When the Underworld Calls

This Week's Pluto Transits and What They Mean for Your Grief

Something is stirring beneath the surface this week.

If you've been feeling it—that strange pull toward old memories, the unexpected tears, the sense that something wants to be seen—you're not imagining it.

The sky is speaking. And it's speaking about the underworld.

I don't use astrology to predict your future. I use it to help you name what's true. To normalize what you're feeling, and to orient you inside the disorientation of grief.

This week, a parade of planets crosses over Pluto in Aquarius: Mars, then Venus, then Mercury, with the Sun creating what astrologers call a cazimi—a rare moment when a planet sits so close to the Sun that it's considered resting in its very heart. When Mercury meets the Sun and Pluto this way, it's like a doorway opens between your conscious mind and the depths.

What This Means for Those Carrying Grief

Pluto is the planet of transformation, death, and rebirth—the ruler of what lies beneath. Pluto doesn't do surface-level. Pluto asks us to go down, to feel what we've buried, to sit with what we'd rather avoid.

For those of us carrying loss, this is significant.

This week's transits are collectively inviting us to unearth the old stories:

The story of abandonment. (That's grief.)

The story of being deprioritized, forgotten, left behind. (That's grief too.)

The story of a life that was supposed to be different. (Still grief.)

And alongside the unearthing, an invitation: to begin creating the world you want, even with all you have lost. Even with who you have lost.

Venus Conjunct Pluto: When Love Meets the Underworld

Venus in Aquarius conjunct Pluto is not a light transit. This is our relationships, our values, our sense of worthiness—all passing through the underworld.

If you've lost someone you loved, this transit may stir up the icky, gooey, murky feelings. The complicated love. The unfinished conversations. The ways grief has changed how you attach, how you trust, how you let yourself be loved.

You don't have to untangle all of this at once.

This is pure Water element territory—the realm of emotion, intuition, and the feelings we'd sometimes rather not feel. Water doesn't ask us to understand our grief. It asks us to let it move.

This isn't comfortable. But it's honest.

And by honest, I mean: honest with yourself. Not forced confession. Not performing your pain. Just... letting what's true be true, without managing it.

That's where healing lives.

The Mercury-Sun-Pluto Cazimi: Wisdom from the Depths

A cazimi is considered one of the most powerful moments in astrology—when a planet sits in the very heart of the Sun, receiving its full light.

Mercury rules the mind, communication, and how we make meaning. When Mercury joins the Sun and Pluto in cazimi, there's an opportunity for deep, intense clarity. Wisdom rising from the depths into conscious awareness.

This is the Air element at work. Bringing perspective, insight, and the capacity to name what we're experiencing. Air helps us witness our grief rather than drown in it.

This is not the moment for surface-level journaling. This is a moment to ask yourself:

What have I been afraid to name?

What truth is asking to come up from the depths?

What would I know about my loss if I wasn’t trying to manage how I feel about it?

Support from Saturn and Uranus

Here's what makes this week especially potent: these Pluto transits aren't happening in isolation. They're forming supportive connections to both Saturn and Uranus, the kind of aspects that say: support is available. You don't have to do this alone, and you don't have to be flattened by it.

Saturn offers structure. This is Earth element energy: grounding, stabilizing, reminding you that the deep work of this week doesn't have to feel chaotic or overwhelming. There's support for doing this slowly, steadily, with discipline and kindness toward yourself. Earth holds you when everything else feels like quicksand.

Uranus offers liberation. There may be sudden insights, unexpected breakthroughs, moments where something shifts and you see your grief—or your life—in a completely different light.

Mars Over Pluto: The Spark to Begin Again

And then there's Mars—the planet of will, action, and forward movement—also crossing Pluto this week.

This is Fire element medicine. Fire doesn't ask permission. Fire transforms. Fire says: Yes, you have lost. Yes, it has changed you. And yes, you are still here. What will you do with that?

Fire is the invitation to begin creating the world you want—not despite your grief, but with it. Carrying it. Letting it fuel something rather than only taking from you.

Why This Matters for Your Healing

When people ask me why astrology matters for grief, this week is exactly why.

Because grief doesn't move in straight lines. It moves in cycles. And sometimes, the cosmos mirrors exactly where we are. Giving us permission to feel what's already stirring, naming what might otherwise feel nameless.

This week is asking you to move with the elements:

Water: Let yourself feel without solving. You don't need to fix the murk—just let it move.

Earth: Choose one stabilizing structure. A walk. A meal. A moment of stillness. Something that says: I'm here.

Air: Name the truth in one sentence. Not a speech. Just one honest line.

Fire: Take one small action that honors life. Not productivity. Not distraction. Something that says: I'm still creating.

The underworld isn't a place to fear. It's where transformation happens.

Questions to Sit With This Week

You don't need answers to these. Think of them as lanterns—something to carry with you, not problems to solve.

What old story of abandonment or being deprioritized is asking to be seen?

Where in your relationships has grief changed you? And is that change asking for your attention?

If wisdom could rise from your deepest pain, what might it say?

What world are you ready to begin creating, even carrying all that you carry?

You don't have to do this week perfectly. You don't have to have insights or breakthroughs or anything to show for it.

You just have to be willing to listen to what's asking to be heard.

When You're Ready for a Container

If this week is stirring something that feels too big to hold alone—if the underworld themes of worthiness, relationships, and old abandonment stories are asking for more than a single blog post can offer—there's a place for that.

Grief Alchemy is a self-paced journey through each element: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire—each with simple practices and reflections to help you work with what's rising.

It's not about rushing your grief or fixing it. It's about learning to move with it—letting each element offer the medicine it knows how to give.

You can begin whenever you're ready. You can move at your own pace. And you don't have to perform healing for anyone.

If you want a steady way to work with what this week is bringing up—without doing it alone—this is the door.

If this is the right door for you, it's here: Explore Grief Alchemy

If it's not the right moment, that's okay too. You're not behind.

With light in the darkness and darkness in the light,

Debra