Sex – The 5th House vs The 8th

Zodiac vintage faceYou read in astrology that sex is associated with both the 5th and the 8th house. This is confusing to the beginner. I can simplify it for you.

The 5th house rules sex for recreation. The 8th house rules sex for procreation. If you have an emphasis on the 5th or the 8th house in your chart, you can probably relate to this.

For example, I have a packed 8th with nothing in the 5th. I don’t “play” sex. I say that without passing judgement. I know a lot of people who have sex for fun and recreation and see no problems with it. I just know it’s a different function. Understanding this can be empowering.

What is your prevailing attitude towards sex?  Can you see this in your chart?

102 thoughts on “Sex – The 5th House vs The 8th”

  1. I have a packed 8 h in scorpio,and with Venus inside. Sex is a door to the infinite and beyond, and it can change everything.

    Did I mentioned that Venus in conj Pluto and Saturn?.. pas facile!

  2. Hmmm . . . I have my Moon in the 8th and have never had any desire to procreate. I also have an aspected-to-the-gills Neptune in the 5th in Scorpio. So you can probably guess how I like my sex. 😉

  3. I have a stellium in my 5th, square Saturn in my 8th.

    I learn about sex all the time. It’s affect on my feelings, my health, my happiness, my comfort levels, my boundaries. Sex is a learning experience for me. Often a fun one but often a serious one, too.

  4. Hmmm, one planet in the 8th and one in the 5th, with the planet in the 5th being the ruler of the 8th AND sitting in Scorpio: even the smallest fling becomes an all or nothing/life or death experience. One night stands? Not for me. I guess i’m both playful and intense.

  5. Procreation? Not likely. I have never attracted a man who wants to procreate, either–never. I think that’s very telling actually.

    My partner and I are the same–we both love children but don’t want any. Lucky we are already surrounded:)

  6. Pluto in libra in 5th here … Jup in cap in 8th. Sex changes everything? Probably in every area since plutos opposition I’d my tsquare to mercury which rules my chart? And jup in cap in 8th I got the procreation down with 5 kids… That sound right Elsa?

    1. good question, lunar.boy. Sex for the 8th house is deep, healing and transforming. 5th house sex is fun or play.

      My premise here is if you are of one type, you probably mix best with people who are also of your type.

      1. Nice insight Elsa! ?

        I’ve looked at the Composite chart my gay partner and I create in the 8th and it’s in sensual Taurus which is very healing for both of us. It also has the asteroid Panacea (2878), so again very soothing and healing for us both.

        Cheers – Shane

  7. “if you are of one type, you probably mix best with people who are also of your type.”

    Yes! My bf is a double Scorpio with a Leo Stellium in his 10th. We have similar energy, in different places in our chart. We mix great!

  8. Yeah, I see people playing sex and it’s obvious they enjoy it. It’s their stage in a way.

    The 8th house is concerned with loyalty, even if it’s a one night stand, if you know what I mean.

    1. I am jupiter with ketu in 8th in aries,I am controlled but intense inside than anyone on this world,nobody can satisfy me atrtract me unless I find similar one

  9. @ lunar.boy: i was thinking the same thing.

    my 5th is void.. aries/gemini. i don’t like to “play” sex. it happens when i need to discharge. i lovingly refer to it as “f-ing the aggressions out of me”

    my 8th only has vesta, at regulus (29leo), quintile sun/mercury in scorpioH10; and square uranus in scorpioH11. sexual activity is an expulsion of pure energy from within. in fact, most of the time, consummation doesn’t even occur.. it doesn’t have to. i can parallel procreation in that sense. not giving birth, but passing on directly to the ethereal. it is the plane we all strive for isn’t it?

    done a lot of reading on vesta.. whole other post. but i will say i am the one who brings the familiar masses together, periodically throughout the year to revel about a massive bonfire. vestal virgin? the other half of my 8th IS ruled by virgo…

  10. I have Jupiter in the 8th, in Cancer, and Venus in the 5th, in Taurus.. sounds good right?

    Whhhhhy don’t I get any then??????

    Sun Square Pluto & Uranus.. Ahhhhg.

  11. Sonia, that does sound good. Look at Mars in your chart for insight?

    Also re: gay and lesbian, the 8th is sex and psych. The 5th is FUN.

  12. I have sun, mars, uranus, ceres and juno in the 8th in Libra with Pluto and Pallas just over the line by 2degrees in the 7th.

    I like sex. I don’t use sex to get what I want. Adn I don’t take it lightly. i won’t have sex with just anyone and I don’t do it just to be doing it. it does have meaning for me. But, give me a monogamous trusting relationship and I’ll show ya the sex life you didn’t know you could have 🙂 just sayin

  13. What if someone has a retrograde planet in either house? I have a retrograde Neptune in Sag, in the 8th house.

  14. My 5th house has no planets. It is in Scorpio. My 8th house is aquarius and Chiron is in it.
    I think that sex is one of the great mysteries of human life. It represents many things to us individual and many things to us collectively. I have no issue with sex for pleasure. I think that there are one-night stands, which can be life affirming and joyous. There are many married couples who have sex in a deadening, soul destroying manner. I am in a long term monogamous relationship with the father of my children. A strong passionate sex life helps cement our relationship.

  15. I love this topic.

    Empty 5th and 8th, which always seemed odd to me. But now, knowing enough to follow rulerships etc tells my story perfectly. Um… It’s complicated. And beautiful.

  16. Both empty. Cap ruled 5th and Aries ruled 8th. Virgo Mars in 12th. Seems oddly quiet, and yet it isn’t at all and never has been. Married entire adult life (3 partners) and one longer relationship and just a few one night/short term “flings”. (But I really needed to get laid, and they were either super hot or famous, so kinda experimental.) Chart seems to not reflect it. Oh well.
    Hubs’ Mars is in Aries in my 8th house. I always chuckle when I see the chart and his poking my 8th house with that Mars arrow…lol

  17. Uranus in 5th sextile my Venus. Nothing in 8th. I like unusual, which means for me different races and more commonly, much younger. I also love to talk about love and sex and have Mercury in the 5th also.

  18. 5th house stellium here. Sex is hugely important to me, but I see it as a big part of romantic love rather than something welling up from the gut or my psychological depths. Rather, it’s a positive, affirmative chosen expression of love in a partnership.
    I’ve got no kids and have no plans for any, either.

  19. 8th house all the way. I need loyalty, sealed boundaries, depth. Even if it’s in a relationship that I doubt will last, that utter faith in the moment matters so much to me.

  20. My 8th is empty, with Cancer on the cusp. I don’t really get the 8th house approach to sex at all. It seems misplaced to put so much psychological/emotional weight on a simple physical act.

  21. Packed 8th house and only Juno in the fifth. That’s funny right, because Juno is supposed to be about commitment. Then again it is in gemini. Maybe explains my unusual marriage. Anyway, I was never very good at hooking up without getting involved, even when I tried. I pass no judgment on people that do it tho…jeez wish I could!

  22. You have to approach casual sex as an ego boost. All of my flings have happened when I felt lonely and there wasn’t anything promising on the horizon. Like I said before, it’s about getting a temporary jolt of romance in your life. But you have to clearly understand that love has nothing to do with it.

  23. Empty Aquarius 8th house and empty Scorpio 5th house. Pluto is in my 4th squaring my venus and mars in the 7th.

    I’m too intense to have a fling. It’s only “for fun” if there is a “from the beyond” bond. And I do want children.

  24. stacked 5th house, in sagittarius. yea – im a recreational user of men. but i love ’em too (libra stellium)

  25. Avatar
    curious wanderer

    The 5th house is strongly emphasized in my chart, and an empty 8th house. I like sex, and I like the idea of “play” sex. But, in execution…it works better if there is some emotional commitment there.

    5th house Cap – Capricorn does not “play.” 😉

  26. I have moon in taurus in 5th and Jupiter/cap in 8th- thank god I only have 2 kids or I would go crazy! But I always think of sex in 2 ways fun and for love- I am aries w/ sag rising… so I like the fire and fun…I keep telling hubby why can’t you be Wolverine?? Its not so much to ask to be thrown up against a wall is it?? haaa

  27. also there is lots of sex talk on the blog today which is fitting since I woke up this am having very fun sex dreams- so I guess the husband better watch out later!! haa

  28. @ Ellen 🙂 Welcome to the Wolverine club! He does it for a few of us around here (raises hand *guilty*). Well..he doesn’t do it literally..but you know what I mean

  29. hI Josi- as an Aries- I like any club that has “fun” except that one where you have to swing- who wants to get stuck w/ a guy that is gross!! not I-

    Actually I told my husband I would give him his fantasy if I get a Hall pass… this is before they made the movie and all my friends were “whats a hall pass?” haa he said no= he is a Cancer- he couldn’t handle it!! haa but I’m still working on it!!

    I mean life is to short for the same old boring thing! 🙂

  30. krustallos made me laugh! I have three planets (pluto, saturn, and jupiter) in the 5th and NONE in the 8th. I love men and like to have many options available. I always fear getting pregnant and have had no issues with just fun sex (the sag stellium)..however that pluto conj saturn, oh boy…I feel intensely but it tends to be hot and heavy season or Dry season…thanks to that pluto placement.

  31. oh did I mention it must be in the air because SAlt n Pepper were on Oprah yesterday – famous song “lets talk about sex”… love that song brings back fond college memories!

  32. Avatar
    treehugginmama

    Well let’s see. I have my Aries sun in H5, square Neptune in Sag in the H2 and sextile my moon in Gemini in H7. In H8, I’ve got nothing…

    What does this mean? I’ll guess that sex is a way for me to communicate my own energy. It’s recreational, it’s intense, it relies on a fantastic communicative relationship (square neptune in Libra in the 2nd and sextile moon in Gemini in the 7th). I find that the better I am communicating with my husband, the more intelletually “in sync” we are, the more inclined I am to have my way with him 🙂 This is how we started up in the first place! I’ve always been overwhelmingly attracted to men whose conversation is delicious. Not even sexual — just….smart. Sex is physical, though. The intellecual comes first, and then it’s all body from there on out for me 😀

  33. Good clarification Elsa! I have a 5th house with Sagittarius on the cusp – Sun/Merc/Juno/south node conjunction. My 8th house is ruled by Pisces.

    I think that sex can be fun! I do like to play and flirt with my one main guy. I am a one man women but sex is a very important part of my relationship. I’m not a friends with benefits type. Even though I’ve had a few flings, they don’t work for me.

    And this is the thing about astrology…I have “mitigating” factors in my chart that point to the seriousness about sex – Venus in Scorp, Venus sq Saturn, Saturn in the 7th.

  34. Avatar
    treehugginmama

    oh — my God! @ellen I am an Aries too (Scorpio rising) and when my husband was in Iraq, I was 23. We’d only been married 2 years and I was just wasting away. I went to see XMen with some college buddies to waste some time, but when Wolverine slams that guy into the wall with his claws (which is disgusting lol) I was just beside myself LOL
    I married a Leo, so I think he’d do that if I asked him to, but he’s also quite a gentleman. I think it might take a few less confident tries to convince him I wasn’t going to hate him afterwards LOL

  35. Hahaha Elsa! yes we all love that… esp those of us who aren’t getting enough of it 😉

    Empty 8th House, and I never wanted children.

    I have Sun & Venus conjunct in House 5, with Vesta exactly conjunct my Venus (sacred sex), Ceres in there too also conjunct Venus (nurturing through sex) and both Eros and Amor almost exactly conjunct, still in H5 but in Aquarius.

    Sex was very much recreational when I younger, and I had many lovers. But most of my H5 is in Capricorn (opp Saturn) and sex has always been very important to me as part of a relationship; I crave emotional depth, though not the domestic kind. Venus in Cap is usually pretty deadly serious 😉

  36. haa treehugginmama- haa I dated a Leo in college and still talk to him today- we were wild in the bedroom… he was the guy I tried it all with.. maybe your Leo thinks you want it that way cuz I know for us it was crazy!!

    Give it a try- you might be surprised! LOL!! I also dated an Aries after him and we were even crazier…. then I married the Cancer- oh well! haa – but its not all bad he can last longer than those 2 ever could! haaa

  37. Scorpio Saturn conjunct Libra Pluto on my 5th house cusp and both trine my 8th house Sun.. I have always taken sex seriously!

  38. definitely, I’ve had plenty of romance, sex, etc. and no children… sun and jupiter in the 5th, nothing in the 8th.

  39. Hey Elsa,

    Yes a weak Mars in Gemini, in the 7th puts the dampers on… I think, talk and fight about it a lot..

    Now, how do I get around that?

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