8th house in traditional astrology

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I'm kind of curious if the 8th house plays a broader role than just that of death, taxes and inheritances; I am already familiar with modern astrology's take on the 8th house, but I disregard that for the most part because I dislike modern astrology and its tendency to sugar coat everything. Basically, from studying traditional astrology I already know that the 8th house sucks overall, but I just wanna know how bad it sucks, and why it sucks in terms of mundane, day to day occurrences. Can anyone help me out?

*update, I just found the thread about the 8th house, friend or foe. While it did have a lot of good information it left me with a lot of questions still. I'm mainly looking for anecdotal experiences with 8th house functioning if anyone out there has any to share.
Last edited by AstroNovice on Thu Apr 24, 2014 11:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Planets in the 6th, 8th or 12th, have a tough time expressing themselves or "getting out." A strong planet in the 8th might ward off death for a bit, or it might mean the spouse has a hefty estate, but in general anything in the 8th is difficult. One way out is to be in aspect or mutual reception (aspect by sign will do) with a dispositor (Domicile or exaltation). I don't recall the chart off the top of my head but Albert Einstein has an exalted Mars in the 8th in mutual reception and square by sign with its dispositor Saturn.

I don't recall any other 8th house examples, but I do recall that George W. Bush's 12th house Sun in Cancer was square both dispositors (Moon and Jupiter) allowing an otherwise withdrawn Sun, in his case his ASC ruler, to get into the public spotlight.

I tend to think of planets in the 8th as "stuck."

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The point you bring up is really interesting. I do recall reading something along those lines in the 8th house friend or foe thread.

I have lurked these forums for a while now, and I seem to recall that in one thread you said that you yourself have a few planets in the 8th house? (When you calculate your chart using whole sign) If thats so, is there any way that you feel the 8th house manifesting in your life?
Last edited by AstroNovice on Thu Apr 24, 2014 11:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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The 8th house doesn't ward off death; having a strong benefic in the 8th might prevent (for a time obviously) 8th house stuff that could cause a premature death. Jean Baptiste Morin (1583-1656) pointed that out over and over again.

The planet in the 8th (or 6th or 12th) that needs to "get out" needs more than an aspect. It needs to be in aspect or mutual reception with a dispositor, preferably domicile or exaltation. I don't know if triplicity would be enough. I doubt triplicity in this sense has been noticed, much less studied.

The 8th kills. Isn't that enough?

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Ahaha, well I suppose the fact that the 8th represents death is fairly succinct way of looking at it. But still, whenever I get opportunities to read my friends charts, I am always at a loss at what to say when they have 8th house planets. I mean, the other houses are a bit more mundane in their meanings and fairly concrete, however with the 8th, I feel like its meaning is much more abstract and hard to grasp. I mean, I do realize that death is a pretty concrete concept, however it only happens once...so what happens until then? I do recall reading that the 8th house is a house of loss, and decline. However I usually interpret that in a financial sense, although perhaps it could be interpreted in a more broad fashion? As in a general sense of loss and decline, aka just plain old bad luck?

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Do you think that having a strong 8th house also can also mean a dependence on others? A friend of mine had 4 planets in her 8th house and spent the last several years of her life financially dependent on her family due to health issues. She also had a stropng 6th house--sun, venus and mercury in pisces there. (moon, jupiter, saturn and uranus in taurus in the 8th) She died at 46, by the way.

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amymaddalozzo wrote:Do you think that having a strong 8th house also can also mean a dependence on others? A friend of mine had 4 planets in her 8th house and spent the last several years of her life financially dependent on her family due to health issues. She also had a stropng 6th house--sun, venus and mercury in pisces there. (moon, jupiter, saturn and uranus in taurus in the 8th) She died at 46, by the way.
It's easy to go too far with considerations of the number of planets in a house. Since this is the Traditional forum it's appropriate to say that the traditional approach is not to add up planets but to see what the planets are doing in the chart. It depends on what roles the planets are playing in that chart. Having the ASC ruler as the sole 8th house planet puts much focus on the 8th for that chart and person. Likewise, if there are 3 planets in the 8th and they are relatively secondary regarding the chart native himself or herself - for example, not ruling the ASC - then that doesn't necessarily give the 8th any sort of dramatic prominence. Traditional astrology focuses on finding the most prominent planets and determining in what areas of life a planet is most active. Counting up the planets in a sign or house is very modern, as is counting up aspects.

Regarding your friend, it depends on the roles those planets were playing in her chart.

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Astronovice, your topic is very interesting. I have a grandson with an 8th house Taurus Sun. He developed OCD early in life and is a very anxious kid who appears to handle it by denial and enforced calm. Very brilliant little guy, was designing computer circuitry at 12 and laughing at Shakespeare's jokes. I guess the anecdotal focus here is on the anxiety, an 8th house matter. I do know someone with a venus in capricorn in the 8th, and he has tremendous anxiety about women, although, or probably because he attracts very tempestuous Pluto type women, and there he is, this mental Aquarian type who can't understand them very well. I must admit, he knows some scarey women!

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Tom wrote:

The planet in the 8th (or 6th or 12th) that needs to "get out" needs more than an aspect. It needs to be in aspect or mutual reception with a dispositor, preferably domicile or exaltation. I don't know if triplicity would be enough. I doubt triplicity in this sense has been noticed, much less studied.

At the risk of deviating a bit from the original thread, I might share that it is has often confused me that my natal Mercury on Spica in the 12th, has no problems manifesting itself - when I am teaching (astrology or feng shui) or reading charts; in more private context, I tend to be more seclusive and often get complaints that I don't "share". Reading this thread and Tom's remark on the effect of triplicities (or not), I might deduct that Mercury's square from the 12th to its shared triplicity-ruler Jupiter in Cancer-9, does the trick, but only/mostly if the context of the 9th is met...

Herman
Herman

http://www.hervaro.be

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If your Mercury in 12 is within five degrees of the ASC, that would explain it, assuming Mercury and the ASC are in the same sign. It would be better to either post your chart or the data in an effort to get feedback.

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Not looking for feedback, Tom. Only trying to contribute as you mentioned that triplicity rulers seem to go unnoticed and unstudied, with respect to helping a planet get out of a dark place... 8)
For those interested, I was born sept. 24, 1954, 10:10AM Central European Time, in Wilrijk (Antwerp, Be). 8? Scorpio rising, Mercury at 23?Libra and so in the 12th by division and by whole sign.

Herman
Herman

http://www.hervaro.be

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hervaro wrote:Not looking for feedback, Tom. Only trying to contribute as you mentioned that triplicity rulers seem to go unnoticed and unstudied, with respect to helping a planet get out of a dark place... 8)

Herman
That is also what I understood from your post Herman. Thank you for sharing the info on your chart; a good example of triplicities at work in a chart.

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