October 8 zodiac sign: Libra

Two weeks past the equinox

The Sun is about 15 degrees into Libra on October 8, roughly two weeks after the September equinox. In the northern hemisphere the days are visibly shorter than the nights and the autumn colour is in progress; in the southern hemisphere spring is underway and the days are lengthening. Night is already longer than day in the north by now, and the gap widens by a few minutes a day until the December solstice, so the balance the scales of Libra picture at the equinox has tipped.

In the United States, Columbus Day is the second Monday of October, a range from October 8 to 14, and Canada's Thanksgiving falls on the same Monday. October 8 is the earliest either can be, which is a calendar quirk and has no astrological meaning.

Where October 8 sits in Libra

Mid-Libra reads in tradition as the sign at its most typical: cardinal air, diplomatic, oriented to fairness and to other people. The boundary with Scorpio is a fortnight away, so no cusp reading applies. Any added edge comes from the decan, the Moon or the rising sign, all of which a full chart shows and a birthday date cannot.

The Sun does not change sign on this date in any year or time zone we checked. The next sign, Scorpio, starts on October 23 on the calendar, so October 8 reads as Libra throughout.

The Libra decan for October 8

October 8 falls in decan 2 of Libra, October 3 to 12, ruled by Aquarius. Each sign is cut into three decans of about ten days, ruled in turn by the sign itself and the next two signs of its element.

Aquarius, a fellow air sign, governs Libra's second decan. Tradition describes the stretch as the most original and independent of the three, less interested in agreement for its own sake. Decans are an old refinement, so treat the ruler as an added shade.

Birthday number 8 for October 8

The day 8 is already a single digit. No step lands on a master number.

An 8 is a single digit, left as it is. Turned on its side it becomes the lemniscate, the infinity sign, which numerologists link with cycles and balance, and the idea of balance sits well with the sign of the scales. Numerology also ties 8 to authority over resources; tarot decks disagree about card VIII, which is Strength in most modern decks and Justice in the Marseille tradition.

The October birthstone

Birthstones follow the month and not the day, so a birthday on October 8 shares Opal (also Tourmaline) with every other October birthday. See October birthstones.

Dates next to October 8

• October 7: Libra
• October 9: Libra