Saturn in the 8th House

wolfheart

Can anyone please tell me things about this placement? I don't understand it at all :(
 

dadsnook2000

Lots of ways to look at Saturn in the 8th house.

Before starting to consider Saturn in the 8th, one has to look at the chart as a whole. This, or any planet, is only a part of the whole chart. There are general things to think about:

1) Are all the planets grouped more in one part of the chart? Are they spread out a bit evenly, or are they grouped with some here and the others all opposite. The shape and balance of a chart (number of planets in Earth, Air, Water or Fire signs) gives us a view of how the subject of the chart is balanced or oriented (not balanced).

2) Are some of the planets positioned so that there are more than one pair of planets close together, opposite each other, or square to each other. These hard aspects are nature's challenges to us. Or are there several planet-patterns comprise of sextiles and trines?

3) Before looking at a planet in a sign, why not see what the Sun and Moon are doing relative to each other. This is a whole astrological study in its own right. These two are so important that they shape much of what the rest of the chart is about.

So, let us get to your question. We look at Saturn: a planet representing where we do not want to grow, what we see as restrictions, a symbol of where caution and strategy can be best applied. The symbolism of Saturn is vast and varied: death, disease, limitations, caution, old age, harshness, planning, strategy. We can write several paragraphs along these lines.

The 8th house was known in the last century as sex, death and taxes --- and so often we do find situations involving these three cornerstones of the 8th house. But, today we see the 8th house as representing shared responsibilities, managing the resources of others, taking responsibility for another's interests. But, we can broaden this view. The 8th house is the 2nd house of the 7th house; a partner's possessions or pride. Next, the 8th house is the 3rd house of the 6th house; It is where we talk about work, what we have or are learning about, how we make adjustments in life. This is where the 8th house picks up its relationship to counseling.

The 8th house is the 4th house of the 5th house; what he have striven for or taken risks to obtain are no valued resources, They have to be taken care of. This where the 8th house picks up its reputation for investments. The whole scheme of understanding the 8th house is built up in this manner ---- because every house is a specific expression of the other houses.

So when we mix Saturn into this 8th house of typical daily-life expression we can picture the wise old lawyer, the investment banker, the trusted uncle, the school counselor, etc.

Now, don't ask me how the capable astrologer zooms in one one or a few set of meanings out of all possible complexities that could --- but don't --- apply. This comes from skill and experience. But it also comes from looking at the big picture before drilling down to the details. There are things that are considered in a loose sort of order for the most part but not exclusively so. These can be varied for each astrologers:
1) What is the shape of the chart in planet placement.
2) How do the Sun and Moon relate to each other in various ways.
3) Is there a predominant pattern of a) aspects, b) sign qualities, c) house placements or other attributes (of which there can be many).
4) Does any one planetary pattern fit with or augment another planetary pattern.

In any case, this is more than enough to start your thinking process going. Dave
 

Minderwiz

Can anyone please tell me things about this placement? I don't understand it at all :(

I think Dave's post comes down to one word context. Before we can attribute a meaning to this placement we need to know more about the chart and indeed the specific issue or area of life that is involved in your question.

I am assuming, as Dave did, that your question relates to a natal chart, though you ought to be aware that there is much more to Astrology than natal matters.

So like Dave, I would need to know what the chart as a whole looks like. The key things I would specifically look at first would be Ascendant, Moon and Sun and something that Dave didn't mention, what the rulers of these three are. For example, if your Ascendant is in Virgo, then Mercury rules your Ascendant and becomes an important planet in your chart.

Now when we get to Saturn in the eighth, there are a lot of possibilities, but the examination of the chart and particularly the three key placements, will narrow those down.

The first question would be 'does Saturn rule your Ascendant or Sun or Moon?' If Saturn rules your Ascendant then it has particular significance for you personally. It stands as a significator of your body mind and spirit as a whole. The eighth house or place was originally seen as somewhere that makes it difficult to function properly. The reason for this was that the eighth house doesn't aspect the Ascendant (by aspect, I mean major aspect, opposition, square, trine, sextile). So if Saturn rules your Ascendant, and it's in the eighth, then you will find it difficult to manage your life, or at least you will have to learn how to do that, it's not something that will come naturally to you.

Now unless your Ascendant is Capricorn or Aquarius (the two signs ruled by Saturn), that isn't likely to be the case. So having looked out the three key placements and their rulers, then we would look at the individual areas of life.

Dave has given you a run down of the modern approach to the eighth. The tradition varies a little but not by much. Yes, there is an association of the eighth with death. However, that's not it's sole meaning, or even it's main day to day meaning. Dave has shown how it can be linked to our spouse's income and wealth, or our business or other partner's wealth or indeed any specific person's wealth. Of course that needs to be something we are interested in but often that can be the case.

Saturn has a range of meanings, as Dave points out. They seem to be derived from the concept of exclusion - keeping things out that we don't want to deal with. That can range from constructing physical walls and buildings, to keep out the wind and rain, down to less constructive things such as fear - the feeling that what we don't want to let in is about to overwhem us. So Saturn in the eighth could mean such things as a fear of death or putting our spouses money in the house safe and thus away from potential burglars. Context is all.

Saturn will also rule two of the houses in our natal chart, the houses whose cusps fall in either Capricorn or Aquarius. Saturn's condition by its own house placement and the sign that it is in, will tell us something about those houses and the areas of life they are associated with. Saturn in the eighth may indicate that we have difficulties with that/those areas of life, in terms of managing and organising them.

I'll end with something that modern Astrology would definitely not agree with. Traditionally Saturn is seen as a 'malefic', that is a planet that tends to do harm rather than good. In Saturn's case that harm may be passive, in that it comes from inaction (especially in the eighth) - Dave actually gives an example - 'the area where we do not want to grow'- that failure to grow may well be harmful to our general wellbeing or our potential wellbeing.

How harmful Saturn is, was identified from the Sect of the chart. That is whether the chart is a day chart (Sun in houses 12 to 7) or a night chart (Sun in houses 1 to 6), Saturn is a day planet, so it is more at home in day charts and less harmful, it may even be rather positive. Modern Astrology has dropped the day/night distinction but it can give some indication of which areas of life will be good and which will be less so.

So short answer is that it depends on context, and in order to get that context we need to see the chart, or better still we need to have the natal details of time, date and place where you were born.

Edited to add:

The modern psychological approach tends to see things as fixed - your underlying psyche doesn't change from the time you are born. All you can do is to manage it or try to modify your behaviour patterns a bit. So Saturn in the eighth would be seen as having a fairly permanent meaning.

In contrast, the tradition and modern event oriented Astrology, will see Saturn as being able to manifest a variety of it's meanings over your lifetime. Indeed it's quite possible to have two or more meanings at the same time. So you might be feeling depressed and afraid that the house will be burgled so you lock up your own/wife's jewelry. There's more flexibility and less permanence to Saturn's meanings at any one time (though the range still holds).