Houses 4- 6...
4th House: Home, Roots, and Your Inner Mother & Nurturer
The 4th house is ruled by Cancer and the Moon, the planet of our subconscious. This is a very significant house, as it relates to our home and roots; the emotional, spiritual, and psychological, as well as the physical, forces that influence us all the way from childhood to our adult lives. (The other planetary aspect linked is the Imum Coeli {IC}, which is known to many as the nadir.)
The 4th house is your foundations, security, roots, home, and susceptibility to your inner mother and caregiver. Feminine energy is the predominant force. All matters of security, privacy, and self-protection come under the 4th house, in addition to how much value you put on home and roots. This house covers what your inner drives and desires are, as well as how much you steer towards having a strong foundation and home- or how much you steer away from it, such as preferring more alternative living arrangements, travel, and so forth. This house lies right at the bottom of the wheel, which signifies a strong grounding force and energy, despite Cancer being a water sign.
Questions like, ‘do I require a stable and loving home environment, or do I prefer more freedom and movement?’ ‘Do I truly value having roots, family bonds, and long-term connections?’ ‘Am I open to change and movement or do I value routine and stability as a priority?’ ‘What are my needs within a loving and stable home environment; do I know what I desire emotionally, spiritually, and so forth?’ ‘Am I more of a caregiver, breadwinner, protector, provider, or team-player- do I receive more than I give, or am I balanced?’ are all covered and should be reflected on.
How able and willing you are to transcend comfort zones and venture out further afield is presented in the 4th house. A strong 4th house signifies an individual who thrives in stable home environments, who equally has a harmonious and self-assured disposition. There’s a great balance of healthy attachment and a need for connection combined with independence, self-autonomy, and the ability to provide for oneself (as well as others). A weaker 4th house or someone with no planets in the 4th house shows a codependent, weak-minded, and hyper-emotional individual who fluctuates between moods; not knowing how to form lasting and secure connections or possibly running away from intimacy, love, and relationships altogether. Or, someone who is frivolous and flighty, preferring a life of adventure, travel, and noncommittal behavior!
Nurturance and feminine energy are associated with the 4th house. This includes your relationship with your mother and yourself as a mother- your inner motherly instincts. Female connections of all kinds also come into the 4th house. How much emotional connection and affection you give, receive, and desire is determined here, further how open you are to feminine energy, romance, sensuality, nurturance, deeper bonding, platonic and sexual intimacy, privacy, and emotional and physical security. There’s a link to female guardian energy too.
Parenting style, approach, and technique is shown here. Domestic living, respect for practical affairs, instincts to serve and protect, and the openness to provide and care for others are symbolic of a strong 4th house. Ancestry such as wanting to learn about your family history and roots can be shown in the 4th house, as well as foundations that serve your growth and highest potential. The main common theme is emotions and psychological, physical, and spiritual driving forces serving as a doorway (or block) to intimacy, deeper connection, and soul bonds.
Linked to the Moon and subsequent 4th house are astral forces. Subconscious wisdom, the ability to enter into the darkness within and around- the shadow and subconscious realms, imaginative forces and abilities, etheric insights, and spiritual wisdom coupled with higher consciousness are strongly tied into this astrological house. The spiritual, psychic, and intuitive gifts of Cancer signify further themes of the 4th house, while a potent imagination as well as the ability to enter dream states for self-evolution and higher learning are just as accessible.
Childhood experiences shape your approach to parenting regardless of your gender. Even though the 4th house is predominantly feminine with motherly instincts and caring, compassion, and nurturance as key qualities to integrate and realize, all aspects of parenting and support come into this house. How grounded you are coupled with how open you are to material abundance, wealth, and security is a guide to how able you are to provide for others. Also, grounded materialistic living indicates your emotional maturity, stability, and health. At a higher vibration, the 4th house represents an empathic and emotionally balanced individual who is capable of evolved levels of empathic relating and communication. Inner harmony combined with emotional balance over chaotic, dramatic, or destructive emotional behaviors and reactions is the aim of the game.
Finally, this house shows your final resting place later in life. For instance, whether you will die peacefully surrounded by loved ones, in a safe and supportive home environment. Alternatively, the other end of the spectrum is being alone or surrounded by superficial connections; or simply immersed in an alternative, non-traditional, home and living environment. Is it destined for you to lay down strong roots in this lifetime...? Old age is addressed in a subtle way.
Sacredness, heritage, passing down lifelong gifts and wealth to the younger generation, and sharing or teaching family history, new cultural norms, and the wisdom of maturity, age, and experience come under the 4th house’s realm. There’s a sense and theme of “home within” being projected outward to help and serve, or hinder, others. Generational wealth is a final theme.
5th House: Creativity, the Arts, Children, Play, and Romance
The 5th house is ruled by Leo and associated with the Sun. The 5th house represents self-expression, creativity, romance, play, drama, the Arts, theater, fun, and children. Drama of both types, the higher vibrational positive drama and the lower vibrational negative one, are ruled by the 5th house. This is the house where your creative and artistic talents & passions are shown. There is a lightness and fun-loving aspect to this house, so whichever planet lands in the 5th house in your natal chart is shining a light on these qualities.
Media, the Arts, the way you pursue fun and pleasure, entertainment, and romance are part of the 5th house. This includes hobbies, crafts, cinemas, entertainment choices, gambling, movies, plays and theater, and how much or willing you are to engage with children. Whether you have unique artistic skills and imaginative, musical, or creative abilities comes under this house. Drama and theater and associated passions are sparked with a strong 5th house, as is your love of helping, healing, inspiring, educating, or playing with children.
As the house of drama, the positive manifestation is connecting to your life force and expressive, passionate, and excitable nature to create inspiring works of art; or to collaborate with others. Not so positively, a poorly positioned or weak 5th house can create an explosive individual who thrives off of ego, drama, mind-games, chaos, and impulsive tendencies. Arrogance, self-centeredness, and narcissistic tendencies are common with weak placements. Alternatively, there may be a complete lack of interest in creativity, fun and pleasure seeking, and enjoying life’s good grace- interacting with children included.
Creative self-expression and imagination is the main theme and romance coupled with romantic relationships are the other. Your attitude towards platonic and sexual intimacy is determined by the 5th house. For example, do you see love as monogamous or polyamorous? Are you prone to wanderlust and free-spiritedness, or long-term commitment? Do you see relationships as typical boyfriend/girlfriend partnerships, or more soulful connections like lovers and kindred spirits? Do you believe in true love and soulmates.? All of these questions are associated here.
Also, the way you approach intimacy, sexual union, and play is highlighted here. For example, are you quite fiery and electric, direct, and assertive in your love style, or playful and naieve? Are you controlling and demanding- forceful, or innocent? Do you have friends you share romance and chemistry with, or are you more reserved and conservative only showing romantic affections for one partner? How open are you with your feelings and desires? Are you conservative or a bit out of control, reserved or impulsive, etc.? Further, is your sexuality tied into or connected to your creative and artistic passions?! Are you part of a community or social culture and group where more “free-spirited” types of love, or promiscuity, is accepted? Love, romance, platonic intimacy, and friendships are main themes of the 5th house.
How open you are to engage in parties, costume dress-ups, and liberated forms of self-expression are linked to the 5th house as well. The message of the 5th house is: pleasure is a creative act. Creation doesn’t have to be something as major as a book, musical masterpiece, professional project, or film either; it can be something as simple and rewarding as cooking, gardening, writing poetry, experimenting with dance, or doodling in your diary. Pleasure, artistic talent, and imaginative pathways for self-expression and manifestation come in all shapes and sizes… Depending on a weak or strong 5th house, you may be a musical or creative genius, or someone who lacks inspiration (two extremes).
Procreation and children are a final main theme. Ask yourself, ‘do you feel like you want children?’ ‘At what age or life chapter did you discover you’d be suited to having children?’ ‘Is my life purpose entwined with teaching, guiding, or helping children?’ ‘How can I embody my inner child for the best and most joyous life?’ ‘Is my character/personality suited to working with children, or having children, or do my natural gifts and skills lie in other fields?’ ‘How can I teach my children- or the younger generation holistically- the important lessons coupled with the life wisdom they need to grow and prosper?’ Art, culture, dance, literature, music, and imaginative expression are intrinsically tied into your approach to children with the 5th house.
Other themes include love affairs, adopting children, caring for children that aren’t your own, surrogacy, polyamory (conscious sexuality, having multiple partners), adultery, taking bold financial risks specifically linked to gambling, gut feelings regarding love, and recreational activities & hobbies. Additionally, engaging in play for the purpose of emotional enrichment, spiritual progression, and psychological/mental joy are determined by this house. How bold, expressive, and courageous you are to follow your passions and live from your highest joy(s) will be shown and ascertained.
6th House: Daily Work, Routines, and Service; Health and Fitness
The 6th house is ruled by Virgo and the planet Mercury, but with a more earthy and grounded tone (unlike the 3rd house and Gemini, which rules communication and the air element!). The 6th house is your work, service, daily habits, routines, health, and well-being. It’s important to make a quick note that the 6th house is not the same as the work and service shown in later houses, such as with Capricorn’s ruling house, the 10th house, which also symbolizes work and professional matters. The 6th house is solely concerned with the details, including the mundane routines and habits that build up to something long-term and sustainable.
The first main theme is the service or services you offer to society. This includes organization, daily schedules, conscious routines, unconscious habits, work structures, the order you create and maintain to achieve and prosper, and real-world professional and domestic duties. Again, without undermining the 6th house’s significance, it’s all about the ‘small’ as opposed to the ‘big.’ Details, order, and routines that may appear dull or mundane that lead to something greater, with long-term commitment and effort. Discipline, focus, concentration, practical wisdom, commitment, sustainability, worth ethics, respect for material/practical systems and structures, determination, perseverance, and longevity are the higher vibrational qualities and manifestations linked here.
How you engage in work and service to create stability, security, and abundance or prosperity in your life comes under the 6th house. For example, do you feel comfortable working a 9- 5 or office job, jobs that are generally considered boring and traditional? Would you rather dismiss the need for routine and live a more nomadic, non-conventional, or alternative life? Are you happy to repeat mundane tasks? Are you conscious of your work habits?
The second main theme pertains to health and well-being, every aspect of health. Psychological, emotional, spiritual, and physical health and the way you engage in self-care, seek to heal yourself, and so forth are ruled by the 6th house. Sacredness, creating order, cleanliness within and around, and purity are symbolic of this astrological house. A strong 6th house suggests someone who seeks perfection, honors their sacred vessel (their physical body), and has daily self-care and health routines that they stick by. This can range from meditation and yoga to gentle exercise or sports; mindfulness activities that honor psychological health, to practicing greater empathy coupled with harmonious emotions… Also, attending to spiritual health in a number of manners.
Holistic health is an associated topic. Contributing to the well-being of a healthy and harmonious mind, body, and spirit is key to a good or strong 6th house placement. Fitness, diet, lifestyle choices, exercise and self-development regimes, and routines that serve your well-being are key here. You might naturally gravitate towards a Mediterranean, plant-based, or healthy vegetarian diet; you might be intensely drawn to a specific sport or a holistic activity like tai chi or qigong. Cutting out smoking or alcohol might not only be a good choice, but a necessity for optimal living. The 6th house teaches that health is an expression of many underlying forces, so your mind, physical body, emotions, and spirit all affect one another.
The best qualities associated with this house include self-care, respect for order and personal well-being, healthy perfectionism, great hygiene, excellent diet and lifestyle choices, and being practical and hard-working enough to attend to mundane chores and tasks, that lead to future security, longevity, or financial self-autonomy. ‘Jobs’ are aligned to the less desirable experiences that keep you afloat physically; that sustain your material reality and physical existence. It’s not symbolic of a passion-profession, life purpose, or ideal path and service that brings you soul satisfaction or joy.
Attitude towards co-workers and pets is a further meaning. Helpfulness, duties, responsibilities, practical awareness and obligations, whether or not you genuinely desire to be of service (not all of us do!), minor public recognition, and career success on a small scale come under the 6th house’s domain. How well you respond to personal crises as well as reactions and responses on a ground level are presented here as well. Shortcomings, challenges, failures, and setbacks, moreover minor monetary losses and downfalls are reflected in the quality of your 6th house. How you cope in the face of adversity and competition in the work-front too.
Contributing to society from the ‘bottom up’ is also discoverable here. Realizing the sum of your potential through the daily acts of service, respect for routine and order, and taking care of your health and hygiene is accomplishable through the 6th house. At the highest vibration, this house symbolizes an individual who uses personal gifts (in these areas) to then help others, being of service to society and local or global communities through becoming a way-shower, guide, or teacher. Satisfaction and fulfillment can come through the minor activities combined with the smaller details and modes of service.
© GIA KHAY, Ethereal Starseed
