Pluto: A Review of the Literature Part Two

I am continuing on with my marathon review of books I’ve read discussing the world of Pluto. In Part One I covered just four books. I have a stack in front of me right now with twice as many. What to do? I don’t want this review to be too long, and I don’t want to create a ‘Part Three’ so I’ll simply plunge ahead and abbreviate on some of the books.

Pluto by Fritz Brunhubner. Believe it or not, this book was published in 1934 shortly after the discovery of Pluto in 1930. Even so this book is amazingly thorough in its coverage and still right on the button in many descriptions. Of course the issue of atomic power wasn’t yet in Mr. Brunhubner’s consciousness, but he was able to describe most of the characteristics of Pluto nonetheless. Here’s just one paragraph to give you a sample: “Just as the two luminaries form a polarity, so Pluto, too, is a polarity—a duality—seeking union or blending into singleness. Pluto is the ‘die and be’ of Goethe; it is death and re-birth; Pluto kills or destroys but builds out of the elements of the destroyed—out of the old, something new; Pluto rises from the ashes like the phoenix. Pluto is transformations—transformations of one force into another force, of one element into another; it is transmutation and the ‘alchemistra redivivus.’.

If you are serious about learning more, this book is available on Amazon at bargain prices considering that it is rare and out of print. Doing a search of the web I see that many astrologers quote Brunhubner. He was an incisive thinker of his day. Here are the Chapter headings:
1. Astronomy (this is obviously more sophisticated today)
2. Mythology
3. Symbol of Pluto
4. Which sign is ruled by Pluto?
5. Pluto/Janus (I know of no other writer who has addressed this theme)
6. Characteristics of Pluto (amazingly thorough)
7. Physiological effects of Pluto (He goes into great detail in looking at Pluto’s correlation with the pineal gland and clair-feeling, clair-voyance, clair-hearing, clair-sensing, clair-smelling.)
8. Correspondences (Again, very thorough)
9. Pluto in the Signs
10. The aspects of Pluto
11. Pluto in the Houses
12. Examples of Delineation
13. The Transits of Pluto
14. The Pluto Type

I really should have included this book in Part One because, in many ways, it is more comprehensive and well organized than most of the others. He doesn’t mince words either. He gets right to the point. Unfortunately, it is rare and not as accessible as the others.

Healing Pluto Problems by Donna Cunningham. This is a Samuel Weiser publication and almost anything they put out is first rate. I first read Ms. Cunningham long ago when she wrote that seminal book Being A Lunar Type in a Solar World. Since then she has been more than prolific in her out-put of quality books and articles on most every aspect of astrology. This book is quite a gem. It’s the only one out there giving concrete methods for healing Pluto related issues such as incest, rape, abuse, domestic violence, death, grief, guilt, resentment, etc.

Donna started out, career-wise, as a social worker with 17 years of counseling experiences, so her teachings are highly useable and practical. Yet she brings forth modalities of healing such as Flower Essences, Color and Light, Visualizations, etc. that are highly effective. The book is designed to be used by an individual in learning more and helping themselves or by the professional astrologer who learns how to help clients with Plutonian issues.

She has a great chapter entitled “Transits: If This is Transformation, Why Does It Hurt So Much?” Here’s a sample paragraph: “People talk so much about transformation, yet it remains somewhat of an undefined term. Asked whether change and transformation are the same, a character in one of the Star Trek novels replies, ‘No, change is a one-dimensional alteration, alteration of form alone—say smashing a rock with a hammer and breaking it. Transformation is two-dimensional alteration, alteration of substance—turning a non-living rock into a life flower.’ In contemplating transformation, are we so ready to turn from rocks into flowers? Or are we just becoming crushed rocks, beaten down by blow after blow? Health comes from willingness to give up the state of being a rock, solid but unreachable….”

She has such an accessible style of expression. You move right along from one thought to another without effort in her book while learning so very much.

Pluto, The Soul’s Evolution Through Relationships Volume II by Jeffrey Wolf Green is the continuation of the first volume at an even deeper level as he explores the concept of meeting the other on our soul’s journey. It is always good to read his books from cover to cover for the first run, and this book is almost 400 pages long. After that initial plunge I like to go back again and again and intuitively scan a section I am trying to understand by allowing certain phrases to pop out. Then I allow those key thoughts to expand in my own consciousness for added meaning. You see, Mr. Green is essentially teaching something in his own unique style of repetition. He repeats an idea in various ways over and over again within a chapter with words that are densely packed and tightly woven intellectually. He’s not chatty like Steven Forrest.

There are 12 chapters in this book starting with Pluto and the soul’s journey. He defines what he means by relationships in Chapter 1, and then reviews the concepts of evolutionary astrology that he introduced in Volume I in Chapter 2. He clearly writes what he means by ‘the four natural evolutionary states here: 1. The Consensus State of roughly 70% of all people; 2. The Individuated State of approximately 20% of Souls; 3. The Spiritual State of roughly 5% of all Souls; 4. and finally, The Dimly Evolved State which are those ‘either evolving into human consciousness from other forms of consciousness, or are forced into this type of consciousness through karmic causes.’

Here are the Chapter headings for the rest of his book:
Chapter 3: So We Meet Again, Eh?
Chapter 4: Social, Cultural, Parental, and Religious Imprinting
Chapter 5: Relationship Types
Chapter 6: Essential Relationship Needs
Chapter 7: The Nature and Function of Venus
Chapter 8: Phasal Relationship of Mars and Pluto
Chapter 9: The Nature and Function of Mars
Chapter 10: Phasal Relationship of Mars and Venus
Chapter 11: The Composite Chart and Pluto
Chapter 12: Pluto in Sagittarius (He wrote this book during that time frame)

Whether you want to understand yourself better in relationship to others, or you are trying to understand others with whom you are in relationship, this book will enlighten you. It is an excellent reference tool for professional astrologers working with clients in relationships.

Sexuality is a major theme running through-out this book. He is very explicit describing how the chart will bear out sexual style and proclivities. Sometimes it’s quite shocking to recognize your deepest urges when reading about your own Mars and Mars in relationship with Pluto for he doesn’t mince words. To say you’ll learn a great deal is an understatement!

The Hades Moon; Pluto in Aspect to the Moon by Judy Hall is a nearly 300 page treatise on one aspect of Pluto. This is a specialty book for those of you wanting to go deeply into your own archetype should you have a Moon/Pluto aspect, but it is also another reference tool for professional astrologers to have on hand when researching a particular client’s tendencies with this pattern.

Ms. Hall is a scholarly researcher with a formidable Bibliography at the end of the book as well as Endnotes for each chapter. She covers every conceivable combination including signs the Hades moon is in with signs Pluto is in, from Cancer through Capricorn, and also the houses Pluto is in. She even deals with the collective issues of ‘the shadow-Moon’. Here’s one simple quote extracted from her first chapter, ‘By the Light of the Slightly Tarnished Moon’ “The shadow-Moon is treacherous and deceitful, as witnessed by the treatment of the Kurds who were encouraged by the West to rise up against Saddam, only to be abandoned and left to their fate when their usefulness was over….”

She refers to Moon/Pluto families such as the Bronte sisters of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre fame. She also includes multiple famous people as examples of this configuration and how it played out in their lives. It’s a solid read of both depth and breadth with each chapter heading covering one more aspect of this very challenging yet potentially rewarding aspect: The Mythic Moon; The Devouring Moon; The Rejecting Moon; The Raging Moon; The Karmic Moon; The Cathartic Moon; The Sacred Moon; The Renascent Moon. She also includes an Appendix giving you the Pluto Moon dialogue as a highly useful visualization exercise which enables you to get more deeply in touch with your own Moon/Pluto should you have that aspect natally.

Gate of Rebirth; Astrology, Regeneration, and 8th House Mysteries by Haydn Paul is the final more specialized book relating to Pluto that I will review. It’s another Samuel Weiser book, just as ‘The Hades Moon’ is. This publisher won’t deliver anything that doesn’t meet their standards of excellence.

Since the 8th house of the chart is truly Pluto’s domain, we now have a great book that explores that place and attempts to unravel some of its mysteries. The back cover of the book states, “By explaining the myth of rebirth, renewal, and regeneration, Haydn Paul seeks to add to our understanding of the 8th house.”

There are 9 Chapters dealing with these themes: the Underworld; Myths of Rebirth, Renewal, and Regeneration; Shared Resources; Power, Manipulation, Compulsion, and Obsession; Sexual and Emotional Union—Crisis and Catharsis; Raising the Dark Side—Repression and Taboo; Planetary Guides and Inner Contacts; The Initiation of Death—The Process of Renewal; The Wounded Healer.

Within the pages of this book you can also look up the meaning of whatever sign you have at the cusp of this house. You can look up the meaning of whatever planets you have in this house. He even covers transiting planets and their meanings moving through this house. Mr. Haydn has many good books published and he never disappoints his readers. I highly recommend this book, either for yourself or as a reference tool in working with others.
There are four more books worthy of mentioning that deal with Pluto, though not exclusively.

Measuring the Night; Evolutionary Astrology and the Keys to the Soul Volume Two by Jeffrey Wolf Green and Steven Forrest consists of edited transcripts from a series of workshops they conducted together in the ‘90s. This book is such a great read because it puts you right there, as if you were attending the workshop yourself. The style is chatty and engaging with considerable dialogue with the participants. There are two chapters that deal specifically with Pluto: Chapter Two with Jeffrey Green on Evolutionary Transitions and Pluto, and Chapter Three with Steven Forrest on Opening the Dark Gate. Both are worth the price of the book.

The Horoscope in Manifestation; Prediction and Psychological Dynamics by Liz Greene, published by CPA (Centre for Psychological Astrology Press, London) is part of their Seminar Series: Volume 9. This book also consists of transcripts from her seminars and covers certain aspects of Pluto as well as other planetary themes. If you like depth psychology with a Jungian bent, this is an excellent book. In Part One: Complexes and Projection she elaborates on Hades-Pluto as a rapist as “…the ruthless violation of innocence through necessity.”

In Part Two: A Psychological Approach to Transits and Progressions she covers transits of Pluto relating to powerlessness and betrayal. Here’s a sample quote: “….if Plutonian feelings are cut off from consciousness they will build up over time and find an indirect and more destructive outlet. But people feel powerless in the face of what they cannot see or understand, and they often try to suppress the emotions that rise up during Pluto transits and progressions. Powerlessness makes us feel like infants, and erodes our pride and self-respect. Rage is a very natural human reaction to feelings of powerlessness. One can see it in every infant. Behind the baby’s tantrum is a dreadful feeling of total dependency and helplessness. It is extremely unpleasant to be completely out of control, and to feel other people are running the show. It is even more unpleasant when one’s own primitive emotions are running the show….” This is a good description of a typical response to heavy-duty Pluto transits which I can vouch for myself!

The Outer Planets & Their Cycles; The Astrology of the Collective by Liz Greene is another earlier book of transcripts of seven of her lectures given in April 1980. What I did with this incredibly informative book was to go through and put the symbols of the various planets and aspects discussed in the margins so I could go back in as needed and read about specific ones. There is a wealth of amazing insights on Pluto in this book. She discusses Saturn/Pluto people and collective themes, for example, going into World War II and its aftermath with the birth of Israel. Here’s just one quote to give you an idea of her mundane capabilities when dealing with Pluto as a signature of national charts: “Oddly, Israel was born as a state under that same Saturn-Pluto conjunction that followed the Holocaust. This is either a piece of immense cosmic irony, or it’s something very profound. Unfortunately the behavior of this very great and dedicated new nation sometimes verges horribly close to the very thing that engendered its birth. This suggests something very paradoxical, which Jung called enantiodromia. That means that if you polarize very violently against an opposite, you have a tendency to secretly become that opposite without realizing it.”

My final quick review is of the magnificent Cosmos and Psyche; Intimations of a New World View by Richard Tarnas which he wrote as both historian and astrologer looking at great collective cycles as mirrored by the passage of the planets in their circuitry around the Sun. If you want to understand more deeply how Pluto works with mass consciousness, this is the book to read. He deals with Saturn/Pluto as “Cycles of Crisis and Contraction”, Neptune/Pluto cycles as “Axial Alignments”, and Uranus/Pluto cycles as “Epochs of Revolution”. You have to be a serious student of astrology and history to read this one, but if you are you won’t be disappointed. He covers many other combinations of the outer planets as well as Saturn and Jupiter, but Pluto weaves throughout the entire book as a decided force of destruction and transformation. For being such a small and modest man, Mr. Tarnas is a giant of a writer!

I leave you here dear readers to pick and choose what attracts your interest. If any of you have other books that I haven’t covered, please let me and the other readers know.