Eighth House in the Horoscope

The 8th House is both dramatic and mysterious, being linked to the Zodiac sign Scorpio. It is called the House of Death, which might be a bit overly dramatic, but it does hint on what kind of death one is to expect. It's main theme, though, is that of things out of one's control. That's usually the case with death, too.

     The occult and paranormal belongs here, which makes it a particularly interesting House for astrologers. The mystery of religion, too, gets its nutrition in this House. But everything about it is not that extraordinary. The 8th House is also that of blood relations outside of the immediate family. Again, that's something out of one's control. In particular, the House speaks about inheritance, what you get from your ancestors - genetic as well as economical.

Zodiac sign and Planet

If the House changes Zodiac sign somewhere in its span, that means your attitude to things beyond your control changes at some point in your life. So does your relation to your ancestors and what you got from them. If the House is mainly in one single Zodiac sign, no such changes are to be expected.

     Planets in the 8th House indicate events involving your relatives, probably also events of a mysterious or even occult nature - depending on the specific planet and the Zodiac sign it's in. A lack of planets in the House suggests that its theme is not that significant in your life.

     Here are simple keywords describing your attitude to things beyond your control and your relatives, depending on what Zodiac sign you have in the 8th House:

• Aries defiant
• Taurus trusting
• Gemini curious
• Cancer emotional
• Leo proud
• Virgo critical
• Libra reasoning
• Scorpio excited
• Sagittarius indifferent
• Capricorn constructive
• Aquarius pensive
• Pisces worrying

     Here are keywords for how matters beyond your control - and relatives - affect you if you have a planet in your 8th House:

• Sun important
• Moon alluring
• Mercury interesting
• Venus attractive
• Mars challenging
• Jupiter expanding
• Saturn restricting
• Uranus enlightening
• Neptune fascinating
• Pluto dramatic

     The keywords are just simple clues to understand the 8th House. You need to consider the whole before deciding on the meaning of one single ingredient.

Aspects

The 8th House has the following aspect relations to other Houses:

• Opposition 180° 2nd House
• Trine 120° 12th House, 4th House
• Square 90° 11th House, 5th House
• Sextile 60°10th House, 6th House

     These relations between the Houses are quite important when analyzing their influence. The opposition aspect to the 2nd House, that of personal resources, is explained by the conflict between what you accomplish by yourself and what you inherit from your relatives. In a way, it's the astrological equivalent of the polarity between inherited abilities and self-accomplished ones.

     The trine to the 12th House, that of your sacrifices, points out that in both cases you are not that able to do much about it. Both Houses govern things in your life that you just have to live with, even if you don't want to. The trine to the 4th House is the obvious connection between family and relatives. Also, although you can to some extent decide about the family you get as an adult (though not at all the one you're born into), there are still many things about it that are out of your control.

     The square to the 11th House, that of ideals and the social scene, is a reminder of the fact that there is so much in life you can't change, no matter how much you and everybody else want to. The square to the 5th House, leisure, says that demands and events involving relatives or the unknown frequently interfere with your personal wishes, often making them impossible. Although squares are normally possible to solve somehow, it's particularly difficult when they involve the 8th House, simply because it goes beyond what you can control.

     The sextile to the 10th House, career, implies that what you have from your blood-line and how mysterious fate treats you, are instrumental in your career efforts. You can make them work for you. The sextile to the 6th House, work, is explained pretty much the same way. Also, through history it has been most common to simply inherit one's work from one's relatives. Actually, it's still very much like that.

© Stefan Stenudd
The planets
The Zodiac
The Houses
The aspects