More Plutos by Sue Kientz Book Review

More Plutos Book Introduction

Eris was discovered in 2005 orbiting around the Sun just beyond Neptune, in an area known as the Kuiper Belt. With very similar properties to Pluto, it was this discovery that led to the ‘demotion’ of Pluto to the status of a dwarf-planet. Since then, more than a dozen dwarves have been discovered: Makemake, Haumea, Sedna, Quaoar, Salacia, Orcus, Varuna and Ixion to name just a few. No-one knows how many planets are in the belt, and new discoveries are expected.

In her Astrology book “More Plutos”, astrologer Sue Kientz takes a comprehensive look at eleven of these newly discovered celestial bodies and their place in the astrological charts. She makes arguments for how they should augment our understanding of personalities and history that are based on the current, more limited, astrological charts.

Book Overview

Kientz argues that just as Pluto is known by astrologers to have a ‘planet-like’ influence on the astrological charts, the same holds true for the newly discovered dwarf-planets.

Kientz opens her book with a comprehensive review of what is already known about the dwarf-planets, their names, discoverers, sizes and orbital periods. She then goes on to explain how each should be incorporated into astrological theory.

Kientz begins her interpretation with the myths; Greek and Roman, and now also from the Easter Island (Makemake) and Hawaii (Haumea). For example, Eris was the sister of Ares, God of War, and was characterised by the Greeks as a nasty, vengeful goddess who was responsible for the Trojan War. Kientz notes that while most astrologers have so far ignored Eris, this is a mistake as it was “because Eris was ignored and not invited to the wedding party of Peleus and Thetis that she kicked up such a fuss.”

But the meat of Kientz’ interpretations go far beyond the myths. She argues that “the best strategy for discovering planetary meaning, I believe, is to look at lots of charts, specifically of well-known individuals and entities… or clients with whom you are intimately familiar, and see what the object does for that person or entity.” This is a task that Kientz took seriously, looking at 1,200 charts of events and people over the course of 7 years.

For example, while in 1997 astrologers admitted that they could not make sense of the tragedy of Princess Diana’s death in their charts, Kientz argues that with the new information provided by the dwarf-planets, this is now possible. She points to the fact that Haumea, Orcus and TX300 were all afflicting Princess Diana’s Mercury at the time of her death. Mercury is the ruler of media and travel, and may point to the paparazzi car chase that ended in her demise.

Kientz characterises Makemake as the bearer of shock and surprise. She traces both the negative influence of Makemake, identifying Sun-Makemake aspects in the astrological charts of Hitler, O.J. Simpson and Charles Manson, and the positive, creative side of surprise, connecting Makemake with Salvador Dali, Thomas Edison and Mozart.

Kientz makes the case that these trans-Neptunian planetoids are ‘transpersonal’ planets, which means that rather than signifying personal and society meanings, they point to global, or even cosmic, concerns. While her characterisations of the planets are complex, their influence can generally be summarised as follows:

• Eris – is suggestive of things that are other or apart, often in a discomforting way
• Makemake – always brings shock and surprise
• Haumea – divines life, death, change and transformation
• 2007 OR10 – signifies compassion and sensitivity, or its absence
• Quaoar – represents taking risks and self-sufficiency and responsibility
• Sedna – reflects persistence, determination and patience
• Orcus – indicates perfectionism and control
• 2002 AW197 – shows illumination and ideation
• Ixion – is suggestive of chaos and turning the status quo on its head
• Varuna – is associated with words, creative, such as writers, but also liars
• 2002 TX300 – represents dependability, but also the ideas of truth and deception

Not included in the book (but mentioned on her website):

• Salacia – represents the release of inhibited or repressed aspects
• Varda – reflects intuition and the unseen
• 2002 TC302 – signifies secrets and revelations

Why Astrologers should Include them in their Charts

Following her review of the individual celestial bodies, Kientz makes a broader argument for why astrologers should be including them in their charts. She makes strong arguments for the importance of secondary progressions in developing charts, and also makes broader arguments about astrology in general; particularly interesting is her case that astrology is based on fractals and is close to being recognised as having a scientific basis.

Conclusion

While the celebrity stories and correlations will be fascinating to any reader with an interest in astrology, the “More Plutos” book is aimed at experienced astrologers. Kientz’s interpretations of the influence of the planets will no doubt require further work and refinement, but this is a seminal work in terms of introducing these new planetary influences into mainstream astrology.

Numerology Sign Rating: 5/5