The book that renewed my hope for the future is astrologer Rosie Finn’s Persephone’s Revolution: Pluto’s Path to the End of Empire.

It took twenty years of research, but Finn reveals how Pluto’s Out of Bounds cycle from 1808 BCE to the present directly correlates with significant socio-political events.

This book reads like historical analysis. Those of you who can’t quite pull the trigger on learning about astrology might make an exception here (though probably only if you’re a history nerd).

Finn establishes a strong argument that human history moves through destructive cycles of oppression and collapse not because imperialism is designed this way – but because of structural tensions in our solar system.

The myth of Persephone being captured by Pluto and taken to the Underworld now has a much deeper meaning for me since reading this book.

Pluto’s declination cycle, which is its movement north and south of the celestial equator, has been entering what is known as Out of Bounds territory for the past 4000 years.

Because of the tilt of the Earth’s axis, the Sun’s effect on Earth varies in declination along the Tropics lines (the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn). Anything beyond 23.27 degrees in declination, north or south of the Equator, is considered out of bounds.

Pluto’s orbit is eccentric, elongated and inclined (slanted at 17 degrees). It orbits at an incline and the Sun is not at the center of its orbit. The orbit is more oval-shaped, with an eccentricity that makes it appear as if its trying to escape our solar system.

What does this even mean? Critics would argue that this activity from a distant planet couldn’t possibly have any impact on Earth. This is the argument science makes again and again about astrology. Of course empires and civilizations have risen and fallen well before 1808 BCE. However, according to Finn, not as dramatically or as violently as during this out of bounds cycle.

What Finn charts in her book is a pattern that has repeated itself roughly every 248 years, which is the length of time it takes Pluto to complete its orbit. To understand this better, I’ll quote a direct passage from Finn’s book:

“The planet we live on, Earth, travels in the orbital plane, neatly moving in a near-perfect circle, in a near-perfect plane with the other planets. However, Earth, like many of the planets, tilts. This tilt changes over time. Imagine a twirling toy top. A quick twist and the top both rotates and revolves. When the top begins to slow down, it wobbles. This is like the Earth. Our wobble currently takes roughly 26,000 years. 

As the Earth’s tilt changes, it moves more and more into alignment with the 17 degree inclination of Pluto’s orbit. To say it another way, Pluto’s orbit and Earth’s tilt are moving into alignment. Earth’s equatorial plane (the Equator extended out into space) is moving into alignment by degree and direction with Pluto’s inclination. Planets as they move through space in relationship to the Earth’s equatorial plane is called declination.”

The cycles Finn charts begin with Pluto at 0 degrees declination, North or South. The beginning of this cycle she calls Vision. About every 62 years, a significant theme is introduced. From Vision, the cycle peaks at Power, begins to recede into Justice, then bottoms out at Reform. Power is when Pluto moves in extreme declination (23.44) to the north and Reform is when Pluto moves in extreme declination to the south.

For example, the current cycle we’re in began in 1863 with the American Civil War and the Taiping Rebellion in China. It’s best to quote Finn here:

“At the beginning of the Vision time, both the U.S. and China were poor, under-educated and under-developed nations in internal chaos. By the end of VISION, an alliance between China and US, changes in government in both countries and an increased value on industry and science kicked off the building of the two most powerful empires in history.” 

Finn’s research shows that when Pluto moves in extreme declination to the North (1938-1949 was the last time), cycles of oppression, war and the abuses of empire get pretty extreme. We entered a Reform period August 2025 that lasts until 2035.  This is what Finn means by her subtitle: Pluto’s Path to the End of Empire.

Surely empires will not suddenly cease to exist. Many of us will not be around another 65 years to see how it plays out. This is all fine and great and not exactly reassuring if the cycle is just going to continue again in perpetuity. However, as I quoted Finn above, because Earth is more now closely aligned with Pluto’s orbit, this 2025-2035 stretch will be the last time Pluto goes out of bounds for the next 3000 years. We are living at the end of a 4000 cycle. 

This is a reason to hang on and fix what is broken – socially, politically and psychologically. She’s not suggesting that empires will no longer have power – just that their power will not be as destructive as the last 4000 years.

Breakdowns feel isolating. That sense of hopelessness when things fall apart. But we aren’t living on an isolated little planet acting completely of our own free will.

That might be a disempowering concept for some, but it does explain why we can’t seem to get it together as humans. What if one minor adjustment in the cosmic order has a major effect on human history?