Astrological Houses: The Eighth House in Brief

The Eighth House in astrology is strongly connected to the Second House. While the Second House is associated with the resources and values that are under your control, the Eighth House is associated with resources and values that are under the control of both you and others. The Eighth House has also come to symbolize power and power struggles. Power struggles are almost inevitable when two or more people combine their resources, but when these people come together in harmony, the power they can gain is considerable.

Sex is also connected to the Eighth House. This comes naturally when you consider that sex is the union of two people and the Eighth House represents unions. Sex is also the celebration of life, but life must end, and so death is connected to this house. Sex and death, two sides of one coin, are also associated with mysteries and investigation. This leads us almost directly to the concept of magick. Why? Because magick is mysterious and, in some forms, can be defined as an attempt to exert power over yourself or others. So the Eighth House concerns power, power struggles, sex, death, and magick. Therefore the plants and signs sitting in your Eighth House can provide insights into how you feel about these particular subjects.

Because of its connection to power struggles, this astrological house is connected to the concept of change (again, we see death here, since it's the single largest change in our lives). Change is an important part of this house, but whether we succeed or fail in our attempts to affect change is dependent upon our ability to use our personal power to alter the thinking of others, at least where the Eighth House in concerned. The resources of others are at play in this house, bringing up the concepts of loans or inheritances. It's important to note, however, that these terms are not limited to tangible things. You can inherit wisdom or power just as easily as you can money.

In general, the sign and planets associated with the Eighth House can give you insights into how you relate to and handle resource that are either jointly owned (with you) or resources that belong exclusively to other people. The Eighth House is ruled by the planet Pluto and the sign Scorpio.