Creative Connections & Client Communications

The 12th House

Here are just a few insights drawn verbatim, but shortened, from The Creative Astrologer, pages 190-191, continuing from last month’s presentation, about the 12thHouse, the House that is so difficult for us in astrology:

Creative Connections: The 12th House (part 2)

With Neptune arcing down to the Ascendant from within the 12th House, what kind of suppression might occur? Because of what in the family? What House does Neptune rule? Might that be the root of the wiped-out feeling that will register after, say, five years of age (an arc of more than 5 degrees)?

Uranus arcing to the Ascendant (or the transit of Uranus to the Ascendant) is going to suggest horoscope responsiveness in terms of self-assertion (that which usually challenges relationship). What did the early move, if there was one, do for personality development? Did it open up new opportunities or uproot something that was going along very smoothly? What about peer-group ties at this time? If this thinking starts to reveal an extended pattern of uprooting, of breaks (a military-family child, for example), are there links through aspects to the 7th House? Could there be a complex forming about abandonment, about nonpermanence? All of this is reasonable out of growth patterns from the early conditioning.

Early-life tensions, especially before clear self-consciousness and verbal abilities, will often be focused in illness. The tighter the conjunction to the Ascendant, the more reliable an early health crisis is. Extreme closeness seems to correlate often with adoption, i.e., the dissolution of the mother-father relationship before or at birth, or enormous family tension at the time of birth. Remember: the natal horoscope is a transit record in the lives of the parents.

Quindecile measurements into the 12th House or with the ruler of the 12th House, regardless of the planets involved, can often suggest the avenues of illness-buildup later in life. What are the Houses ruled by the planets making such an aspect? If Uranus is involved, the fight for individuation seems to be highlighted. What makes this happen developmentally? Why might there be such a struggle? Is there competition from the mother (in a female horoscope, Pluto Square, conjunct, or opposed the Moon)? Is there smothering from the mother (in a male horoscope, Pluto square, conjunct, or opposed the Moon)? Is there a blanket over the potential individual bloom? (Pluto square, conjunct, or opposed the Sun)? Is the Nodal axis on the horizon or configured strongly elsewhere, suggesting the maternal influence?

Venus in the 12th ãWhat is this Îprivate sense of beauty I see here in the horoscope? How does it get in the way of easy enjoyment, more frequent fulfillment? Why do you think you are so very hard to please? How do you explain that to others? What if it were NOT that way?ä With Mercury and/or the Sun involved nearby, it is idealism. What does the idealism defend against? What is the condition of the 2nd House, the planet ruling the cusp, especially?

Look for a square aspect from a planet in the 12th to the Midheaven, not only to link up a parent with problematic concerns but, as well, to link a need-fulfillment press in the 12th to an outlet in the profession.

With the Moon in the 12th, we can expect a behind-the-scenes nature, a consultant posture, someone most comfortable once-removed from the line of action. Why is that probably so? Why is the sensitivity so ãdark blueä?

In critical illness, there is simply no doubt that the 12th House is key. The 12th House and the Ascendant, as the health center, are clearly involved (along with Pluto, natal, transit, or arc), in critical illness more so than any other House or planets. Critical illness begins with developmental deficits accumulated from earliest life.