Astrological Houses Relationship Astrology: Synastry and Composite

8th House Astrology – Shedding Light on Intimate Relationships

By astrologyplace February 28, 2012

The 8th house in astrology represents a dark place, and at some point in our lives, we will all confront some of our darkest moments right here. Many of us fear to let our darker sides show, our inferior parts and the things that we may think are unacceptable, paranoid that others will think there is something ‘wrong’ with us.

In astrology the eighth house contains secrets which are hidden, kept from others, and buried deep. Astrologer Sidney Randall RANDALL’S ABC OF ASTROLOGY points out in her writings that we do not like to read the story which the 8th house of the horoscope can tell.” It could be the tale of abuse, abandonment, profound loss, and emotional dead-ends. The 8th house is sometimes symbolic of that uncomfortable feeling at the pit of our stomachs that there may be no way out of our circumstances and out of the fate that confronts us.

Many of the problems that exist in the 8th house have a connection to the past and especially to the family, childhood home and heritage represented by the 4th house of the horoscope. Freud stated that each individual had the compulsion to repeat the past, to recreate some essential conflict that existed in childhood. This unconscious compulsion reveals itself explicitly through intimate relationships (8th) and offers up the chance to heal a past hurt.Within relationships is an alchemical stage in the union of two people merging, this is like the second stage of relationship a new role throwing off an old one.

In astrology the seventh house relates to our relationships with others, but something happens when we move to the 8th house after meeting with the other, especially our partner, and we experience a more real side of ourselves. It could be said that we have elements of ourselves staring back at us. The Dark side of courtship which involves marital troubles of all kinds, those that stay behind closed doors: violence, sexual exploitation, and difficult family relationships are difficult to contend with when we enter into relationships.

Many of us never learned as children that sometimes love comes with hurt, pain and loss, and we hold on tightly to the ideal image of relationship. Some people refuse to recognize that a relationship is destructive for fear of abandonment, separation, and loneliness. Through Pluto’s house, we may also unconsciously provoke our partner’s into starting a confrontation because something inside of us wants to transform old patterns, but this is hard to understand on a conscious level.

Matters involving the 8th house challenge us to be emotionally real and honest. Psychologists and researchers have shed light on the debilitating effect of the emotional environment, and it is also to some extent highly believed that the psychology of childhood has a factor in the destiny of each individual. It is also said that sex has a both a light and a dark side. It can bond a partnership closer to together, but unless we are committed it can lead to disease and death.

We do not exactly want to cart our traumas, depressions, and baggage into normal social situations. However, if completely repressed eighth house issues tend to fester until the back doors blow open. It creeps up on us and these unconscious forces explode (the most powerful of all) terrorizing us and wreaking havoc on our relationships.

The Transformation that can be won through 8th house planets and Plutonian aspects in the area of relationships is a truly remarkable thing. We can change an almost dead relationship and give it a renewed lease on life. The Shadow is really just the other side of light, and it is our task to illuminate the shadowy feelings we harbor inside.