`` As if - the explanation of Emergence

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Houses


One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other - Jane Austen - Emma


Index


Modes

Just as the signs of the Zodiac are categorized by mode, the houses are also grouped, giving them the same kind of precedence - of those things in life that tend to take priority over other things. There are three modes, each with a traditional name that is different from the modes of the signs; Angular, Succedent, and Cadent. Angularity is seen as a tendency to lead, Succedence as a tendency to remain, and Cadence as a tendency to change. Each mode has its own reasons for being the way tat it is, for Angularity, like Cardinality for signs, the elemental change is always to the next element in the elemental order, which is a natural movement, one that follows from the emergence of the relationships that constitute the elements, and is seen in the rotation of the signs. For Succedence, like Fixedness, the elemental change is always to the opposite element, leaving neither preference for change, nor aversion to it, merely a tendency to keep on with what happens to be. For Cadence, as with Mutability, the rule is adaptability, because the elemental change is to the previous element in the natural order, so there is always a consideration of what already is, or has been.


In Mandala Astrology, the modes of signs derive from the elemental structure of each sign. The modes of houses have no apparent internal structure after the manner of signs, but the houses as a whole group are the internal structure of the planet Earth; usually determined by the Ascendant and/or the Midheaven - themselves Angular. Traditionally the Angular houses are seen as important because they are the angles, and they relate to Self, Home/Family, Spouse, and Career. The Mandala Astrology way of looking at them is reversed somewhat; the Ascendant is still seen as Self, and the Descendant as Other, so these necessarily take precedence. After that, each other house has a specific relationship to Self or to Otherness, and has a probability of either leading events, or of following. It is as if each group of three houses has a starting point and gradually becomes less like that starting point as we move toward the next angle.


Because the houses are where we come into existence, overall, as Planet Earth, they are where our internal parts affect Reality, i.e. where elemental Air becomes transmuted to elemental Earth. That is, without specifically being aware of it, our consciousness [Air] makes differences [Earth], i.e. we change things, leave them alone, or adapt to them. This is precisely the Virgo alchemy, so Planet Earth, the Houses, should be seen as the ruling planet for Virgo. Put another way, we could say that the Ascendant rules Virgo.


System

There are many systems for calculating houses in Astrology, and very little agreement about which is best. In Mandala Astrology, the philosophy is that the houses are internal to planet Earth, being where we manifest life, and so my personal preference is for a local space approach, whereby each whole sign is projected down to the horizon surrounding the event. This is more in keeping with the derivation of the Zodiac from the Spring Equinox, and for most purposes can be simply treated as whole sign houses.


First House - Angular


The First House can be seen as the Self, but also as similar to the Conjunction as a specific aspect. It is all that which is the same as, i.e. is internal to the Self - but all the houses are internal to the self, they all are our personal manifestation of the World at large. So, really, the First House must be seen as our self-image, how we experience our self, while the other houses are our internal representations of the external world, and so are how we experience the rest of the World. The First House determines the others, and so is our point of perspective on the rest of our life.


The houses of the Planet Earth all relate back to the First House, the Ascendant, some are too close to be recognised, others are open for all to see, some we control easily, while others force us to change. Others are simply other.


Second House - Succedent


The Second House, a parting semisextile, is where things in our experience start being non-self, but we still regard them as very much ours! These are the things that are so close to us, we find it difficult to see that they are not really us at all, they are just those things we affect without question, they belong to us, so we treat them as an extension of our self, which is a kind of blindness to reality caused by what is effectively poor peripheral vision - metaphorically speaking. These include our personal belongings, our money, and our values, such as inform our politics, attitudes we find it hard to doubt without some loss of our sense of self, even though these things are not us at all, and we can change them or do without them, and not be reduced by one iota. Even so, these may be the things we worry about, that give us anxiety - either that we may lose them, or doxastically have to change them.


The Second House, along with the Fifth, the Eighth, and the Eleventh, have the quality of succedence, meaning that like the fixed signs, this is where it is 'all or nothing', hard to start, hard to stop, here we find the obstinate, the comfortable, the procrastinator, and the workaholic.


Third House - Cadent


The Third House, a parting sextile, is where we realise things that are not us, but are still familiar rather than strange, so this is where we safely enquire of the World, do our early learning with siblings, explore and ask questions, learn and discover, and all the while we are taking in things, particularly information, but also anything else that becomes a part of us, all that time we are growing and therefore able to encounter the othernesses that exist 'out there', and which are very much not us.


Fourth House - Angular


The Fourth House, a parting square, is where the world around us starts to become 'otherness', and because we lead that otherness, we find it easiest to control the otherness here, we are the boss. The head of the family, or even the child who still thinks that they rule the roost. Influence is too easy here, which can make it difficult for others to take, and that can lead to difficulties for the person whose chart it is - here they have to learn how far not to push things.


Fifth House - Succedent


The Fifth House, a parting trine, this is where otherness is most influenceable. The trine aspect exists by virtue of elemental similarity, although with a different root, and so is a relatively easy ask of us. This fact make the Fifth House, with the Ninth House that is similarly trine, the most easily affective of all the houses, for the First House of the Ascendant. It is the sameness that makes the effect flow easily, which is not to say that the consequences will always be desirable, rather that there is no obstacle to the affect having its sway. The effect of the Fifth House on the interactions with otherness, is indirect, by changing something that then changes the other in some way, and this is because events of the Fifth House occur before events of the Seventh House, by a sextile. That means that it is where we are able to be most creative, and get the best response to what we create, because it is an open aspect. That makes it the place where we are appreciated and loved, so this really is the house of fun.


Sixth House - Cadent


The Sixth House, a parting inconjunction, is more serious, and more considerate, we are still able to influence others, but what we do is, for them, their Twelfth House, so likely to not be fully appreciated, if it is noticed at all. The classic interpretation is that of service, in the manner of pre-WWI. But it is not all negative with the Sixth House, and it never stands alone, so it does not mean that the self goes unnoticed, rather that some aspect of it does, which may be a good thing, depending on what it is. Being linked to Virgo, this house and aspect can also be seen as making changes, rearranging the World in some way.


Seventh House - Angular


The Seventh House, an opposition, an unfortunate name really, for what just means otherness, and otherness may just as easily be cooperative, as in opposition.


Eighth House - Succedent


The Eighth House, an applying inconjunction, here are the hidden things of the other, the things that they give, or leave you that maybe they didn't even realise the value of, or which they had to die to be parted from. This is the other's Second House, and to understand it you have to walk in their shoes, in imagination, and see yourself through their eyes. This is what others do for you that they don't register, and that includes all your own secrets, and secret responses, so it is easy to see why this is the house of sex, although who would admit it? It is also the house of exploitation, and other ways in which we may gain or lose, from or to others, in ways that they cannot comprehend - maybe because they cannot really know about whatever it is, or they simple do not realise your existence.


Ninth House - Cadent


The Ninth House, an applying trine, here are the apparent things of the other, so here the other's ways, culture and values, as much as their things, become apparent and have an effect upon you, which is why Sagittarius has that connection to foreigness, travel, higher learning and religion. Here you can gain wisdom in regard to others, predicting what they will do, because here is here you see them most clearly, because here they are most like you.


Tenth House - Angular


The Tenth House, an applying square. This is where otherness starts to encroach upon you, and not necessarily with comfort, nor any regard for your wellbeing. Here we find where we stand in the World, in relation to others, and the general rule is that there is only one king, only one authority, only one law, and its not you. So here we find our place in the hierarchy, so reputation is everything, here people live and die for their career, and their good name. Here is where power becomes apparent and the powers that be, whether legal, or financial, such as banks, have their say in your life. But it is also a place of competition, as much as is the Fourth House, but here you must try harder because you don't have home advantage.


Eleventh House - Succedent


The Eleventh House, an applying sextile, is where how you are openly, affects you as an individual. This is the house of social interactions and group activities, and so is all about how your behaviour and experience of groups affects you.


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Twelfth House - Cadent


The Twelfth House, an applying semisextile. With this the influence is often too close to home for the self to see. Whatever is here is the thing that chronologically occurs just before us - the Twelfth House rises just before the First House rises, and so this directly affects us, but peripheral vision being what it is, we tend to be unaware of these things that are already so close that they are more or less a part of us. However, being an adjacent aspect means that the elements must be very different, although that said, there is often a similarity between adjacent signs; sometimes they share the same root element, and at other times one may be an inversion of the previous sign.


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(External Website) An explanation of the nature of Signs


(External Website) An explanation of the nature of Planets


(External Website) An explanation of the nature of Aspects


(External Website) Back to Astrology



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