Pluto’s 5-Month Retrograde in Capricorn Is Like the Cosmic Version of Broccoli Before Dessert

Get ready to think about your life on a grand scale, folks. On Saturday, April 30, Pluto goes retrograde in Capricorn, where it’ll remain until October 6—and those five-plus months will be marked by a pronounced uptick in introspective energy. Since Pluto is the planet of rebirth and transformation and retrogrades are a time to slow down and reflect, Pluto retrograde transits serve as an opportunity to take an audit of your life and let go of that which no longer serves you. With this particular Pluto retrograde being in goal- and structure-oriented Capricorn, these next five months may have folks contemplating what feels necessary and what feels needlessly restricting in their life—all in an attempt to achieve true sovereignty.

Because Pluto is a generational planet, meaning that it’s located further out from Earth than other planets and has impacts on a large group of people instead of just a select few, this planet’s retrograde is likely to have a collective impact rather than an individual one, meaning many folks are likely to experience its energy in similar ways.

“Pluto in Capricorn has to do with transformation of systems around the shared ideal of success and accomplishment.” —astrologer Ocean Pleasant

“A Pluto [retrograde] transit asks one simple question: What part of you or your life can no longer remain the same?” says astrologer Ocean Pleasant. “Specifically, Pluto in Capricorn has to do with transformation of systems around the shared ideal of success and accomplishment.”

So, what makes you feel accomplished and successful? Read on to learn Pleasant’s three tips for coming out of Pluto retrograde in Capricorn as a 2.0 version of yourself.

3 tips to thrive during Pluto retrograde in Capricorn, according to an astrologer

1. Consider how you can truly be independent

“There’s nothing that Capricorn energy desires more than true independence and freedom to do whatever they want based on what they’ve earned,” says Pleasant. With that in mind, this Pluto retrograde, then, is bringing people to pose questions like:

• What do I need to be a truly sovereign being?
• Do I need to change my patterns?
• Do I need to quit my job?
• Do I need to tell others to stop projecting their life goals onto me?

Whatever those answers are, you can’t go wrong if you’re honest with yourself—provided that your actions match those responses.

2. Be honest about what you want to change

“Pluto is associated with Scorpio, the psyche, and the ability to go really deep and do the shadow work,” says Pleasant. “This is an opportunity to get really clear about any skeletons in the closet as well as anything energetically unresolved that’s backseat-driving your life.”

Each zodiac sign has its respective shadow sides, which are the traits that may manifest in not-so-great ways. Pleasant says that Pluto retrograde in Capricorn marks a great time for folks to explore their shadow sides, which you can do by revisiting any hard conversations that you feel went unresolved or making changes that you’ve been thinking about over the last few months.

3. Revisit your definition of success

It’s no secret that all people are different, and as such, success can look quite different for many folks. For some, it might come in the form of being a mega star who’s touring the world. Others might define success as simply being able to provide for their family. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what the vision is. What matters, especially during a Pluto retrograde in Capricorn, is that you’re honest about what success means to you, specifically.

“If there needs to be a rebirth in your own approach to what accomplishment looks like, maybe it’s time for you to take a gap year, switch careers, or be comfortable living outside the expectations of success that were placed on you by your family or community,” says Pleasant.

Because of what the planet represents, some folks might think of Pluto as a scary or hard planet to work with, says Pleasant, adding that this might lead those same people to shy away from engaging with Plutonian energy. But, to be sure, that’s not the best strategy.

“Transits that talk about transformation and rebirth are just as essential to our evolution as the fun, pleasant, enjoyable, abundant transits, like Jupiter [the planet of luck and expansion],” Pleasant says. “But you can’t have a diet of just dessert. We all want to jump to dessert, but we know deep down we have to eat the broccoli first [in order to feel our greatest].” Consider Pluto retrograde in Capricorn to be your broccoli before dessert.

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