pizza

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The standard american pizza pie is almost always cut into
eight equal slices, by four swift strokes: two perpendicular
crosses, the second rotated 45 degrees from the first.

Pynchon seems to use the number 8 in his works like a chord 
in an opera to herald the entrance of a particular character
or theme. To cite one example: Mason and Rebekah might
never have gotten married if it weren't for the accidental
intervention of the runaway Octuple. 

What is the thematic significance, if any, of the number 8
in Mr. Pynchon's works?