What you should know about Pluto Retrograde – May to October 2026

I have written about Pluto themes before, including when the dwarf, outer planet Pluto was retrograde in the zodiac sign of Capricorn, in 2013; at that time I was hearing a lot from people dealing with relationship challenges, and who had Venus-Pluto connections in their birth chart.

But when Pluto is retrograde, in general, as it is again now (having begun its retrograde path around 7^th May 2026), many of us will be feeling something in the air – or sensing something moving in the water, since this  planet is the natural ruler of Scorpio, a sign linked with the element of water. The energies around Pluto are complex and puzzling. Various people have been asking me about Pluto retrograde and what it means.This article is designed to help you understand more about what you may be up against between now and mid-October, while Pluto remains retrograde, or appearing to travel in a reverse path against the other planets along the zodiac belt in the sky, as we view it from earth.

What you should know about Pluto, in the first place, is that this planet relates to quite a range of themes and situations. Here’s a short list of some of the fallout that may occur when Pluto energies are being strongly felt – and maybe especially so when Pluto is retrograde, which typically means that things often kept hidden or under wraps are more visible and/or are felt more intensely.

1.      Experiencing bouts of jealousy or envy; you start doing a lot of ‘comparing and despairing’, starting to believe that the other person’s grass is greener. Remember that you may not have the full picture to hand! Few people’s lives are constantly as wonderful as their best picture would indicate. In many instances, someone will have worked very hard for their position or achievements; little that’s worth anything happens overnight. And even when we do get lucky breaks, that’s usually just about a door or pathway opening up. We still have to do the walking and other efforts to make it mean something worthwhile and lasting.

2.      Dealing with feeling drained. Suddenly, your energy seems to get drained at every level, physically, emotionally, mentally. You do whatever you can to boost it but you’re functioning like an old mobile phone set that can’t easily hold its battery charge anymore, even when it does manage to get close to a full recharge at any point.

3.      Some of your energy is being used up through too many demands on  your time. Everyone seems to need a piece of you. There’s just not quite enough to go round. Yet you feel compelled to keep on trying to please everyone and help those who seem to really need help.

4.      You are encountering more people with vampire-like energy fields. They don’t necessarily mean to drain anyone else; they are simply hungry for something for you have to offer. The trouble is that your offer windows are temporarily shut, or they need to be during this period. Consider reigning in efforts that are sapping your hours and your focus. It may even be that shortcuts are really okay. Aim to do less and rest more (remember, those batteries need regular charging now!)

5.      You feel as though you’ve fallen down a well. It’s dark down there. Problems seem overwhelming and solutions feel out of reach. Remember that you may not have access to a full perspective at this time. It’s as though someone has handed you a map but it’s completely blank, or only has very limited information printed on it. Perhaps what’s there is in an unfamiliar language, even. It’s okay. This is temporary! Remember that there’s usually a solution to a problem across time. It might not be the full-scale answer you’d ideally hope for, but you’ll likely make some headway with your goals and wishes. You’ll get the answers to some of those problems. And some days they simply won’t bother you as much as they could do right now.

6.      With Pluto retrograde, there’s a kind of waiting game going on. You may feel powerless over some of what’s happening. Other people are unfathomable or hard to please. You seem to home in on the wrong details, or do something to death when you only needed a small amount of effort in reality. It’s not all bad, it’s just a weird time and – quite possibly – a skewed perspective. It’s not life or death, though it may feel that way, on and off!

7.      Emotions may seem so intense that you feel like screaming, or as though you’re coming apart in some way. It may help to follow a spiritual discipline or practice that helps you to feel centred and grounded. Try small rituals in your day, maybe using an essential oil such as vetiver or frankincense to help keep grounded. Allow time for writing things down rather than trying to carry all the energy in your mind and body system. Remember to eat in a regular way so that your energy level isn’t bouncing around too much. Keep well hydrated!

8.      Try not to take too much personally. Yes, it’s easier said than done. But Pluto is a trans-generational planet, which means that there might be some cabinet reshuffle equivalents going on in our lives. If you’re being moved on from something, it’s because your skills and talents are going to be in demand elsewhere. Just allow some time for the new roots to take, and you’ll soon be back to glorious, blooming mode again! Relationship connections that are promising fruit for the future will continue to be productive in various ways, even if there’s a temporary lull. These may be relevant in all spheres where connections with other people matter. Where the situation only seems to produce deadwood, it’s time to look for greater growth elsewhere. Watch out for those new, green shoots starting to appear!

Ultimately, whilst Pluto changes can indicate endings of various kinds, there’s also often a kind of transformation taking place. Think about farming and the function of fallow fields. Sometimes the ground needs razing to purify it and allow new growth to start coming through regeneration of the soil. Productive activity will be busy happening beneath the surface, at the appropriate time. When the ground is perfectly ready, then new growth won’t have too many difficulties in progressing. Finally, when you reach a Pluto ‘bottom’, then, truly, the only way is up!

Practical tips: the above bulleted points contain a few of these. But also consider the idea that if you’re down a well or in a dark place, you might get a different perspective if you make a concerted effort to engage with light in some way. Let’s suppose you have a mirror in your pocket. Whilst the light around you may seem dim, there might still be enough to see the reflection of your eyes in that mirror (the water on their surface helps!). Quite often, when we feel pain, it’s about something being experienced but not put into words. Maybe you can take a moment to recognise any pain in yourself and put a sentence to it. Look at what your eyes are telling you. Know what your own good intentions are, because these are often our true compass.  

If someone else’s behaviour does not please you or sit well with you, try asking yourself if it mirrors some slightly similar way in which you may have acted in the past. Nobody’s perfect, after all! We all carry some baggage. If you hadn’t made any mistakes in your life, how would you have learned and grown? Having deep life experiences can bring great wisdom; assume that anything painful offers some kind of guidance or teaching. In time, it will be clearer what the lesson is. If you want a shortcut for now, try taking a card from the tarot – if it’s one of the 22 Major cards, it will likely show you what the lesson is. If it’s from the Minor Arcana (similar to a playing card deck with ‘pip’ cards and courts) then it’s pointing to a lesser lesson, but maybe still offering useful information. Know that, like the passage of Pluto retrograde – until October 16^th – this too shall pass.

If you’d like a personal reading, whether astrological, tarot-focussed or both, you may like to consider one of the options from the Mindbliss website’s consultations section:

https://mindbliss.co.uk/consultation-bookings/

Diana is a consultant in tarot and astrology with more than 30 years’ experience. She has written and edited content for many outlets including print publications and websites and for a wide range of clients and organisations. Content includes horoscope columns, interviews, feature articles, reviews and more. She has held individual, private consultations at Champneys Forest Mere health resort and many other outlets, whilst maintaining an ongoing email readings service. She currently writes for The Mountain Astrologer and a number of psychic readings services. She is a long-term Mind, Body and Spirit editor and mentor, primarily in non-fiction (including memoir) with Jericho Writers. In 2001 she co-founded the tarot association ‘TABI’ where she continues to assist in various roles.

©Diana McMahon Collis 21 May 2026

With additional thanks to Kleopatra at Pexels for the beautiful, vintage mirror image.

Book Review: Precycle! by Paul Peacock

Time for featuring an updated book review. This book still has value based on supporting eco-living initiatives and helping readers who want to keep in touch with nature. I am glad to see it's still readily available, and very relevant, almost two decades on! There's nothing particularly to do with astrology in this book, by the way, nor with tarot cards, but it covers certain areas of interest relating to a healthy planet and lifestyle. Plus, who doesn't love a few recipes for natural treats!   

The majority of information below was correct at the time of going to press, while certain details have also been updated, including an Amazon affiliate link if you should want to buy a copy of the book from that source. 

Precycle! (Paperback Book)

Author: Paul Peacock

Publisher: The Good Life Press Ltd

RRP: £29.99 - currently circa £15 at AmazonUK https://amzn.to/48oTyvC

Reviewed by: Diana McMahon-Collis

(Original review date 6 June 2009; updated 26 April 2026)) 

Copyright: Diana Collis 2026 

 

Are you interested in the idea of saving money and having more independence in food provision and looking after your home?  The Precycle method could work for you.

For anyone who remembers “The Good Life”, Paul Peacock’s Precycle! is in tune with the idea of growing your own and making your own – your own being whatever it is that you would normally go out and buy in a pack, jar, tub or bottle.

Why “Precycle!”?  Well, like many good book titles, it’s a clever little play on words.  The author’s remit is to help you to avoid having to buy so many pre-packaged, everyday items of grocery shopping - and thereby also avoid having to do so much recycling of packaging.

Peacock’s claim is to show you how to “make everything you buy in the shops – from sauce to sausages, bleach to beer, detergents to disinfectants”.  Actually, there’s a section on beauty products too – more of that later.

Does Precycle! live up to these claims?  Food, drink and cleaning products are the main contenders and are well covered in the book.  Not only can you learn how to make vinegar, but you can also see how to use it in your house-cleaning regime!  On the food front, there is a collection of popular recipes for preserves, cakes, biscuits, etc., plus some rather original and precious food-processing methods.  You can find out how to make cheeses like Edam, breakfast cereals like Cornflakes and drinks like ginger beer.

There’s a nice sort of “English Summer” feel to the food and drink section, with some recipes reminiscent of old British cookery and household management books: eg, Victoria Sandwich, lemonade, barley water, scones, soda bread…   Then there are some little gems such as Iced Cup Cakes, Caramel Sauce, home-made Ice Cream and Peppermint Tea straight from the garden.  Not to mention Naan, chapattis and granola (“a great alternative to cereal bars”).

The author is a smallholder and, at the time of writing, was editor of a monthly magazine, “Home Farmer” (back issues of which can be found at: https://pocketmags.com/home-farmer-magazine/).  In Precycle!, in the author's safe hands, you can also learn about making sausages, curing bacon, making butter, brewing beer and making country wines.  The meat section has guidance on producing ham and making pork pie and a decent, home-made pate.  There are also sections on fish, dairy products and bakery goods, with some entries more anecdotal than full recipes, so don’t expect a fully fledged, step-by-step Delia Smith Cookery Course approach!  However, you will find a lot of wisdom imparted in this handy little paperback.  I think it’s not unfair to describe it as a veritable tardis, as there’s really a remarkable amount of wisdom, experience and insight packed into the 224 pages that make up Precycle!

Within the Precycle! ethos there’s also an emphasis on frugality and plain old money saving – with the idea that you can make what you see on the supermarket shelves “for a fraction of the cost” - which includes concocting your own deodorant, shampoo and furniture polish.  Will the personal hygiene items compete with all those high-profile beauty products in glossy advertisements?  Maybe, maybe not.  But they could well accord with the “home spa” and organic approaches to hair and skin care.

Precycle! is a refreshing book.  It is, at one level, a collection of recipes.  But it’s more than just a cookery book and is all about how to make the most of easily available resources to cover some basic items that you probably use regularly.

There are a few less easily available ingredients mentioned; I would not readily know where to find rennet, glycerine or lanolin, for example – fortunately, the author gives advice of suppliers in the Resources section at the back of the book.  I draw the line, though, at wondering how to find 1kg of rosehips, to use in a recipe for a tonic high in vitamin C, in the “Vitamins and Supplements” section.  This is a sweet little section, more of a wave in the direction of Culpeper’s Herbal than a fully fledged red carpet trip.  But a nice idea, just the same – and you have to admire the author for making some potentially quaint ideas more appealing to a more modern audience.  Be assured, though, the author isn’t just serving up some wild claim or suggestion that, for example, garlic is good for you.  There’s an example given from “real life” where soldiers in the Great War were given garlic paste on field dressings to act as an antiseptic for their wounds - and the government supplied this through purchasing the garlic bulbs from the farmers.

The section on cleaning products is really worthwhile, with lots of insight into how very simple the basis of most household cleaning agents really is.  There is information on soap making and even lye making, although no obvious mention that you should have a licence if you want to deal with lye and make soap from home.  I was also disappointed not to find a recipe for a descaling product; and a lack of an index (if the book still doesn't feature one) is a possible oversight.  Nonetheless, this book is full of some wonderful gems and it’s worth reading through a few times to find them.

Currently available at Amazon: https://amzn.to/48oTyvC

 

Jupiter into Cancer

It won't be too long until Jupiter changes signs again, this time moving into Cancer in June, away from the air focus of Gemini to a new water focus, putting us more greatly in touch with feelings. Here is where empaths and sensitive souls gain new strength, as you can swim well in the emotional depths. Though don't forget to take a break and rest on a rock in the sun when you need one!

Did you know that there are crystal correlations with astrology? Crystals can be used for meditation and healing. They can feel like great companions when we need a boost! Here's an excerpt from a crystal guide I originally wrote nearly twenty years ago, and blogged about ten years ago on this site. It speaks about the third eye chakra that amethyst, Jupiter's stone, is connected so strongly with - and about Indigo Children with their spiritual awareness. Do you have Indigo Children around you? Is your inner child of this type? Hope you enjoy this content as we head towards the fresh energy from June 9th when Jupiter moves into Cancer! 

    Amethyst is a stone of Jupiter and, for a change, the ancients seem to all agree on that, apart from Al-Biruni, who doesn’t assign it at all; perhaps a typical case of lack of supply in his area at his time. To me, amethyst is one of the stones showing greatest congruence of association between disciplines, as the astrologers agree it’s a Jupiter stone and Jupiter’s colour correspondence is always given as purple. In chakra healing, which is meaningful in aura cleansing and crystal healing alike, this is along the colour band given to the “third eye” or spiritual chakra, sometimes described as indigo in shade. Perhaps it is also one of the most relevant stones for “Indigo children”, although a wider range is certainly available to them within a healing context; in my local new age shop, “Stepping Stones”, I was delighted recently to notice crystal elixir sprays designed especially for children and teenagers, to address specific issues such as bullying, anger, depression etc. To me it is a true sign that the new age has arrived, that we are now in a position to offer healing not only to our fellow adults but also to the next generation of children appearing in the world!

    In her book entitled Soul Mastery Susann Taylor Shier describes children with a more greatly developed compassion and, likewise, sees this as a sign that the times are a-changing and, if we look around, we can see that our children are incarnating as highly developed souls. Perhaps we can send some boxes of crystals and gem essences to the houses of “Tiny Tearaways” on the TV, to help any families that are still struggling!

Halloween Specials at LKP for the Tattoo Tarot Deck, Journal and Tarot Colouring Book!

Use code HALLOWEEN15 for 15% off all selections until the end of October in shopping spooky selections at Laurence King Publishing, including:

Tattoo Tarot deck

Tattoo Tarot Journal

The Tarot Colouring Book

It's that time of year when people are looking for gifts - including for tarot fans! This post is to help people know where they can find genuine copies of Tattoo Tarot, its follow up book, Tattoo Tarot Journal, The Tarot Colouring Book, and the Movie Tarot deck/booklet set. 

Why would you need to know? Because there have been illegally printed, fake versions of Tattoo Tarot advertised around the internet and - astonishingly - sometimes offered at a much more expensive price than the genuine article! For instance, TT deck set currently retails on Amazon UK at around £11.99, but a seller is offering a fake version at £17.55. Ouch!

Hopefully, most people won't be duped into a purchase of a deck selling fraudulently, but if you are, you might like to look to trading standards and see if you can obtain a refund. 

To be able to be sure if a deck is a fake, a telltale clue will be that it very likely won't have the specially prepared booklet with it; nor will it arrive in the beautiful, lidded gift box specially commissioned by LKP (it will just be in a cheap, flip top box like you get with an everyday card pack - only the seller will have likely stolen the art from the original design, to copy). All the purchase will have, unfortunately, is a set of illustrated cards, not on the original card stock, and with no instructions on how to use them nor definitions of their specific meanings (which differ in some regards to some modern decks). Also, if you are offered a 'PDF' version of the booklet, that will be a fake - being sold illegally with no respect of author copyright - since no PDF version exists! The information appears in a printed, bound, glossy, colour booklet.

So, here are the main, easy to spot clues on how you can know if you are looking at a genuine version of Tattoo Tarot online, which you might be considering buying for yourself or another - and you can find such a valid set via the following link: https://amzn.to/3oUTNH9 Genuine Tattoo Tarot Deck

1)  The cards will be sold within a gift box format, NOT a typical, flip-top card casing, but a sturdy box with a removable lid. The sort of box that looks beautiful on a tarot reading table! This box has a red inside lining with a deep well for the cards.

2) The tarot set comes complete with a glossy, colour-printed booklet bound with a stitched seam.

3) The publisher will be named as Laurence King Publishing. 

4) The illustrator/artist will be named as Megamunden. 

5) The author/writer will be named as Diana McMahon Collis. 

6) The deck will be sold at a reasonable price (for a tarot deck). 

7) The deck won't advertise itself as containing any PDF element (the booklet is only offered as part of the set and in printed form - it fits neatly inside the box). 

Please also find links below to the other genuine tarot items mentioned above, all published by Laurence King Publishing - part of the Orion Books group: 

The follow-up book, Tattoo Tarot Journal, which includes extended meanings for the cards and lots of spreads - with plenty of room to practise and record your own (as it's a journal format); a soft-bound, wipe-clean style A5 size book with a very pretty cover! https://amzn.to/3r43qG4 Tattoo Tarot Journal

The Tarot Colouring Book, which also features expanded Tattoo Tarot card illustrations, with extra, black ink design details - as well as textual information about tarot art in history, for colouring inspiration (my bit of research for the project!) This usually retails at about £6 at the time of writing this post: https://amzn.to/3FK2uuu The Tarot Colouring Book

Movie Tarot, the name of which is probably self-explanatory, but features characters from popular movies. Again, this mentions Diana McMahon Collis as the author - but with Natalie Foss as the illustrator: https://amzn.to/3l4EcDL Movie Tarot

Please feel free to share the above links with anyone who wants to access genuine tarot products. I love the idea of #realtarot on social media! Please share this hashtag phrase if you're a fan of genuine tarot decks and want to help support the illustrators and authors. We all really appreciate it and this helps to keep genuine art and design going, as well as respecting the intellectual property of author and publisher copyrights.

Tarot Products at a Discount - Hurry for special Christmas offers at LKP!

Time to be happy! Laurence King publishers (LKP) are offering my followers a pre-Christmas discount of 30% (use code Christmas30 at checkout) when our products are purchased via their website (the number one, guaranteed official source of the genuine product!*) At laurenceking.com, type the word TAROT in the search box, to find:

The brand new, Movie Tarot deck/booklet set

The bestselling Tattoo Tarot: Ink and Intuition deck/booklet set

plus Tattoo Tarot Journal

and The Tarot Colouring Book

Use the code Christmas30 at checkout. * Please note, there have been pirated versions of Tattoo Tarot offered on other sites; they are easy to spot as they don't include the very helpful instruction booklet or substantial, original gift box - the cards are also not of the same, high quality. To ensure you have the official, full and genuine product, buy direct from the publisher's website. Check out Laurence King's GIFT section for a wide range of beautiful gifts!

Tattoo Tarot Journal has Arrived!

It's landed! The Tattoo Tarot Journal from Laurence King Publishing.

Now available at this official outlet - use code ‘ttj25’ to receive a 25% discount! https://www.laurenceking.com/product/tattoo-tarot-journal/ @laurencekingpub