Subconscious: Your Experience With Planets in the 8th House

This morning I was mulling my behavior in a certain drama in my life. The story is unfolding in a positive way for me. It’s taken many months for it to turn around.

The turnaround seems random but I’m not sure it is.  That’s what I’m thinking about today. Did I (subconsciously) design this?  I think I probably did, which doesn’t thrill me in this case.

Why I wouldn’t be thrilled to see things go my way is a whole other can of worms. I’m just wondering who the actual architect is. I think it’s me and further, I think I may have acted alone.

This made me realize. it’s been a long time since I wrote about the 8th house (and Scorpio) being driven by their subconscious.  I shouldn’t neglect such an important topic.

I feel the graphic is correct in that roughly 80% of what I do is driven by my subconscious. If that shocks you in any way, I don’t think this is unusual at all.  Rather it’s the norm for anyone with a packed 8th house. It’s all instinct.

This is from 2007:

I rely on my 8th house. I rely on my subconscious and trust I know what I am doing even when I don’t know what I am doing! Sometimes I don’t find out exactly what I did until years after the fact. I have no choice but to operate this way.

It means I live with full knowledge that what I believe is motivating me is just one of the things motivating me. I’m aware I’m moved by forces beneath my level of consciousness and there is nothing I can do about it. It is called going you’re your gut!

I routinely go with my gut and find out what my gut was up to sometimes years or even decades later when I happen to trip over the knowledge which is almost always alarming. But I like living this way. I have never been bored in my life.

~~~~

Today, I’m a bit tweaked, because I’m not sure if what I orchestrated is “right”.  Yes, I think my dish may have run away with my spoon and having Capricorn, I’m concerned!

I suppose this is the shadow side of all this.  Operating becomes scheming once a certain line is crossed. When you’re operating subconsciously, you don’t necessarily see the line, or if you do, you may barrel past it for reasons you’re aware of yet.  That describes what I think happened in this scenario.

Got planets in the 8th? Tell us.

41 thoughts on “Subconscious: Your Experience With Planets in the 8th House”

  1. I have Uranus there. I never give it much thought because it doesn’t have many aspects with other points, I don’t feel it’s influence much. I am generally very intuitive and I’ve had my share of premonitory dreams. I’ve always been interested in the so-called esoteric things.

  2. Moon conj Pluto & Uranus in the 8th…I’m *very* comfortable w/8th house stuff & tend to draw Scorps or those w/Scorp tendencies 🙂 and if it weren’t for trusting my gut, I’m pretty certain I’d be dead by now…

  3. OMG, I live in the 8th house! I have my Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, and Pluto there. I also have Pluto tightly conjuncting my Sun, Jupiter, and Uranus.

    I know no other way of life. Good thing, ’cause I’ve been hit by Pluto transits since 2002, and they continue. Pluto is just leaving my 12th house (thank goodness, it’s been a long 6 years) and crossing my Ascendant. Transiting Saturn entered my 8th house last year.

    My whole natal chart is geared for tremendous growth and transformation in this lifetime. Hope I don’t fuck it up.

  4. venus. and chiron. i notice you use equal house, which would put venus at the last degree of my 7th. i haven’t had any long term transits to my venus in a while in order to experiment with that.

  5. I have a packed 8th house I have my sun, venus, pluto, saturn and mercury. If it wasnt for my 8th house I wouldnt be here today and I wouldnt have been half as strong as I needed to be.

    I try to be very aware (aware as can be) that my house planets can work subconciously and that this isnt used for the wrong reasons. Although I believe my 8th house gives me great instinctive insight and gut feelings which I follow most of time and help me ( even if im not quite aware how til later in time)It also gives me great strength and will power to survive

    I have literally died twice and been brought back to life. I faced death yet again this year but then again everyday we’re all dying (just really really slowly 😉 ).

    I do have quite vivid dreams in many which I die and not nicely and occasionly I’ll have a premontion now then. I trust my gut feelings alot. If I didnt I’d probably be going against my nature and end up in a worse position. I have faith in my 8th house ( but maybe thats because my Jupiter is in Scorpio).

  6. sun-mercury-venus in the 8th:

    everyday, i am living and dying simultaneously (and so is everything/everyone around me).

    that’s how i’d sum up my life as a twenty-one year old, thus far…

  7. My Sun in Sag is there (8 H). Deeper than the average Sag? Experienced lots of deaths and survived ok as Sag Sun is square Pluto conjunct Uranus. Also survived Pluto through my 8th (conjunct Sun square Pluto). Now in my mid 40’s I am strong and happy.

  8. Sun, Merc, and Venus in Aries, all in the 8th house. It can be dark, but that’s ok… Two of my best friends are Scorps. I spend a lot of time in my own head, but that means I’m very self-aware.

    I think the 8th house makes me stronger… I’ve gotten through a hell of a lot, with a lot less permanent damage than I should have.

  9. Pluto in scorpio in the 8th, conjunct Saturn. i think my midheavens in scorpio or sagg also. lots of oppositions with my taurus sun, moon, and mercury

  10. I have a libra rising with pluto in scorpio(retrograde) in the 1st with it and saturn in scorpio in the second I have moon in taurus and venus in taurus in the 8th as well…….then my sun in gemini mercury and mars conjunct in cancer in the 9th…..and a lucky jupiter aquarius in the 5th……..yeah life has been intense

  11. I am a gemini with 8th house in gemini.

    I have the sun, mars, mercury and chiron in the 8th house.

    I have a scorpio ascendant (ruler of 8th house).

    basically lots of gemini and scorpio influences.

    As far as preoccupation with occult matters and life after death, healing etc I would say these influences are spot on with me.

  12. “I routinely go with my gut and find out what my gut was up to sometimes years or even decades later when I happen to trip over the knowledge which is almost always alarming. ”

    Wow! This hit it right in the head–my moon is in the 8th. You know what’s crazy? I’ve met other ppl- mostly online- with moon in the 8th, and it’s just amazing how dominant a placement it is. the 8th house seems to trump other houses in terms of importance for some reason. I mean, you could meet a gemini with an air moon in the 8th, and somehow they operate like a scorpio moon and seem even more sensitive than they are. Or get attracted to watery types to understand this stuff. I like having it, but i’ve just begun to understand the impact- and like you said above, sometimes you don’t know why you’re driven a certain way- i’ve pretty much come to accept that i have deeper reasons for everything. Yes, it certainly is more fun!

  13. lol- i just looked at the picture. It’s so spot on also- i should carry it around for when people don’t get me and say “this is how I think, okay?”

  14. Avatar
    SparklySkyLamps

    I’m a Scorpio with Venus, Uranus, and Pluto in my Virgo 8th house. I’m very squeamish around electrical materials: sockets, wire and some appliances. I have a tendency to get shocked to short out circuitry and I have moments during giving card readings when I am clairaudient and pick up fragments of messages from those who are connected to my client. Crazy Eights!

  15. Oh how I still love reading your posts elsa’s even when they’re dated. I think they are even better perhaps as it’s great to see your growth from self-analysis . It makes me feel not so weird that I have that trait too.
    My 8th house starts in aquarius but only has planet Jupiter in Pisces BUT its loaded with asteroids !!! (Vertex&liliths Aqua & Ceres Juno lilith Pisces) And these are the only things in the whole top of my chart (well besides chiron 10th/ S.node 12th).
    I have long suspected these asteroids are doing more in my 8th than I or astrologers who dont believe in the power of asteroids think. I would love to hear your philosophy on the asteroids Elsa 😉

  16. “I rely on my 8th house. I rely on my subconscious and trust I know what I am doing even when I don’t know what I am doing!”

    Timely reminder for me. Right now, I have no (conscious) idea what I’m doing or what to do. But I have Sun-NN-Mars-Merc (my core stellium) in 8H and like you, have always trusted my subconscious. I need to keep trusting it. Period. Simple.

    Pluto is also currently halfway through my 12H so I am blindly transforming my beliefs.

    “Sometimes I don’t find out exactly what I did until years after the fact.”

    That has happened to me too. I think I’m on the verge of yet another such “hindsight is 20/20” moment. I had a major revelation last night. MAJOR. It’s the third such “Big Discovery” in the last few weeks. Bam! Bam! Bam! I’m still reeling. Not in a bad way. But definitely in a “change how I see things” way.

  17. I have a huge 1st house stellium. I’ve learned that no matter how conscious I am, there will always be unconscious things in me. No one is 100% conscious, otherwise, we’d be consciously analyzing every speck of dust.

  18. Avatar
    James Slattery

    Jupiter 23′ and Neptune 4′ in Scorpio in the 8th. I love to research dark & occult subjects and dig deep into my psychology ( and others’) but sometimes what I find is too much and my Neptune denies or turns away from this. Be careful what you are asking for seems appropriate here.

  19. Eighth house is scary stuff, indeed! In my experience, surrender and grace were the best vehicles for navigating that terrain! The merde seemed endless, but the rewards are priceless if the road can be traveled without a fatal wipeout!

  20. Mars and Saturn are tight (conjoined) in my 8th, and Pluto widely conjoins from the 7th. That stellium squares my Scorpio Sun , Mercury and Chiron; Uranus in Gemini sextiles this 8th House.
    If the 8th House is about the “unconscious “
    this would explain the entangled gut knowing from my Ancestors that always show up when I’m missing my mark(s). Or Saturn double checking Mars.
    Your repost is timely, I’m an old woman who needs an older ancestor to correct my dropped stitches.

    1. Elsa, what a beautiful thread of spider silk— 8th House pathways— continuing over time. I have a lot to say about the long history and subconscious/ gut intelligence and ancestors’ parenting influences.
      Will try to compose in email.
      Thanks for reigniting!

  21. Saturn in 8th house Aquarius. my Saturn was on top of my Mom’s Sun: difficult birth. recent therapy made real, validated a funny feeling of film coating a boundary between myself and my environment generally that continuously mimics how I couldn’t escape the womb, the amniotic sac. deep breath!!

  22. I have a Venus in Taurus in the 8th mostly unaspected. I think there’s a semisextile to Jupiter in the 7th and then an inconjunct to a Sagittarius Saturn in the 3rd.

    My conscience is constantly plaguing me, but I don’t have many other options but to covertly operate to get through my days at my work and with my coworkers.

  23. My 8th house is in Aquarius, and I have Moon, Pallas, and Psyche all conjunct there at 6 degrees. Any thoughts on how this manifests or what it means?

  24. I have moon-pluto & uranus in the 8th. Gut feelings are important to me. It’s not always evident at the time why I’m feeling guided to take a certain path, but it often proves itself in time. I love the insight and instincts these placements provide. I can’t imagine life without them; it’s like they provide me with a feeling of safety/security.

  25. What if your 8th house is empty? I’m a Scorpio rising so my 8th house is in Gemini with only my North Node in it (not technically empty but I don’t feel the nodes like I do inner planets and Pluto). As a Scorpio I should “feel” this house but I can’t say that I’m aware of this. Gemini eludes me on many levels so no doubt that plays into it. I’d love to hear others perspective on this. Thank you to anyone willing to chime in!

    1. I have no planets in my 8th house, and I currently have Saturn moving through it. Over the last year, I have noticed that Saturn makes major aspects to 9/10 of the bodies in my chart during this transit. It’s been a very productive time for me to look inside of myself to identify my subconscious motivations, habitual reflexes, defense mechanisms, etc., and I do have many. I can understand how having planets in the 8th house could be a much different experience under the surface, but I do think we are all driven by our subconscious minds to a large extent, for better or worse. After all, isn’t that how the brain does what it does?

    2. I have an empty 8H, as well. It’s Aries. It feels as though my 8H is like a forgotten closet. I don’t know what’s in there 🤷🏻‍♀️

      But Aries, I understand that kind of energy a little because I have four planets in my first house, including Mars.

    3. l have Virgo on the 8th hse cusp and only North node in Libra, too, Lyns. The sabian symbol: Miners emerging from a mine. And l do dig…

      How is your Mercury aspected? And do you feel transits through the 8th? Some Scorpios l know will block (one with 5 planets spoke of dissasociation…and l could feel that.. l never knew where he was…).
      Perhaps you will ‘feel’ it when you are ready.

  26. Oh wow…this is so valuable. I have an empty 8H. However, my husband has his sun and Mercury in his 8th. I see a lot of things…he is extremely comfortable (not in a morbid way) with death. He “handles” it in a stoic yet caring and affirming way (I rarely use the word “affirm”, yet it is apt here).

    I see how he “manages” at work, how he “manages up”, how he sees all the players and the big picture.

    On a personal level, I also see how he does create situations for himself, good and … not so good … setting up a situation where people will react. Sometimes it’s good. Sometimes it alienates. And I can’t put my finger on if he’s aware of the negative. Sometimes I do think he’s cognizant of it but he didn’t think to know how to prevent it.

    That’s just my observation. He’s also extremely creative in some really otherworldly ways and one might not initially expect that, either. He doesn’t talk a lot in that way but when he does, I’m just 🤩

    1. Yeah, we can pull some epic shit, unbeknownst to ourselves. I do know this is happening… conscious of it, all the time. Like I hear myself talking, but just let it go because I’m pretty tight with my discipline. I trust, I am deeply moral, which is a significant safety.

      But I have that Mars Mercury, criminal mind (haven’t mention that for awhile, either). It can go for a (9th house) opportunity, that it might should have passed on.

      ^^^ that’s the situation I am in now, however, I don’t know because some deeper part of me, might have busted the move, which is in fact, righteous. But I don’t know…

      I guess I will know, if I wind up with a big bite mark on my ass. 🙂

  27. Hope it turns out better than it looks to now @Elsa!

    I have Vertex and Ceres in my Cancer/Moon ruled 8th House. I get pulled in easily by folks who need nurturing or mothering but I’m unaware of my compulsion to want to fix them/things at the time which can get sticky. I also have Moon/Pluto conj which exasperates he issue. I wouldn’t call it “shady” but maybe some sense it as a power play, where as I am not conscious of that at all.

  28. Leo Sun & Libra Rising – my 8th house (largely in Taurus) is empty except for one little minor planet – Varuna, which I gather somehow represents the concept of DHARMA. No idea how to interpret this in my chart.

  29. Going back, I remembered how I functioned thru Pluto opposing my moon, Saturn, mercury stellium in the 8th. Intuition definitely drove me. for a good 12 years until Pluto opposed my Sun. My Dad bought me a a little colt hatchback. I was 18, commuting to Chicago for trade school and restaurant work. I had a strong pull to see my Grandma one night- I just showed up at her door with a store bought pumpkin pie. Within days she was in the hospital and given hours to live. I sat with her struggling to breath, blood and convulsions, as she passed. I picked up all her bobby pins waiting for family to come- I handled it well. Days later we were in her apartment and I saw the pie in the fridge and realized higher power there. I have an active eighth house disposition.

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