These are global energies of Pluto in Scorpio or in the 8th House which must be nuanced according to your birth chart, see the article Pluto in birth chart; see also the article on the general interpretation of Pluto.
The planet Pluto is one of the attributes of the Shadow in the chart, as such it can indicate a Projection of this one, especially intellectual projections on “social entities” (political party, club, syndicate, nation, church, etc.), everything that concerns more directly the psychological quest, the depth of spirit, the intensity of primary instincts.
It can materialize a place of upheavals, fear, destruction, fatality, losses, betrayals, darkness, submission, as it is also a vector of passion, domination, power, self-control, creation of purity.
It is often referred to the higher octave of Mars and is directly related to Scorpio.
As Pluto remains from 12 to 30 years per sign (due to the irregularity of its orbit), its position in houses is more meaningful for the personality. The energy of the sign especially gives a common elemental background coloring to a whole generation, which will apply more personally to the life sector signified by the house. Therefore, focus first on the house affected, the sign giving a background tone.
Great psychological intensity
This planet is strong here in its domicile, and this is a positioning that all by itself very much activates the Scorpio archetype in these people’s personality, both in terms of its strengths, as it is very magnetic, intense, deep, and highly persuasive or even medium-like, and also its weaknesses, as it is excessive, extreme, violent, harsh, dark, corrosive, and often “inquisitive” (this can also be a strength when carrying out an investigation, researching, or analyzing something).
This can easily create a very “divisive” personality, such that these people have different sides that can make them alternate between all black and all white: people either love or hate them (sometimes both at once), while nuances are very hard to find.
Inevitably, with this type of positioning, people are more often “borderline,” and as there are powerful, transformative forces at work within the framework of a highly Plutonian “Calcinatio” alchemical process, this may be accompanied by significant destruction and encounters with “death” and “fatality” (real or symbolic), though also by an extraordinary ability to be reborn and metamorphosize, just like the phoenix, the mythological bird capable of being reborn from its own ashes after being burned.
This is a very Plutonian symbol and mechanism, and it may be activated by this position, but its “efficacy” and fierceness are highly dependent on the other energies in these people’s birth charts overall.
Pluto in the 8th house / Scorpio is in a way at the crossroads of water and fire; on the one hand, we find transpersonal and metaphysical energies here that are very archaic and compulsive and which come up from the depths of the unconscious, connecting with these people’s emotional, instinctive side (an empirical need to understand the mechanisms of their own psychological, psychoanalytical, and mystical inner workings, and even in some cases to transpose these inner workings to their “environment;” this may be very similar to animism, for example), and on the other hand there are forces of action that operate clandestinely, somewhat like convection and subduction in plate tectonics, such that fire “forces movement” and change to occur, sometimes out of necessity (earthquakes), and this is often the case for this type of energy.
The Fixed Cross in astrology has the property of indicating “that which retains,” crystallizes, secures, reinforces, or stabilizes, and thus these are very “crystallizing” forces that create resistance: they tend to “solidify,” to try to maintain, to stabilize, and to preserve, and this affects things that belong to the past or that we think “belong to us,” among other things.
And therefore, with this Plutonian positioning there is bound to be an opposing mechanism of detachment, renunciation, and letting go at work. Inevitably, there is some point that this planet will “press on” to force this evolution, this “rupture,” to occur, passing from a state that crystallizes some sort of “fear” (in connection with something reassuring) to a state of simple “acceptance” of “what truly is,” or what is not, for that matter (this inevitably involves notions of significant highs and lows, on both a material and an emotional level, but it allows these people to disregard these crystallizations and make progress towards their evolution).
The term “acceptance” is obviously important and may bring us directly to the final phase—the phase of sublimation—of Kübler-Ross’s stages of grief, as well as leading us to various processes of Depression.
The 2/8 axis is the axis of possessions, where, as it happens, various “material fears” may crystallize, such as fears of losing things, lacking things, or being robbed, and this is very connected to these people’s sense of values (Venus is the ruler of the 2nd house). With Pluto highlighted in this way, this planet can act as a mechanism for an intense “karmic purge,” forcing these people to abandon “old attachments” that are paralyzing them.
While the 2nd house represents a more “procreative” sexuality, here in the 8th house Pluto may awaken a sexuality that is more cerebral, tantric, and idealized, but also in some cases more extreme and violent (involving sadomasochism, for example, where relationships focused on domination and submission may play an important role, even unconsciously, and where it is also important to try to set healthy limits).
This position is not really “negative,” in somewhat the same way as we could say is the case for “death;” calling things this is simply a judgment based on certain processes that were defined to fit within a particular framework, but if we look at things and analyze them in the context of a larger, more inclusive process, we realize that other cycles continue on indefinitely, that there is no real “judgment,” and that “death” simply allows “evolution” to occur.
Thus, to better understand this positioning in a birth chart, it is necessary to analyze the forces of water and fire overall and see how they interact, for example looking at the lunar, Neptunian, and Martian forces that are there.
Of course, activations that occur through Progressions and Transits in this position are particularly important to track, as they may trigger and set the tempo for Plutonian mechanisms through “external events,” leading these people to be confronted with certain realities, “awakening” them to things, or destroying things.
Here too, certainly more than for other positions, these people’s “degree of consciousness and enlightenment” will have a strong influence on the way in which they experience these forces.
Clearly, a person who is, for example, still very “closed,” focused on “matter,” and stuck in their unconscious will tend to “be subjected to” things in a brutal way much more than a person who has already experienced an awakening, knows what is happening, and can therefore go along with it as consciously as possible.
In the generic cycles, it is interesting to note that the increasing square with this planet’s position at birth happens around the age of 40, thus presaging the significant Uranian midlife crisis around the age of 42, and that its increasing trine occurs at the same time as Saturn’s second return, so just before the age of 60, which is also a very important generic cycle; these are more “sensitive” phases in terms of these powerful, transformative Plutonian forces.
Pluto retrograde in the 8th house and Scorpio
Retrograde motion tends to make this planet more introverted: this may strengthen these people’s analytical abilities and increase their need for introspection, but it may also add a layer of withdrawal.
Retrograde motion of Pluto in a birth chart is much less important than for other dominant features of a birth chart, since, as it is a very slow, transpersonal planet, it is retrograde for much of the year.
Nevertheless, it is helpful to monitor the evolution of this retrograde motion through Progressions; a change of state here will not necessarily lead to a specific, noteworthy event, but it may still be an indication of a non-negligible psychological change in how this planet’s energies are used.
Celebrities with Pluto in 8th House
Elvis Presley, Lady Di, Adolf Hitler, Leonardo da Vinci, Brigitte Bardot, Isaac Newton, Gérard Depardieu, Monica Bellucci, Bruce Lee, Marlon Brando, Russell Crowe, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Sylvester Stallone, Clint Eastwood, Nostradamus, Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Edith Piaf, Margaret Thatcher…
Celebrities with Pluto in Scorpio
Jacques Cartier, Paracelsus, François I, Joseph Guillotin, William Herschel, Marquis de Sade, Goethe, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Mark Zuckerberg, Margot Robbie, Kim Jong-eun, Conor McGregor, Stromae, Oscar Pistorius…