Article by Naomi Bennett, USA

There has been a long 84 year (one Uranus cycle) debate over Mars and Pluto since the discovery of Pluto in 1930. It is the one discovered planet that is still being argued over as to whether it rules, Scorpio or Aries. My vote is Aries which I clearly demonstrated in my article, Why Hellenistic Planetary Order. Carl Payne Tobey used the word ‘mate signs’ because in the old Hellenistic order, Mars ruled both Scorpio and Aries. There is a reason why these two are so similar and why they are still confused by astrologers. The other outer planets of Uranus and Neptune have not held this kind of confusion since the nature of Uranus-Aquarius is very different than Saturn-Capricorn. The nature of Neptune-Pisces is very different from the nature of Jupiter-Sagittarius. It has been easy to distinguish these differences by astrologers. Not so with Pluto and Mars because the nature of Scorpio and Aries is strongly associated with violence, jealousy and military actions.

I will be quoting from Tobey and some of my prior articles next but please remember that the nature of Mars and Scorpio is the. same just as the nature of Pluto and Aries is the same. So if the reference is to Aries, I am still discussing the nature of Pluto and if the reference is to Scorpio, I am still discussing the nature of Mars.

Both planets have drive, but Mars/Scorpio is an emotional (water) drive while the drive of Pluto/Aries is vital (fire) and from the spirit. Pluto/Aries initiates while Mars/Scorpio reacts. Pluto/Aries can burn but Mars/Scorpio can boil. Both of these planets are the aggressive and impulsive but both have executive ability. They are alike and yet they are different. Family or group loyalty is characteristic of Mars/Scorpio, while Pluto/Aries is more individualistic, independent, daring and venturesome. Mars/Scorpio must be a part of something, while Pluto/Aries must lead or go it alone. Tobey said:

“They are always active. There is plenty to do and they are doing it. They can accomplish an enormous amount of work, whether it is physical or another kind. They live in the present, although Aries may have its mind somewhat on the future, and Scorpio is not entirely free of the past. This has more to do with the unconscious realms, however. Consciously, both will be living the NOW. Aries isn’t bothered by the past the way so many people are, because of its conviction that it is going to make the future what it wants it to be, and a lot better. Aside from all else, Aries needs its hobbies. Another characteristic difference between Aries and Scorpio is that Scorpio cannot hide its feelings. The sign is too emotional for that, but Aries can completely conceal what its feelings really are. It is too proud to allow other people to know it can be hurt. It is not inclined to let other people know it needs them. It can always find a way of going it alone if necessary, and in that way preserve its pride Aries finds it easy to break away from its heredity, while Scorpio is the reverse. Aries may break away from the family early in order to get started producing its own family, which it will own by itself…The reaction of Mars is passionate and instantaneous. The reaction of Pluto is slow and determined, but both may be violent in the end.”

Pluto/Aries is the pioneer. It cannot be a follower. Business pioneers come out of this sign. They want to create something new and original. Aries wants to be Chairman of the Board or Chief Executive Officer. Aries will move to a smaller organization in order to be the boss. He must be the ultimate authority with no one to override his ideas or goals. They treat the company employees like children, to take their orders and to seek their guidance. They demand loyalty of their subordinates. They have an unconscious drive to bring new heredity into the family. In youth, they have strong ideas and plans for the future. They tend to leave home early to be independent of authority. They want to create their own family as they envision their future. They tend to marry others of another race or culture. They are unconscious trying to create diversity with a new gene pool. This is why Pluto/Aries is associated with children and risk taking.

They are trying to create a new generation and they project this into their business efforts too. They like children and in general want to have children but they can have many problems with their children. They have problems letting their children grow up independently. Pluto/Aries knows what is best, and children or the spouse or their subordinates need to follow them. They unconsciously want to mold their partners into their personal ideal of a spouse. They may want to influence their appearance by giving clothes, jewelry or other gifts. So that the Pluto/Aries person is proud of them, the other reflects on themselves. If Pluto is afflicted, it can lead to obsessive or compulsive behavior. They cannot let go and thoughts or beliefs can drive them into extreme behavior. I had a client that had a very strong Pluto transit. She had been rejected by a lover. He had since married another but she could not mentally let him go. She was out of options so she sued him in court, just to get his attention. Pluto/Aries will not tolerate competition, they must be first in all things.

It’s very hard to be a loser for them. Loyalty means that the Pluto/Aries person must be placed first in the mind of others. They have incredible will power, can withstand pain and will fight against illness or disease. In another relationship that was very new, the girlfriend had a vacation planned to visit her father. The boyfriend became ill and was hospitalized for a week. It was not life threatening. But the Aries boyfriend was offended that she still took her trip, he thought he should have been first in her actions. With jealousy and possessiveness for the Pluto/Aries type, the retaliation against the other will be planned in cold blood with a controlled response. Sex is given deliberately, for loyalty from the spouse. The sex drive can be controlled and consciously given.

In contrast, Mars/Scorpio is not the lone wolf like Pluto/Aries. They are loyal to their family and their past heredity. They are likely to work in the family business, or be a middle level executive. As an executive, Scorpio becomes emotionally attached with loyalty to his employer and employees. Scorpio is great as Vice President or Senior Vice President. They like being part of the team in a company. They expect loyalty from their staff but they give it too. They want to protect the family whether it’s by blood relationship or the corporate team. They are secretive when secrecy is needed. They can delegate authority. The higher nature of Mars/Scorpio is the Eagle (family protector/executive) and the lower nature is the Scorpion or Snake. They can have a quick temper but if proven wrong, they are quick to make up for their mistake. Jealousy and possessiveness can be the difficult part of their nature that they can struggle against. But they know to direct their anger to those that are submissive to them. A great saying is that ‘when the boss yells to them, they go home and yell at the spouse, the spouse yells at the child, and the child kicks the dog.’ Anger and power runs downhill.

They will likely marry someone acceptable to the family or at least someone with a similar background. It is planet and sign of sex, the second most basic innate drive after the hunger drive. But because of our cultural norms, sex can be associated with guilt. Sex can be a difficult issue for them; it’s a driving force that is always with them. Mars/Scorpio rules the sex organs and if the natal is badly afflicted, they can be prone to surgery. Mars/Scorpio rule surgery and surgeons. They can be good plastic surgeons since they have an instinct about sexual attraction that their patients want to enhance. Scorpio war-like qualities are more about domestic violence and family disputes. Scorpio is about crimes of passion when the emotions overwhelm logic and anger finds a vent in drastic action. It’s the impulse to stab with a knife, choke or beat a spouse, or ultimately kill in an act of impulsive passion.

In World War II, General MacArthur was effectively fired by President Truman for his Aries like qualities of running the postwar Pacific theater his way and ignoring Truman. Whereas, General Patton was a Scorpio of passion that cussed up a blue streak, cared deeply for the troops under him, wore pearl handled revolvers but ultimately followed the chain of command.

One way to verify these principles of rulership is to look at personality characteristics of individuals with Mars or Pluto near the Ascendant. Observation of them and asking key questions can lead to whether they express Scorpio or Aries characteristics.

Three prominent charts of famous people come to mind as an example of this principle. President Bill Clinton is a Sun in Leo, Moon in Taurus with Libra rising. His data is 8-19-46, 8:51 am CST, Hope, AK, 33n40, 93s35. He has Mars and Neptune very near the Ascendant. He doesn’t look like Libra, which has an oval face, thin body. Clinton didn’t look Leo either with a face that is angular with prominent facial characteristics. However, he definitely looks like a water sign (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) with rounded fleshly body. Scorpio tends to be reddish in the face, have a quick temper, and be very sexually oriented. Bill Clinton has fought two sex scandals about his presidency with prior behavior as Governor of Arkansas, one of which still lurked in the background as president. He is noted for his quick temper in private. He broke a chair in the White House when he smashed it during an outburst. He didn’t repeat that move again when he was sent the bill for antique repairs. He definitely has executive abilities that are Scorpio in nature, not Aries. He inspires loyalty in others, and gives it back to his subordinates and his political party. The USA rarely elects an Aries president, they are not loyal to their political party to get their backing but the USA has had several Scorpio presidents.

Christopher Reeve was born with Sun in Libra, Moon in Sagittarius and Leo rising with Pluto on the Ascendant. His data is 9-25-52, 3:30 am, New York, NY. He was an actor and a sports enthusiast in many sports. He was competing in horse jumping on 5-27-95 when his horse stopped abruptly before a jump. He landed on his head and severed his spinal cord. He was confined to a wheelchair without movement below his neck. Aries is strongly associated with sports, horse racing, athletic ability, competitiveness and it rules the head. Reeve certainly expressed strong Aries characteristics and it’s common for Aries to have head injuries since that is the part of that body that Aries/Pluto rules. The Aries qualities in Reeve’s natal chart come from Pluto on the Ascendant.

Another Aries was Jayne Mansifeld who had Sun, Venus and Uranus conjunct in Aries. Her data is 4-19-33, 9:11 am, Lower Merion, PA, 39n59 75w15. She was a famous sex kitten movie star in the 50s. She died in a violent car accident late at night on 6-29-67 and was decapitated. Again, note the association of Aries with head injuries. Her chart had the added impulsiveness of Uranus that is associated with speed and racing cars. This powerful conjunction was the source of her sexual attractiveness with Venus conjunct the Sun.

Dennis Harness, a nationally known Jyotish astrologer, was born with Pluto on the Ascendant. He said “Being born with natal Pluto conjunct my ascendant and living in Sedona, an hour away from the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona where Pluto was discovered; has made it personally difficult to ignore Pluto’s powerful presence. By the age of two I had experienced three near-death traumas including a difficult birth and a near fatal car accident. In 1990, the death of my Father occurred during Pluto’s transit over my natal Saturn (a significator of father for night births in traditional Hellenistic and Vedic astrology). We all have our intense Pluto stories to share! These personal experiences of death themes have made it impossible for me to discount the effect of powerful Pluto in the natal chart or by transit. For me, to ignore Pluto would be akin to ‘sticking the proverbial head in the sand.’ ”

Harness also said that in 1994, the renowned Hindu astrologer and Vedic Narendra Desai spoke about the importance of the outer planets. “According to Mr. Desai, he saw an ancient Vasistha Nadi palm leaf in a museum in Madras, India, which predicted that three important grahas or planets would be discovered by the jyotishis of the Kali Yuga.”

Mundane

If we turn to world events and major trends in our culture, the transit of Pluto across the zodiac signs can indicate its nature too. Tobey said: “If you study wars and their beginnings, you won’t find the planet Mars too important. There are far more important factors. Wars, on a 20th Century basis, is not Mars…If you have a fight with your wife, that kind of war might better fit in with Mars. If you want to know why a woman permits her husband to beat her up one moment and love her the next, consult Mars.”

Regarding war and Aries, Carl Tobey points out, “Pluto was square the Lunar Nodes and the natal Sun of Hitler in September 1930 when he opened W.W.II, but it was also in opposition to the natal Sun of FDR, which was squared by the Lunar Nodes. Hitler had built the greatest army and the greatest air force, but Roosevelt simply built bigger ones. Lenin, the real father of Communism had the Sun in Aries. Pluto in Taurus ruled his sun-sign. The modern dictator who appears to have made his appearance as Pluto crossed the ecliptic. Nazism was Hitler’s child. Fascism was the child of Mussolini. The whole conception of regimentation is Plutonian. The masses are treated as children. The Nazi regime was supposed to be guided by one man’s intuition. The mass murders in Germany and Poland by the Nazis and the Communists are Plutonian murders. In a way, this may be said of all public executions, although by now they may have become merely a matter of habit or law.”

On the mundane side of world events, Pluto-Aries is strongly associated with massive death, mechanized war and organized violence. The Holocaust was a Pluto/Aries event, genocide is a Pluto event. Mafia and organized crime is of a Pluto/Aries nature. Violence is carried out in cold premediated planning, the same as military attacks are planned.

Pluto has been associated with wide spread plagues. AIDS came into world wide attention with Pluto in Scorpio. This is definitely a modern plague (Pluto) that is sexually (Scorpio) transmitted. But if we associate massive death, war and destruction with Aries, then this period of Pluto in Scorpio should have other Aries-like characteristics. Aries is associated with children and the younger generation, so what are the trends with children? Tobey said: “You find Pluto in the gang leader, and you find it in child gangs. It means protection for the group against all other groups. Pluto’s murders are carried out according to plan, by the group, in a cold-blooded fashion.”

During this period of 1984-1995, the USA and Europe have experience an unprecedented increase in child crimes while Pluto was in Scorpio. Juveniles have been shooting and stabbing each other in school. Many inner city schools now have metal detectors. Gang warfare in the streets had increased tenfold and the biggest change had been the recruitment of inner city youth in the 8-9 year old range. Drug dealers reached down to the elementary school level for street sellers and auto thieves because of lenient juvenile justice systems. Juvenile laws that were designed to protect wayward youths were now used by organized crime to their advantage. Juveniles had been murdering and committing felonies to a greater degree than ever before. The biggest complaint of the police is that juveniles are released from custody within two to three hours after their arrest. They are back on the streets before the officer can finish filing his report.

The Gallup poll published in December 1995 stated that 3 million children are physically abused in the USA by their parents and 1.3 million children have been sexually abused. There is a connection between these trends of ethnic cleansing, juvenile violence and gang activities and child abuse. They all cry out for the combined effects of Aries and Scorpio. Aries is the sign associated with children and offspring. Scorpio is about the sex drive expressed out in many forms. The Russian Mafia has been the most feared group in Europe for their ruthless tactics. Does this period of Pluto in Scorpio sound like pure Scorpio energy that the majority of astrologers adhere to? Or is Scorpio mixed with Aries (ruled by Pluto) when Aries is associated with children, youth gangs, organized crime, mass death in modern war, and plagues? I think the behavior of youth and the scandals involving child abuse like incest definitely points to the Aries factor in these cultural events while Pluto was in Scorpio. Please note that this generation of youth are now 6-19 years of age in 2014. They are going through our school systems now. They are bringing violence into the schools with mass shootings of fellow students. There was a particularly violent period this April through June 2014 with shootings with this age group in the USA.

We have just finished the transit of Pluto through Sagittarius (1995-2008) and Pluto entered Capricorn permanently in 2008. National criminal statistics in 1996 show a reduction in youthful offenders. During the transit of Pluto in Sagittarius we saw the disclosure of the sexual abuse of children by the Catholic priesthood (Sagittarius) and their long term cover up. We also read about the scandal/exposure of Swiss Banks holding back monies rightly belonging to the adult children that survived the Holocaust in WWII. American Jews were able to use the US Government to pressure the Swiss banks into giving restitution to these surviving children that are now quite elderly. In addition, we saw the formations of meg-banks, too big to fail. Pluto in Sagittarius is a lot like Pluto/Jupiter, expansion to excess. The Stock Market had its largest rise in history during this period. We also witnessed a new disease plague, the increase of Hepatitis C, which affected the liver (Jupiter). Just this year, scientists have developed a cure.

Now since a brief time in 2007 and again in 2008, Pluto has entered Capricorn (2008-2024). The economic bubble has been broken especially from August to October 2008. Debt is collapsing and banks, insurance companies and investment companies had to be rescued by governments on the back of taxpayers. Debts as of 2011 are being shuffled around and the real purge has not happened. It is a jobless recovery, a recovery only for large business. The Arab Spring started in January 2011 with Tunisia and Egypt with a cluster of planets in tropical Aries (youth), especially Uranus (change/revolution). It continues in Libya and Syria but is being suppressed in at least 4 other Arab nations. This is a time when governments and institutions will be purged and re-formed. There are riots and protests all over Europe with belt tightening measures. US cities and states are just beginning to cut and restrict services, especially schools and universities.

The youth around the world are the most under employed. Much pain is still ahead of us. The US Dollar is being inflated to wash away the debt but also impoverish the people with reduced buying power. The news claims an economic recovery for 2013-14 but it’s the large financial institutions and big business that has recovered. The jobs are not being created. Minimum wages are below the poverty line. We have the working poor. The rich are richer, while the middle class is disappearing. Retirees cannot live on their savings; there is no income at 0.5%. Prices for goods and services have risen while the Federal Reserve and other world banks just prints more money. Most political parties are in gridlock, unable to make changes during the seven squares of Pluto to Uranus from 2012-2015.

This period of April to June 2014 had a grand cross of Mars squaring Pluto and opposing Uranus with Jupiter completing the cross in April. It had two more factors, a solar eclipse in late April and transiting Mars became retrograde. These aspects heavily affected the charts of the German Prime Minister Angela Merkel and Russian President Putin. At the same time Mars then went retrograde in Libra. In late February, Russian troops took Crimea and invaded Ukraine. They have stayed there and when Mars turned direct, there was more aggression. The USA and the EU wanted economic sanctions but German business will lose 30% of their economic business with Russia. That put Merkel between a rock and a hard spot.

Just this week (15 June 2014) with the transit of Mars squaring Pluto in early June 2014, there were people in Ireland that wanted to expose Catholic nuns for killing and burying newborns from out of wedlock women in the past (that was very Mars/Pluto with illicit sex and the killing of offspring). These past two weeks as Tr Mars again formed a square to Tr Pluto to pass over the 10-16 Cardinal signs we see the brutal aggression of ISIS Sunnis are invading Iraq from Syria, killing Shiites in mass executions and heading to Bagdad to take control of the country.

The Iraq soldiers are stripping off their uniforms, running away and leaving all the military guns and equipment (left by the USA) for ISIS and the feared and fearsome leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (b.1971). The USA is being challenged to align itself with Iran! Iran is mostly Sunni and is needed to fight against this Sunni invasion by ISIS. This current Mars square Pluto event is aspecting the USA’s foundation chart of 4 July 1776 with Sun square Saturn in these Cardinal degrees. The USA is being asked by Iraq to help defend her. We are being asked to reverse our position with Iran. What does this do to the balance of power in the Middle East and Israel?

This Arab Middle East issue goes all the way back to the original division of the Ottoman Empire by the French and British in a secret Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916. The agreement was exposed by Russia on 28 November 1917. The current transit of Pluto square Uranus (2012-2015) is activating the chart of 1916.

This Sykes-Picot Agreement was created under a Mars opposition Uranus. Note that natal Saturn is 13 Cancer. This last Grand Square in April 2014 was on these degrees in the Cardinal signs. Now when Tr Mars turned direct to re-activate these points, ISIS has invaded Iraq. The diary notes of Lloyd George from 1919 explains this agreement with an original map.

Zones of French (blue), British (red) and Russian (green) influence and control established by the Sykes–Picot Agreement.

Tribal relationships were ignored by this agreement partly because of World War I in Europe and the pre-planning for a Jewish Zion area. In some ways, ISIS is trying to align the area by tribal interests. Looking back to 2012, the conflict in Syria coincided with the seven Uranus-Pluto squares. ISIS got its start in Iraq and then grew in influence during the Syrian conflict. Now it’s trying to merge Iraq into one territory. “The agreement is seen by many as a turning point in Western-Arab relations. It did negate the promises made to Arabs through Colonel T. E. Lawrence for a national Arab homeland in the area of Greater Syria, in exchange for their siding with British forces against the Ottoman Empire. Almost 100 years later (2014), the jihadist organization ISIS uses Sykes-Picot as their rallying cry and have conquered Mosul and parts of northern Syria to form an Arab Caliphate along sectarian lines rather than definitions of European diplomats.” There is much more conflict ahead. The New York Times writer Ross Douthat wrote this week:

“with the shocking advance of militants toward Baghdad, there are now three states in what we call Iraq: one Kurdish, one Shiite and one Sunni — with the last straddling the Iraq-Syria border and ‘governed’ by jihadists. This means that Iraq is now part of an arc, extending from Hezbollah’s fiefdom in Lebanon through war-torn Syria, in which official national borders are notional at best. What’s more, we pretty clearly lack both the will and the capacity to change them. Our basic interests have not altered: better stability now, better the Sykes-Picot borders with all their flaws, than the very distant promise of a postconflict Middle Eastern map. But two successive administrations [Bush and Obama] have compromised those interests: one through recklessness, the other through neglect. Now the map is changing; now, as in early-20th-century Europe, the price of transformation is being paid in blood.”

How will children be affected by Pluto in Capricorn? What will be the new disease or will it be militant authority? If there is a new plague, more than likely it will involve the bones and joints (Capricorn). But what will be the trend for youth? They are becoming deeply indebted and it will keep them from achieving the life style of their parents. I have not yet seen a clear trend regarding youth at this point except for the Arab Spring and the 99% protests, but I encourage all astrologers to look for it since Pluto/Aries involves children.

About Author: Naomi Bennett has practiced astrology since 1970 and is currently President of the Astrological Society of Austin, TX. She has a B.S. in Psychology, had an 11 year career in computer sales with Fortune 500 companies and 15 years as a RE investor. She teaches astrology as a branch of sacred geometry and advises clients. Quarterly mundane and financial forecasts are on YouTube at naomibennett360 and she has a new book coming in 2014.

Mars and Pluto Rulers of Mate Signs by Naomi Bennett