There’s a prevailing myth in the personal development world that transformation is an instant result that can be achieved at a weekend seminar or over the span of a 7 week program.
In truth, transformation is much slower process. It happens gradually, in small, sometimes imperceptible steps. You dig in layers, excavating one layer at a time. You keep returning to the same issue repeatedly until suddenly, after many passes, you’ve transformed how you deal with it.
In the framework of astrology, transformation is the realm of Pluto. As Pluto makes its annual conjunction with the Sun, it marks a moment when we begin a new round of personal excavations that will lead to transformation.
Pluto: Transformation and Power
Pluto speaks to death and rebirth. It represents our deep unconscious, that which hides under the surface. Pluto is the stuff we hide in the shadows, the parts of ourselves that make us uncomfortable.
Archetypically, Pluto is the part of us that can be intense, probing, controlling, and even obsessive. Pluto also relates to issues of power —how we wield it, how we shun it, how we give it away, or how we embrace it.
Sun/Pluto Conjunction: A Light into the Shadows
Once a year, the Sun meets up with Pluto in a conjunction (known as a “cazimi”) (January 23, 2026, 5:28 ET, 3º25’ Aquarius). Like a new moon, the Sun’s meet-up with Pluto marks an end to one cycle and the start of the next cycle between them.
The Sun represents our ego, consciousness, and the light of awareness. As the Sun crosses over Pluto, it shines a light into the shadows, illuminating the unconscious forces and habits that are ready for us to bring to the surface to aid in the next step of our transformation.
This is an invitation to look at what’s uncomfortable, what we keep hidden, and our relationship to our power, so that we can transform it.
The Start of a Slow Process
Contrary to the popular myth, this transformation work is not a once-and-done affair.
The pace of Pluto’s movement tells us a lot about the timeline of transformation.
Pluto moves so slowly that it’s barely noticeable. It’s net forward movement each year is only a few degrees.
It spends weeks at a single degree of the zodiac, and approximately 7 months of the year retrograde. This means that it goes back and forth over the same few degrees several times before moving on for good.
This is what it looks like to work with the unconscious attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that are in Pluto’s realm.
The Pluto Cazimi is when we shine a light on what’s ready to come to the surface. This is a starting point — an invitation to begin this excavatory work.
If you find yourself repeatedly coming back to the same issue, wondering when you’ll finally “transform” it, rest assured that this is exactly how it’s supposed to work.
Pluto is in Aquarius for the next 20 years, and while this part of your life will get a complete overhaul in that time, it won’t happen all at once.
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