By Ash, Naturopath and Medical Astrologer, Kalamunda, Perth Hills
For the next twenty years, Pluto makes his way through Aquarius. In medical astrology, Pluto governs some of the most foundational aspects of our biology: DNA, deep transformative change, hidden cellular shifts, the excretory system (through his Scorpio co-rulership), the pituitary gland and its governance of growth hormones, poisons, toxins, the subconscious will to survive, and the impulse to procreate. Intense themes. Live or die, purge or poison, adapt or perish. Extremes, always.
When we look at Pluto’s transit through Aquarius, we examine these themes on the grandest possible scale: the whole of humanity. I want to explore Aquarius in some depth here, and even though I’m a medical astrologer, I’ll be weaving in what might seem like non-medical associations. Bear with me. It will make sense.
Saturn, the traditional ruler of Aquarius, governs structure, government, discipline, systems, hierarchy, limitation, and karma, the principle that we reap what we sow. In medical astrology, Saturn shows us where energy is constricted, where chronic conditions may arise, and where the body tends toward cold and dry. Uranus, the modern ruler, is erratic, rebellious, and visionary. The mad genius of the cosmos. Scientific, innovative, detached yet deeply connected. In medical astrology, Uranus indicates where we might find spasm and erratic electrical activity in the body.
Aquarius itself rules the circulatory system, the blood, nerve impulses, mitochondria, biorhythms, meridians, and chakras: all the patterns by which energy flows through the body. When Pluto enters this territory, nothing about our energetic architecture goes untouched.
I once heard astrologer Austin Coppock describe watching Pluto move through the zodiac as knowing, with certainty, that wherever he goes, that is where the horror show on earth will be. It’s a striking way to put it. But it’s also honest.
Through Aquarius, I am immediately drawn to one theme above all others: the effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) on the human body, and the potential for profound disruption of our energetic systems, our meridians, our heart rhythms, our subtle energy fields. Wi-Fi towers, smart devices, mobile phones, tablets, smart watches: everything around us is emitting non-native electromagnetic frequencies, at a scale and intensity that is utterly unprecedented in human history.
This is not a prediction, nor a prescription, but what I, as a medical astrologer and pattern-seeker, foresee as a very real possibility.
I see potential for significant health consequences across populations over time. Aquarius rules broad communities, after all; this isn’t individual. I hope with everything in me that I am completely wrong, but the patterns suggest otherwise: disrupted signalling in the body, increased cancer risk, epidemic-level fatigue arising from mitochondrial dysfunction, and the way heavy metals already present in our tissues can act as antennas, amplifying electromagnetic exposure and wreaking havoc on our health.
Then there is what I think of as the era of the bionic human. Implants, microchips, and neural interfaces creating low-grade, constant disruptions to our natural energy systems. Neuralink is the obvious example, sold to us quite Aquarianly as a miracle for those with spinal injuries. But Pluto whispers darker possibilities too. Control. Very Plutonian.
On the subject of fertility: we are becoming significantly less fertile as a species, and at an alarming rate. This transit suggests the possibility of human reproduction being transformed away from the biological, toward something made in a lab. The very procreative drive that Pluto governs, channelled into a test tube.
At its best, Aquarius brings somewhat detached yet deeply pro-humanity advances in medicine and science: breakthroughs that benefit the many. But with Pluto at the helm, those same advances may also cast long shadows, working on us at the most Plutonian of levels. Cellular, mitochondrial, energetic. Deep. Intrinsic. Connected to our physical survival as a species.
Pluto’s transformations are rarely gentle. They tend toward the extreme, the purgative, sometimes the violent. But they always carry within them the seed of renewal, if we can find a way to channel the energy constructively. There is always a path through. A new way forward.
The most foundational principle in medical astrology is learning to work with planetary energies rather than simply being swept along by them. In this case, I would advocate working by antipathy: meeting the intense, erratic, technological, electricity-disrupting forces of Pluto in Aquarius with their opposite.
Go outside! Get vitamin D. The opposite sign to Aquarius is Leo, ruled by the Sun. Lean into that solar medicine. Connect with nature. Make a garden. Tend it. Buy that plot of land. Grow things with your hands in actual soil. Regulate your biological rhythms with natural light. Watch the sun rise and set. Walk in nature. Step away from the Wi-Fi, the LEDs, and the fluorescent lights. Stop wearing those dumb smart watches. Accumulate electrons by grounding barefoot in nature. Go to the beach. Stand on the earth. Eat real vegetables, and use herbal medicine as part of your daily practice. Saturn wants structure and systems; Uranus wants sudden, dramatic change. Build structures in your life, daily rhythms and natural routines, that serve your health rather than your screen time.
This is not a call to flee modern society. That would be running from reality. But we have the capacity to balance these energies, to move through this next twenty years without being entirely at the mercy of what Pluto can, at his most extreme, deliver. Nature may be our most potent medicine right now.
Get the chickens. Build the deck. Tend the garden. It’s not small. It’s actually everything.
This post is written from the perspective of medical astrology and naturopathic philosophy. It is not intended as medical advice. Please consult a qualified health practitioner for any health concerns.