After studying astrology for several years, it became evident to me that the most powerful house in our astrological chart was the eighth house. Each time I analyzed a natal chart, there would be a common thread for all individuals who had planets in this house. I want to paint a picture of the most intense house in our chart: the house of death.

The Eighth house is ruled by the sign Scorpio. All issues related to Scorpio rule this house. Most importantly death, sexuality, secrets, other people’s resources, sacrifice and the unseen world of spirits, astral entities, ghosts or our direct experience with such things. Anything that is taboo, intense, uncomfortable and deep lingers in this house. Having planets in this house will cause individuals to obsess over death. Death is symbolic of change. In the tarot deck, the Death card represents transformation, regeneration and change. All these facts are found within the eighth house.

Many individuals with planets here will benefit through other people's resources. This house rules legacies, inheritances and land. Anything that is given to us through the death of someone close is eighth house territory. This is the house of sacrifice. What does sacrifice truly mean? Individuals with planets here, especially the Sun or Moon, will experience great benefits given to them from others. Many people will sacrifice so that these individuals are taken care of financially. Other times, the energy can manifest the opposite way. Individuals may find themselves constantly sacrificing their own emotions and what they really want for others. Sometimes they may fall in love with someone who is not free. They may stay with a spouse out of guilt or responsibility, when their heart belongs to someone else. These situations can create a deep-seated loneliness and feelings of resentfulness. There is no way to escape this energy. Individuals with eighth house energy must transform and let things die in order to benefit. Growing spiritually, and achieving a deep insight into others, is the gifts of this house.

The first thing that comes to mind when we think of the eighth house is the word, Energy. The subtle energies that surround our physical bodies known as chi, prana, and life force, and how this energy can be used to heal others. When we have planets in the eighth house, we are very sensitive to these energies. Individuals with planets placed here will be extremely sensitive to energy and will be able to “feel” other people’s pain, emotions, and energy field. Unfortunately, many times this is very painful for the individual. If individuals are not aware of this ability, then they might do two possible things. First, they might choose to ignore their insights and become increasingly lonelier. Second, they might take all these threats as personal and believe that others do not like them. They might withdrawal from others and put up an invisible wall to keep them safe.

You can imagine how painful it would be to feel other's suffering. Individuals can see through other people’s motives, thoughts, and actions. What others show them on the outside is insignificant, because we will zone into their true energy, thoughts and emotions. When these don’t match up, we know it and feel it in a deep way. A deep feeling of loneliness can be experienced for individuals, especially with the Sun or Moon placed in this house at birth.

When individuals first experience this energy, they may doubt themselves or second guess their perceptions. Eventually they must learn to trust their intuition. I want to discuss a client that has several eighth house planets and one experience that she shared with me. She is a social worker, and as part of her job has to perform home visits. One time in particular, she made a home visit for the first time to a new family. The client was a 15-year-old girl who was adopted when she was five years old. She lived with her mother and her mother’s boyfriend at the time. When she arrived, things seemed normal, until the boyfriend got home. She was doing the first interview with the daughter and the mother at the kitchen table. When the boyfriend walked into the room, she instantly thought and felt, “This man has made sexual advances toward the 15-year-old.” She shoved the thought out of her head because she did not know where it came from, and knew she did not know the family well enough to suspect something like that. She left the home, and after several weeks, received a call from another helping professional. This helping professional called her to voice her concern about the 15-year-old, who had accused the boyfriend of making sexual advances toward her a year prior. The social worker had no idea of this factual information at the time of the first interview, when she “felt” what was truly going on in this family.

Each experience like this one leads to a deeper understanding of self and others. Individuals with planets here can feel very different than other people. They can feel like no one understands them and that no one else in their life thinks or feels as they do. I see and hear this all the time from people with planets in the eighth house. The truth is that they are right. Most people do not feel other's feelings, thoughts, or intentions so accurately. Most people just take things at face value and do not question or look deeper into their fellow man. The ability to see truth is a unique gift, although it can make individuals feel separate from others, eventually leading to depression if not addressed. Many individuals with planets in this house experience depression and are often treated with medication. One way to alleviate this depression is by protecting oneself. The use of protection rituals are extremely important for these individuals. A basic protection ritual can be implemented such as visualizing a white bubble around oneself. When individuals are in contact with others that have a negative effect on them, visualizing a white light around themselves will help. It is important to visualize this protective bubble daily and to have the intent in mind that nothing negative will get into your aura. Several techniques can be used, but this is the most basic and it works.

After researching this issue for myself and others, it dawned on me what the true lesson of the eighth house is. Instead of feeling separate or different from others, we need to think of it as feeling our “Oneness” with others. These individuals are feeling other's energies, auras, thought forms and emotions. This is being one with others, not separate. If these individuals can begin to look at their experiences in this way, they will start to feel an unexplained happiness come over them. They will realize that they are truly blessed and would never want to lose the natural healing gifts that they possess.

The house of Scorpio is known as the house of death. Many times individuals with planets here, especially the Sun or Moon, experience the death of someone close to them at a young age. They begin to have a deep awareness and concern within themselves that people die, things change, and they themselves will one day die. They always have a sense of their own mortality. This urge or awareness is always in their consciousness pushing them forward in life. They try to live each day to the fullest. The true lesson for them is to realize that death is just an illusion, a transition or a transformation. The truth is that nothing ever truly dies. Energy is merely transformed into another level of existence. Just as physics states, “Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but is merely transformed into another substance.” A dear friend of mine has witnessed eighth house energy her entire life. She has the Sun, Mercury and Saturn all in the eighth house.

The Sun represents the father figure, and in her case, encompasses all the facts about the eighth house. Her father died when she was 13 years old. She and her mother were left to raise her five siblings. They lost the family business when he died unexpectedly. She did inherit some money from his death, but the bitter wounds of losing a father at such a young age still haunt her to this day. She told me once that she often feels that something in her dies and she suddenly feels completely different. One night she was lying in bed and felt this intense energy surrounding her. Her entire body began to shake and she felt this energy run up her chakras. The next thing she felt was total sadness. She told me that the only way to describe it was that it was like something “died inside her.” After that moment, her life has never been the same. This is the eighth house in action.

True healers, body workers, counselors and psychics usually have planets in the eighth house. The most powerful healers often have Pluto there. Several body workers, Reiki masters, and pranic healers also have this placement. The most important thing to remember is that the eighth house does not lie. It calls out of the woodwork all truths, emotions, feelings and thoughts. Those with eyes to see will see. Just remember to experience this as oneness with others, not separateness. In the end, this will only increase your abilities and understanding of your purpose here on earth. The eighth house is nothing to be afraid of, because it is a blessing in disguise. Individuals with planets here are truly our world’s future healers.