"The transition that we are accustomed to call death is
actually a large-scale expression of the Principle of Regeneration which, in
turn, is the essence of the onwardness and upwardness of any Life-expression.
Our bodies are continually being renewed and regenerated when they are in a
state of health; congestion — or 'un-ongoingness' — is the thing that results in disease."
The experience of transition from the physical
dimension to the invisible planes is one which humanity, for the most part,
regards with a feeling of anxiety, dread, and in some cases, sheer terror. In
no phase of astrological service is the astrologer required to be more
sensitive, more impersonally compassionate, and more truly sympathetic than in
those times when he is called upon to interpret a chart of someone whose
grief-stricken reaction to the passing of a loved one has, temporarily,
neutralized his capacity for on-going. Since each house in the wheel has its
basic principles — as an experience-pattern — this material is presented with
the hope that it will help all astrological students and practitioners to come
into a clearer realization of this most esoteric of houses and thus to enlarge
their ability to deal with people who are "walking the darkened pathway."
The principle of the eighth house is regeneration;
and, at this point, a word of explanation may be offered.
A certain fine man whom the author knows has
magnificently demonstrated the power of the regenerative viewpoint in the face
of a shattering separation. His honored wife made transition from this
incarnation at a time when she was at the height of fame and fortune, loved
and respected by many people. She had, as we would say, everything to live
for; yet Life removed her from this chapter under drastic and calamitous
circumstances. A little more than a year ago this fine woman's chart was made
available to the writer who sought to unravel the secret of this particular
transitional experience. Focusing the chart-analysis on the seventh and
eighth, twelfth and first house patterns, this conclusion was reached: above
and beyond any worldly fame she had attained, this woman was a truly great
soul who, as a gesture of love-service, chose to make transition in this
drastic way in order that a great redemption might be made. It is more than
possible that this heroic deed has provided the possibility of great
fulfillments for her in the future. This particular chart is a most marvelous
example of the linking of relationship-patterns from the past and their
fulfillment in the present incarnation. The challenge to the husband's courage
and integrity of spirit was gallantly met and, in consequence, he was moved to
a gesture of service which, being fulfilled, has already proven to be a source
of regeneration and renewal for his remarkable work.
To get at the essence of the eighth house prepare a
mandala as follows: a blank, twelve-housed wheel; number the first, second,
seventh, and eighth houses; intensify the diameter made by the cusps of the
second and eighth. This is a simple picturing of the eighth house and its
polarity, the second. Turn the wheel so that the eighth cusp becomes the
Ascendant; the seventh house thus appears as the twelfth. Essential meanings
of the twelfth house of anything are: (1) the link between the past
incarnation and the present; (2) needed redemption which impels the present
incarnation. From this standpoint the meaning of the eighth house of the
present incarnation is seen to be regeneration of desire-pictures which are
the hidden memories of reactions to marital and relationship experiences in
the past incarnation. These desire-pictures have their roots in the sexual
instincts and in the consciousness of possession which, in marital or sexual
relationships, reach a peak of intensity greater than they do through any
other phase of experience.
To refer to the original mandala: the polarity, or
opposition, made by the relationship of the eighth and second houses to each
other may be interpreted in this way: the enemy (opposition aspect) of
regeneration (eighth house) is attachment (primitive phase of the second
house); the enemy (opposition aspect) of stewardship (second house) is failure
to regenerate desire (negative eighth house). Stewardship is "right use of
materials" — proportioned, equilibrated income and out-go; attachment to
materials is all in-come and no out-go, a state of unbalance by which the
consciousness eventually becomes "land-locked" in its preoccupation with
material evaluations.
The negatives of both of these houses "feed each
other." Desire without Love, sex without fruition remain fixated on
possessiveness; intense desire for money and things without balanced
release through exchange congests the intaking pictures and a sort of
paralysis results due to the ever-increasing demands of the desire nature. The
loved person is regarded as a possession; the focus on money or possessions to
the exclusion of right personal relationship neutralizes, gradually, the love-
potential and, in either case, congestion results which, in its turn, breeds
all kinds of ills on all planes of human consciousness. The powers symbolized
by the eighth house are those which provide releasement for these congestions
of the desire nature. This releasement is symbolized by the dynamic vibration
of Mars: constructive action; through Venus: mutuality.
The transition that we are accustomed to call death is
actually a large-scale expression of the Principle of Regeneration which, in
turn, is the essence of the onwardness and upwardness of any Life-expression.
Our bodies are continually being renewed and regenerated when they are in a
state of health; congestion — or "un-ongoingness" — is the thing that results in
disease. On the emotional-reaction plane congestion is any reaction that
results in the person's inability or disinclination to keep himself adaptable,
responsive, receptive, and enthusiastic toward newness of experience. If we
cling, in feeling, to things that no longer have a part to play in our
constructive living, we congest in some way. If, however, we keep open to, and
responsive toward, the significance of newness, we welcome the advent into our
lives of other moldings into which we can pour our potentials.
Congestion, as a reaction to a loved one's passing,
results in such manifestations as self-pity, morbid brooding over the past,
resentments, and tendencies to self-isolation. These, in turn, pile up the
energies into dust-heaps of misanthropy, despair, escape-tendencies and neuro-
mental confusions. When we cling to that which life has proven to be outworn,
we do not stagnate — we retrogress. We are either with life in generation and
regeneration, or we are against life in congested degeneration. The transition
of the person loved by your client is not your client's problem; his problem
is to tap the sources of inner power that will result in the neutralization of
his down-going reaction-patterns. It is a vital part of your responsibility to
help such a person understand that "there is no death, there is only life."
Impress on his consciousness the eternal "living-ness" of life and the
importance of our responsibility to adapt to change of circumstance and
release the best of our on-going possibilities.
Make your converse with such a person completely life-giving; never predict transition or even try to describe the means by
which it might come about. Morbid curiosity on this point is not to be
indulged. (From a purely astrological standpoint, anyway, it is not wise to
attempt this kind of interpretation; the same pattern that designates death
also designates the emergence from the old into the new during incarnation.)
You, as an astrologer, must have a clear, clean
perspective on transition and its meanings if you are to assist in any way.
Fear of death cannot be permitted to lodge in your subconscious if you are
undertaking the service of "throwing Light on another's shadowed
consciousness." Ground yourself thoroughly in an awareness of eternal
livingness and if you ever experience a tendency to react with shock, fear or
anxiety to a death picture train yourself to neutralize it immediately by the
most efficient means at your (philosophical and psychological) command.
Another approach to the eighth house can be made when
we realize that it provides a key to unlock problems of all kinds that may be
shown in the chart. A problem is the result of misdirected energy; because of
the intensity of quality implied in the eighth house pattern, a little
redirection at that point could have a noticeable effect in redirecting almost
any other negative condition shown in the chart. Actually, all of our
relationship patterns now are sequences from the past and are, in the final
analysis, rooted in our desire-consciousness from many incarnations of
relationship-experiences. Our desires run the entire keyboard: self-
preservation and self-maintenance; obsessions of all kinds; power over
materials and people; sexual gratification and mutual possessiveness of two
people toward each other; property and prestige before the world; fame and
renown; and so on — all of these desire-pictures and impressions and memories
have impelled us into specific patterns of relationship with other people all
along; congestions on any of these points have been "inner deaths" from which
we have had to find releasement some way or another.
There is something in the human heart that is
continually searching for enlightenment, and when the astrologer has a "grief
problem" to deal with he recognizes that his first and foremost responsibility
is to stimulate the bereaved person's capacity for courage and intelligent
adaptability. When we realize that the eighth house is also called the house
of sleep-experience we recognize the value of our daily period of sleep as a
regenerative agency. Rather than continuing in the miasma of dread while
facing the "unknown" (which has, incidentally been faced by all of us many
times in the past), any bereaved person is instinctively searching for a
clearer understanding of his experience-pattern than he has ever had before;
he will, in fact, continue to search until he has found the answer whether in
this incarnation or in the tenth one from now. Help him, therefore, to see the
transition of his loved one in as merciful a light as possible; remind him of
times when he was so exhausted by physical effort or pain that he wanted a few
hours of sleep more than all the gold on earth. Then present the picture of
the consciousness of the loved one (which has manifested for millions of
years) as needing a few hours of sleep before resuming the next phase of
experience. Make "death" known to his awareness as a rhythmical, natural,
needed phase of experience. Then turn your attention to the client's eighth
house because he is still here and must go on with his life. The suggestion is
made that you "white-light" the ruler of his eighth house, and study its sign
and house position accordingly. This is suggested because it is your
opportunity to alert him to the very best of his on-going possibilities — and
you must make your comprehension of this part of his chart as inclusive as
possible.
Do not, in such readings, make the mistake of
interjecting your own personal reaction to his broken relationship-pattern.
Recognize that a woman can love her husband above all other people, even her
children; a man can love his mother more than anyone else, even his wife.
Remember that no matter how deeply the client loved the deceased, the latter's
passing provides more room in the client's life to extend his love-potentials
in other directions and it is evident that such extension is required at that
time. Study the solar-eclipse aspects that were made previous to the passing;
this will indicate, if the eclipse conjuncted a planet, that a severe testing
will be manifested between then and the next eclipse. But remember too that
the previous eclipse may have trined or sextiled a planet in the client's
chart; this is premise of a very significant "opening up experience." The
transition may have made that opening up possible.
Progressed Moon aspects current at the transition
(that is, current in the client's chart) must be watched closely. What he puts
into action during a progressed Moon aspect bears very significant fruit. If
his reaction to the transition impels him to retrogressive action he stamps
his consciousness with a deeper-than-ever impression of that aspect. So,
again, we say that persons must be encouraged to release in constructive
action for a mutuality of good when regenerative patterns are in effect.
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