Pluto in the 2nd House/ Taurus (4)

Pluto in the 2nd House/ Taurus

Following the yang archetype of Aries is the yin Archetype of Taurus. In contrast to being driven by the outgoing need for instinctual fulfillment, the person with this placement withdraws somewhat in order to experience the nature of their own values and needs from within. Over lifetimes, people with Pluto in the 2nd house and Taurus have had an on-going need to develop self-reliance and internal security. Taurus correlates with biological survival and these people are often harboring memories of prior-lives in which their survival was threatened or they had to develop simple coping mechanisms in order to survive intense and difficult experiences. They enter this life with a highly internalized energy structure, a strong physical/sexual energy and a strongly developed sense of self-sufficiency.


This person has had a tendency to withdraw from external circumstances and activities which has led to the development of an internal fixed identity as the basis of inner security. This is an innate strength, developed by coping with experiences that have been threatening to their identity. To the extent that this has included prolonged periods in prior lives (or in this life) spent in survival mode (where each day one is tested to the very limits without the absolute minimum resources needed to get by) then there is a tendency for a narrowing of focus to occur. A limiting of the personal field of vision was necessary in order to cope with harrowing or edgy experiences. While useful at the time, this has created the karmic potential for stuckness and habitual self-imposed limitation. Now this limited vision no longer supports the soul’s real potential for growth.

Survival issues often involve money. Relative to the difficulty people with these signatures have had in their current or prior lives with issues of survival there may be excessive or distorted significance applied to money. This might manifest as a relatively complete identification with money as possessing the power that can magically prolong life or give it meaning. This viewpoint ignores the obvious existential truth that the richest Pharaoh and the poorest peasant all die just the same. This is also problematic because an attachment to a solely monetary system of valuation can distort all other forms of value (human relationships, creativity etc.) and lead to problems of avarice, and in extreme cases, manipulation and lies used in order to achieve material prosperity. If this is the working pattern in a person’s karma, it will almost inevitably exist within a cyclic framework of gain and loss, and any highs of deception will contrast with lows of internal and external confrontations.

The confrontations described above are symbolized by the polarity point from Scorpio and the 8th house. The Scorpio/8th house polarity point encourages confrontation in order to break free of pre-existing limitation. In some cases the survival-threatening experiences that led to the (necessary) limitation will have been caused by material loss (personal or collective) through natural disaster, the change of a political system, a personal failing, or in rare cases through the consequences of the unfair acquisition of wealth (revenge, guilt and betrayal).

As a person begins to individuate, their identification with external things as expressions of personal power lessens and the identification with the self increases, which then becomes the central resource. In the process of individuating, withdrawal from the external world is necessary at times in order to clear the prevailing consensus influences and to reconnect with personal values.

To the extent that survival concerns become limiting, confrontations are implicit by the polarity point of Scorpio/8th house. These can take both internal and external forms, through facing limitation or through negative feedback from intimate others. Those close to the Pluto in Taurus/2nd house individual, on perceiving their unavailability and withdrawal, may feel compelled to initiate a confrontation. In this way personal frustration becomes the basis for evolution.

In fact, the 8th house polarity point suggests the very direct lesson of learning to work with others in a more open way. It is not enough for the 2nd house Pluto person to just work with others from the confines of their pre-existing limited view of themselves. If their creativity and vision is to be successful or meaningfully manifested they must realize their full potential and experience it through shared effort. Initially this may take a very practical direction. One person is frequently not enough to accomplish a goal no matter how energized or talented. If you want to have a successful band, you need several musicians. Even if you are the greatest solo flautist you still need musical and practical support to form a full sound and to produce your product. Initially the practical realization of how much more could be achieved in collaboration with others will draw the 2nd house Pluto person into shared projects and collective experiences. Eventually that experience can lead to an insight that the shared experience is inherently valuable rather than just a means to an end.

The 2nd house describes how we internally relate to ourselves, how we identify and begin to meet our base needs. In contrast, the 8th house polarity point includes the nature of powerful people we attract to ourselves in order to have an impact on our sense of personal power. In this way the 8th house polarity point speaks of an evolutionary crossroads between the self-reliance of the past and the need to confront the existing limitations that such a self-imposed sense of meaning has generated. We’ve explored some of the ways significant others will enter the 2nd house Pluto person’s life to great impact. Such significant relationships may also include profound (internal or external) struggle as they represent that which is most deeply longed for, and most deeply resisted at the same time. This is how the attraction/repulsion issue at the heart of the Pluto complex expresses for this archetype.

If we return to Plato’s image of the shadow on the wall, we see that the Pluto in Taurus person faces a similar challenge in needing to expand their perceptions beyond a limited view. They must face the fear that moving outside of their perceived limitations will threaten their survival and the loss of self-reliance. The soul (signified by both the natal Pluto placement and its polarity point) sees that operating from survival mode inherently narrows experience and that one can learn to live again through the opening of personal boundaries to new encounters, to let in more of the sky. In this way the pre-existing self-reliance of the Pluto in Taurus/2nd house person becomes an inner strength brought to the new adventure rather than a stance that exists only by habit or for its own self-preservation.

Pluto in astrology (1)
Pluto in astrology (2) Pluto complex
Pluto in the 1st House/Aries (3)
Pluto in the 2nd House/ Taurus (4)
Pluto in the 3rd House/Gemini (5)
Pluto in the 4th House/ Cancer (6)