more strongly because of him.
Simony: the act of buying sacraments such as baptisms and church positions such as the papacy. This was always considered a BIG crime, but the consequences varied throughout the ages. Pope Leo IX put his foot down in ways still felt today.
One theme that's still highly contended today is enforced celibacy. The policy of priesthood celibacy wasn't born from a view that marriage (or certain activities associated with marriage at the time) was inherently bad. Rather, the priest was meant to focus on the parish. Anything that would consistently pull his (as all priests at the time were male, female priests only came through Protestantism some 500 years later) attention away from the parish needed to be eliminated, and marriage/extra-marital relations were the biggest threat. Thus celibacy at the time fulfilled a purpose (and made inheritance more church-centered... but that's a different topic.) This movement, later dubbed the Gregorian reforms as it was made officially binding under Pope Gregory VII under Pluto in Pisces, started here – under an experiment of Pope Leo IX under Pluto in Aquarius. Today, the way we understand the roles and responsibilities of leaders of thought/faith (regardless of affiliation to a specific religion etc.) and the standard we have for religious leaders and leaders of thought, is due to the social change that was pushed during this timeframe.
Obviously, the clergy's position as role models for the rest of the population led to an imperfect flowon effect. However, the much bigger result for history as a whole was the reason and plan behind the changes. And that was the desire to consolidate the church's power through creating a separation between the “lay people of the faith” and the church-appointed clergy.
Remember the fact that the common folk thought they didn't need the church anymore - because the priests were like everyone else? To reclaim/consolidate the church’s power, the Catholic church decided to separate their officials from the “normal believers” not only by imposing stricter rules than anyone else had (thereby allowing the clergy to appear more holy), but also through a specialized education that included things like law, mathematics, etc. Not obviously connected to the faith, these skillsets helped priests appear smarter and made them more knowledgable and better able to be in leadership positions... and allowed them to better meddle with the secular sectors for church benefits as well, such as by influencing legislature. A.k.a.: the church set itself up for even more wide-spread future worldly power.
And this development (though unintended at the time), laid the groundwork for the future Inquisition and Christian-centered crusades: the practice of the clergy policing normal believers led to a change of focus from "fighting the enemy to Christianity" in the crusades to “fighting the enemy from within” (f.e. in the 4th crusade and in future passes of Pluto in Aquarius.
Both the church’s work against so-called heresies and their fight against “enemies from within,” and even the Inquisition would build on this development of forcibly separating the clergy from the laypeople.
Other developments
Beyond that, the time frame of 1041-1063 saw a lot of (Christian) figures that were of high religious-political importance, such as Edward the Confessor (King of England).
However, Europe – and Christianity – weren’t the only ones affected by this time frame. In the Middle East, Seljuk Turks captured Baghdad once again and solidified the Abbasid Caliphate, which gave them more power in the Islamic world. The Zirid Dynasty (in today’s Algeria) rejected Shi’ite obedience and Fatimid domination and recognized the authority of the Abbasid Caliphate over them (who are Sunnite). A.k.a., Christianity wasn't the only religion that led to political shifts of power that impacted daily life for others.
Other significant events during this time frame were the end of the Viking age, which was the time of Viking raids, Viking trade expansion, conquest, and exploration of Europe and even North America. This period of time lasted from ca. 800 to 1050 A.D., and I’m sure specifically the English were very happy to see it end (as it meant they stopped being harassed by marauding Vikings, to put it mildly).
The first movable type was invented in China under the Song dynasty – this is the first technology that uses movable components (such as numbers, punctuation marks, etc.) to print something, which means you could use the same basic tools to print a range of different texts when that wasn’t possible before. The first money was printed as well under this dynasty as well.
By the end of this timeframe, William the Conqueror started his first expedition and prepared for the Battle of Hastings. This time frame saw the historic figure Macbeth as King of Scotland (who would eventually be unflatteringly immortalized by William Shakespeare).
All of these things (though seemingly disconnected) form a pattern with future timeframes of Pluto in Aquarius. So, let's continue.
1286-1308: The Rise and Fall of Giants.
This window in time saw some big changes in the world when it comes to the political sphere.
We start with the foundation of the Ottoman Empire (which would last until after World War I in the 20th century and was one of the major key players in worldwide history). In this time frame, the Ottoman Empire would also win major battles against the Byzantine Empire and expand further: in summary, one major world-wide key player is getting exchanged by another in power.
But there's another world-wide key player we need to talk about: the Mongol Empire, also known as the largest contiguous land empire in all of history – ever. Most people don’t know this, but the Mongol Empire used to be so big that it basically spanned from the Pacific Ocean to the Persian Gulf. It’s said that every fourth Eastern European alive today has a Mongol in their ancestry.
During the timeframe of 1286-1308, the Mongol Empire saw a shift from decades of civil war between the different khanates to accepting nominal supremacy of the Yuan dynasty, a branch of the Mongols that ruled China. Before then, the power structure was centered around the concept of one absolute leader that all others vow to. After, the other khanates still paid tribute and accepted some form of rulership, but were allowed to function separately and independently in most things. This led to the first real peace since the death of Ghengis Khan. It also continued further cultural expansion and trade routes. This switch in ruling styles also marked the beginning of the Mongol Empire’s fall. (They also made peace with Vietnam).
Note: what's really interesting for the larger context is this little tidbit: Ghengis Khan came to power under the Neptune in Aries transit of 1206-20 and BUILT the Monghol Empire so it would become this major key player. 1286-1308, when Pluto journeys through Aquarius, the empire starts to crumble. 2025-2039, we have Pluto in Aquarius and Neptune in Aries at the same time. This brings interesting implications when it comes to the rise and fall of geopolitical key players for our modern time.
Another huge historical shift was the fall of the last two Crusader states.
Crusader states: in the age of the crusades, Christian powers tried to regain/maintain a hold of Jerusalem (for religious reasons). Part of this effort was the establishment of Christian-ruled countries and fortresses that would allow pilgrims to safely journey through the Christian-hostile Middle East on their religious quests. These Crusader states were at constant war with Muslim states since their establishment after the first crusade and eventually failed.
In this time frame, the County of Tripoli and the Kingdom of Jerusalem fell to Egypt, which effectively ended the striving to recover the “Holy Land” from the Christian side. While other crusades did happen eventually, they had different goals than getting back the land of/around Jerusalem, so this era of history ended for good.
Other Shifts in Power:
We also see the end of the Canmore Dynasty in Scotland and its dependence on England until 1314, as well as the first Scottish War of Independence. The King of Germany was elected and the Arpad Dynasty in Hungary died. Countries were formed: the Lan Na kingdom, the Kutai Kartanegara Sultanate (that existed until 1949, when it became part of Indonesia), the Old Swiss Confederation (precursor to modern-day Switzerland), and the Majapahit kingdom (one of the greatest and most powerful empires in Indonesian and Southeast Asian history).
The Edict of Expulsion by Edward I of England ordered Jews to leave England until 1656. France follows suit and there’s much antisemitic violence in middle Europe. The Mazor Consegio, the Great Council of Venice in the Venetian Republic, changed its membership from open to new people to established families only … which changed the political reality of Venice with long-lasting effects. The Trials of the Knights of Templar began, and the Mongol leader of Persia converted from Buddhism to Islam, and Islam was established in the Aceh region. England and France began to develop highly individualized national identities that would eventually lead to the Hundred Years War, though that took some more time.
Other developments:
Scientifically, this time also led to many changes. The Neo-Aramaic languages began to develop and the apothecary was invented, changing medicine and the healing trade in drastic ways. The first university, Cambridge, was founded just a year or so before this time frame and revolutionized education in a way that was only fully seen in this time frame.
Watermills were invented in Berlin, and hard coal was found in Germany (which made the production of hard, durable metal possible and would change military history). Cannons were used in naval warfare for the first time which changed the way the navy operated worldwide.
Culturally, a way of writing sheet music was invented, Marco Polo began to write about his travels (which would change the world), and the Italian Renaissance began. Fun fact: in this time frame, Dante Alighieri began writing some of his biggest works, and Michelangelo was appointed head architect of the Sistine Chapel.
Let's continue with the next timeframe now.
1532-1553: Science and the Church.
Part of this timeframe overlaps with Neptune in Aries 1533-48). To learn about the history of that, click here.
This is a time that’s pretty much governed by one thing: religious wars. To give you some background, Protestantism was brought to life in 1517 and took its time to spread. By 1532-1553, Europe was on fire.
Protestantism: a branch of Christian religion still active today that's split into different schools of thought/types of churches. Common denominators are: the refusal of papal authority, the independence from the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, the allowance of divorce, priestly marriage, eventual women in priesthood, and the interpretion of scripture by laypeople, as well as sola scriptura (a.k.a., bible-only.)
As a major part of Protestantism was the call for believers to study their own bibles (and come to their own conclusions), the process of bible translation had been started earlier and finished under the 1533-48 of Neptune in Aries.
This put the entire worldview in the Christian world on its head: the bible became accessible, readable, and to illiterate people, something that others could read out from that they could listen to in their own languages. All sorts of people could intellectually question the things their priests told them - and everything else they’d been taught about how the world worked. Suddenly, questions were encouraged when before it meant being declared a heretic.
On top of that, political change arose. Rulers of Christian countries declared their right to rule as having been given to them by God (whether that's true or not is a different question). In any event, they could only be crowned through a church service, so through papal approval. All of a sudden, people questioned why their kings had a right to be their kings. Kings or would-be rulers happily refused papal authority over their crown in the name of independence. And foreign powers would fund the Protestant revolution in countries so it would weaken the country as whole that they were at war with. (Never mind that there were actual religious wars going on.)
Case Study: Henry VIII
There are more stories for this development than I have time to tell you about, so I'll just pick one to show you the massive social change and flow-on effect that took place during this timeframe.
In England, the rise of Protestantism gave the ruler at the time, the infamous Henry VIII (immortalized by the fact that he had six wives) an opportunity to do what he really wanted to do anyway: divorce his first wife, Queen Catherine of Aragon. Divorce in and of itself was unheard of in Christian countries: while there was such a thing as annulments, they were incredibly difficult to obtain (usually only granted when someone had literally been forced into marriage at knife point, when two people were too closely related to have gotten married legally (etc.), or if you got a special petition personally approved by the pope). But divorce for other reasons was pretty much impossible: and the pope had denied Henry VIII's petition to set Queen Catherine aside for a new wife who could bear him a potential son.
At the time, queens were considered sacred as they weren't just the king's wife, but separately annointed in a church service: a.k.a., they were believed to be above mortals. This took such extremes that a queen was not allowed to be touched even by her guards even when she was in a medical emergency. Furthermore, any queen was to be treated incredibly well because of her ordained status. So, if the queen who was supposed to be sacred could be discarded and thrown into poverty as Henry VIII did to Catherine of Aragon... what could the husband of a common woman do to her? Women’s rights, financial security, and place in the world was taken away with the legalization of divorce (during a time in which women couldn’t hold property or have money of their own, or could become sole guardians of their children). Things did not get better for women's rights when Henry VIII married and beheaded his second wife and queen, Anne Boelyn, and his eventual fifth wife and queen, Katherine Howard (#3, Jane Seymore, died, #4 Anna of Cleves, was annuled and declared sister to the King, and #6, Catherine Parr, barely survived Henry VIII and ended up outliving him.)
But Henry VIII didn't just break with the pope to divorce his wife/wives and leave it at that: he founded a nation-wide church called the Church of England, forced all his citizens to follow that church, and made himself its ruler. Every single time he changes his mind on doctrine (which was with every wife he had), he forced the entire population to change with him or risk prosecution.
Established religious orders in England (usually with Roman Catholic roots) were dismantled by his orders, his henchmen wanting the King's favor, or fanatics. Armed forces entered and destroyed buildings, looted tresure, and killed the clergy... and not right away.
The result was dire: the general population lost access to medicine, healthcare, safe places to sleep when traveling (as traveling was really dangerous and took a long time), and social services such as help for the poor or elderly, etc. because all these things were exclusively done by the Roman Catholic Church prior to Henry VIII break with the Pope. There were no replacement structures at the time.
Nunneries and monasteries were the equivalent of today’s hospitals and schools and their inhabitants, the teachers, healers for the general population, and keepers of records, had to flee the country, many of whom ended up as settlers in America.
Suspected sympathies with Catholics or outright disagreement with the King's daily changing mind or his methods led to a swift execution, as it was deemed treason to the crown. People who struggled to convert/adopt new ideas in time were executed, people who weren’t enthusiastic enough about the religion were also executed or faced other serious consequences, and those who wanted favor with the King persecuted alleged or real dissenters competitively, creating a culture of zealots.
By the end of this time frame, Mary I of Tudor was crowned, the first queen regent of England in centuries and the one remembered either as Mary the Catholic or Bloody Mary respectively. Her reign, as was the case with Henry VIII, led to floods of people leaving Britain to find a home elsewhere, many of which would end up in North America – in the hopes of a country in which religious persecution wouldn’t happen to them again.
While England is a case study, it's by far not the only country dealing with large-scale political and widely spread social change during this time. Many rulers faced serious problems with budding Protestantism challenging their reign and more passionate (read violent) religious disagreements that sparked civil and/or national wars.
As funding the Protestant rebellions in other countries could help someone's cause (especially against the House of Habsburg, the richest and most powerful ruling family at that time that basically had both all the richest regions in the world under control, and enough countries under their belt that “the sun never set” for them - and was highly Catholic), Europe soon became raked by civil wars, countries decided to suppress one religion in favor of the other, which would result in even more wars later on.
Other developments:
Large parts of Central and South America were colonized by Spain and Portugal during this timeframe, including the Inca Empire. Canada was claimed as part of France, inland America saw its first permanent settlements. There was even a debate concerning the human rights of indigenous people in the Americas, which unfortunately didn’t result in much (we'll see this repeat under other Neptune in Aries timeframes). The Nanban trade period began after the Portuguese made contact with Japan while the Chinese Ming dynasty banns all foreign trade and closes down all seaports. In the Middle East, the Ottoman Empire expanded some more (see last time Pluto was in Aquarius 1284-1308), the Suri Empire was founded, the Shiite sect of Islam gained popularity, and the Jesuits were brought to life with the approval of Pope Paul III.
In the realm of science, Copernicus introduced the idea of the heliocentric universe (a.k.a., the idea that the Earth and other planets revolve around the sun) which directly challenged the “known fact” that Earth was the center of the universe: furthermore turning the world on its head (this eventually led to Galileo Galilei’s work in another century). The first book on public international law was published which suggested a divide between the secular and the canon law/Catholic theology, which further weakened the church (which was, before, deeply involved in the creation of laws - see Gregorian reforms introduced under Pope Leo IX in the 11th century pass of Pluto through Aquarius).
Science as a whole was revolutionized as the Renaissance led to the invention of political science and accounting. The work of Gerolamo Cardano of Italy results in the use of imaginary numbers and binominal coefficients, which is the reason our mathematical understanding of the world today is what it is.
Gunpowder was invented and firearms are used for the first time, which changed the ways wars are waged in a way that can’t be taken back. Also, Timbuktu established public libraries, a trend we will see repeated in the next cycle of Pluto in Aquarius.
Lastly, there’s one big change in world history that would impact generations to come: the foundation of the Holy Inquisition, discussed more under Neptune in Aries.
1777-1798: Age of Revolution.
The Age of Enlightenment and revolution, the birth of modern-day democracy, the biggest rebellions seen thus far: this timeframe is historically significant, to say the least. Let's jump in.
A year before this timeframe started, the United States of America declared their independence from British rule. The time of Pluto in Aquarius saw the actual war for America’s independence, its ending, and the foundation of its democratic political system which would have ripple effects throughout the world with many countries wishing to follow suit (and most of them failing). Based on the ideals of Enlightenment, they reimagined society and political systems. During this timeframe, we therefore saw the establishment of the U.S. presidency, the first real election, as well as the decision of someone elected into power to give up this power again by choice, which was very new (and Aquarian). We also saw other things such as the establishment of the New York Stock & Exchange Board, and the Northwest Indian War against Native Americans started, which leads to a genocide of Native Americans.
The American Revolutionary War had ripple effects on the entire world. It led to a massive blow to the power position of Great Britain, the at-the-time biggest global power that now lost part some of their biggest colonies due to both the revolution and the combined Franco-Spanish Navy. Australia was colonized in part to replace what was lost; the native population was beaten into submission... but its weakness lead to dissent.
The revolution also had inspired the general population in Europe on topics around interaction with their respective nobility and ruling class.
Civil unrest in France led to one of the biggest and most famous rebellions in modern-day history: the French Revolution. The movement was in part driven by the ideals of Enlightenment (liberté, égalité, fraternité!), in part by lack of food, propagandistic efforts, and so on. While it was first successful enough to convince some members of the nobility (and forced King Louis XVI to implement changes, such as implementing a constitution, abolish the feudal system, setting up the percuser of human rights etc.), the revolutionaries turned on everyone. They started to kill without discrimination (including the execution/murder of rebel sympathizers, people who treated the population well, and young children).
The violence spiraled into a bloodbath in which even revolutionaries "not convinced enough" were killed just as the dissenters were. Eventually, the revolutionaries even killed other revolutionaries who were convinced enough but added other elements to their ideals (like Olympe de Gouche who wanted the ideals of the revolution for women as well). France was briefly ruled and revolutionized by the reformers (the time is known as the Terreur because of the violence and fear people felt), and ended in Napoleon reestablishing the monarchy after a bloody war.
All European nations, terrified by France's example of how this could go, suppressed any and all revolutionary attempts to abolish or change the political system - until the revolutions of 1848 made it impossible to do so.
The revolutions of 1848: pretty much every European country revolts at the same time in one year. Astrologically, this was due to a close Pluto conjunction to Aquarius’s ruler, Uranus in Aries – which means similar themes to this transit, only more radical since the sign of physical warfare, Aries, is included here. Historically, this changed Europe's landscape for good.
Another ripple effect of the Terreur and the American Revolution (and new system of governance) was also a redefinition of who was given certain privileges and status/power positions.
Before this timeframe, education and positions of power such as f.e. a leadership position in the army were for people from specific backgrounds such as nobility-only. Merit didn't matter if the background didn't fit. The American model (and ideals of Enlightenment it was based on) led to people questioning this concept: as a longterm consequence, this would lead to a different way of structing the military (merit-based power positions, rather than titles) and more available education for men, specifically, even if they were lower born.
On the topic of education, this was the age of public libraries and universities when many things were simplified academically so the common folk could join in. This was further underlined by the changes made during the Terreur in France.
This time also marked the rise of nationalist identities world-wide. Before, the place you lived in was mostly just a place - that mattered, since it was your home. Now, the place wasn’t a place anymore, it was something that made you who you were. Characteristics and prejudices were prescribed to countries and the people living in them, and patriotism rose in a way it never previously had. This changed motivations for war (World War I, for instance, wouldn’t have happened without nationalist ideology being this strong) and international relations, such as hereditary enmities between nations.
Worldwide, other historic events also took place:
The first step to abolishing serfdom was taken in Austria while upper Canada outlawed slavery. Russia annexed Crimea and wared with Sweden and then Poland and the Maratha-Mysore war took place. There was a civil war in Iran, and indigenous rebellions in the colonies (Peru, Xhosa, Inconfidência Mineira in Brazil, Haitian Revolution). There are the White Lotus Rebellion against the Manchu dynasty in China, a failed Irish rebellion, and the Quasi-War between the US and France as well as the Liège and the Brabant Revolution.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth lost independence and got divided between its neighboring states, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Austrian- and Russian Empires. Reason for this was, interestingly enough, the lack of robustness of the semi-democratic government. The result was an alteration of the political landscape in Europe for the next hundred years.
Science:
This timeframe (comparable to the 16th century timeframe) was also an age of scientific invention. The metric system was invented and implemented under the Terreur, actually, as was the guillotine as a “more humane way to execute people.” The first vaccine was invented and used (against the smallpox). The steamboat, circular saw, bifocals, argand lamp, power loom, automatic flour mill, threshing machine, and lithographic press were invented, and the first hot air balloon was flown. This marked the beginning of the early stages of industrialization.
Photosynthesis was discovered, as were Charles’s Law and the Law of Conservation of mass: the latter two are the basis for chemistry and the beginning of modern chemistry, which revolutionized the world.
What’s also interesting is the discovery of Uranus, the first planet in the solar system that can’t be seen with the naked eye. This led to humanity’s realization that space is much more vast than originally thought, which impacted astronomy and sciences worldwide, as well as kindled the desire for space exploration to grow. Also, Uranus is the modern ruler of Aquarius: the fact that the transit of Pluto in Aquarius and the discovery of its ruler, Uranus, coincided, is quite funny.
Now that we have the history of 1,000 years covered… let’s start seeing what patterns emerge.
The Overarching Themes: Analyzing Pluto in Aquarius
To summarize, we'll start with the biggest and most obvious point: Pluto radicalizes Aquarius, an already pretty radical zodiac sign. Aquarius, which deals with large groups of people, ideals, rebellion, revolution, progress, and power structures that go from the bottom up – rather than from the top down – or promote a multitude of influences on power structures, becomes subject of the Plutonian process of: concentrating, radicalizing, and violently expelling energy.
One expression of this is the birth of empires (f.e. Ottoman Empire and Majapahit Kingdom in the 13th century, the U.S.A. in the 18th century). Another is the massive re-distribution of power in all 4 timeframes. In the 11th century, the schism sets up 2 poles of power in a Christian-ruled Europe between Constantinople and Rome and separates the East from the West (at least, in Europe etc.). In the 13-14th century, the Crusader Kingdoms fall, ending the Christian stronghold in the entire area (for good), the Mongol Empire is restructured and eventually falls while the Ottoman Empire and Majapahit Kingdom are born. The Council of Venice closes its doors for new members, only families that have already been admitted can be included and Islam spreads. In the 16th century, the stronghold of the pope and the Catholic church is shaken by both science and the new protestant religion: new alliances form and the entire face of Europe is changed. And in the 18th century, a new world power was born (U.S.A.) while Great Britain loses colony after colony and the Kingdom of Prussia starts to rise (which would continue bringing interesting developments during the last two passes of Neptune in Aries before 2025-2039). The French Revolution led to restructuring the entirety of Europe to avoid revolts in one’s own country (that wasn’t always successful.)
Another expression of Pluto in Aquarius is also in the how - or, how the changes take place. Fights for liberation (quintessential "what" of Pluto in Aquarius) turn extreme and all happen from “bottom up” (quintessntial "how" of Pluto in Aquarius). The means of fighting for one’s ideals turn bloody and fanatic and are usually more violent than necessary (and disconnect from the core of the actual ideal, see: Terreur, or the religious wars over two branches of an overarching religion that centers around compassion, forgiveness, and peace). However, the same goes for suppressing rebellions, as can be seen in the establishments of the Holy Inquisition or the end of the French Revolution, as well as colonialism. Violence also tends to spread out (Aquarius) beyond the boundaries of the actual conflict: the American Revolutionary Wars, though not too extreme in themselves, morph seamlessly into the genocide on the Native American population and spark the much more bloody and extremist revolution in Fance.
There is a more extreme focus on what makes people different, which is a key aspect of Aquarius. Where co-existence was possible under one banner before and compromise happened, it can't continue anymore. As an example, the church split and one head of faith excommunicated the other (Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy in 1054). People with different belief systems are consistently persecuted under this energy (Jews, Protestants/Catholics, people against the revolutions, etc.). Colonialism spread in the fifteen hundreds and indigenous people were suppressed, which coincided with belief systems that rationalize atrocities. People of different religious beliefs were executed and murdered, and structures that support those beliefs were destroyed even at the cost of a country’s social security and healthcare (f.e. England, 16th century). In the 18th century, nationalism and patriotism were born and spread in ways that ultimately resulted in World War I in the 20th century. The “us vs. them” mentality also resulted in the genocide of Native Americans, the systematic murder of the nobility in France, and the executions of other rebels in the Terreur that unfortunately didn’t rebel quite the ways Robespierre & Co wanted. This also coincides with the theme of helping specific groups rise to power through/while violently suppressing others.
But under Pluto in Aquarius differences aren’t just punished but also embraced within oneself and one’s own ingroup. People lean into their difference of faith and strive to become distinct from one another, even if that means radicalization: the Catholic church pushes for the discipline of its clergy in the 11th century pass of Pluto in Aquarius mainly to separate clergy from the “normal” believer and thus solidify the authority of the church – from the low-level priest to the highest level of the papacy. (Some sources also claim that this is the start of the Catholic church using universities to educate their priests so they can both better understand and use the powers of f.e. law to further the church’s interests, as well as argue the church’s positions in all areas of life).
The same principle of leaning into differences is seen in the 16th century pass of Pluto in Aquarius during matters of Protestants and Catholics as groups radicalize to show their own members that “they truly are of the faith en vogue!” – which often involves violence. We see that same theme beyond religion as well: England and France develop highly individualized identities in the 13-14th century, which later facilitates the Hundred Year War, and the U.S. builds its own identity in the 18th century after becoming a nation. The French still embrace the values of “liberté, égalité, fraterinté” and understand themselves as highly revolutionary – in a major part because of the events of the last pass of Pluto through Aquarius.
Another main theme bridging the 4 passages of Pluto through Aquarius is social change. Separating the believers of one faith into “normal people” and “clergy that are supposed to be purer than the rest,” as happened in the 11th century, has widespread implications for life overall. In the 16th century, science changed people’s worldviews in massive ways that were hard to deal with. The first divorce in a Christian nation shook women in all of Europe, as did the execution of a queen (women’s rights suffered after that). Protestantism and the fact that “God’s word” was readable by all changed Europe at large and the role of the church and the pope, as well as the role of the country’s rulers. Since Europe was the center of power at the time, it had huge implications for the entire world. Plus, colonialism changed the countries involved, as did the violence done on indigenous revolutionaries. In the 18th century, the ideals of the revolutions obviously led to much social change in and after that specific time period.
Other pretty prevalent changes are in the distribution of knowledge. In all four eras, knowledge suddenly became more accessible to the general population. The first movable type was invented in the Song Dynasty in China in the 11th century pass, bringing tools to print multiple different documents with the same metal pieces. The age of universities in the 13th century, the separation of sciences from the Catholic doctrines, ability to read the Bible as fully translated Bibles were finally finished, and beginning of the Italian Renaissance in the 16th century, and the age of public libraries and opening up educational paths for people based on merit, rather than family and titles in the 18th century.
Which leads me to democracy or democratic ways of government. Aquarius deals with large groups of people coming together in such a way that the individual genius of the singular people affects the whole, and vice versa. In our nowadays world, this looks like elections and democracy – but there are other structures in politics that can speak to the same effect. F.e., the Mongol Empire having one nominal leading khanate with three separate largely self-reliant khanates; or having a council (Council of the Venice Republic), or a king who was elected (Germany). With Pluto in this sign, these structures are introduced to a pre-existing political system, transformed, or destroyed. Sometimes all of the above: it depends on how power is used by those structures and how effective they are. Because Pluto tends to dig up the skeletons in the closet, secrets, and the misuse of power, whatever is not working will be obvious pretty quickly.
Inventions on how to better kill people were also prevalent: the use of cannons on ships, gunpowder and firearms, and the guillotine changed things, as were the use of religious rebellions (16th century) and patriotism (18th century) to further one’s own political agenda. Other technical and scientific progress was also huge: development of Neo-Abrahamic languages, apothecaries, watermills, (13-14th century), the heliocentric universe, the type of mathematics that we know today, separation of the law from the church (16th century), the beginning of the industrialization, steamboats, vaccines, and the dawn of chemistry (18th century), etc.
But there’s one more theme many of you might be curious about: major change in the (Christian/Catholic) church. The East-West Schism and a social movement separating clergy from common folk in the 11th century, the end of the crusader states and thereby the end of the era of crusades in the 13th-14th century, and the establishment of the inquisition slash church crisis with Copernicus and Galileo publishing scientific theories that challenged church authority in the 16th century lead us to one pretty distinct theme. The question here is if this is due to the fact that Eurocentric history at the time had Catholicism as a) a major world power, therefore subject to Pluto in Aquarius’s revolutionizing ways (and challenge to the church’s power), and b) as the most prominent iteration of belief systems that was deeply entrenched in culture… which is then also affected by Pluto in Aquarius as Pluto in Aquarius revolutionizes what people believe.
This leads us to the last section of this analysis: taking the patterns we see and applying them to our future.
What We Can Take From This For Our Future?
We can learn from the recurring themes that happened in past iterations of an astrological event and see the overarching patterns… which allows us to make inferences to our present time/future – this 2023-2044 pass of Pluto through Aquarius.
Belief Systems
Let’s circle back towards the church. The Christian-centric history covered here was in large part an example of faith-based and ideological-based social and political change that has the power to separate ourselves from each other once again. Whatever you and the people around you believe, be it religious, political, or else, can become a theme of more dissent than we’re used to and separate where compromise used to be possible. This goes beyond religion: and it covers any belief that’s tied to one or more institutions, be it in science, politics, philosophy, or else.
However, the lesson for those institutions is that change is coming (which includes the Catholic church). There is no staying the same under Pluto in Aquarius, not if you’re intrinsically built on belief rather than tangible worldly power (and even then… change is coming, just on a less extreme level). They get to decide how and why they’ll change and while the power of the people is strong under this event, history has proven that it won’t always win.
Realignment of Power
On a political level, it's highly likely that this timeframe of 2023-2044 will see a major re-distribution of power on the global level as well as internal changes in countries/institutions holding global power that include massive social change. There will be no holding onto what was: they will be changed top-down, or events will come that change them bottom-up. But the result will echo throughout the next centuries and affect life as we know it: since this, too, is one of the overarching themes of the Pluto in Aquarius events: implications for centuries. Democracies are born under this event and un-resilient bodies of power fall apart (even if they are democracies – which pains me). Uncheckable institutions will be checked and held accountable (as happened through holding clergy accountable in the 11th, bringing different bodies of power into the mix in the 11th, and 16th, and various revolutions in the 15th and 18th century).
Beliefs about what’s good and right also lead countries to abolish patterns that were long-held (for reasons of power and profit) that harmed people and were, as we’d say today, against human rights (abolishment of serfdom and slavery 18th century, discussions on such in 16th century).
Alliances on a personal, political, institutional, or faith-based level that were made on a basis of tolerating major differences and choosing “live and let live” may break as the differences between parties become insurmountable, or – even though they’re slight – aren’t subject to compromise anymore. Similarly, new alliances are forged that are more aligned by belief (as belief is what starts to matter more than profit or other tangible things).
The world can literally wrench in two as it has in the 11th century (East-West), the 16th century (enemy/ally of Catholic church (Protestant/Catholic, believer/victim of inquisition, etc.), colonialist/colony), and the 18th century (revolutionary/non-revolutionary), and one thing becomes clear: whoever told us that Pluto in Aquarius would be the “Age of Aquarius when humanity will get along and peace will reign” didn’t look at the history of this event.
Social Change & Technology
Every single iteration of Pluto in Aquarius held major social change that went beyond political events and affected everyone: so, what we can expect from this event is that the way we interact with one another changes beyond a level of government, and down to the culture (the 16th and 18th century pass are enough of an example, even though the social change from the Templar trials in the 14th, and the church changes in the 11th century shouldn’t be underestimated).
On top of that, we’ll be seeing a great push for new inventions and technology. The last time saw the beginning of the industrialization (18th century pass). The times before that also saw major inventions with interesting results: it’s hard to say what new themes are going to come other than to say that, with ideas straight out of science fiction and even the subject of space possibly involved, not even the sky’s the limit.
Information and Education
There have been massive breakthroughs in the distribution of information are the norm under Pluto in Aquarius in the past millennium, so it’s highly likely that we’ll see one, if not more, breakthroughs of the same happening this time around (2023-2044). As the ruler of Aquarius, Uranus moves through the sign of education and information from 2025-2033 (Gemini), that likelihood rises another notch during those eight years as the additional planetary transit echoes the inherent potential and amplifies it.
The way we’ll be educating ourselves will change and the ways that news spread will change too. This has the power to become fuel to the fire of social and political change, or it can be hijacked by the common people to incentivize them to free their voices.
A Ray of Hope
Despite the fact that many of the events mentioned here are big, which means that it’s easy to get apprehensive, Pluto in Aquarius is not a bad time per se. Many issues that plagued humanity were solved under Pluto in Aquarius, as for instance the issue of diseases that crippled and killed people every day. With events that held the Powers that Be in check, the groundwork was laid for a more honest and just society and power base. More importantly, Pluto in Aquarius created options where previously, there was only one path.
And not only that: it saw the end of eras that we’re pretty stoked ended – like the age of Crusades, for instance. I’m pretty sure the people who were terrorized by the Viking raids were also just fine with the End of the Viking Age (11th century), and the abolishment of slavery in the 18th century in large parts of the world was also what I’d consider a good development, and on that note: did you know that the U.S. civil war that ended slavery was fought under Neptune in Aries, something that we’ll have from 2025-2039… so coincidental with Pluto in Aquarius? This means that we have two major events that are about setting people free coinciding.
This is an event all about liberation. So, what freedoms are you calling in – and what are you willing to do for them?
Afterword
This is actually not even close to my only article on Pluto in Aquarius. A shorter article on the history (the one I rewrote in 2022 when this one became far too long), you can find here.
But history and the socio-political impact of an astrological event is only one of the things we can look at. Another – and that one is even more important – is how it impacts us as individuals and how we can work with the energies with agency and autonomy. Because each astrological event allows us to mold and shape it: we aren’t victims of the planets, we’re co-creators.
The article that covers that is here, and if you’d like to have a breakdown of the sign of Aquarius and what it means, you can find it here.
And furthermore: I wrote an article for every single Rising Sign on Pluto in Aquarius. The relevant ones are here:
Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra (I, II), Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.
And lastly, all my articles on Pluto can be found in this article compilation here.
Further Reading:
In case you liked this article, please consider sending this to a friend you think is interested in it! But also, you can read other cool stuff here:
From 2025 to 2039, Neptune journeys through the sign of Aries (last time that happened, the American Civil War happened, among other things). Read about this event in these three articles or in this compilation here.
From 2025 to 2033, Uranus moves through Gemini: which means that the planet of change and inventions moves through the sign of new ideas, information, and the voice. Read about what that means here: Uranus in Gemini: Winds of Change (2025-2033), and Uranus in Gemini Advice for the Signs: Where the Winds Blow (2025-2033) here.
Lastly, don’t forget to subscribe if you’d like to do so!
Thanks for joining me on this wild ride and see you soon,
Alexandra
Astrology from the Soul