e

The Planets & their Essences 1

JOHN FRAWLEY
RUCIAL to the whole concept of astrology-crucial both for
accurate judgment within it and for undcrstanding how it
.
� ::�:��:;.����� . d
1�:: :��= n�� ��1�:c�:i�fo;,:� :����
g

view, so modem astrologers, rather than stand firm lo thcir know\edge­

tl

the very knowledge that is necessary to prevent thcir craft bcing truly the
baseless superstition that the skeptics proclaim it-havc prostrated thcm­
selves before the false ido] of modem thought (we use the tenn 'thought'
in its loosest possib\c sense) and cast aside the comcrstone around which
the cdifice ofastrology, and ai] traditional thought, is built.
This is not the place for the technical splitting of philosophical hairs,
so we shall paint with a broad brush and describe the traditional model of
the world and ali that is in it as looking somewhat like a fiied egg. ln the
heart of cach object is its cssence; ali around it is its accidcntal fonn. Toe
classic image of essence is as the ldea in the mind of the Divine Archi­
tcct, the accidental form of which Idea appcars to us as an object in the
world. ''The essencc of a thing is tbat which it is said to be per se. ,,i 11tat
is, for example, that quality which would be left if I were to think of my
best friend, but in doing so were to throw out cvcry possiblc adjective
with which I might dcscribe him: that uncatchable 'him-ncss' that would
remain is his essence. Everything, even the most evancscent or intangible
of things, a dream or a passing thought, has its essence; but in general
(unless we be saints and have lntellection) we perceive only the acciden­
tal form.
Essence itselr is imperceptible to us, at lcast with our extemal senses.
The traditional science of physiognomy gives an example of how it can
be seen. As physiognomy exists mainly in a corrupted state, we imagine
thc artist staring hard at bis subject, noting every linc and bump on their
face and calculating the workings of their nature from this. Not so: for in
the tradition, thc artist will stare hard ai bis subject, but then tum away.
Thin which he still sees in his mind's eye when be tums away is thc es­
sencc, from which he will judge lhe person's nature. But this too is an
image of cssence, not essence itself: whatever we think we can see of it is
not it but only its form on some more or lcss gross levei of materializa­
tion. Moreover, it is from this image-not from the pcrson's physical

1 Reproduccd with permission from The Real Astrolu by John Frawley, 2001.
Availnble fromApprcntice Books, 85 Steeds Road, London NIO IIB, England.
gy

www.apprcntice.demon çp.µk
2 Aristotk, Metaphysics, Z. 4.

17
Frawley: The Plmwfs & Their Es�·c11c:es

beauty-tha1 thc character is shown, for il betrays the person's lruc inner
nature.
ln practice, essencc becomes a rclative tcrm. lt is lhe vision in the ar­
chitect's mind's eye, which will, because ofthe naturc of the material, be
impcrícctly manifested. li is also the vision in the building contractor's
mind's eye, and lhe subcontractor's and the bricklaycr's, in each case
being again impcrfeclly manifest in its transition from vision to material
form (wc are carcful nor to say 'from vision to reality', for it is the es­
sence, not lhe material form, that is rea\ity), though inextricably linkcd
withit.
By the early Scventecnth Century, howcvcr, mankind had 'evolved'
enough, or become 'spiritually advanced' enough to forget about es­
sence. ln the brave new world of Baconian science, essence was of no
importance, primarily because of its frustrating refusal to allow itsclf to
be wcighed or measured, and ali that was of conccm was thc mattcr of
quantity. 0n this foundation is our contcmporary world-view made. This
is the altar at which modem astrology worships, although without the
idea of essencc astrology is nonsense.
Without recohrnizing the existence of essence, we are left only with
thc material (and possibly not even that!). Left only with the material, we
cannot possibly providc a convincing explanation for the workings of
astrology, With only the material, wc must follow the scientists and insist
on some more-or-less tangible equivalent of a length of rape betwecn
ourselves and the planeis as thc only means of cxplaining the connec1ion
bctwecn planeis and objects on Earth. As the scientists never tire of
pointing out, this is nonsense (they should know-they invented the
idea).
What are the options? Wc can posit a conscious-planetary­
influence theory, with planetary spirits working on mankind like a co\­
lcction of (exceptionolly hard-working) puppcteers. This is the favorcd
basis of the rcligious assault on astrology, even though there are precious
few astrologers who would accept it. lt is utterly unacceptable within the
tradition. We have lhe physica\ theory, with the planets as inert masses
exerting a pull somcthing similar to gravitntion as they plod along their
courscs. This leads to lhe endless and tcdious debate on the rclativc
gravitational cffects of the planei Jupitcr and the midwife on the newborn
child. There are many modem astrologers who subscribc to some form or
othcr of this theory, usually inventing some as yet undiscovered cosmic
force to draw thc link bctwccn planet and object. As many of these sarne
astrologers are firm belicvcrs in thc astrological influcncc of any number
of half-inch conglomerations of dust floating around the asteroid belt,
therc is clearly an amount of work t'o be donc on dcfining cxactly how
this force operates-and, of course, on finding that it exists. But thc
greatcr numbcr of modem astrnlogers put their faith in Jung's theory of
synchronicity-which is an claborate way of saying, "Let's not think
about it at ali."

18
 Co11siderario11s XVII: I

lf only we still thought in tenns of essence, ali would be so simple.

Ali essence is, esscntially, onc. At a levei further towards us, lower on
the ladder of manifestation, ali essence of like nature is one. ln the same
way that white light is split into light of seven different colors by a
prism, the oneness of esscnce is refracted through the planctary sphcres.
li is as if (and l stress a,\' if) it were divided into seven different-colored
rays, with one color for cach of thc seven planets of the traditional cos­
mos. ln the sarne way that ali things that are red have something in
common (their rcdness), ai\ things whose csscnce is colored by the ray
refracted through 9's sphere share a certain '9-ness'. That is, in their es­
sence thcy a\l share in a certain 9-quality. Ali things that share in this
quality are, in a way, one, rcgardless of wherc they happen to be located.
So if9 moves, all that has this 9-nature will move. There is no causation,
in thc strict sense, as they are ali one; but by looking at 9 we can surmise
what is happening to countless things on Earth that sharc its nature, and
thercby save ourse\ves eountless individual deductions. The Oivine ac­
tion or 'moment' that 2's movement represents does not happen first to 2
and then to '9-nature things', but happens at the sarne time to both 9 and
2-naturc 1hings. Looking at 9 shows us what this is in a much more intcl­
ligiblc and palatable way than trying to deduce it from 9 things on Earth,
in ali their diversity and on all thcir diffcrcnt planes. This unity of es­
sence was indeed described by the ancients as 'planetary rays'; but we
are mistaken if wc take this to mcan something as tangible as a beam of
light or energy: this would bring us back to the impossible grossness of
thc lcngth-of-ropc theory.
Many, many things-approximately one seventh of all that is-are in
their esscnce prcdominantly of 9-naturc, as anothcr seventh share thc
nature of d, another of 1:1, and so fo11h. By determining lhe condition of
2 at any particular time, we can determine thc condition of ali things that
pt1rtakc of her nature. Everything in life is not, of course, divided ncatly
into sevcn discretc categorics, one for cach of the sevcn planets of tradi­
tional astrology; no one thing has its essence of solely one nature: ali is
mixed. Thc modem ehemical theory of lhe clements, which are unablc to
exist in an unadulterated state, is a gross representation of this. 9 rules
young womcn: that is, 'young womcn' is one of the catcgories of being
that partakes of 9 nature; but ali young women do not behave in exactly
the samc way at cxactly thc sarne time. This individual young woman
has a foul temper-she pa11akcs strongly of à' naturc; this one is
grumpy-she partakes of? nature; so their movement according to the
2-natun: of their cssence will be moderated, the one by what her d'­
nature is doing, the other by her ?-nature. This is an extremely simplified
example: evcrything that exists is woven of an immensely comp\ex web
of ali seven principies. The important point is that we are not considering
a relationship of cause and effect: we are considering things moving to­
gethcr bccause they are one.
Thc Doctrinc of Signatures, so importam in traditional medicine, sug­
gests thal, for instance, a plant whosc \caves are shaped like a hcart will

19
Frawley: Thc Planeis & 17,eir Essel/Cl:!l'

have a thcrapeutic cffcct upon thc heart. ln modem terms this is de­
scribcd as lhe plant having an cffcct becausc it looks like lhe heart. ln
traditional tcnns, it has this cffcct bccausc, in its esst:nce, it is of the
same nature as the heart. The physical resemblance is an accidental (in
thc strict scnsc of thc word) manifestation of this sharing of essencc. ln
lhe sarne way, gold and the heart resemble each other, no\ in this instance
in their shapc but in thcir qualities, as they too both partake of the sarne
esscntial nature (in planetary tenns, they share in the nature of thc 0), so
gold is traditionally a medicine for the heart. Modem medicine still re­
gards gold as the most effective treatment for arthritis: this is pure 'cs­
scnce medicine', in this instancc by opposites rather than likes. Arthritis
manifests in satumine fashion, rcstricting and limiting, so the pcrfect bal­
ance to it is a O-medicine: gold.
Science, however, has abandoned the idea of essence; the emphasis
on experiment in modem scientific practice has also distorted our under­
standing of how things happen. Modem science is essentially empirical;
thc nature of thc expcrimcnt is to nonnalizc ali conditions except the one
that the scientist wishes to test (and cxccpt for lime, which the scientist
no longer accepts as having any influence). The scientist ]caves himself
only one variable to examine, and thc conscqucnt one-pointed nature of
cxpcrimcnt has devastatcd our comprehension of causation. Francis Ba­
con, who, more than anyone, stands accused of fathering modem scien­
lific method, himself accepted the primacy of first cause (i.e. the Divine
Will); but lhe importance he placed on the examination of secondary
causes led, owing to thc nature of ali things to slnk to the baser, to the
forgetting of first cause, and the method he fathcred to lhe concentration
on onc and only one secondary cause. The bali goes into the goal; lhe fan
cheers: the bali going into tho::: goal has caused lhe fan to cheer. But there
are many causes for the ían cheering: many reasons why he is there and
not at work, or helping his wife with the shopping; why hc supports this
tcam and not the othcr; why he finds cheering an appropriate response;
and so on and so on. Thc bali entcring lhe goal-or whatever it is in any
situation that the modem mind regards as immt:diate cause-hardly mer­
its the name of cause at ali; it is merely lhe occasion. So why are wc fcd
with so patently superficial a view of reality? Can it be because we can
then be persuaded that drinlcing Whizz-o-Pop will be thc one cause of
our catching the perfect woman, or driving a Hamster 3-litre the sole
cause of our being etemally happy?
Science has abandoned the concept of esscnce, and modem astrolo­
gers, fawning aftcr thcir scicnt-ific masters, havc followcd lhe scicntific
pattem. This Jack ofthc conccpt ofcssence a\so cnab\cs the modem trav­
esty ofastrology to accord bcttcr with contcmporary social ideas.

S
O MUCH for thc thcory. ln practical astrology, wilhout thc con­
siderarion of essence we have nothing. ln immcdiatc practica\
�) tem1s, the first significance of the signs of the zodiac is merely
� as a mcans of location. The signs each represent thirty degrees

20
 Considerations XVII: J

of celestial longitude; so to say "This planel is in T" means simply that it

is in the first 30 º section of the zodiac. To say that it is at 12 º ofT means
that it is twelve-thirtieths of the way through this first 30º section. So the
placement of the planets in the various signs describes their positions
relative to the Spring Equinox (O º T) and relative to cach other. If we
thcn ascertain which degree of which sign is rising ovcr thc castcm hori­
zon at this time in this place, we can tel1 whereabouts in lhe sky all these
planers are at that moment-that is, we can tel1 where ali the various 30º
sections of thc zodiac and thc planets that are in them are placed rclative
to the observer ai this location on Earth. This is what an astrological
chart tells us: nothing magicai, nothing arcane, just that. From this in­
fonnation, we can draw certain conclusions.
Imagine you are enlering a village, looking for your brother.
"Whcre's Bob?" you ask a passer-by. "He's in the bar," the passer-by
rcplies. This is the equivalent of telling you in which zodiac sign planei
Bob is localed. Bul to find him, you still need to know where the bar is
relative to your present posilion: "Where's lhat' ! " you ask. "lt's over
there," lhe helpful passer-by responds. We have now donc lhe equivalent
of drawing an astrological chart, except that the chart locates not only
your brothcr Bob, but also planet Tom, planet Maggie and various others.
From lhis piecc of location finding, wc can draw certain conclusions: as
we have ali seen in thc movies, if we know that Tom is in the bar now,
he couldn't possibly have been at the scene ofthe crime half an hour ago.
And so with aslrological judgmenl: it is just as simple and, for things
celestial, surprisingly down to earth.
As he is your brother, you are we\l acquainted wilh Bob. You under­
sland him. Vou know that hc is a rambunctious, sociable, sensual man, a
genial bon viveur. K.nowing th.is, you know that he is in his element
down in thc barroom; if you had been told he was watching Uncle Ebe­
nczcr's (�) slide show in the local library, you would know that he was
dying a thousand deaths waiting for it to end. We sce here the jud1,'lTlent
of essence. This is not a complicated idea, but it is rather more than mod­
em astro!ogy can handlc. To the modem astrologcr, planets are pretty
much content whcrevcr they fali: Sob is just as happy in lhe library as he
is in the bar. The traditional world is not populated by these admirable
men for all seasons, who find full contentment in whatever place and ai
whatever activity; we might suspect that lhe traditional world is some­
what closcr to reality.
The tradition in astrology teaches that a planet's csscnce is strong, or
huppy, in some signs of the zodiac and weak in othcrs. lt traveis from
si1,rn to sign through time. So Planei Bob, your brother, will have his off­
days-as shown by bis passage through uncongenial signs. lf Bob is a
craftsman and feels he is not at his best, he will teavc thc intricate, fine
work for that day and busy himself instcad polishing his tools and patch­
ing the workshop roof. If Bob is the corporate cog, he will kccp on press­
ing lhe lcvcr day in day out: he is allowc.,xl no off days. Whcrc once the
role of astro\ogy was to lcad man to God, it is now a soporific to placate

21
Frt1why:. The Pfmiet.� & Their E.u,mces

him in his daily round; as such, thc rctcntion oíthc idca of essence would
be strongly countcr-productive.
The nature ofthe creative impulse from the Oivinc that brought about
the Creation gives different qualiries to each of thc signs of thc zodiac.
T. for examplc, thc first sign ofthe zodiac, shows the first buming on­
rush of undiffcrcntiated crcative power that drives thc whole of manifest
crcation With this raw power, it is not a place suitcd to delicate Jittle Q,
no more than a blast fumace is a suitable place for wearing a tutu. Nor is
it suited to t-i, plane! of limitation, restriction and demarcation. The plan­
eis that are strong in T-whose essences thrive on bcing in thosc rurbu­
lcnt surroundings-are thc O and <f. So they are said to be dignified
there. Q and �. on the other hand, are most unhappy thcre: they are dc­
bilitated.
The modem astrologer will take lhe planct-say 9-and describc it as
'harmony' or some such vagary if it falls in T, thcy will takc another
word to dcscribc T-maybc 'asscrtivt:' or 'dynamic'-and lhen rhapso­
dizc on how thcir victim's idcas ofham10ny are realized in an assertive
or dynamic manner, a rhapsody which almost cvcrybody would find
gavc a perfect dcscription of thcmsclvcs, like the magic suit of clothcs
that fits evcryone. The astrologer following traditional methods would
not drcam of spcaking on such etherea\ leveis, but would look to the part
of that particular chart with which 9 was conccmed. "Your financial
prospccts," they might say, if finance were the concem of 9 hcre, "are
(because 9 is so weak owing to its placcmcnt in T) dismal. Vou are al­
ways likely to bc poor. And bccause ó (which rules T and which thcrc­
fore has great influence on any planei falling in that sign) is in this par­
ticular secrion of the chart here, I can scc that the rcason for this is that
you squander ali your money on fast living." This is a statcmcnt that has
the possibility of being eithcr truc or false, and will not be found by eve­
rybody to give an accurate assessment of their livcs. Toe cxamplc is sim·
plified, for many factors would be considered to build a rounded picture
of evcn just that one arca of the life; the important point is that it is only
by considering cssencc, and therefore dignity and debility, that we are
able to draw any concrete judgment about anything from thc astrological
chart.
The consideration of cssence is the prime way in which we assess the
ability of a plane! to act. Modem astrology, bcing liule concerned with
anything that bears the semblance of action, fails to do this; nor has it
any longer thc tools by which it might bc dane. A plane! can gain or lose
strcnglh by its placcmcnt in thc chart, bcing grently strcngthened by a
position on thc Ascendant or Midheavcn, for instancc; this is known as
accide,11al dignity or debility. The main assessmcnt of strcngth, however,
is by cssencc: its essemial dig11ity. lf I win the hundrcd yards bccausc 1
am thc supremc athlctc, I have donc it through essential dignity; if I win
because ali the competirion have the flu, this is-in simplistic tcrms-as
if I have done ít through accidental strength: I just happened to bc in the
right place ai lhe right time.

22
 Co11sideratio11s XVII: I

Planets gain the grcatest essential dign ity by falling in a sign that they
thcmselves rule (so cf in T or Q in t5). This is traditionally likened to a
man secure within his own housc. Each planet is exalted in one of the
signs (0 in T, )l in t5. for example}. This is anothcr powerful dignity,
though not quite as strong as being in its own sign. A planer in its exalta­
tion is likened to an honored guest in sorneone else's home: hc is trcated
with lhe grcatest cou11csy, but there are strict limits to his powers: he
would be unwisc to start rifling through the cupboards. There is always
an air of unreality to exaltation, which stems from the origin of the dig­
nity. The signs of the planets' exaltations are said to be those they occu­
pied beforc the Fali, so a planer in its cxalta.tion gives us an almost prc­
lapsarian view of whatever that planei represents. This is very nice-the
person is greatly honored; but in our lapsarian world we know that ali is
nor quite as fine as it seems. As with our honored guest: we treat him
with lhe rcspect thal we would like to think he deserves.
Each planei is associated with one or other ofthe elements. ruling the
threc signs of that nature eithcr by day or by night. This is a less power­
ful rulership than that of the individual signs, but still gives considcrable
strength. The phrase 'in his element' describes it well: it is a comfortable
dignity; nothing spectacular, but fully securc. lf, for instance, 1 were star­
ting a job and the relevant chart had shown my planei to be in a sign of
its own e\emcnt, I would be confidcnl thal I could copc we\l with a\l that
job's demands. I would not be one ofthe legendary masters ofthc trade,
but I would be quite content thcrc.
Each sign is then sub-dividcd in two different ways, each planei fal­
ling always inlo onc of each set of these divisions. The terms divide each
sign into five sections of uncqual size; thcfi,ces into thrcc equal scctions
of ten degrees apiece. Each tenn and cach face is rulcd by onc of the
planeis; if a planei falis into one of its own tenns or faces it gains a small
amount of dignity-only a littlc, but a good deal beuer than none at aU.
A planei in these dignities can be likened to an under-manager in an of­
fice. He has a cerlain amount of powcr, but bis position is strictly subor­
dinate. Thcre are further, smaller sub-divisions of the signs, but these
take us to a levei of precision that is in practice rarely required.
The following table shows thc essential di gnities and debilities of the
p\anets. Thc left-hand column lists the signs of the zodiac. 171e next col­
umn shows lhe pland that rules cach sign. Thcn comes the column show­
ing in which sign each planet has its exaltation. Exaltation is more ex­
alted yet at the particular degree given for each planet.3 The next columns
show the planers that rulc the trip\icitv of that sign, whcther by day or by
night. It is simple enough to see whether any chart is a day chart or a
night chart: by day; the O is above the horizon, just as in real life; by

J Toe numbers given :ire ordinais, not cardinais. So lhe exaltation degrec of, for
cxample, the O is lhe 19 d' dcgrec ofT. which is from 18 º00' to 18 °59' not
19"00' to 19° 59'.

23
Frawley: Tlie Planeis & Tlieir fü·l·ences

,.,. -· ,__ Ti\llLE OF ESSEl\.TTIAL DíGNlTIES

,_ , .. ... ,.
.. ,,
r�,....,,, 1)11 ...

f.-:--�
'Y' rF ·0 0
·; ,
2
9 cl ; cl 09 9
4 9 ;
" ,. " " " "
""'tf T ' 9
.,
9 9
" " ; cl" 9" 'i)" " cl ---
'i)

TI T .,
,
9 9 4 9 . cl 7, cl 0 7,
" » " " "

.
!1D � f."" -Õ' it cl 7,
-.-
!
" ; 9< 9" 'i)"
9 cl
f-- 62 0� 'o T T 9" 9" 4" cl" "'> 7, cl" ;

. ,.
nf 9 7 '
'g 'i) 9' 9" 7, ;,. cl 0 9 "9 4 9
" "
'K 9 ; ; 9 '> 9 4" 9 cl 'i)" ;" "7, cl 0
11\. cl cl cl cl 4 9 9 ; cl 0 9 9 'i)
" e-"- l...gl� -
·-t t- -t
" 7
" _J�.
.
" "9 "'i) "; T
X' 7, 0 7,

= , 9t -;- ,-
cl 4 cl
Y), ; 9 'i) 9 9
" " ;" 7, ld 0 'i) ?,
,.
-, " zc:,o ·o
,
9 ; 9 9 7, d
" " "
)( 4
" ' " " " � " ;j'; 9 9
9 o· cl 9 7, 9 cl 5

night it is bclow il. T thcn, being ofthe fire triplicitv, has the O as its
clcmental ruler by day and 4 by night, while b, an earth sign, has 2 by
day and thc Jl by night.
The ncxt block of columns shows thc terms of the plancts. Toe num­
ber beside each glyph shows the limit of that planet's term rulcrship: so
in T, lhe top row ofthe chart, 4 holds this subordinate rulership from the
start of thc Sibrn until 5° 59'; then 9 takes over at 6º 00', ruling until
J 3 º59', when she hands ovcr to �. then ó', and finally 11. Thc ncxt block
shows thc faces of the signs, where the sarne principie applies. ln T,
then, e/ has face rulership from the start ofthe sign until 9° 59'; then the
O from 10º00' until 19º 59'; lhen 2 up till lhe end ofthe sign. Toe last
two columns show the debilities: the first shows which planet is in detri­
ment in each ofthe signs; the second where each planet has its fali.
We havc, then, live ways in which a planet might have essential dig­
nity: it might be in its own sign, exaltation, triplicity, term or face, or in
any combination ofthese. As a rule ofthumb, thc rcspeelive strengths of
these dígnities can be shown as a descending scale from 5 for sign down
to I for face. The strengths are cumulative, so ifó, for example, is in thc
first few degrees oflil, where it falls in its own sign, triplicity, term and
face, it is vcry strong indeed. A planet in none of its own dignities is said
to be peregrine, as if it wcre a homeless wandercr. It has no essential
strength so, unless it has considerable aceidenta\ dignity, it will havc lit­
tlc ability to act. 'Peregrine' is commonly misunderstood by the mod-

24
 Co11sideratio11s XVII: /

ems, usually being taken, cven by those with one of lhe spurious astro­
logical qualifications that are so common, as being a planet that makes
no aspects-a feat which, with lhe superíluity of minar aspects that the
modems have invented, is something of an achicvemenl. As we trust wi\l
be readily apparent to any reader with any degree ofcontact with the real
world, thc ability or inability to act is a matter of some moment; the fact
that modem astrology is unable lo determine il is, therefore, something
of a failing. Sul as the modems are concemed exclusively with the psy­
che, a domain in which wc may ali imagine ourselves Champion of the
World without fear of contradiction, charting real strength is irrelevant.
This asscssmcnt ofstrength is vital in whichever field ofastrolOb'Y we
work. ln horary, almost ali queslions dcpend on somebody's ability or
inability to perform a certain action. Their strength to act is therefore
crucial. ln clcctional astrology, choosing lhe moment to act, finding a
lime at which lhe appropriate planeis have sufficienl dignily is thc main
pari of the art. ln natal astrology, finding whether a certain characteristic
is a strength or a weakness, or whether we do or do not have lhe ability
to achieve in a particular direction tells us almost ali of what we wish to
know. ln mundanc aslrnlogy, lhe astrology ofpublic afTairs, the ability to
determine for example whether the nation's defenses are strong or weak
is clearly of signilicancc. This is done, and dane solcly by the study of
dignity, ofwhich lhe kcy pari is an understanding of csscnce.
Esscntial weakness is also shown. A planei in a sign oppositc onc of
its own is in its detriment, while in lhe sign opposite that ofits exaltation
it is in its fali. These are scrious affiictions, leaving lhe planct far more
dcbilitaled than evcn being peregrine. Our homeless wanderer might still
be robust; a planei in detriment ar fa\l can bc likened to someonc in the
throes of an acute illness. As might be imagined, the possibility of
whomcvcr such a planei significs in a chart achieving anything by his
own efforts is slight.
One of the questions mosl often posed for horary judgment provides a
simple illustration of the practical differencc bctween strong and weak
plancts. Toe question '"When will I meet lhe person I will marry?" if
asked by a westcrncr is usually asked during a pcriod of despondency.
With the cultural expectations as lhcy are, lhe querent usually íeels that
therc is little he ar she can do, other than wait hopefully for Cupid's ar­
row to strike. Even joining a daling agcncy stil\ depends for success on
the vagaries ofthe blind bowman. The charts reflect the situation, and as
such it is common to find thc planeis thal represent lhe querent in posi­
tions of considerable weakness. With qucrents from Asian backgrounds,
howevcr, the situation is ofien different. Rather than waiting on the whim
ofCupid, oncc the decision has been made that il is time to marry, social
institutions swing into action and a suitable partncr is usually found quite
quickly. With variations according to the cligibility ofthc pcrson in qucs­
tion, their plancrs are typica\ly strong, mirroring a situation in which they
themselves have much greater powcr to achieve the desired result.

25
Fmwfey: The PhmeLY & Their Es.fences

F
ROM the vital, now neglected, study of dignity and dcbility,
however, we can tel1 not only the strength or weakness of whom
or whatever that planei rcprcsents, but cvcn what thcir prioritics
ond inclinations might be. This enables us, if so wc rcquire, to
conduct a detailed psychological analysis, without having to work
through the Jungian's empty jargon. ln other situations, it allows us to
asscss how people are likcly to act. lf a mundanc chart revcals that the
neighboring country is strengthening its anny, it is important to know
whcthcr its intcntions are to invade our homeland or to consolidate de­
fenses against the barbarians. This knowlcdgc is gained lhrough the
study of reception.
lf a planet falis in a sign or part of sign ruled by itsclf, it is said to
have dignity. Whcn it falis in a sign or part of a sign ruled by another
planei, that planct rece;ves it. This reccption shows that whalever our
planei signifies in this chart wil\ bc intercsted in whatever is signified by
thc planct that rcceives it. So if d signifies John and 9 sign ifies Jenny, à
falling in thc sign ruled by 9 1-ells us that John loves Jenny. We then no­
tice that 9 is in the sign ruled by '+: Jenny !oves 4. What is 4? Wc might
find that it rulcs the scction of lhe chart showing John's money. We sce
also that \i. itself has lots of essential dignity. So we judge that John is
rich and while Jenny docsn'l much care for him, she has a great affection
for his bank accoum. This information could be of considerable help as
John chooses a course oí action.
The example is a simplc onc. The varicty of different dignities in
which a planet may be received allows us to conduct an analysis of great
subtlcly. Thcsc receptions differ in their strength, just as we have seen
with the dignities; they a\so differ in thcir quality. Reception into a
planei's triplicity is not only less powerful than rcccption into sign; it
also has a differcnt character. ln most contexts, we can think of reception
as showing !ove. Ir I am wondering if I will eam lots of money in my
new job. the chart might show my planei received by the planei that
shows the job's moncy: I love-in lhis limitcd context-the job's
money. Jfmy planei rcccivcs the planet signifying thcjob's money, I will
be delighted: my love is rcciprocatcd! lf lhe money [oves me, it will want
to bc ncar me: this is an auspicious start to judgmcnt. This may seem
foolishly anthropomorphic, but as a working metaphor it wil\ surfice for
most situations, and it füs the undcrlying philosophy; in which !ove is the
motive powcr of all things, exactly. lt is but the darkness of our situation
that makes it seem strangc. 0n some occasions 'influence' will seem to
fit the comext beuer than lovc.
A planei received into another's sign lruly laves what that planei
reprcscnts. lt sces it clearly, understands it and accepts it. lt will usually
bc lhal planet's prime interest, though reception by sign can bc out·
weighed by combinations of othcr dignities (I !ove Jenny, but although
l'm not so keen on Melissa, lhe combination oí hcr super-model looks
and her dad being chainnan of the board wins the day). A plane! exalts
the plonet in whose exaltation it falls. This is powcrful, but is never quite

26
 Co11siderations XVII: J

real. It does not sce clearly. Horary charts cast in the carly stages of rela·
tionships usually show rcccptions by exaltation: the aura of divinity has
not yet bcen pierced by knowledge of his unsavory personal habits. H�
raries for "Is it really ovcr?" questions frequently show significators that
have just moved out of reception by exaltation.
Rcccption by triplicity is like friendship. lllere is no grand passion,
but it is warm, undcrstanding and comfortable, Tcrms and face are rather
slighter, and, significantly, as they cover only part of a sign, they show
concems which do nol last as long as thc othcr reccptions. As wc saw
with dignity, weak as they are, they are a good deal better than nothing.
It is also possible to receive a planet into its detriment or fali. This, as we
might cxpecl, is not good. ln the birth charts of those whom absolutc
power has corrupted absolutely-Catherine the Great is an example-we
find lhe niler of the Asccndant (signifying thc pcrson himsclf) rcccived
into dctriment or fali by the planei ruling the Midheaven (the person's
carecr): it is the career that enables the native to indulge his viccs, to his
dcstruction.
The assessment of essentia\ dignity and debility draws an infinitely
intricate web of meaning from thc chart, it tclls us ali that wc need to
know about the power and intentions of all thc charactcrs in whichever
drama is unfolding before us in the chart, whether it be a simplc horary
or a mundane chart covering hundreds of years of political events. This is
then augmented by the consideration of the accidental dignities to enable
us to judge thc full capacily to act. A character's csscntial dignities,
based on his planet's p\acement against the signs, might reveal him as
the grcatcst ath\ctc ofal\ time; if he is in prison, however, he will not win
the race: such things are rcvealcd by thc placcmcnt of the planet in the
chart, the accidental dignitics and debilities. The study of dignity and
rcccption is, indeed, the key to astrology, and used wiscly will unravcl
thc most complex of situations. That it is ali but forgonen by the contem·
porary astrologer, and that having forgotten it, this astrologer still fecls
himsclf capablc of judging a chart, says much for thc currcnt state of the
craft.

27
 The Houses 1

I]
JOHN FRAWLEY

N HIS classic text-book, the greatest of English astTOlogers,

William Lilly, gives the vital prerequisites for any student or
the celestial science. The first of these, obviously enough, is
the ability to calculate an astrological chart.
Nowadays, the only ability that this involves is in knowing which but­
ton to push on a computer keyboard; so while there is still a certain value
in understanding the mechanics of constructing a chart fi-om scratch, the
acquisition of this ability is no longer much of a barrier on the student's
path to knowledge. AII the more importance, then, falis on the second of
Lilly's necessities: the sound knowledge of the meanings of each of the
twelve houses of the chart.
This knowledge is essential. lt is this, and only this, that tells us
where to look within the chart to find the infonnation that we require­
and ifwe look in the wrong place we shall inevitably unearth the wrong
information. lt is probably true to say that the greatesl numbers of errors
in astrological judgment are made simply through looking at the wrong
house.
lt is worth taking some trouble, then, to consider and understand lhe
meanings of the various houses. This is true no matter which branch of
astrology we wish to practice, whether it be natal, horary, electional,
mundane, or any ofthe minor branches.
Before we examine the houses, it is as well to cast an eye over lhe
various methods of deciding where the boundaries ofthese houses fali. lt
is often claimed that the Equal House system of house division that is so
popular today is the most ancient, but this betrays a misunderstanding of
the ancient method. The old system involved taking each sign as one
house--but this was the whole of that sign, not just a part of it as with
the modem system. That is, ifthe Ascendant were in i::;, the whole sign of
II would form the second house and the whole of O the third, and so
forth. lt made no difTerence to these other l10uses at which degree of lj
the Ascendant fell. This is unlike the Equal House, which repeats the
degree ofthe Ascendant in the cusp ofeach ofthe other houses.
This system of whole-sign houses is still the main system employed
by Vedic astrologers, and in skilled hands it gives results of great accu­
racy. More common in the West, however, are the various unequal sys-

1 Reprintcd from The Real Astrol A lied by John Frawley (Apprentice

ogy pp
Books, London, 2002), with the author's permission.

14
 Co11sideratio11s XIX: 3

tems of house division.2 The most familiar of these is the Placidean.

Just as it is commonly claimed that the Equal House is a system of
great antiquity when it is not, so it is often said that the Placidus system
is comparatively modem, when it has been around far longer than is usu­
ally realized. The error arises through its name, as Placidus de Tito, on
whom it has been fathered, died as recently as 1688. Although he
popularized the method, it can be traced back to the first millen­
nium.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Placidus is that he ever man­
aged to popularize anything, as his book, Primum Mobile. is dull to the
point of unreadability. This may not appear to set it apart from certain
other classic astrological texts, but Placidus' mastery of torpor gives his
work the crown.
The major rival to this system was that of Regiomontanus. This takes
its name from the pseudonym of Johann Muller, one of the greatest of
mathematicians. His method works excellently for horary charts, while
Placidus is verifiably better for most other purposes-not, it must be
noted, through the subjective decision 'That sounds more like me', but
through prediction of events by directions to house cusps, which are, of

1
course, the variable between the different systems.

The First House

LMOST ALL of the hundred-plus house systems thal have been

used by somebody-or-other somewhere are rooted in the As­
cendant, which is the eastern horizon, the dividing line between
earth and sky. This is the cusp of the 1 �1 house, and as its role as
foundation stone of the chart implies, it is of crucial significance. The
Ascendant contains within it as potential atl that exists in the rest of the
chart.
ln the ancient philosophical texts, such as the pseudo-Aristotelian
Book o/Causes, the horizon is accorded great significance. lt is seen as
the place where the soul assumes its human incarnation. lt is this which
gives the first house its major meaning as the person and body of the
'owner of the chart': the querent if it is a horary chart, the native if it is a
birth-chart, the city or country if it is a mundane chart.

2 That these systems appear unequa\ is an illusion. Each Placidus house,

for instance. is cqual in that it signilies two hours of real (i.e. in contrast to
clock) lime; each Regiomontanus house is equal in that it subtcnds thirty dc­
grees, bu1 ofRight Ascension rather than 1he more familiar Celestial Longitude.
lt depends what we mean by 'equar: is my house equal to yours bccause i1 has
the sarne number ofbcdrooms, or bccause I can sei! it for the sarne pricc?

IS
Frawh.,,y: The Ho11Ses

ln modem astrology it is customary to see the whole of a birth-chan

as being 'this person'. ln the traditional method, however, this is tme
only to a limited extent. Yes, the whole chart shows that person and his
nature; but we can also pick out the native as one individual moving
around within the chart, and locate there the other people who populate
his life-brothers, sisters, partners, parents, enemies, and so forth. lt is
the first house and its mler that show us the native.
Most ofour judgment ofthe native's appearance will be taken from the
1 st house and its ruler. This is quite contrary to--and rather more accu­
rate than-the common attribution of appearance to the 0-sign. Of
particular importance here are planets in the I u house and any planet
that is in close aspect to the ascending degree. Such a planet usually
has the predominant voice in detennining physical appcarance.
Any plane! in the 1 51 house will also be our first choice as significator
of the native's manner, or of bis general mode ofbehavior. There will be
a world of difTerence between the native with a dignified � in lhe l 51 and
that with a debilitated �most of us would much rather entenain the
former to tea!
1:, in the 1 st house is by no means always bad news, however. 1:, gives
strength (in the sense of endurance) and resilience, while the 1 51 shows
the body. So provided 11 has some son ofdignity his placement there is a
good testimony ofa robust constitution and long life.
While the l 51 house shows the body as a whole, the body is also
shown by the whole chart, working downwards from the 1 st at lhe top to
the 1th at the toes. Specifically, then, the 1 51 shows the head. li is a fair
bet that anyone you know with a scar or patches of pigmenlalion on bis
face has cf in the I st house.
This association with the head is something that the 1 st house shares
with T. But, in an important difference from modem astrology, the tradi­
tional association of signs and houses in this manner begins and ends
with parts of the body. The 'Alphabetical Zodiac' that equates Twith ó
with the l house, lj with � with the 2nd and so on has no place in the
51

traditional view of lhe craft. The association of planet with house in this
pattem is never used in traditional astrology, as it makes no sense in the
light of the inner meanings of the various houses. The house/sign com­
parison is indeed most valuable: but only when used for medical or de­
scriptive purposes.
As the Ascendant is the first ofthe houses it is 1:i, the first ofthe plan­
eis, that belongs there, not, as the modems would have it, ó. 1:, is the
god ofdoors, mling our goings out (he also rules the 81h house) and our
comings in. He rules the body-hence his attributes of weighl and so­
lidity. He rules ali boundaries, such as the skin, within which our soul
is now encased. And, of course, the greatest ofall boundaries is 1ha1 which
separates what is a\ive from what is not alive, and it is this dividing line that
is shown by the Ascendant.

16
 Co11sideratio11s XIX· 3

Although � is the planet associated with the 1 !l house, and as we have

seen, he can be fortunate when placed there, it is 2 that actually gains in
dignity by being there. The 1 11 is the house of 2's joy. The connection
here, on a superficial level, is between the head and the reason and lo­
quacity that are placed within the head. On a deeper level it takes us back
to the idea ofthe 1 ' being the boundary between the immaterial and the
1

material, the doonvay into incarnation. So 2'sjoy here gives us a picture

ofthe Word (2) made flesh (1�1 house).
st
Also redolent with meaning is the association ofthe 1 house with our
name. Name is something of greater significance than is commonly ac­
corded it today. Our name images our essence; the deepest part of our
nature, that which makes me me and you you. That our given name is
thus associated with the innermost part of our nature is why certain tribes
have a taboo against revealing personal names to strangers, feeling that
this knowledge will give the stranger power over them. When progress­
ing the birth-chart, it is typical to find the sign on the Ascendant chang­
ing when the native changes her name. This is, indeed, one of the most
reliable indications for rectifying a chart-if we are fortunate enough to
have such an event with which to work. ln the horary questions which
occasionally arise on the merits of changing a name we will look at the
ruler of the Ascendant and see if it is happier where it is, or where it is
going. This will show whether or not the change is beneficial.
While 2 is stronger when in the 1 !l house-the reason, we might say,
being in the head, where it belongs-the )) does not like being there at
all. The)) and 2 form one ofthe many pairs into which the seven planets
can be divided, and if one of them is happy somewhere the other will
usually not be.
The)) is our emotional nature, and as such it does not fit well into en­
vironments where our reason is content. lt is also the significator of the
psychic substance ofthe soul, its unhappiness in the 1 st house mirrors the
soul's ambivalence at finding itself in the body. On the one hand it is
excited at the range ofexperience that now lies before it; on the other it
is horrified at the weight and constriction that this incamation involves.
ln a natal chart, the)) in the !�' house feels herselftoo much exposed,
as if the protective veneer that keeps our finer feelings from the vicissi­
tudes oflife is too thin. This placement is a strong sign of a changeable
nature. This is not changeability in the way that, for instance, II will
change, driven by the endless curiosity that it holds. This is changeability
from over-sensitivity. The )) in the 1 !l might remind us of those occa­
sions when we have been sitting far too long in one place: we keep
changing, shifting from one buttock to the other as we try to make our­
selves comfortable. This is very much the condition ofthe)) in this most
uncongenial ofpositions: try as it might, change as it may, this sensitive
nature cannot find a situation where it feels at home.
ln an electional chart the 1 !l house has prime importance. It shows the

17
Frawley: The Ho11Ses

enterprise itself, and it also shows the instigator ofthis enterprise, who is
usually the person for whom the chart is being constructed. li is vital,
st
then, that the 1 house is made as strong as possible: we want to put our
man in the best position.
li is important also 1ha1 lhe nalure of the 1 s1 house should reflect the
nalure of1he enlerprise. lfil does not, it is as ifwe were making a start
ai an inappropria1e lime. 1 fwe want the job to be over and dane with as
quickly as possible, it is unsuitable to begin when a fixed sign is rising:
that would give delay on a\l occasions. lf, however, we are building for
the long tenn, a fixed sign is exactly what we need.
The particular field in which our enterprise lies should also be shown
by the sign on the 1 s1 cusp. If we are opening a library, for inslance, we
would want an air sign on the Ascendam. lf it were a fire-slation, we
would go for a water sign; ifa garden-center, we would prefer earlh.
ln a mundane chart, the 1 s1 shows lhe general slale of affairs in that
place, whether it be the chart ofa town or a country. lt a\so has particu­
lar reference to the common people. lf, lhen, we were examining the T
ingress chart in a particular place to find out what the weather would be
like, we should look at the 1'1 house.
Finally, we must always pay especial attention to whatever fixed star
is rising over the Ascendant. ln no matter what sort ofchart we are con­
sidering, 1he iníluence of such a s1ar acts much like the wording on the
tille page ofan o\d play. lfwe see lhe word 'tragedy', we know we are in
for trouble; ifwe see 'comedy' we know everyone will live happily ever
after. lndeed, it is nol inaccurate to view the first house as being the 'ti­
tle-page' of the chart. Everything else in all the other houses just ex­
pands and amplifies what we find here.

To be continued

18
 The Second & Third Houses 1

1 JOHN FRAWLEY

HE GREAT P0INT of confusion thal is lhe first stumbling­

block faced by any beginner in astrology is lhe matter of
which way round the houses go. II can seem quite illogical, as
some things in the chart seem to be going in one direction,
while others go in the opposite. Why the houses should be numbered
in an anti-clockwise, rather than a clockwise, sequence can remain a mys­
tery for a long time!
l11e apparent contradiction is caused by our dealing with two separate
kinds of motion. There is Lhe rapid motion relative to ourselves, easily
visible by watching U1e Sun move round the sky. This motion starts in
the East and moves towards the West, completing a full circuit in approx­
imately one day. Tilis is the motion created by lhe Earth's daily rotation
and is called primary motion.
The other, or seco11dmy motion, is the movement of the various plan.
ets through the signs of the zodiac. This is far slower than primruy molion,
and proceeds in Lhe opposite direction. This motion is the consequence of
thc planets-including the Earth's-movement around the O.
We may take the O as an example. By prima1y motion it traveis ali
the way around the Earth every day. But by secondaiy motion it traveis
one degree in the opposite direction to this each day-hence its gradual
movement fr om one sign to the next. We might see the planets as a
number of flies walking round a plate. The plate is revolving fast in one
direction (prima1y motion) and cruTies the flies along with it. But they are
walking in the opposite direction to the plate's own movemenl (sec.
ondary motion). Except, of course, when every now ru1d again one of tl1e
flies tums retrograde.
When looking at the chart, the primary motion is in a clockwise direc.
tion. So planets rise in lhe East, at the Ascendant, and then traverse lhe
houses in reverse numerical order: first tl1e twelfth, tl1en the eleventh, lenth,
and so on. The signs of tl1e zodiac, meanwhile, and consequently the
houses (remember that tl1e signs are tl1e ·celestial' houses while tlle houses
are the 'mundane' houses) through which the planets take their secon·
dary motion follow in rui anti.clockwise direction.
There can be few student astrologers who at some time or otl1er have
not drawn a chru1 upside.down, becoming confused by this conflict in
direction and concluding that the second house should sit above, rather

1 Repriuted from The Real Astrology Applied by John Frawley (Apprentice

Books, London, 2002), with lhe author's pennissiou.

l8
 Cons1derahons XIX: 4

than below, the first. But the whole picture of the mundane houses
succeeding each other in regular order like the spokes on a wheel is in
itselfmis\eading.
Rather than being a wheel, the chmt is in fact an assemblage of four
groups of three houses. Nor even are these groups divided in our usual
way of seeing the four quadrants of lhe chart: the quarter between
Ascendrutl and Midheaven being one quadrant, that from the MC to the
Descendant being the next, and so fo1th. l11e four groups are centered
around the four angles of the chart (Ascendant, MC, Descendant and IC),
each of which is tlanked by two other houses. This pattem is a good deal
clearer in lhe traditional chart fonn. which is square, not circular, and is
divided inlo four lriangles, each made up of three smaller triangles,
grouped around a central box.
The four angles are the strnctural key to lhe cha1t, like the main
beams in a roof. The other houses. as it were, Jean on the angles for sup­
port-like lhe rafters coming off lhe main beam. This is why the an­
gles are 'there' in a much more definite fashion than the other houses:
they are more real, more solid, more tangible, and a planei in one of the
angular houses has more power to act.
The houses following each of lhe angular houses in an anti-clockwise
direclion are lhe 'succedent' houses, so called because they follow or
succeed to U1e angles. l11ese are houses two, five, eight ruid eleven. But the
succedent houses are lhe last of each group of three, 1101 lhe centre of it
as is common to lhink. The cadenl houses (three, six, nine and twelve)
do nol follow on from the succedenl, but fall away from the angles.
This is why they are called 'cadent' (literally: falling). Indeed, rather
than ali lhe atlempled refonns of astrology incorporating everything from
asteroids and hypothelical planets to micro-aspects and random symbol­
ogy, lhe mosl useful refonn that astrologers could undertake would be
lo practice their art in English! We suffer inordinately from our persis­
tence in working with tenns that are lifted straight out of various foreign
tongues without being translated. If we spoke of 'falling' rather than
'cadent' houses, their significance would be much clearer-as also would
be the simple fact that planeis in them have trouble acting: you can't do
much if you are falling. Similarly, referring to planeis 'glru1cing· at each
other, rather than making aspects ('aspect' is glance in Latiu), would
clarify ali manner of confusions about what is or is not truly an aspect.
Perhaps more significantly still, we might consider U1e names of lhe
fixed stars. That a star is 'U1e tail of the goat' or 'lhe eye of the dragou'
tells us a great deal about its nature and effects. This infonnation is lost
to us if the name is hidden in Latin or Arabic.

59
Frawley : The 2"" & 3rd Houses

The Meaníng of the Second house

UR CHART, then, can be seen less as a flat circle than as a

group of four mountains, each of which has a smaller hill on
either side of it. ln our joumey of exploration round lhe houses,
the first of these bílis ai which we rul"ive is the second house,
lhe house which follows and supporls the mounlain that is lhe first.
lt is lhis sense of supporling that gives lhe second íts prime signifi.
cance in lhe chart, as il shows lhe resources of lhe firsl house. It shows
whal lhe native or lhe querent as at bis disposal to sustain him in his life,
or in lhe situation of the horary.
The lerm 'second' is found in exactly this sense if we think of a duel
My second is the person who helps and supporls me, loading my pistol
and bandaging me up afterwards. One meaning of the second house is
anyone who acts in this capacity. So when I go to comt, my lawyer is shown
by my second house. AI work, I would assign my employees to the sixth;
bul if I wished to distinguish my right.hand man, or my PA, perhaps, I
would give U1em lhe second.
111is house's most common meaning is money. This is money in any
fonn, not necessarily currency. II is a common error to ascribe shares to
U1e eighlh house; bul my shares are still my money-just money in a dif­
ferent fonn. So they are still second house. Anybody else's money is
shown by his or her second house.
ln any question about profit, it is usually this olher person's money in
which I am interested. There isn't nmch poinl my asking aboul my own
money: I am ali too aware of lhe condilion of lhal! So to answer a horary
question about whether I will make money, I need to connect lhe ruler of
the other person's money wilh either my own significator (lhe money
comes to me) or the mler of my second (lhe money comes lo my pocket).
Once I have established a connection with lhe olher person's money, I
can judge how much money I will gel by lhe strength of ils significator. I
hope to find this in as strong a condition as possible: lhe slronger it is,
the more money comes my way. The nature of lhe aspect will show how
easily I gel it: by conjunction, trine or sexlile il will come wilhout prob·
lem. With a square I will have to chase il and should expect delays. By
opposition, il will probably not repay lhe efforl I expend obtaining it.
What I do nol want to see in a question like this is an aspecl between
lhe ruler of the second and my own significalor. That shows my own
money coming to me, and that is no use at ali. Even if I am asking about
money that I have lent, for the purposes of lhe question it is lhe 'other
person's money' that I want.
ln most cases, this will be shown by lhe eighth: lhe second from lhe
seventh. If I am waiting for my wages, I would look to lhe eleventh: lhe

60
 Cons1derations XIX: 4

second from the lenth. So also if I am expecting money from someone

powerful-'a present from lhe king', in archetypal terms. William Lilly
echoes the Bible when considering questions on recovering loans from
powe1ful people. No matter what the cha1t says, he advises, if lhe person
who owes you money is more powerful than you are, forget it!
The eleventh is also the house I would look to if hoping for a lottery
win. But any other question of gambling is a second/eighth house matter.
It is nota fifth house question: this may cover having fun, but if my
aim in betting is to show a profit, it reve1ts to the second and lhe eighth.
Apart from money, the second shows my other possessions. Astrol­
ogy retains a definition of possession that is no longer, unfo1tunately, cur­
renl in the western world. t can possess something only if it is inani­
mate and if I can move it around. So my house or my land does not fali
within the second house. My car, however, does. The whole point of a
car is that I can move it around, so the common modem ascription of
cars to tl1e third is quite wrong. 111e third (or the ninth) may show lhe
joumey, but it does not show the car itself.
At a deeper levei, the second shows our self-esteem. Dante gives lhe
reasoning behind this connection. As he explains, if we think well of
ourselves we will tl1ink well of our possessions. Titis is not tl1e same as lhe
materialistic idea that if I have a flash car I will value myself more; it is, in
fact, the exact opposite. li suggests that if I value myself highly, I will
think highly of whatever sort of car I happen to possess. We might
remember the benevolent influence of 4 011 the second, which makes
Ulis reasoning clearer.
For, being the second of lhe planeis, 4 is natural ruler of tl1e second
house, as? is of lhe first. Not, it must be stressed, Q. 111e equation sec­
ond house = second sign = rnler of second sign is wrong. 4 is lhe planei
of wealth, and so fits the second well. When studying a natal charl to find
out how wealthy the native will be, 4 must always be considered to­
gether witl1 U1e second house and its ruler. So also in any general horary
question on tl1e same subject, such as "Will I ever be rich?"
The third point to take into account when looking for wealth in lhe
nativity is lhe Pa1t of Fortune. The inner significance of this is on the
levei of our spiritual life, but lhe externa! meaning helps indicate how
much money we are likely to have, and where it is likely to come from.
When judging the condition and placement of ®, we must always look
also at its dispositor.
111e French astrologer, Jean-Baptiste Morin, wrote a brief but pro­
found study of the houses. He links the second to the sixth and the tenth
houses in what he calls 'lhe triplicity of gain' 111e tenth, he says, is tl1e
most noble of these as it relates to immaterial objects of gain, such as
honor and the position indicative of such honor: our standing in the
world
The sixth he says is 'material and animated', showing the living

61
Frawley: The 2'td & 3rd Houses

things at our disposal: our servants and small animais. The second is the
inanimate U1ings at our disposal: our money and other treasure that we
have gained by our own actions.
Morin's attempts to purify astrology are contained in his massive Ca/­
lit Artrology, of which only a small part has been englished. One spurious
modem book claiming to explain his meU1ods has even managed to relo­
cate him a few hundred miles further nortJ1, fathering upon him the pre­
viously unknown 'Gaelic Astrology'! So much for accuracy.
As the second house shows our resources, it also shows our food, the
most importanl of ali material resources. As a bodily part, it shows the
throat. These h.vo meanings go together, showing lhe perfect congrnence
of the aslrological model of the cosmos. As the second is lhe throat it is
also, by extension, what we eat.
ln a recent horary lhe querent asked about an impending throat
operation. The chart showed ó, natural rnler of surgery, applying imme­
diately to conjunct the second cusp: as perfect a picture of a throat op­
eration as might be wished.
Similarly, the cha1t will make clear any abe1ntions regarding what
we do or do not eat, and lhe second is the place to look in order lo find
them. Afflictions to the second cusp, especially from restrictive? or the
t,, which operales in much the same way as ?, are typical of anorexia. '+
or the Q, allhough they are both usually regarded as benefics, can show
over-indulgence, while � is likely to show fads and fussiness. As with ali
indications in the natal chart. however, it must be stressed that these can­
not be read alone. There is nothing more certain to lead to e1Tor of the
most gargantuan proportions than dipping into the chart, fishing out iso­
lated testimonies, and judging them without reference to the rest of U1e
picture.
11lis is equally true of U1e indications for wealth: whatever is shown
of either good or bad will rest as potential if not activated by other fac.
tors wiUlin lhe cha1t. I may have the ability to eam millions, but if I am
so lazy lhat I never apply this ability, it will never manifest in my life.
This is the greal caveat behind the study not only of lhe second, but of all
the houses of the chart.

62
 Considerallons XIX: 4

1 The Third House

F ALL THE houses of the astrological chart, it is probably the

third that arouses least interest. ln most birth-chart readings it
will be quietly skated over, as the astrologer can usually find
nothing there that warrants closer examination. To treat it thus
is to do it a disservice, however, as it plays a pivotal role in the true as­
sessment of any nativity.
The immediate meaning of the third is as the house of brothers, for it
shows the native's-or the querenl's, if it is a horary chart-siblings. As
an exlension from lhis, it also shows any relatives on the same genera­
tional levei as the 1rntive. That is, your cousins, being the children of your
parent's siblings, belong here, even if they are thi11y years older than you;
but your uncle does not, even if he is your own age.
Studying the relative strengths, placements and receplions between
lhe rulers of the first and third houses in a birth chart will show whether
lhe native gets on with his siblings and which of them has more success
in life. lt is not unusual, unfortunately, to find adverse indications revolv­
ing around either the second house (the native's money) or the fifth,
which is (second from the fourth) the house of lhe parent's money.
We have various ways of distinguishing which of our siblings is
which. ó is the natural ruler of brothers and 9 of sisters, so we can look
at these two planets for further clarification. 0r we can take the third
house to show the eldest sibling, and third fr om the third to show the
next, and so on. By taking the third from the third we are regarding the
second sibling as the brother or sister of the first.
Alternatively, we can use the triplicity rulers of the sign on the third
cusp. It is common to regard each of the four elements as having two
triplicity rulers, one by day and the other by night. Some of the early as­
trological texts, however, use three. This is not to suggest that eithe1
schema is right or wrong: they are different tools with different uses. The
triplicity rulers are:
Fire: O.'+.?
Ea11h: 9. :». ó
Air: ?. �. \+
Waler: 9.ó. :»

When judging the third house we would take the first of these rulers
to show elder siblings, the second ruler to show the middle siblings and
the third to show younger siblings. The list above gives the triplicity rul­
ers for a day-time chart-a chart with the O in the seventh to twelfth
houses; the first two rulers in each case reverse for night charts. So fire
by night, for example, is mled by '+. O and?

63
Frawley: The 2nd & 3'd Houses

Suppose, then, lhe third of these nilers were in its exaltation and in
strong mutual reception with lhe Lord of the Ascendant, which was in its
own triplicity. We would judge that our kid brother was going lo be
rather more successful than ourselves, but would be happy to do what­
ever he could to help us when the need arose.
Extending the idea of people 011 our own levei. the third shows our
neighbors. Tilis is meant in a stricl sense as the people who inhabil
houses dose to our own, ralher than the sense given in the gospels as
anyone whom we happen to meet. This is because our neighbor·s house
in the chart (the third) is, in the most literal sense, next-door to our own
house (the fourth). ln any horary cha11 aboul house purchase we must
pay dose attention lo lhe third house: no matter how excellent the house
itself might be, we can still be miserable there if we have crazy
neighbors.
Nowadays the third is known primarily as the house of conununica­
tion, and this is indeed one of its more impo1tanl roles. It covers our
speech-a\U1ough lhe instnunenl of speaking, U1e tongue, is found in the
first house, which mies the head. It shows letters, phone calls, nunors
and messages. There is somelhing of a grey area over where we locate
messengers. Ambassadors and messengers belong in lhe fifth. the dis­
tinclion being thal they have some power to negotiate on our behalf,
while a third-house messenger just delivers the message and then shuts
up.
It is to the Ulird house that we look if we wish to detennine if and
when a ce1tain package or letter is due lo aJTive. In this case. il will usu­
ally not be our own letter wiU1 which we are concemed, so we would
tum the chart. Most often, we would look at lhe third from lhe sevenU1,
as a letter from 'any old person'. If it were from our child, we would take
the third house from the fifth, or if from our mother, lhe Utird from the
tenth. We would hope to find an applying aspect between the mler of this
house, signifying lhe letter or package, and either the ruler of the Ascen­
dant, U1e )), or U1e Ascendant itself. TI1e physical arrival of a person or
object is one of lhe few instances where an aspect to a house cusp is
enough to give us a positive answer: moS( cha11s for questions on this issue
do in fact show aspects from lhe significator to lhe first cusp.
Another frequenl lhird-house horary question is whelher a ce11ain
piece of infonnalion is tme or false. The method of judging this is differ­
ent from most other kinds of hora1y, as we are not looking for an aspect
to show something happening, but seeking to find a ce11ain sense of so­
lidity in the chart. II is almost as if we were banging lhe chart on the ta­
ble to see if it is real. To show the infonnation as true-whether this is
for good or for bad-the chart would have fixed signs on lhe angles, es­
pecially on the Ascendant and Descendant. The ruler of the Ascendant
should be in a fixed sign and an angular house. The ruler of the Ulird
should be in a fixed sign and an angular house-and a fixed sign 011 the

64
 Cons1derations XIX: 4

third cusp is always helpful. Both the l> and its dispositor should be fixed
and angular.
lt is a rare chart in which ali these elements would be in place; but
given a fair number of them, we would judge that lhe infonnation is trne.
If we had an absence of fixity and a preponderance of planets in cadent
houses, we would know it must be false. The fixed signs and angular
houses share the sense of solidity and reliability for which we are look­
ing. 0nce we have decided that the infonnation is trne, we can then look
at the condition and relationships of the planeis involved to find out if it
is in our favor or nol.
11iat the issue of truth is found in the lhird house demonstrates the
importance of its placement in the chart, for the third is opposite the
ninth, and serves as a reflection of tl1at house-and the ninth is tl1e house
of God, or of Truth. This reflection is exemplified by the l> having ils joy
in lhe third house and the O in the ninth. l11e O is lhe visible symbol of
the manifestation of God in the cosmos, and lhe l>, of course, shines only
by light reflected from this source. l11at is, the O (and, by extension, lhe
ninth house) is lhe source of ali trnlh in our world, while tl1e l> is what
reflects this trulh to us. Much significance is given in the ancient texts lo
the mottled nature of the l>'s surface. To our eye, lhe O appears as a ho­
mogenously brilliant disc: the l>, however, has patches of light and
patches of darkness: not all that that we receive from it can be relied upon.
It is this axis of truth and-in every sense of lhe word-knowledge
that nms from the ninth to the third house that renders the tllird so sig­
nificant. While the other points which we may draw from tl1e chatt will
tell us of tl1e nature of the person, and of the various idiosyncrasies witl1
which he is blessed, we need to be able to determine how this nature and
these character traits will be used in his interactions witl1 the world. In
simple tenns, is he a goodie or a baddie?
If he is to be a goodie, his nature must, lo greater or \esser extent,
confonn to the pattem of absolute goodness that is the Divine, shining
into the cha1t from the ninth house. So we need to see the ninth house, its
ruler and other associated planeis in reasonable condition. l11is would
indica.te that tl1ere is an accessible we\1-spring of good.ness wilhin this
person. But merely possessing this well-spring of goodness does nol nec­
essarily mean that the person will act in a good way: lhere's many a slip
'twixt cup and Iip. While the inner nature may aspire lo tl1e highest stan­
dards of behavior, tl1ere are any number of reasons at any number of dif­
ferenl psychological leveis why the actual standard of behavior can fali
far shorl of these aspirations. Whether or not this happens is shown by
the nature of tl1e third house and ils connection with lhe nintli.
0nce we have established that the person means well by finding the
nintl1 house in good order, we need to find a means of conducting these
good intenlions into his daily life. This will be shown first by finding
favorable indications in lhe lhird house and ils ruler, and then by

.,
Frawley: The 2...J & "3'd Houses

finding-whether by aspect or reception-some connection bet\veen the

third and the ninth. Failing that, some sort of influence over the third by
any planet in strong essential dignity is a good deal better than nothing.
For while the third is our house of 'short joumeys· it has a signifi.
cance far wider than our daily bus trip. The top end of the third/ninth axis
shows our long joumeys, the type of which is our life.ti!ne's joumey to
God. The botlom, mundane, end of the same axis is ali the routine jour.
neys that make up our daily round, the type of which might be our jour.
ney to the kitchen to makc a cup of tea. It is in thesc 'shortjoumeys'-by
which is mcant ali the routine business of our daily lives-that whatever
ideais we may have on a ninth.house levei find their manifestation.
TI1is idea repeats what we are told in the Bible that a man ú kno1rn by
his wordr: it is the third house which gives the out\vard manifestation of
whal is happening in the ninth. The quality of tJ1e routinejoumeys that
make up our daily life reflects exactly the place we have reached in lhe
life.!ong pilgrimage lhal is our ninth house. A good 111a11 draws whaJ is
good Jrom lhe slore of good11ess ÍII his heart; a bad mm, draws what is
bad from lhe store oj bad11ess. For a 111a11's wordsjlow 0111 of what fills
his hemt. 2
While lhis is lhe significance of this axis on a deep levei, the same
axis manifests in other ways too. Our long journeys may ali sig­
nify ourjoumey to God, but lhey still include a week in Benidorm. It is
not so much the length, but lhe specialness, of the joumey that sets it
apart. I may commute from London lo New York three times a week:
that will still be a routine. third.l10use joumey. I may spend a weekend
in a local resort, but that is a specialjoumey, and so belongs in the ninth.
The derivation of the word 110/i.day makes this plain.
Our minds travei as well as our bodies, so lhe third and the ninth
show different leveis of knowledge. TI1e 'three Rs', lhe basic knowledge
that we need to navigate our way through daily life, belong to the third
house: ali fonns of higher learning to the ninth. So my prima1y school
would be shown by the third, my secondary school by the ninth.
Similarly, our basic ability lo communicate is shown by tJ1e third. A
debilitated � on the third cusp, for instance, might show a speech im­
pediment; the mler of the third ve1y swift in motion and in a double-­
bodied sign could show someone who never stops talking. If the third is
our ability to communicate, the question of whether we have anything
that is worth communicating must be referred up to lhe ninth.
ln the body, the third house shows U1e shoulders, anns, hands and fin­
gers. Both this and the other meanings of communication and movement
indicate the alignment of this house with Il. But we must be careful not
to extrapolate from there by holding that � rules the third: in lhe tradi­
tional model of lhe cosmos, it does not. For ali that many of the mean-

1
Luke 6:45.

66
 Cons1derat1ons XIX: 4

ings of this house do fali into his natural provenance; it is 1101 !il:. but ó.
who holds sway here.
Why ó? The immediate anS\ver to this is that ó follows in the cus­
tomary order of the planets after 1':i and 4, who mie the first and second
houses. But the assignment is by no means random. For it is ó thal gives
U1e desire to communicate, the desire to make ali the shmt journeys of
our life. ó shows the nature of this house at a deeper levei than !il:, giving
U1e underlying 'why' behind ali its meanings.
Even though ó is a malefic, it usually behaves itself reasonably well
when placed in lhe third house. li is as if the cosmos has found it a
worthwhile job to do, so it is too busy doing that lo cause any trouble. The
ll. meanwhile, is the planei that is most happy in the third, as it is lhe
house of its joy. Here, we see all the busyness and speed of motion thal is
the ll's. If she is placed here in a natal chart, Lilly tells us, especially if
in a cardinal sign, "it's an argument of much travei, trotting and trudging,
or of being seldom quiet" Sei dom quiet, that is, either with the feet
or with the tongue.

The lnflation ofthe War of 1812

1 BILL MERIDIAN

EPTUNE in a fire sign has historically brou1:> ºht inflation to the

US. ?-f aspects have traditionally ended . stich inflations.
.
The Panic of 1819 is a good case in pomt. f m / had created
. in
intlation due to the War of 1812. l11e war led to a pnce infla-
tion lhat sent wholesale prices up 35% from 1811 to 1815. From 1811 to
1815, the number of banks rose from 117 to 212. With foreign trade cut
off by the contlict, some impo1tanl commodities rose by 70%. Banks
tended to intlate the currency in the following way. l11ey held legal
money, specie (gold and silver), but they issued notes in excess of the
amount of money that they had 011 deposit. As a resull, bank notes teuded
to depreciate in proportion to their distance from the home office because
transportation costs were high and communication was poor. Up sprang a
generation of money brokers, who would buy up bank bills and travei to
lhe bank to demand payment. During this time, there was a transiting T.

67
 More on the Houses 1

[i JOHN FRA WLEY

HE FOURTH HOUSE
As we continue our lour of the houses. our itinerary
brings us to that seat of much contention, the fourth. No
self-respecting astrologer is without a copious number
of reasons for beating his fellows about the head,
and this house provides more excuse than most, for it
is where we find our parents.
The question over which astrologers are so prone to fali out is 'Which
parent?' Each possible variation has its pa1tisans: some plump for Mum:
some prefer Dad: some sit on the fence by ascribing it to 'lhe dominant
parent'. 11lis last point of view helps us not at ali-for how can we deter­
mine which is the dominant parent? l11e absent father, for example, can
affect us more by his absence than he ever could by his presence: while if, as
an extreme case, Dad died before we were bom. yet we still carry his
appearance and lemperament, who is to say thal he is not the dominant
pruty?
The idea that the fourth might show Mum is rooted in the mod­
em concept of lhe Alphabelical Zodiac, which equates signs, houses and
sign mlers in a way unknown to astrology's long tradition. Because O is
the fourth sign, the argument runs, it must be lhe equivalent of the
fourth house, and so its rnling planei, lhe Jl, must be the natural planei of
lhe fourth. As the Jl signifies the mother, so the fourth house must
show our own mother.
This is a persuasive argumenl, so far as it goes; but it is contrary to
sound astrological thinking. As we have seen, the tradition that has
served astrologers so well for lhousands of years takes the outennost of
the planets, i::i, as natural mler of lhe first house. 4 is given to the second,
d to the third-and the O to the fourth. The O, of course, has nolhing to
do with Mother: il is the natural mler of men and of falhers. So lhe tradi­
tional model gives lhe fourth house to the father.
Beyond just father, however, lhis is the house of both our parents, as,
at the bottom of the chart, it is the root from which we spring. lf we have
a general enquiry as to lhe state of our parents, we would look to lhe
fomth. As soon as we wish to differentiate between them we would take
the fourth for Dad and the seventh from lhe fourth-the tenlh-as Dad's

1 Reprinted from The Real Astrology Apphed by John Frnwley (Apprentice

Books, London. 2002), with the author's pennission.
Frawley: More on the Houses

partner: Mum
ln the same way, the fourth is our ancestry in general, our personal
heritage. ln a broad manner, ali our ancestors, recent or long-gone, are
located here. But again, if we wish to distinguish between them we
would find other houses to signify them as individuais. My father's
father, for instance, is shown by the fourth house fr om the fourth: the
seventh.
0n a still wider level we find here not only our personal but also our
national and cultural heritage: our homeland and ali that we acquire from
those that have gone before. lf we wish lo locate our home country in a
chart, perhaps as pari of an enquiry as to whether we shall prosper best in
our native land or elsewhere, it is here that we shall find it. Foreign
climes will then be shown by the ninth. This can be problematical in ho­
raries when people have lived for a long time in another country: where
is "home'? The best course is to ask which of the two countries the native
himself regards as home.
As the base of lhe chart, the fourth house represents what is on or un­
der lhe ground. lt is here that we find cities, fa nns, gardens and orchards.
lf a horary question concems the purchase of land, we look to the fom1h
to see the condition of this land. lf, for instance, we wish to fann it, lhe
O in Q in this house would-no matter that it is so strong-be a power­
ful negative testimony: lhe buming O in a barren sign would show that
the land is parched and useless. A favorable \, or )), on the other hand,
would bode well for lhe land's productivity.
lt is this concept ofthe fourth as the base orthe solid root of the cha1t
that gives it its rnlership over those of our possessions that do not fit into
the second house: those that we cannot move around. So, apart from
land, whatever propeity we own or rent is found here. ln a horary for
buying a house, the ruler of fomth will tel1 us as much as a surveyor's
report about the building's condition. lf il is strong, ali well and good. If
il is weak, we find out why it is weak: weak in a water sign, for instance.
we would check the damp-course: weak in a fire sign, we would suspect
that the heating doesn't work. or thal lhe plastering is not sound.
What we seek to find in a horary on house purchase is a balance be­
tween the condition of lhe fourlh house rnler, showing the prope1ty, and
the condition of the ruler of lhe tenth, which signifies the price. We hope
to find them equally strong or, better still, weighted in our favor. This
would show that the price is fair, or that we are getting a bargain. lt is
perfectly possible that we might be prepared to pay more for the house
than it is worth: we might like it so much that we feel it is money well
spent: but we should at leasl be aware that we are paying over the odds.
ln such a question the ruler of the seventh shows the seller. If this
planet is weak, it may be an indication that he cannot be trusted­
especially if it is in lhe twelfth house. where we are mosl unlikely to find
any honesty. A strong connection belween his significator and another
 Cons1derahons XX: J

planet should alert us to the possibility of him cutting a more favorable

deal behind our back. An aspect between his planei and our own is testi­
mony that the deal will go through, lhough we should not expect to find
an easy aspect. Oppositions, which usually cany strong negative co1mo­
tations. seem to be lhe nonn in these questions, reflecling lhe extreme
and unnecessa1y difficulties which are typical of house purchase.
Squares, which are themselves not easy, seem to be as good as it gets.
Jf the property is being bought to lei out or to renovate and then sei!
on. we nmst also look to the fifth house. This is the second from the
fomth: the prope1ty's money, or the profit which we can make from it.
No matter how poor the condition of lhe fourth house, a strong fifth ru\er
may be an argument for going ahead.
The idea of the fomth house, the base of the chart. being associated
with the ground also explains its conneclion with lost objects. It covers,
as Abu Ma'shar tells us, 'Every matter that is hedged around and covered
over.' This is meant in a fairly literal sense, as lies are more properly the
business of the twelfth; but it does contain the reason why it is Itere that
we seek for mislaid goods: lhe essential image of a mislaid object is
something that lias been put down and covered over with something else.
ln practice. however, we find thal lhe distinction between lost and mis­
laid objects is overstated. ln searching for missing objects through the
chart we can usually look to lhe second and the fourth, taking whichever
of their rnlers best describes lhe object in question as its significator.
Another thing that is 'hedged about and covered over' is a mine: our
ancestors were as keen on seeking their fortune in mines as we are in
seeking ours by winning lhe lottery-and lhe fomth is where we find the
native's potential for making this happy dream a reality. Mines are Itere
because they are under lhe ground: the lottery is an eleventh house mat­
ter: pennies from heaven.
ln some horary questions the final outcome is of singular impo1tance,
nolably in court cases, where lhe final outcome is the verdict, and in
medical issues, where the final outcome is the bottom line of whether or
not the patient will recover. This is shown by the fourth house and its
rnler.
ln a comt case both parties get the verdict. One is usually happy with
it while the other is not. ln the horary chart the ruler of the fourth is
more like a prize: whichever of the parties' significator links up to it first
wins. Its strength and lhe receptions between it and the significator will
show us how happy the winner is with the result. Even if our man wins,
the lord of the fourth might still afiliei his second house: he wins, but is
not awarded costs, perhaps, so he still comes out with his finances weak­
ened.
While the nature of the ruler of the fourth and lhe aspects made to it
will show us what the outcome of an illness is likely to be, in medical
matters the fourth house itsetf takes on a most malefic tinge. ln medical
Frawley: More on the Ho11ses

contexts 'the end of U1e matter' is taken in the most literal way: the grave.
This is, of course, one testimony only and must be read wiU1 the rest of
U1e chart: if U1e question is 'When will I get over this cold?' we would
not need to investigate Ule possibility of death.
Morinus links the fourth with U1e eighth and twelfth houses, wiUl
which it fonns a grand trine, as a malefic triplicity involving imprison.
ment and one's secret enemies (twelfth house) and deaUl (eighU1). To fit
his scheme he takes Ule fourth's connection with ancestry in the most
negative of possible ways, seeing it as our inheritance of original sin, and
finding nothing in family roots except the sorrow of seeing our parents
die. ln this he seems to have fallen foul of Uiat most pernicious of astro­
logical traps, the temptation to twist astrology to fit preconceived ideas.
ln contrast, if we look back to lhe earlier writers on astrology, the
fourth is seen as a most positive house. Apart from what should be the
obvious fact that this is the house of our parents and wiU10ut our parents
we have no existence-and reasons do not get much more positive than
that!-reference is made to the age.old concept of U1e Wheel of Fortune
TIJis is the image of a huge wheel, to which we are all attached, tumed
by the hand of a blind woman, k.nown as Chance, or Fortune. When re·
lated to the astrological chait, the top of this wheel is lhe tenth house and
its nadir is lhe fomth.
ln this, it mirrors the primary motion of the planets, their daily revoJu.
tion around lhe Ealth that is the visual product of the Earth's rotation.
When a planet is in U1e tenU1, it is at the top of the Wheel of Fortune. The

li
tenth is Ule house of glory and success. The early writers, however, nota.
bly U1e Roman poet Manilius, see U1e tenth as unfortunate, for once you
have got to the top there is nowhere else to go except down. The fomth,
011 the 0U1er hand, is happy for just the opposite reasou: it is the lowest
point in the chart - but once we have phunbed lhe depths we can be sure
that things cannot get any worse, and there remains nowhere to go except
up.

HE FIFTH HOUSE is u1e house of pieasure; yet

this does not stop astrologers breaking each other's
heads as they debate with their traditional ve!Je.
mence the exact boundaries of what belongs here and
what does not. Unfortunately, U1e tenns of this heated
debate usually owe much to U1e personal morality of the
astrologer and little to any sound astrological Ulinking.
The seventh house of the chart is the house of the marriage partner.
But what about U1e person with whom we are involved, but who is nol
our spouse? The late-Victorian and Edwardian writers whose works
dominated astrology throughout most of the last century threw up their
hands in horror at such naughtiness and packed its perpetrators off to the
fifth house. The seventh was far too dignified a place for them! The more

to
 Cons1derations XX: J

straitlaced of their followers have tended to follow suit: seventh for for­
mal relationships; fifth for the bit 011 the side. But this misses lhe essen­
tial point of discrimination behveen the two houses. As so often, we are
required to think clearly about lhe dislinction between an objecl and the
function of that object
To put this in a less mechanical way, we must never forget lhal even
the cads and jezebels who tread the primrose path of dalliance are still
people. As such, they are deserving of being given lhe sevenlh house. It
is what we do with them that goes inlo the fifth: lhe eating out: lhe lrips
to the cinema: the sex. This is the dividing line: person seventh, activity
fifth. This is trne no malter how fleeting our acquaintance, and no matter
whether or not we would admit to this relationship in front of our maiden
aunt.
This lumping of ali relationships into the seventh can cause confu­
sion. As a practicing horary astrologer, it would be easy to believe that
no one ever gets involved with anyone who isn't already married to
somebody else! ln questions posed upon this theme, then, U1ere are
commonly two 'significant others', and they cannot both be shown by the
ruler of tl1e seventh. This is where lhe understanding of reception be­
comes so imporlant, as il shows us exactly what the querent is thinking
and feeling. and so enables us to identify whether it is lover or spouse
who is shown by Lord 7, and then which planet shows the other of lhe
two.
That said we can often look straight to ? for the significator of the
cheated spouse. As U1e Great Malefic, the Big Bad Wolf of the cosmos,
he is an appropriate significator for the person the querent perceives as
having no aim in life other than that of spoiling his fim.
For fun is one of the main meanings of Ulis house: 'banquets, ale­
houses and taverns', as William Lilly puts it. As such, it is a partner to its
opposite house, the eleventh, which is where we find lhe friends with
whom we share many of these joys. Not least of lhe pleasures which we
are granted is tl1at of sex-something forgotten by lhose who would con­
sign it lo lhe malefic eighth house. Bul tl1e immediate function of sex is
procrealion, and it is in the fifth thal wc find the consequences of lhal:
our children.
Again, we need to be precise in our thinking here. The fifth shows
children and il shows pregnancy. It does not show pregnant women:
these are shown by the same house that they usually occupy: my preg­
nant sister is still the third; my pregnant wife still the seventl1. l11e as­
trology reflects our common-sense perception that they are slill lhe same
person, they just happen to be pregnant. Nor does the fifth show child­
bed. As lhe old tenn · confinement' suggests, this is a hvelfth house mat­
ter.
The fifth shows our children in general; we have various means of
deciding which of our children is which. For an enquiry such as 'Will I

11
Frawley: More on the Ho11ses

have children?' we can confine ourselves to the fifth. lf, however, I wish
to know which of my children has eaten ali the cakes, or the answer to
any question that requires us to distinguish one from another, we must
find other significators.
We can lake the fifth house and its rnler to show the oldest child, and
the third house from lhe fifth (that is, the seventh) to show the next old­
est, and so on, tuming lhe chart three houses at a time. What we are ef­
fectively doing is taking lhe oldest as 'my child' and the next as ·my
child's brother or sister'. Note that we take the third from the fifth, not the
fifth from lhe fifth: this would show my child's child: my grandchild.
We can also look at lhe triplicily rulers of the sign on the fifth cusp to
provide alternatives. as with broU1ers and sisters in the third house. This
method uses the triplicity rulers given to us by Dorotheus of Sidon,
which are:
Fire: O. 4.?
Earth: 'i?. ))_?
Air· ?, 2. 4
Water: 'i?.ó.))

The firsl two rulers in each element reverse their order if it is a night­
time chart.
111e first mler would show lhe oldest child (or the elder children out
of many): the second ruler shows the middle one or ones; the third ruler
shows the youngest. By weighing up lheir strengths, aspecls and recep­
tions we can U1en decide, for instance, which will have the greatest suc­
cess, which would do best inheriting our business-or where lhe cakes
have gone!
As a final option, we can look to whichever planets mighl be sta­
tioned in the fifth house. This is the least sound method; but we are
sometimes confronted by questions where we need to find different sig­
nificators for lots of children. and in such cases we cannol be too
fussy about the methods we use.
ln lhe past, one of the staple enquiries lhal kept the astrologer in com
was · Am I pregnant?' Nowadays it is cheaper to pop to lhe chemist for an
answer to that, but lhe astrological method is as valid as ever. The most
convincing testimony is an aspect behveen either Lord l or U1e )) and lhe
mler of U1e fifth house. Ideally, the planets would be in feitile signs (any
of lhe water signs), or, at least, not in the barren signs (Il ll1 and Q).
Finding any of these planets strongly dignified and in an angular house is
another strong argument for pregnancy.
This is one of the very few questions to which we can find a favorable
answer simply by lhe placement of a planet, without needing to find an
aspect. So lhe niler of lhe fifth placed just inside the first house-which
gives us a pe1fect picture of the baby inside the mother's body-would
give us a Yes. The Ascendant rnler inside the fifth house can show U1e

12
 Co,wderallons XX: J

same, but we do need to be more cautious here: it can show what lhe
querenl is thinking about or hoping for rather than whal is actually the
case.
TI1ese questions are usually quite simple: as the saying goes, you can't
be a little bit preguant, so lhe testimonies are usually unequivocal. The
relaled question, 'Will I have children?' is more complex. Experience
shows lhat this is tends to be asked only when hopes are already mnning
low, most often when the querent is considering undertaking fertility
trealment of some sort. As lhe chart reflects the life, borderline cases pro­
vide borderline charts
A clear No is generally easy to spot: the main significators in baiTen
signs or severely afflicted, especially by either? or combustion. A clear
Yes in these circumstances is rare. The best we can find is typically a
statement that there is potential for fertility. That is. the testimonies are
finely balanced, so treatment may lip the balance in the querenl's favor.
ln questions of this type, it is important to include the seventh and elev­
enth houses in the judgment, lhe eleventh being lhe fifth from the sev­
enth: it does take t\'Vo, after all.
One of lhe easiest of ali hora1y questions lo judge is 'What sex is my
baby?' Here we consider the gender of the various planeis and signs. T
and every altemate sign are male; d and every alternate are female. Q, the
)) and li! when occidental are female; the others male. We look to the sign
on the Ascendant and the fifth cusp; the planets ruling those houses; the
signs those planets are in. If in doubt, extend the search to the ll, looking
at its sign and the planet to which it next applies. There will be a weight
of testimony in favor of eiU1er male or female.
It might seem that the concem of the fifth with 'pleasure, delight and
meffimenl' would not play much of a part in lhe serious world of heart­
felt questions with which the horary astrologer is presented. Yet such
questions do get asked. Suppose, for instance, lhal you are planning a big
party to be held in your garden. If you wanl to k.now what the weather
will be like on the day in question, it is to lhe fifth house and its mler that
we would look. Or, if faced with lhe prospecl of spending an ann and a
leg on an evening ai lhe theatre, il might be worth checking the fifth to
find out if you will enjoy the play.

Other Meanings of the Fifth

Jusl as the most common role of the eighU1 house in horary charts is
not in its radical meaning as lhe house of death, but through its subsidi·
ary significance as the second house from the sevenU1-other people's
money-so the fifth is also important as U1e second house from the
fourth. ln days past, the astrologer would often be asked about lhe money
that the querent might expect to receive from his faU1er: how much is
there, when will I get it, and will I have to battlc with my brothers to lay
my hands on it? Fortunately, such queries are rarer today.

13
Frawley: More on the Ho11ses

Apa1t from the house of lhe father, the fourth is also lhe house of
prope1ty, and the same significance as second from the fomth is relevant
here. The fifth is whalever profit can be made from a piece of property.
This is especially important if lhe property is being bought so\ely as a
money-making venture: lhe state of the fifth and its mler will then give
us lhe 'bottom line' of lhe chart. But even if the place is being bought to
live in, it is worth casting an eye over the fifth to gauge what its resale
value might be.
l11e fifth is the house of messengers and ambassadors. l11is does not
normally include the postman, whose job is to hand over a piece of paper
about the contents of which he knows nothing: the meaning here ca1Ties a
greater sense of involvement on the pa1t of the emissary. The ambassador
has a certain scope within which he can negotiate; lhe postman does not.
This meaning takes us back to lhe spiritual framework of the chart, for
the fifth is the house of the Holy Spirit, in whichever way this is ex­
pressed in lhe various revealed failhs. 11lis is why Abu Ma'shar says lhe
fifth is lhe house of guidance. Guidance, that is, from above.
Finally, the fifth bears an extreme importance in medical astrology.
The great authority on this branch of the celestial art, Richard Saunders,
who was a contemporary of Lilly, tells us that we must always refer to
the fifth house in any medical query. This is because the fifth reveals the
condition of the liver, and it is the liver lhat in the traditional medical
model is lhe root of so many of our ailments.
As might be expected from the house of pleasure and delight, lhe as­
sociated planei here is 9. 9 has her joy in this house, and not only thal,
but by the natural order of the planets from ? in lhe first and '4 in lhe
second that gives lhe meanings of the houses, it is again 9 who is associ­
ated with the fifth. So she is doubly involved here.
On an elevated levei, we are reminded thal 9 is the planei that signi­
fies lhe action of the Holy Spirit, as can be seen in the traditional iconog­
raphy where lhe dove-lhe bird of 9-descends as Jesus is baptized. On
a more mundane level we are reminded that lhis is not the only house
wilh which 9 is concemed. Following lhe same Chaldean order of the
planeis round U1e chart, we find U1at just as 9 is given the fifth, so she is
given U1e twelfth. She may be ali pleasant..ness, smiles and seduction in
U1e fifth-but this same sweetness can lead us to our self-undoing if we
are not on our guard.

14
1 he Sixth House
Cons1derahons XX: J

On our anti-clock\vise tour of the chart, the sixth is the

first of the malefic houses that we readi. Strictly speaking,
this is something of a misnomer, as the house itself cannot
do anything to harm us-unlike a malefic planet. But this
.
is ce1tainly not a nice place to be, and wl11le lhe house
may not be able to hann us, its ruler most certainly can.
The sixth is lhe house of illness. But illness is only parl of lhe gamut
of sorrows thal it can provide. This is the house of the slings and
a1Tows of outrageous fortune: of ali the things that tl1e harsh, cruel world
and that odd bunch of people who inhabit it conspire to inflict upon us­
always, of course, through no fault of our own. As such, il balances its
opposite house, the twelfth, which shows ali tJ1e dreadful lhings that we
do lo mess up our own lives.
li is the house of illness. Not, as it is often loosely called, tJ1e house of
health. The person's health is shown by the first house, the house of their
vital spirits. An illness can be seen as a battle for supremacy between the
forces of the first house-the good guys-and the forces of the sixth­
the baddies.
ln lhe natal charl we read from the sixth tJ1e major ailments to which
the native will be prone. We should not, of course, expect to see every
minor ili shown here. Rather than a set of detailed medical notes, it is
more like a fault-line rnnning through the person. Everybody has such a
fault-line, but in each of us it is different, causing our innate tempera­
mental imbalances to manifest in different ways when they get out of
kilter. These differenl ways are our particular illnesses
The nature of lhe temperamental balance-whether there is an excess
of fire, perhaps, or a sho1tage of water-will give a broad-bnish guide to
tJ1e way the system will react lo periods of stress. The sixth house wil\
help us to be more specific as to the presenting symptoms we are tikely
to find as a result of this imbalance. While it must be noted that tradi­
tional medicine does not share the modem obsession with sticking de­
tailed labels on things ('You've gol So-and-so's Syndrorne'), it is nonethe­
\ess capable of specific diagnosis of great accuracy
ln the nativity, we would consider the sign 011 lhe sixth cusp, its niler.
and any planets that are stationed in tJ1e sixth, especially those close to
lhe cusp. In a horary chart, we approach the illness differently. There, the
sixth house tends to show where the illness is being felt, rather U1an ei­
ther the true seat of the problem or its cause. For these, we must usually
take the planet that is immediately afflicting our main significator. If, as
is most often the case, the significator is in an uncongenial sign (a
cold/moist planet in a hot/dty sign, for instance) the prime suspect is the
ruler of that sign
It is not only ourselves or other people who get sick. Suppose we find
the ruler of the second house in U1e sixlh. How is our money? Sick. Simi-

15
Frawley : More on the Houses

larly, in a question about house-purchase, finding the ruler of the fou11h,

which signifies the property, in the sixth is a serious waming to beware
of stmctural defects
While the sixth is our house of illness, it also has significance as the
twelfth house from lhe seventh: the other person's house of secrets. So in
any question involving seventh-house matters, be it a question of partner­
ship, or a business matter, or a contest, we would need to be especially
wary if this were where we found the other person's significator. This
would be a strong indication thal they are not being straight with us!

The House of Work?

The other well-known meaning of the sixth is as the house of work;
but this is quite wrong. We have dealt with this unfortunate product
of Theosophist Ulinking in too much detail in The Real Aítro/0�1 to need
to rehearse lhe reasoning here. Suffice to say that the association of the
sixth with work has no basis in any authority of standing. Nor is lhe
sixth, as it is so often now called, 'the house of service', by which is
meant the place that shows ali the altrnistic acts I do for others. li is not:
it is the house of servants. I may not have an under-footman and a parlor­
maid, but the man who comes to repair my TV or lo plumb in my sink
belongs here, as well as anyone whom I employ in my business. The idea
that this house shows U1e services we do for others carries the odd co1mo­
tation that doing something for someone else must be unpleasant.
So far as my plumber, or my employee, or the nanny who might look
after my children is concemed, their job is a tenth-house matter. It is
their career, their profession; so when examining their chart we would
look to the tenth. If I wish to locate U1em in my chart, however-perhaps
to find out why I always have problems with tradesmen, or ifl am asking
a horary 'Should I employ this cleaner?'-1 would look to the sixth.
There is no distinction between different qualities of job; it is a question
of who is doing lhe work and who is paying the bili. After ali, we ali
serve someone when we go to work, or there should be no reason for us
to be paid.
i, the planet associated with lhe sixth house, covers both of these
main meanings. He is the natural ruler of servants. This is because he
mies the reasoning mind, and U1e role of reasou is to be a servanl to U1e
heart. This is something widely forgotten in the mercurial age that we
inhabit, where lhe consequences of making reason our master are ali too
apparent.
i is also, in one of his guises, Asclepius, lhe god of medicine. His is
the caduceus, the serpent-twined staff that is even today the symbol of
medicine. Another name for i in this role is Ophiuchus. It is not inappro­
priate that the scientists (ljl), with their over-valuation of reasou, should
be so detennined to drag this so-called thirteenth sign into the zodiac.

16
 Cons1derat1ons XX: l

Other Meanings
l11e sixth is usually seen as a malefic house, so we would rather our
planets were not located here, nor were in contact with the rnler of this
house. Such placements or contacts usually show problems in whatever
might be the relevant area of the life. The sixth does, however, have its
happier side.
It is the home of small animals-'animals smaller than a goat' in the
traditional tenn-so this is where we find our pets. · Smaller than a goat'
is a generic tenn. so a Great Dane is found in this house, as dogs are
srnaller than goats, while even the tiniest of Shetland ponies would be­
long in lhe twelfth, which is lhe housc of large animais and beasts of
burden ('animais that are a mount lo man' in the words of lhe Jewish as­
trologer, Abraham ben Ezra). ln a horary chart for 'Where is my cat?' we
would take the rnler of the sixth to signify the missing animal. With good
fortune, we would find il applying to aspect the Ascendant rnler: she is
on her way home!
As lhe third house from the fourth, lhe sixth shows my uncles and
aunts (my father's brothers and sisters). If I were specifying uncles on my
mother's side I might look to lhe twelfth, but generally we would go
straight to the sixth.
l11ere is another meaning of this house that causes confusion: that of
tenants. ln contrast to lhe idea of work, this does have authority in the
texts; but we must be aware of a change in the meaning of the word.
Nowadays a tenant exists on much the same levei as his landlord: U1ey
are two equals who have reached a mutually acceptable arrangement on
renting a property. ln the past, U1ings were different. lf my tenant had the
vote, for instance, 1 would expect him to obey my instructions on how he
should cast it. There was an idea of deference with tenancy that is no
longer pertinent today. Tilis is why tenancy is given as a sixth house mat­
ter in the traditional texts-and why it no longer belongs there. This is
not, il must be stressed, because astrology has changed; it is because the
world that astrology mi1Tors has changed. Today, if I cast a horary on a
question such as · Should I let my house to this person?' I would take the
prospective tenant as sevenU1 house, in lhe same way that I would find a
prospective buyer there if I were selling lhe house.
Even if we are faced with a decision like 'Should I sell my house, or
should I rent it out?' which might seem to necessitate giving the seventh
house to a buyer and lhe sixth to a lenant, we should avoid this-unless
we really expect our tenant to labor on our land for a couple of days each
week. ln such an instance we would have to find a different approach, as
both lhe buyer and lhe tenant would be shown by lhe sevenlh. l11e key is
usually in the nature of lhe signs: fixed signs, implying pennanence,
would show a sale; cardinal or, especially, mutable would be more likely
lo show letting.
ln medical astrology, apart from its general significance as lhe house

17
Frawley: More on the Ho11ses

of illncss, the sixth has a specific connection wilh thc intestines. If thc
significator of illness is placcd in this housc, thal is exactly where we
should expect the problem to manifest
ln mundane astrology it shows farmers and counlry-dwellers.
TI1e planet Uiat joys here is ô. As always with lhe joys, there is a pro­
found lruU1 communicated by this fact. On an immediate leveL the con­
neclion is straightforward enough: d is a malefic, and-wiU1 lhe excep­
tion of animais smaller than goats-we tend nol 10 likc the manifesta­
tions of the sixth. They hm1-just like ô! But Ulis ô is a two-edgcd
sword: it may be either turned against us, or wielded by us. The trick is
to leam to pick it up and bear it in our own defense.
The malevolent interventions of lhe outside world in our life are justly
symbolized by d. This is the sword tumed against us. We are invited to
take up a metaphorical sword and bear it against these problems: to take
anns against a sea of troubles and by opposing end Ulem. There are bolh
externa] and internai sides to this.
On an extemal levei, it is our duty to discriminate between what is
right and what is wrong. ô acts first like a razor, enabling us to divide
the one from the 0U1er, U1en like a sword enabling us to put right what is
amiss. The most obvious exercise of this is in medicine, where lhe appli­
cation of d-U1e natural ruler of surgery-enables us by swift action to
right the wrongs of the body. We can do the same in other arcas of the
life.
Looking more deeply, the sixth is, as it were, U1e house of alchemy.
This too is ruled by d, as it is an art accomplished by fire, whether it is
thc externa! alchemy of bubbling retorts or the internai alchemy of lhe
quest for spiritual perfection. This is, U1e traditional texts infonn us, why
we are given illness: to bum off the accumulated dross of our nature U1at
we may arise into a better levei of being. For this reasou. the fumaces of
the alchemists are typically shown as being built in humanoid form, mak­
ing lhe point that what goes on outwardly in the furnace goes on also
inwardly, and raU1er more importantly, in lhe heart, in a constant process
of purification.
So next lime you have a cold, rather than reaching for the various
anodynes that modem medicine offers as a way of suppressing U1e symp­
toms, uy embracing these various unpleasantnesses, seeing lhem as what
traditional medicine suggests thal they are: a way of ridding the system
of a pemicious imbalance. Once that has been sweated out, we can then
delight in lhe little rebirth that is our recovery, seeing il as a fresh start
and an opportunily lo do better in thc new chapter that is beginning.

18
 The Seventh House

JOHN FRAWLEY

0R M0ST of us, lhe first inlroduction to astrology came as we

attempted to find out if the girl or boy on lhe school bus was
ever going to smile in our direction. Somehow the O-sign col­
umns. by virtue of being written in black and white in the pa-
pers or magazines, carried more conviction than pulling the leaves off
twigs to find out if she loved me or she loved me not. And as we started,
so we continue, for in most astrological enquiries it is the seventh house,
the house of relationships, that is U1e prime focus of interest.
The seventh is lhe house of the marriage partner, or tlle "significant
other· in our life. This is tme even if lhe significant 0U1er in question is
but a hopeless dream who persistently refuses to acknowledge our exis­
tence. So in a hora1y, lhe sevenlh is the house under consideralion
whether the question is -Does lhe girl nexl door love mef or -Does Julia
Roberts love mef
There can be ambivalence when we are considering whether to pro­
mote someone from eleventh house to seventh house duties-that is,
wheU1er to deepen a friendship. As ever, the thmst of the question will
show lhe house concerned. So as the question boils down to -Does she
love mef or -Is there a future in this relalionship?" it is usually a sev­
enlh-house matter, wheU1er or nol we already have some sort of relalion­
ship wiU1 lhe person involved.
It most cerlainly remains a sevenlh-house matter when considering
lhe slightly less significant olhers: lhe passing fancies, or lhe bit on lhe
side. As we saw when discussing U1e fifth house. it is ·seventh house for
the person. fifth house for what you do with them' This can, of course,
create ambivalence when there is more than one relationship on lhe go at
once. ln a question about a three-way relationship, the person actually
asked about will usually get the seventh house. Receptions will guide us
to the planet U1at signifies the other party. For instance, it is common to
find either U1e planeis of the two spouses to be ruled by lhe planet signi­
fying the lover, or the planet of querent and lover to be ruled by U1e sig­
nificator of the other spouse. The chart reflects the politics of lhe situa­
tion: the power Uiat the players hold over each 0U1er.
� is often significator of lhe other spouse, who is seen as the 'Greal
Malefic' bent on destroying eve1yone's fim. Any planet conjunct one of
the main significators almost certainly shows an involvement elsewhere:
in the old texts the word 'copulation' is used as a synonym for ·con­
junction·, which makes lhe point quite clearly enough!

41
Frav,:ley: The Seventh Ho11se

A woman asked a horary: "When will I meet a man?" Her planet was
closely conjunct two olher planets, so I asked her. "What about the two
men that you are already seeing?" "They do1Ú count!" she replied. In­
deed, the lack of any reception between these conjunct planets made
this clear: they may have come together, but there was no glue to hold
them tight.
TI1e opposition of first and seventh houses divides the cha11 into two.
The eastern side, centered around tJ1e first house, is 'our' side: the west­
ern side, centered on the seventh, is for the other people. So if the natal
chart has most planets clustered around the Ascendant. we usually find
the native comparatively self-contained. If most planeis are 011 the other
side of the chart, the nalive has a keen involvemenl with lhe outside
world.
When the Lord of lhe Ascendant or the Lord of the Seventh is placed
near the opposite angle, lhe point is made ali the more clearly. Lord of
the Ascendant on the seventh cusp: you chase the boys. Lord of the sev­
enlh on the Ascendant: the boys chase you. A natal chart had the Lord
of lhe seventh just on the firsl cusp, showing exactly that: the native
was very popular with men. This planet, furthennore, was conjunct the
Ascendant ruler by antiscion. As antiscion shows covert things, we see
that she was forever being lured into illicit affairs.
ln the nativity, we can leam a great deal about the maniage and how
the partners will relate to each other by studying the first and seventh
houses and the relationship between their ruling planels. We must al­
ways be aware, however, of the other house of marriage: the tentJ1. The
further back we look in the astrological literature, the more we find mar­
riage located in the tenlh, rather than lhe seventJ1 house. The reasons for
this are slill relevant today. The tenlh is maniage seen as a social func­
tion: lhe dynastic or royal maniage would be an example here. The
seventh shows man-iage as a union of two people. Especially when con­
sidering natal or horary charts for people of Indian or Pakistani back­
ground, lhe tenth can have far more to do with the issue than the sev­
enth.
TI1ere is a similar difference betwecn lhe Arabian Part of Marriagc
and lhe Pa11s ofMa1Tiage ofMen and ofMaITiage ofWomen. The latter
relate to lhe lenth-house conception of marriage, while the former
shows the seventh-house side of it.
Morinus called the lriangle of houses based on the seventh the Trip­
licily of Marriage or Love. He said that there are three ways in which
man is joined to his fellow man. Most importantly, "is thal of thc body,
which we call Matrimony' and which has the seventh house. Second in
rank comes union by blood, ·which constitutes Brethren and Kindrcd, in
the Third House· Finally comes "that of simple benevolence or favor,
whence do arise friends, in lhe 11tJ1 house·

42
 Cons1derat1ons XX: 2

Union by body is not, however. always harmonious: we are just as

tightly engaged when we are wrestling-so the seventh is also the house
of open enemies. The astrologer does not have so much scope for judg·
ing battle charts nowadays, but this meaning of the seventh is still impor­
tant.
ln judging charts for sporting contests, we weigh lhe first house
against U1e sevenlh house to find out who will win. lf the chart is a ho·
rary. we work mainly by the planets· relative dignity. lf it is a chart cast
for the start of lhe evenl, dignity has little importance and we work pri·
marily from the movement of lhe planets. Such event cha11s can give re­
sults of great accuracy-even to lhe extenl of allowing prediction of lhe
final score, as I have demonstraled on TV on numerous occasions. The
problem is that the techniques do not work for day-to-day matches. They
work excellently for the high-profile, "one-off' games like cup finais, but
are no use at ali ai 3 o"clock on a Saturday aftemoon, when fifty or sixty
first-class football matches are kicking off at the same lime, wilh similar
charts. No help in winning the pools, then!
The first-seventh axis is also what we consider in charls for court
cases. ln a straight contest-an arm-wrestling match, for instance-we
weigh the first and lhe seventh to see which is the stronger: that person
will win. A triai chart has lhe notable difference U1at the case is decided
not by wrestling one to onc. but by lhe decision of a judge and jury.
ln a horary chart about a civil action, the relative strength of the mlers
of the first and seve11U1 houses is less significant than their relationship
with the rnlers of U1e tenth and the fourth. If the Lord of lhe first or lhe
seventh has a lot of essential dignity, it usually shows that this person has
right on his side. Unfortunately, this does not necessarily mean that they
will win.
The rnler of the tenth shows lhe judge, or, more broadly, the judicial
system. li is nol necessary lo distinguish between judge and jury. lf
there is receplion and aspect between the mler of the tenth and one or
other of U1e parties involved, that party will win-right or wrong.
The fourth house is 'they end of the malte(, which phrase has a spe­
cific meaning in legal contexts: il is U1e verdict. In court. of course, eve­
ryone gets U1e verdict, whether they win or lose. In thc chart, the verdict
is like a prize: whoever gets to it will win. So if our horary shows the
Ascendant ruler applying to conjunct lhe rulcr of the fomth, we have
good news: U1e querent gels lo U1e prize and wins the case
Criminal cases are different, as they are nol a straight fight: they are
the person against the Crown. When considering the outcome, we must
look at what is going to happen to lhe accuser's significator. If it is about
to lose a lot of dignity, we see him being convicted. lf improving its posi­
tion, he will go free. These charts show witJ1 surprising frequency the
significator entering its fall: the person is, quite literally, 'being down ·.
As a general principie, it is remarkable just. how literally we can take the

43
Fraw/ey: The Seventh House

astrological chart.
As well as emotional partners, the seventh shows our business part­
ners. Judgments on this matter need to be approached with a dose of com­
mon sense: it is easy to make judgments grounded finnly in fairy-land.
We should not expect to find the kind of relationship between business
partners that we would between husband and wife. It is not even signifi­
cant that there is no reception between their planets-provided that tJ1ey
both share an interest in the matter at hand. That is, translating the astrol­
ogy into ·1egal life· terms: it doesiú matter whether or not they like each
other; what matters is that they can work towards a common goal.
Many judgments go astray by feeding the wrong expectations into the
chart. Do we want a business partner with whom we will enjoy work­
ing-as we make our way to the insolvency courts: or do we want a part­
ner with whom we can succeed? If Ute latter is lhe case. his planet must
show some essential dignity, to show that he has some gifts to bring to
tJ1e business. Ideally, however, it would be strong, but not quite as strong
as our own planet. We do1Ú want to lose controH
The idea of partnership puts the doctor or the astrologer in lhe seventh
house-if they are on lhe case at lhe time. Generally. doctors and astrolo­
gers, as people of learning, belong in U1e ninth. But ifl am ill, my doctor
becomes my seventh house in U1e cha1t for tJ1e illness. He is seen as my
parlner in tJ1e business of my getting well. Similarly, in a horary charl
the astrologer is shown by lhe seventh house: the querent's partner in
arriving at lhe truth.
If lhe astrologer asks his own question, he does not get tlte seventh as
well as the first: one house is quite enough for anybody, astrologer or
not. ln charts on seventh house matters, meanwhile, we can assume Utat
the seventh house has better things to do tJ1an signifying lhe astrologer,
so we should not read ourselves into lhe chart.
While lhe seventh is lhe house of tJ1ose closest to us, it is also lhe
house of those of least significance. It is the house of "any old person' So
if I ask oul of idle curiosity, -Will Madonna win an óscar this yearf
Madonna would be given the seventh house.
It is said to be the house of fugitives, but I have always found more
success in taking tJ1e natural house of the person concemed. So when my
under-footman goes missing. I usually take him as the sixth house (ser­
vants) rather lhan the seventh.
A particular example of tJ1e open enemy is the thief. We may not
know who he is, but U1e acl of theft is considered as having made his
emnity open, in contrast to lhe office gossip spreading scandal about us,
who remains a secret enemy (twelfth house). If an arlicle has been stolen
the lord of the seventh is one candidate for significator of the tJ1ief.
We do need to be careful here, as thief and spouse are bolh shown by
tJ1e sevenlh. Seeing the significator of the lost object in lhe seventh house
can lead us to start slinging accusations of theft. Experience shows that.

44
 Considerahons XX: 2

more often than not, it means only that the lmsband has picked it up and
forgotten about it
The planet associated with the seventh house is lhe JI. On one levei,
the)) is natural rnler of lhe people-of 'any old person· But we must re­
member Ule basis 011 which our chart is constrncted. The Ascendant is
the place where the O rises. lt is then, as it were, the natural place of the
O. It is only fitting that we should then find lhe)), U1e celestial pa1tner of
the O, in lhe seventh, the house ofmarriage and ofunion.
�

Conversations
with the Dead

EDWIN STUART

I
EONARD
First of ali, there was Leonard. 1'11 talk about him first, because
Leonard was an T and T likes to be first. Leonard was a typi­
cal Aries in that he projected a lot ofself-confidence, at least on
the outside. His rising sign was ts and he had ? and '+ very close to his
ascendant, so he had dark hair and beard, dark eyes behind tinted glasses,
a slightly imposing, serious manner, and a stocky build. He was a large,
strong fellow, about 6' l" and well over 200 lbs.
ln high school he used to enter bench pressing contests, something I
didn't hear him boast about but was mentioned in an allogether different
context. Occasionally he'd talk about U1ings he did in his younger days
(even though we were still in our Twenties at the time) that he later re­
gretted. One of them involved a group of buddies who played cards on
lhe weekends and who persuaded Leonard to invite his weightlifting
coach to a game, during which Leonard conspired with his Bridge­
playing associates to cheat the coach out of a bunch ofmoney. Another
of these dark escapades was when he worked as a back-alley abortionist.
He talked aboul one or two cases where lhe primilive water pressure
meU1od he used didn't work for some reason, causing lhe poor woman to
start moaning in pain, while Leonard packed bis stuff and made a quick
exit.
He had his)) in ;/, which might make a person prone to stretching the
trnth. even where lhe negative side ofthings is concemed, but I don't

45
 The Eighth House

JOHN FRAWLEY

NCE UPON A TIME, when someone had their horoscope cast

the first thing the astrologer would detennine would be the
length of the person's life. This was considered an obvious pre­
liminary, marking out the limits of the investigation. For tllere
was no point whatever in the astrologer laboring to predict what would
happen to the person on Wednesday if the chart showed that he was more
than likely to die on Tuesday.
Things have changed, for predicting the length of life is now regarded
as anathema. Many text-books of astrology state in no uncertain tenns
that it is one thing that no astrologer should ever do. Yet the awareness
of its necessity still remains, for thc astrologer wil\ often be asked, "OK:
you've said such and such will happen: but what if I get hit by a bus to­
morrow?°" We may leave to one side the question of whether being hit by
a bus is really as common a cause of fatality as such questioners seem to
believe: but it is 011\y reasonable to think thal-making fui! allowance for
lhe aslrologer's human fallibility-if lhe clienl were to come to a sticky
end in lhe immediate future, it could and should be read in lhe chart.
Provided lhe aslrologer is willing and able lo do it.
We do hear appalling stories of irresponsible stargazers carelessly
predicting ghastly ends with no apparent thought for lhe consequence of
their words. ó and e seem to be the favored pegs on which lhey ha.ng
their dire prognostications, altl1ough neither of these has much connec­
tion with death in the chart. Obviously, we must be cautious about whal
is said and to whom we say it
ln more spiritual ages our ancestors knew that life makes sense only if
lived in lhe full awareness of death: momento mori. To the modem eye,
this appears gruesome. Far from il, as il heightens lhe capacity to live.
Today, death is something that we much prefer to forget about, except
when it happens to the bad guys on TV. Forget it as we may, it will still
catch up with ali of us, and it is an event of some consequence in the life.
It is often claimed that advances in medical knowledge (a somewhal
loaded phrase, this!) and extended life spans mean that death cannot be
predicted by astrology. TI1is is boU1 demonstrably untrue and theoreti­
cally unsound. If such were the case, there must come a point in the life
ai which we are no longer subject to the stars. We might then ali look
forward to an old age where we are married to Mel Gibson or Nicole
Kidman and win the lottery every week. Disappointing though it might
be, this is unlikely to happen.

79
Frawley: The E1ghth House

The debate about the prediction of death has created some biza1Te
ideas about the nature of the 81b house of the charl. As death has appar­
ently been abolished, it has become necessa1y to find something cise for
th
the 8 to do. Favorite options today are 'lransfonnative experiences',
whatever they might be, and sex. The idea of sex as an 8th-l10use activity
is quite ho1Tific
ln any astrology that purporls lo say anything of concrete and verifi­
able accuracy, the 81b is lhe house of death. This is not death in any po­
etic or metaphorical sense, as some modem authorities claim. 11lis is
death in lhe very real sense of someone no longer being alive.
l11ere are no prizes at ali for predicting lhal somebody will eventually
die: the important part of this prediction is getting the timing right. This
is a matter of some imporlance, as if my astrologer has convinced me
that I will die tonighl, so I spend my last penny on an afternoon of he­
donistic glee, I may nol be best pleased when t wake tomonow to find
that lhe prediction was wrong.
Much nonsense is written aboul lhe timing of death from lhe cha1t.
When Princess Diana died, for example, severa\ published articles
pinned lhe biame on progressed e being in her 8th house. As ai any one
time a twelfth of lhe population has progressed e in their 8 th house, and
they do nol ali drop dead, this has limited validily as a predictive tech­
nique.
We must indeed look at progressions, but we need tools far more pre­
cise than lhe infinitesimally slow meandering of progressed Pluto
through lhe zodiac. Contacts with the 81h cusp and the 111ler of the 8 1h
house can be importanl, but even here we must exercise caution. Espe­
cially today, when we can flick up a progressed chart at lhe touch of a
mouse, it is easy to forget that the progressions at any one moment are
pari of a system of on-going cycles, not a separate enlily in themselves.
So if we see the progressed )) crossing our natal g lli cusp we shou\d not
panic, but remember that lhe progressed )) circuits the chart every
twenty-eight years, so in the average life-time il will do lhis two or even
three limes, usually without any ili effect.
l11e fixed stars assume a great significance whenever we consider the
major tuming points of the life, so progressions onto lhe more malign of
them need to be considered. Malign, that is, from our own perspective, as
the significance of the ])'s nodes makes clear.
At the end of his Repubfic, PI alo gives a beautiful piece of astrological
symbolism as he tackles lhe most fundamental issues of life and fale. He
sees our life as a wheel revolving around a spindle. This is different lo
our common perception, which is of a straight line starling when we
were bom and moving inexorably to our death. The spindle around
which our life is stnmg is lhe axis of lhe lunar nodes.
From our perceplion it is íl good; O bad·, as the íl is the doorway into
life, through which we come "trailing clouds of glory'. The restrictive O,

80
 Considerations XX: 3

traditionally likened in its effects to ?, is the strait gate and nanow way
through which we pass out of life. But, as lhe great teachers have ever
told us, our perceplion is upside down, conditioned as it is by our view­
point within life. It is significant in this context that we speak of the
'pearly gates' of heaven, as the lunar symbolism of the pearl brings us
back to the )) and her nodes, reminding us exactly of what we are talking.
th
From the progressions and the Solar and Lunar retum charls the 8
house will show us the liming of death; it will also show us its quality:
whelher it will be sudden or long drawn; from illness or accident, or
whatever.
As an extension from lhe idea of death, tl1e 8th house also shows lega­
cies. The major significators of wealth in the 8 th house, William Lilly
tells us, show 'profit from dead folks'-and he was well placed to know,
with his happy knack of marrying rich widows shortly before they died!
The 8th is not money only from lhe dead, however, for as the 2 nd
house from lhe ih it shows the money of whomever the 7 th house repre­
sents. If lhe th house is my wife, the 8th will show her money. This was a
major topic of inlerest in Lilly's day, where much of the astrologer's prac­
tice was devoted to questions of "How much money does my prospective
spouse have-and how easily can I get my hands on it?"
This is nol a matter lhal is entirely lost in the wastes of time. While
wives now may not commonly bring dowries with them, we do often see
in horary questions that there is a puzzling lack of reception between
man and woman. ·what does he/she see in her/himf we wonder. Until
we notice that there is a strong reception between our querent and the
ruler of the 8th house. "Aha!" we think. ·He may not like her much, bul
he does like her money'. We can then consider the 111ler of her 8th to see if
she really lias any money, or whether his interesl is just wishful thinking.
As we saw with the 2nd house, there is a deeper side to this. While the
2 nd is on a superficial level my possessions, and ai this deeper level my
self-esteem, so lhe 8th is the other person's possessions, and also his es­
teem for me. So often in horaries the 8th-house concem is less a desire foi
the other perso,i's cash than the emotional necessity of their thinking wetl
of me.
It is not only parlners, but also opponents, and even ·any old person'
that is shown by lhe ih So lhe 8th house is also my enemy's money. This
is pertinent in horary questions of profit. ·will I win by backing Red
Rum in the 3.30f What I want to see here is a nice aspect bringing the
ruler of the 8th house-lhe bookie's money-to lhe rnler of either the l st

house (me) or the 2nd house (my pocket). I hope to see lhe mler of the 8 th
house strongly dignified and well placed in tl1e chart: I want tl1e bookie's
money in the best possible condition. That is, I want a lot of it.
Its condition and lhe nature of the aspect will tel1 me how nmch I am
likely to win. If there is a good aspect, but the rnler of lhe 8th is in poor
condition, I may win, but I will not win much. This can help us make

81
Frawley: The Eighth House

decisions. For instance, we may have lhe choice of a safe investment

with a low retum, or a higher retum ai grealer risk. If the chai1 shows a
big win, we may decide to take lhe risk if a win but only a small one, we
would take the safer option.
ln a business conlext lhe olher people are our cuslomers, so ·1he olher
people's money· is our takings. Again, we want to see the rnler of the 8th
house in good condilion-but there is an impm1ant rider here. If lhe rnler
of lhe 8 th house is in the 8th it will usually be ve1y strong, as il will usu­
ally be in its own sign. But lhe ruler of lhe 8th in lhe 8 1h is a sure indica­
tion that, no matter how much money our customers might have, il is
staying right in lheir pockets. This is ali the more trne if the planet is in a
fixed sign.
On a more general levei, the 8th is ·anyone else's money·. So, for in­
stance. in vocational matters we commonly find the key significators in
U1e 8 th house when U1e person is an accountant or in a similar profession
whose dealings are with "anyone else's money· � in the 8th house might
almost be regarded as an astrological signature for accountancy, if � in
U1at chart has significance for the profession.
Through its associations with death, the 8th can also show 'fear and
anguish of mind· By this is not meanl a specific fear, such as a phobia:
but if in a hora1y chart lhe querent"s significator is in the 8 th house we
would judge thal he is seriously worried about the situalion. As a general
mie, lhe 8 th is not a favorable place for a planei to be. Although it is a
succedent house and succedent houses are stronger than cadent, it is, as it
were. an honora1y cadent house. Planets in the 6th, 8 th and 12th houses are
significantly weakened.
ln medical matlers the 8th shows U1e organs of excretion. II is lhe op­
posite to lhe 2 nd house, which govems the throat, so the 2nd shows what
goes into the body, while the 8 th shows what comes out. If there is a fixed
sign on lhis cusp in a medical chart, and if lhe cusp is afflicted by either a
planei in a fixed sign or by?, which govems the body's retentive faculty,
we might expect constipation, on either a physical or a psychic leve!. ln a
mutable sign and afflicted by a badly placed 4, we might expect-again
011 eilher a physical or psychic levei, as shown by other indicalors­
diarrhea. The charl echoes the connection between money and eating and
excreting that Dante shows in his Inferno.
TI1e planei of the 8th house is?. Following the Chaldean order of lhe
planels around the chart from? in the 1 •t, we come again to? in the 8th
? is lhe ruler of boundaries and of doors. As ít shows us the doorway
into life, it shows us also the doorway oul. As ít showed us the strait way
in-we might remember what a hard passage is the birth-it shows us
also the strait way out. From bi11h to death our life is bounded by?-and
our way oul of U1ese bounds is through 4, the plane! of faith, lhe builder
of the rainbow bridge to lhe Divine.

82
 The Ninth House

1
JOHN FRAWLEY

L THOUGH THE 9th might seem to be one of the less compel­

ling houses of the chart-after ali, most readings start and finish
with the ih house of relationships!-it can be seen as the key to
the whole chart, especially if we wish to investigate the deeper
levels of the psyche. This does not, it must be stressed, mean the uncon­
scious: what is unconscious is unconscious for good reason, and is 11511-
ally best left well alone. The ninth brings us face to face with the person's
spiritual inclinations and capacities.
While the reaction to this may too oflen be ·so what?" it is at this
level that the natal reading has its trne purpose. For as astrology makes
sense only in its relationship to the Divine, so our lives make sense only
within a spiritual background. This tenet was taken for granted through­
out most of astrology's long history.
The usual model of the natal reading by traditional method follows
the analogy of building a house: we start from the bottom up, laying U1e
foundations before we tackle task.s such as putting on the roof. So our
first job is to assess lhe native's temperament. This gives us a broad
judgment of type, against which ali lhe more detailed paris of lhe reading
must be seen.
For ai! that lhe modem astrological ·cookbooks· tell us about lhe as­
pects in the natal chart, these aspects make sense only when seen against
the background of U1e temperament. We must always ask ourselves
wheU1er the person is choleric, melancholic, sanguine or phlegmatic
(fiery, earU1y, airy or watery) by nature if we are to k.now how the par­
ticular aspect will operate. Once we have laid the foundation thal is the
temperament, we will find that U1e rest of the reading falis into place
quite easily, wiU1out many of the contradictions which lhe modem con­
cepl of 'synthesis' attempts to resolve.
l11ere is, however, anolher, deeper, model of practíce through which
we can approach the chart. Here we begin not wiU1 the material founda­
tions of lhe nature, but with its highest levels: the spiritual possibilities.
This might seem like a contradiction to our original analogy, presenting
us with lhe feal of putting on the roof before U1e walls are in place; but it
should be seen nol so much as starting from the top and working down­
wards, as staiting from the inside-the veritable core, or essence, of the
person-and working from U1erc to U1c superficial traits of character.
To examine the native on Ulis level we look to the 9lh house of the
cha1t and its relationship to lhe 3 n1 house, which is where lhe potentials

52
 Cons1derations XX: 4

of U1e ninth are or are not put into practice. Also of Ule utmost impor­
tance are the seven key Arabian Parts: U1ese can indeed be seen as the
Seven Pillars of Wisdom on which our judgment is founded. The nu­
merical echo is no coincidence.
l11ese seven Parts are those based on the Pait ofFortune. They are:
® herself : As+)-O:
Part of Spirit (® reversed): As+O-}:
Pa1t of Love: As+Pait of Spirit-®;
Part of Despair: As+®-Pa1t of Spirit;
Part of Captivity and Escape: As+®-?:
Part of Victory and Aid: As+ '4 - Part of Spirit;
Part of Courage: As+®-ó
The formulae for these Parts are often reversed in night-time charts, but
U1e reasoning for doing so is questionable, while keeping the fonnulae
unchanged works well, whether in plumbing Ule depths of lhe nature 01
in such mundane, but easily verifiable, matters as forecasting the football
scores.
l11e names that these Pruts have acquired in English understate their
tme significance. The Part of Love concems Love on a far wider scale
than our usual preoccupation with romance-although this is indeed pa1t
of it. It encompasses ali our lmman bonds, and stretches farther yet to tel1
much about our aspirations and motivations. l11e Part of Despair is the
unfortunale awareness of U1e limitations of our human condition, and
where in the life this pinches us the most.
l11e Part of Captivity has its obvious connections with prisons; but
most of us go through our lives without any connection with prison. It
shows the unnecessary bonds we put upon ourselves by our own foolish­
ness (in contrast to the inevitable bonds that are shown by lhe Part of
Despair). As the planet connected wiU1 this Part is ?. god of doors, it
shows us not only the way into these prisons, but also our way out. On the
broadest levei, the imprisonment of which it speaks is that of the sou!
within the world: our own incamation.
TI1e Part of Victory has little to do with winning at dominoes, but is a
reminder-as its planet, '4, makes clear-U1at victo1y is ever a gift from
above. It shows us aid from the Divine. the 'daily bread' that sustains us
both physically and spiritually.Finally, U1e Part of Courage shows great­
ness of sou1, of which physical courage can be a part.
When assessing the 9th house's role in this we must look to U1e house
itself, its mler and any planets in that house, especially those close to the
cusp. l11e modality (cardinal, fixed or mutable) of U1e sign on the cusp
and the sign in which lhe house ruler falls will tel1 us something of how
constant in faith the na.tive might be-remembering, as ever, thal this
must be seen within U1e context of his or her whole nature. It is always
worth having a look at U1e condition of '4 too, as he is U1e natural rnler of

lJ
Frawley: The Nmth Ho11se

faith.
If we find lhe house ruler in its detriment and lhe house ilself af.
flicted, things do not look good. This does not mean that lhe person
should be written off as lhe worst of sinners: such crosses can be the spur
lo work hard at the spiritual life and achieve greatly. The nature of the
planet afllicting lhe house will tel1 where the major problems lie.
Suppose it is? in T, poised on the cusp of the 9 th . The reasou? is so
weak, and therefore so malign, in T is that the speed of that sign is in­
compatible with 1::>'s plodding nature: this often manifests as impetuosity.
So we might judge that U1e native's desire for instant solutions makes
any sustained spiritual effort that much the harder
Or we might link lhe afflicting planet back to the house it rules. A
typical example might be the Lord of the I O lh house afflicting the 9 th : the
native's all.consuming commitment to his career leaves no time or efforl
for higher things. Similarly, we can trace the significance of a helpful
planei in the 9 th through the house il mies. Maybe I have the mler of thc
11 lh house casting a fo1tunate ray over lhe 91h: I have friends whose com·
pany guides me to a higher path.
It is from these spiritual concerns thal U1e 9 th draws its lesser meaning
as lhe house of travei. This govems long joumeys; but what is a long
joumey? The ancienl texts define it as a joumey where we gel there and
back in a day, or maybe two. Shmter journeys belong in the 3 r<1 house.
But the real dividing line is whether lhe joumeys are routíne or special.
Toe trivial joumeys thal make up our daily round are 3 rd house; any spe­
cial joumey, no matter how near or far, echoes the nature of the pilgrim­
age to God thal is lhe joumey of our life, and so belongs in the 91h
Indeed, the Arab Neo.Platonists, the Brothers of Purity, saw the 9 111 as
the image of lhe whole of the life, finding significance in lhe fact that if
we give one monU1 per house from conception, which we may take as the
Ascendant, lhe 9th cusp will show U1e birth, the start of our voyage.
ln most of our enquiries we are concerned more with mundane jour­
neys, and the 91h will tel1 if the native has an inclination to travei. and
how successful such traveis will be. If we are looking for U1e success of
one specific joumey in a horary chart, we would also check the condition
1h
of lhe I Olh house. As lhe 2 nd from U1e 9 , this shows the joumey's
money-the profit that will be made. A strong '4 on that cusp should
have us packing our bags wilh enthusiasm!
So also the l Olh shows the profit from another 9lh house concem: our
studies, or our knowledge. The condition of the 9•h house in a horary on
this subject will show if we know anything; this is not necessarily con·
nected with our ability to make money oul of it. For Ulis, we look to lhe
l 0111 As with questions of faitl1, so here lhe failings in our knowledge
will be revealed by affliclions to the house and its ruler.
Knowledge is seen as a kind of joumey. Another joumey is a dream.
Dreams in U1e loose sense of "I dream about dating Miss Wonderful'' are

54
 Cons1derahons XX: 4

11th house isSL1es: ambitions. ln lhe stricl sense, as in whal we experience

whilst asleep, they belong here (not in lhe l i11). l11e dream is seen as a
source of infonnation, which may or may not be co1Tect. ln the classical
image, lhe dream comes through the gate either of horn or of ivory.
Those which come through the gate of hom are lrue; as if hom is worked
very thin it becomes transparent, while ivo1y remains opaque no matter
how thin it might be.
ln a hora1y cha1t, the condition of the 9th will tell us if the dream is to
be believed. Or, for that matter, any other prophecy or prediction: -my psy­
chic told me..." If we wish to use the chart to inlerprel a dream, we are best
to regard lhe dream as if it were as real as anything else in our life. Tims
we ascribe the houses exactly as we would nonnally do: 1 am firsl, my
wife is i11, my boss is 10th, and so on. By analyzing the chart according
to the usual mies we can find a concrete meaning for tl1e dream, avoiding
the psycho-jargon witl1 which dream interpretation is so often plagued.
So, for instance, if I dream I am arguing with my boss, by unraveling
our motives in the same way as we would do in any other horary chart,
by studying lhe receptions of tl1e two significators, we see tl1e reasons for
the argumenl, while the house placements will allow us to reveal any
deeper layers of meaning in tl1e dream's choice of characters.
The 9 th is often prominent in horaries for "When and where will I
meet my husband? questions. If the planets of querent and potential
spouse come together in the 10 1h, we see them meeting at work. Un­
fortunately for lhe astrologer, most other options for meeting are
covered by the 9th: evening-class, on holiday, in church. If this is the
house emphasized, it can be hard to decide which will be lhe one.
For Asian querents, the 9th has a specific meaning here: that of the
marriage bureau. As the bureau has taken the role of the wise man
who would arrange a match in the past, so it takes the same house of
lhe chart. The same cannot be said of the western agencies.
Following the Chaldean order of lhe planets that has explained
why each house means what it does, we find 4 as lhe planet associ­
ated with the 9th house. While it is not usually a good idea to mix
eastern and western schools of astrology (no disparagement to the
Vedic methods, which are fine indeed: they just don't mix success­
fully), the lndian name for 4, 011111, makes the point perfectly. 4 is
the builder of the rainbow bridge from the human to the Divine, and
this part of the chart is fr om where that bridge leads.
This point is repealed by the O having its joy in this house, as lhe
O is the visible symbol of God within the cosmos. This is an idea
which the historians and archaeologists are prone to mistake, so it is
worth clarifying exactly what it means. No civilization has ever
worshipped the O (or the )), for that matter). What various civiliza­
tions have done is to take the O as a naturally occurring symbol, not of
God, Who is beyond ali symbol, but of His action and manifestation

"
Frawley: The Nmth Ho11se

within Crcation
Oncc, thc traditional sources tel1 us, the house of God thal is the 9th
would have been on the Midheaven, its rightful place. But when Man
fel!, everything slipped out of kilter. This is reflecled by the planets'
moving in clliptical, rather than circular orbits. The effect of this transpo­
sition 011 lhe mundane houses is lhat they ali shifted round by one place.
The point made by this piece of cosmology is that with lhe Fali, there
came into Creation nvo differing viewpoints: God's and Man's. Before
then, when Adam would walk with God in lhe cool of the evening, the
viewpoints were as one.

John Fi-awley is an astrological consultant and teacher with students in six con·
tinents. He is the editor of The Astro/oger's Apprentlce and author of The Ho­
ra1y Textbook, The Real Astrology and The Real Astrology App/ied. Contact
John atj@apprentice.demon.co.uk.

,.
 The Three South-Eastern Houses

JOHN FRAWLEY

1 The Tenth House

HE MIDHEAVEN, lhe cusp of the 10111 house. dominates tlle
chart, and this dominance is reflected in its significance in the
natal reading. For while lhe 10th is commonly associated with
U1e work that we do, this has an importance far wider than the
means by which we keep food on our table.
Ptolemy, who is, for all that he is neglected today, by far the most in­
fluential of ali writers on astrology, speaks of the 10th house in a section
devoted to aclion. The main role of what he tenns lhe lord of aclion is to
show what profession the native might practice; but it has much to do
with lhe quality of any action tllat we might undertake, involving not
only our work. but the manner in which we do anything. It helps show
the l,ow of our behavior. If the I st house shows the nalure of this par.
ticular incarnation, this soul in this body, the Midheaven shows this in­
camation in action-the soul going for a walk. Our judgments here am­
plify and refine the basic details of lhe ho,r-11ess of the person that we
have found from the assessmenl of temperament and manner which
fonns lhe first stage of traditional natal method.
Ptolemy's judgment of this part of lhe life begins with lhe O. Not, it
nmst be emphasized, with the O itself, and so not with lhe facile number­
ing off of ali Taureans to work on fanns and ali Capricorns to be busi­
ness executives, but with the planei thal is closest to the O at sunrise on
lhe day in question. Preference would be given to an oriental planei (one
that rises before lhe 0). Oriental planeis find it easier to shed their influ.
ence on the world. This reflects lhe
astronomical reality: an oriental planei rises
into a dark sky, so it can be seen clearly.
When an occidental planei rises lhe O is
already up and so it cannot usualiy be seen at
ali.
We must combine our assessmenl of t h e
planet rising closest to lhe O with that of any
planei situated near the Midheaven,
especially if it is in aspect to lhe ll. The lunar
aspect helps to, as it were, vivify lhe planei,
almost as if this aspect were what plugs lhe

30
 Cons1deratíons XXI: J

planet into the mains and so allows it to work. This empowering of other
planets is the main role of the luminaries, to which role the manifestation
of their own natures is very much a secondary consideration.
l11e O is seen as the ultimate source (within the cosmos) of ali power,
while the ll, the closest planet to our Earth, acts as a kind of lens through
which ali this power and ali planetary influence is filtered on its way into
what the ancients tenned the ,rorld of ge11eratio11 of corr11plio11-the
world which we inhabit.
The significators tlms identified are considered logelher, with empha­
sis being given to whichever of them is the stronger by essential and ac­
cidental dignity. ln many charts we will have only one such planet, and
in some none at ali, for it is only planets that are close-ish lo lhe O thal
can be considered under our first criterion. As always, they are judged
together wilh the signs in which they fali, the signs being the adjectives
to the nouns that are the planets.
lf our first criteria do nol produce a planet, we lhen-and only then­
tum to lhe ruler of lhe l 0th house. This, Ptolemy warns us, will tend lo
show "the occasional pursuils of lhe subject, for persons wilh such geni­
tures are for the most pari inactive.' Like ali such sweeping statements in
lhe texts, this is "ali lhings being equal', and there will often be other in­
dicalions which will counterbalance it
l11e planel or planets and their signs will combine to tel1 us aboul lhe
profession. lf other considerations of temperament and manner were in
accordance, for example, we might decide that ó shows thal our native
is a soldier. Suppose ó is in a water sign. What sort of soldier? A wet
sort of soldier: so a marine, or a sailor on a warship. Perhaps this ó is in
close trine aspect to a strongly dignified 4: we might further decide thal
this must be a very successful wet sort of soldier-a fighting admirai,
perhaps. But maybe � is combined in judgment wilh lhis ó, and � is by
far the stronger of lhe two: we might have someone who writes about
wet sorts of soldiers, or perhaps devises tactics for their actions.
ó. Q and � have an important general role in lhe assessment of magis­
tery, which is lhe traditional tenn equivalent to profession or vocation.
They denote, broadly speaking, whether we work with our brain, our
brawn, or our aesthelic senses. Any one of these strongly placed in either
the I st, th or 10th house will have a major influence on the profession.
lndeed, for want of any more commanding teslimonies, we can often
plump for whichever of these tJ1ree planeis is the stronger and hang our
judgment on tliat.
lt is important to follow these stages of judgment rather tJ1an jumping
straight to lhe mler of lhe Midheaven: to do thal can be misleading. My
experience suggesls that what this planet often shows is what the native
can do-a kind of fail-safe or default option, into which they will fall
whenever they are not pushing themselves to do something more inter­
esting. When tives reach crisis point and the native decides that he can

31
Fraw/ey: The Three South-Eastern Houses

no \onger cope with a cerlain tine of work, lhe chart often shows him
abandoning the ruler of the 10th in favor of the strongest vocational indi­
calor, which will show a job more emotionally nurturing.
TI1ere are hvo Arabian Pa11s of particular relevance here. The Part of
Vocation is the same as the ®· except that il is extended from the Mid­
heaven ralher than from the Ascendant. As the 0 shows lhe person's
treas11re, or what is their deepest concem, so lhe Part of Vocation shows
their treasure in working terms, or in lerms of action. The Part of
Fame, or of Work to Be Done, can show that for which a person is most
noled. It is often illuminating in lhe charts of people famous in their
field. The formula is Ascendant + \; - O by day, or + O - 4 by night.
As the name Work to Be Do11e suggests, it canies a sense of duty: lhis is
where ·a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do·
The connection of lhe Midheaven with career, or with the quality of
action, has a special significance when we must judge charls for which
we have no lime of birth. The convention is that we use a chart set for
eilher noon or sunrise on the day in question. With a sunrise chart the
Sun will be on the Ascendanl, weighting that part of the chart. These
charts are best if we wish lo explore the native's private life. Noon charts,
wilh the o·s position emphasizing lhe Midheaven, are much the better if
we wish to investigate the native·s public life or career. With lhe charts of
celebrities, il might be suggested that lhe latter is the only fit cause for
investigation-the private life being no more the just concern of the as­
trologer than it is of the paparazzo.
While the 10th house has significance for our job, it also shows our
boss. The 101h is the house of kings, being U1e proudest of houses, as
the place which the O holds at midday. By analogy, it also shows the
mler in any specific situation. This can cause confusion in horary ques­
tions on career issues. lf lhe l 0th house shows the job, where do we find
the boss, if we need to distinguish bet\Veen lhe hvo? We can somelimes
tum the cha11 to take the l 0th house from the 10th (the ? 1h). So if lhe I 0th is
U1e job, the 10th from the 10th is lhe boss of the job. If lhe question is
"will I get the job?", however, this house is already in use, as the 7 th is
the house of our open enemies. who are in lhis context our rivais for the
position. ln this case, we can take the plane! that disposits the l 01h mler.
Lord l O is the job: its dispositor is, literally, the ru\er of lhe job: the boss.
ln court-case questions the l 0th shows a specific kind of boss: the
judge. Although the texts refer to the 10 1h as 'the judge' it can nowadays
be taken as showing the whole court system. It is nol usually necessary
to distinguish between U1e judge and lhe jury by finding separate signifi­
cators for U1em: this does nothing but add an unnecessa1y complication.
The 10th mler has immense impo11ance in these charts, for it does not so
much matter who is right and who is wrong, as it matters whom the court
prefers. A strong contact between the significator of either party in lhe
case and that of the judge will override any other consideration in lhe

32
 Considerations XXI: J

determination of the chart

As the natural position of the midday O, U1e l 01h is the house of glory
and of honor, so success is found here. It is common, for instance, to
look to the 9th house when considering questions about examination re­
sults. But the 9th house shows our knowledge: there is not necessarily a
direct connection between this and our passing or failing the exam.
What we are really asking is -Will I succeed?" which is a 10th house is­
sue.
It can be difficult to decide whether or not lo tum the chart for ce1tain
l O th-house matters. As a general mie, the bigger the thing, the less
likely we are to tum. Extreme cases are clear-cul. If I ask -Whal are my
son's career prospectsf the career belongs specifically to him, so we
would tum the chart, taking the I 0th house from the 5 th. If I ask -Will my
son win Olympic goldi Ulis event is so public and of such note U1at we
would look straight to the radical 10th There is only a fine line of divi­
sion between some less extreme cases. "Will my son gel a holiday job in
the supennarket?" is small scale, so we would tum. -Will my son be the
next manager of Manchester United?- would take us to the radical I 0th
Somewhere between lhe two there is a dividing-line: if we are in doubt,
dose study of the chart will always reveal on which side any particular
instance falls.
As discussed in the article on the 7 th house, U1e 10th has a lot to do
with ma1i-iage. The further back in the texts we look, the more maJTiage
reverts from U1e ? 1b to tJ1e I 0111 house, being seen less as a union of two
equals and more as a social institution This has significance today when
considering arranged or introduced mmi-iages, in contrast to the -we're in
!ove, let's get marriel of lhe ? 1h house.
Although there are many now who choose to disagree, severa! thou­
sand years of astrological tradition-and lhe small matter of demon­
strable accuracy-places lhe mother in the 10 th This is an extrapolation
from the 4'h house. which shows our parents (our root: tl1e base of the
cha1t) in general and our fatl1er in pa11icular. Our father's wife. then, musl
be shown by the 7 th house from the 41h : the 10th Whether this fits with
our conceptions of social justice is neilher here nor there: lhe heavens
have not yet stmted to arrange lhemselves to suit our ephemeral fashions
of thought.
On a simple and graphic leve!. lhe 10th has significance through its
position at the top of lhe chart. If, for instance, the significator of a lost
object is found in this house we might judge Urnt the object is high up, or
in U1e attic or loft. Similarly, if its significator were at the bottom of the
chart, in lhe 4th house, we might judge that it was in tl1e cellar.
111at the 10 th is so high explains U1e ambivalence about this house in
the old texts. This was not seen as a happy house: for, following the
model of the ever-revolving Wheel of Fortune, once you have reached
the top there is only one place tl1at you can go! This is also the thought

33
Frawley: The Three So11th-Eastern Hom:es

behind lhe reputation of the royal star Reg11/11s-strongly associated

with lhe Midheaven-for giving glory and then taking it away again.
This does not necessarily mean thal there will be a fall from office: the
unavoidable fact that even the mightiest of emperors must yet die, just as
the O-the planet of which Reg11/us is the likeness-rnust always set, is
sufficient explanation.
No planet joys in the l 0th house. The Chaldean order gives ó as the
planei associated wilh the 101h ó has its obvious associations with king­
ship and empire, as thc strong right ann carves out its area of rulc. But no
matter how mcan or trivial our job might bc, the conncction with ó is
nonc lhe lcss real. 0ur profession, or our magisre,y- that of which wc
are master'-may not extend across the globc, but even if it is nothing
more than a yard of production-line or a check-out in a super-markct,
still it is our own little empire, conqucred by our ability to fill ils neces­

1
sary functions.

The Eleventh House

S IF IT WERE a many-faceted jewel, we can see the symbolism
of the stmcture of the cha1t from many different angles, each of
which carries its own distinct, but absolutely congrnous, picture
of the tmth. From whichever direction we approach the elev­
enth house we find 011e point repeated: this is the happiest of the houses.
Not, that is, the strongest: for slrength and happiness do not necessarily
go together-but undoubledly the most fortunate. The Midheaven, for
example, is a much stronger house. A planet poised on the I 0th cusp will
dominate any cha1t, and is idea\ly placed to tum this dominance i11to de­
cisive action. Yet the 10th, for ali its power, is not seen as a happy place,
for the Wheel of Fortune, deriving from the ü's primary motion around
the Earth-its passage from dawn to high 110011 to sunset-shows thal
having attained the pinnacle there is only one place for a planet to go:
downwards. Uneasy lies U1e head U1at wears a crown.
The 11th is see11 as the most fortunate house as it is ou lhe way up, and
stands tip-toe 011 the threshold of success. It is for this reason, lhe Roman
writer Manilius explai11s, that U1e 11 th is pa11icularly associated with 4,
most fortunate of the planeis. It is in the l l th that 4 has his joy.
The concept of joy seems to cause some confusion: it must be distin­
guished from U1e idea of n1lership. l11at 4 joys in the 11 th does not mean
that he mies that house. lt becomes clearer if we think of the chart as a
little vi\lage of twelvc houses. We can see that 4 mies one of these
houses: being '-t, this would be the big house wiU1 U1e long drive a11d
dozens of servants. Thcre is, however, another house in the village. It is
011ly a small place, without rich anay. But U1e people who live there are
so good-hearted and optimistic that this house is fil\ed with wannth. Af­
ter a hard day organizing his many servants, there is nothing 4 likes

34
 Cons1derahons XXI: 1

more than to drop round and relax in tllis pleasant atmosphere. Similarly,
? finds the austere and gloomy conversation of the house next door-the
12 th-to his taste, so he Jikes being there. This is the essence of planetary
joy: it is, as it were, a part of lhe charl where lhat planet likes to hang out.
We can arrive at 4's association with the 11 th from another direc­
tion. As our astrology is-and must be-congruent with and dependent
upon revealed faith, we can trace the spiritual history of mankind in
the chart. The Ascendant gives us our starting point, the place of in­
carnation: our creation. The 12 th is our self-undoing: the Fali. Hence
its being the first of the · cadenl' or falling houses.
To get from 1 st house to the 12th we must go in the opposite direction
to the order of tl1e houses. To go in lhis direction, we follow the primary
motion of the O. So doing. we bind ourselves to Time, which is at once
the reason for and the consequence of our Fali. This is an example of the
astrological truths that are to be found in the traditional writings on the
seven days of Creation. As so often, we leam far more aboul astrology
from books thal are not overtly aboul the subject!
Man having fallen, the next great milestone is the Flood and tl1e cove­
nant that God then makes witl1 Noah, as shown by the rainbow. Tilis is
the 11 th house, and the story is heavily Jupiterian.
4 is lhe god of rain: one of his altars in Rome was dedicated to
Iuppiler Pluvius-4 tl1e rain bringer. This is 4 as lord of fe1tility, for, of
course, no rain, no growth. 4 never being one to do anything by halves,
when he brings rain he brings big rain. TI1e astrologicHI texts on weather
forecasting refer directly lo the opening of lhe gales of heaven · before
the Flood in their lestimonies on heHvy rain.
More lhan tliat, however, for 4 is a\so associated with tl1e rainbow.
TI1e iniagery here is perhaps most clearly seen in the picture of the rain­
bow bridge that leads to Valhalla in Norse myth, but the concept is ever
the same: 4 is the builder of lhe bridge from lmman to Divine. Most par­
ticularly, lhe rainbow, which is the reminder of God's covenant, is tliat
most fortunate of Hll things: tl1e promise that there is redemption after the
Fali.
The treHtment of water in the tradition is somewhat different from
what we might expect today. Water is seen less as tl1e pure and vital stuff
we get from a tap or bottle than as the tempestuous destmctive stuff tliat
obstructs lhe passage from land to land-hence tl1e phlegmatic tempera­
ment, witl1 its strong and unfocussed desire nature (shown by ó being
ruler of tJ1e water triplicity) being traditionally regarded as tl1e most diffi­
cult of lhe four temperaments. l11e role of 4 is crucial, for it is what
might be called ·u1e 4 cycle· that takes lhis destructive sea water up into
the clouds from where it falis as the potable sweet water on which we
depend for life. So also the other 4 cycle', whereby the praise which we
render to the Divine swells the refulgence in the courts of Heaven, bring­
ing increased blessings showering down to sustain us.

"
Frawley: The Three So11th-Eastern Houses

So it is that the l l th is the house of friendship. We English are very

free with our use of the word fr iend'; traditionally-and in other cul­
tures-it is a treasure more closely guarded. The distinction in some
languages between, for instance, 111 and 1·011s goes part of the way to
showing lhe difference. Bul at its root, my friend is someone who
helps me out of good-feeling towards me. li is not just someone with
whom I share a cup of tea and a chat from time to lime. Least of ali is
it someone whose company I enjoy but who leads me into bad habits.
Friendship, then, is a mundane reflection of this covenant of re­
demption after fali. Indeed, we might on a more immediate levei see
the capacity to forgive as one of the marks of a true friendship. This is
friend-ship as Cicero's one good thing': the channel of benevolence into
my life.
A particular benevolence that many of us dream of being directed
into our life is a handsome win on lhe lottery, so as another example
of this same underlying idea such unmerited winnings are shown by
the 11rh house. If I win no matter how huge a sum by outwitting lhe
local bookmaker, the money I win is shown by the 8 1h house: my en­
emy's money. li is large amounls wou by chance-lhe lottery, pre­
mium bonds or football pools-that fali into the 11 th.
We see three different levels of profit here, for lhe 1 l th is lhe sec­
ond house from the l 01h , and as such shows lhe King's money and my
boss's money. In itself, as bounty dropping from the skies, as an ex­
ample of lhe beneficence and compassion, it is ·µennies from Heaven'.
It is also whal is traditionally termed lhe gift of lhe King': favor from
high places. And, as the boss's money, it is my wages.
All of these carry the theme of a Jack of desert. We may share lhe
writer's view thal we are deeply deserving of a lotte1y jackpot, though we
might find it hard to explain quite why. The gift of the King, as it is
granted only from his mercy, must of necessity exceed our deserving.
So, in the astrological view, musl our wages. That we have them at
all, that our farm does not blow to dust, is cause to be thankful­
which returns us to 4.
li is no coincidence lhat '+ and � belween them ru\e ali four of the
double-bodied signs. For, as Ibn 'Arabi explains, these signs are those
thal show the retum to the source from which we came, and our
means of doing this is prayer, praise and gratilllde: ali of which, in
their different ways and differenl leveis, are shown by 4 and �-
Allhough it may seem to have a connection with the idea of friend­
ship, lhe common attribution of social organizations' to the 111h house
must be refuted. This is one of lhe many errors that have been intro­
duced to astrology through the simplistic formulae of lhe Alphabetical
Zodiac, the theory here being that the 11th house equates with •
which equates with f.
Leaving aside the facts that there is no rational connection of J

36
 Consideratlons XXI: I

with •, or of l'. wiU1 friendship, we need but point out that social or­
ganizations are not relevantly connected with the concept of friend­
ship as discussed above. Society, the undifferentiated others among
whom I dwell and with whom I must deal, is shown by the th house;
a club, where I may meet my chums, by the 5 th So if I cast a chart
about the merits of joining, say, a trades union, the 11th is not the
place to look. If, however, my horary is about the wisdom of taking a
job, the l l th will be extremely pertinent, as any affliction there is
likely to have an adverse effect upon my pocket.
lf assessing the quality of friendships, whether il be a particular
friendship in a horary or lhe general nature of lhe nalive's friendships
in a birth chart, we would look ai lhe ruler of lhe 11th house and what­
ever planets are either in that house or casting their aspect closely to its
cusp. We would like to see indications of stability, shown by fixed
signs, indicating that friendships will last; the relevant planeis in their
essential dignities, giving friends of inner quality; and a good degree
of mutual reception with lhe ruler of Ascendant, showing that lhe na­
tive will get along with them. For I may, in principie, have the best
friends in lhe world, but if I treat them with disdain, or am too disor­
dered myself to appreciate their qualities, they will render me but lit­
tle good.
On a more abstract levei lhe 11th covers such things as trust, hope
and confídence. The 11th is the house of hopes and wishes. This is
sometimes pertinent to judgment; mostly it is not. Too often student
astrologers will try to find a happy answer to a horary by connecting
planets to the lord of lhe I 1th as a way of granting the wish; but this
does not work. That someone has bothered to ask a horary shows that
there is a wish-yet we cannot judge ali questions by reference to the
11t house. If the t house shows Uiat Susie cannot stand me, it is no
h h

good my looking to the 11th in lhe hope that this might change her
mind.
The texl-books do use this idea of the underlying wish behind any
horary question by giving the 11 th as lhe house to consider if the quer­
ent refuses to divulge the nature of his question. The suggestion is
that the question, whatever it might be, is treated as 'Shall I obtain my
wish?' Any client who wanted to ask a question but refused to say what it
was would get a very short answer from at least one astrologer.
As the 2nd house from lhe 10th it represents the king's advisors or
aides. So if the Prime Minisler is shown by lhe l 0th house, his cabinet is
shown by lhe 11th There is a elear distinclion between his advisors
and his employees. The cabine! is 2 nd from the 10th; the person who
sweeps up after its meetings is 6 th from the 10 th : the servant of the
king.
ln medical charts the 11th shows the lower porlion of the legs,
down to the ankles. We musl exercise a little common sense here.

37
Frawley: The Three South-Eastern Ho11ses

With the legs covering the whole chart from the 10 , or cven the 9 1h,
th

house down to thc l ih there is a great deal of space and not a lot of
action. This is most of all apparent in lhe I 1 111, if we take the tcxts too
literally. If we restrict this housc to lhe shins, we will never find it of
use, unlcss we deal rcgularly with foolballers or hockey players.
The lcgs, as indeed the wholc body, must he scen as a gradual de­
velopmenl through the signs, not as a series of disparate clmnks. So as
the thighs slarl at the cusp of the 10 111, wc can nm through the housc
unlil we find the knees at its very end, or on the cusp of the 11 ih This
satisfies both reason and experience.
Following thc Chaldean order of the planets, it is the O that is as­
socia1ed with thc 11 111• As is only filling, for as the 11 111 shows the
good things that descend to us from Heaven. so the O is the image of
this cndless, inexhaustiblc bounty pcrmcaling and sustaining lhe cos­
mos. The O is in traditional tcrminology thcLord ofLife'. li is on lhe
O, both directly and, as ils rnlership of staplc foods, such as cereais,
makes clcar, indirectly we rely. So, as shown for examplc in the
prayer ·givc us lhis day our daily bread', the concepts of O and 4 are
reconcilcd in the significance of this most fortunate of houses.

li The Twelfth House

ORINUS GIVES A description of the last of lhe houscs, the
12 t11, Urnt makes il sound like lhe setting for a new episodc of
U1e adventures of Indiana Jones. It is, he wriles, "lhe valley of
miseries, which contains ali lhe miseries of lhisLife, and also
lhe House of Ute secrel enemies, of lhe World, the Flesh and lhe Devil­
While the 6tll and gt11 houses might justly fcel somewhal hard done by at
being deprived of their fair sharc of lhe miseries of lhis Life', Morinus'
view thal the 12'11 is not a nice place is clear, and is repeated as slrongly
if perhaps less colorfully in lhe writings of ali lhe tradilional aulhorities.
Morinus explains exactly why lhe 12th is the dark den of SOITOW and
horror'. If we place lhe native at the point of birU1 in the chart-if, that is,
we put him right on the Ascendant-he has a choice of two directions in
which hc may travei. Hc can follow the direction of Ute houscs, lraveling
anti-clockwise around the chart, or hc can follow U1e direction of thc o·s
primary motion, travcling from U1e castem anglc up towards the Mid­
heavcn. The first of U1esc, he says, is lhe way of 'lhe Rational Appetite,
whereby a man is carried by lhe Motion of U1e Planets in thc way of De­
scension and humilily', as shown by lhe downward motion llms involved.
The oUtcr way is bom of pridc. of man's unnatural aspiring to U1e hcight
of lhe Midhcaven, and is thercforc lhe way of ·1he Scnsitivc Appetitc'­
by which he mcans of coursc something rather bascr than lhe ability to
empathizc wiU1 one·s fellow man.

38
 Cons1derations XXI: l

TI1e connection with the story of U1e Fali is obvious, as ove1weening

pride Jeads Man into the house of self-undoing. It is significant that this
direction is Urnt of the o·s primary motion, which is our immediate indi­
cator of U1e passage of time, the consequence of the Fali being our bond­
age lo the illusion of lime, our days being numbered. We see here U1e
importance of the association of the l ih with "the hatred, deceits, machi­
nations, Treacherousness and Injuries of Enemíes, especially Secrel
ones·, for at the deepest level our secret enemy is the Tempter-the
tempter who, for this is the house of self-undoing, resides wilhin our­
selves.
On a more immediately practical levei, the 12'h·house enemy is usu­
ally lhe unnamed and unknown person who plots against us. Even a thief,
by virtue of U1e openness of his action, is found in U1e 7 1h house of open
enemies. TI1e secret enemy is the unknown tongue who spreads slanders
in the office, or who takes strange delight in unpinning our best laid
plans.
The one named enemy who is found in lhe 12th is the witch. While
witchcraft might seem to belong only to some bygone age, horary ques­
tions on this subject are by no means rare, and by no means always from
far-off cullures wiU1 different assumptions from our own. Sometimes
these questions will be phrased in tenns of witchcraft; sometimes U1ey
come in fashionable disguise: "psychic attack· is the common modem
phrase for the phenomenon. It must be made clear Uiat the witch belongs
in the Iih whether claiming to be white or black. As demonstrated by U1e
unfortunate psychic knots into which hora1y clients have so often tied
themselves through eitlier dabbling in while witchcraft or associating too
closely witl1 U10se who dabble, Ule apparent distinction in color is \argely
illusory.
ln his chapter on 12 th house matters William Lilly provides a handy
recipe for dealing witl1 witchcraft. TI1e operator must follow lhe witch
home, and then, before anyone cise has entered the house, pull a handful
of thatch or a tile from above lhe door. This is U1en boiled up with Ule
victim's urine. This is one of U1e Master's techniques thal I have not found
it necessa1y to test.
While it is convenient for us to apportion our difficulties to others, in
most cases U1e more relevant meaning of U1e 12th is as tl1e house of self­
undoing-of the daft things we do to mess up our own lives, or, in t.radi­
tional parlance, of Sin. li is a common e1Tor among students ofhora1y to
attempt to drag the ll'h house-'hopes and wishes'-into any question,
usually from a well-meaning desire to provide a positive answer. If I
ca,ú find a happy outcome from the houses concemed, maybe I can treal
it as ·will my wish come true?· It is perhaps not being unduly cynical to
suggest that such answers might more reasonably be found from the 12th,
as so many horary questions boi! down to ·How can I make my life as
difficult as possible?", the seductions of ·tJ1e World, lhe Flesh and U1e

39
Frawley: The Three South-Eastern Houses

Devil' being endlessly alluring.

That they are so is shown by the planet associated with the l th in the
Chaldean order that links, by way ofthe planets, the m1111da11e ho11ses to
the celestial lw11ses (or signs). Following this pattern round the chart
from 1';, in the first house, we find 9 goveming the 1 i\ providing the
glamour that makes temptation so tempting. Without this association, our
rational minds would have no difficulty in showing us just how unpleas­
ant our favorite means of self-undoing really are. It is, then, to the twelfth
that we would look for such things as electing a time to stop smoking, or
to analyze why we persist in being drawn back into some behavior that in
our more lucid moments we see as hannful.
As we become trapped in our own habits of body or of mind, shown
by the 1 ih, so the more material means of entrapment are shown here:
prisons, and other places of confinement. In horary chai1s cast on cases
in criminal court, the main significator enlering the 1 2 1h house is a
strong indication that this person will (and the phrase bri�tgs us back to
U1e root meaning of lhe 1 i 1 , as shown by Morinus) serve tnne.
The 1 ih is often associated with monasteries; but we need to be cau­
tious here. ln the past, packing some troublesome hussy off to a nunnery
may have provided a comparatively benign fonn of imprisonment, and as
1h
such this act could rightly be taken as a l 2 -house matter. If the monas­
tery is seen in its true function as a house of prayer it belongs, however,
to the ninth, the house that covers spiritual matters. It is just possible U1at
we might look to the 12th if there were a choice between entering an open
or a closed order; but we would hope U1at such a candidate would find
better means of resolving such an issue U1an consulting an astrologer.
TI1e texts do tell us that lhe 12 th is associated with "monkery' in mat­
ters conceming the native's prospects for marrying or having children.
This has more to do with the tendency to celibacy than with any religious
vocation, however
A final nuance on this theme is given by the early writer Paul of Al­
exandria. He tells us that the 12th is U1e house of childbed. The old tenn
'confineme,it' makes the connection plain, and, following the order of the
houses around the cha1t, from childbed we aITive immediately at lhe As­
cendant, the point of birth.
Tiiat lhe 1 i h cannot be seen from the 1 11 house-in technical lan­
guage, the hvo houses do not belwld each other-allied wiU1 its general
indications makes it also the house of secrets. As might be expected, Ulis
meaning of U1e house is pa1ticularly evident in horaries 011 relationship
matters, most of ali when there is an affair. Unless there is a good reason
for it being there-the partner is in prison, perhaps-finding his signifi­
cator in lhis house is a strong sign U1at something nnloward is going 011.
After ali Ulis ·sorrow, tribulation and affiiction' it is something of a re­
lief to find that there is at least one meaning of this house without nega­
tive implications. The 12 th is the house of 'great Cattle, as Horses, Oxen,

40
 Cons1derahons XXI: J

Elephants, etc'; of animais that are generically larger tllan a goat, or, as
Abraham ben Ezra has it, which serve as a mount for man'.
I eagerly await my first horary on the subject of elephants, but ques­
tions on horses do come up from time to time, as do elections for the best
moment to buy a horse. Haly advises that we should judge the winner of
a horse race from lhe 12 th. This, however, is only in the most pmticular
circumstances. If it is my horse that is running, I will look to the ruler of
the 12th tf t am using astrology to supplement my study of fonn, looking
to the I th will do nothing but empty my pockets.
Even in what might seem to be a 12 1b house question, such as "Will I
make money on the horses?- we should not look to the 12 th unless we are
hoping to make a profit from owning a horse. As always, we must be
careful to understand what is really being asked: lhe question here is
·wm I make money from gambling?" This is not-excepl when seen as a
means of self-undoing-a 1 th-house matter.
As a general mie, finding, for instance, the significator of vocation in
the 121h is unfortunate. ln the specific context of ·will I succeed as a
jockey, or race-horse owner, or lion tamerf this could be just what is
required to give a positive answer.

Finding a significator in the I th is usual\y unfortunate, as out of ali

lhe houses it is when here that planets find it 1110st difficuh to act, to
manifest their potential. P\acement in lhe 1 th is a strong accidental debil­
ity. This does not necessarily mean that ali is lost, as although this is a
debilitating position there are various ways by which a planei may still
exert itself even here.

41
Frawley: The Three South�Eastern Ho11ses

Chief among these are mutual reception and aspect. If a planet in lhe
l 2th is in mutual reception with another that is more favorably placed, it
can work through that other planet. We have ali seen the movies: Mr. Big
is locked up in prison and so cannot commit the crime himself, but
through his associates ( mutual reception) on the outside he can slill ar­
range for the job to be done. A close aspect can work almost as well,
though some degree of reception between the two planets makes the con­
tact significantly more effective.
A good example of the way in which a 1 ih house planet can still act
is seen in the nativity of Tony Blair. The ruler of his Ascendant. �. is
slnlt away in Ute l ih This would usually be a negative testimony for any
achievement in lhe world. Bccoming Prime Minster is an achievemcnt of
some moment, so we would expect to find a way out for this trapped
planet.
Way out lhere is, through a powerful mutual reception with ó, placed
exactly on lhe Ascendant-an excellent place from which to act. What
we see Itere is that Mr. Blair's own nature-the Ascendant ruler-is kept
well hidden, while he works through another planet U1at is in the place of
Ute personal nature ( tl1e Ascendant). So we find a carefully cultivated
public persona, while the real personality is as carefully concealed.
TI1ere is an apparent contradiction between the accidental weakness
of a planet in the l 2'h and the accidental strength that ? gains when
placed there, by being in lhe house of its joy. How can being in this
house make a planet at once weaker and stronger? This seems to mani­
fest as a sort of backs (?) to the wall (?) attitude: the gaining of strength
U1rough adversity. TI1e anny may not wish to be pushed back to U1e last
citadel, but once it is there it is in a position from which it cannot easily
be dislodged.
Lilly states that? joys here for naturally? is author of mischier', and
as ever lhe planetary joy shows us how lhe nature of the house tends to
manifest in our lives, in this case as the coufinement and restriction of
either prison bars or the yet darker cell of our own bad habits and fool­
ishness. But the planetary joys are also our guidebook ou how to deal
wiU1 the matters of the relevanl house. TI1e bodily part associated with
the l ih house is the feet, with their proverbial readiness to hasten to do
evil. That? joys here shows that we cau either let our feet lead us where
lhey will, into toils and limitation, or we can use the virtues of ?. disci­
pline and restraint, lo guide them where we know they do well to lread.

42