THE UPCOMING MARS/PLUTO OPPOSITION

Part One. The Major Players

Hello readers, old and new. Today, I present the first of an at least two part essay on the upcoming Mars/Pluto opposition. I hope you all find it interesting. Know that I am especially interested in your thoughts about this one so, if you have them, and would like to share, please don’t hesitate to comment below.

On Saturday, April 26,2025, Mars and Pluto will form an exact opposition. Because of the recently ended Mars Retrograde we have experience two such oppositions since November 3,2024 (the second on January 3,2025). While the first of these oppositions occurred across the final degree of the Cancer/Capricorn axis, the final one of the series extends across the Leo/Aquarius axis. We are presented with an opportunity to consider what changes have taken place in our lives and in the wider world since last November in light of the Mars/Pluto opposition.

An interesting thing about direct oppositions is the way in which they reveal dynamics across the Zodiac. As has been said, the first in the series of direct oppositions took place across the final degree of the Cancer/Capricorn axis. Cancer is interested in nurture and protection, especially of the weak and vulnerable. Capricorn is about the struggle to become mature and build our lives despite the dangers and difficulties that life presents us. Mars was in Cancer (where it has also spent much of his recent retrograde). Cancer is not a great placement for Mars which is said to be “in fall” in this sign. I have analogized this placement as being like a fully armed soldier in charge of a new-born. Adding the Cancer/Capricorn dynamic brings a different image to mind, that of a parent or coach who might wish to motivate and “toughen up” a young person by aggressively challenging them to achieve some difficult goal. Although such “training” has its place, there is an art to bringing it off in such a way that the trainee becomes stronger without becoming traumatized in the process. This is where Pluto comes in.

Pluto is the planet of “hidden things”. These could be buried treasures or skeletons in the closet. At their best, oppositions can force two planets to find a balance between their differing natures, at worse, they can create a situation where both planets try to dominate one another. Mars and Pluto are a particularly volatile opposition. Mars wants to aggressively get to the bottom of things while Pluto tries to bury things ever more deeply in its’ depths.

With Pluto in Capricorn, we could be looking at the difficulties by which we have grown and asking ourselves whether the life that we have built has justified the hard knocks we took to build it. In telegraphing this through the opposition, Pluto asked Mars to evaluate how aggressively it pushes tender things to grow strong. Mars might reflect on whether he should perhaps be less demanding, more encouraging in his training regime or decide that “what was good enough for me will be good enough for them, tender feelings be damned”. This is where we were last November.

A lot has happened since then. When Mars and Pluto reach their direct opposition later this month, they both will have changed signs giving this final opposition a different but still related dynamic.

Beginning with the Leo/Aquarius axis across which this final opposition occurs, the struggle is between the individual and the collective. Leo wants to assert the prerogative and sovereignty of the individual while Aquarius demands that everyone acknowledge their place within an integrated social whole in which, while each individual should (ideally) find their place, no individual’s needs should outweigh that of the collective. This individual/collective dynamic has a kind of fractal aspect in that “individual” could stand for a particular subculture within the greater collective (a specific religious, political or some other affiliation based on identity). Collective here could also mean the way in which various subcultures coexist (or do not).

Bringing in the planetary dynamics we see Mars in Leo, on the side of the individual and Pluto in the collective Aquarius. Mars will want to aggressively assert the “rights” of the individual (or subculture) against the claims of the collective (society as a whole, global community, even the entire ecosystem). Pluto, on the side of Aquarius will want to either conceal or, like a volcanic eruption, disgorge the achievements and grievances buried in the collective. At the societal level this could mean a clash between the individual citizens and the society, without which, citizenship would have no real meaning. It might also mean clashes between different “identity groups”, an escalation in the so called “culture wars”. But even within the individual we could see a conflict between the various areas of life (work, home, community engagement, etc.) and the need for wholeness and integration.

This dynamic will likely be literally enflamed by a nearly exact square that both planets will receive from The Sun. The Sun is the power to persist and to be seen. The square is a difficult aspect in which the planets involved work at “cross purposes”. They do not “face-off” as in the Opposition, rather, their agendas are simply incompatible with every action on the part of one planet interfering with the plan of the other. In this case, both Mars and Pluto are getting that square from The Sun. I see here the potential of each planet trying to “outshine” the other rather than trying to find some point of compromise and integration.

Complicating matters is that Pluto is in the Venus ruled decan of Aquarius. This decan is one in which Venus might be willing to commit to a kind of “scorched earth policy” in the name of love. We can see this in the Minor Arcana Tarot Card associated with this decan, The Five of Swords.

If either party were to get the upper hand, the pent-up energies of the collective were to get the upper hand in this conflict they might not show much consideration to the claims of the individual. This could mean a lot of things depending on what/who counts as collective.

Further complicating things, Mars is in the Saturn Ruled decan of Leo. In this decan we see everyone trying to check the advance of everyone else while making their own position unassailable. This situation is depicted in the Five of Wands. Rather than collective will aimed in a common direction we see a chaos of conflicting individual wills.

Finally, The Sun at 7° of Taurus is in mercury’s decan of that sign. Taurus, ruled by Venus, really wants stability, abundance and peace. With The Sun there, both Mars and Pluto are likely to believe that their agenda is the one most likely to bring about a favorable outcome for all. When we look at the Tarot Card associated with the Decan in which The Sun finds himself, we see that it is the Five of Disks.

Two beggars, sick and penniless make difficult progress through a harsh winter environment. We see that they both pass by a church where they might find shelter, food, a community and, most importantly, nourishment of the soul. This is what the church represents in this card. But, as we know, churches vary a great deal in their attitudes toward the poor, the sick, the outcast.

In this situation, are Pluto and Mars BOTH the beggars, so intent on their own material needs that they overlook the spirit that might make them one? Is one the outsider, the other, that warm holy light that shines from the church windows. How do they each feel about the other? It might be that to answer these questions collectively we need to answer them within ourselves individually.

In the next installment of this series I will look at some of the planets that aspect this opposition and how they might participate in the testimonies given within it. This is a great astrological event and, however it plays out, we will surely learn much about ourselves and our relationship to the collective.