Neptune sextile Pluto: meaning in the birth chart

The Neptune-Pluto sextile is the background aspect of the contemporary era. Formed in the early 1940s, it has stayed active, give or take a few degrees, throughout the second half of the 20th century and right up to today, because the two planets move at almost the same pace. It goes hand in hand with the rise of depth psychology, Eastern spiritualities, ecology, mass culture and collective-awareness movements. Nearly every reader of this page carries it in their chart: it describes less an individual trait than a shared climate, that of a humanity looking for meaning in transformation rather than in stability.

This sextile becomes personal when Neptune or Pluto touches one of your fast planets or an angle. With the Sun, you naturally find deep meaning in your trials. With the Moon, your emotions are subtle and regenerative, and you pick up on atmospheres with rare finesse. With Mercury, your mind links the visible and the invisible, the symbol and the fact. With Venus, your love life is tender and transformative; with Mars, your actions are fueled by a deep ideal. On the Ascendant or Midheaven, you’re drawn to careers in psychology, counseling, art, spirituality or holistic healing.

The risk with an aspect everyone shares is never living it consciously. You bathe in this climate of transformation without necessarily inhabiting it. Make it a choice: give a regular place to an inner practice, whether meditation, writing, therapy or art, and put your sensitivity to work for a concrete commitment, whether environmental, social or creative. Your Neptune sextile Pluto is an open door to the depths; it’s up to each person to decide whether to walk through. Those who do become soothing, regenerating presences, able to help the people around them get through hard passages with a sense of meaning.