In modern astrology, Pluto is firmly associated with death and crises. But where did this association originate? It stems from the name Pluto itself—the mythological figure, god of the underworld and the dead—as well as from the historical context in which the planet was discovered.
But is Pluto really as terrifying as astrologers claim? In my previous article on Pluto, I presented three logical arguments against the supposed effects of this planetoid. In this article, I will practically demonstrate that Pluto has no connection with death or the 8th house.
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How Pluto Entered Astrology
It all started with the name, shortly after the planet was discovered. The name "Pluto" was suggested by an 11-year-old girl from Oxford named Venetia Burney. She was interested in classical mythology and astronomy. Upon reading in the morning newspaper about the new discovery, Venetia said that Pluto was a fitting name: he was the god of darkness and the underworld, which reflected the remoteness and coldness of the newly found planet.
Her suggestion was passed on to a professor of astronomy at Oxford, and from there it reached the staff at the Lowell Observatory. They liked the name because:
- it followed the tradition of naming planets after Roman gods;
- the first two letters—“PL”—matched the initials of Percival Lowell, the astronomer who had predicted the existence of Planet X.
Astrologers quickly incorporated Pluto into their practice, despite the fact that it was barely visible through a telescope and largely unexplored by astronomers. The name itself, linked to the god of the underworld, immediately led astrologers to associate it with death.
Pluto’s discovery coincided with turbulent changes in the Western world—the rise of fascism, the growing popularity of Jungian and Freudian ideas, the Great Depression in the U.S., and the development of nuclear physics. All of this prompted astrologers to interpret Pluto as a symbol of the psyche’s depths, destructive power, and transformation.
However, this connection is highly selective: most of these developments began long before 1930—the year the planet was discovered—and were by no means universal. For example, psychoanalysis took shape in the early 20th century, fascism in Italy emerged in the 1920s, and economic crises did not affect the entire world in the same way. Nevertheless, it was precisely these well-known, vivid, and dramatic events that were put forward as “evidence” of Pluto’s influence, while ignoring the broader global context and numerous regional differences.
Confirmation Bias
Astrology is rife with confirmation bias—astrologers tend to focus mainly on events that support their hypotheses while completely ignoring facts that contradict them. The same error applies to Pluto.
Recently, I attended an astrology conference where Pluto was being discussed. The format of the presentation was as follows: the speaker asked the audience to share their personal experiences related to Pluto’s influence. If someone raised their hand and said, “When a transiting planet passed over my Pluto, I got divorced,” or “That’s when I had surgery,” the speaker would immediately respond, “See? That’s Pluto at work.”
But when someone said that nothing happened during similar transits, the speaker would claim, “That’s because you’ve already integrated Pluto internally. Pluto always works.” No one seemed bothered by the fact that only a very few attendees could even loosely connect their personal crises to Pluto—and yet everyone left fully convinced of the planet’s dark and inevitable power.
Let’s test in practice whether Pluto is truly connected with the 8th house and threats to life.
Practical Test of Pluto
It is commonly believed that Pluto in the 8th house brings maximum destruction and danger to life and health. The only way to test this claim is to compare Pluto’s supposed influence with actual observable events. I conducted a simple sample analysis:
- Using the Astrodatabank Research Tool, I selected charts of people with accurately known birth and death dates;
- I examined the primary directions for the time of death;
- I checked whether a so-called "killing direction" was present at that moment and what it included as a promissor—planets of the septener or Pluto in the 8th house and its aspects.
There are two types of killing directions:
- A harmful aspect of death is directed toward the significators of life (1st house) and activity (10th house) of the native, or toward the significator of death itself (8th house).
- An unfavorable aspect of life or activity, associated with death, is directed toward the significators of life and activity, or toward the significator of death.
Let me remind you that the significator of a house can be: the cusp of the house, a planet located in the house, or the ruler of the house. A natural ruler of the relevant topic may also serve as a significator. For instance, the Sun can act as the significator of the 10th house (fame and recognition) or the 1st house (life)—but only if it is connected with those houses. Saturn may be the natural significator of death—again, only if it is linked to the 8th house. And so on.
Now let’s move on to an analysis of the first five charts with accurately known birth and death times, starting from the year 1900.
Fact-Check 1
The first chart belongs to American actor Cleve Colin. He died at the age of 37 from alcohol abuse.
In his chart, four planets are connected to the 8th house:
- The ruler of the 8th house is Mercury;
- Two accidental rulers of the 8th are Saturn and Jupiter;
- A planet located in the 8th house is Pluto (at 14° Gemini).
Note: According to Jean-Baptiste Morin, a 17th-century professor of mathematics and astrologer, the accidental rulers of the 8th house are planets located in the 2nd house (opposite the 8th), whose opposition aspects fall within orb in the 8th house.
Cleve Colin died in June 1937. During that month, the following direction unfolded in the sky: a harmful antiscia of Saturn (sudden death), falling in the 2nd house of food consumption (in the context of his life—alcohol abuse), was directed toward the ruler of the 8th house. This direction became exact in June 1937.
There were no directions involving Pluto—the main “suspected” significator of death—during this period.
Fact-Check 2
The next chart belongs to Otto Baum—a German sculptor and university professor. He died at the age of 77 by suicide.
In his chart, four planets are connected to the 8th house:
- The ruler of the 8th house is Mercury;
- Two accidental rulers of the 8th are Saturn and Jupiter;
- A planet located in the 8th house is Pluto (at 14° Gemini).
Otto Baum died in January 1977. A month prior, the following direction took place: a harmful square from Jupiter (a particular facet of death) approached the cusp of the 8th house—the significator of death. Jupiter was in a sign of its exile and simultaneously in the domicile of the 8th house ruler—an extremely destructive facet of death. It also landed on the Midheaven (MC), which is associated with one's own actions. Quite literally, this particular aspect (indicating the form of death) tied to personal action activated the the 8th house’s incident.
During this time, no directions involving Pluto—the main "suspect" in killing directions—were observed.
Fact-Check 3
The next chart belongs to Madeleine Fromet—a French silent film actress. She died at the age of 83.
In her chart, the following aspects of life and activity are connected with death:
- A harmful square from the ruler of the 1st house (Mars), placed in the sign of its exile, right on the cusp of the 8th house and the fixed star Algol;
- A sextile from the ruler of the 10th house (the Sun), falling into the 8th house and simultaneously on Pluto at 14° Gemini.
In May 1983, the following direction unfolded in the sky: a harmful aspect of life, falling into a sign of exile, right on the cusp of the 8th house and the fixed star Algol, approached the significator of activity—the Midheaven (MC), thereby cutting off any earthly action. Two months before this direction became exact, Madeleine passed away.
During this period, no directions involving Pluto—the main candidate among the so-called killing planets—were observed.
Fact-Check 4
This chart belongs to Margaret Sinclair—a Scottish nun who died at the age of 25.
In her chart, the following aspects of life and activity are connected with death:
- A sextile from the ruler of the 10th house (the Sun), falling into the 8th house of death;
- The placement of the ruler of the 1st house—Venus—on the cusp of the 8th house. However, since Venus is in its own domicile, it offers protection from death rather than causing it.
Margaret died in November 1925. A month earlier, in October 1925, a harmful aspect of her activity associated with death (the Sun’s sextile in the 8th house) approached the cusp of the 8th house, triggering the incident.
During this time, no directions involving Pluto—the main candidate among the so-called death-dealing planets—occurred.
Fact-Check 5
The final chart belongs to German nuclear physicist Emanuel Estermann. He died at the age of 72.
In his chart, four planets are associated with the 8th house:
- The ruler of the 8th house is Mercury;
- Two accidental rulers of the 8th house are Saturn and Jupiter;
- A planet located in the 8th house is Pluto (at 14° Gemini).
He died in March 1973. A month earlier, in February 1973, a harmful aspect from Mercury (aspect of death), falling at 28° Taurus on the fixed star Alcyone (departure of a man from life), approached the ruler of the 1st house—Mars.
During this period, no directions involving Pluto—the main candidate among the death-dealing planets—were observed.
Conclusion
As we can see, not only common sense but also selective empirical testing confirms that Pluto’s association with death and the 8th house arose from a cognitive error on the part of astrologers—a mistaken attribution of qualities to Pluto, based on a coincidental name.
I often ask astrologers: what if Pluto had been given a different name—or no name at all? What would it then be associated with? And astrologers seriously respond that Pluto supposedly influenced the 11-year-old girl and the group of scientists so that they would give it that exact name—enabling astrologers to grasp the true meaning of the planet. For this reason, they claim, Pluto could not possibly have had any other name.
Obviously, when two explanations exist:
- One is about a mystical encoded message for a specific group of people (astrologers), sent by a distant planet selectively influencing an 11-year-old girl, and
- The other is about a coincidental naming of the planet,
then, according to Occam’s Razor, the simplest and most straightforward explanation is the correct one. Empirical spot-checking also confirms that Pluto's name was a coincidence and that Pluto has nothing to do with death or the 8th house.
This is merely a myth inflated by esoterically minded astrologers who selectively confirm only what they want to believe.
