The following is a discussion of Phaladipika’s 6th chapter presentation of an astrological alignment (“yoga”) called astra. It occurs when the 8th house is “good” – a.k.a. given abundance and benefits by the planets in the horoscope. That book, Phaladipika, specifically suggestions certain criteria to assess if a house is “good” or not [the house lord must be in a good house and sign - e.g. it's own or exaltation sign, and in an angle or trine, and the house cusp itself must have strong conjunction or aspect from benefic planets - e.g. Venus, Jupiter or Mercury - and not malefic ones - e.g. Mars, Saturn or Sun], but this is not meant as the only criteria, merely an excellent one. Thus the following will apply to an 8th house that – for whatever reasons – is more pampered, abundant, and highlighted in a horoscope.
This 8th is considered a troublesome house, from an ordinary mundane frame of reference – because mysteries and secrets are not good or welcome things in everyday affairs. So when the 8th house is enhances the troublesome nature of it.
The 8th house is about wealth earned through partnership. Thus one of the effects of this yoga is that one lacks one’s own wealth and depends on others. It is difficult for one to make ones own bread, so we try to link ourselves into the prosperity of others. It is not necessarily bad, sometimes it is just plain smart, and it allows us to avoid more impoverishing conditions. But be careful not to become “selfish” or exploitive of the resources of others.
The 8th house is about reproduction, thus an enhanced eighth house strengthens the sex drive – which sounds great on a talk show, but usually proves to be frustrating and lead us into foolish decisions that we soon regret.
The 8th house is about secrets. A good 8th house allows us to keep others “in the dark” – to spin a web of secrecy. It also gives us access to secrets and thus the ability to use them to our advantage. A very significant secret is the occult and metaphysical sciences and philosophy. This yoga strengthens our ability to comprehend and benefit from such things.
…
Vic DiCara
…
