Howard Sasportas - The Houses

CONTSNTS Pagc

Aclnufudgcrunts Pnfaoc Intmdrction

u t, t7

krt L Thc landnpe of tifr Cbapar l. BasicPremiscs 2. Sgace,Time and Bounderies hrt 2: ttfepd.lt thcJouncy The Ascendentand the First House The Sc
3. 4. ,. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. ll. 12. lr. The Elcsmth House 14. The Trrclfth Housc lt. Grcuping the Houses

lg 24

t7 4' 48 ,4 60 6' 7l 76 82 87 92 98 108

ACKNOWIEDGEMENTS Manypeopleharahelped,supponedandtoleratedme throughthe agonyand ecstasy of writing this bookandmy sincercappreciation ortendsto dl of thern. In panicular,an eqpecidlyheardelt thanl$ goesto Max Hafler for dl vrcsharedandfor pushingmein the bcginning;andto Roben tVdkerfor pushingmethroughthe middleandcnd,for hisorccllent his patient suppon through my advice,criticismand zuggestions, moredifticult periods,andjust for beingtherewhenI neededhelp. My appreciationalsogoesto MaryAnn Ephgrarafor her adcpt 'Houses uanscriptionof the Seminar';to ChristineMurdockfor her orpert and much neededhclp, guidanceand encoutagement;to ksley C,otuill for hcr profesiond advice;and to SheilaSasponas for her warm suppon. I am naturallyindebtedto dl thoscpeoplewhoharcsharedtheir go knmrledgewith mc overthe years.Specidacknowledgements to MaharishiMaheshYogifor his inraluableteachingand for the orpericnccof meditation and what it openedup for mq to Darby C.ostellofor titillating me with her Geminian insighs and for inuoducing me to asuologycay backwhen; to my first astrology BettyCaulfieldandIsabelHickey;to EanBeggfor helping teachers, me to begin to understandmyselfa little better; to lan GordonBrorn, BarbaraSomersand Diana Whitmore for the enornous amount I leamedfrom thcm; toJudy Hdl for her generousand constantsuppoft,wisdom,healingandhelp;andarterywermthant$ to Liz Greenewhoseinsightandgraceasa goodfricnd, teachcrand asuologicdcolleaguchara left a decp mark on all my *ork. Tcromore pcople descrvespecidmention. Ifords can't orpress my ftelingp of apprcciationto a ceftainDona Margarita,Our lady of C"omera,for sharingwith mc the porrcrof her lconine lorc and spirit andfor providingmc with anidyllic atmospherc(in dl senscs)

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THETIOYEIVE HOUSES

to begin writing..And-last,-butccnainly nor least,I am especially grateful toJaquelincClarc for being a true friend through al of this and for the impeccablediagramsshe so caringly produced.

PREEACE The hpuscsof the horoscopcform oneof the basicbuilding-blocls with whicharcrystudentof asuologymustleamto *ork attheoutset ofany scriousstudyofthc subjcct.Becauscthe houscsarcbasic,it isoften assumed that thercforetheyaresimple- pcrhapsthe most simple and accesiblcof the uinity of planet-sign-houscwhich comprisesthe foundationof horoscopeandysis.And bccauscthc housesareoften consideredsosimple and accesible,theyarcalso bclierredto bethe leastwonhyof anyin-depth perusalin the body of asuologicdliteraturc. I harrcfound in my orrn orpcricnce,however,that thc housesare nosimplerthantheplancaandrigto, andpcrhapsevenmoresubde. How could theynot be so,whenaftcr all e€ryone bom on a givrn day will harrcthe sameplanetsin the samesigns,whilc planetary placemcntsinthehouses aredepcndentupon that mostindividud moment they of hctors,the of binh? Bccausc aresorrcryindividual, ponoy a m1p of a rrcryindividud dcstiny,and ere*onhy of th.y much more onensiveinterpretationand andysisthan is usudly offercdin asuologicdtortbools. Thereis a luge and unfomrnate gepin this areaof the snrdy,and cenainlyno pzlstauthorhasdone full justice to this apparentlyrc simple yet difficult issueof thc 'spheresof lift'. I am thereforcdclighted to be ablc to write a prefaccto a boolr which I ftel not only fills thir gapin curent astrologicdliterature, but dso ortends the understandingof astrologyitself. Hward Sasponashasmanagcdto do this without either violating thosc herrcprorcn to be rzlid, or Tpc1tsof- asuologicdtradition *-hi.h ignoring asso manyauthorsdo - the curent urgent needto bring pqrchologicdunderstandhginto a snrdywhich hasfor fu too long bcen purely prognosticatirrcand behaviouralin its interpretations.This book seemsto me to be unique dso in that,

Tl{E TV/EIVE HOUSES

dthough it is 'psychologicd astrology'at ir best,it doesnot hide behind psphologicd jargon,and its languagcspeaksboth to the begrnngran{the orperienccdpractitiorrcr.q"itty clearly. The issueof 'pryrhologicdasuology'appears-to bea ratherthomy one-in somerespects,because many asuologers who harastudicd in oldertraditionsfeelthat thcir language,*hich hasstoodthe tcsr of qan-ycenturies,is bcing encroachedupon by the languageof psphology,and that astrology,in thesehands,is no longlr .furc, but .is.bccoming an ortension of thc hclping profesions. But psychologicdasuologyin the wayit is appfiedin Hocard,sbook is not an erosionof the beautyand comp[iencssof the asrrological mgdel.It cmbodies,rathcr,onclpparendyrrcrysimplcconceptlthc redity of the psyche.That an individud's iift is charactedstiiofthe individud oughtto bcobrvious, but it isoccedhgly difficult to fully graspunlcs one'sovmpspheisarealityto onesclf.Theinterprctation of the houscsthat Ho*zrd oftn in such depth in this'book is 'pqrchological' in the mostprofoundsense,ncrr.^_use implicit in otry chaptcris rhe obsenationthat an individud hasceriainkinds oi l1rapanicularsphcrcoflifr because that ishowthepc5rhe :pyd*.f o.{theindividud pcrceirrcs, reacrstq and interprea that spfeie of lift. The author phrascsthis rary eloqucntlyG ttr. first chaptcr: prcmiscuponwhichpsphological asrologyisbascd fh9 nhilosonhicd isthetaperrcn's rediryspringp outrzrdlromhisorhcrinncriandscape of thoughs,feelings,orpcctations andbclic6. This.iscenainly.asuology, and not an qtension of anythingelsc; bgt it rpa3 astrologywhichprcsenes the escntialdigniil'-{ot"e of the individud psychc,and in which the houses,io lcs than thc signsand planets,areinsideaswell asoutside,end becomcfull of fo-{$. individud ratherthan remainingstatic,placcs,or pemTq 'earnts' in lift which harc no connectionto the-soul. TF. of astrologywhichis o,ident throughout . lgpo"d o
PREF/ICE

l,

confrontation,which I harrcalmys ftlt to bc thc chidcriterion for of counrlling othen anypcrmnmnting to tab up thc responsibility in eny *zy. Thc pqrchcis obviouslye rcdity to the euthor, and thcreforehe is ablc to communicateits rcality and its subtletiesto thc readerthrough the asuologicdmodel. Gcnuinc authority of this kind cannotbGfrted, dthough nurnetousasuologicdwriters lppclu to oftr mellent thcorieswhich havt ncrrcrbeenput to the tcst in lift. No one obscrvingthc &cts of a panicular planet in a paniorlar housecanredly undcrstandthc complor isuc of hon' creetes,brick by brick, thc apparently an individud unconsciously buter' reality whidr he or shc eocounte$unles there is somc Otherwisethc interpretationsare reletionshipwith the unconscious. dcscriptionsof behaviour,which learrcsus backwhcrewe stancd. I?hen thishappens,thecre*ftre,teleologicaldimensionofasuology - its epacity to olrcn doorsto 1lrcrsonand dlow that perrcn to seehowan enitude might beshapingoutcrlift and thereforehos, of that anitude might shepea diftrent qudity someconsciousness to be creatirrc, of lifr - c.onot be prescnt.Asuologythen ceases and becomcsquitc poindesscrccptasa methodof justifring issues for which the individud doesnot wish to take rcsponsibility. As a lcarningtqtbook, Hwad's book is inrzlueblc, becauscit b.gitu at thc beginningwith hasicprinciplesand takesthc reader funher andfunhcr into thc complodtiesof interprcdngthe houses whilc rctaining throughout an essentidclarity of writing and a disciplinedstrucnre.I harcnodoubtthat it will becomeanessentid tortbook for anyscrioussnrdert of astrologywishingto derrclophis astrology Asa stement ofwhat pqrchological or heruodetstanding. it couldnot put thc point isreallyabout,it isdsoirmrluable,becausc more dearly. kychological asuologyis not about abandoning but abouta wayof understandingand astrologyto pqrchotherepy, both inner encompasscs rcadingthe synrbolsofthe horoscopewhich points *zy to thc esentid the and outer lerclsof orpcricncc,and houscs are thc pattenr which undcrlie both. Usually which often of themes confirsingbccauscof the epFuent divcrsity occur undcr one umbrclla. br onmple, thc profirndities and mystcricsof deathrrc conjoincdwith lifr insurancepoliciesin the eighth, end thc complcxiticsof the rclationshipbetweenbodyand 'smdl animals'in the sixth.Houard'sbook spirit arcmircd up with prwidcs the esntid meaningwhichuoderlicsdl thescepparendy dispamtethcmesconoectedwith one housc,which thercbyallws thc rcadcrto understandwhydl thcsebuter' cfurum.ttenccatcpart ofone core.Thlskind ofinsight is rareendcennotbeorrcrestimetcd in ia relue.

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Tt{E TI7EIVE HOUSES

It isthereforewith greatpleastuethat I canintroducea bookwhich I.am.cenainwill provideanimponantanduniquecontributionro the body of astrologicdliterarure. UZ GREEI.IE

INTRODUCTION Manisaskedto makeof himsclfwhatheiszupposcdto become, to fulfil his destinv. PaulTillich All around us in nature, life unfolds according to certain inner designs.A rosebudopensinto a rose,an acorn growsinto an oak, and a cateqpillar emergesas a bunerfly from its cocoon. Is it unreasonableto assumethat human bcingssharethis quality with the restof creation- that we,too, unfold accordingto an inner plan? The concept that each of us has a unique set of potentialities ycarning to be redized is an ancient one. St Augustine wrote that 'there is one within me who is rnore myselfthan my self.'I Aristotle usedthe word enteleclryto referro the errcludonand full blossoming of something originally in a stateof potendd. Along with anteleclry, Aristotle also spokcof essenceas those qualities which one could not lose without ceasingto be oneself. In like manner, Eastern philosopy appliesthe term dharrra to denote the intrinsic identity and latent life-pattern presentfrom binh in dl of us. ltbthe dbarnza of a fly to buzz, a lion to roar, and an aftistic personto create.Each of these patterns has its own kind of truth and dignity. Modem pslrchologyanachesmany different namesto the pcrennid 'to quest bc that selfwhich one truly is'2 - the individuation process, self-redization, sclf-acnralizadon,sclf-dorclopment, etc.By whatever label it is cdled, the underlying meaning is clear: all of us possess ccnain inuinsic porentials and capabilities.\Vhar's more, somewhere deep within us there is a primordial knowledge or preconscious percepdon of our true narure, our destiny,our abilities, and our 'cdling' in life. Not only do we havea panicula( path to follow, but on some instinctive level, we know what that is. Our fulfilment, happines and well-being hinge on discovering

T}IE TVEryE HOUSES

this. pattcm and co-olrrating with its realization. The Danish philosopherKie-rkegaard obscircdthat rhe most commonform of despar s that of not P.i"g *\o weredly are,adding that an errcn deeperforS gf_despeir semsfrom choosingto be;;;.;oth;; oT.sett., Ihe pqrchologist RolloMaywrote,.I7hen the oersor, TT clenles h'' potentidities,failsto fulfil them,hisconditionis suilt.,. Thcologians ha'e interpretedthefounh cardinal,i,,j,irt-*Iiir, as'the sinof failing to do with onet lift all that onekno*r one.odi oo.' nur howcanweconnectto that part of ourselvrswhichknoc6 what wecouldbe?Hon,canwefind ihe path tir" lost the "g"in,-r"-..," ilIi l,^y? Is thereanymap thar cxists'which'i;'g"id.; to ourselves? The asrologicalbirthchanissucha map.A picnrreof thehea'ens asit appearedat one'splaceandtime of binh, ihe ch* rr.b.ri*lr; po_nra)'s our ownuniquereality,innatepattemand inncr desisn. A knowledgeof the chanenablesusro perceir*h;A;;r-;f;i; wewouldnarunlly bedoing,if*c hadnot b*" f.ro;Jfi-di;: socrety and,perhapsmostcrucidly,b1tbc ambfualcnces oforroui nararc. . Our beingis not o-nlygivento us but demandedof us, and it rsup to us to makeof ourselrcswhat *c afemeanrto bccome.ln the end,wedone areresponsibre forwhat weao witt ourlG rri dgSree to which we aCcept or rejecr orrrtrue narure,purposcand $e identity.The binhchanis ihe bestguidewe harrc,o'rtiur-u.* to ourseh'es. Eachplacementin thelhan reraalsthe most;";; and,appropriare wayro unfold whoandwhatwcarc.SThynot listen to the cluesthe chan hasto offer?

HovanoSasponras

Pz\RTI: THE LANDSCAPEOF LITE 1.

BASICPREMISES One may indced say that it is not thc event which heppcns

to the pcnon, but the personwhich happc*Jl:iffi

There are three basic ingredients which combine to make up an asuologicd chan - plonets, igns arrd,boues. Planets represent panicular psphologicd drircs, urges and motirntions. Uke verbs, they depict a cenain acdon which is goitrg on - for orample, Mars 4lscrts,Yenusbarnonizcs, Jupitet cxpands, Sal;ttmresfiicts,etc. The signs represent tweha qudities of being or attitudes tocnxrdslife. The drirc of,aplanet iso
20

2I

THET\I/E[I[EHOUS$

BASICPREMISES

of the signsand planetsin cachof the twelra housescanguide us to our-trueidentity, ill-uminatingthe path of self-discorcry and the unfoldmentof our life-plan. Thereare a few reasonswhy the full significanceof the houses hasbeensooften ornrlookcd.Mostasuologicaltortbools dcrcllon the traditiond buter' meaningof eachhouseand ncglectim more subtlcor basicunderlyingprinciplc.Unles the coremeaningof a houseis grasped,the true essencJof thar houseis 6st. br inst-ance, the llth houseisnormallyknownasthe 'Houscof Friends,Groups, Hopesand\Tishes'.At first thismayseemstnnge- whatdo friends rUfhyarethesethings ald groupsharreto do with hopesandwishcs? dl lumped togetherunder the samehouse?Hoylerrcr,when tie deeper,most basicprinciple of the houseis orplained, then the connecdonbecomes clear.Thekernelof the llth houseis ,theurge to becomesomethinggreaterthan we alreadyare'.\UCe do this 5y connectingto somethinggr-eaterrhan our separateseh,es- by digning oursehaswith friendsandsocidcircles,byjoining groupi byidentifringwith causes whic-hlift usout of ourscl# andencompass usin a rasterschcme of thingp.But thc desireto becomesomettring grearcrthanvrcalreadyaremustdso bc accompanied bythecapacity to envisionnewand differentposibilities.In otherwords,hoping and-wishingfor somethingmovesus beyondo
hc, himself, is responsiblefor creadng.His difficulty relating with companionsis the surhcc manifestation of something much deepcr: his fear of orpanding his boundaricsto includc somcthing other than himsclf. He cants to becomegreaterthan he alreadyis - to identifr with somcthing beyond his otisting senseof self - and yet he is afnid of endangcring the identity he already has. The llth house 'hold on, urgcshim to encompassa greaterredity but Saturn says preservewhat you arealreadyfamiliar with.' Understood in this way, it is not friendship which restric$ him, but bis oun restictiozr which limit his friendships. The astrologerwho points out this dilemma ushersthe man into the vestihule of changc. Confronting thesc apprehensions,oamining their origins, and looking at the posible waysof deding with his fean, are the kep which open the door to funhcr growth and derrclopment. rUflhenappreciated in the contoc of unfolding his potentid and realizing his life-plan, this man's difficulties with friends becomcsa necessaryand productive phasc oforperiencc. Gnppling with Satum in the llth, rathcr than arniding 'makes of himself what he it or blaming it on others, is one way he is supposed to becorne'. How infinitely more beneficid this 'Sorry old chap,your interpretation of an llth houseSaturn is than friends are no goodJ In his book TlteAstrclogl ofPernnality, Dane Rudhpr, a pioneer of perrcn-cenued astrology,proposcsthat reading the chan is to read rhedbarna ofthe person. I In a later wo rk, TbeAstrclogical Houses, he elaboratesmore fully on this, emphasizingthat thc planetsand 'celestid instructions'on how a personcan signsin cachhouseoffer most naturally unfold his or her life-plan in that areaof existence.2 fu far aspossible,this book interprets the planer and signsthrough the housesin this pcrspective.Howcrrcr,besidesjust indicating the most authentic way to fulfil our inuinsic potcntidities, the house placements dso show our innate predispositioa to perceive the orperiencesassociatedwith eachhousein the context of the signs and planets found there. For orample, a woman with Pluto in the 7th houseis ptedisposedfrom binh to o(pect Pluto in connection with the affairsof that house.ril?hat'smore, becausePluto is what she is orpecting there, Plurc is prcciselywhat she will find. What we scein life is coloured by what we el(Pectto see.Tvantycight snrdentswere askedto describewhat they sawwhen a deck of playing catdswasflashedone-by-oneonto a screen.Their basic orpectation (or orienting paradigm) wasthe preconceptionthat a packof cardsconsisaof four suits:mo black(spadesand clubs)and two red suits (hearts and diamonds). However, when the

22

TFIETWETVEHOUS$

o(perimentcnslippeda ray'sixof spadesinto thc deck,manyof thc snrdenusimplyrefuscdtheo'idenceof theiron'nelcsand torn'ened' the red spadcto blackin their descriptions.In other uords, when the red six of spadeswasflashcdonto the scrcen,they didn't even notice the card'sincongruityto their opectationsof what a sixof spadesshouldlook like. Theysawonly what they orpectcdro see, not what wasrcnally there.s Similarly,our archetypalorpecadons,asseenthrough thc signs and planets in the houses,prccondition us to cenain yraysof o
BASICPREMISES

snduallvoqanding itsbordcrsto dlon'for otherdtematives.Bcaring there"ader.anuscrhisbookboth asa tool for personal ?iir-i" "ii".[ andasa guidefor chaninterpretadon'Thesuggested ;;l;;.;; ...tt pt""".t and sign throgsl the housesis intended ;;;;;f broadandgencnl6utfine,hgnetutlvinspiringtunhcr ;;;;t; thousht and rdlcttion on thc natute of eachplacement' applredtoo-n$dy' Mv nrscotionsshouldnot betekcnu gospclor'cookbook' tormat. the of limiations .na f apiEcire for theinherent fully bc only can chan in the factor M;ifi- da"f is that orcry the Funhermore' chan' whole the in the light of the on contingent is "o'oi..i",.a horoscopc in the -y phcJment .ff;;;;f it is drawn. whom for entity the of i:fi.,"i.f ,n letciof onscio'sncs A *oman might be bom at the sametime' placeand date asher the Detfrog, and-thet*o charts*ould look oecdythe samc'But and of awareness' level toits according mep itog o;t o.t the binh plays our lerclof consciousncss .oorai"g to hcri. Because Ji."*ri* of mcaning and butcome' thc ii dctermining ;.h factor one -y ";.i"1rolc rigidintcrpretetion no chan, 9f ;ffi;io,tr. iarr u. nria. zuh of * is moie than the sum of the PuF of.the freedom .rr*. g*t, of us hasthe potentid for greatetawareness, and fulfilment.

2t

TTMEAND BOTJNDARIES SPACE.

2.

Ceusnrl Eeurror

SPACE,TIME AND BOUNDARIES A humanbeingis pan of the whole,cdled by us 'Universe'; a part limited in time and space' Alben Einstein According to the Bible, God beganHis great work by creatingthe universe and then dividing it into different pans. i{e madi the heavenssepararefrom the eanh, light separatefrom darkncss,and day separatefrom night. In an attempt to manage,undersrandand make senseof exisrence,human beingsorhibit this sametendency to divide the wholenes of life into variouscornponent parts and phases.Similarly, the binhchan, rhe map ofan individud's oristence, reflectsthis slicing of life into different sections- rhe sum total of which make a whole. The Division of Space No matter how haphazardthe universemight seemar times, it is, nonetheles, fairly orderly.Cplic and prediaable, the cclestid bodies manageto keepon their parhsand adhereto their proper motion. Perhapsin an artempt to ascribemeaning and order to their lives, our early human ancestorsobserrcd a relationship betweencclestid ex'ents(the movementsof the Sun, Moon and planets) and life on earth. But they neededto havea frame of referincc or backdropby which to plot and pinpoint the positionsof thesemoving lighrs in the sky.In order to do this, spacewasdividcd into different sictions and labelled. - Modern astrologersare faced with the sameproblem - how to divide spacgto createa frame of refcrcnceby which to identifr the positions of the cclestial bodies. It so happens,from a geocenuic point of view, that the Sun, Moon and planets all appearro moue in a broad circular path around the ianh. This-path cxtends

Fg.l Tne DlvlslorrOr SPnce approximately8 or 9 degreeson cither sidcof what is knownasthe i'tOtn - th; apperenipath of the Sunaroundthe Eanh - and is caneatheh4irc Bclt.l\e eclipticis then dividedinto twelrc of Aries,thepoint signsof thiny degceseach,stardngwith 0 degrees (the.Eanh's equator *-h.re the Sun'Jpath intenectsthe celestid k Equingx. into space)at the Spring equatorprojeaed$i 53sc' thesigttsof theZodiac(Aries,flurus, C'cmini,etc.)i aresrMivisions of thl ediptic, thc apparcntyearlyrnorrcmcntof thc Sun around the Eanh (sceFiguri i;' the posiiionsof the planctsarcmappcd * The sigrs bcarthe sarnenlmesasthe constelladons, but due to a of thc Eqtinws, thc signsand phenominonknwn as thePrcccstion no longercoincide. ionstellations

26

TI{ETTEryEHOUSES

againstthesedivisionsof theeclipdc,showingwharsigneachplanet lappensto bepassingthroughon anypaniculardayof theyear(see Figure2). -.The plane6,eachar its ownrare,conrinudlymorarhroughthc differentsigns.Th_eSun takesapproximately-one month 6 p.r, througha sign,and roughlyoneyearto makea full circleof alfthe signsalongthe ecliptic.The Moonspendsabout2th daysin each sign and tekes27vedap ro passthrough dl sweh,esigns.Uranus takesapproximercly7 ycarsto passthrough a signand roughly g4 yearsto makea full circle.Asstatedin Chaprerl, a planetdis.ribes a panicular kind of activitywhich o(presses iaelf accordingto the

Fq.z PLANETSMAPPEDAGAINST THE ECLIPTIC

FOR JANUARYIst. I9B5

SPACE.TIME AND BOUNDARIES narure of the sign in which it is placed.

The Division of Time 'horoscopus', The word borcscopecomes from thc Greek word 'consideradon of the asccnding meaning tonsideration of the hour' or 'time-map'. By degree'.In other words, the horoscopeis literally a dividing the spacein the heavensinto signs,the early astrologers were able to plot the position of the planets in the sky. But they soonrealizedthat somethingmore qasneeded- a frame of reference to link the planetarypattern to a pafticular personborn at a ceftain time and placc. Besidesthe movementcausedby thc apparent revolution of the Sun, Moon and the planetsaround the Eanh, there is another rype of morrementwhich thc horoscopemust take into consideration:the daifi rctation of tbe furtb on itsoumaxis.The earlyastrologershad to find some way to correlatethe celestialphenomena of planets moving through thc signsto the terestrid phenomenon of the daily rotation of the Eanh on its own axis. The most obviouswayof doing this wasto divide the twenty-fourhour rotation of the Eanh into sectionsbasedon how long it took the Sun to morrefrom its position at dawn to its position at noon, and from its noon point to its sunsetpoint, etc. Becauseat cenain times of the yearthc Sun would spend longer abovethe horizon, thesedivisions would not alwaysbe equal. Manin Freeman,in his book Hou to Interpret a Binb Cltartt, helps the beginning student of astrologyconceptualizethe kind of movementcausedby the rotation of the Eanh. He suggeststhat we imagine a day in earlyspring. From the point of view of the Eanh, the Sun in earlyspring is situated in that pan of thc Zodiacal Belt which is known asAries. At sunriseon the day in question,the Sun and the sign of Aries will be scenappearing ovet the easternhorizon of the observeron Eanh. By noon of that day,however,the Sun and Aries areno longer due east- they harremorad to aposition more or les orrcrhsadof the obscrrcqand a different sign, probably Cancer, is on the eastemhorizon. By sunset,the Sun and Aries will be seen to be setting orcr the westemhorizon, and thc opposite sign of Libra (180degreesaray from Aries) will be rising oar the eastemhorizon. At sunrise the nort day, thc Sun and Aries will again be seenin the east, but the Sun would hara morad approximatcly one degree funher along in the sign of Aries. Thus, due to the daily rotation of the Eanh on ia own axis,the position of the signs(and anyplancts which happcn to be in them) changesin relation to the horizon.

28

SPACE. TIMEAND BOTJNDARIES

THET'$rEtVEHOUSES

The Division of the Chan into Anglcs lb understand housesit is csendd to remember that we aredealine with tqo kinds of morcmenr - that of the Eanh and the other phnd around rhe Sun, but also the morrcmentof the Eanh on iis ois. The division of the mundanc sphere into what ercnrually bccame known asthe housesaroscout of a need to relate the axiai rotarion of the Eanh with the mo'ement of the planets in the sky. Ifhile signsaresubdivisionsof the apparcnt renLlution of the Sun, Moon and planets around rhc Eanh, housesaresubdivisions of rhc Eanh,s diurnd (daily) rotation on its own a:
UFJcET'DNT

AscCr{DArt

l.c. lmur,rCoeu

f'g.3

Tnt Foun"Axeues

29

of dividing thesecatches into the twelve housesof the horoscopc. Rrfthermore, they had derrelopcda conespondencebetweenrarious typesof human activity and the different watchesor houses.In this vay, the housesbecamethe frame of referencethrough which the poicntialitics of a planet and sign combination could bc related to the ectual qrcnts and concernsof life. !flithout the structure of the houses,astrologerscannot bring the significanceof celestialsvents down to eafth. It is an easystep from the four watchcsto the four points in thc chart known u tlte Angles (seeFigure 3). From the point of view of an obscrver'sposition on eafth, at any tirne of day, a cenain sign will be sc'ento be rising in thc eastwhilc its oppositesign (180degrees auay) will be seento bc sening in the west. The degree of the sign occupying the easternrnostpoint in the sky is callcd rhe Asecnding Dcgrec and the sign it is in is cdled the Asccndant or Riitg Sign. Asuonomicdly, the Ascendantmark the intersectionof the ecliptic with rhe obsener'shorizon - in othct cDrds, thc meeting of heatrcn and eanh. The opposite poht to the Asccndant is the Descdnfunt, thc sign seaing in the west.The line connecting the Asccndant and Descendant is called thc am of tbc horizon. Lilcewise,at anytime of the dayfor an obsen'eron eanh, a panicular 'culminating' at the upper meridian, dcgreeof a cenain sign will be thi point due south of the place in question. This is called the Midhcaun or lfC an abbro'iation for the latin rcrm Mediam Cocli 'middle of the heavens'.The opposite point to the Midheaven the 'the lomst is cdled the Imam Coeli or IC, an abbreviation for heavens'.Thc line connecting the Midhearrcn to the Imum C-ocli is cdtcd the ocis of tbc meridian. These four poina are determined asuonomicdly. Collectively cilled tbe Anghs, the signsfound on thesepoints reveala great ded about an individual's orientation to basicorperiencesin lift. Their significanceis more fully discusscdin later chapters.The interscrdon of the a:risof the horizon and the axis of thc meridian give rise to the four Qaadrants of the chan. Ottiog to thc tilt of the Eanh, the sizeof the quadmnts arising from this fourfold division arescldom equal, and will rary according to the latitude and time of year of the binh. The Division of thc Four Anglcs into the Twclrc Houscs While determining the anglesdoes not raise too many problems, the manner in which the four angles should (or should not) be trisectedto form the tcth'e houscsis amajorconuocrsy inasuology.

]O

TI{E T'UgELVE HOUSES

On the whole, there seemsto be generalagreementthat the line of the horizon - the Ascendant-Derendant oris - is the basisupon whidr the division of the chan into housesshould rest.ln orhervords, most astrologersagreethat the Ascendantshould mark the caspor beginning point (or lcading cdge) of rhe lst house and the Descendantshould mark the cusp or beginning poinr of the 7th house.After that, astrologersdispersein all directions..Thosewho suppoft the Equal HouseSystemof house-divisionprovide the least complicated soludon. Cdling the Ascendant the cusp of the lst house,they simply divide the ecliptic into twelvecqual-sizedhouses of thirry degreeseach.So,if the Ascendantqcre 13degreesof Cancer, then the 2nd housewould be 13 degreesof Iro, the 3rd house 13 degrccsofVirgo, etc.ln the cascofEqud Housechafis,the Midhearrcn does not necessarilycoincide with any house cusp. However,in Quadrant sptems of housc-division,the four points of thc anglesall correspondto housecusps:the Ascendantbecomes the lst house cusp, the IC becomesthe 4th house cusp, the Descendant becomesthe 7th house cusp, and the Midheaven becomesthe 10th housecusp.But how the intermediate housecusps (that is, the cuspsof the 2nd, ]rd, trh, 6th, 8th, 9rh, urh and tzth houses)should be cdculated raisesmany questions.In someof these systems,sprceis divided to determine thesecusps;in other systems time isthehctor upon which the division is made. A fuller discussion of the question of house-division is included in Appendix 2. Personally,and fot reasonsorplained in the Appendix, I favour Quadrant systemsorrerthe Equd House Systcmand for the purposes of this book, will gcnerallyrelate the cuspof the 10th houseto the Midheaven, and the cusp of thc 4th house to the Imam Cocli. One way or another, we want to end up with rwelra houses.Why twelve?The most obvious reasonfor this is that astrologersbelieved that the division of the mundane sphereinto housesshould mirror the division of the ecliptic into twelvesigns.Rudhyaroffersa more philosophical answer.He arguesthat eachquafter of the chan (as defincd by the Ascendant,IC, Descendantand Midheaven)should 'each be divided into three housesbecausc opemtion of lift is hasically thredold, including action, reaction, and the result of both.'2 In his opinion, then, thc 2nd and 3rd housescarryout the significance of the Ascendantand lst house;the lth and 6th housesfulfil what is begun by the IC and 4th house;the 8th and 9th housescontinue what is staned by the Descendantand 7th house;and the llth and 12th housescomplete what cas initiated by the Midhearan and tOth house. Besidesjusti$ing the need for twelrrc houses,Rudhyar's

TIMEAND BOI.JNDARIES SPACE,

31

reasoning hclps us to appreciate the fact that the meaning and relevenceof eachhousc follons on logicdly from the previous one. More will bc said on the cyclic processof the houses later. The houscs are traditionally counted anti-clockn'ise from the Ascendant. The lst and 7th housesare alwaysopposite onc anoth€r - this meansthat the sign on the 7th housccuspwill bc the opposite sign to the one on ttte lst house cusp, dthough thc actud degree on the cusp will stay the same.This samerule apPlies to the other pairsof oppositehouses:thc 2nd and 8th, thc 3rd and 9th, the 4th and toth. the )th and ttth and the 6th and 12th. Manin Freemanmakesthc relationship between the signsof the zodiac and the melvdold division of the housesclearerby picturing 'great wheel surounding the eanh along whoserim the zodiac asa the planets move'.This whecl is fixed againstthe background of the hea'rcns,and the signsaremarked dong the edge.The twelrrchouscs 'spokes of a moving wheel superimposed on the greater are like thc wheel'. The spokcsof thc housesrotate a full circlc every twentyfour hours in line with the daily rotation of the Eanh. The panicular way the wheel of the housesis related to the wheel of the zodiac at the time and place of binh is what makesthe chan unique for each individud.3 Since the Eanh rotates once everytwenty-four hours, the t'welve signsand ten planea passthrough thc twelrc housesin that period. The binhchan is a frozen moment in time which shovmthc panicular dignmcnt of planets, signs and housesfor the time and place of bifth. Turopeople may be born on the sameday and havethesame sign positions of the planets, but becauscthey are born in a different placc or at a diffcrent time, thc planetary pattem will be seenin a different area of the hearan. i.e. in diffcrent houses. So fir we havc divided spaccinto signs, divided time into four quadrants, and divided four quadrants into twelrrc houses.That's enough dividing for nor', It's time to assignmeaning to the houses, and consider thcir relationship to one another, and to our lives. The Natural Tdn c Since the housesare determined by thc line of the horizon (where hearrcn and eanh meet), they relate the activitics and cnergics synrbolizcd by thc planea in thc signs (cclcstial oents) to actud lift on eanh (tencsuid crrcna). ln othcr words, thc housesshont specific arcasof crrcrydayorperiencc through which the operations cf ttre sigrs ana phncs manifot. Eachof the t*chc houscsrcprcsens a diftrcnt dcpanment of lift - a paniorler phascofwhat Rudhyar 'thc spcctrum of agedencc'.' cdls

THE TWEIVE HOUSES

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But we still havethe problem ofassigning meaning to the diftrent houses.Generdly, the meaning of eachhousemirrors the meaning of the tweh,esigns of the zodiac Aries is considcred similar to the lst house,fhurus is consideredsimilar to the 2nd house,and so on right through to the connection of Pisceswith the l2th housc. ln what is cdled the Notaral Zodiac (seeFigure 4), rhe first degree of Arics is placed on the Ascendant, the firsr degreeof llurus is placed on the cusp of the 2nd house, the fint degree of Gcmini is placcd on the cusp of the 3rd house, etc. The Natural Tndiec is symbolic, and its main purpose is to hclp the student gun ^ deepcr under*anding of what the housessignrS. In rctaal prrcticc, tbc

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TIMEAND BOUNDARIES SPACE,

13

boasesin aperson'sc/tart uill almost neaera/igntltemseltesin sac/t an eract conespondence uitb tbe signs as in tbe Nataral Zodiac, The coupling of 0 degrecsof Arieswith the Ascendantdoesmake sense,however,becauseborh Aries and the Ascendant(cuspof the 1sthouse)arebeginning points in their respectivecycles.The yearly cycleof the Sun'sapparenrmovementaround the Earrh bcginswith 0 degreesof Aries- the point wherethe celestialequatorinrersecrs the ecliptic at the Spring Equinox. The daily cycleof the Sun ttuough the housessymbolicallybeginswith the Ascendant- the point where the horizon of the observeron eanh inrersecrsthe ecliptic. Since Aries and the Asccndant both connore beginnings, it is understandablethat they should sharea similar meaning. Aries is a sign which implies 'initiation', fresh srafts,and the first impulse to act. The Ascendantand lst houseare associaredwith birth and the wayin which we meet life. The ruler of Aries, Mars,alsodenores initiatory energy,the will-ro-be, and the urge to make an impact on the environment. Zipporh Dobyns, in Tlte Astrologer's CasebooL,5describes astrologyas a symbolic languagein which the signs, planets and housesform the alphabet. She fecls that astrologydepicts rwelve wap of being in the world, or melvesidesof life. Theserwelveaspecrs of the totality of life can be written in different ways,just as in the English alphabet we have upper case,lower caseand italic letters. Signs symbolize one form of the lerters of the alphabet, planets another,and housesanotherstill. Signs,planetsand houses,in other words, representdifferent ways in which rhe same rwelve basic principlcs can be expressed.More spccifically,Aries, Marsand the lst houserepresentone letter; Taurus,Venusand thc 2nd house another;Gemini, Mercuryand the 3rd houserepresenta third letter, etc. It must be remembered,however,that any planet or any sign canbe locatedin anyhousedependingon the exacttime, placeand date of binh. Therefore,the factorssymbolizedby a sign, planet or house will be found to be mixed. The Houses as Ficlds of Experience In many textbooks, each house is generally allotted a field of experience,dcrribing a panicular setof circumstancesin a person's life. For instance, one traditional meaningof the 4th houseis 'the 'long journeys', home',of the 9th houseis and oneof the areascorrred 'institutions'. by thc 12th houseis Texrstell us that if we want to know what a person'shome is like, we should examinethat person's 4th house.If wewant to know what will happen ro a personon long

HOUSES TI{ETWEIVE ,4 journgls, we shouldanalysethe 9th house;and if we cant to find out honrsomeonewill fue in hospitalsor prisonsweshouldconsider the placemenain the l2th. \flhile rcmetimesquite accurate,this wayof interpreting housesis flat, boring and not rrcryhelpful. In Chapter1, I cmphasizedthat the coremcaningof thc housemust be grasped- that essentialinner meaningfrom which springdl and possibilitiesconnectedto that housc. the endles associations 'the homc' for a reason, The 4th houseis rcferredto asthe houscof and that reasonshouldbc understood.The 9th houseis associated travelisjust onewaythat a moregeneral with 'longjoumqls' because 'Hospials processassociated with the 9th housecanbe lircd out. and prisons'hardly scratchthe surfaceof the 12th housc.In hrt 2 of this book, we crackthe shell of eachhouscin an attempt to 'get at' the meaty,archerypdkemel. cut through dl its layersand Planetsand signsin a houserertedmuch more than iust what might bewaiting 'out there'for us.Placemensin a housedcscribe - the inborn imageswccarrywithin whichare the inner landscape 'projeaed'ontothat sphere.\Ufle filter whatishappcningoutsidc then through the subjcctivelensof thc sign(s)or planct(s)in a house. 'nice' someonedoes If Pluto is in the 4th house,errensomething for us in our home might be pcrceivedasdangerous,underhand and threatening.But, most imponantly, the signsand planetsin a housesuggestthe bestand most naturd mannet in which we 'should' meet that areaof life in order to unfold and realizeour 'eachhouscof the inherentpotentiditics. AsDaneRudhyarwrites, chan symbolizesa spccidisedaspectof [our] dbarrna.'6 The HouscsasProcess t theps:rchologist ln a lectureentided'Creatinga SacredPqr-hology', JeanHoustonrelatedan anecdoteaboutthc life of MargatetMead. As a child, Margaretaskedher mother to tcachhcr how to makc 'Yes,dear,but.1'ouaregoingto hara cheese. Her motherreplied, to watchthe calf being born.'Fromthc cdf being bom to making - MargaretMeadwastaughtasachild to do entircp(xesscs, cheese from bcginning,to middle, to end. 'age of Dr Houston laments that we are thc victims of an intcrrupted proces'.!7e tum on a switchand the world is sct in motion. Wc knowa litdc about thc bcginning of thingp;*t knm, alitde aboutthc endof thingp;but nt harrcno idcaaboutthemiddle. It/c harrclost the senseof the nanrral rhythmsof lift. Our curent culnrrc is insufferably imbalanced. Bcforc thc sixteenthcenturythc dominantyorld vicwrzs orguric.Pcoplelircd

SPACE. TIMEAND BOTINDARIES

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closeto naturein small socialgroups,and perceivedtheir own needs assubordinate to thoseof the community. Natural sciencehad its basis in reason and faith, and the material and spiritual were inextricablylinked. By the seventeenthcentury this world view had changeddramatically.The senseof an organic,spiritual universewas replaced by a different notion: the world as a machine, which functioned on the basisof mechanicallaws, and which could bc cxplaincd in termsof the movemcntand arrangementof its rarious pans. The eanh wasno longerthe Great Mother, sentientand alive, but a mechanism,reducibleto bia and pieceslike a clock.Descanes' 'Cogito, famousstatement, ergosam'- I think, therdore I am heralded a major split bctncen mind and matter. Peoplemovedinto their headsand ldt the rest of their bodiesbehind. Fragmentation becamethe rule of the day, and continues to reign even though twentieth-centuryphysicshasshownthetrelationsbip is eaerytbing - that notbing can be understood isolated from its context. Ironically, astrology,the study of nature'scyclesand movements, alsolost its senseof processand its fceling for thc organicwholeness of lifc. The mechanisticworld view led to a belidthat nature could and should be controlled, dominated and cxploited. SimilarlS astrologycameto cmphasizcprediction and outcome at the orpense of an understanding of the dceper significanceof things. Houses weredescribedby keywordsand meaningswhich made them seem asif they wereunrelated to one another,or only looselyconnected. lD0hyis rhe 2nd houseof 'money, resourcesand posesions' follovrcd 'the mind, immediate environment, and brothers by the 3rd houseof 'work, hedth and small animds' and sisters'?rWhyis the 6th houseof 'creative hobbics and spawnedby the Jth houseof self-o
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of origin', the family into which we were born. Planetsand signs in the 4th revealthe atmospherewe felt in that home, and the kind 'scripting' ofconditioning or we receivedthere - the psychological family inheritance.Delving evendeeper,the 4th denotesqualities we carry stemming from our racial or ethnic origins: those aspects of the accumulatedhistory and evolution of our racewhich reside within us. For example,Saturn in the 4th or Capricorn on the IC sometimesderribes a home atmospherewhich wasfelt ascold, strict or unloving, or a backgroundof a long line of staunchconservatives; while Venusin the 4th or Libra on the IC will likely be more attuned to the love and harmony within the early home, and may feel an affinity and appreciationfor thc tradition out of which it hascome. The Moon or Cancerthere blend easilyinto the home environmenr, whereasUranus orAquarius in this position often feclslike a suanger in a strangeland, curiously wondering how it 'ended up' in that panicularfamily. MarcelProust,who in TbeRememberanceofTbings Past uplorcd in unsurpasseddetail his early life and innermost feelings,and thc workingsof memory iaelf, wasbom with the Sun, Mercury Jupiter and Uranus all in Cancei in the 4th. The influence parental figures hara on us is normally amributed to the 4th-10th house axis.Tiaditiondly it has dways made sense to associatethe 4th house(naturdly ruled by the Moon and Cancer) with the Mother, and the 10thhouse(naturally ruled by Saturnand Capticorn) with the Father.Most astrologersw€recontenr with this classfication,but the work of Uz Greenehasshedsomeambiguity in this area.Shc has found from hcr considcrableenperienceand orpertise asan astrologicd consultanrrhat her clients' description of the relationship to their mothers seemedto corelate more closely with the 10th house,while the image of father worked better with thc 4th.2 There aresolid cascsfor and againstboth schoolsof thought. Since the 4th houseis linked to Cancerand the Moon, then it would seem reasonableto assignit to the mother. Her womb wesour origind home, and in infancy we aremore responsiveto the mother's moods and feelingsthan to the father's. The father is rhen connectedto the 10th house,Saturn and Capricorn: after dl, he is normdly the breadwinnerand the one out More the public, and it used to be thc practice that the son follovrcd the father's profesion. Howwer, the opposing argumentsare equdly convincing. Thc Moon is not just mothcr; it is also our brigins' and we inherit our name from the f*her. In this vay, he can be associated with the 4th house.The l0th houseis much more obvious than the 4rh. and the mother is

TFIE IMUM COEU AND TI-IE FOURTI{ HOUSE

t7

much more obviousto the child than the father. The maternity-of like ,ii. frtiia ir a clear fact - up front and publicly recognizable hidden sometimes the lgth house.Paternity iimore speculative, and perhaps€'vena.yt,iry and theiefore maybe better correlated Also, ro the mori hidden and mysteriousIC point and the 4th housc. the.*ildt is usuallv qt{t' i; V.;tem societyat leasi, the mothir'nay-sayer' ot childhood, tne socidizing influence. she is the great watch onc with ihom we spendthe most time and whoserole tt tsto and good is what ov€r us and teach us the difference berween mother the is normdly It *.fpoUi. -d what is bad and not dloqad' *tro'.it..-rrains thc child - the frst major adjustment we.have ro makein orderto conformto societdstandards(saturn' capricorn -and the l0th house). that ir is possibleto fix a view that the 4th isalways ia*'J.[era vice versa.It is saferand io,ft ir alwaysrnother or f;;;;Jil 'shapingparent' - the one perhapsmore accurateto saythat the *ittt *ttom thc child spendsthe most time and who has the most - should bc associatcd ttte child to soci.e-ty i"fil;;;"a"pting 'hidden Parent" the one who with the t0th house;iandrhe more quanttly-'should known a of much is les visible and who is not so with a client tdking practice, after b. .orrrr.o.d to the 4th house.In which to guess as educatcd Pgelt th..rttolog.r can formulate an client's U.ir"st ,o'*hi.h house.For instance,if I ascenainthat the with an Aquarius Moon and I find Gemini on Afi;;";;Gemini ,ft. Ji."i't fC and Uranus in the 4th house, it would -se5m-lifely ,rr", ,rr. 4th house,in this case,is an aPt descriptionof the father. Not all charts make it this easy,howerrcr' (be it It is imponant to remembei that placemens in the 4th was actudly the.parcnt the'ay *oitt.t or'father) may not describe the experienced child the which in way as a person,but iarhir the 4 child's the parent-imago, the what is known u'liaditional o"r.'n, t"?? ps'ychology.normdlfupn3ys ittUo. i-rge of the parent. the the view thlt if somithing goeswrong betweenthe parent and places asuology pqrchological .o"trast' 6y .nita, i it ,fte parent'sfiuli; the at leasrhalf oithe rcsponsibility on the child for orperiencmg to house 4$ (assuming orample panicularrrray. For o"t.", in a 4t most will be 4th in the Situm *ittt girt f,..6; fathcr;, a little will ;.-rp""ri; ;.'the Saturiine side of her father's nature. Hc with associated those than other qualities or6U"Ut, orhibit many tdil.fr.,ypJ

pri".rpt., but thechildin quesdonwillselcctitely'scrrcnty-firrc ;;;;t*;;;y'th.Sr'r.r-traits.Thefatheimayut-"^T--{!lj per cent tol Per cent of the time, but the twenty-tive

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THE TWETVEHOUSES

which he is cold and critical will be what the daughter registers. More often that not there is a collusion betweenthe parentd image in thc child's chan and key placementsin the chan of the parcnt. Forinstance, the chan of the girl's fathcr with Saturnin the 4th may show the Sun in Capricorn, Capricorn ascending,or a Sun-Saurn conjunction. Howwer, errenif her father's chan is not that closea descriptionof the placemenc in lrer 4th house,the predilectionto seea parent in a panicular w:ryoften hasthe effect of turning the personinto what is being projectedonto him. If shekeepsreacting to her father asif he is an unkind persone\rcnwhen he is displaying love and generosity,erantudly he might become so frustrated that he turns sour toqrardsher or giras up and aroids hcr altogether. And 'The then the little girl saysto herself, cad - I knew he waslike that all along.' But washe? lWeare born with rhc barebonesofcenain innatepredispositions and orpectations, but the orperienceswe harrcaschildren add layers upon layersof flesh to these.\U(/e interpret the environment in a cerain way and then form concreteattitudes about oursehasand life but there' in generd bascdon theseperceptions.The litde girl we harrc been discussingwith Saturnin the 4th dready hasa few oristentid life-statementscoming to the fore 'hther doesn'tlorc me' and 'Pather is a cad',to narne but rwo. Shewill caffy thescinside her evenafter she hasdepaned from the parenral home where they will blossom 'Men into more full-blown attitudessuchas, find mc unwonhy and .All unlouble' and men arecads'.Becomingconsciousof the origins of these attitudes allowsfor the posibility of changing them, or finding other waysof organizing orperience.Delving into the 4th house,which showsthe archetypesacti%ted in the earlyhome life berweenourselvesand the parent in question, can grcatly aid this process. The 4th house, in addition to describingour inherited origins and that which residesdeep within us, is associatedwith the home basein generd. What kind of atmospheredo we createin the homc? \7hat do we aftract to ourselvesthere?What qualities in thehomc environment do we most naturdly resonatewith? Thesequestions can be answeredby oramining thc planea and signs in the 4th. 'in T. S.Eliot writesthat my beginning is my end.' The 4th house. depictsour origins but it is alsoassociated with how we end thingp. 'enact The manner in which qleultimately resolrcan issueor a closure' will bc related to placementsin the 4th. Venus there ends things neatly and fairly, all tied up in a pretty bundle. Saturnmay prolong or bcgrudge an ending. The Moon and Neptune often slip away

TTIE IMUM COEU AND THE TOURTI{ HOUSE

'go whileMarsandUranus out witha bang'' andpeacefully, quietly ^ halt thc conditionssu'ounding thesecond 1.friatn aisosuggeits lvlany end' the at out of lift. !0hat is riJst deepwithin us comes or rotin and perhapsmovedbv the deathof a ;i;; tft;it; "i. ofour monaliryandconscious '6;il;. , *itt U*otie in r.asinglyavare "*.ri tr litt ti-.,o *"t,i. bn thisbasis,wemaywillingly.makl 4ndventour innermostneedsencl morespacein our livesto express of life is a prercquisitefor f..fi"g'r. Funhermore,she&orperience soit isnotzurprisingth1 9urdeepcstandmostintimate ;|f-J;;ty, motiradonsmay not emirge until the later years'One,extreme rn whrcnPeoPre illustrationof this is the dcath-bedcontessron, theyhavekept which ;;;i."llydisclose-truths aboutthemselves guardedfor decades. "-*y.toan.rapy, self-reflecrion, rariousforms of meditation-rrfrit s whichtakesus into ourselves bring4th housegnergies aveiltDleto to'the *.f".. and can makethesemorcconsctortsl! there' what's.down in life. Ratherthan neglecting ;;;.k;;[er sooner house this in placements to dealwith difficult i, i, up "a"ir"Ute hter. The 4th house,iikt our Pa$, dwayscatches ;;;;,t; with us.

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THE FIFTH HOUSE

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Tiuly,I sayto you,unlessyouturn andbccomelikc children, you will neverenterthe kingdomof heaven' Manhewrg:3

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In thc 4th, we discoverour own discrereidentity, but in the 1th we revel in it. The fire of the lst house burns without evenknowing it is buming; the fue of the 5th ragesconriously and isjoyfully fanned by the sclf. The nature of life is to grow, and this house(naturally associatedwith Iro and the Sun) rcflectsour urge to expand, to becomemore and more. and ro radiate out into life like the Sun. By thc time we reachthe 5th house,we nov/ know that we are not 'a everything;but we arenot contentjust to be somegns'- qrernusl lWeare not all there is, but we can try to be be a specialJorTueone, the most important rhing there is. The function of the Sun in our solarsyscemis rwofold: it shines, giving warmth, heat and life to the eanh, but it alsoservesas the centralorganizingprinciple around which the planea orbit. In this 'I', sense,the Sun is like thc personal ego or the the centre of consciousness which the diffcrent aspects of the selfrevolve. around Individualswith strongplacemenr in the )th panakeof the qudities of the Sun. They need to shine and createfrom inside themselves; they need to feel influential; and they need to feel that othersare revolving around them. To some this meansliterally alwaysbeing the cenrreof attention - a cravingto be worshippedlikc thc Sun. One woman I kncv with the Sun and Marsin the 5th couldn't tolerate being in the sameroom with the televisionon, becauseit meant that othersin the room might focuson it rather than her. We must remember that the Sun, although vitally central and imponant, is not the only Sun in the galaxy- it is just one of many.The words 'everybody is a star'. of a popular song remind us that

t111il .i Lrii

5ttr Embedded deep in our psyches,and rwerberating througtrout be recognizedfor our spe-cialnes. the ith houscis an-innatedisire to'curer' ot rnore spell-binding and As childrcn, we believethat the Mother want to loveand will cenainly captirating we ate, the more our unique rahrc othcrsvith p[i..i us]Enslavingand enchanting caredfor' protected, fed, *I ar. lrrd *onh is one way of cnsuring alive. to stay -and therefore more likely ilotlr;r k ynoteof the Jth is ginerativity - which simply de{ined 'the ability to produce'ITheserwo principles, the need.to means be lorad for our specidnessand the desire to createtrom rnslde with thc lth ourselves,underfiimost of the traditional associations house. The lth housc is the area of the chart attributed to creatira most obviously with anistic.endea\tours,although the opt "ion, ,ne lth neednt be just painting a picture or performing .rJ",i"iry to ther "f a dance.'scientistsor mathematicianscanapply themsehres 'lhe Pavlom' or a Picasso as plTion or ananistry great work with as

;[;;;Jpt"it."

i" thelth stridtigtrto."+: posible""'!",-!1 Mcrcury or C'emini in thc 5th may denote a talent

crltira orprcsion. for writing or public speaking;Neptune or Piscesmay be absorbed

andraurusmight ;i,h ;;i?, d.,ry, phbtogr"ihyoidance.Cancer JiUii a fliir foi iookiig;'*ftil. Virgoin this positioncanbe

morethan orccptionallyadeptat sewingandhandiwork'Hon'ever' here placements a.*iiUitg Jnich creativeouil.t weengage.il,the ptece ot susqestti.- *oort, md stylewith whichit is pursued'-A or Uranus) or .iii. ."n be an intellerti^l' too, deforce(Mercury peopte Some comcstraightfrom the hean (Moon or Neptune)'

I 62

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producespontaneously and joyfully,while otherssufferextraordinary binh pangs.Above and beyondpurely creariveexpression, this is the houseof the actor,and depictsthe way in which we tacklethe an of living. One client with an obviouslth houseslantdescribed 'professional herselfasa person'- and shedid not intend this solely in terms of career. The creativeoutlets associatedwith the lth also include spons and recreation.Forsomeit is the challengcof athletics,the contesr and competition, thc joysof winning and coming first. For orhers, it is the sheerecstasyof orenion and the pitting of the self againsr the elements or odds. Similarly, gambling and speculation are assignedto the lth aswell - wherewetestour wit and imaginadon against fate and chance. The lth house is more broadly associatedwith hobbies, arnusementsand spare-timepleasures.Theseall soundteribly lowkeyfor a houscruled by the Sun and [ao. Hoqr\rcr, upon oraminarion, they are more imponant than they first appear.Thc lth describes activitieswhich makeusfeel good about ourselvesand makeus glad to be alive. Hobbics and spare-time amusemenrs afford the opponunity to panicipate in what we want and like to do. Through thesepursuitswe feel the joy of beingfully inaolaed in somcthing. Unfonunately, many of us havecareersor jobs which do not entail this degree of engagcment. There is a great danger that our enthusiasmand vitality rrould run dry unlesswe had spare-time inteteststo rechargeand reinvigorateourselrres. In this lighr, hobbies and amusementsharrc an almost therapeutic effcct. The word 'recreation' literally meansto make new, to revitalize and inspire with life and encrgy.Planes and signsin the Jrh suggestthe types of spare-timepursuits we might ocplore,and thc manner in which this is undenaken. Romancefinds its wayunder the heading of the 5th house.Besides being exciting, passionate,heart-wrenchingor whatever,romantic lWebecomethe main encountersenhanceour senseof specialness. focus of attention for somcbodyelse'sfeelings and we can display our very speciallove to someoneelse.Placementsin the lth reveal 'create the way in which we romance'- the archetypalprinciple(s) most likely activatedin thescsituations- aswell assomethingabout thc kind of person who ignites us. Sexual expressionis also linked to the 5th. A good sexrd relationshipcontributesto our rnse of povrcrand qronh,highlighting both our ability to give pleasureand the capacityto aftract others to us. This powerto enchantand hold the atrention of othersis very

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THETWELVE HOUSES

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THE FIFTH HOUSE

6'

insdnca, (Corypare reassuringand sad$es deeply embedded*yi*l gth personal boundarics our transcend to weseek where this to thl through intimacy.) Allitris leadsio one of the main representationsof the lth children, crearionsof the body and thl physicalextensionsof the self. Most people primarily exPresstheir creative drives (and symbolically cniure-thcir survival; through generating offspring' riznl. thc 4th and toth housesindicate how we view our parents, constellatedbetween placementsin the 5th describethe arche-types planets here reflectwhat our and signs children. ourselncsand our from other houses, examp-les with line In to us. progeny mean varietyofways'-For a interpreted.in can be house pl".".-.ttrt in this 'instance, produceJupiterian.children literally may in the 'th Jupiter - thoseLoin ,rnder the sign of Sagittariusor wirh Saginariusrising orJupiter conjunctat angl. or thi Sun, etc.Or we canunderstand encounterJupiter ;upiter in the lth to mean our prcdispositionto or are prone children our onto projectJupiter we life: of area init "t of their other any than strongly more side theirJupiteiian to register in the role of experience our describe also in tihe Planets lth traiti parenr. satum there may be tenified of the responsibilityof parcnting that they won't be good at it. Uranus' idea of bringing "ft"ia ""a may embracethe most new and avant-gardetheories children up subject. the on More than just describingexternalchildren, thc lth housecould - that pan aptly be called the house of out own Inner Child 9f ui *tti.h lovesto play and which dwaysstayseterndtf f9t"tg.. trttt* us all is rporrt"tt.orrs, natural child who cravesto be lovedfor his " specialnesand uniqueness.However,aschildren, this or her own^ pan of us is often quashed.lbobften, we are lovedfor conforming and matching np to our parents'orpectationsand standards,rather In this way,we losefaith in our budding than for bein-gwho *. "ti.. individuality-"nd b..o-e what liansactional Analysisrefersto as 'thc of our own adapted child'. Inrnriably, we will Pfoject the state 'the daryag-ed inner child onto our actual offspring. \fe can heal child, in ourselvesby giving the tb'e and acceptancewe weredenied aschildren to our own progenyor other young peoPlewe encounter' Howerrcrwe do it, it is nevertoo late to hara a hapPy chtldhood' sre augmenr and enhanceour unique identityand orerciseour through the creativeoutpbutings.of tlre tth' As a,b.y*,tr pdt product, we may errcngeneratesrunning works of art, wofthwhile ^new books and-ideas,1r interesting children who in somc way conuibute to society.Bcnefiting society,howerrcr,is not the main

64

THETOqELVE HOUSES

concernof this house.\Titnes the reluctancemany people harrcto releasingeither thcir worksof an or their children into the world. In the 5th, wc createprimarily for ourselves,becausethe self takes joy and pride in doing so,and becauseit is in the nature of the self to create.

8.

TI{E SIXTH HOUSE A monk toldJoshu:'l havejusrcnteredthe monastcry. Please teachme.' 'Haveyouearenyour asked: riceporridge?' Joshu The monk replied:'l haveeaten.' 'Then you had betterwashyour bowl.' Joshusaid: A Zen story The main problem with the 5th houseis a tendencyro 'go overthe top'. lWedelight in self-expresion,but we don't know when to stop. In the ith housewe no longer believeweore everything,but westill think wc canbe or do znything. The 6th housefollowsthe Jth and reminds us of our natural boundariesand the need for clearerselfdefinition. Like the philosophy of Zen, the 6th houseasksthat we 'perfection respectand regain the of our original nature',I that we becomewhat we aloneare(no more, no less),and that we live this in our everydaylives. Our true vocation is to be ourselves.

6ttr

66

TTIET\UTELVE HOUSES

Thc 6th house shakcsa finger at the lth and retons: Very well, it's wonderful to give orpressionto your creativeflair, but haveyou really done it thar cleverly?That painting is not quite right yet and you've orhausted yourselfstaying up rwo nights working on it. or Sure, you are having quite a sizzling romance, but have you examincd the practicalitiesof this asa long-term relationship - not to mention the fact you can't stand the after-shavehe wears? or Congratulations, you've had a baby girl. Now adjust your scheduleand life to her and keep thosecleannappiescoming. or Rememberthat pany lastweekwhereyou really let yoursclfgo? tVhcn you look back,don't you think you might haveoffended that shyboy in the cornerwho didn't errcnharrea chanceto spcak becauseyou monopolized the conversation? The time hascomero takestockof ourselves,to dirriminate between priorities, to assessthe use we are making of our power and capabilities,and aboveall, to recognizethe limits and truth of our own nature and humanity. Tiry,r it may, a pear seedcan neverbecomean apple tree. Nor should it, if we believeas Kieikegaarddid, that 'to will to be the self which one truly is, is indeed the oppositeof dcspair.'2The 6th houseis all about stickingto our plan and blossominginto precisely what we are meant to bc. Doing this feelsright and good. But the consequences for not respectingthe truths of our own nature ale stress,frustration and dis-easemessengers tclling us that somcthing is awry and needsto bc oramined. 'Reality has both a "within" and a "without".'3 The 6th house exploresthe relationship ber,weenwhat we are inside and what surroundsus on the outside - the correlation betweenthe inner world of mind and feelings and the outer world of form and the body. The traditional6th houselabels, 'health, work, service,and adjustment to necessity',all stem from this bodymind connection. It is a basic fact of existencethat life has to be lived within

THE SD(TH HOUSE

67

boundaries.No matter how divine or wonderful we think we ate, wc sdll have to eat, brush our teeth, pay bills and cope with the necessitiesof cveryday,mundane redity. Funhermore, eachof us hasa panicular body, a pafticular mind, and somepanicular task 'designed' in a cenain way to servea PurPose to perform. lUTeare or function specificd in our own individud make-up and nature. Nobody canfulfil that purposebetter than ourselves.We servebest by being who we are. Through the necessaryadjustments and refinements of the 6th house,we becomewhat we done can be. 'work is the rent wc Pay for lifc.' For Somebodyonce said that many of us, work is something ue baaeto do in order to suPport daily existence. Daily employment also implies roudne and adjustment. \7c have to arive there more or lesson time, and we cannot be asfree and spontaneousaswe might like with our lives if we know the alarm clock is set to ring at seventhe next morning. rUTehave to structure our dme, establish priorities, and make dispensations.In one way,the need to follow a rigid schedulehelps to order and pattern life. We escapethc existentialanxiety which freedomof choicemight provoke:wehavea job and we know where we must be. Idealljt, however,the work-forceis composedof raried individuals eachperforming thc panicular skills they havedevelopcdbest.The end result is a perfectlyfinished product or the maintenanceof the proper functioning of society.Planes and signsin the 6th describe isues reladng to work and employment, and suggestthe tasksthat wecan potentidly do most well. Placementsin this housemay rwed the natureof our jobs -Jupiter or Sagittariuscould be a uarcl agent, the Moon or Cancerlook aftcr children, and Neptune or Piscesdraw pints at thc local pub. But much more than describingthe type of employment, the placementshere suggestthe way in which we approach(or should approach)doing the iob - not just ubat we do, but hou we do it. For instance,thosewith Saturn or Capricorn here may prefer a stablejob with clearlydefined requirements,at which they can work slowly and steadily;while thosewith Uranus and Aquarius in this housenormally hate to punch a clockand would much rather work without a bosslooking over them. The nature of relationshipswith co-workcrsis alsoshownby 6th houseplacements.Venusor Ubra heremay fall in lora with someone at work, while Pluto or Scorpio stirs up intrigues and complo< 'naturally squared' the 3rd (seepage encounters.The 6th houseis 'unfinished around sibling and early pcer business' 121) and relationshipsmay resurfacewith co-workers.

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THE T\UUELVE HOUSES

HOUSE THESTXTH

ThLroughemployment situations,we find ourch'es in relationships of inequality. Thiny peoplemay bc working under us, and wemay, in turn, be subordinateto thiny others.How wecopewith dispcnsing authority, and how we managein the more subservienrposition is shown by the 6th. It is a kind of rehearsalfor the reladonshipsof equality we form in the 7th house. The 6th house also describesour relationship to the mechanic who works on our car, our doctor and his or her receptionist,the milkman - in fact anyonewho is servingusin someq/ay.Conrrrsely, 'a our own qualities as server'and our deeperfeelingsand attitudes regarding serviceare shown by placementshcre. This is not to be taken lighdy, asmany peopleview humiliw and serviceCIthe pinnade of human endeavour- asthe path to God and more enlightened statesof being. The way we use our time and the kind of atmospherewe need in order to function happily in daily life is shownby the 6th. Signs and planets in this housecolour the energieswe bring (or should bring) into everydaytasks and how we approach the rituals of 'white mundane existence. Marsin the 6th may cleanthe houselike a tornado',while Neptune is still trying to rememberwhereit left the moP. Pets- who arearound us in our everydaylife - aredso assigned to the 6th house.This may seema trivial considerationand yet a good number of peopleareprofoundly affcctedby their experience 'hook' of caring for animals. Pets can be the for any variety of projectionsand for somepeople their_relationshipto their dog or cat is asimponant aswith anyhuman. In cenain cases,pets:rssuage what would otherwisebe an unbearablesenseof lonelines or feelings of uselesness. The lossor deathof a belovedanimd canrigger many psychologicaland philosophical issues. Thereis an obviousrelationbetweenwork and health - the other major concernof the 6th house.Although the dominant work ethic of rVesternculture may seemextremeor easilyabused,nonetheless the need to be productive and useful is somehowbasicto human nature. Overworkstrainsthe hedth, while too little work can leave us listlessand lethargic.Redundancynot only deprivcsusof a source of income, but alsoa sourceof a senseofwonh and purpose.Studies haveshownthat the number of rcported illnessesincreascsin areas where the uncmployment rate is rising. Conversely,some people will use illnessas a way of escapingfrom a job they hate or which doesn't suit them. The 6th houseconcernforcraftsmanship,perfectionand technicd

proficiencyappliesto issuesof health aswell aswork. Optimally the body i, fineiy mned mechanismwherethe different cellswork for " of the largerorganism.Eachcell is an entity in itself and the good 'do its thing' yetCachone is pan of alargu system.Each-cell must whole' greater the of demands the to submii must;bo Lut each individual each. society) (as healthy in a person In a healthy componenrassensrmelfand yet worksin harmony with the other .o-pon.tt,t. The 6th houseasksthat we bring our different pans - that is,our mind, body and feelings- into a harmoniousworking rclationship. Many individuals with 6th house placementsare especially degree'In interesiedin health and fitness,some to an obsessive extremecases,specialdiets and techniquesfor maintaining.the optimal functioning of the body dominareand structurethe life, liaving litde time for anyrhingelse. Horrever,many-orcellentttealers with traditional havea 6rh houseemphasis,and ir canbe associated herbalism, osteopathy, medicineaswell at.ir..rs in homoeopathy, massage,etc. It hL aheadybeenmentionedthat the body,mind-andemotions operateas a unit. \fhat we think and feel will affect the body' the stateof the body will influencehow we think and Conversely, feel. Psyihe (mind) and sonza(body) are inextricably linked' physiologicaland chemicalimbalances,give rise to psychological proUt.,,'i, while emotional and mental turmoil can manifestin physical symptoms.The 6th housemay revealsomethingabout the 'unh"rryi"g of i9Tai" illneses.Sarurncould significance p^rychological in meeting everydayhje, aswell asarthritis. Mars indicaic "ligiaity in the 6th nrihesinto life, *or1*' itseif to a frazzlc,only to bediagnoscd later with high blood-pressure.However,it is an over-srmplficadon to referto rh16th houseonly in relationro health. TheAmerican Book of Natrition ond Medical Astrology by Eileen ftly"ll San Diego, California) (publis'hedby Astro Compudng Services, and is highly depth, great in medical ir"-in.t "sttoiogy recommended. Through 6th houscissueswe refine, p!{ect and purify ourselves, 'channel'for being who.weare'\We and ultiriately becomea better could be rhe mosrwonderfullyinspiredartisr(1th house)b_utunless we learn the toolsof the craft (6th [ouse) - the right useof brushes, paints and canvas- we won't be able to concretizeor realizeour 'techniqueis the liberationof thc iosibiliries. Ir hasbeensaidthat imaginadon'.Theseare true watchwordsfor the 6th house' of our unique individuality and \fie embarkon life unconscious

68

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TI{E TIrEIIYEHOUSES

by the end of the 6th houscwe harc a much more dcfined sensc ofour on'npanicularidentity andpurpose.Likethe 3rd house,the $h houy.emplqn the left brainactivityof reducingthingsto parr. The problem with the 6th is that we end up seeingthe-worldroo mrclt in termsof 'what is me' and 'whet-isnot-me'.IThen we characterize oursehres by thoscfeatureswhich distinguishus from - our weight,height, skin colour,job, car,hJuse- weare 94.11 left with the feeling that there is an absoiutedistinction between who we areand who other pcople arc. !flhile it is thc purposeof thefirstsixhouses to makeusmorefullya*are ofourselrts^as*pmt. individuals,it remainsfor the lastsixhouses(the 7th to the Uth; to reunite us with othcn again.Otherwisclift is aurfullyloncly.'

9.

THE DESCEI\DANTAND TI{E SEVENTHHOUSE Dri,ren by the forceof lovethe fragments o{the world seekeach

otherthattheworldmavcomc Ti:rlJit?in"rddcchardin 'rhe personalhouses" The 6th houseis the last of what is known as and representsthe refinementof the individual personalityttTo$\ work, scrvice,humility and amendonto crrcrydaylifc and th9 Rhnicd body. tking a microscopeto lifc, thc 6th housc analysesand categorizesiI into diffcrent parts, giving.each.panits app.rop.riate placc and purpose. \7e now know preciselyhow we difter trom 'cverybody and everything else.But, by thc end of the 6th house, we have grown t.p"t"ti from one another as life will allow, and "r learn:that nothing existsin isolation.\rhcn wehavea-newlcsson-ro we arrive at the Descendant,the westernmostpoint in the chan, we turn a sharpcornerand find ourselvesheading backagainto the point whereit all staned.It will be thc work of the 7th to 12thhouses ro reconnecrusoncemore to the lost senseof our unity with all life . The Descendantis the cuspof the 7th houseand thc point oPposlte 'point the the Ascendant.Traditiondln the Ascendantis considered 'the point of and rhe bescendant is considered of self-awareness' of others'.It describesour approachto relationshipsand awareness the qualities(alongwith the planetsin the-7th)that wea-relooking for in a parrner.Michael Meylr in z{ Handboohfor the Hu.manistic Astologer also writes rhat the Descendant(and .the 7th house) denoreithe kindsof activitiesthat givethe individud the experiences 'he needsin order to realisethe significanceof others''' 'the house of Similarly, the lst house is traditio-nallyknown as '. labelled is lst, from the the self The 7th house,which is the fanhcst 'the '. ,rhe marriage' of house as houseof the not-self It is alsoknown ,the houseof open enemies'.Marriagehereis taken and curiouslyas

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THE T'IOTEIVE HOUSES

7+n :o q:a" anyimpoftant relationshipbasedon murual commitment, legally contractedor orherwise.I'the 7th house,rwo people come togerherfor a purpose - ro enhancethe quality or in.ii lives by joining with one another,to producea famity ind g.;in grearer security and stability, and to assuagelonelinessand isJatio"n Most.astrologicaltortbooks teach that the planets and signsin . thc 7th housedescribethe ma'iage panner,or 'ihe significant6ther'. This is rrue asfar as it goes.plaiements in the Tttioften indicate the.kindofpanner(s)towhom we areaftracted.br instance,, -"n with the Moon in the 7th may '.ek a pannerwho reflectsthe qualiriis of the Moon: someonewho is re.epiiue,compassionat. "nd."tirr!. A wornan with Mars in the 7rh rrny be attraited ,o p*n., *lio " qualities the of Mars: someone who is assenivi,direct and 1eflec-ts forceful. Shemay be looking for someoneto make decisionsfor her and to tell her what to do.If there area number of planetsor different signs(asin rhe case of an interceptedhouse)in the 7th, the issueian'be.o-. u.ry confusing.becausewe are looking for so many different kinds o? anributes in apaftner. br e.xample,should a woman harreboth Sarum and uranus in the 7th, sheis.scekingsomeoneto offlerstability and security(saturn) and yet at the sami rime sheneedssomeonewho is unpredictablc,orciring and highly individualistic(Uranus).These rwo setsof qualitieshardly live comfonably togethei in oneierson. she may marry Saturn first, becomedreadfufy restressand bored, meet someoneUranian and file for a divorce.or she mav remain married to Saturnand harc an affair with Uranus.Or sh. -"y -".ry uranus first, di'orce him on accounr of his unstable and'erratic

HOUSE AND TT{ESEVENTH THEDESCENDANT

7'

charactet,and then breathing a sigh of relief settledown safelywith Saturn. Or, if sheis somewhatmore psychologicallymatute, shecan marry Saturn and find ways which are unthreatening to the relationshipto satis$ her needfor Uranus,or evenderalop it more in herself.Orshe canmarry aUranian man and provide the Saturnian securityherself in the pannership. More than just describingthc nanrre of the Paftner, signs and planets in the 7th suggestthe conditions of the relationship: thc archetypesconstellatedby the union itself. Saum therecould indicate a union basedon duty and obligation. Marsin the 7th is prone to 'love' into mariage, tempestuous.battles, ar first sight, -$i"g passionatereunions,and then more battlesagain.Anhur Rimbaud, the Frenchpoet shot by his lorrcrVerlaine,had o

Howard Sasportas - The Houses

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