Astrological Transit of MARS in 8th House of Other People's Money

Mars is the planet of conflict, and the eighth house is the one of shared resources and intimacy. 

Think you'll have a dust-up or two with the people closest to you during this two-and-a-half-month period? Yeah. So do I. Mars symbolizes the impulse to take what's yours and to make things happen the way you want them to. 

Mars transiting your eighth house can be healthy and beneficial if you've given too much power, too many decisions, and too many resources to other people; this will be a period of correcting any imbalances and reclaiming what's yours. 

MARS IN : 1ST  | 2ND  | 3RD  | 4TH  | 5TH  | 6TH  | 7TH  | 8TH  | 9TH  | 10TH  | 11TH |  12TH  | HOUSE

But usually they won't just hand you a check or say, "Yes, you're right, these are your decisions to make." So there will be conflict. It might be about handling the money or property you share with others, or fighting for an insurance settlement or inheritance that is owed to you. 

It could be about renegotiating a relationship that has grown codependent. It could be about problems with physical intimacy.

It can be exhilarating to cut through the often hazy territory of intimacy to say, This is what's really going on, this is how I see it, and this is what I want from you." Exhilarating, and kind of scary. You can let this window of opportunity close without doing anything, but these conflicts are not going away—merely going underground. Better to resolve them now, while Mars is on your side. 

THE EIGHTH HOUSE: WHAT'S YOURS IS YOURS AND COULD BE OURS 

Traditional name: House of Other People's Money 

Terrain: collective resources, insurance, in-vestments, banks, sex, mortality 

Shares common ground with: the sign of Scorpio; the planet Pluto 

Ask someone if she feels she has received the support she deserves in life, and you're talking to her eighth house. Someone with difficult planets in this house will usually say that no, she's done everything for herself because no one else will help out. Someone with nice planets here, on the other hand—say, Venus or Jupiter—has often had a lot of help from others and may even feel a little guilty about it, 

or somewhat insecure about her ability to pro-vide for herself. Opposite the second house of personal possessions, the eighth house symbolizes what other people bring to the table. Specifically, this house symbolizes your partner's money. Difficult planets in the eighth house suggest a spouse with a complicated or diminished financial situation, or who may not be thrilled about sharing. Nice planets in the eighth house suggest the opposite. 

The eighth house also represents pools of other people's resources. Insurance, for instance, is an eighth house matter, because many contribute but not all benefit directly. Taxes are ruled by the eighth house for similar reasons. Banks are ruled by the eighth house, because they're full of other people's money. If you're applying for a loan, you go to the eighth house to do it, whether to a bank or a shady looking underworld figure lurking in a nearby alley; both have money you need. The adage goes that sex, death, and taxes are the three things no one can avoid. Along with taxes, sex and death have also tradition-ally been associated with the eighth house. 

Sexual activity ended up here because it's where one person's  assets are comingled with another person's assets. And while the French refer to an orgasm as la petite mon (the little death), there is a more direct connection between death and the eighth house. It may or may not refer to actual, physical death. (I think that is more likely the purview of the fourth house, but I confess that I deliberately skipped that lesson in astrology school, as I'd prefer my own death to come as a surprise.) But it certainly challenges our notions of mortality and the mystery of what comes after life. The eighth house is where you'll find all manner of experiences that transform you from one person into another. 

MARS IN : 1ST  | 2ND  | 3RD  | 4TH  | 5TH  | 6TH  | 7TH  | 8TH  | 9TH  | 10TH  | 11TH |  12TH  | HOUSE