On August 24, 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) voted to declassify Pluto as a planet. Some of us were perplexed, that Pluto was knocked out from its established planetary position and that our solar system was devalued from nine planets to eight.

But Pluto was declared no longer a planet by the distinguished assembly of the IAU, debunking it of its planetary status. I wondered then, what happens now with the astrological charts and forecasts, that were under the influence of Pluto. But not being too sensitive or knowledgeable of astrological theories, I just took it in and accepted that our solar system now had eight planets, and that so many books, manuals and old minds needed to be corrected.

That night on 2006, I did look at the sky and wondered about Pluto, with a certain nostalgia. Of course, with my naked eyes I could had never seen Pluto, but still, there was a sense of loss in my heart. Well I philosophized; one must go on with life. After all, so many words still need to be said, so many things are still unnamed and undefined, like most of the billions upon billions of stars out there are nameless, shining out without any ID. So, reflecting now on what I felt that fatidic day in 2006, after the vote from IAU, I remember thinking; well there is nothing left to be said, except farewell Pluto, adieu, go back to the Hades where you belonged, before becoming a planet.

I was back on Earth, where thank God the IAU still classifies us as a planet and where we must deal with some more serious matters at hand, than spatial nomenclature; our passions for weapons, our insatiable greed, the myopia about our connectivity and impact on our life support systems, corruption, inhumanity, prejudices based on differences of color, gender, beliefs and so on. So many serious challenges that I thought who cares about Pluto?

Until recently, during one rainy day with nothing else to do, I decided to browse the Internet on the topic of Pluto and astrology, since I had never given a further thought after what I said to myself on the day of Pluto erasing, ...what happens to astrological charts now?

Little did I know, about the gravity of the situation, as I started to explore the impact of the decisions of IAU on the astrological field.

I found out in astrological punditry published online, among other things that Pluto “represents power and control, and reigns over our relationship to authority figures and leadership." That it governs crime and the underworld, terrorism and dictatorships. That when Pluto was entering the same areas of astrological space in the 1930’s the Great Depression shortly ensued, and that because of its persistent influence 10 years after its appearance there, domination by mobsters became rampant in the United States and Adolf Hitler drove the whole world into warfare. There are clear references in astrological reports throughout time that Pluto brought about negative tides of human history and governance.

So, I went into a panic, because if this happened just because Pluto was entering its influence space on the Zodiac, imagine what happened when astronomers, downgraded Pluto right at that moment. I started thinking what happened 10 years after the vote by the IAU on Pluto, a lot: Trump was elected President of the United States, BREXIT, the rise of ultranationalist forces in Europe and emergence of right-wing political forces worldwide.

I then found an article titled Pluto in Capricorn; the Astrology of Brexit, Donald Trump and The Rise of Xenophobia. With the new political rising of this neo-obscurantism tendencies: retrograde policies were being adopted and pursued including denial of environmental consequences of misguided development trends, like consumption of energy and climate change, a rise in racial and gender prejudice, a denial of tools for distribution of wealth, a rise in nationalism, attacks on media, gun violence, natural disasters and so on.

I have never been involved with astronomy or astrology, so I wondered if there is a parallel to the Astronomical Union, that is, an Astrological Union (they would both have the same acronym), and if so, if there is a way that we can reach to them both and suggest an urgent inter-union committee to reinstate Pluto in the family of solar system planets and let it be.

After all it might not be such a major thing, since this business of astronomical classification has become, probably thanks to Pluto itself, more flexible these days. Just recently the leader of the free world, in a spontaneous gesture, declared by tweet, that our beautiful Moon was part of Mars. (I shiver to think about the astrological consequences of that decree).

All I know, is that Astrology suggests that there is a chance that messing up with Pluto, can have something to do with our terrible fears and the emergence of leaders, that take advantage of these fears to keep us from becoming more compassionate, and make us build higher walls amongst us, blame others in block for our societal ills, and deny science and our impact on our life supporting systems etc.

Can we please, as a matter of extreme urgency, convene a meeting of the IAU’s and reinstall Pluto to the planetary family and then commit, that we will not mess up with Pluto again?

The fate of the world as we know it hinges on this agreement.