If we should pick a sole event that radically changed the view on human life in the 20th century then it was the rise of the mushroom cloud of the atomic bomb. Never before was the human kind facing such fierce form of destruction. Whether it was foreseen or not, it was the biggest turning point in the modern history of mankind. It was the moment when for the first time man appealed to a force of unimaginable destructiveness. And guess how the substance of the atomic bomb was called? It was called plutonium. Named after the ancient god Pluto, ruler of the underworld, the most feared one. Let’s learn about him and about the unseen forms of aggression.

Invisible and invincible

The name Pluto was a late addition to the Greek god Hades. Hades literally means “the invisible one”. According to the myth, after freeing the titans from Tartaros, they gave him the invisibility cap which became his symbol. Hades is unseen to the eye, he is invisible to us. He represents a much restrained and hidden form of aggression than the one we learned about as Mars. It is an introvert aggression, oriented towards inside, opposed to how Mars manifests. Where there is war on the battlefield - related to Mars, there is civil war - related to Pluto. While combat is preferred by Mars, total collapse is preferred by Pluto. While the weapons of Mars are made of iron, plutonium is at core of the most destructive bomb.

The force of Pluto is of utmost effectiveness. There is no superficial change. There is total and radical change. Radical change is what we know as metamorphosis. The word radical has at its origins the Latin radix meaning root. Radical change, true transformation is only possible from the essential roots of being.

Down to the roots

The term ‘radical’ begot a negative connotation these days. Instead the term ‘phenomenal’ got a positive sense, which in fact relates to the superficiality of our lives. Our current society doesn’t really know how to cope with the archetype of Pluto. And then, we see its presence in undesired contexts, down shaken events. Whether we like it or not, it is an essential force of our existence. Facing it will happen one way or another.

The feminine side of aggression

It is not obvious at all, that in fact this is a feminine archetype. All the qualities related to it are of an introvert nature. As Rüdiger Dahlke points out in Aggression als Chance, in fact Pluto’s wife, Persephone would be much appropriate as an eponym for this archetype. In German mythology the goddess Hel is ruler of the underworld, somewhat closer to expressing the true nature of this force. What does the fact that we are unable to give a proper name to it show us? I believe it shows our incapacity to comprehend it. But whether we think of it as a male god or a goddess, it is still the same ruthless force that we are obliged to face, even if we do not understand it, at least not yet.

“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly.” *

Pluto is also the name given to the force of potentialities. He represents the seed to be transformed into the tree and into the fruit that will generate new seeds. The name Pluto literally means “giver of wealth”. He is the god of hidden treasures. For the human being who is willing to submit to true self transformation, he represents the cornucopia, abundance itself. From there, all essential powers and qualities are coming to the brave.

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