WHY TATTOOS LIVE IN THE EIGHTH HOUSE

Throughout the many years of teaching astrology classes I learned a lot of interesting things about the signs and houses that aren't generally found in textbooks.

My ability to comprehend the meaning of the twelve houses on a core level was due to Wolfgang Dobereiner's method of horoscope interpretation. His work is sheer genius. If any of my readings have resulted in helping my clients understand themselves in a new way it has been all due to Wolfie and his extraordinary mind. I remember giving a lecture in Massachusetts with Rob Hand in the audience. Apparently Rob was impressed enough to ask more than once "Where did he get this from?"

What a question! You see, although I was corresponding awkwardly with Dobereiner for a couple of years with his limited English and my non-existent German, asking him where he got his system from never entered my mind. I simply drank in this astrological technique like a thirsty St. Bernard because it was the missing link I had been looking for all the years of my studies. I simply assumed he was born with The Munich Rhythm Theory Method of horoscope interpretation just like Mozart was a born composer.

Reading Dobereiner's books was no easy task for me but somehow my balance of cardinal, fixed and mutable planets assisted me in reading it to it's completion within two years. For the sake of brevity here I will have to skip the first seven astrological houses and their meanings and go right for the eighth house where the tattoos reside.

To understand the eighth house we must first begin with the seventh house. The seventh house is the first house of the third quadrant. The quadrants are essential if one is to truly comprehend the depth of house meanings. The third quadrant is where ideas come from. It is in the seventh house that we encounter the the idea of marriage. But it is not until we reach the eighth house that the idea of actually committing occurs. So the eighth house is actually the house where we should look for marriage in a person's chart because the seventh says "I'm open to the idea, but I'm not quite sure about making it down the aisle."

Are we lost yet? Well, think about it. Scorpio is a very intense sign. It is a very possessive sign like it's polar opposite sign Taurus, but here is the difference. Taurus has a hard time committing because he's so busy being afraid of losing what he has...he doesn't want to share. Scorpio on the other hand will willingly allow a part of himself to die in order to make the commitment to another. That is why unbalanced Scorpio's have stalker potential. They are a very attachment oriented sign. Scorpios can lose themselves in another, like the intensely merged married couple who seemingly lost their identities in each other and refer to themselves forevermore as we.

So this eighth sign of the zodiac is primed for marriage, merging and committing...till death. Yes death...don't forget what the eighth house rules. The reason Scorpios are so intense is because they do everything to death...only that is, if they are committed to the idea. Once a Scorpio decides to do anything whether it be the dishes, your homework, or making dinner, a Scorpio will give it all he's got.

Dobereiner says that the eighth house is the house where an "attachment to images" occurs. Now here is where the tattoos come in. Images come under the rulership of Scorpio because images are ideas that have taken on form. Ask any Scorpio if they have ever entertained the idea of a tattoo and you will more than likely get a yes, especially if you are talking about the generation of kids born in the 1970's.

I was recently at a charity walk when I spied a young guy with armloads of tattoos which prompted me to ask, "You don't have any trouble committing in relationships do you?" and he answered in the affirmative with proud grin.

My eldest son is a Capricorn with a Gemini rising. The ruler of his first is in the eighth. I'll never forget my horror when he came home with his permanent inked arm. His urge to merge his image into his skin was because of an attachment to the idea...the attachment to images. He has lots more now and has also confirmed my suspicions that even when he was single he felt like he was born married.

What seems zillions of astrology classes later I found over and over again proof of my big find. People born under the sign of Scorpio are more apt to get a tattoo as well as people born with the ruler of their first house in the eighth like my son. Actually the latter is a no brainer and is almost always a slam dunk. People with heavily occupied eighth houses can't help themselves and if a strong Pluto is found in the mix they will have a multitude of images decorating their bodies because of the compulsiveness that Pluto brings.

So the next time you see someone all inked up just ask what sign he or she is and please let me know.