Pluto Placement: Meaning and Traits for All 12 Houses of the Zodiac

Astrology is an ancient field of study in which people determine meaning from the position of the stars and planets in the sky. Today, many people practice what is known as Modern Astrology. This type of astrology is not determinative. It uses astrological information to gain insight into psychological traits and behavioral patterns. Traditional Astrologers believe that astrology gives concrete answers. They use it to answer solid questions (Horary Astrology) and to figure out the best time to commit a specific act (Electional Astrology). One of the main differences between Traditional Astrology and Modern Astrology includes which planets rule each sign. In Traditional Astrology, the three planets outside of Saturn, which were discovered long after the ancient origins of astrology, don’t rule any signs.

While Pluto is no longer considered a planet by the scientific community, astrologers still count it as a planet and an important one at that. It was only discovered in 1930 so it is a rather recent addition to astrology. Some astrologers consider each of the three newer planets in Modern Astrology to be a “higher octave” of one of the traditional planets.

• Uranus is a higher octave of Mercury.
• Neptune is a higher octave of Venus.
• Pluto is a higher octave of Mars.
• Some consider Chiron, an asteroid discovered in 1970, a higher octave of the Moon.

Pluto is an important and powerful planet in a natal astrology chart. Because it stays in the same sign for so long (11-30 years), it is a generational planet. All people born in the same period of time have the same Pluto sign. However, Pluto’s house placement in the natal chart affects how Pluto shows up for each person.

What Does Pluto Represent in Astrology?

Pluto is an intense and transformative planet in astrology. It represents everything underneath the surface. It rules over sex, death, transformation, trauma, and the afterlife. Because it is such a generational planet, its energies are often described in terms of social movements and world history. Your personal Pluto placement may provide insight into where you dig into life’s mysteries and where you may experience trauma and power struggles.

The planet Pluto is named after the Greek god of the same name. The original god of the underworld was Hades. However, over time, that became the name for the Greek underworld that was Pluto’s domain in general. Pluto also ruled over wealth, including gems and minerals found underground. It makes sense that in our astrological concepts, Pluto is still associated with everything under the surface, both physical and abstract.

Pluto Placement: Pluto Meaning in Each of the Houses

Pluto Placement in 1st House

With Pluto in the 1st House, you are likely a private, somewhat secretive person. This mystery actually draws people to you. They always want what seems unattainable. You might seem like a complicated person to others. To you, all of life’s issues have multiple sides and perspectives to consider. There is rarely a simple solution to an interpersonal or intrapersonal problem.

While you come across as powerful and strong, it’s likely that you suffer silently from deep insecurity. These struggles are part of your private nature. You’re hesitant to let people in to see your more vulnerable parts.

As a 1st House Plutonian, you have special regenerative abilities. While you might go through some intense trauma, you have a way of reinventing yourself and bouncing back from difficulties. Each time you go through something hard, you come out a bit wiser and happier on the other side. However, the journey to get there may not be easy.

Pluto Placement in 2nd House

With Pluto in the 2nd House, you have a strong draw towards money and power. You want success and you might be willing to do almost anything to get it. People with this placement might also be tempted to use money to control other people.

You are likely very possessive of your things and don’t like when people are overly intimate with your belongings. This could mean you don’t like people to rearrange your home or touch your specially arranged books. This possessiveness can also transfer to friends and partners. You may become jealous when friends become closer or if someone looks at your romantic interest in a flirtatious manner.

Despite your desire for material success, you are also somewhat secretive about your finances. You don’t like to talk about money with people. This can lead to an imbalance in relationships, especially with people in your home.

You will likely go through several financial transformations in your lifetime as you work on your relationship with money and possessions.

Pluto Placement in 3rd House

People like you, with Pluto in the 3rd House, may struggle to feel that they fit in with their local community and environment. You may feel you are an outlier either because of “odd” interests or other factors. It’s likely you had a hard time getting along with your family, especially your siblings or sibling-like friends and family members.

With this placement, your communication is very Plutonian. You are a great secret keeper. You might not want people to know much about you, or you may share personal information with only a very few people. One of the more challenging aspects of a 3rd House Pluto is that you have a talent for knowing exactly what to say to get what you want. While this is a great skill in some cases, if this is left unchecked, you can become maliciously manipulative.

Despite your own secrecy, you love to uncover the truth about things. Your mind and intellect is inspired by solving problems and mysteries. You love to research things, whether it is for a hobby or for your job.

Pluto Placement in 4th House

If you’ve got Pluto in the 4th House, home may be a place of discord for you. It’s likely that you had a hard time getting along with your family as a kid. As an adult, you will seek to create the peaceful home you so desire, but your heart gets caught up in Plutonian power struggles very easily, so it will take a lot of work. Your instinct is to become domineering, especially around matters of the home.

You may be tempted to reenact difficult situations from your childhood in your own family as an adult. However, due to Pluto’s transformational power, you actually have the power to change the narrative. With therapy, mindfulness, and other practices, you can create the life you desire and the life you deserve.

Because you felt “different” in your family of origin, it’s hard for you to feel part of any group. Without interventions to inspire a transformation that allows you to feel comfortable in a community, you may become somewhat of a loner as an adult, especially as you age.

Pluto Placement in 5th House

When you have Pluto in the 5th House, you might combine a strong desire for attention with your creativity. This all gets mixed up with Pluto’s fascination with the dark and unseen, leading to a potential daredevil. If you find yourself drawn towards adventure sports, dangerous sideshow acts, or other hobbies with a potential for danger, it may be due to this placement. It’s not a bad thing. You have a desire to create something people haven’t seen before and to be the first to do something amazing. However, this drive can lead you to be someone who gets injured frequently.

The 5th House also deals with romance. Here, you bring a certain intensity to your flirtations and romantic pursuits. You’re a passionate lover and you probably don’t see the point in continuing a romantic relationship if the sex isn’t there. For you, if you’re not having sex, why not just be friends?

In the 5th House, Pluto’s relationship to control shows up as a fear of losing potential relationships. You’re not so much possessive as you are calculating and in more extreme cases, obsessed. You probably know exactly how many hours it has been since your sweetie texted you, and you may be keeping track of how many times they texted you first.

Pluto Placement in 6th House

Almost any planet’s placement in the 6th House seems to turn someone into a workaholic. It’s hard to tell whether it’s actually the 6th House or the fact that we live in a society where our worth and value are often associated with how hard we work. Nevertheless, if you have Pluto in the 6th House, you’re probably a very hard worker! Like other 6th House placements, your dedication to your work can have a negative effect on your physical health.

You may be a perfectionist at work and where you experience difficulty with power struggles is probably at your workplace. Either you want to assume power through your daily work, or you feel victimized and exploited by the people in power. Most people feel this to some degree, but these feelings are stronger for you compared to the average person.

One of the most difficult aspects of this placement is that you take criticism very poorly in the workplace. This is the area of transformation for you. You’re also quite jealous of people who are ahead of you at work or who have the job you really want. You have to learn how to not take things so personally and how to use criticism to actually grow into the job that you truly desire. You must take on an abundance mindset to learn that someone else’s success isn’t your downfall.

Pluto Placement in 7th House

With Pluto in the 7th House, your significant partnerships are likely a bit volatile. You’re attracted to people who desire strong commitment because that is also what you desire. On both sides, this also leads to jealousy and issues with control (do you see a theme with Pluto here?) However, in some cases, people with a 7th House Pluto are attracted to dishonest people. In other cases, they are just suspicious and jealous regardless of what the other person is doing. There is likely a lot of fighting and accusations. In extreme cases there may even be abuse.

Pluto is also a planet of transformation. It’s possible that your love life will be volatile until you find a significant person who will allow you to learn a lesson about trust and allow you to settle down with much less jealousy and suspicion. Other areas of your life might change after you meet this special person, even if it is not a life-long relationship.

Pluto Placement in 8th House

Pluto is at home in the 8th House, which is ruled by Scorpio, the sign ruled by Pluto itself. The 8th House rules over all things Plutonic – sex, death, transformation, mysteries, the underground, and trauma. With Pluto here you are not afraid of the dark underbelly of life. You might be a highly sexual person, perhaps with a taste for some of the more intense fetishes.

You have a natural ability to process and deal with trauma. Pluto has a transformational aspect here that allows you to bounce back from hard things. You probably have a lot of intense stories. With what is essentially a double dose of Pluto here, you are extremely intuitive. You likely know when people are lying or trying to pull a fast one on you. However, depending on your background and other placements, it may take you until later adulthood to learn how to trust your gut.

Pluto Placement in 9th House

Pluto in the 9th House brings the depth of the 9th “planet” to the house of expansiveness, higher education, and optimism. Pluto seeks to understand and know everything. The 9th House is concerned with how the world works in terms of philosophy and religion. You are interested in what makes people tick, but probably from a scholarly or slightly removed perspective. You enjoy studying religion and philosophy, either formally or through travel.

As the planet of transformation, Pluto here means that you probably don’t identify with the philosophies you were raised with. You may find yourself adopting a different religion or moving to a new country with different ideologies as an adult. You might have a tendency to become a fanatic of a religion or way of thinking. If you don’t, you may become a wise and understanding teacher of your outlook and way of life. This might not be in any formal way. Living your life aligned with your beliefs is its own way of teaching others.

Pluto Placement in 10th House

If you have Pluto in the 10th House, the intensity of this planet comes to your career and public life. You are very aware of the power structures at play in the workplace and in your chosen field. It’s possible that you will have a few different careers in your life. You want your career to align with your passion, and that will change a few times in your life through Pluto’s transformative powers. Regardless of your career and where you are in the process, you are very ambitious. As the “higher octave” of Mars, Pluto also has to do with your doingness and action in the world.

In this house, Pluto may mean that you do not get along well with authority figures. This is hard because your conflicts with them are often at odds with your desire to succeed in the workplace. You don’t like being told what to do or talked down to. When you get into your own position of power, you may reenact the ways you were treated and become the micro-managing boss you once hated. However, if you take steps to work on yourself, you can become the compassionate mentor and boss you wish you had earlier in your career. This is the type of thing that will actually help you get ahead and reach your goals faster.

Pluto Placement in 11th House

Your Plutonic struggle is around community, friendships, and groups, with the planet in the 11th House. You are a somewhat intense person. And you deeply desire community. However, you have been told (probably as a child) that you are “too much.” You suffer from a lack of confidence. However, this low self-esteem creates a vicious cycle. It causes you to act out in ways that make you feel even more insecure in a group. You may be the kind of person to over-analyze everything you have said during an evening out. Because of this, you are always somewhat lonely, even when you are around other people.

However, as you get older, you will find friends who make you feel more accepted and who accept you as you are. As you gain confidence, you will learn that you actually have a great personality and people are attracted you and want to be your friend. You may even become a sort of leader of your friend group.

Beware of power struggles. You may have a tendency to get jealous of your friends. Remember that any jealousy is really an insecurity about yourself. That turns it into something you can actually focus on and work on within yourself, instead of feeling competitive with your friends.

Pluto Placement in 12th House

With Pluto in the 12th House, your connection to Plutonian topics is a bit more esoteric. The 12th House rules everything unseen like the subconscious, spirituality, and dreams. So, the things that Pluto deals with like sex, death, and the underground are not removed or hidden from you, but they may be more conceptual than visceral to you. This has a few different manifestations. You may be an incredibly sexual person but see sex as more logical than emotional or spiritual. On the other hand, you may shy away from sex, preferring to focus on other areas of life entirely. Or, instead, you may be quite sexual internally but feel shame about your sexual desires.

Because you have internalized Pluto’s obsession with power, you may feel the struggle within yourself instead of with others. You can be very hard on yourself. You probably have very high standards for yourself and when you don’t live up to them, you may become depressed. Because you believe you don’t deserve everything you desire, you can have trouble with anxiety and in relationships. You may choose partners who are disrespectful because you feel that is what you deserve. With this placement, mindfulness, meditation, and other spiritual practices may be helpful to you in working out your internal power struggles.