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“It seems I alone seek out that sure place of a child who does not need to explain himself. Among the things of the senses, my heart roams without attachment.”
Lao Tze
Eights
The Major Eights
Resolves from 6 / Resolves to 2 / Antagonised by 7 / Antagonises 1
Friends 8,4 >6 / Lovers 8 / Allies 5,3 / Rivals 7
8 is the first sign of the TO8 year. In the scheme, 7 is the bridge between the old cycle and the new. By the mid point of 7 (at mid-winter) the changes become directed towards the new cycle which begins afresh with 8 and the solidification of the next round of movement. 8 is, a potent sign and, in contrast to its Antagony of 7, gives to those born under it a definite sense of self and of the boundaries between them and the world. Eights, being at the boundary of one cycle and the beginning of the next marks the founding mental characteristics of personality, and the emerging shape to the individual.
Eights can be charismatic individuals since they do not take from social reality to define themselves. They are 'pre-defined' individuals as it were, and are less attached to material things than most, appearing to have fewer needs and sometimes seeming to have little by way of personal desires beyond that for a liberty to enjoy themselves with like minds. They start off life trusting in simplicity and wonder. Not only are they antagonised by the sense of destiny and universal dynamic of 7, which they feel may swamp them with forces they have no control over, they live in contradiction to the community and traditional imperatives of the Landscape of 5. In any worldly conflict, their feeling of wholeness is the single arbitrator of what is true and worthy, and they are alert to all pressures on their time and degree of involvement in duties. The boundary to their world is the physical boundary of their own body, and there is a direct correspondence between state of mind, physical health and the environment. Eights have to be tidy, and live and work in clean uncluttered environments. They take against their possessions when the space they occupy becomes evident.
Eights are generous with their thoughts, though less generous with their time and space. Eights like nothing better than pottering around their own quiet well-ordered house. The more stress they suffer, the more that quiet uncluttered tidy space becomes a paradise for them. For Eights to live in squalor means they are stressed to breaking point or ill. Health and the tenor of existence are inextricably linked; they are their first priority.
Eights pride themselves in their clarity of perception, although the clarity is muddied by stress, which leads directly to issues of health, and in concentration. They are like vessels whose integrity is always under threat, and they are thus fearful of uncontrollable forces of crowds, of the night and of any society that tries to make them do or be what they are not.
Eights have an enthusiasm for anything pure, self-contained and un-spoilt. With whatever new activity, project or acquaintance something usually happens to mar this perception and to put them off continuing. Eights get disappointed after a time with almost anything but a few chosen things, people or events. Their imaginations are readily disappointed when reality invades. They have a tendency to walk in the blind spot.
They are imaginative, with a great sensitivity to the 'plot' of events. Mentally pre-occupied, shy of social pressures, Eights are strong but brittle people whose attention is taken by the underdog, the victim and the ill. As such, their intellectual efforts are most successfully applied to helping others out of the particular forms of slavery to which they are subjected. They are not patient, however, and will not spend time trying to knock down immovable obstacles.
Eights need wholeness. They look for it in solutions to problems, and in their physical activities. The idea of loose ends, lingering doubts and partial solutions or compromises does not attract them. They like to balance all extremities, both mental and physical, and they have an innate grace that makes them good movers generally.
Eights have integrity and dignity, and there is a purity and innocence to their outlook as well as natural wisdom and understanding. They want their own emotional, intellectual and physical space in which to act, and are uneasy with constraints imposed from above, and restraints imposed by tradition or history. They resist propaganda and the deceptions of the moment and are natural iconoclasts, preferring to be direct and to act upon their own authority. They have little interest in learning how to be authoritative, and they dislike having to make decisions for others. As bosses, Eights are considerate and will protect those in their charge but they are not good a delivering to a deadline—either as a boss or as a worker. They work better on their own and unsupervised. They need play and time to themselves to counterbalance hard concentration, and they suffer without it.
They may achieve more if they are outside the limitations of a standard career path. We might find Eights in many forms of independent activity, where they are free to get on with their job unmolested. Eights are good at conceptualisation and encapsulating thought and may be found in theoretical sciences, interpreting strange phenomena, unfamiliar ritual and other curiosities of the natural world, or in philosophy and religion. They can devise mission statements and are sensitive to instability and lack of coherence in life. Eights are not only sensitised to the me/them dichotomy but to any polarisation of phenomenon and especially to male/female divisions of behaviour.
Even though Eights are intensely self-aware, they have a modesty that comes from them not having to cling to personal tastes or prejudices (they may often fears that appear to others as irrational), and neither do they feel a need to construct anything out of what they know: knowledge is useful only at the moment it is applied. Their minds are always active, looking for clarity and simplicity in tasks and the 'least energy' solution in situations. Complexity, which they see as a series of boundaries that have to be surmounted, can easily exhaust them. Yet, they are able to absorb learning easily without fuss and are adept at divining inner meanings from outward show. Minor Eights are, too, immediate thinkers about the task in hand, basing decisions on facts, and are much less comfortable applying formulas derived from other situations.
Eights are honest, trustworthy, pure in heart, and lack any desire to hurt with deception except to protect themselves, the good in any situation or to preserve their inner feelings when under attack. While their aura of poise and independence can be attractive and sexy, they often elicit, out of self-defence, care from others who interpret their innocence and lack of worldliness as vulnerability. Eights are loyal rather than dutiful, and take pride in the care they give their chosen intimates. They believe themselves to be fully responsible for their own actions and faults: they don't allow themselves to be victimised where possible, and they do not victimise others. Reprimands and reproaches don't motivate them even though they are sensitive to any hint of them.
They like to have a brisk, no-nonsense style of life, but may end up suffering fools to avoid conflict. For Eights, a sense of dignity is very strong, and the more de-stabilising a situation is the more they are concerned with maintaining it. They hate making mistakes or in making a fool of themselves generally, and this, as well as a sensitivity to physical and health matters, contributes to the vulnerability and defensiveness that they convey. They look for relationships that are fun and for people who are expressive and free. They take against elitism and people who come with a lot of mental 'baggage'. Antagonised by 7, they are often poor sleepers, reluctant to give themselves up to the happy oblivion of sleep.
Eights are sure of what they do but they do not gamble or close their eyes and throw themselves on the whim of the Fates. Eights give to both their Major and Minor a highly self-defensive attitude and they protect themselves first (often hurtfully) when things come to a head, and which helps them quit unproductive courses of action or unsatisfying relationships easily. They prefer to confront others in their territory and are happier taking the fight to the opponent rather than compromising home base. Their sense of responsibility extends only so far to others and they readily divide people and events into those that are worthy and those that are not.
App readers click on the link below to check the calendar to find your Minor
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