The Karmic Lessons of Pluto

Karmic lessons in the individual horoscope are primarily associated with the planets Saturn and Pluto. Saturn is the planet that poses certain trials and teaches us through discipline and limitations to overcome ourselves and move forward. However, the area of life where a person most intensely encounters their karma and has the opportunity to work through certain lessons is that which is symbolized by the house of Pluto in the natal horoscope.

The American clairvoyant, mystic, and healer Edgar Cayce says that the essence of karma is "to find yourself” in our various life situations and relationships.

The role of Pluto in the houses of the horoscope is connected with the opportunity for a person to meet their former "Self”, to remember past desires, to realize their internal conflicts, and the needs for transformation.

Suffering in our lives is very often the result of conflict with the old "Self", of difficulties in the process through which we come to know ourselves and become self-aware. The position of Pluto in the individual horoscope shows what is required of us in order to develop to a deeper level of existence and which behavioral patterns we must abandon to feel fulfilled.

In the following paragraphs, I will briefly review how the different placements Pluto can have in a person's birth chart are interpreted. Remember that these are just general guidelines intended to stimulate your observations of the individual whose horoscope you are examining. It remains up to you to assess how positively or negatively the various potential possibilities express themselves.

To find out which house Pluto is in in your horoscope, visit http://www.alwaysastrology.com/birth-chart-calculator.html. After entering your personal data, hover the mouse cursor over the Pluto symbol shown in the legend. A text pop-up box saying PLANETS:PLUTO with a drop-down menu will appear above it. After clicking on the symbol to the right of this title, detailed information about the position of your Pluto appears. “

PLUTO IN THE FIRST HOUSE

Every house is connected in a certain polarity with another house. The First House is connected with the Seventh, and people with Pluto in either of these houses often share common qualities and perceptions. Their lessons lie in relationships and partnerships.
It is considered that the person with Pluto in the First House begins a new evolutionary cycle. These people are very interesting to others, but for themselves, it is difficult to live with this position of Pluto. A person with Pluto in the First House must first get to know themselves and realize how much power they possess, whether physical or psychological. These people are tremendously magnetic, but not infrequently use this quality for dishonorable purposes. They can turn into wonderful leaders who are very benevolent and attentive to colleagues and subordinates. Their task as a leader is to organize the team in such a way that every member does their job with quality and no one feels wronged or dissatisfied.
These people are born psychologists. They need only a single look at the person opposite them to get to know them perfectly and unerringly uncover their strengths and weaknesses. Consequently, they try to manipulate and command others, but at the same time, they are often full of internal fears and insecurities. Here we are mostly talking about fear of rejection, internal self-doubt that they are not handling things well enough, and that they are out of place. It is precisely as a reaction to this insecurity that attempts at control and manipulation arise. Very often, people with Pluto in the First House are lonely because they feel misunderstood by others and strive to isolate themselves from them.

PLUTO IN THE SECOND HOUSE

This house has a polar connection with the Eighth. People with Pluto in the Second and Eighth Houses have lessons involving money and power.
When Pluto is in the Second House, one theme is always power. The other, in one form or another, is resources - most often financial. This person must learn the lesson about money early on in order to easily achieve peace of mind and some major transformation if they deem that one is needed. In these people, there is almost always a huge tension lurking around money issues and whether they are financially stable enough. In many cases, two people with Pluto in the Second House can be at opposite poles regarding financial capabilities. Such people often experience several bankruptcies, but each time they strive to rise again and not infrequently succeed. They tend to be overly materialistic and it often happens that they acquire possessions that are far above their standard of living.
As a result, their desired "toys” do not reflect well on their stability and often lead to even greater insecurity.
Many people with Pluto in the Second House are born with an innate guilt regarding money and decide to compensate by living in extreme poverty in this life or, at best, with little money.
Others among them, who are in a flourishing financial condition, use money as a way to establish total control over family, friends, subordinates, etc. When they like someone, they do not spare efforts to "buy” the other, attempting in this way to demonstrate power. However, those who live in poverty have an even more special attitude toward money. They often do not believe that financial prosperity can make them happy, solve their emotional problems, and feel that it is definitely better not to have money as long as they have peace of mind.
In reality, Pluto in the Second House gives a wonderful opportunity for very good sources of income and material status, but only when relying on long-term and well-thought-out investments. However, many rich people who have this placement rely on risk, on striking big. According to karmic astrology, this can work only when even this model of behavior is placed within a well-considered organizational framework.
Pluto in the Second House almost always has a strong connection with sex. A huge number of people with this placement (of both genders) consider sex to be another way to manipulate with money and control over the other. They are convinced that a very strong interconnection exists between sex and money.
The lessons for Pluto in the Second House are precisely related to money, and here the opportunity for transformation is tied to one's attitude toward it. The transformation for the person who believes they will be happy only with little money is to work on overcoming this self-suggestion and head towards a path that gives them at least a decent financial situation. In the other case - the person skillfully manipulating and controlling others through money - they give up this approach in order to be calmer, happier, and more welcoming toward others.


PLUTO IN THE THIRD HOUSE

This placement is connected with intellect - intellectual communication, writing, interacting. If Pluto in the Third House is worked through correctly, these people can be wonderful writers, journalists, screenwriters. People who introduce new ideas, crafting them from scratch, set new trends in writing, teach or train, propagate and spread new ideas, or dedicate themselves to developing some philosophical system. This is the positive development of this placement.
In many cases, however, people with this placement talk continuously and scatter their energy, seemingly always seeking someone's opinion on this or that matter, instead of systematizing their own views and perceptions of life's affairs. At a certain point, this leads them to neuroses. The situation of perpetual communications, endless questioning of others without any real result, unnerves these people and throws them into an extremely unstable mental state.
When karma is heavier, some of these people suffer from defects in speech and/or thinking. Sometimes the person with Pluto in this house has to overcome much more serious and dangerous mental issues. Because of this, if any delay in development - even a minimal one, such as talking later - is noticed in a child with this placement, it is good for them to be treated early by a speech therapist, because the problem may not disappear on its own. Serious work needs to be done there so the mind can develop and reach the levels of which it is capable.
Overall, the gift of Pluto in the Third House is exceptional communicative abilities, a hypnotic effect on others through their manner of expression, storytelling, and dissemination of ideas, facts, and hypotheses. On the opposite pole are neuroticism and depression caused by the person failing to comprehend their karmic lessons.


PLUTO IN THE FOURTH HOUSE

This is the house of parents, childhood, the roots of the soul, and those of the ancestral lineage from which we come. This placement can also be connected with ancestral karma. If a person goes through a series of bad periods and if Pluto has difficult aspects, this may be a signal that this is precisely the case, and the person with this placement must find a way to overcome family baggage. Otherwise, Pluto in the Fourth House very often points to past lives with problematic parents. Often a person comes into this life with a trauma stemming from relationships with parents in a previous one and/or from something that happened in the family, also in a past life. Often, in the present life as well, one of the parents is a special case - passed away early or has a very complex relationship with the child. The trauma lies in the relationship with the parents, in early childhood, where one develops their personal sense of security. If this confidence and calm are not obtained by the fourth or fifth year of life, then most likely the person will remain with an imprinted insecurity for their entire life, regardless of the circumstances under which they develop. These people often have a sharp feeling that they are not loved, that they are perpetually misunderstood, and perpetually undervalued. These feelings do not necessarily arise from events in their present life. Frequently, a person carries over such impressions and fears from past lives.
The task of such individuals, if Pluto in the Fourth House is worked through properly, is to get rid of insecurity and timidity, to learn to be confident, and to find their strength and center.
Very often, people with such a placement are mediums or possess very strong energy and enviable abilities as healers. Based on this, they can, in one way or another, become pillars upon whom others, or at least their family, can rely. But this happens under the proper development of things.
In the general manifestation of Pluto in the Fourth House, most often the person finds a partner whom they care for down to the smallest detail, thereby gradually binding them to themselves and shifting their relationship with them onto a "parent-child" axis. In this way, the person with Pluto in the Fourth House gains the confidence that they have created a situation where they will always have someone by their side who will support them, regardless of their behavior or momentary situation. The reverse case also exists, where the roles are reversed. Then the person with this placement views care and attention as genuine and unconditional love and slowly becomes completely dependent on the other. Very often they give up professional or any social and personal life in order to build a "parent-child" relationship with reversed roles with their partner in life. In the classic case, the person with Pluto in the Fourth House puts their partner in absolute dependency, but at one point becomes terribly disappointed with the situation. They realize that the other cannot give them the love they need, or they realize that they do not feel truly happy, even after achieving the said dependency. All this disappointment leads to deep sadness and depression, but even then these people do not give up their behavioral model because they have practically invested their whole life into building it and cannot just abandon it like that.
Those born with this placement are extremely susceptible to all kinds of depressive states. They are very sensitive and vulnerable, but can also be quite vindictive and cruel if they decide that you are hurting them without them deserving it. It is precisely because of this polarization that their momentary feelings and state are very difficult to fathom.
The person with Pluto in the Fourth House must discover their own security and independence, but must seek them within themselves rather than in other people, which is by no means an easy task.


PLUTO IN THE FIFTH HOUSE

This is a very strong placement because the Fifth House is a fire house and planets there have a very interesting manifestation. Pluto in the Fifth House gives very strong creative energy, which, however, is not always realized by the person. In many cases, if not suppressed in early childhood, these people are very charismatic. Many children with this placement have an extremely strong aura from a very young age, with which they attract others. Another case is when early in childhood the person was suppressed and some of their qualities were constrained. Then this charisma is lost and some important event or therapy is needed for the individual to connect with this quality of theirs and restore this energy.
The simplest definition for these people is that they are in this life to fulfill some creative project. This does not necessarily mean achieving huge success in the field of art - writing a great book or directing a hit film. It could be about opening a club, creating something very beautiful or very practical out of fabric, yarn, etc. The idea here is about creative momentum and innovation. Such people have enormous power and very serious potential to create and draw others to themselves.
The problem is that they have a huge ego, especially strong in men with this placement, which can hinder their sober assessment when they begin to build.
Men with Pluto in the Fifth House are very good when pursuing someone in love. They want to be the best, the most successful, and manage to do what pleases their partner. But their huge ego leads to a perpetual feeling that they have not achieved enough. Although outwardly they appear satisfied and proud of themselves, they secretly get angry that they are not where they want and think they can be, and this depresses them severely.
People with Pluto in the Fifth House have an obsessive need from early childhood to be noticed and to have attention paid to them constantly, even if it is for something bad. They also have a tendency toward manipulating others, but the motives are tied to the endless need of people with this placement to be liked, noticed, praised, etc.
The egocentricity of people with this placement enters into sharp conflict with their primary karmic task - to create - and distances them from the creative energy of creation.
The lesson here is for the person to concentrate on themselves, rather than manipulating others and demanding from them.
Very often, Pluto in the Fifth House gives past lives of VIP personalities, and because of this, they feel special in the present as well. It is precisely because of this innate impression that they feel dissatisfied with the amount of attention paid to them.
Quite often with these people there is some obsession - in the classic case for men, the object is love, the partner, while for women, it is children. Men dedicate themselves entirely to the pursuit of love and are ready to neglect everything else, which leads to failure in fulfilling karmic tasks and lessons. When the relationship fails, they become endlessly sad and sour because they interpret this as proof that they are not the best and are deeply hurt. Women, on their part, are those mothers who do the best for their children, but become so attached to them that they leave them no personal space whatsoever. At some point, this leads to a serious crisis in the relationship between the two sides, which sometimes is never overcome. And here, in the majority of cases, it leads to failure in fulfilling karmic tasks and lessons.
The karma that comes with this placement can be related to a very stubborn child. Then attempts to control them are not only unsuccessful, but also provoke a huge desire in the child to be in perpetual opposition to the parent with Pluto in the Fifth House. To avoid all dramas, these people must learn not to obsess excessively over their loved ones and to leave personal space, both for them and for themselves. That way, everyone will get the opportunity to develop all their talents and projects.


PLUTO IN THE SIXTH HOUSE

This position is by no means easy, and this is conditioned by the fact that the Sixth House is connected with health and work. Such a placement can signify a karmic lesson through illness. It does not need to be something severe and fatal; it can be a specific period in a person's life in which they encounter illness and fight it. In fact, the soul chooses this lesson so that through the illness in question, certain views and attitudes toward life can be transformed. In some people, this change expresses itself in a new dietary regime; others begin to profess new spiritual ideas and concepts, while still others have direct spiritual experiences and see a force that heals them or helps them against the illness in other ways. In a large portion of people, however, the mind resists the lesson imposed by the soul. The person is sick, sees it, feels it, but is firmly resolved not to change anything in their lifestyle, convinced that such a change is completely unnecessary.
Pluto in the Sixth House not infrequently produces very good healers. Very often, these are people who have gone through a serious life crisis (an illness of their own or of a loved one, or another family drama) or spiritual insight, and this has unlocked such qualities in them or convinced them to head toward such a role. But such people should not be confused with medical doctors. They do not adhere to medical practices, but rely exclusively on unconventional alternative methods.
People with this placement are usually capable of enviable innovation in their work, but their perpetual stubbornness and perfectionism often prevent this innate quality from yielding results. If others refuse to accept their idea, it does not occur to them at all to revise it according to the recommendations of those around them, but they stick to their stance, which leads to tension and conflicts within the team. In the case where the lesson is learned, the person with this placement looks at the objections of others objectively and tries to revise their ideas instead of being stubborn.
Pluto in the Sixth House is usually a sign of workaholism. This person is perpetually busy, never has enough personal time, never has enough time for family and friends. All of this sharply changes the moment the person "burns out" or something unexpected happens - they or someone close to them falls ill, someone around them dies, etc. Such things heavily impact the sworn workaholic, and they try to slow down the pace for the sake of more time and contact with their loved ones.


PLUTO IN THE SEVENTH HOUSE

Another rather difficult placement. This house is connected with relationships. The lesson here is balance, equality, continuous learning and enrichment of the personality, being in a relationship without being consumed by it, developing independently, etc.
Regarding their attitude toward the relationship with their partner, these people are divided into two types. Some allow themselves to be consumed by the other, stop engaging in their own interests, stop having any life of their own, and focus on simply being a function of the other. This can continue for many long years without the relationship being happy. In the other case, the person with this placement is very dominant, very aggressive, insists strongly on imposing themselves, and tries to break the partner. If the other side is more unstable and passive, this happens easily, but not always. Frequently, as a kind of karmic lesson, these people receive a partner who is no less aggressive and driven toward dominance in the relationship. This results in endless Plutonian wars for supremacy, which can even reach extreme phases like physical aggression. Thus, it leads to a relationship in which both partners are unhappy and dissatisfied and do not even try to hide it. Nevertheless, they become so tightly intertwined in these, seemingly quite strange, relationships of theirs that later it is extremely difficult to break away from each other. If they cannot rethink their lesson, they often remain together until separated by death. That is why this placement is very difficult. These people simply cannot be alone. They have a crying need for a partner. If left alone, they feel inadequate, unfit, failed, unhappy, depressed, etc.
Here we reach one of the lessons of Pluto in the Seventh House - for a person to learn to be a little more independent and for their existence not to depend on the presence of another in their life. A relationship is vital for such a person, although they are almost never happy when in one. This is because in such a situation, lessons are being learned. If the person manages to learn them, they will at least have a relationship in which they find the other person interesting.
Harmony is very important for such people because this is the house of Libra, which means searching for balance and tranquility.
Sometimes a person with this placement may have a karmic predetermination to meet a partner whom they know from past lives and with whom they have good aspects. In such cases, however, Pluto in the Seventh House not infrequently gives some illness or physical disability that forces you to work through the relationship with the other once again and accordingly requires you to learn the lessons of self-reliance and independence from the other.


PLUTO IN THE EIGHTH HOUSE

This placement is quite peculiar. The Eighth House is the house of money, power, sex, magic, collective resources, etc.
When you see Pluto in the Eighth House, you must be careful. A considerable portion of people who are drawn to various occult practices and experiments have this position, which is an indicator of their inclination toward the unknown and mystical. It is considered that some of them are drawn to sorcery and specifically to black magic. They also like to experiment in sex, to break taboos. People with this position of Pluto should be approached very carefully, and one should strive to get to know them well before becoming close.
If the person with Pluto in the 8th House is positive and cheerful, they charge everyone around them with positive energy. If, however, they are gloomy, angry, and negative, this inevitably transfers onto those around them. Such is the strong influence of these people on their environment.
One lesson for people with this placement is connected with money. A portion of them can be bankers, financiers, etc., but they also not infrequently have a speculative streak - to snatch money through some scheme, to manipulate someone for financial gain. These are the negative manifestations of Pluto in the Eighth House; these people are quite skillful manipulators. They have the strong ability to convince others of their ideas, and this is not necessarily bad.
If this person has worked through their karma and learned their lessons, they can be of help to others. Very often, people with this placement become psychoanalysts and psychiatrists. But this placement of Pluto is not associated with classic psychoanalysis. Usually, psychiatrists with this position deal with heavier cases - deep mental problems, severe mental disorders, etc. Even people with completely different professions and education with this position of Pluto sign up to study psychology simply because their interest in these topics is innate and ineradicable.
These are people with many diverse talents. Just as they can be people with a peculiar life and many distortions, they are also among the strongest personalities, with the greatest capacity for transformation. Psychiatrists and psychoanalysts with such a placement often pioneer and propagate new ideas in their science.


PLUTO IN THE NINTH HOUSE

This is one of the easier and less challenging placements.
These people have strong and often unyielding beliefs and ideals, which they stand behind under all circumstances. They are open to new knowledge, seek it out, and find its mastery tremendously easy. Among their problems are fanaticism, dogmatism, and self-assurance. At a low level of working through, these are the fanatics - whether religious, political, etc.
These people love to travel. Often they cannot sit still in one place and are virtually always on the road. Here the karmic lesson is to get to know different countries, different nations, different cultures, thereby developing as a personality. If the lesson is harsher, it could mean exile from one's homeland and being forced to wander the world to learn about it. In some cases, the person with this position feels alienated from their homeland and nation. Then the lesson is also by no means easy, because they leave the homeland and the group into which they were born and set off into the world. The lesson itself is to manage to adapt to the new reality, which can turn out to be complex.
Although relatively easy and calm as a placement, Pluto in the Ninth House is simultaneously very powerful. If located in the horoscope of a settled and independent person, this position gives them the chance to produce and launch highly promising innovative ideas and beliefs. The lessons of Pluto in this house are comprehended more easily. There is no painful path of realization and resistance typical for most other positions.
People with Pluto in the Ninth House are born to be teachers and educators. But this does not mean only teaching in educational institutions, various courses, etc. It can also involve teaching those around them in daily life, delivering truths heard or read.


PLUTO IN THE TENTH HOUSE

This placement is associated with power from past lives.
When these people had power, they either abused it or did not exercise it for the good of all. As compensation in some cases in the present life, fate assigns them positions where they have no power and are continuously crushed by higher authority figures. The victims do not understand why they are doomed to such a fate when they have so many qualities, but such is the situation and there are no prospects for change. In the other manifestation, the person in this life also possesses much power, but suddenly experiences troubles (scandals, bankruptcies, etc.) that lead to losing their position, and a crisis begins in their life. During this crisis, they often undergo an absolute spiritual catharsis and find new values in life.
Pluto in the Tenth House and its associated karma do not necessarily mean that the person should stay away from leadership and power positions. On the contrary. Such people have very good qualities and they should be developed. The question is how they do it and to what extent they learn their karmic lesson. Very often, this type of person must work through qualities like fanaticism, intolerance toward authority, arrogance, a tendency to sabotage rivals, and the need to establish total control, which suffocates others and hinders their development.
One of the most important lessons for people with Pluto in the Tenth House is learning how to properly handle the power given to them. To best succeed in learning this, they are often taken by life through periods of ups and downs - at one moment they possess great power and authority, after which fate throws them to the opposite pole, where they are crushed by bosses, colleagues, loved ones, relatives, etc. Ideally, this works and the person truly learns that with power come responsibilities, norms of behavior, norms in relationships among members of a work team, etc. But there are quite a few people who fail to rid themselves of all negative qualities, no matter how many times they pass from rise to fall and back again.
Astrologer Jeff Green says that many people with Tenth and Fourth House placements are on Earth for the first time in their current gender. For this reason, inside them there is constant insecurity due to the fact that they have not yet gotten used to their new body and must learn on the go.


PLUTO IN THE ELEVENTH HOUSE

People with this placement have a huge need to be perceived as authority figures and always try to earn this recognition. They are very good disseminators of ideas. They have very good karma with groups and often create circles of friends, organizations, interest clubs, etc. around themselves.
The person with Pluto in this position is usually an explorer, innovative and avant-garde in their views. They have very interesting and unconventional concepts about relationships between people and are capable of defending both these and new, unfamiliar ones that are again their own work.
The problems of these people are that they often become slaves to their already established ideas about people and relationships between people. Their task is to learn to be flexible depending on changing circumstances. Also, some of them have a habit of clinging to the old. This tendency sharply conflicts with their perpetual impulse to do new and hitherto unknown things. Because of this, here we often encounter people who live in constant inner conflict for many years on end, simply because they do not resolve to do something and choose one stance. Very often the karmic lesson is for transformation to take place precisely through a leap toward new and unfamiliar people, situations, and concepts.
Pluto in the Eleventh House usually produces very good leaders and guides. When they find themselves, others recognize this quality of theirs because they have the natural ability to organize and lead groups of people.


PLUTO IN THE TWELFTH HOUSE

There are two houses of karma - the Eighth and the Twelfth - and therefore the hardest lessons are in these houses.
One of the biggest problems for people with Pluto in this house is the continuous deep suppression of feelings and emotions, which prevents them from truly realizing who they are. They are so accustomed to hiding and suppressing these things that they simply cannot understand what they want from their life. Everything in this house is very secret, very hidden.
With this placement, it is not uncommon for a person, forcibly or voluntarily, to have periods of isolation and self-isolation. In milder cases of karma, isolation may be due to illness or depression that causes them to withdraw from other people and close in on themselves. In more severe situations, we speak of confinement in a sanatorium, clinic, prison, etc.
Pluto in the Twelfth House very often points to past lives spent in solitude, asceticism, monasticism, living in the desert, etc. Because of this, in the present life, these people rarely seek solitude in monasteries, although many mystics and gurus are born with this position.
The placement is considered very difficult because here people learn faith. A person must discover faith in the Source for themselves and in the fact that even in the most critical situations there is someone guiding you "from above" and protecting you from mistakes. Reaching such a belief is very difficult for these people, and there is a reason for this. This position of Pluto usually gives a non-easy life, filled with challenges and vicissitudes - for someone who has fought their karma their whole life, it is terribly difficult to simply believe in an invisible force. Nevertheless, some people with such a placement come into the present life at a very high spiritual level and fully comprehend and assimilate everything connected with the Cosmos, the Source, relationships between people, and themselves.
For the person with this placement, it is easy to overcome inner isolation as long as they turn to meditation and other spiritual practices, because these activities naturally suit both people with such a position and the process of overcoming depressions and spiritual crises that cause them to pull back from others.

Another reason for the difficulty of Pluto in the Twelfth House is deep and at times extreme emotionality. Very often people carry this tendency from their past lives, as well as the inclination to perpetually play the victim and put themselves into this behavioral model. This causes them to turn to the aforementioned isolation from others and closing in on themselves. In light of all this, it would not be an exaggeration to say that people with Pluto in the Twelfth House have a very difficult and thorny path to self-awareness, because more or less they are not typical members of society. They are often the outsiders, the black sheep. Before they become aware of themselves, they do not have the exact sense of how to fit into society, how to assert their opinion, how to manipulate others, etc. In their past lives, they were in solitude and hermithood. Because of this, they are inexperienced and ignorant regarding human relationships and societal interactions. Frequently, a very long period passes during which they must learn these things. Once they do, they achieve very interesting results in the field of human relationships. They make wonderful writers, philosophers, esoterics, gurus, creators of spiritual concepts, and so on.

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