Power Punches for Transformation--Pluto Transits through Houses

Golden Eagle, Wikipedia

 (For the sake of this article and exercise, see which house in your chart has Capricorn on the cusp.  Then look under the qualities listed in this article: Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable).

We have been hearing more about Pluto in Capricorn than any other transit of this planet in recent decades.  I think this is because Pluto transits through a Cardinal Sign Capricorn at the same time Uranus, another outer planet travels through Aries, another Cardinal Sign. And when Pluto transited in Cancer (1930s) the world endured the Great Depression and World War II.  Cardinal Signs launched new energies and push for change.  These are pushy signs and it's easy to feel impatient when planets travel through them or if we are born with planets in Cardinal Signs.

In addition, astrologers' focus has been on Pluto transits that aspect Natal planets like the Sun and Moon, as well as, Ascension Signs in the Cardinal quality.  However, everyone experiences all Pluto transits, even if not through a direct aspect.  Somewhere in your chart, Pluto transits through one of your 12 houses and themes from that particular house undergo transformation of one kind or another during a Pluto transit. Pluto can also stay up to 20 years in a house depending on the degree of the cusp of that house and the duration of the Pluto transit.  And a planet staying in a single house for over a decade brings major changes, which might appear subtle at first, or might hit a person hard when the planet travels over the cusp of the house and in the first degrees.  We all have life lessons to learn now and Pluto and the other outer planets stay with us long enough until we get those lessons.

However, for this particular post, let's just look at Pluto transits in the 12 houses.  Let's skip over aspects with other planets and focus instead on the energy and themes of each of the houses that Pluto disrupts on its journey through the Zodiac.

Instead of going in order of the houses, I'm going to go with quality of the houses starting with the angular houses ruled by Cardinal Signs (First, Fourth, Seventh and Tenth).  I often tell me clients to look at transits in these houses because these are the main areas in which clients ask questions (Self, Home/Mother, Partnerships, and Career/Public).  The First House also begins with our Ascension Sign which occurs at the moment we take our first breath, give or take.

photo by Patricia Herlevi

Cardinal Houses 

First House, Ruled by Aries--This is the House of self, identity, our body type, our first impression on others our body language and our childhood round up the themes found in this house.  Whether or not you have planets in the First House or not, Pluto will still cross your Ascension Sign if you have Capricorn AC (and we are looking at Pluto in Capricorn for the sake of this post).

While this transit would carry more weight and power if Pluto aspected other planets in the form of conjunctions, oppositions and squares, even if you have no such aspects, you're going to experience Pluto bring transformation to how you perceive yourself and this could involve a lesson involving the ego or self-identity, not to mention some transformation to your physical body.  With Pluto in Capricorn, you could end up losing weight which may or may not be ideal.  No one appreciates looking like a stick figure.  You might just learn to love your body as it is and start taking better care of it.  And it's also possible that you reclaim your personal power at this time, especially if you're not experiencing aspects to your natal planets through this Pluto transit.  Take good care of the structure of you body (bones, skin, tendons and other connective tissue).

Fourth House, Ruled by Cancer---Depending on which astrologer you follow, the Fourth House rules the Mother or the Father (I go with Mother for this house), the home, childhood, how we nourish ourselves as taught by our mothers and any problems in relationship to our mothers.  So when Pluto transits through this Cancer-ruled house, we transform our views of our mother, motherhood, home, hearth, food, and nourishment as well as, parenting.  This could be a time of breakthroughs in the form of healing with relationship to our mother.  Some people could heal childhood abuse during this Pluto transit with the help of a good therapist.  However, this therapist would need to practice detachment so that the client does not create a mother image for the therapist.

Seventh House, Ruled by Libra--Mainly we see this House as ruling partnerships of all kinds, but mainly marriage and business partnership as well as, legal situations, contracts, agreements, divorce, etc...When Pluto transits through this house expect transformation in these areas.  You might have to leave a co-dependent relationship, end a marriage that leaves you feeling stifled or perhaps you give up the single life in favor of marriage.  The transformation could also involve a legal situation and the various aspects with Pluto to other planets in your Natal chart would determine the outcome of that situation.  See an astrologer for details.

Tenth House, Ruled by Capricorn--When Pluto transits through the Tenth expect changes in public life, relationship with father and career.  So often the way we deal with the outer world comes from the father figures in our early life.  This becomes what we call our male side or our inner father-provider-breadwinner despite our sex.  During this Pluto transit we might question if we chose our career because we were following our bliss or pleasing our parents.  Pluto is all about self-integrity so if we chose a career just because it was practical or because it pleased our parents (but leaves us feeling miserable), then Pluto will find a way to remove us from that career (unemployment, sudden job loss) so that we can pursue our true soul path.

This is confusing to a lot of folks because even if you like your career and it's still not the right path, you could lose your job.  It's not because Pluto is punitive, but because our soul desires start churning and we actually want to move on, but are trapped in fearful and limited thinking.  We also despise change, especially sudden change that could occur when Pluto transits over the cusp of the Tenth or the MC (midheaven).  And by the way, we can also experience job loss when Pluto crosses our AC (First House) too, as I can attest or our North Node.  But the reason behind the loss has more to do with over identifying with a career and losing hubris along the way.  Pluto won't put up with arrogance.

photo by Patricia Herlevi

Fixed Houses 

Now, let's look at Pluto transiting through the Fixed Houses provided you have a Cardinal Sign ruling these houses, otherwise the Pluto transit in Capricorn will not enter a fixed house in your natal chart.

Second House, Ruled by Taurus--Pluto transiting through the Second House has us reassessing our gifts, talents and personal resources.  We can feel stuck in the mud in this house if all we do is accumulate or if we accumulate through a job or career that does not utilize our natural gifts that we came to this planet to share.  Pluto crossing the Second House cusps could leave us with the urge to downsize and give away material possessions or to volunteer our time, skills and talents for a greater cause.  This transit could lead to selling the house or other assets and hitting the road in a mobile home, but this is rare.  A Pluto transit will shake up this house and help us to lose our rigidity and discover that when we share what we have with others, it multiplies, but when we hoard, we just feel miserable and stuck.

Fifth House, Ruled by Leo--When Pluto transits in the Fifth House we reevaluate what we do for recreation and fun. If we have had too many affairs and used people along the way, Pluto brings reckoning in some form or another.  If we have grown narcissistic and overly dramatic, we  might see our friends and lovers walking out of our lives.  People who gamble might hit hard times with Pluto coming along questioning this behavior and this is a time to keep the ego in check and discover our heart centers. This could also be a time when creative pursuits in the arts, especially performing arts undergo transformation. We ask ourselves the real reason why we do what we do.  Are we performing music for applause or because we wish to share our gifts with others and create connections?  This is a good question to ask when Pluto transits through the Fifth.

Eighth House, Ruled by Scorpio--It's time to reassess our financial relationships with others--either family members, corporations or the government.  Have we been honest in our financial dealings? Have others been honest in financial dealings regarding us?  A Pluto transit could deal us a blow in the area of other people's resources that we depend upon and we might just learn to become more self-sufficient.  Other themes that come up have to deal with sexuality, soul mates, sexual relationships, sexual diseases, sexual hangups, psychological hangups and the heavier stuff we prefer to sweep under the carpet.

Pluto rips out that carpet and exposes to us the things that make us cringe.  We might find creepy crawlies in the attic or basement of our homes, we might learn that a nearby factory is poisoning our environment, or we might learn that the family inheritance came at a high cost to the environment or other people's lives. We might uncover some dirty secrets or we might just heal the deepest part of our consciousness through relationships that occur at this time. Sorry but this is a darker house and it's also Pluto's domain so the lessons are deeper and ultimately more fulfilling than with the other houses.  You could deal with death or just the concept of death and regeneration.  (Fortunately, Pluto transited through this house during my early childhood so I won't be revisiting this transit again in this lifetime).

Eleventh House, Ruled by Aquarius--The folks born with Pluto and Uranus conjunct in Virgo (mid-1960s) will have an easier time with Pluto transits in this Aquarius house.  This Pluto transit asks us about transforming how we relate to our colleagues, peer groups, networks, and humanity as a whole.  We might be invited to change our minds about new technology or spiritual concepts when Pluto transits this house and we might do so through a workshop or conference setting.  For instance, a colleague might drag you to a spiritual seminar about Law of Attraction and taking responsibility for your co-creations and manifestations.  You might feel uncomfortable with this line of thinking because you are more conventional or traditional, but if Pluto transits through this house during the time you are exposed to new ideas, these ideas will rock your world and crack the foundation.  You will also consider transforming society and how we live on the planet at this time and this is not  passing fancy, but something deeper.  By joining others, you also transform your own life by exposing corruption and implementing more humanitarian practices.

photo by Patricia Herlevi

Mutable Houses

Finally,. (my hands are sore from typing), let's look at Pluto Transits through the Mutable Houses, which are Third (Gemini), Sixth (Virgo), Ninth (Sagittarius) and Twelfth (Pisces).  And although we're not looking at Pluto in signs for this article, remember that Pluto was in Virgo from 1957 to 1970, and Sagittarius in more recent years (right before the planet transited into Capricorn, in fact).  But let's stay with the Pluto transit in Capricorn as it transits through the mutable houses so this would mean that you have Cardinal Signs on the mutable houses in your Natal chart.  Are you following?

Third House, Ruled by Gemini--When Pluto transits through this house we see transformation in areas of K-12 education, short distance travel, siblings, cousins, mental processes, and communication styles. So we could experience a scenario involving a brother or sister and our communication style that brings transformation to our lives.  A short distance trip involving a sibling could bring up childhood rivalry and biting comments that lead to a bitter feud, but ultimately brings transformation in that we need to change our perceptions of the sibling or learn a new communication style such as non-violent communication or using "I feel" statements.  This would also be a good time to visit a speech therapist if there are problems with communication and most important, practice integrity in all forms of communication.  Pluto doesn't bode well with dishonesty and dualistic thinking.

Sixth House--Ruled by Virgo--When Pluto transits through the Sixth House, it's time to reassess the daily work environment, diet, health routine and your association with pets.  Expect wake up calls around diet, health, exercise, overwork, nervous exhaustion from over work, duties, sacrifice and service (how we serve others).  We might learn about self-nurturing during this time through the arrival of a medical condition or we might look at how our job stress effects our health.  Pluto will also ask  us to give up the idea of perfectionism or we could lose friendships due to our over critical thinking and treatment of those in our daily environment.  You might feel a strong desire to serve your community in some way so follow up with this urge, but make sure you don't add too much to your plate.  Rest is also important during this Pluto transit.

Ninth House--Ruled by Sagittarius--Let go of the idea that you need a higher education degree to fulfill your life's work.  You might be able to fulfill your life's work from where you stand, but you need to move past limiting thoughts and expand your consciousness.  When Pluto transits through the Ninth House, expect your views about the world to transform.  If you fear world travel, you might find yourself on a plane India-bound where you end up gleaning spiritual insights by studying with a guru.  You might experience a world event which expands your compassion for another culture and alters your personal philosophy or you might end up publishing a book you didn't even think you could write.

Twelfth House--Ruled by Pisces (my hands are super sore from typing this post).  When Pluto transits through the house of disillusion, death and transition, prison, confinement, spirituality, and other Pisces themes, we must let go of structure in one form or another.  We might leave a job because it doesn't mesh with our spiritual insights, we might lose a friend or family member to death, but value the spiritual side of this experience.  We might heal an addiction or come to terms with a mental illness or psychological label.  A Pluto transit in this house leads us to our spiritual roots and has us questioning religion and our connection to the Divine.  Spiritual teachers arrive in our lives or we discover healing through music and sound or cinema and photography.  The main thing is we dissolve old structure and this is frightening for most of us.  It feels more like a Neptune than a Pluto transit, but we will still glimpse our inner under world and come to grips with our psychological skeletons.  Who are we? Divine Children of God, that's who.

I found that a Pluto transit in the 12th is the worst time to pursue higher education in a structured setting.  I tried to do that, and nearly lost my mind.  Fortunately, working with music helped me get through six months of additional college training I undertook at that time.  But I got more out of reading Paulo Coelho's "The Alchemist" than six months of formal study.  And two of my spiritual poems were published in a literary journal before Pluto left my 12th House.  I also found myself reviewing cinema for most of that Pluto transit, studying film making (that did not go over well), writing screenplays and researching music.



Corrections made on October 18, 2014 

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