Astrology

Hiding Out in the 12th House

The 12th House in our birth chart is often described in terms that are especially gloomy and fatalistic. It?s been called the house of isolation, karmic debt, confinement, self-undoing, and delusion. Too bad that astrologers sometimes fail to mention that the 12th House also represents spiritual transcendence, artistic gifts, divine inspiration, compassion, and a sense of oneness with humanity. It?s also too bad that those old doom-and-gloom interpretations make most people not want to touch their 12th House with a ten foot pole. Most people are scared of their 12th House or just deeply misunderstand it. The irony is that, for a large part of our lives, this is the essential yet unfortunate role we assign to this house: to be denied, misunderstood, or dissociated from.

Our 1st House is called, by some astrologers, as the house of self. This is not so accurate, in my book, as I don?t believe that the 1st House and the Ascendant exactly represent our sense of self, as this is the Sun sign?s domain. The 1st House represents the persona that we learned to create while growing up. It was this persona that got us the approval that we needed from our early environment, even though it wasn?t necessarily us. It becomes such a go-to manner of behaving and presenting ourselves that we wear it like a second skin. It?s like an actor taking on a role yet getting so lost in it that he identifies with it as if it were him. And like good actors, we toss aside anything that gets in the way of us being convincing in this role that we?ve created.

This is where the 12th House comes in. There are 12 houses in astrology, so this is obviously the last one. It?s a container for everything that has come before it. The 12th House actually precedes the 1st, which starts the wheel all over again. The 1st is supremely conscious and intentional, while the 12th is very unconscious. Therefore, this is where all the ?stuff? goes that gets in the way of the 1st House role that we play. Everyone has a sign on the 12th House Cusp (it?s usually the sign that precedes your Ascendant sign) and many people have one or more planets in this house as well. These represent the traits that go against the Rising Sign character and that your ?director? (typically one or both of the parents) implicitly or explicitly told you to discard.

As children, the approval of our authorities means everything to us. So, discard these traits we do. But, any metaphysician or psychologist worth their salt will tell you that repressed or disowned energies never disappear. They are merely re-energized and projected out into the world. This is what happens to our 12th House sign and/or planets. We disassociate from them and begin seeing them out in the world, instead of in ourselves. It?s not exactly the way in which we project our Descendant and 7th House Cusp sign, which are both opposite the Ascendant. This becomes a clear dynamic that we work through in our relationship to achieve harmony. The 12th House operates differently. On the lower octave, it can make us victims of the traits that put so much energy into disowning.

The Leo Rising individual, for example, might feel as if they?re constantly coming up against the needy, moody negative habits of others, in a way that?s reminiscent of their 12th House Cancer cusp. But, they can actually be the ones who are the constant drain on others, if unevolved, with an endless demand for attention and reassurance that?s not unlike Cancer?s potential for self-absorbed neediness. Someone with Mars in the 12th House might perpetually feel threatened by others? temper or aggressiveness. But, they can unconsciously express their own anger in toxically passive-aggressive ways that make others feel uneasy and drive them away. Then, they feel like ?everyone?s mad at them? for some unknown reason.

When we keep meeting these mysterious obstacles, when we keep finding ourselves at the mercy of some seemingly cruel fate, maybe we need to look inward for the true source of the problem. I think the 12th House is considered the house of isolation because such solitary introspection is necessary to really access the true meaning of our 12th House. The sign and planets here are hiding out and it?s our job to bring them out of the dark and into the light. We must free these traits from their imprisonment and integrate them into our conscious awareness of ourselves. If not, then we?ll receive our karma for unjustly locking them away. If the 12th House represents self-undoing, then this is exactly how. We victimize ourselves through this house. But, we can free ourselves with this house, as well, finding a transcendence that we never knew before.

What I find interesting, in this case, is when a person has a 12th House planet that is conjunct the Ascendant. The expression of this planet will be quite different than a regular 1st House rising planet. A 12th House rising planet becomes a quality that everyone can see except for you, more so than other planets in this house. If you have 12th House Neptune conjunct the Ascendant, you don?t realize how ethereal and compassionate you come off to everyone else. If the 12th House Sun is on the Ascendant, you?re unaware of the fact that you show off a lot. In fact, you might be quite offended when people point out the less-favorable sides of your 12th House rising planet (or, maybe more accurately, the sides that you just don?t like personally). This isn?t how you consciously present yourself and it, therefore, becomes a real blind spot in your mannerisms.

It's important to embrace this planet but also know that it's not exactly made for manifestation in "this world." 12th House planets, whether they're on the Ascendant or not, are otherworldly and mysterious in their expression. So, this is a subliminal energy that you're going to give off. I don't believe that 12th House planets conjunct Ascendant become 1st House planets. That's a little too simple. A planet is in the house it's in. And you'll have a way of projecting this planet's energy strongly toward your environment, once you're conscious of, while still keeping it very elusive and unable to be pinned down by others. It gives you the chance to transcend your environment, carrying yourself and behaving as if you're on another plane altogether. Without embracing the 12th House rising planet, the Ascendant persona merely feels confining, like a prison. Owning this planet in your behavior allows you to reach new heights.

Others with 12th House planets that are not conjunct the Ascendant will engage in this transformational process more privately. But, the process is still the same. Accessing this energy allows you to transcend. It?s a special place that you can retreat into and explore magical wonders that you never even contemplated before. If all of that sounds too trippy for you, then it?s just a sign that you?ve been too conditioned by your ever-practical world to devalue 12th House concerns. But, some of the greatest gifts lie here: the wildly creative visions of an artist, the profound compassion of a healer, the psychic dreams of a clairvoyant. Things that cannot be easily explained or rationalized reside in this house and you must be fully open to this intuitive realm to benefit from it.

Everyone has an ability to access these things. But, if you have a highly emphasized 12th House ? with two or more planets, as well as the chart ruler or Midheaven ruler in this house ? then these phenomena become a very powerful part of your life. People with a strong 12th House are usually very artistic, in some way, and have a deep-seated yearning to reach higher heights than everyday realities allow them to. They also tend to have extremely vivid and predictive dreams, especially if the Moon is in aspect to a planet here and/or placed in this house, to the point where they feel very disturbed, puzzled, or bemused on a regular basis when they wake up in the morning. They are tapped into something unfathomable and need to learn to channel this gift into services that can heal and uplift the world. An overwhelming sense of how we?re all connected as living beings usually drives them.

But, even those with a heavy 12th House can?t totally comprehend or explain their connection to this inner realm. In the end, I don?t think that we?re supposed to understand the 12th House all that well. At least not in that highly logical, cut-and-dry way in which our society expects us to understands things. The best way that we can approach the 12th House is to be completely open to it. The rest will all make sense eventually.

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Astrology