When are we powerful and where we give our power away in relationships: Pluto in the 7th and 8th houses
The premise is that Pluto (the ruler of Scorpio) represents death and rebirth, the Underworld, what is dark, mysterious, yet addictive. In a sense Pluto represents death as the Tarot card Major arcana Death (XIII) that deals with change of a permanent nature, where things change, never to be same again, thus powerful fated transformations.
So, what happens when such a powerful energy is located or transits our 7th house of relationships or the 8th house of intimacy and hidden facets of ourselves?
Well, let’s start with the 7th house, traditionally the realm of Libra, ruled by beautiful Venus. What happens when dark Pluto steps in? We get Persephone being kidnapped by Hades? In a sense yes, although we would much rather associate Persephone with spring and abundance of an earthly nature so maybe more 2nd house energy? In any case, what we find is love afflicted by toxicity. Not pure innocent love (like 5th house) but romantic, marriage material love struck by additions, jealousy, obsession.
The simple example is starting a relationship or even marrying a person with obsessive tendencies. And this may manifest in many ways from addiction to video games to jealousy, and abuse. You know the hot guy that is kinda rough around the edges but he is different with you? He treats you so much better and you feel like the Beauty with the Beast? Well, that’s the poster boy for this transit. However, in the long run, you’re gonna find that he doesn’t treat you all that well either.
Pluto in 7th house can be a red flag for abusive relationships but in a deeper way, it is when the obsession in others reflects our own obsessions. We observe our partner being overly jealous and we think oh, I can give in to my obsessive behaviour too and try to control what he does, who he meets, because if I allow you your obsession, you must allow mine (Libra balance energy). And there it is, the back-and-forth Pluto-afflicted love. But why do we allow it, you ask? At the end of the day the love gets sour, the passion holds true for a while but the overall dynamic becomes ultimately exhausting.
It is the case that we believe that the person is powerful in some way or another, maybe they have a set of skills that we think we could never master, maybe they have money, street smarts, whatever is appealing to us, and we cannot seem to possess. At the same time, their jealousy, their obsession with us gives us a sense of power, a sense of power over the other, and possessive behaviour. Speaking of which, possessiveness is the key word for Pluto in 7th house. So, how do we defeat the obsession that links us to another? We must take a good look at their power or what we perceive as such, and we should hold up a big mirror to ourselves. What is it in us that finds them so attractive and what is it in them that brings out the worst in us?
When we stop believing that their obsessive behavior indicates some sense of power within us and we start seeing them with compassion for the insecurity, the lack of control in the face of addictions we then realize that love is not supposed to be a power exchange game, and that is when we have completed the lesson of this transit. Since I do not have this in my natal chart, I can only assume when saying that this is a recurrent pattern in relationships when it is located in the natal chart. It is hard to find the love in the darkness of our own insecurities.
For everyone who has experienced or is still experiencing this transit, don’t worry, it only gets worse when Pluto hits your 8th house! (stay tuned for part 2 – Pluto through the 8th house)












