Can you transfer karma between people?

Karma is often described as a personal law — a reflection of the soul’s choices, emotions, and growth across many lifetimes. But when we care deeply for someone or are involved in intense emotional situations, it’s natural to wonder: Can karma be transferred? Can we carry or take on karma from others? This question touches on both spiritual belief and emotional experience, and while answers may vary across traditions, certain truths remain.

Understanding the energetic boundaries of karma can help you navigate your relationships with more clarity, compassion, and self-awareness.

Can you transfer karma between people?

In most spiritual systems, karma is considered to be deeply personal. Each soul carries its own energetic imprint — shaped by its intentions, actions, and lessons — and this imprint forms a unique path of growth. Karma cannot usually be given away, erased by another, or passed on like a physical object.

However, people do share karmic connections, especially in close relationships. These connections often involve:

• mutual lessons that repeat until resolved,

• emotional bonds from past lives,

• a sense of responsibility or spiritual agreement.

Rather than transferring karma, people may be mirroring or triggering each other’s karmic patterns — bringing them to the surface for healing and understanding.

Can we carry karma for someone else?

Emotionally, many people feel they are carrying another’s burden — especially in parent-child relationships, romantic bonds, or caretaking roles. Spiritually, this is not the same as absorbing their karma. What can happen, however, is:

• becoming entangled in another’s karmic cycle,

• repeating unhealthy patterns together,

• delaying your own growth by over-identifying with their path.

When you try to “save” someone from their karma or feel overly responsible for their journey, you may unconsciously create new karma for yourself. Loving someone deeply does not mean taking on their soul lessons. True love and compassion mean allowing others the space to grow through their own experiences.

Are there traditions that believe in karmic transfer?

Some Eastern philosophies, particularly in ritual or devotional practices, include the idea of transferring merit — offering the positive energy of one’s actions to another soul. This is done with intention and purity of heart, often in ceremonies or prayers for ancestors or loved ones.

However, this is not the same as transferring negative karma. In most teachings, while you can offer blessings, support, or spiritual light to others, you cannot erase or hold their karmic responsibility. Each soul must walk its own path, even if it is connected to yours.

How astrology helps you understand shared karma

Astrology can reveal where karmic bonds may exist between people — especially in synastry (relationship charts) or through strong aspects in your birth chart. These include:

• South Node connections in synastry (past life links),

• strong Saturn aspects (karmic responsibilities),

• Pluto or Chiron contacts (deep transformation and healing),

• 12th house placements (hidden or karmic influences).

Your personal birth chart may also show where you’re more likely to attract karmic connections — or where you may be tempted to take on energy that isn’t fully yours. Understanding this can help you maintain healthy emotional boundaries while still showing care and support.

Explore your karmic patterns and connections

If you’ve ever felt deeply responsible for someone else’s pain, or wondered whether your emotional entanglement is connected to something deeper, a Karmic Astrology Reading can help bring clarity. Based on your full birth data, it reveals the emotional themes, karmic lessons, and soul-level dynamics that may be influencing your relationships and inner world.

Rather than carrying what is not yours, you’ll gain insight into your soul’s true path — and how to walk it with strength, compassion, and greater freedom. Discover what is truly yours to transform, and where you can release what no longer belongs to your journey.