The twelfth house in astrology

The 12th house is a cadent house and viewed as unlucky. It’s probably the most unfortunate house in the horoscope. Planets placed in the 12th house have little power to act; and they may act against the native. While modern astrology may try to lighten up its meaning by attributing spirituality, monasteries, and meditation to this house those things are better suited to the 9th house – the house of G/god.

The 12th house in astrology represents matters that are secret or hidden. It represents secret enemies and people who conspire against us. Hospitals, prisons, and institutions where one’s identity (and ego) become irrelevant belong to the 12th house. Sorrow, affliction, and our “self-undoing” are also attributed to this house.

In horary astrology the 12th house represents fears, phobias, secret enemies, sickness of the partner (6th from the 7th), siblings of the mother (3rd from the 10th), large animals, and hidden places.

In medical astrology the 12th house represents the feet. It is also associated with incapacity and ill-health.

In mundane astrology the 12th house represents spies, secret enemies of the state, charities, welfare, hospitals and intuitions.

Saturn finds its joy in the 12th house.

See a listing of blog posts for all of The Houses

Therefore the 11th house can represent our colleagues, guilds, and professional associations since these are our “allies,” as they relate to the 10th house (our career). In typical modern astrology this house is given to “friends,” but we can see that means other people who share, or reflect, our own values. Traditionally the 10th house represented the king, so the 11th represented his associates. It’s now considered a very fortunate house.

The eleventh house is also the profit we make from our business (10th house) as well as “pennies from heaven” (as John Frawley calls it). This is money we get from unexpected sources.

Another modern association of the 11th house is with “hopes and wishes.” I believe this is derived from the position of the 11th house in the sky- that is, this is the area of the sky the sun is in from roughly 10 a.m. to noon. Therefore, those planets that occupy this segment of the sky will soon be directly overhead and at their highest. It’s like planets here “aspire” to be at the top of the chart.

In horary astrology the 11th house represents friends, money gained from business, and wishes the querant would like to know about but doesn’t want to reveal (e.g. “Will my wish come true?”).

In mundane astrology the 11th house represents the house of representatives, or the house of commons; hopes of the nation; and programs for improvements (i.e. infrastructure improvements, etc.)

In medical astrology the 11th house represents the legs and the ankles.

The planet Jupiter finds its joy in the 11th house.

See a listing of blog posts for all of The Houses

The astrological tenth house sits right at the top of the chart wheel.

The meaning of the tenth house in both traditional and modern astrology has stayed fairly consistent. Modern astrology puts an emphasis on career, while older texts lean more towards one’s social position and therefore will judge things like marriage from transits to the tenth, since marriage changes one’s social status. The tenth house also is associated with honors, power, prestige, and advancement.

The fourth house, at the bottom of the chart, represents our foundation; the roots we put down in order to create a stable base from which we can move up and into the world. The tenth house then shows what we manifest out in the world. It’s the visible result of our actions (first house) and the tenth house from any other house will show its result or logical conclusion.

The tenth house is an angular house and therefore planets placed here have the power to act more directly in our lives. Those energies are also more visible to those around us since this house is place high up in the chart.

Traditionally the tenth house is the house of the mother, while the fourth is the house of the father. Again, the mother/father debate is a big one in astrology and there are many different ways of looking at which house represents what parent. Some will say the “dominant” parent is represented by the tenth; or the “conditional” parent, who’s approval and love were dependent on our behavior and choices is the tenth. Find what works for you.

In horary astrology the tenth house represents the querant’s job/career, honors, awards, and promotions. In the sale of a house the tenth house represents the price. In a lawsuit it represents the judge.

In mundane astrology the tenth house represents those in authority- the president, king, or dictator. It’s the national reputation, credit, and influence.

In medical astrology the tenth house represents the cure. It represents the knees, calves, shins, and hamstrings.

See a listing of blog posts for all of The Houses

The ninth house is considered the house of “God.” This is the house where we tap into the divine through meditation, prayer, or mysticism. This is where you will find spirituality- not in the 12th house.

The ninth house is where we search for understanding. This may come through channels like higher education or travel as mentioned above; or it may come through dreams, visions, or divination.  Books, publishing, and other means of “getting the word out” also fall within the realm of the ninth house.

The ninth house is a cadent house. This is the best of the four cadent houses (3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th) because it’s elevated in the chart. And its association with Jupiter and being the house where the sun finds its joy also adds to its positive regard.

In horary astrology the ninth house represents lawyers, priests, churches, long journeys, universities, and religion. The ninth house may also be the spouse’s brothers or sisters (as it is the third house from the seventh).

In mundane astrology the ninth house represents religion and institutions dealing with spiritual matters. It also represents foreigners, foreign affairs, international law; shipping and sea traffic. Universities, law, publishing, and those involved in such actives.

In medical astrology the ninth house represents the buttocks, hips, and thighs.

The sun finds its joy in the ninth house.

See a listing of blogs posts for all of The Houses

Throughout my articles on the astrological houses I’ve talked about how traditional and modern astrology differ, at times, on the meaning of the houses. I believe some of the house meanings differ because of the modern psychological view of the world.

If you think about life before the 20th century it was a pretty tough going for most people. The average life span was much shorter than it is today; childbirth was risky for women; and farming and labor were average occupations. As a species we were still existing within the lower level on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

It wasn’t until Sigmund Freud and the birth of modern psychology that we understood anything about the subconscious, the ego, or notions like the “authentic self.” We’ve come to understand that we “create” our world with our thoughts- unlike our ancestors who took life at face value. Through modern psychology we’ve come to expect that we can outsmart fate and avoid the typical, sad pitfalls that people less “self realized” have to endure.

While I believe that’s true to a degree, I also believe that regardless of how advanced, how self-actualized, or how psychologically healthy we can become we still live on earth. And that means we will still be subject to the nastier side of life and experience things like pain, separation, and death.

The eighth house is one of those nastier houses that put us in contact with those inevitibilities of life: death, woe, and indebtedness.

The second house from the ascendent (me) represents my resources and money. Therefore the “second” house from the 7th house cusp (the house of “other people”) represents their resources and money. The seventh house also represents people like clients or customers; and so the 8th house represents the client’s money. In horary astrology we look to the ruler of the sign on the cusp of the 8th house to determine if the client has any money (and what may happen to it).

The 8th house also rules debt and  taxes – i.e. money on account with someone else.

Many modern astrology books refer to the eighth house as the house of sex as well as inheritace; however there are no traditional references to this. Sex (the act) is attributed to the fifth house (the house that includes pleasures and recreation as well as children) and is placed rightly there because much of astrology gets its meaning from the principle of correspondences. Inheritance, too,  is found in the 5th house – the “second” (resources) house from my 4th (the house of family and father).

The eighth house is your spouse’s, customer’s, enemy’s, or business partner’s money. The eighth house may also show where our loss can become another person’s gain.

The eighth house is also the house of death, endings, and decay.

The eighth house is a succedent house. It’s not considered a favorable position for planets.

In horary astrology the eighth house also represents death, loss, grief, and financial matters as they related to the “other.”

In mundane astrology the eighth house represents national debt, the collection of taxes, and danger to people through war or disaster.

In medical astrology the eighth house represents the sex organs.

See a listing of blogs posts for all of The Houses

In my first article in this series I introduced the ascendent, or eastern horizon. The ascendent and the first house represent you, your body, your temperament, and your vitality. The first six houses that fall below the horizon describe my inner world- from my values and resources to my family and my children.

The opposite point to the ascendent is the decedent, or the western horizon. If the ascendent represents “me” then the decedent represents “you” (or the other). We find the houses that are above the horizon (7-12) describe my experience out in the world and in relation to other people.

The seventh house in astrology is the house of relationship. It represents those people with whom we have some kind of relationship – a spouse, business partner, the party in a legal proceeding, a client, or known enemy.

The traditional and modern meanings of the seventh house tend to agree on these points.

The seventh house is an angular house and therefore planets in this house have the power to act. Remember that planets in angular houses are more apparent in our lives because the four angles represent the four main outlets in life- my body, my family, my relationships, and my job.

In horary astrology the seventh house represents marriage, the spouse, any type of contractual partner, the opposite party in a lawsuit, a known enemy, and just about “anybody” that the querant asks about.

In mundane astrology the seventh house represents public enemies, outlaws, fugitives, and agreements with other nations.

In medical astrology the seventh house represents the doctor and his ability to cure the disease. In the body it rules from the navel to the top of the legs, including the buttocks, lower intestines, bladder, womb, and reproductive organs.

See a listing of blogs posts for all of The Houses

If you’ve ever worked with a life coach, project manager, or anyone else involved in taking an idea from inception to implementation then you’ll recognize the need to set goals. A goal is simply a line in the sand that helps us recognize when we’ve achieved something. Goals can be big (“launch a new website”) or small (“write my new moon blog post”) but in either case they setup some future state that we can begin to move towards.

The axiom “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak,” is an apt description of the sign of Sagittarius. This sign is a dual, or double-bodied, sign. The centaur is half horse and half man. The lower half is a symbol for the animal side of our nature – those base desires and ignoble actions we share with all living things. The upper half is a symbol for the rational mind and our ability to rise above our desires in order to seek understanding, wisdom, and a sense of the divine.

Sagittarius is called “the archer” and its astrological symbol can remind of of its desire to “aim high.” To aim means that we have our sights set on a target. Therefore, what are you aiming for this month? 

The Astrology of the New Moon

November New Moon

The new moon occurs on November 25, 2011 at 1:10 A.M. at 2° Sagittarius 37′. This is an extra special new moon as it is also a solar eclipse. This means the earth, moon, and sun are more or less in alignment. A new moon eclipse is a powerful time when the intentions we set, the goals we commit to, and the targets we aim for have a much greater chance of coming to fruition.

The new moon in Sadge makes two important aspects. First, it makes a trine aspect to the planet Uranus in Aries. Both Sagittarius and Aries are fire signs. Fire is a symbol for intuition. Now, you may think of the water signs as being “intuitive,” but that’s not the case. Fire signs are intuitive in that they are always looking forward and making decisions based on what could be rather than what is in front of them. They get their information not from their senses (i.e. “what do I see in front of me?”) but rather from their capacity to make connections and see the bigger picture (e.g. “what could be…”).

Therefore the new moon in aspect to Uranus will awaken us to what the future possibilities can be. Sounds a lot like the beginning of goal setting to me Uranus always carries the sense of the “new” or the iconoclastic. This is a wonderful time of initiating new goals that, perhaps just a few weeks ago, you might have thought them to be too outlandish. Surprise yourself.

The new moon also makes a square aspect to the planet Mars in Virgo. Virgo is ruled by the planet Mercury and during this eclipse Mercury will be retrograde (this Mercury retrograde period lasts from November 24 – December 14; for more information on what Mercury retrograde mean, see this blog post). The struggle (square) between Virgo and Sagittarius is one between being caught up in service to the details and one for freedom and higher vision- the bigger picture. Don’t let your efforts to work the minutiae blind you from seeing the bigger picture.

When Mercury retrogrades back to 3° Sagittarius on December 14 we can then start to work the plan, put the details into place, and execute our strategy. Until that time keep your plans at the 10,000 foot level. Make 5, 3, and 1 year plans now. This powerful eclipse has the power to fuel even our most important endeavors.

With that in mind here are some questions to ask yourself at this new moon:

• What is the bigger vision for my life?
• What dreams would I like to make into reality?
•  What has my experience taught me? Where am I wise?
• If I know what’s best for me am I willing to act on it?
• How can my dreams and goals create more security for me?

John Marchesella has been working in astrology since 1976. He has a full time practice in New York City, and he is a frequent visitor to Los Angeles for his clientele there, and with the advent of Skype, he is fortunate enough to work with people from around the world.

John teaches classes and workshop regularly, and he is a frequent speaker at local conferences as well as for NCGR and UAC. He often contributes to astrological publications too and his writing is included in the anthology, “Under One Sky.”

He is very active in the astrology community. Currently, he is Chair of NCGR, Education Director for the New York Chapter of NCGR, and Vice President of NCGR-Professional Astrologers’ Alliance.

John is fully certified by NCGR-PAA as well as certified as a psychotherapist and trained as a bereavement counselor.

He can be reached through his website, www.astrojohn.com.

The astrological sixth house is yet another house where the modern and traditional meaning have diverged. If you’ll remember from my first post in this series about the ascendent I said that traditionally the ascendent was the entire horoscope. The ascendent and first house represent the person in question. And its the first house that represents the body, its health and vigor, and general constitution.

The sixth house is the house of illness, servitude, and small animals. Health has nothing to do with the sixth house. One’s good health is shown by the first house. One’s illness is shown by the sixth. The word one does in the world, whether that’s flipping burgers at McDonald’s or as the president of a company is shown by the 10th house. The sixth house is not your work. Those who do menial work for you (your contractor, your maid, etc.) is shown by the sixth house.

The sixth house is considered to be an unfortunate house because it receives no aspect from the first house (and when we talk about aspects we’re talking about the five Ptolemaic aspects: conjunction, sextile, square, trine, and opposition) and it is cadent (that is, having fallen away from the angle of the western horizon). Planets found in the sixth house have little power to act and at times may act against the native.

The sixth house is the house of pets (small animals) while the 12th house is the house of large animals (horses, elephants, etc.). While this may seem irrelevant in modern times it was certainly important when astrology was developed and more people had animals at their disposal. Nowadays the main consideration given to animals is to lost pets.

In horary astrology the sixth house is the house of pets, contractors (those whom you hire), tenants, uncles and aunts (that is, the third from the fourth (father)).

In mundane astrology the sixth house represents a nation’s food reserves and the farming industry. It represents the working class and civil servants (e.g. police). National epidemics or widespread disease is also a sixth house matter (whereas public health is the first house).

In medical astrology the sixth house and its ruler will generally describe the nature of the illness. The sixth house rules the lower part of the belly and smaller intestine, the guts, liver and kidneys.

Mars finds its joy in the sixth house.

See a listing of blogs posts for all of The Houses

It’s in the astrological fifth house that we can begin to see the split between the traditional and modern styles of interpretation more clearly. Since my proclivities lean towards the traditional I’ll first mention the modern meaning of the fifth house briefly.

In modern astrology the fifth house is the house of creativity, legacy, and entertainment. Here we find those things one does in order to show the world what he or she is capable of; and to create something that will live on beyond oneself.

While the traditional definitions aren’t drastically different the idea of being creative in order to express one’s unique sense of self is a bit of a stretch. Traditionally, the fifth house represents children, pregnancy, ambassadors, taverns (places of entertainment and fun), and money/inheritance gained (or lost) though property or the family (the fourth house).

Modern astrology would put ambassadors in the ninth house (as the ninth is the house of foreign places), however, just as the second house from any angle represents the profit (or loss) from that angle, so does the second house from an angle represent the allies or those who speak on behalf (e.g. external resources) of that house. The fourth house is our “homeland” and therefore the fifth house is the allies of the homeland.

Modern astrology would also assign any kind of money that’s no our own to the eighth house, but again this is incorrect. Inheritance is not an 8th house matter. A dowry (that is, money from the spouse) is an 8th house matter. Inheritance from my own family (4th house) is the second from the fourth- i.e. the 5th house. This is based on the concept of derivative houses, which will be discussed in another blog post.

The fifth house is a succedent house.

In horary astrology the fifth house represents children, pregnancy, taverns, gambling, and other forms of recreation.

In medical astrology the fifth house represents the stomach, liver, heart, sides and back.

In mundane astrology the fifth house represents the ammunitions of a town under attack, ambassadors and diplomats, and public places of recreation like parks and national museums.

Venus finds it joy in the fifth house.

See a listing of blogs posts for all of The Houses