The Astrological Fourth House

It's been a while since we had a look at the Houses so I thought we'd better have a look at the next one - the 4^th House.

We've had a look at the first three houses and how they can be interpreted both individually and as part of a developmental cycle.

If the First House represents the beginning of the individual: the Second House as becoming aware of 'separateness', and the Third House as trying to 'connect' to what is around in a mental sense, then the Fourth House can represent the need to consolidate all that has been collected through the previous houses and to begin the process of forming the identity.

The symbolism seen in the Fourth House describes whether the individual felt supported or not in developing their basic personality structure. Since this process occurs during the early, preliterate years of life many people do not consciously remember important milestones that affected them during this time - that's one of the reasons why the themes represented by this house are often unconscious.

Contributing factors in the process of developing the individual naturally include the home life, parents (there is an on-going debate as to whether it represents the father or mother), heredity and family traditions, all that protects and helps the 'self' to grow, and the past (including past lives).

I find that this is one of the most significant houses in describing a person's early home life and certain themes/years that are important in regards to current issues being faced. These can be brought to conscious awareness and worked through via psychotherapy. Once awareness has been achieved, the reprogramming of these subconscious thoughts and feelings can take place.

The Fourth House is extremely important because symbolically it is the foundation (this house is found at the lowest point of the birth chart) on which our lives are built, so the better you know and understand it the more likely that your structure will be viable enough to withstand the earthquakes and twisters of life!

If we look at a couple of examples you will see how the symbolism in this house can be expressed.