Darkness,-avoid at all costs to some and a single place of solace to others. The top half of the zodiac wheel is more complicated than that first, because here we interact and integrate an objective reality grander and outside the self, but just as relevant in our individual process. At this point, the ‘shadow-self’ has been revealed in the Seventh House through partnerships. The Eighth House bridges off-or more appropriately- goes off road, into an equally as eye-opening, just a little darker, place. Known as the most mysterious house in the zodiac, located here are the Dark Depths of the Self. The Eighth House is the second house of the water element and therefore has an underlining emotional application. It is ruled by Pluto, the Astrological planet of darkness, transformation, power and cycles; and Scorpio, a water sign of emotional depth, passion, and mystery. Planets here can denote particular interests in the occult and dark psychology. What we can find in this house are parts of the personality the Ego refuses to share live here. This in not the house of the unconscious (12th). The truth is, these ‘dark sides’ are mostly acquired and shedding light on them helps us more forward. Because moving forward here is possible and kind of the point. Being ruled by Pluto and housing our deepest fears makes this house one with immense power over the individual. Some of the shadow qualities that you may have seen through others in the seventh house of partnership live here; qualities like, avoidance, secrecy, obsessions and compulsions, insecurities, and personal voids. Also, thanks to Pluto, any power struggles we just cannot seem to work through.
Being directly across ‘The Second House of Personal Value’, here we can see how our perception of how others convey our value to us, shapes our lives. Despite being energies outside of ourselves, we carry them anyway, and mostly unconscious. Shared Energy is the common thread here, It is the price we pay for connection with another and the price we pay to play the game of life. And for that reason taxes and investments are involved in this house along with estates, inheritances, and karma. (Natal Planets/ house cusp sign can give insight on any issues we may have with them).
When we enter partnerships in the seventh house, we move into the eighth house to see the ‘debt’ we have taken on through others for us to reach our goals of intimacy and connection. What might just be the scariest aspect of this house to many is sharing things with a partner like, joint finances, shared property, and sex. They are all exchanges of energy and they sit there in the darkness with our fears of them being taken away.
Problems arise when we are unable to access this vulnerable place out of fear of being hurt and the unconscious responses we created once to keep us safe. What these patterns do is work as a pair of blinders we wear, making us fail to see the real options right in front of us. We bypass the options we have and devalue ourselves based off something that does not define who we are, like that teacher that said you weren’t smart or that group of older girls that called you a slut when you were like 14. Here lie lessons learned through poor boundaries with others. Letting others in. There are two sides to poor boundaries, self-sacrifice and resentment, along with, coldness and isolation from having too rigid of them. The self-realization of having poor boundaries is a pivotal point in anyone’s journey and the most substantial piece of awareness being-this is a learned quality. More often than not, you had a parent that did not have awareness around emotional boundaries or were involved in some kind of relationship where the lines between the self and another were blurred. Also likely, that parent had other flaws if they also displayed poor boundaries. What comes from letting outside forces shape-shift your reality is failing to realize the low narrative you now have going on in the background of your mind, creating our realities on auto-pilot. Most importantly however, is the fact that the only person resurrecting you from the suffering in this house is yourself. The remedy for this house being, allowing yourself to see truth and feel connection, and the problem with that is, sometimes we find comfort in familiarity.
Pluto will argue, Love is not unconditional here… it absolutely has conditions. Every deep connection requires that same thing, vulnerability. You get a serious partner and with that comes lessons of trust, sharing your secrets, and sex. Sex is one of the greatest expressions of vulnerability. That is why an increase in drive for it can occur when one has difficulty with other vulnerabilities. Men longing for connection are often seen ‘nagging for sex’. Seen in the seventh house and continuing here, many of our triggers are through relationships. But what that also means is, a lot of potential for healing is here. When we enter these partnerships we are also making deals with ourselves. How much control we let someone have. The secrets we tell them. We share the vulnerable parts of ourselves and inevitably we transform through these relationships.
We all have those things that instill fear in us, and can lead into a cycle of avoidance, sabotage and destruction. Resistance to change and seeing truth out of fear is the real evil here. If we wait long enough an outside force will enter our lives and make us face what we don’t want to. But then something weird happens, we handle it. We live to see another day. But why couldn’t we do it without that force? Are we really just lazy, too busy seeking instant gratification, and are professional avoiders? Or is there something deeper here, like having to face our own mortality through this process?
Pluto is equally as recognized for its role in the death and rebirth cycles in our lives. That is why ‘Death’ is one of the main themes we see discussed in this house. Beginnings and endings are what constitute this human experience. Death is not purely physical; a life filled with endings is also blessed with beginnings on the other end. As long as we can bring ourselves to that other side, and that is why Pluto feels so relentless. The ‘death’ that primarily occurs here are the masks we remove, the old stories we stop telling ourselves, and the identities we lay to rest.
And then there is always the case of too much of a good thing; people can become addicted to the person they become when going through a transformative process, creating more in the future. (You know that person that always has something going on)
I like to see this as a house of resiliency. This house marks a great turning point in your life even if it does not occupy any personal planets. Planets here can represent fears the native possesses in terms of what they are ‘losing control’ to. The Sun can mean losing vitality to the issues of others; The Moon, losing emotional control etc. Reading a natal chart with planetary aspects provide much more detail about the various facets of this house. The sign this house begins in your Natal Chart will resonate with how you recover from your perceived ‘rock bottom’. Mine is in Aries, I have found I learn by the hand of my own mistakes and it has been a deeply transformative process. This is your phoenix rising from the ashes moment.
In Greek Mythology, Pluto, whose name translates to “wealth”, was thought to rule the underworld where riches were kept. The Eighth house has a similar, real application. If you take out the time and energy to go through the closets and drawers of your Eighth House and just put it all in the front yard for yourself and everyone to see, you will gain an immeasurable peace. You will gain the ability to see yourself and from that, see others for the raw parts that make us whole. Only when we are whole are we able to successfully connect with another. This house allows us to phase into the 9th house of philosophy, abundance and higher thinking; the dark literally making the light accessible.
You can be a very put together person and yet this house and Pluto does not discriminate. Many hide in the darkness in solitude, I know I did for a very long time. Solitude is dressed as bliss; no rejection, no misunderstandings, no light being casted on our shadow. It gets to a point where that doesn’t work anymore, we get depressed, we get stuck, and we get hopeless. If we are there long enough, we sacrifice all of our power. But until we are able to see those dark aspects of ourselves we will fail to see the whole picture. When we can accept the reality that consenting to ‘losing’ something in the name of love is worth it. When we can accept the things that have happened to us and the roles we have played in them. When we can stop being so afraid, we will truly be free. If you take anything from this article, take on giving yourself a second chance by going through this house this Scorpio Season. This is the rise after the inevitable fall and the illusion of fear to fall again which holds us back.
