Pluto Retrograde 2024: What Is It and What It Means for You This Year

Every year, for anywhere between five and six months, Pluto goes into retrograde. The longer annual retrogrades of the outer planets like Pluto, Uranus, and Neptune do not shake things up in the same immediate or urgent way as a Mercury retrograde. The retrogrades of these slow-moving planets affect more subtle changes. They help us internalize and process the external lessons we learn when the planets are direct.

What Happens When a Planet Goes Retrograde?

During a retrograde, a planet appears to go backward in its orbit. However, it isn’t really moving in reverse. Forward orbital motion in our solar system is called prograde, but we don’t often refer to it that way. Retrogrades are a recognized phenomenon in both astronomy and astrology.

Retrogrades happen for the same reason that a slow-moving train or car in a traffic jam may appear to go backward. If you are passing a moving object and moving faster than the other object, it sometimes looks like it is going in reverse. So planets appear to be moving backward simply due to our perspective from Earth whenever we pass them, or when they pass us in the cases of faster moving Mercury and Venus.

How Do Retrogrades Affect Astrology?

Early astrologers believed that planets traversed the underworld to absorb information and lessons about life (and death) during a retrograde. Today, we still believe that retrogrades are a good time to take it slow, consider things before taking decisive action, and integrate lessons.

Some people recommend staying home, avoiding starting new projects, and avoiding making new commitments for a retrograde period, especially Mercury retrogrades. However, several planets are in retrograde for nearly half the year, and they may not be in retrograde at the same time. So, are you supposed to just take it easy all the time? That may not be possible. It’s best to think of these longer retrogrades as a reminder to give yourself space and do plenty of self-care to make sure you’re able to embody the lessons of your life.

2024 Pluto Retrograde Dates and Meaning

This year, Pluto will be in retrograde from May 2 until October 11. This will cause the planet to swing from its new home of Aquarius back into Capricorn for a few months at the end of the year.

Pluto has been flirting with this sign change since March 23, 2023. It remained in Capricorn from 2008 to 2023, with its transformational powers causing social unrest in the very structures of our society. In March of last year, it made its first shift into Aquarius, giving us a taste of what is to come. However, it only stayed there until June, before its 2023 retrograde brought it back to Capricorn. It shifted back to Aquarius in January of 2024, where it will stay until it makes one last dip into Capricorn during this year’s retrograde, on September 1, 2024. After leaving the sea-goat sign on November 23, 2024, it will remain in Aquarius for nearly 20 years, and will not return to Capricorn for another 250 years or so.

This makes both the 2023 and 2024 Pluto retrogrades a bit more unique and possibly more intense, especially for people who have placements right along the boundary between Aquarius and Capricorn. The planet of transformation, digging up truths, the taboo, and the underworld keeps traversing the same spot, which could be a bit like rubbing salt in the wound. With Pluto, the transformations are always for the best, as long as you are working on yourself, but the path to transformation is rarely easy.

As a planet, Pluto deals with awareness of power differentials, manipulation, toxic behaviors, and secrets. During a Pluto retrograde, you may notice and examine or question your own behaviors, and come to realize a difficult truth about yourself. You may also notice behaviors in others that cause you to make drastic changes to your relationships.

The retrogrades of the outer planets are more subtle. You may not notice chaos like in a Mercury retrograde. However, big internal shifts can happen before you know it.

Which Signs Will be Most Affected By the 2024 Pluto Retrograde?

People with late-degree Capricorn placements and early-degree Aquarius placements will feel this retrograde most strongly. If you have other placements that form a strong aspect to transiting Pluto, you may also feel this one. If either of these is you, reflect on the themes of the past few years as Pluto has been dancing around this critical spot in your chart. You may want to refer back to the other dates of Pluto’s retrogrades and dances from Capricorn into Aquarius to notice a pattern that unlocks the key of Pluto’s lessons.

What to Avoid During Pluto Retrograde

Because Pluto retrograde lasts nearly 6 months of the year, it’s not possible to avoid things like traveling or signing a contract, as it is with its much shorter cousin Mercury retrograde. The things to avoid during a Pluto retrograde are more conceptual.

• Avoid telling other people’s secrets. Pluto generally inspires us to keep things under lock and key. When it goes into retrograde you may feel a little more loose-lipped. It’s fine to share your own secrets, but keep others’ to yourself.
• Avoid manipulating others. People with very Pluto-forward charts (Scorpio rising, 1st House Pluto, or Sun conjunct Pluto), need to heed this warning more than others. During this time, people’s awareness of power games is heightened. If you are doing something manipulative, its effects will harm your relationships much more than when Pluto is direct.
• Avoid unfounded accusations. As previously mentioned, Pluto retrograde can make us more internally aware of power differences and manipulation. This may cause you to accuse people of being manipulative or playing power games when they are not. Call people out, but make sure to evaluate and investigate your hunches first.

What to Focus on During Pluto Retrograde

• Allow endings to flow. Endings are part of transformation. These endings may be painful, but they are part of the leveling-up process.
• Rely on your community. Going through transformations and transitions is hard. Sometimes Pluto has us believing we must endure this pain by ourselves. But you do have people you can rely on. Turn to them to help you get through any hard times.
• Think over your finances. Pluto is sometimes related to money, especially money that is related to underground sources, whether that is literal or metaphorical, and other people’s money, especially inheritances acquired after someone’s death. Pluto retrograde is a good time to look everything over and make financial changes if needed.

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