Transiting Pluto Retrograde @ 1° Aquarius in the 4th House (AEST)

When Pluto turns retrograde in the 4th house, life slows down and invites us to pause. Retrogrades are nature’s way of asking us to look back, review, and untangle the deeper programming we absorbed early on within our family dynamic, as we took on paradigms passed down from DNA that shaped us while in Utero.

In Aquarius, Pluto ignites a firestorm of radical ideas, dismantling stale traditions and breaking through the limitations of conventional family conditioning. This is a rebirth energy: a push to innovate, to envision a new future that doesn’t repeat old cycles. With Pluto's position in the house of Cancer, the echo of patterns from around two years old may resurface. Reflect on what was unfolding in your home and family life then, and you may see the thread of a story still quietly influencing your current behavior.

With Mars in hard aspect, this is the toilet training stage, where we either felt supported or helpless to control our body and environment. This is also the beginning of the two-year-old tantrum stage, where asserting our identity begins. This is Martian energy, and with Pluto's involvement, there may be explosions or tantrums.

The 4th house is emotional territory, the foundation of our roots, and the seat of our security. Our ability to succeed out in the world (Capricorn) is based on how safe our 2-3.5-year experience was.

Here, planetary voices can get stuck in loops of old wounds. But this retrograde is an opportunity to reroute those feelings, to consciously shift them into perspectives that heal and empower. There are simple, practical tools you can use to alchemize those buried emotions into a new direction and personal freedom.

Pallas Athene’s presence nearby adds fuel to this process, offering strategy, vision, and the courage to break free from outdated restraints. She’s whispering the blueprint of empowerment. If you’re willing to do the work, she helps you weave your way forward.

Pluto doesn’t arrive quietly. In a square to Mars in the 1st house, the tension is palpable. Mars wants action, Pluto demands transformation, and together they can erupt like fireworks. The ego may feel challenged. Old resentments within the family system may surface. The task here is to resist the urge to lash out; pause before reacting, speak your truth, and release long-buried anger before it calcifies into dis-ease. Cancer, bowel and reproductive problems, and blood issues are the most common with repressed Mars and Pluto energy.

The 4th house also carries the imprint of family and the father. Expect old disagreements, power struggles, or unspoken hurts to bubble up. This is an invitation to resolve, not destroy. Try to lean into resolution rather than rigidly “burning” anyone who opposes you. When handled consciously, this period becomes a gateway to deeper healing, authentic connection, and a more liberated definition of home and belonging.

Our karmic or blood family, as I like to call them, are the ones we contract with in spirit to learn about the hidden parts of self and our perspectives. They are not pleasant a lot of the time; their purpose is to cause enough chaos to inflict the pain required to bring about change in the programming.

Our soul family is another story, and perhaps I will cover that later in the week.