The Eighth House is ruled by Scorpio and Pluto. Robert Hand notes, "Death. Inheritance. Other people's money" in his book, Horoscope Symbols but neglects to mention sex.
The Seventh House is ruled by Libra and Venus. Venus also rules the Second House, which is about jewellery, gold and money, as well as food - all the valuable items of life.
Cancer is a sign very much associated with home. House, apartment, land, garden, home town, homeland. I often find crab shells in the water, which are reminders that Cancer carries her/his 'home' as part of himself or herself.
The Third House, at its core, is about being heard and read. Thus we go into areas like literacy, translation, speech impediments, deafness, public speaking, and of course vision, as one has to read, in order to translate and transmit.
The Waite-Smith deck was built on astrology. The wands suit was given to fire signs. The Pentacles suit to earth. The Cups to water. The Swords to air.
The first house is about appearances. You can be the real you, away from what you wear, and how you use your body language, and how you are profiled. But - image matters.
Mercury Retrograde is great for first draft or rehearsal. Not launch! Music writer Kathy McCabe calls it Murky Retrograde. True. It's a murky, messy, muddled time.