Natal Pluto in the First House

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Hey all, often I am in the situation where I don’t know where to start, and today I am in one of those situations. When it comes to a birth chart, the possibilities can become overwhelming. A logical place to start would be the Sun. Interestingly enough, I have been reading Steven Forrest’s Book of Fire and have been discovering some major insight on the Sun in Leo. Like most people, I was introduced to Astrology through the watered down Sun Sign variant that robs this fine art’s true mysticism. As I hope most of my readers know, or at least will come to understand, Sun Sign Astrology is about as gross of an oversimplification as you can get. When one thinks of having a Sun in Leo, images of a gregarious, attention-seeking troubadour comes to mind who flamboyantly parades in the spotlight he so desperately seeks. That’s not me at all. If anything, I avoid the supposed glitz and glamor that Leos so desperately devour. Why is that? For me I think the main reason is my Pluto, which conjuncts my Ascendant sextiles my supposed extraverted Sun.

           Pluto is an interesting planet for me. Traditional Astrologers often erroneously underplay the vast impact Pluto holds over us all. Seeing that our distant protagonist wasn’t in view of ancient observers, Pluto doesn’t make the cut for many modern star gazers. Other Astrologers stick their fingers in their ears and pretend our icy friend doesn’t even exist. Hell, even Astronomers demoted it from a full-fledged planet to a lesser tenured status of a dwarf planet. Sure, Pluto is way in the hell out there, nor is it as large as other celestial bodies. Though we know, (however there is a delusional bunch that are in denial) how the solar system truly works. We as Astrologers accept that these forces play an ulterior motive. The energy of the heavens affects us as humans on Earth by our perception of the cosmos. A birth chart is a snapshot of the sky the minute we are born. Pluto may not have been discovered until 1930, but it was still there. We may not be able to see the Lord of the Underworld with the naked eye. Nonetheless, can we see gravity?

           Way back in the 1600s, Sir Isaac Newton was minding his own business sitting under an apple tree when he acknowledged something that others didn’t pay mind to. Thoughtfully, Newton inquired why the apple just didn’t drift off into space—the answer was obviously gravity. But how obvious was it? What goes up must come down right? Just because a human first realized what this phenomenon was, doesn’t mean its force wasn’t always applied to our reality. It’s not like cows stopped drifting around aimlessly because a scientist “discovered” gravity. Pluto has been influencing us in sometimes not so nice ways long before we even noticed him.

Yes.. I know Cerberus is supposed to have three heads....

  When it comes to Astrology, what does Pluto mean?  Of course we don’t interpret the relatively small ball of ice orbiting our flaming gas giant in deep space literally. Pluto manifests as an Archetype.  Pluto is named after the Roman God of the Underworld. In Western culture with the oppressive reign that Judeo-Christian myth beholds on our society, we view the underworld as this hot hellish place where demons gleefully torture those who were wicked during their lives as flesh bags on Earth. One stark difference we see with Greek-Roman mythology vs its monotheistic equivalent is that the underworld is cold. You know where else is cold? Pluto. Pluto is the modern ruler of Scorpio, which is of course a water sign. Going beyond just water, Scorpio is associated with ice. Both Pluto and Scorpio are known for getting down to the truth. Pluto and Scorpio will cut all the fallacies away no matter the cost to seek the truth. While it may be easy to associate what seems to be a dark sinister energy. It’s often what you make of it.

           Pluto is a celestial representation of psychology, trauma, and death.  Those adjectives that I just used may invoke feelings of fear and dread, but they are necessary and unavoidable aspects of our existence. Pluto brings on hardship in order to find salvation. If we were to walk through life with ease, accomplishment would be meaningless. If Pluto were to be discovered in 1930 B.C.E. rather than 1930 C.E. surely the ancient watchers of the sky would have tumultuously associated our feared friend as an implacable omen of doom and despair. While things like trauma, sexuality, taboo, and death can be quite terrible. More often than not, these what at the time may seem as atrocities are here to teach important lessons that are integral for our souls’ growth. These lessons may be rather cold and cruel, but who truly learns a lesson through niceties and comfort?

           In his Book Pluto: The Evolutionary Journey of the Soul, Jeffrey Wolf Green claims the planet Pluto is the soul itself.  Wolf states “Within the Soul there exists two coexisting desires. One desire is for separate existence --- to separate from that which created the Soul. The other desire is to return to the Source of creation. The interaction of these two apparently opposing desires instigates the drama of personal and collective evolution. Desire is the determining force that dictates the reality of the individual.” The beauty of astrology is the openness of interpretation.  People with heavy Pluto placements such as myself are often accompanied by pesky neurosis. Throughout my life, I have struggled with suicidal ideations. As aforementioned, I mentioned the indoctrination of Judeo-Christian dogmatism that has been ingrained in Western culture.  Rather than melting in anguish in a lake of fire for all eternity, I think a more reasonable result of suicide would be a “return to the Source of creation.”  While I am not necessarily an advocate for suicide, in fact my profession is to intervene and ultimately prevent people from completing suicide.  It seems that a successful suicide would just halt a soul’s progression for its intended desire to grow and evolve.

           The other part of Wolf’s equation is “to separate from that which created the Soul.” I can see people interpreting this in a multitude of ways. One of those ways could be the resistance of the soul’s intention in this life. A birth chart is a map of the soul in its current manifestation. Throughout life, there are many factors that perturb an individual from completing these tasks. Maybe there is a familial influence. Perhaps someone comes from a long line of doctors, and there is a heavy expectation for you to follow that lineage. Maybe your soul irks you to become a dancer, or perhaps an artist.  Since the discovery of the “hidden planets”, humanity’s evolution has dramatically increased.  The first “hidden planet” to be “discovered” would be Uranus in 1781.  The discovery of Uranus propelled mankind into the industrial age and a technology boom. Neptune followed suit in 1846 leading to an increase in spiritual awareness and mysticism, not to mention a resurgence in Astrology. Arguably lastly is Pluto, which gifted humans with psychological awareness and a chance for a person to individuate. Pluto also is known to keep things hidden, usually things that need to be discovered for personal evolution. 

           The Trickster element of Pluto is to hide and restrict.  As previously mentioned, Wolf stated “to separate from that which created the Soul.”  Pluto is also about fear. What is something that is fear-based and has plagued us for millennia? Religion! While I am not trying to make this blog anti-religion, I am happy to say the days where we allow child molesters with little white collars to dictate our spiritual paths is gladly fading away. The idea of a singular, all powerful “God” created us to reign undisputed in the minds of many that came before us.  The underlying, guiding principle of Religion is to regulate individuality and to force conformity to this idea of a puritanical, all-encompassing deity.  I think this draconic dogma has robbed many of the true meaning of spirituality, and the flock has been led astray.

Throughout medieval history, The Catholic Church systematically kept the commoners in the dark through forced ignorance and the denial of education; hence the name “the Dark Ages.”  These wonderful institutions inscribed hellish depictions of the afterlife on the walls of their churches and cathedrals for the uneducated peon to gawk at in horror.  Religions such as Christianity and Islam were spread through hate, rather than love and light. The prevalence of these religions became widespread through, rape, torture, genocide, and death; which are all fear-driven, Plutonian themes.  The concept of generational trauma applies when it comes to the perpetuation of religion.  From an early age, children with still developing minds are taken to church to hear stories of hellfire and brimstone, and are told this awaits them if they don’t comply with their mental captors. Unable to formulate their own opinions, these children grow up and do the same harm upon their own children, creating this Plutonian cycle of terror that has resulted in countless wars and lives lost.

           This oppression is just one example of how Pluto can deter a soul from wanting to reconnect to its source. Of course, if you happen to be religious, you might totally disagree with what I am saying and claim you are striving for your soul to go to what you may picture as your creator. To each their own; my purpose is not for you to apostate your religion, but rather to educate you on the manifestations of the Pluto Archetype. On a personal level, I mentioned that my Pluto is 29 degrees Libra, almost creeping into its own home of the sinister Scorpio. My near Scorpionic Pluto is 4 degrees conjunct my Libra ascendant dominating my persona with Saturn not far away in 1st house Scorpio. Rather than focusing on Libra themes of fairness and beauty, Pluto redirects my soul’s aspirations to seek discernment and what’s inconveniently true. Not only does the amalgamation of Pluto and my ascendant sextile my Sun in Leo; it also sextiles Jupiter in Capricorn. We talked a bit about the Sun in Leo and its misinterpretation.  Steven Forrest states that a Leo Sun isn’t always as gregarious as one might think, with the Pluto sextile of my Sun, it definitely will stifle any exuberance that Leo may be trying to exhibit.

           Jupiter is also a placement that is known for its larger-than-life, jovial manifestation of prosperity and luck. With Jupiter in the solemn and serious sign of Capricorn, Not only are Pluto and Jupiter Sextile, both of these contrasting planets form separate quincunxes with my North Node in Gemini in the 8th house; forming a mysterious Yod. While many other schools of Astrology might undermine the significance of the nodes, in Evolutionary

Astrology they are one of the primal factors of the psyche. The North Node signifies a point that a soul can reach for optimal growth and development. As aforementioned, I have only been seriously studying astrology for 6 months or so, but I have had a passive interest for the last few years. So many of these concepts are still a mystery that I continue to unravel.  With this heavy gravitas dominating my demeanor, I interpret this formation as a biological need for me to share knowledge of occult and psychological matters joyously and intensely in a form of media with the world.

           These placements are quite heavy, and may even seem burdensome and not for the faint of heart. Recently turning 40, life has been a struggle. Something that I have been contemplating is whether I have Autism or not.  Certainly, I have many of the traits, but an Autism diagnosis can be tricky. Recently there has been an uptick in Autism diagnoses , mostly due to “breakthroughs” in psychology and understanding. Astrologer Steven Forrest attributes the rise of this diagnosis to Neptune being in Pisces. Of course I was born way before this generation, but Forrest’s rationale seems to think that people with a lot of Piscean energy as almost a psychic overload, causing symptoms of Autism to arise. Autism is a condition with a wide variety of traits and symptoms, and you will never meet two autistic people that are the same. For me personally, I think Pluto for me being in the first house, accompanied by Saturn can be a contributing factor. I also have a loose trine of Pluto with the Moon in the 8th house Gemini stunting social skills and emotional availability.  You may be thinking having Pluto in the 1st house must lead to a life of misery, but I promise there are bright sides to this polarizing placement.

           After reading several sources of Pluto and Saturn in the 1st house, some common consensus indicates that the first half of your life may seem like  hell on Earth. For me, this seemed to be the case, but it’s not all bad. Ancient Astrologers are quick to pin Saturn as the nemesis of the Zodiac, and if they were to know about Pluto; I’m sure they would be the tag team champions of our solar system for shitty placements. While I don’t want to touch on Saturn too much in this article, it’s a planet that definitely wants to make you work hard. Pluto can lead to a life of pain, but once you psychologically transmute that pain, you can be reborn into a much stronger, and more resilient person.

           Again, Pluto isn’t going to be light and fluffy like Venus or Jupiter might be, but with hard work often comes great rewards. Your soul needs trial and tribulation in order to grow and develop.  If you live a life of pampered caretaking where everything is handed to you without struggle, you won’t really learn and grow.  There aren’t too many free passes when it comes to Pluto. There are various descriptions about how Pluto is the representation of death, this doesn’t necessarily mean death in the literal sense,  Death can have various meanings, one being a shedding of old habits as a snake would shed its skin.  A hermit crab enjoys a relatively secure shelter in its shell eventually to only outgrow its safe space, and it must venture to seek out a new home. Before the lone wanderer can relish in safety, it’s left open and exposed to all the potential dangers of the world.

          Thank you everyone for making it this far into the post. I hope you enjoyed this article and learned something. While ancient Astrologers didn’t have the chance to dbarrier that must be crossed and not detoured.  You may have read numemonize Pluto, there are still Plenty of folks out there that will.  If you take anything from this blog post, I hope you can see that nothing is inherently “good” or “bad.” Yes, Pluto can be, and often is heavy on the soul.  But without the struggles of life, we will never have the chance to enjoy experience and wisdom gained from those hardships. This is what Pluto is all about. You may be like myself and have dealt with a lot of pain and trauma, but as I age; it’s starting to make sense. As the Buddha stated long ago, “ Life is suffering.”