By

Naomi Bennett, USA

T
N

aomi Bennett has practiced astrology

since 1970 and is currently President of the

Astrological Society of Austin, TX. She has a
B.S. in Psychology, had an 11 year career in
computer sales with Fortune 500 companies
and 15 years as a RE investor. She teaches
astrology as a branch of sacred geometry and
advises clients. Quarterly mundane and
financial forecasts are on YouTube at
naomibennett360 and she has a new book
coming in 2014.
http://www.learnastrologynow.com

here has been a long 84 year (one

Uranus cycle) debate over Mars and
Pluto since the discovery of Pluto in
1930. It is the one discovered planet
that is still being argued over as to whether it
rules, Scorpio or Aries. My vote is Aries which
I clearly demonstrated in my article, Why
Hellenistic Planetary Order.1 Carl Payne Tobey
used the word mate signs because in the old
Hellenistic order, Mars ruled both Scorpio and
Aries. There is a reason why these two are so
similar and why they are still confused by
astrologers. The other outer planets of Uranus
and Neptune have not held this kind of
confusion since the nature of UranusAquarius is very different than SaturnCapricorn. The nature of Neptune-Pisces is
very different from the nature of JupiterSagittarius. It has been easy to distinguish
these differences by astrologers. Not so with
Pluto and Mars because the nature of Scorpio
and Aries is strongly associated with violence,
jealousy and military actions.

I will be quoting from Tobey and some of my

prior articles next but please remember that
the nature of Mars and Scorpio is the

1 Published in ISAR Journal April 2014 & also in Saptarishis

Astrology Magazine Vol 10

same just as the nature of Pluto and Aries is the same. So if the reference is to Aries, I am still
discussing the nature of Pluto and if the reference is to Scorpio, I am still discussing the nature of
Mars.
Both planets have drive, but Mars/Scorpio is an emotional (water) drive while the drive of
Pluto/Aries is vital (fire) and from the spirit. Pluto/Aries initiates while Mars/Scorpio
reacts. Pluto/Aries can burn but Mars/Scorpio can boil. Both of these planets are the
aggressive and impulsive but both have executive ability. They are alike and yet they are
different. Family or group loyalty is characteristic of Mars/Scorpio, while Pluto/Aries is
more individualistic, independent, daring and venturesome. Mars/Scorpio must be a part of
something, while Pluto/Aries must lead or go it alone. Tobey said:
They are always active. There is plenty to do and they are doing it. They can
accomplish an enormous amount of work, whether it is physical or another kind.
They live in the present, although Aries may have its mind somewhat on the
future, and Scorpio is not entirely free of the past. This has more to do with the
unconscious realms, however. Consciously, both will be living the NOW. Aries
isn't bothered by the past the way so many people are, because of its conviction
that it is going to make the future what it wants it to be, and a lot better. Aside
from all else, Aries needs its hobbies. Another characteristic difference between Aries
and Scorpio is that Scorpio cannot hide its feelings. The sign is too emotional for that,
but Aries can completely conceal what its feelings really are. It is too proud to
allow other people to know it can be hurt. It is not inclined to let other people
know it needs them. It can always find a way of going it alone if necessary, and in
that way preserve its pride Aries finds it easy to break away from its heredity,
while Scorpio is the reverse. Aries may break away from the family early in order
to get started producing its own family, which it will own by itselfThe reaction of
Mars is passionate and instantaneous. The reaction of Pluto is slow and determined, but
2
both may be violent in the end.

luto/Aries is the pioneer. It cannot be a follower. Business pioneers come out of this
sign. They want to create something new and original. Aries wants to be Chairman
of the Board or Chief Executive Officer. Aries will move to a smaller organization in
order to be the boss. He must be the ultimate authority with no one to override his ideas or
goals. They treat the company employees like children, to take their orders and to seek their
guidance. They demand loyalty of their subordinates. They have an unconscious drive to
bring new heredity into the family. In youth, they have strong ideas and plans for the
2 Bennett, Naomi [editor], Carl Payne Tobeys Collected Works on Astrology, Austin, Tx., 1998. p. 123.

future. They tend to leave home early to be independent of authority. They want to create
their own family as they envision their future. They tend to marry others of another race or
culture. They are unconscious trying to create diversity with a new gene pool. This is why
Pluto/Aries is associated with children and risk taking. They are trying to create a new
generation and they project this into their business efforts too. They like children and in
general want to have children but they can have many problems with their children. They
have problems letting their children grow up independently. Pluto/Aries knows what is
best, and children or the spouse or their subordinates need to follow them. They
unconsciously want to mold their partners into their personal ideal of a spouse. They may
want to influence their appearance by giving clothes, jewelry or other gifts. So that the
Pluto/Aries person is proud of them, the other reflects on themselves. If Pluto is afflicted, it
can lead to obsessive or compulsive behavior. They cannot let go and thoughts or beliefs can
drive them into extreme behavior. I had a client that had a very strong Pluto transit. She
had been rejected by a lover. He had since married another but she could not mentally let
him go. She was out of options so she sued him in court, just to get his attention.
Pluto/Aries will not tolerate competition, they must be first in all things. Its very hard to be
a loser for them. Loyalty means that the Pluto/Aries person must be placed first in the mind
of others. They have incredible will power, can withstand pain and will fight against illness
or disease. In another relationship that was very new, the girlfriend had a vacation planned
to visit her father. The boyfriend became ill and was hospitalized for a week. It was not life
threatening. But the Aries boyfriend was offended that she still took her trip, he thought he
should have been first in her actions. With jealousy and possessiveness for the Pluto/Aries
type, the retaliation against the other will be planned in cold blood with a controlled
response. Sex is given deliberately, for loyalty from the spouse. The sex drive can be
controlled and consciously given.

n contrast, Mars/Scorpio is not the lone wolf like Pluto/Aries. They are loyal to their
family and their past heredity. They are likely to work in the family business, or be a
middle level executive. As an executive, Scorpio becomes emotionally attached with
loyalty to his employer and employees. Scorpio is great as Vice President or Senior Vice
President. They like being part of the team in a company. They expect loyalty from their
staff but they give it too. They want to protect the family whether its by blood relationship
or the corporate team. They are secretive when secrecy is needed. They can delegate
authority. The higher nature of Mars/Scorpio is the Eagle (family protector/executive) and
the lower nature is the Scorpion or Snake. They can have a quick temper but if proven
wrong, they are quick to make up for their mistake. Jealousy and possessiveness can be the
difficult part of their nature that they can struggle against. But they know to direct their
anger to those that are submissive to them. A great saying is that when the boss yells to
them, they go home and yell at the spouse, the spouse yells at the child, and the child kicks

the dog. Anger and power runs downhill. They will likely marry someone acceptable to
the family or at least someone with a similar background. It is planet and sign of sex, the
second most basic innate drive after the hunger drive. But because of our cultural norms, sex
can be associated with guilt. Sex can be a difficult issue for them; its a driving force that is
always with them. Mars/Scorpio rules the sex organs and if the natal is badly afflicted, they
can be prone to surgery. Mars/Scorpio rule surgery and surgeons. They can be good plastic
surgeons since they have an instinct about sexual attraction that their patients want to
enhance. Scorpio war-like qualities are more about domestic violence and family disputes.
Scorpio is about crimes of passion when the emotions overwhelm logic and anger finds a
vent in drastic action. Its the impulse to stab with a knife, choke or beat a spouse, or
ultimately kill in an act of impulsive passion.
In World War II, General MacArthur was effectively fired by President Truman for his Aries
like qualities of running the postwar Pacific theater his way and ignoring Truman. Whereas,
General Patton was a Scorpio of passion that cussed up a blue streak, cared deeply for the
troops under him, wore pearl handled revolvers but ultimately followed the chain of
command.
One way to verify these principles of rulership is to look at personality characteristics of
individuals with Mars or Pluto near the Ascendant. Observation of them and asking key
questions can lead to whether they express Scorpio or Aries characteristics.
Three prominent charts of famous people come to mind as an example of this principle.
President Bill Clinton is a Sun in Leo, Moon in Taurus with Libra rising. His data is 8-19-46,
8:51 am CST, Hope, AK, 33n40, 93s35. He has Mars and Neptune very near the Ascendant.
He doesnt look like Libra, which has an oval face, thin body. Clinton didnt look Leo either
with a face that is angular with prominent facial characteristics. However, he definitely
looks like a water sign (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) with rounded fleshly body. Scorpio tends to
be reddish in the face, have a quick temper, and be very sexually oriented. Bill Clinton has
fought two sex scandals about his presidency with prior behavior as Governor of Arkansas,
one of which still lurked in the background as president. He is noted for his quick temper in
private. He broke a chair in the White House when he smashed it during an outburst. He
didnt repeat that move again when he was sent the bill for antique repairs. He definitely has
executive abilities that are Scorpio in nature, not Aries. He inspires loyalty in others, and
gives it back to his subordinates and his political party. The USA rarely elects an Aries
president, they are not loyal to their political party to get their backing but the USA has had
several Scorpio presidents.
Christopher Reeve was born with Sun in Libra, Moon in Sagittarius and Leo rising with Pluto

on the Ascendant. His data is 9-25-52, 3:30 am, New York, NY. He was an actor and a sports
enthusiast in many sports. He was competing in horse jumping on 5-27-95 when his horse
stopped abruptly before a jump. He landed on his head and severed his spinal cord. He was
confined to a wheelchair without movement below his neck. Aries is strongly associated
with sports, horse racing, athletic ability, competitiveness and it rules the head. Reeve
certainly expressed strong Aries characteristics and its common for Aries to have head
injuries since that is the part of that body that Aries/Pluto rules. The Aries qualities in
Reeves natal chart come from Pluto on the Ascendant.
Another Aries was Jayne Mansifeld who had Sun, Venus and Uranus conjunct in Aries. Her
data is 4-19-33, 9:11 am, Lower Merion, PA, 39n59 75w15. She was a famous sex kitten movie
star in the 50s. She died in a violent car accident late at night on 6-29-67 and was decapitated.
Again, note the association of Aries with head injuries. Her chart had the added
impulsiveness of Uranus that is associated with speed and racing cars. This powerful
conjunction was the source of her sexual attractiveness with Venus conjunct the Sun.
Dennis Harness, a nationally known Jyotish astrologer, was born with Pluto on the
Ascendant. He said Being born with natal Pluto conjunct my ascendant and living in Sedona, an
hour away from the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona where Pluto was discovered; has made
it personally difficult to ignore Plutos powerful presence. By the age of two I had experienced three
near-death traumas including a difficult birth and a near fatal car accident. In 1990, the death of my
Father occurred during Plutos transit over my natal Saturn (a significator of father for night births in
traditional Hellenistic and Vedic astrology). We all have our intense Pluto stories to share! These
personal experiences of death themes have made it impossible for me to discount the effect of powerful
Pluto in the natal chart or by transit. For me, to ignore Pluto would be akin to sticking the proverbial
3
head in the sand.
Harness also said that in 1994, the renowned Hindu astrologer and Vedic Narendra Desai
spoke about the importance of the outer planets. According to Mr. Desai, he saw an ancient
Vasistha Nadi palm leaf in a museum in Madras, India, which predicted that three important
grahas or planets would be discovered by the jyotishis of the Kali Yuga.

3 Harness Dennis M., Pluto: A Neo-Vedic View 2007 http://dennisharness.com/plutoneovedic.html According to Mr. Desai, he

saw an ancient Vasistha Nadi palm leaf in a museum in Madras, India, which predicted that three important grahas or planets
would be discovered by the jyotishis of the Kali Yuga. The great seer Vasistha was the author of a number of hymns in the Rg
Veda (dated 3000 BC) and was considered a great priest of the kings. According to the ancient palm leaf the names of the grahas
or planets would be Prajapati, Varuna, and Yama. The palm leaf went on to reveal that the jyotishis of Kali Yuga would need to
decipher the significance and meaning of these powerful grahas. It was refreshing to hear a traditional jyotishi from India speak
with such an open mind toward the influence of the outer planets.

Mundane

f we turn to world events and major trends in our culture, the transit of Pluto across the
zodiac signs can indicate its nature too. Tobey said: If you study wars and their
beginnings, you won't find the planet Mars too important. There are far more
important factors. Wars, on a 20th Century basis, is not MarsIf you have a fight with your
wife, that kind of war might better fit in with Mars. If you want to know why a woman
permits her husband to beat her up one moment and love her the next, consult Mars.4
Regarding war and Aries, Carl Tobey points out, "Pluto was square the Lunar Nodes and the
natal Sun of Hitler in September 1930 when he opened W.W.II, but it was also in opposition
to the natal Sun of FDR, which was squared by the Lunar Nodes. Hitler had built the
greatest army and the greatest air force, but Roosevelt simply built bigger ones. Lenin, the
real father of Communism had the Sun in Aries. Pluto in Taurus ruled his sun-sign. The
modern dictator who appears to have made his appearance as Pluto crossed the ecliptic.
Nazism was Hitler's child. Fascism was the child of Mussolini. The whole conception of
regimentation is Plutonian. The masses are treated as children. The Nazi regime was
supposed to be guided by one man's intuition. The mass murders in Germany and Poland by
the Nazis and the Communists are Plutonian murders. In a way, this may be said of all
5
public executions, although by now they may have become merely a matter of habit or law."
On the mundane side of world events, Pluto-Aries is strongly associated with massive death,
mechanized war and organized violence. The Holocaust was a Pluto/Aries event, genocide
is a Pluto event. Mafia and organized crime is of a Pluto/Aries nature. Violence is carried
out in cold premediated planning, the same as military attacks are planned.
Pluto has been associated with wide spread plagues. AIDS came into world wide attention
with Pluto in Scorpio. This is definitely a modern plague (Pluto) that is sexually (Scorpio)
transmitted. But if we associate massive death, war and destruction with Aries, then this
period of Pluto in Scorpio should have other Aries-like characteristics. Aries is associated
with children and the younger generation, so what are the trends with children? Tobey said:
"You find Pluto in the gang leader, and you find it in child gangs. It means protection for the group
against all other groups. Pluto's murders are carried out according to plan, by the group, in a cold6
blooded fashion."

Bennett [editor] Tobey, p.135.

5 Ibid., p. 142.
6 Ibid.

During this period of 1984-1995, the USA and Europe have experience an unprecedented
increase in child crimes while Pluto was in Scorpio. Juveniles have been shooting and
stabbing each other in school. Many inner city schools now have metal detectors. Gang
warfare in the streets had increased tenfold and the biggest change had been the recruitment
of inner city youth in the 8-9 year old range. Drug dealers reached down to the elementary
school level for street sellers and auto thieves because of lenient juvenile justice systems.
Juvenile laws that were designed to protect wayward youths were now used by organized
crime to their advantage. Juveniles had been murdering and committing felonies to a greater
degree than ever before. The biggest complaint of the police is that juveniles are released
from custody within two to three hours after their arrest. They are back on the streets before
the officer can finish filing his report.
The Gallup poll published in December 1995 stated that 3 million children are physically
7
abused in the USA by their parents and 1.3 million children have been sexually abused.
There is a connection between these trends of ethnic cleansing, juvenile violence and gang
activities and child abuse. They all cry out for the combined effects of Aries and Scorpio.
Aries is the sign associated with children and offspring. Scorpio is about the sex drive
expressed out in many forms. The Russian Mafia has been the most feared group in Europe
for their ruthless tactics. Does this period of Pluto in Scorpio sound like pure Scorpio energy
that the majority of astrologers adhere to? Or is Scorpio mixed with Aries (ruled by Pluto)
when Aries is associated with children, youth gangs, organized crime, mass death in modern
war, and plagues? I think the behavior of youth and the scandals involving child abuse like
incest definitely points to the Aries factor in these cultural events while Pluto was in
Scorpio. Please note that this generation of youth are now 6-19 years of age in 2014. They are
going through our school systems now. They are bringing violence into the schools with
mass shootings of fellow students. There was a particularly violent period this April through
June 2014 with shootings with this age group in the USA.
We have just finished the transit of Pluto through Sagittarius (1995-2008) and Pluto entered
Capricorn permanently in 2008. National criminal statistics in 1996 show a reduction in
8
youthful offenders. During the transit of Pluto in Sagittarius we saw the disclosure of the
sexual abuse of children by the Catholic priesthood (Sagittarius) and their long term cover up. We
also read about the scandal/exposure of Swiss Banks holding back monies rightly belonging
to the adult children that survived the Holocaust in WWII. American Jews were able to use
the US Government to pressure the Swiss banks into giving restitution to these surviving
7 Lewin, Tamar, 2 Polls Find Wide Abuse of Children, The New York Times, December 7, 1995
8 Suro, Roberto and Thomas, Pierre, Murder Rates Fall Sharply in 96, The Washington Post, January 1, 1997

children that are now quite elderly. In addition, we saw the formations of meg-banks, too
big to fail. Pluto in Sagittarius is a lot like Pluto/Jupiter, expansion to excess. The Stock
Market had its largest rise in history during this period. We also witnessed a new disease
plague, the increase of Hepatitis C, which affected the liver (Jupiter). Just this year,
9
scientists have developed a cure.
Now since a brief time in 2007 and again in 2008, Pluto has entered Capricorn (2008-2024).
The economic bubble has been broken especially from August to October 2008. Debt is
collapsing and banks, insurance companies and investment companies had to be rescued by
governments on the back of taxpayers. Debts as of 2011 are being shuffled around and the
real purge has not happened. It is a jobless recovery, a recovery only for large business. The
Arab Spring started in January 2011 with Tunisia and Egypt with a cluster of planets in
tropical Aries (youth), especially Uranus (change/revolution). It continues in Libya and
Syria but is being suppressed in at least 4 other Arab nations. This is a time when
governments and institutions will be purged and re-formed. There are riots and protests all
over Europe with belt tightening measures. US cities and states are just beginning to cut and
restrict services, especially schools and universities. The youth around the world are the
most under employed. Much pain is still ahead of us. The US Dollar is being inflated to
wash away the debt but also impoverish the people with reduced buying power. The news
claims an economic recovery for 2013-14 but its the large financial institutions and big
business that has recovered. The jobs are not being created. Minimum wages are below the
poverty line. We have the working poor. The rich are richer, while the middle class is
disappearing. Retirees cannot live on their savings; there is no income at 0.5%. Prices for
goods and services have risen while the Federal Reserve and other world banks just prints
more money. Most political parties are in gridlock, unable to make changes during the seven
squares of Pluto to Uranus from 2012-2015.
This period of April to June 2014 had a grand cross of Mars squaring Pluto and opposing
10
Uranus with Jupiter completing the cross in April. It had two more factors, a solar eclipse
in late April and transiting Mars became retrograde. These aspects heavily affected the
charts of the German Prime Minister Angela Merkel and Russian President Putin. At the
same time Mars then went retrograde in Libra. In late February, Russian troops took Crimea
and invaded Ukraine. They have stayed there and when Mars turned direct, there was more
aggression. The USA and the EU wanted economic sanctions but German business will lose
30% of their economic business with Russia. That put Merkel between a rock and a hard
spot. Just this week (15 June 2014) with the transit of Mars squaring Pluto in early June 2014,
9 http://www.bbc.com/news/health-26987653
10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA5SPi1mKfk&list=UU_0rNI15whDdcmcxQsrFy7w

there were people in Ireland that wanted to expose Catholic nuns for killing and burying
newborns from out of wedlock women in the past (that was very Mars/Pluto with illicit sex
and the killing of offspring). These past two weeks as Tr Mars again formed a square to Tr
Pluto to pass over the 10-16 Cardinal signs we see the brutal aggression of ISIS Sunnis are
invading Iraq from Syria, killing Shiites in mass executions and heading to Bagdad to take
control of the country. The Iraq soldiers are stripping off their uniforms, running away and
leaving all the military guns and equipment (left by the USA) for ISIS and the feared and
11
fearsome leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (b.1971). The USA is being challenged to align itself
with Iran! Iran is mostly Sunni and is needed to fight against this Sunni invasion by ISIS.
This current Mars square Pluto event is aspecting the USAs foundation chart of 4 July 1776
with Sun square Saturn in these Cardinal degrees. The USA is being asked by Iraq to help
defend her. We are being asked to reverse our position with Iran. What does this do to the
balance of power in the Middle East and Israel?
This Arab Middle East issue goes all the way back to the original division of the Ottoman
Empire by the French and British in a secret Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916. The agreement
was exposed by Russia on 28 November 1917. The current transit of Pluto square Uranus
(2012-2015) is activating the chart of 1916.

11 http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/06/fierce-ambition-isil-baghdadi-2014612142242188464.html

This Sykes-Picot Agreement was created under a Mars opposition Uranus. Note that natal
Saturn is 13 Cancer. This last Grand Square in April 2014 was on these degrees in the
Cardinal signs. Now when Tr Mars turned direct to re-activate these points, ISIS has
invaded Iraq. The diary notes of Lloyd George from 1919 explains this agreement with an
original map.

Zones of French (blue), British (red) and Russian (green) influence and control established
by the SykesPicot Agreement.
Tribal relationships were ignored by this agreement partly because of World War I in
Europe and the pre-planning for a Jewish Zion area. In some ways, ISIS is trying to align
the area by tribal interests. Looking back to 2012, the conflict in Syria coincided with the
seven Uranus-Pluto squares. ISIS got its start in Iraq and then grew in influence during the
Syrian conflict. Now its trying to merge Iraq into one territory. The agreement is seen by
many as a turning point in Western-Arab relations. It did negate the promises made to Arabs
through Colonel T. E. Lawrence for a national Arab homeland in the area of Greater Syria,
in exchange for their siding with British forces against the Ottoman Empire. Almost 100
years later (2014), the jihadist organization ISIS uses Sykes-Picot as their rallying cry and
have conquered Mosul and parts of northern Syria to form an Arab Caliphate along sectarian

12

lines rather than definitions of European diplomats. There is much more conflict ahead.
The New York Times writer Ross Douthat wrote this week:
with the shocking advance of militants toward Baghdad, there are now three
states in what we call Iraq: one Kurdish, one Shiite and one Sunni with the
last straddling the Iraq-Syria border and governed by jihadists. This means
that Iraq is now part of an arc, extending from Hezbollahs fiefdom in Lebanon
through war-torn Syria, in which official national borders are notional at best.
Whats more, we pretty clearly lack both the will and the capacity to change
them. Our basic interests have not altered: better stability now, better the
Sykes-Picot borders with all their flaws, than the very distant promise of a
postconflict Middle Eastern map. But two successive administrations [Bush
and Obama] have compromised those interests: one through recklessness, the
other through neglect. Now the map is changing; now, as in early-20th-century
13
Europe, the price of transformation is being paid in blood.
How will children be affected by Pluto in Capricorn? What will be the new disease or will it
be militant authority? If there is a new plague, more than likely it will involve the bones and
joints (Capricorn). But what will be the trend for youth? They are becoming deeply
indebted and it will keep them from achieving the life style of their parents. I have not yet
seen a clear trend regarding youth at this point except for the Arab Spring and the 99%
protests, but I encourage all astrologers to look for it since Pluto/Aries involves children.

All birthdata is from http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Main_Page

12 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sykes%E2%80%93Picot_Agreement
13 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/opinion/sunday/ross-douthat-changing-maps-in-the-mideast.html?_r=0