Recently I’ve worked with a string of clients who were having problems with trust. They were waiting for someone who has always been faithful and reliable to betray them, or waiting for money to run out when there was no indication that it would do so. They expected the worst even when the best was staring them in the face. And in every case, I knew what I’d find – Mercury in aspect to Pluto.
Mercury in aspect to Pluto is difficult connection. Mercury rules thinking, and Pluto makes it dark. It makes the worst case scenario appear in sharp relief while anything else looks like a soap opera dream sequence, with blurred edges and questionable dialogue. It just doesn’t seem realistic.
But I think there’s more to it. Mercury/Pluto can also be obsessive. It can get really, really involved with a certain way of thinking that ultimately proves to be all wrong. While we normally associate, for example, someone joining a cult with Neptune or Jupiter, the cult recruiters, the wild-eyed missionaries, and the true believers are all Mercury/Pluto.
So what I see is people, knowingly or unknowingly, choosing the crush of disbelief over the sharp sword of zealotry. Most people I’ve met with this placement have had issues with belief in the past. Many have pasts filled with religious of political extremism. And most have come to the point where exhaustion sets in and extremism is simply no longer possible. When this happens, there’s no other choice. They withdraw from belief and trust entirely and instead question everything.
They test and question over and over because to them it is a far better option that blind, obsessive belief. This, I think is a good thing. The only problems come in when something passes the test over and over and gets no closer to being trusted than when it first arrived on the scene. Eventually, testing and questioning can become its own obsession.
So if you are a Mercury/Pluto person who questions and questions and can’t seem to accept a good thing, try to have a little compassion for yourself. Far better to test than to move blindly. But also attempt to use that sharp Mercury/Pluto gaze to determine what has truly stood the test of time. And in those limited instances, may, just maybe, start to relax.
Do you have Mercury/Pluto? Do you question everything?
Damn….I questions everything. Habitually I dig and dig.
4th Scorpio Pluto square 7th Cap Mercury (29 deg).
A quote comes to mind: “I will follow the man who seeks knowledge, but run from him once he claims to have found it.”
I’m always looking for a hole in some logic or statement to poke. Then I look again.
I get a kick out of finding that wall, but then an existential crisis at times ensues.
Religion and philosophy has helped with this, which is something I ignored (philosophy) and detested (religion) when younger. Giving up a polarized view of anything has too.
But I’m still living with this. My spider sense for dismal outcomes has been fine-tuned over time. I tend to ignore it more often now even when at times I shouldn’t. Having Uranus transiting my Moon is allowing me to just be in relationships without expectations. Some go, some stay.
I do feel that Saturn square Sun traits can allow this Pluto square Mercury mindset to plant firm roots.
Much work to still be done with my “self”, but lots has changed for the better over the years. I do feel much more alive and focused with Neptune away from my Sun and Saturn now above my horizon.
Thanks Midara. This is helpful in putting words to that which I experience but didn’t really consider.
I have Mercury trine Pluto and opposition Neptune and loosely conjunct the Moon. It is watery so it is more subjective. I wish I questioned stuff or was more critical of sources more, more rational and cerebral or open and inventive. In the big five personality test I scored more on the close minded scale.
I tend to worry the bone of my obsessive thoughts about how I experience life. Whether I feel the right things, what others think of me. I’m an obsessive overthinker and overanalyze the minor details of life, not asking bigger questions. My thought process is very disorganized unless I put it down on paper, then it’s punctilious without being concise or well constructed.
I do prefer intuition and gut feeling that can unfortunately bridge into stereotype rather than fact gathering or using my rational brain to think about things. If it feels right, I cling to it until there is contradicting evidence. I would rather reform what I do than how I think, for now. But many would claim that’s the root of my problems.
I was somehow an extremist when it comes to food (could be due to other aspects) and dietary health research.. which was bogus. But I tend to let myself flow into whatever I’m into.
It would be nice to be someone else
Yes, I´m a conspiracy theorist, natal Pluto in 5th house opposition natal Mercury in 11th house :3
Like Dark Aquarian said above, I too am always looking for holes to poke in things I see or hear. I don’t trust a whole lot either, although sometimes I don’t realize I’m somewhat guarding myself until after the fact, if at all. It’s somewhat instinctual.
And I can get obsessive about figuring something out. I once spent days reading different theories about what happened to someone who had disappeared without a trace. I wanted to come to a conclusion, just to have a belief. Finally I tore myself away from it. This person had disappeared in 2004, unless a miracle occurs, her fate will never be known. I still keep tabs on the case though.
I fell down the rabbit hole a few years back, my Pluto/Mercury square delved into that extensively. I don’t believe it all, but wow, what an eye opener. It contributes to my lack of trust in media and government, etc.
It’s a tough aspect sometimes but I do like the positive side of it. It gives power to communication, words, ideas etc. John Lennon had the square, which makes sense considering his later work. And honestly, with this aspect, you can see through BS with ease. Only problem is there is so much darn BS going on all the time! (Say I, realizing that it could just be me not trusting, which is the hallmark of this aspect, but still, haha 🙂 )
Cancer Mercury 8th house square Libra Pluto 11th house. Oh boy, that explains a lot in my life, if not almost everything, especially my love life. I have serious trust issues. May I say, now that I know what stands behind it, having this aspect is so damn hard to live with. And I have a very strong intuition, that proved to be right 90 % of the time and when that combines with this aspect, it gets even rougher because my gut proves that questioning everything was the right thing to do. But was it really?
I have Mercury trine Pluto. I can be skeptical, and tend not to believe what people say if it can’t be backed up with evidence/proof. I think in today’s society thinking critically is essential. Exercising discernment can potentially help protect us from the scammers of the world.
However, I do see the downfall of this aspect as far as perhaps taking things too seriously and needlessly obsessing.
Midara’s advice concerning being kinder to ourselves and allowing for some relaxation is spot on ?
Ha ha – I never thought much about my Pluto/Uranus square to Mercury, but come to think of it, when I was 6 years old I used to pray to God (on my knees by my bedside, just like in the picture books). I used to pray that I would believe in God! I really, really wanted to believe in God. I went to Sunday School (in UK) and a Church of England school. I used to love my RE books with pictures of clouds with sunbeams streaming out over the far horizons (how God was depicted. I used to question everyone about God (where is he, how can you feel him, how do you know he exists, etc?). I was an annoying kid.
I thought I would be a complete being if only I could believe… But I never managed to believe because I question all the answers!
I love the picture. That face is priceless!!!
Sun , mercury and Saturn in scorpio. I have major trust issues. I am trying to trust God more. Go with the flow. I test, and retest most people. Its a major flaw I know that needs to be overcome.
I’ve the Mercury (10th) square Pluto (7th) and your description is true for me. What I appreciate so very much is your call to be compassionate with myself. Exhaustion does come with the inherent or genetic test test test pattern & those who really have been the course long-term? Moments of relaxation do add up, if I allow it. Compassion is passion in action or something kind like that. Yeah the moments matter. That is very kind Midara.
I have Mercury in Aries opposite Pluto in 8th House Virgo. Definitely obsessive, negative, all wrong thinking,etc. I don’t believe in coincidences, I came across this article while transiting Mercury square my natal Pluto. I don’t trust easily and I do question myself and my motives.
A former BF has his 6H Virgo Pluto squaring his 9H Sag Mercury (his Sag stellium consists of his Sun, Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury). OMG, at times he would spiral into repetitive thoughts causing me to put my hand over his mouth and say, “Enough!” This frequent verbal diarrhea contributed to our breakup.
Madonna Ciccone has Mercury conjunct Pluto in the early degrees of Virgo. Her early childhood confined by a strict Catholic upbringing led her to question social and religious norms, rebel against the status quo using her art, and transform not only her world, but the entire world in many positive ways. Obsessive critical questioning of the status quo can lead to transformative creative output!
I have Mercury trine Pluto and Venus opposite Neptune which used to make me increadibly gullible and idealistic. Life has taught me that people lie and cheat and generally cannot be trusted. I’m probably not as unhappy with that state of affairs as someone who would have a square, but I’ve given up hope that people will treat me the way I would them.
I have them in a trine aspect, I don’t question people when they say something about themselves, but I have no faith in what I can read online or what people pass as factual given how many people have zero reasoning skills. I am a rather trusting person though but once you lose my trust, it’s gone forever.
But I can’t get around my paranoid thoughts – I know they have no sense but still, sometimes they appear and it’s difficult letting them go.
I’m having this by transit. One of a more serious tone than other ‘hardcore’ transits. Saturn involved. Like my dad came back into my life after being dead for literally 20 years. How does one let go anyway