Saturn in Eighth House

Overcoming: dramas of financial entanglements; fear of change; emotional isolation; sexual inhibition; obsessions and addictions; fear of the unknown; traits of withholding. disappointments in love.

Encouragement: trusting the creative forces of life; knowing thyself (shadow and light); cathartic outlets; energy healing; cultivating trust in friendships, with family; sexual healing; sacred sexuality; sexual merging in a committed relationship; traits of generosity.

House of Magic

There is magic to the eighth house, as it’s where we see this turn into that. This sphere includes everyday magic, like an unexpectedly profound encounter with a stranger.

And it draws us into the dimensions beyond this physical plane. For example, a loved one dies and we sense their presence -- they live on, but in what form? The veiled energies of the eighth house bring us face-to-face with life’s greatest mysteries.

If your Saturn is in the eighth, you have a heightened perception of the unseen. But there can be a lot of fear about surrendering to it. Saturn’s hot spot often means that there will be ordeals to be faced. These open us to new ways of being, even as they break apart the structures that were familiar. For some with this Saturn, there can be great fears to meet, to do with the unknown.

House of Chaos

The creative powers of the dark are unpredictable. What's unlocked has a life of its own, and opening to it demands surrender. Saturn here can bring tests of letting go, that build character, and eventually (relative) mastery.

This is a house where the wild energies of Eros move naturally. That's the animating current, passion, and sexuality that is a force for creativity and life. Someone with Saturn here has a gift to unpack, by following what most makes her feel alive. But doing this could go against conditioning and her own angst. Saturn encourages her to overcome those barriers, and let more of that regenerative force in.

Some with this Saturn had austere or abusive upbringings. The journey could be like the shamanic soul retrieval -- recovering the parts of the self that went underground. Saturn here could mean dismantling barriers to love and intimacy, that were built up early on. Because Scorpio rules this house, the real treasure can be very deep and challenging to reveal. The gift of Saturn is when you've faced the worst, and know there's nothing more to fear.

Dreaming a New (Cultural) Dream

The eighth house is where we contribute to the healing of a species seeking to heal from past traumas. It’s where the calling of the soul and commitment to that calling has a way of serving the whole.

The late, wonderful astrologer Elizabeth Rose Campbell writes in Intuitive Astrology: “In the eighth house, we discover that archetypal purpose is a living power. Like a force of nature, it can shift the group dream almost instantaneously as awareness reaches critical mass on some level. She goes on to say, “People with planets in the eighth house often set that shift in motion, whether knowingly or unknowingly.”

Saturn here delivers the discipline and serious focus that’s needed for that life purpose. With the eighth, sometimes the themes are taboo or lead to dangerous places. Saturn in the eighth lends cautiousness about timing and being stealthy. You can draw on Saturn’s gift of keeping a project under wraps to protect it. And being able to shield yourself from those that would seek to undermine your plans.

Elizabeth Rose Campbell's question for Saturn in the eighth house natives is: "How can I trust the cautious student of power than I am, while also trusting that I am simultaneously in training to be a teacher of power who takes risks." This is the way of Saturn -- we teach what we want -- or feel compelled -- to learn.

Most Misunderstood?

In her classic, Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil, Liz Greene writes that the eighth is the most “misunderstood and maligned” of all the houses. Astrologers often distil this house to death and inheritance, which Greene says doesn’t do justice to the energies of this house, and its formidable ruler Pluto.

She writes, “The interchange of finances between two people in a partnership may be one of the by-products of the house, but it is only when the meaning of money as a symbol of emotional values is understood that the more complex meaning of "money received from others" becomes clear. Death itself does indeed come under this house, but there are many kinds of death, and most of them are not physical; and every death is followed inevitably by a rebirth because it is only the form, and not the life, which inherits the form, that dies.”

Greene writes that often with Saturn in the eighth, there are severe financial situations that feel binding. These are related to a broken marriage or being taken advantage of financially. But there is often more behind this than just shared assets. She writes, “When investigated, it will often be found that on the sexual and emotional levels there was difficulty in expression, and there is no sweeter revenge for many people than to air their disappointment and frustration in the face of an unresponsive Saturnian partner through material demands.”

The eighth house energies are where we come into contact with “serpent power,” writes Greene. “The currents of this great creative force or "serpent power"—whose cousins we may see as the serpent in the garden, the ouroboros of alchemy, and the plumed serpent of the Aztecs—may be released in other ways, but these belong to the sphere of the occultist and the magician, and the average individual knows only one—physical sex.

Once set in motion, these currents bind and alter both souls involved. All states of consciousness which involve the "death" of the personality—ranging from those induced by drugs to certain kinds of religious ecstasy and trances of varying sorts—come under the rulership of the eighth house for they all refer to this same energy which can separate the self from its vehicles. Physical death is only the last in a series of deaths, which begin with birth.”

Power of the Dark

Though this is a tough Saturn placement, the rewards from steady effort are great. There could be a facing of mortality in some way, like a near-death experience. And from this, find ground to stand on, a sense of the eternal. Paradoxically, this could lead to being a rock in the storm. A native here could even become a crisis counselor or disaster volunteer.

The influences here could lead into the exploration of death, hidden knowledge, sexual magic, and healing. There's always the potential to become a guide for others, sharing the wisdom that's hard-won.