With Pluto in the deep, interior world of the fourth house, there is an undercurrent of psychological intensity that flows like blood through a vein. Looking in from the outside, the surface of the pond might seem placid enough – but there are surely finny, improbable creatures swimming in the depths. Squint at them with the eye of a psychologist or a detective, and immediately the wheels start turning: something is going on here, something is not what it seems to be. You have a secret. With Pluto in the fourth house, you do have secrets – and you need them! You are very private, but it is profoundly helpful if you can talk about the family in which you grew up. For later relationships, that psychological territory must be sorted out. It doesn’t mean there are dark assumptions about the family. Only observe that your unusually high level of honesty wasn’t supported in your early training and socialization. Either you resolve that pattern, or reproduce it. Underlying all this is a wound. Using reincarnational language, something catastrophic happened to your family in a past life. A detailed analysis of your South lunar Node will open up the story for you, but just seeing this Plutonian configuration is enough to lead to the speculation that you have come into this lifetime to resolve painful issues from a previous one. Psychological healing and reclaiming your faith in the idea of family is your soul contract. Steven Forrest
Your area of power and transformation is your home, family and roots generally. If you are comfortable with your family or racial background, then you truly have deep roots and a firm sense of belonging. If, however, there are shadows cast across the path, which leads back into your past, then they could haunt you with feelings of statelessness and profound inner loneliness. Either the positive or negative qualities will be in evidence in your domestic situation. Someone in your life, most likely your father, went about in the time of your childhood in a similarly torn state. But as a child you took it personally and now you feel that the ground could open up and swallow you if you don’t keep yourself very much to yourself. If you are to prevent what amounts to self-isolation from dominating your life – or someone from still dominating your domestic scene with a heavy presence (and that could be yourself!) – then it is imperative that you exercise such a ghost. To do this you must delve and dig into your past history until you have found what is obsessing you, and what you cannot forgive in yourself or someone else, and then actually forgive them. Once you have accomplished this, you will at last feel that you have a power base, a home that is your castle – because it will have been built on the only foundation that will satisfy you: a deep feeling of being here on planet Earth. Lyn Birkbeck
Here the Pluto compulsiveness operates within the home and within the emotional depths of the person’s psychological life. There is a strong urge for security and for a place of rest and retreat where the person is able to control exactly what is going on in the environment. This can indicate a home life which is subject to all sorts of upheavals and battles due to willfulness and obstinancy. Pluto here indicates that a total reorientation is needed in one’s deepest feelings about one’s self and in one’s sense of security, inner peace, and contentment. It can also indicate deep insight into people’s emotional needs and ability to penetrate into the unconscious mind. Stephen Arroyo
Home and domestic matters and general family interests are affected in a very strange way when Pluto is in the Fourth House. It is a position which can be associated in the early part of life where the child is left entirely alone, and at the mercy of circumstances and other people. An extremely challenging Pluto here could show being placed in unhappy or hard surroundings, taken in by foster parents who were cruel and unkind, or there is some kind of catastrophe. Those with this placement will cause a breaking up or disintegrating of home and domestic affairs at some time or other during the life, and sometimes more than one. From the favorable standpoint, when Pluto is well aspected, the outcome of these breaks can be productive of beneficial conditions. In this way the transforming influence of Pluto will operate to bring about improvements and happiness. Sometimes the break-up, for good or bad, does not occur until the latter part of life, as the Fourth House also exercises influence over the end of life. Edward Whitman
If your subject has this placing, he or she is likely to have suffered from an above-average amount of frustration during childhood and adolescence. Perhaps he was not allowed to follow up interests which he found fascinating, he was blocked in some way, or maybe he was unable – either through his parents’ bloody-mindedness or a lack of funds – to attend whichever school that would have been most suitable. In fact, he may have well suffered considerably from the force of sheer power exerted by his parents. The intuition is increased by this placing, however, so it may be that the subject found his own way around such problems, employing considerable tenacity and determination. If that is the case, he will have used his Pluto influence to its best advantage, perhaps learning difficult lessons the hard way. Parker’s Astrology
With Pluto in the 4th house, you turn your attention deep within in order to create inner stability, security, and a basis for lasting contentment. You try to establish the strongest foundation possible for your outer activity. You engage in this process, whether conscious or not, of distinguishing your own reality from that which you absorbed from your parents and society. You must discover your inner truths which directly affect your happiness and reasons for living. You are extremely sensitive and vulnerable because your attention rests deep within your soul rather than the outer environment. You scrutinize your unconscious for hints of old conditioning and habit patterns that no longer serve any positive purpose. You analyze childhood memories and experiences and put them aside. This is a great placement to engage in psychotherapy, counseling or other forms of healing. You can let go of deep childhood attachments, root out neurotic tendencies, and come face to face with your soul. Changes happen at the deepest level of your human psyche in this lifetime. You are very intuitive, and behave instinctively and feel close to nature. You want to get to the core of things and may therefore investigate metaphysics or the occult. Domestic life may be intensely affected by Pluto, and you suddenly feel emotional and moody about your home space. Within your home, you feel the need to control your experiences as well as your furnishings and physical surroundings. Your habitat is extremely important, and if you live in an unsuitable or inappropriate house or city, you immediately make changes. You also make massive home improvements. In certain cases, your house or land may be subject to serious disruption or upheaval due to forces completely outside of your control. You may even have ambitions to create a resource center, community foundation, or any establishment for universal welfare. You have the inner resource and strength to make that dream a reality. As you reach the end of your lifetime, you will have thoroughly explored all issues involving inner strength and security. You will have confronted psychological weaknesses and eliminated ideas which you previously and mistakingly relied upon for stability fortitude, and equilibrium. In order to do this, you have gone back to your roots, examined your lineage and family traditions, and made whatever adjustments were necessary. James Braha
In the fourth, a parental house, Pluto refers to early intimidation by and love of the father. As an infant, the child with this placement senses the amount of power that the parents have through their use or misuse of anger. The father may appear aloof or invulnerable to his children; and although he ostensibly controls his anger as best he can, he still gives vent to violent outbursts at times. He is perceived as a man under pressure, expecting himself to have his life in perfect order and resenting it when this doesn’t come true. He has difficulties expressing his emotions, and feels that to do so would be to give the appearance of weakness in some form. He fears that he may be manipulated emotionally if he lets anything show. Anger held if festers, however; and the predictable, erratic blow-ups in the family circle are scary for the young child, who believes that they may end the family relationships at any moment. The young child’s sensitivity tells him or her that the psychic disruption brought about by repressed, long-term anger may signal not only the end of the family relationships, but also perhaps the physical death of one of the parents. If something bad does happen to one of the parents, the child may be overcome with guilt and self-reproach, repressing negative thoughts even more deeply. This individual can sincerely believe, albeit subconsciously, that angry thoughts on his or her part can lead to the destruction of the household, and therefore tries hard never to let it show.
The growing child assumes a posture and image of aloofness, restraint, and control of all feelings, resulting in a ‘stuffed psyche’. He or she begins to look for other authority figures to extend the childhood reasonings and logic about life. The fear of loneliness, coupled with the fear of hurting another person with his or her anger or other negative attitudes, causes many a fourth house Pluto person to distrust or avoid relationships. Sometimes these negative images can be part and parcel of the individual’s life, relentlessly forcing one identity crisis after another on him or her. Sometimes the parent dies at an early age, causing not only grief and guilt, but a feeling of awe over the idea that the individual somehow caused the parent’s death. Fears of this type of event repeating itself can lead to an emotional complex, in which the person fears that everything he or she touches will ultimately turn out to be cold and hard – including relationships. However, despite the intensity of this placement, there is great opportunity for the individual to open up and express his or her latent psychic powers. There is a natural ability to link the conscious mind with the subconscious mind, bringing up incredible personal and ‘cosmic’ information from the depths of the psyche.
Instead of being born into a quarreling family, this individual may have parents who understood the use of personal power and encourage the youngster to assume more and more responsibility for his or her actions when the time is right. This Pluto individual, whether encouraged or not, will develop for himself or herself a natural and personal sense of authority, based on the security of knowing that he or she can handle whatever situations may come up. In that attitude lies the true inner sense of security, upon which an openness and personal expressiveness can be built. There is no fear of emotions getting out of control and leading to self-destruction, because this person lives life at a depth of richness of feeling that simply doesn’t allow emotions to go unexpressed for very long. The ability of the individual to tune into his or her inner depths may qualify him or her to be a professional medium, provided she is capable of making decisions of an adult caliber. There can be a passionate love of people here, and a sincere understanding of the frailties of human nature. Yet, simultaneously, this person needs privacy and a place where emotional drains can be flushed out and psychic batteries recharged.
With maturity, the Pluto fourth house person begins to reconnect with the parents, whether on the outer level or in the inner sense. There’s just a sense of authority in them that commands attention, a presence that is difficult to describe. These people will tend to have their way. They are masters of their house, and it can be either a benign rulership or a tyrannical one. These people are extremists, due to their intense psyche. They are loyal to family and friends, and have a unique way to solve any problems that may come up. While Pluto transits this house, situations will arise that demand a look at the inner relationship between the native and his or her father. Situations or event patterns from childhood may be repeated almost exactly, such as bankruptcy, moving to a strange town, etc. – and the emotional content will be very similar. In this house, Pluto begins its ascent in the chart after having been down for the whole of life until this point; and the individual is almost forced to begin moving in new directions. Ginger Chalford
Essentially, you try to build your own personal ‘castle’, wherein you become lord and master as you hope to have total control over your immediate environment. The need to create your own private kingdom may stem from your early life, where disruption and a lack of physical and emotional security may have existed, through perhaps the loss of a parent, or by family power struggles which affected you. In your adult life, you will expend much energy on your ‘castle’ and family; and they will hold intense meaning and importance for you, representing an emotional and physical space into which you can retreat and relax, a controlled security. However, your need to maintain this control and stability can lead to family friction. You may tend to ‘imprison’ others, through personal domination, as you build a protective but restrictive barrier between your ‘castle’ and the world; certainly you will be very resistant towards anything new entering the home life which might bring in disruptive elements, ideas, people, etc.. You are likely to find it difficult to be aware of this demarcation line that you are drawing for others, of the way you restrict how they are allowed to experience the world, and of the limits to their personal freedom that you tend to insist upon.
You manage the home environment in a way that makes others dependent upon you, and subservient to your demands. You need a partner who basically supports your emphasis on ‘home as a castle’, and who does not contradict your needs and values, but acts as a complement to them and is capable of maintaining an open contact for you and the family with the outer world. To some degree, everyone expresses this tendency in home and family life, but with this Pluto placement, the likelihood of it being quite compulsive and obsessive is greatly emphasized, to the point where it could create problems for yourself and others. It is likely that in several ways your adult life at home could become quite disruptive and you could experience upheavals as direct consequence of your attempts to satisfy your needs for security, particularly if imposed upon your family. You are likely to be attracted towards exploring beneath the surface of things, with possibly considerable insight into the emotional depths of others through a natural attunement to the unconscious mind. Such a link will work both ways though, and Pluto will try to create conditions that transform your needs for physical and emotional security in a tangible form, towards greater self-understanding which can give you an inner sense of security not dependent upon outer supports. You should be striving to find an inner center of peace and fulfillment, as ultimately this is more lasting than one based in the outer world. Haydyn Paul
This is a very Plutonian person, especially when Pluto falls near the fourth house cusp. One parent was more powerful, intrusive and controlling. When one parent was outwardly domineering, however, the other may have been more subtly manipulative! It’s you and me against that monster.” Often there are great undercurrents of resentment in the home, particularly resentment of the child’s needs, or of the necessity for nurturing. Sometimes a grandmother exerted great influence, in the manner of a matriarch. There may have been an actual abandonment, such as a death of a parent figure, or there may have been the constant threat of abandonment if the child did not behave. When people have Pluto in the fourth, the adult home may become a battleground for power struggles; or, to avoid repeating past family patterns, these people may decide to live alone. It can be hard to cope with living with anyone, unless this type has absolute control of the situation. “My house is my private turf, my secret sanctuary, and I can’t really bear to share it.” It is essential that people with this placement respect their need for privacy and solitude, knowing that even when they live with others, they still need time alone. As they heal childhood traumas and resentments, it will become easier for them to live with someone else. The home life then becomes the wellspring of regeneration, giving them healing energy to take out into the world. They have the ability to heal themselves of early traumas; and, when they do, they may share what they learn with others who have been similarly wounded. Donna Cunningham
In reality, there is something Plutonian in childhood conditions. One of the parents may have been domineering or the kind of person who sows the seeds of fear in his close environment. The fear of rejection is often real. Pluto has a well-known strength in causing deep fear; and in this house it is related to childhood and family. Fear is not easy to deal with; and it has a tendency to show itself in close relationships. The emotional life of the individual goes hand in hand with the fear of rejection. The more he has feelings towards someone, the more he is afraid of losing the other person’s affection or fears that in one way or another the relationship will break up. Often the biggest problem for the individual is that he is looking for the security that should have been given to him in childhood. It may not be apparent that he is looking for a mother or a father figure for partner. With that kind of figure beside him, his biggest fears don’t come up so easily. Something is undermining the relationship if it is not based on equal sharing, giving and caring between two adults. Personal rebirth is possible, but it doesn’t happen without going through and working with childhood experiences and the fear related to them. He may become uprooted in a positive way. Pluto in the fourth house is not compatible with close and warm ties with the natal place (sometimes with the natal country!). Often life forces bring one to other horizons. Pluto also means transformation related to the birthplace (fourth house). Because of the watery nature of the fourth house, Pluto can bring emotional explosiveness – a regrettable tendency if it is not worked out. Also, the individual’s desire for control easily shows up in the family sphere. In the worst case he abuses, dictates and controls everything. Others may have to walk on tiptoes in his home. If the individual desires to develop, he should channel his Plutonian energy into the forces of change and transformation in his home: renovations in the home, challenging places to live in, transformation of the home life into something deeper and more meaningful. Superficial, routine home life is not for him. Uma Palomaki
This is also one indication of an early or violent death. There may be violence or danger in early life. There may be disputes within the family that erupt into violence, or threaten to. The father or another relative in the home may be violent, revolutionary, or in trouble with the law. The life of the father may be threatened. He may be imprisoned or exiled, be in hiding, suffer racial discrimination or social ostracism, or be connected with the underworld. The family may be broken up, lose its home, suffer bankruptcy, etc. Without several bad aspects to Pluto in the chart, it is probable that nothing of the sort will actually happen, but the threat of such things may add stress to the early life that affects the adult life to a great extent. It can cause them to be fearful of putting down roots, of establishing a traditional home and family of their own, or of being held prisoner by family responsibilities. Stephanie Camilleri
Those with Pluto in the 4th may have a love and reverence of nature, an almost primeval tie with the earth and its mysteries. Attempting to fathom the secrets of nature, there may be an interest in oceanography and deep-sea diving, archaeology, psychology, or metaphysics. Some will be able to transmute their inner struggles and emotional churnings into creative expression. Through psychological exploration, deep inner reflection and meditation, and the nurturance of seeds of self-knowledge, those with this placement may mature into extremely wise and radiant sources of strength, inspiration and guidance for others. The Greek God Pluto was in charge of buried treasure; and those with this planet in the 4th just need to dig for it. Howard Sasportas