Facing House 12 is not a nice experience. Acting on and correcting house 12 is work, not a vacation.
As astrologers committed to the light of knowledge and healing of the body, emotions or the mind, we have to make up our minds about how far we want to go into looking or doing something about our own and other people’s ignorance and bad habits.
I can envision a horary consultation situation where it’s acceptable or even advisable to decline to look into somebody’s house 12 activity. It’s an unpleasant business, and most people do not want to hear about it, so the astrologer should not force it, or have to undergo the cringeworthy experience of beholding a parade of other people’s devils. Yes, stay away, if you can. My personal guideline is to not speak about House 12 unless I am asked about. The farthest I will go by my own initiative is to ask first if the person is interested in hearing about it or not.
However, we have a problem in traditional astrology. Over my two decades of being a student of astrology, I have encountered a number of astrologers who subscribe to the point of view that we shouldn’t look into house 12 in horary of any kind—not as a wise precaution, but from the standpoint of fear and ignorance itself.
From entering a relationship to finding a job, from investment to surgery—there is no need to look at the risk of making mistakes. Eleven houses are enough, we do not need 12 of them—what an annoyance that 12th house is. Let’s keep it out of astrology—they quietly, in Saturnine fashion, tell us.
In their world, shit happens only because of others, or factors external to us. That is, all the problems that we have stem from houses far away from us: accidents, illnesses, pollution, bad weather, the stock market, misbehaving children, stupid people, stupid boss, stupid governments; or devils or aliens that come from far away or from other dimensions. Or, god forbid, the reason we are not getting laid is that fate itself is against us—not because we mishandled or mistreated our partner.
We are never stupid ourselves, so we do not need help from astrology to expose our own folly—we do not make mistakes. And if we do, we certainly do not want to hear about it.
That shows our level of maturity when declaring that house 12 should stay away from astrology.
This ends the preamble to this rather long article which has been quite unpleasant to write. The meager joy I derive from cynicism and my desire for goodness among human beings are the only two things that compelled me to finish and publish it. I would not have even started it had I not have to deal with encounters with other astrologers who, vehemently try to convince me that I am the crazy one for wanting to expose house 12, while they are sane for protecting and hiding it, often with wonderfully worded rationalizations.
A Stroke of genius—of the wrong kind.
Consider the following paraphrased statement uttered by an astrologer to their students:
“House 12 represents the unconscious, and it’s called the unconscious for a reason. It should remain unconscious, therefore it should not be investigated using astrology.”
I want to disclaim that I did not hear that statement myself and I have never seen it written anywhere. (If I did, I’d call the astrology police immediately.) I heard it from their students who, fate would have it, ended up talking to me.
Also, I don’t know in which context that was said to their victims… I mean—students. The benefit of the doubt compels me to consider the possibility that it was uttered about a very specific situation. That would be a relief of sorts to my aching mind.
Nevertheless, if that statement was indeed aimed at a specific situation, then the intellectual rigor required to protect house 9 and to protect the art of psychological inquiry was missing from that teacher-student interaction. The regrettable result of that carelessness is that a new generation of horary astrologers are simply repeating that Saturnian proclamation as if it was a general rule that house 12 does not belong in horary astrology—or worse, in all of astrology. Or even worse, that it should be a guideline or rule at all.
Yet, my own gut feeling, corroborated by my friend The Horary, tells me that there is no need to beat around Saturn’s bush—that phenomenon is simple and straightforward: it is that astrologer’s own house 12 that proclaims that house 12 must stay out of any inquiry, astrological or otherwise.
Hiding house 12 is a problem that afflicts whoever hides it in the first place. It is a Saturn in Aries experience. Why? Because if they have a problem with their own house 12, they will not make the effort to use astrology to expose it. Sadly, they will remain in the dark.
The advice that house 12 should remain unconscious does not come from house 9. It stems from house 12. It is a masterful stroke of genius by the devil itself—Saturn posing as the Sun.
A waste of horary’s generosity
None of this would be a problem in a Shakespeare play, a Greek tragedy, a Jane Austen novel or a Disney cartoon; or in a purely theoretical conjecture, or mere entertainment, which many astrologers seem to see astrology as, rather than a tool to improve our lives.
In real life however, where misunderstood pain is indeed painful, hiding house 12 is extremely sad because if a querent comes to an astrologer with hopes of getting information to improve their lives, to solve their problems, to break free from ignorance and unnecessary suffering, the astrologer will not be able to help that person with any depth, or at all.
Yes, you will be able to answer: “you will or will not get married in the next year.” “You will not enter a successful relationship in the next year.” “You will not lose weight.” But you will disregard and ignore the entire set of information from the chart describing why that is the case, or whether getting married is a good idea at all. So, there is a question answered, but there is no lesson learned. No nuance, no curiosity, no improvement. A superficial horary that does not include house 12 analysis is a waste of horary’s generosity.
The silver lining in this comedy of errors is that horary consultations are orchestrated from “the other side.” So, if somebody needs to hear about their house 12 they will usually be directed to an astrologer who is not subject to the limitations of superficiality, ignorance or fear.
Yet, that is far from being a perfect heavenly performance—some mismatches are bound to occur, and people who do not want to hear things will end up being upset by truth. And those who wish to hear truth will, unfortunately, remain ignorant by contacting an astrologer who is subject to ignorance him/herself.
Medical and psychological astrology.
Regarding proper practical medical astrology and psychological astrology, it requires a concrete understanding of house 12 from the astrologer’s part—both in life itself and in the technical implications of house 12 patterns in an astrological chart. We must have observed House 12 situations in life enough times and with enough depth and dispassion.
To disregard house 12 in a medical or psychological astrological inquiry is unthinkable, and borders on negligence—unless, of course, we are dealing with those aforementioned perfect people who do not make mistakes and have no bad habits. Why would they need astrology anyway?…
There is only one thing that is sadder than not having an understanding of House 12 in astrology: that is not having an understanding of House 12 in life itself, and the unnecessary suffering it produces.
Those who are still traversing that dark path in their psychological growth and have decided they do not need light, need much good luck, as luck is the only thing they will have in their favor when dealing with their beloved devils.
As for the astrologers who find themselves in that position remember that they have declined to shine the light of house 9 on house 12 in astrology. So, do not blame me for being harsh on them. They are being harsh on themselves—that is what house 12 does.
It perplexes me to see an astrologer who wishes to hide knowledge… What weird paradox.
The proof is in the pudding.
I have helped many people understand their house 12 and how that understanding applies practically to their life situations. This has been such a gift both on my path and theirs. For astrologers, my books are full of practical examples you can sink your teeth in.
Regardless of where we are on our paths, light is always available and the possibility of illuminating house 12 is always there. We have an amazing tool in our hands in Horary Astrology. If only we are mature enough to want to know, and to ask, of course.
I’ll close this sermon with a Sun-Saturn opposition story:
A man was walking along a busy highway when he noticed a kitten on the other side of the road, trying to cross. It looked terrified. Cars sped past in both directions, and the kitten stood frozen with fear, unable to move. There was no food or water nearby. Without help, it would likely die there.
Being a good Samaritan, the man decided to act. He thought, I’ll go grab the kitten and bring it back to this side. Maybe I’ll even adopt it. He waited for an opportune moment, then crossed the road to reach the frightened creature.
As soon as he crouched down and stretched out his hand to pick it up, the kitten hissed and lunged at him. It scratched and bit his hand, drawing blood and causing sharp pain. The kitten rejected his help, mistaking the outstretched hand for a threat. Hurt and stunned, the man pulled back and walked away to tend to his own fresh wounds.
Sorry, there’s no happy ending when Saturn obscures the Sun.
