The Fourth House
Family, Home, Roots & Security
Keywords
- Family
- Ancestry
- Nurturing Parent
- Youth
- Origins
- Home
- Mother
- Real Estate
- Your Roots
- Endings
Modality : Angular
The fourth house is the house of home and family. It is our deepest emotional core, our roots and our genetic inheritance, as seen through the family tree and our ancestors with all of their relationship issues, conflicts, fears and dreams. It is a mysterious and our most common place, our house of habit and connection to the core of the Earth, just as it is our ability to find infinite, unconditional love, and constant closeness to another human being. This is the house that relates to the sign of Cancer, and its Latin motto genitor translates to “parent”, as if it was on a mission to show the importance of one person that made us feel at home, no matter if it is our actual parent or simply – ourselves.
Rules everything to do with your sense of home and ancestry, including parents & grandparents.
The cusp of the fourth house is a special angle called the IC (Immum Coeli) and is also called the nadir.
The fourth house is an angular house. Its natural sign ruler is Cancer and its natural planetary ruler is the Moon.
Our psychological foundations and roots, family, home life, instinctive behavior, the mother or the more “maternal” parent/caregiver, ancestry, our connection with our past, our sense of security, domestic life, real estate.
The fourth house in astrology is a precise one, and it rules everything that is related with the individual’s history and roots. This includes everything related to the home, the family, and the ancestors. All issues that are connected to one’s locality and one’s property and land, and houses are communicated through this area of the natal chart.
The Fourth House is commonly referred to as the House of Home. When we think of home, we think of that place where we put down our roots. We lay our foundation and plant ourselves firmly into the Earth, as it were. One day, we will return to that very same Earth. The Fourth House brings things full circle by also addressing old age, endings and our final resting place.
Much of the emphasis of the Fourth House, however, is on the concept of home. By laying down roots, we make a home for ourselves, or more specifically, the self. It’s worth noting that in addition to the external home (all the bricks and mortar around us), we have really brought the essential self home. ‘I’m home.’ The words themselves have a peaceful ring to them. The self is now centered, grounded, one and at peace with the Earth. We seek to come home both physically and psychically, for ourselves and for those we love. By creating home, we create a meeting place, a sanctuary, a sacred place for ourselves and for others.
In our home, we integrate the self with all that has come before us and helped to shape what we are today. We create a domestic space which comforts and nurtures us and serves to keep safe those we love. Also important here are family history, cultural and societal norms, and ways of being. All of these are ruled by the Fourth House, as are our ancestry, roots and heritage. These qualities are brought ‘home’ through us and integrated into the place we call home.
Helping to create the home we make are our parents, for it is they who greatly nurture and shape our being. Therefore, the Fourth House can also be thought of as the House of the Mother, the Parent or the Nurturer.
Looking at things from a strictly tangible point of view, we can see that the Fourth House also encompasses physical structures (houses) and real estate. The Fourth House represents family, history and traditions. All of these contribute to the process of becoming a true, actualized and individualized self. This is how we come home.
The fourth of the twelve houses of the zodiac, this is the house of family and home. The planets and signs, that are located in this angular house on the birth chart, influence family and home matters and tend to have a saying in the individual’s emotions and subconscious.
The natural sign ruler is Cancer, the fourth zodiac sign on the horoscope wheel, and the planetary ruler is the Moon, which is said to govern emotions and inner mood.
The fourth House refers to the home and everything associated with it (both the childhood home & the current home): family, land, personal foundations (inner emotional security), your roots. Astrologers are divided over whether this house is associated with one’s mother or father. What is clear is that a person’s upbringing is associated with this House.
On a deeper level, the 4th house is the base of consciousness or the center of our concrete existence. See how the cusp of the 4th house is the I.C., the lowest point on the chart, representative of things below the surface of Earth. Due to that, the 4th house was believed to rule the conditions at the end of life, and graves. As the root or base of your real self, the 4th house rules where you go when you “die” but also where you came from. For those who believe in reincarnation, the 4th house would give clues to your karmic lesson for this lifetime. It shows what karmic baggage you brought with you into this life. Even if you don’t believe in reincarnation, you’re likely to be surprised by what you find in your 4th house for it may move your soul.
Any planets in the 4th house affect your home life, your emotions, your subconscious, and possibly your relationship with your parents.
The traditional ruler of the fourth house is the zodiac sign Cancer, and therefore, it’s ruling planet, the Moon. The underlying foundations of one’s family and birthplace are conveyed here. This includes one’s grandparents, the genealogy and customs going from them, and also material things that are passed down from generation to generation within the family.
Though initially this may be confusing, this means that subjects relating to one’s origins are concepts that are not associated with the second house, the house of material goods, but rather they come from the fourth house, because it relates to one’s life from birth. As such, these things become the framework and the foundation in which one grows out of, and the become a core part of them. Chances are, that what originates from the fourth house will also be passed down to their children.
What It Means
The safety of our familiar surroundings…that is the concern of the fourth house. This is the house that defines the conditions of our closest, most intimate surroundings. This is where we go when we go “home”.
The fourth house is the second of the strong angular houses. It sits at the bottom of the chart, anchoring the sphere that rises above it. It is the foundation of the entire chart, the bedrock that provides the strength and solidity to carry the weight of the structure overhead.
Traditionally, the fourth house is the house of real estate and family, specifically, your mother. In recent years, many astrologers prefer to think of it as the nurturing parent rather than the mother. They might be right. I don’t know. I think the fourth house describes your relationship with your mother, whatever it is. You sprang from her body, whether she wanted you to or not. There is a physical connection with her that is only with her. If the nurturing we all need is not there with your mother, finding comfort in the deep roots of who you really are is much more of a struggle. But that is still the foundation you have to build upon in this lifetime.
The sign on the cusp, the planets that reside there, and the aspects they make to other planets in the chart all define what kind of things are in your personal space…extravagant or sparing, solitude or commotion, harmony or discord. Maybe you don’t even have a physical home, but you still have your “stuff”. Go to any big city and you will see homeless people wandering the streets with their shopping carts filled with precious possessions.
The fourth house is also said to define the conditions at the end of life. When all of the walls decay and fall away, it’s the foundation that remains.
The Fourth House is concerned with that which surrounds and protects. It is concerned with the base, origin or root of the self. Therefore, it includes: the home, roots, family history and origins, life, self development, memories, the past, upbringing, the womb, end of life, inner life and foundations. Traditionally, it tells of the mother, when mothers devoted themselves to the home. In this sense, it can refer to anyone who spends a lot of time caring for the home. The final stage of life is shown here, and so is what we become. Matters to do with growth and creation (domestication): houses, land and gardens.
It is secret and hidden (like all water houses) so it deals with the psychic matters. It also refers to the unconscious mind (the hidden, secret self).
The fourth house is the second angular house, and as with all angular houses it is associated with external manifestation such as events and relationships. It is the root of power, the core of the inner being. Some call it the “Seat of the Soul.” It represents our basic foundation in life, the security we create for ourselves, the rock on which we anchor the edifice of our life. It is our basic roots, psychological foundation, home base, physical house, domestic life, the “nest.”
The fourth house represents our family heredity, our genetic heredity, the biological, psychological and cultural heritage of our family clan, our past memories and personal subconscious. It is the extended family, the tribe, and the nation. Patriotism is a fourth house matter.
The fourth house is also the end of life, the grave, and the final resting-place. It, like Cancer, is the “womb and the tomb.” The sign on the cusp and the planets in this house describe our nurturing parent. Some say it is the mother in a man’s chart and the father in a woman’s.
I have found it depends on the individual chart, for the fourth and tenth houses together represent the parental complex. It contains the symbols and myths we hold about our family, its traditions, and ourselves. The fourth is our most private, intimate self. It shows who we are when “at home with our shoes off.” It includes our attitudes toward roommates, family of procreation, spouse and children, and pet animals that serve as surrogate babies. It often represents the first child, especially in a woman’s chart.
4th House of Security
There’s no place like home! You can learn a whole lot about your relationship to your family, residence, and sense of security by looking at your 4th house. Looking deeper into this area of your birth chart will give you a better understanding of your feelings about your childhood, ancestral roots, maternal influences, comfort, and living arrangements. Your 4th House of Security can explain everything from why you decorated your home a certain way to why you seek comfort from a particular person, place, or thing.
The 4th House in AstrologyHome » Houses » Houses – Generalities » The 4th House in Astrology The 4th house in astrology is an angular one, and rules everything that has to do with the person’s foundations. The home, the family, the roots and ancestors are all ruled by this night-time house. When a planet is positioned inside the house, it is located at the zenith (also called Imum Coeli or I.C.) of the ecliptic, and respectively the Sun is to be found there when the person is born at midnight. All matters that have to do with domestic issues, the native’s property and real estate, land, houses or even subterranean places are expressed through this part of the zodiac. The natural ruler sign of the house is Cancer, and of course the Moon. The roots of the native’s family and origin are here. The grandparents, the lineage and traditions passing from them, as well as material things that are coming from previous generations of his family. The grandfather’s country-house and the field are assets that do not belong to other houses expressing material possessions. They come into the native’s life from the very beginning, as everything which the 4th house brings. The native is growing inside them, and they become his stability. Most probably, what comes from the 4th house will continue its passage towards the heirs of the native. A lot of situations and facts that the 4th house brings in one’s life happen in his early years, and thus are irreversible. Also, because the house signifies the stable foundations of the chart owner, any change happening due to transiting planets can have permanent effect of change, because it is altering the basic structure of the individual’s reality. Usually, the characteristics of his reality that change are external, as other houses like the 1st are governing the person’s internal issues. Uranus or Pluto, for example, transiting through the house, would radically alter even the place of residence, most of the times with a permanent effect. Malefic planets adversely aspected signify a difficult childhood with a lot of suffering and usually broken family bonds, while benefics give a bright early childhood and the native is surrounded by positive influences. The person’s early years are a shiny period, he feels protected and can from his young age begin to flourish as a personality, reflecting the positive vibrations that he receives as a sponge from the moment he is born. There are different approaches about which parent the house represents. The astrological community cannot quite agree whether the mother or the father are to be seen through the 4th house, but the answer is probably something not concerning the gender of the parent. The 4th house is ruling the native’s early childhood, so the parent who is more near to the child is to be ruled by the house. Thus, most of the times the mother and her relationship to the chart owner can be observed through the planets positioned in the house and the aspects they form. On the contrary, the dominant parent, the one usually working and away from home, is ruled by the 10th house. The more close a planet is located to the cusp of the 4th house, the more deep its story goes into the roots of the individual’s existence. Literally, the cusp also rules the graves of the ancestors, while also reveals some information about karma that comes as a baggage of the chart owner in this incarnation. The 4th house is also responsible for the collective karma of the native’s lineage, and influences that his ancestor’s actions have on the whole family. Here are to be seen karmic debts of the family to be paid towards others, and the contrary also. In addition, the fourth house rules magickal powers passing as a blessing or curse from elder generations. The powers represented here are those that are inherited from parents and grandparents, blessings and curses that follow the native’s bloodline and every occult ability which is not gained by exercise, reading and conscious efforts. These could extend in very deep levels and follow the family many generations backwards and forward. Everything ruled by the fourth house is integrated with the material domestic assets (bricks, land) and shapes our personal place. It is the place where we return to sleep, to nurture ourselves and feel safe. Both literally and metaphorically, it is the shell where the pearl of our existence resides. Whatever we call and feel home, even if we do not have one.
Fourth House in Vedic Astrology
Fourth house in Vedic astrology is all about your roots. This may include property, house, land, cattle, real estate matters, and possessions you have such as vehicles. Everything that refers to strong ties to your native place comes under the realm of this house. Relationship with mother, heritage, family values, and associations with homeland are also governed by the planetary position in the 4th house in horoscope. Overall, this is the house of domestic happiness and called the Bandhu Bhava in Vedic astrology.
The idea of home is central to the fourth house. It marks your journey of whether you build a house (of bricks and mortar) or a home (of family values and ties). When you are able to get the best of both worlds, you are at peace with yourself. Fourth house in Vedic astrology thus also refers to mental peace and emotional satisfaction. The idea is to create a sanctuary, where everyone can live under one roof with compassion and love. Societal norms, material security, family history, ancestry, culture, lifestyle and traditions also fall in the realm of this house.
It refers to the domestic environment, the condition of your family in the later part of life and how you handle familial issues. This suggests whether the person will have strong roots and immovable property and if the person will enjoy the comfort of having a family, owning a vehicle and having a place to call home. This house also refers to other permanent material possessions that reflect one’s heritage such as antiques and family heirlooms. It also tells whether the person lives close to or moves away from the native place. Moreover whether the native would have conservative values and a follower or traditions and customs or becomes a revolutionary also depends upon the planetary placement in 4th house and of 4th house lord. It also reveals a lot about your religious instincts. Fourth house also has an influence of our education.
Fourth house essentially marks our journey from the womb to tomb. Womb refers to the mother, also Mother Nature, our dwelling place, from where we originated, and to what we are most attached. It refers to the roots from where we grow, the place we call home. On the other hand, it also refers to old age, our final resting place. The ground or Earth from where we grow up is where we have to return one day, thus the full life cycle.
Fourth house relates to Cancer sign, the fourth sign of the zodiac. Moon, representing cultivation and mother is the natural significator of the fourth house in astrology. The body parts it rules include chest, breast and lungs. Fourth house in Mundane astrology refers to mother nature, agriculture, weather, climate, mines, and public buildings. Fourth house is also related to all that is under earth such as oil, mining, excavation, agriculture, extraction of natural resources and construction.
The fourth house represents the challenges faced in developing your capacity for emotional closeness and a sense of security. Cancer influences any planet within the fourth house, marking a domestic influence. It is through this domestic influence that the house is seen as describing both your home, family and the kind of environment that makes you feel most comfortable.
The fourth house takes our early childhood experiences and relates them back to our emotional foundation and subconscious self-image, representing to us the way we feel about ourselves. It is through this that our sense of belonging is established and our emotional capacity is defined.
The house is associated with unconditional love, nurturing, intuition and instincts, family, childhood roots and the desire to create a strong foundation of security within our lives.
The importance of family
For the purpose of this house, family is the primary concern and nurturing and other activities that relate to taking care of those dear will come under this.
Family is either exemplified as matriarchal or patriarchal but in any case, the accent is put on how much care is given, especially in early life. It completes the meaning of life.
Ancestry
This house governs elements of the subconscious that pertain to how early events shape the rest of life and may even look at how history and tradition influence the individual.
There are exoteric elements to this place, however, for those who don’t necessary believe in reincarnation, there are still enough connections between the past and the present that influence day to day of the individual.
This house is also referred to as the Imum Coeli and challenges assumptions related to family relations, origins and the home.
Safe at home
The fourth house governs the sacred place of home and no wonder those with serious activity in this house are more inclined to spend their time at home. This is where you lay foundations and roots and where you can be your comfortable self.
This is linked to feelings of peace and mind at rest. Home is also where families grow and sometimes a meeting place with other dear people.
Because we live modern times, the idea of home may not always be linked to a specific physical place and may also suggest every space that comforts and nurtures one.
The 4th House Rules Youth
So much of what is described in the fourth house is related to a person’s youth, and because of that, many are irreversible. And because what lies in the fourth house describes the foundational understandings of the person, any change occurring because of transiting planets within the fourth house can have lasting impact on the individual, since it is modifying something that is so essential to a person’s existence. With other houses, the qualities of the world that change are internal to the individual. For example, transits in the first house are tend to alter how the person perceives themselves, something that is internal to them. But this is not so with the fourth house.
The 4th House Rules the Nurturing Parent
There are diverse methodologies about which parent the fourth house speaks to. Astrology experts can’t exactly agree about whether the mother or the dad are to be seen through the fourth house. But the real answer is instead most likely found when you take in to consideration the gender of the parent and the child. Because the fourth house rules over the individual’s youth, the parent who is closer to the child is most likely referred to by the fourth house. In the vast majority of the cases, it is the mother and her relationship to the individual that can be seen through the planets situated here. The other parent, the one who typically works far from home, is referred to by the tenth house instead.
The closer that planet is situated to the cusp of the fourth house, the more profound its connection goes into the foundations of one’s psyche. The cusp likewise governs the graves of one’s ancestor’s, and can additionally uncover some data about karma that comes from one’s past. Here, one can see the karmic obligations of the family, which has to be paid towards others, vice versa.
The 4th House Rules Ancestry
Furthermore, the fourth house also rules occult blessings or curses from one’s ancestry. The forces that are referred to here are those that are acquired from one’s parents and one’s ancestors, which follow one’s bloodline. These are different from the skills that one learns throughout one’s lifetime, but instead are granted to them as latent talents that can be manifested.
Everything ruled by the fourth house goes hand in hand with the one’s family resources and shapes our own place in the world. It is where we come back to rest, to sustain ourselves and feel safe. It is where we feel home, regardless of whether or not we have one.
Ruling Planet Moon
Zodiac Sign Cancer
Areas of Life
When we speak of our personal, emotional basis for satisfaction, we are definitely speaking about our fourth house. Not only does it say everything we need to know about our upbringing and the home we grew up in, but it also points out the most important issues we have built in relation to the parent of opposite sex. It is the house of heritage and all things we hold dear, and we will often see people with accented fourth house as collectors who stick to their routine, and have a certain fear of change deeply rooted in their need to stick to peaceful, homey feelings and choices.
Although it is often mistaken for the house of tradition, we have to understand that fourth house represents closeness. Tradition itself is seen through the sign of Capricorn and the opposing tenth house, as something that gives the ultimate feeling of responsibility, recognized through respect of the elders, and among them – our ancestry. Fourth house in its core can be linked to family traditions that serve only to keep the family together, and only for as long as they don’t bring spasm into one’s world and the feeling of strong responsibility that doesn’t feel good. The best way to understand matters of the fourth house in their most beautiful light is through closeness we have with our mother, and those we laugh with, caress, care for, and those that thaw our hearts in the hardest of times.
This is the house that represents our emotional core and our ability to be satisfied, happy and smile from the heart. It is a house of home, family, motherly feelings, as well as our private business, how clean and innocent we feel, and our ability to open up. It is our final destination as the house that represents our grave, and our starting point seen though genes we chose for this lifetime, there to close the circle of one life from its beginning to end.
Signs Meaning in Second House
Aries
When someone has the fourth house cusp set in the sign of Aries, it often speaks of impatience of the parent of opposite sex when the chart’s owner was still a baby. In case of a perfect positioning, this is a sign of fiery emotional clarity, speed of decisions and the confidence one brought from their home and their upbringing. Each imbalance here speaks of pain and hurt, and even abuse or anger deeply seeded in one’s family tree. Aries is a sign of fiery nature, and often doesn’t give enough room for an individual to develop its emotional nature to the point of self-recognition, understanding, and enough compassion to reach the point of true satisfaction. This is someone raised in a loud home, with a lot of conflict, constructive or destructive, and gives as much energy to one’s soul as it can take it away.
Taurus
If the fourth house is set in Taurus, we see a natural position of care and physical devotion coming from one’s parents. Although it can point out to traditional or strict upbringing, it always provides one with a certain sense of comfort and joy that creates a strong, fixed basis for a satisfying life. Only in the case of truly challenging position of Venus and the Moon can we presume that the person in question has an emotional debt to repay, and has to deal with feelings of guilt and incompetence coming from their early environment. In most cases this is a very warm position, enabling one to find beauty and see the world in color, as well as provide them with the ability to enjoy material reality and engage in practical matters in a healthy way.
Gemini
With the fourth house cusp in Gemini, we can see the changeable and a bit unstable nature of one’s home. Very often, this comes as a root for a person’s feeling of inconsistency, seen through possible dishonesty of their same-sex parent, or the image of two fathers or two mothers, that they cannot mend into one. This can be a very rewarding position, especially in the case when Venus is involved in the fourth house story, but very often represents two entirely different angles that are hardly brought into one point, and the row of opposing feelings, changes, and inconsistencies in one’s emotional state. Since the sign of Gemini is the sign of communication, it carries a risk of a certain lack of compassion, coming from a parent who overly rationalizes person’s emotions, not giving them a chance to recognize and accept them as they are.
Cancer
Each fourth house set in Cancer speaks of the connection one has to their family. It is a house of inheritance in its core, and the sign of Cancer here gives an emphasis on family matters that came into one’s life only to be resolved. This is a position of gratitude, incredible opportunity, and all challenges left in one’s genes. Emotional issues will be truly important and the heart often won’t go where it is supposed to, simply out of subconscious need to find what was left by other people, grandmothers and grandfathers who lost something, have been closed up, or were gone before their time. The most important thing a person has to find with this position is the love for oneself and the ability to be gentle, slow enough, and filled with compassion for their own needs. It speaks of closeness with the parent of opposite sex, but also speaks of the lack of it in a challenging setting, and the way it affected all close relationships one is able to build in their adult life.
Leo
With the fourth house beginning in the sign of Leo, we see a line of proud and brave ancestors that led to the birth of this individual. This can be wonderful or challenging for there is obviously an emotional push into one’s world of character, confidence and self-recognition. The Sun has to be extremely strong in its dignity and aspects in order for this position to provide one with the sense of gratitude, confidence and satisfaction. This is a position that pulls with its gravity towards personal issues, fiery emotions, and a certain battle for personal satisfaction that is deeply rooted in one’s home and their relationship with a dominant parent that maybe didn’t give them enough space to develop entirely healthy emotions. In its best light, this can be a place of warmth, joy, laughter and openness, giving one the sense of personal bravery to engage in any emotional challenge with ease and clarity.
Virgo
The fourth house cusp in Virgo points out to the lack of something in their primary home. Whether it is love or approval, there always seems to be something that needs to be fixed, changed, or nurtured in their soul, as if it was a bit damaged from the start. This isn’t a position that necessarily speaks of emotional hurt, as much as it speaks of emotional lacking, and one’s inability to reach the point of perfection in their emotional world that will finally allow them to be truly satisfied. Very often, this comes as a consequence of a deeply cold relationship with the parent of opposite sex, or a rational bond that leaves too much room for personal improvement, leaving one never satisfied with their own accomplishments. The greatest thing this position brings through genes is incredible intellectual strength and strong mental powers that one will be able to use, probably until their dying day.
Libra
If the fourth is set in Libra, we see someone who carries a strong basis of their parents’ relationship in their deepest core. Since the fourth house represents our home, we instantly understand that this is a person whose home was balanced and seemingly happy, but the main problem of Libra is the inconsistency of the image shown to the outside world and the true joy hidden behind it. This can be someone taught throughout their upbringing to always compare themselves to other people, and feel to be superior or inferior depending on their success in life. The good thing here often comes from the fact that one of the parents was calm and tactful, able to teach responsibility and basic manners that a person will be able to use to make progress in various fields of life. In case of a good positioning of Venus and the Moon, this is a fourth house that gives one the image of what their own marriage will be like, as well as the ability to sink into closest of relationships without fear or holding back.
Scorpio
With the fourth house in Scorpio, we can see the strongest ties to family that often aren’t healthy or emotionally supportive. Scorpio is a sign that brings the Moon to its fall, and as such isn’t in the best relationship to matters of family, parenting, upbringing and closeness. The challenge of this position hides in the darkest, deepest emotions, ones we all try to dismiss, demean and avoid. A person with this fourth house position has to find a way to forgive, forget, and turn to the future instead of staying tied to the past, or to negative emotions that have to be let go. This is one of the strongest and most challenging positions we can have in our chart, and speaks of the search for true unconditional love one must find within in order to be truly happy. Once they find a constant reason to smile, these people become the root of strongest emotional connections imaginable. Until then, they are easily manipulated, held too close to home and dissatisfied, while unaware of the reason for their negative feelings.
Sagittarius
With the fourth house in Sagittarius, it is not exactly easy to feel at home, wherever one tries to settle. This is one of predicaments leading to a life abroad, often because there was distance and space in their upbringing that makes it impossible to incorporate their beliefs into the country they were born in. Satisfaction is found through education and traveling, and a person with the fourth house here has to remain true to moral and emotional imperatives in order to be happy. This is almost always a beneficent, strong starting position, with enough wealth and width to support one’s emotional growth. However, it can detach their heart from true emotional satisfaction and turn them to philosophical and mental issues instead of giving them the ability to find their place. Whatever the case, this is a strong guiding point to discover the entire world is our home, not just the couch we choose to sit on.
Capricorn
There is no reason to make it prettier than it is – the fourth house in Capricorn is never easy. In the best possible scenario, this is a position that gives one the ultimate faith in the Universe, and a strong connection to God. With a deeply seeded need to take responsibility, this is an individual who often takes too much of it, usually grabbing some for every mistake made by their parents. This is a typical position that gives one the sense of guilt for wrongness they suffered at home, and creates a lot of pressure and coldness in one’s emotional world. Dissatisfaction and the strict regime at their primal home can give a strong foundation for the tenderness and love in the family they create, and this is the most beneficent use of such a position, however hard or challenging it might get.
Aquarius
With the fourth house in Aquarius, a person always seems to be in search for consistency. This is a signal there was a lot of moving and changes at a young age, or points out the importance of the divorce parents went through while they were still in the phase of emotional recognition with their child. The greatest satisfaction here is found through personal freedom, and it is not always easy to incorporate it in one’s relationships, dominant roles of their partners, managers, superiors of any kind, or any society they are trying to fit into. Emotional independence and clarity are unimaginably important, and without them, there is no basis for personal happiness and satisfaction. Keep in mind that this is someone who needs to find something constant and satisfying in changes, riots, ego battles, and their own differences, while the state of inner peace is reached through the most unusual methods.
Pisces
It is often said that the fourth house in Pisces speaks of family secrets and shady ancestors that have done who-knows-what. However, this can sometimes simply speak of the lack of clarity of emotion one receives in their primary environment. It is the image of a parent who wasn’t there while at the same time idealized, giving the person a constant feeling of not-belonging, abandonment and distracting, changeable emotions. Being lost is the least of their concerns in the case they have had to face addiction problems in their closest family, or passive aggression accompanied by emotional blackmail, that remains well-hidden from them even when obvious to other people around them. Of all emotional extremes, this is one of the strongest and comes very close to the fourth house in Scorpio, as all ancestors can be blended together into a mush that is truly difficult to understand, making a person feel detached, lost, lonely, or even depressed.
Planets Influences in Fourth House
When there are no planets in the fourth, look to the ruler of the fourth (the IC), to see where the person is most at home. If it is in the first house, he is at home within himself and may break from his family to start a completely new lineage; when it is in the tenth, the person is at home with his destiny or with the public. With the ruler of the fourth in the seventh, partnerships are a requirement for a secure foundation and, with the ruler in the twelfth, the person may be a natural psychologist, at home in the world of the collective unconscious archetypes.
You often have to know a person for a long time and quite well before he lets you see his fourth house personality, the roots of his being. It is the hidden power spot of his chart and his most private self. The fourth house is our “bottom line.”‘ It may contain buried treasure, or it may be the dungeon which contains the dragon.
Uranus or Pluto traveling through the fourth house could drastically adjust where one considers home, the change usually being something permanent. Malefic planets that have unfortunate aspects can indicate a troublesome youth with a considerable measure of torment and broken family bonds. Benefic planets can give a brilliant childhood where one is encompassed by positive impacts. The individual’s initial years are a glossy period, he feels shielded and nurtured, so that from a young age, one can start to thrive, mirroring the positive reinforcements that one gets as a child.
Sun
When a person has the Sun in the fourth house he has an inner core of self-confidence.
Sun in 4th House. It is difficult for one who has this position of the Sun to feel at home and comfortable anywhere. Inner restlessness and doubt often spoil things which otherwise might have been beautiful; especially in youth when the greatest demands are made. In the course of years however many difficulties with parents will find a solution through a more comprehending sympathy. Old age is apt to be quiet and “sunny”; the fruits of seed sown in a difficult youth will be gathered which will in a great measure compensate the native for all the old unhappiness and anxiety in his ‘own home”.
If the Sun makes strong harmonious aspects it indicates the obtaining of a fixed source of income usually out of the inheritance of one of the parents.
When afflicted the native has not enough energy to increase his own capital, but merely passively awaits the coming of his inheritance.
Moon
The Moon here gives keen intuition and insight into the feeling nature of others. The world of ideas is the foundation of being when Mercury is here.
Moon in 4th House points to changing circumstances in life and changes of abode; further to a lively imagination, a sensitive nature and great attachment to parents and relatives.
When afflicted the position is not favorable to relations with the parents or their mutual relation.
The native’s education will suffer because of this and all through later life the lack of pleasant recollections of one’s youth will be felt and manifest in a certain despondency, a premature ripeness which even in youth takes away much that is childlike. Later on this results in lack of compassion, and excessive interest in his own affairs and circumstances.
Financial loss through theft and deceit, probably by most unlikely people, may occur with this Moon-position.
Mercury
Mercury in 4th House. Well aspected this position gives a certain commercial spirit; the superintendence of the native’s own property, usually large inherited estates, will be profitable.
Commercial relations in other continents will also bring advantage; a new area of sale and new commercial goods will be found where others do not expect anything. Here the proverb holds true “the eye of the master makes the horse thrive”.
When afflicted no peace can be found anywhere, the person concerned moves hither and thither without being able to find what he seeks; and all kinds of difficulties in the domestic circle may be expected to arise from this cause.
Venus
Venus often correlates with inherited artistic talent and a need for peace and harmony.
Venus in 4th House is favorable to domestic affairs, childhood is upon the whole agreeable and fortunate, and the relations between the parents and the native are very pleasant. This course influences the whole life favorably; “old age” will be characteristically full of many precious memories.
When afflicted difficulties and disappointments in love affairs will occur; but though comparatively little return of affection is received, the native’s feelings regarding his object remain constant.
Mars
Mars gives reserves of physical vitality and is an indicator of possible violence in the early home life; at least one parent had a temper.
Mars in 4th House. Mars the planet of action in the house of “home” and parental surroundings, indicates that quite early the desire arises to leave the parental roof and go out into the wide world.
When afflicted it is probable that the home will be the scene of many “rows” due mostly to the passionate and rather masterful manner which Mars engenders. In this way the wish to escape originates, which may manifest as an impulsive running away from. This does not prevent that much store is set on intimate domesticity and when abroad the attractions of the same home which once was so willingly left will often be a favorite topic of conversation.
If however, as well as an affliction, a good aspect of Mars prevails, there is some hope that in the end good results may be reached – probably one of the parents (most likely the mother) will be favorably disposed towards the native’s ideas, and at the end of life he will be able to look back with satisfaction upon the work accomplished.
Jupiter
Jupiter gives an inherent, inherited sense of optimism and faith in life, a generous disposition and a sense of entitlement. When Saturn falls in the fourth, home feels confining. The parents seemed too strict, cold, or perhaps they were old. Or, one only establishes a home late in life. With Uranus here, life is never predictable. There are sudden moves. The actual house circumstances may be unusual – maybe Mother was an oddball, Dad a genius, or vice versa.
Jupiter in 4th House presupposes that the parents were well-to-do, even wealthy and that education began in a grand style. This position makes the relation to parents, and atmosphere in the domestic circle especially hearty and benevolent. It gives a deep, inner support, a spiritual prop which again and again helps the native to overcome all difficulties. Such a person will meet with much cooperation and respect in his native place.
When afflicted it will be better for him to settle somewhere else where one is less known, in order that he may at least feel more free. But it will be difficult for him to find lasting prosperity, because he takes things too lightly and cannot cut his coat according to his cloth. This leads to thoughtless and frivolous expenditure, which may result in danger of bankruptcy.
Saturn
Saturn in 4th House makes the native careful, economical; anxious about his old age and therefore always endeavoring to increase the likelihood of lasting prosperity. Especially when afflicted the native is probably too much concentrated upon his own gain and advantage; he would do well to consider whether in the end the individual does not really benefit more virtually by the progress of the community than by augmenting his own means – may be to the detriment of that community – in order that in his old age he may become a miser or a hermit.
Here the management of money is in good hands, the native is also suited to being at the head of some institution or family. In his own parental home however, less pleasant things will occur to which probably is due the circumstance that to a great extent this character has to develop by itself. The father will probably be the “master of the house” in the fullest sense of the word and exact obedience not easy to fulfil. This will be especially evident in the choice of a calling and also in discussions about religion, etc. Yet time will prove that much might be learned from the father and that inwardly there is possibly greater agreement than was supposed in youth.
At the age of adolescence there will often be a gradual alienation from the parents. No wonder that the native seeks from others what could not be found at home. Difficulties will arise through over-sensitiveness, but yet one individual will probably be found to brighten his solitude by understanding and a cheerful attitude. And such a friend will be loved, made much of, adored in a way seldom seen.
It is also possible that illness or early death of one of the parents darkens his childhood.
He will probably harmonize particularly well with’ the mother which – in a man – is conducive to reverence for the entire sex. The parents will possibly often have differences of opinion about the education of their child. The tie with the mother will be particularly intimate and peaceful though an inner strength emanates from the father which arouses respect.
It is possible that the greatest progress, both spiritually and socially, may be expected in a foreign country and his native place will play but a small part in his development.
Uranus
Uranus in 4th House presupposes no agreeable childhood. The native’s character is not well understood by the parents, his tastes and tendencies and shyness wrongly interpreted. A definite feeling for domesticity is lacking though he desires to mix with many and all kinds of people. Quite earl in life parents and the whole of the near environment will be in despair about the queer child and doubt his ever getting right. Owing to his many sudden crazes and whims the native is very rarely fit to found an establishment or home of his own. He is much more inclined and fit to live in a larger community of like-minded people than in a small family circle.
Neptune
Neptune in 4th House gives great taste and liking for somewhat mystical art. The native will venerate old religious art treasures and precious articles, knowledge of which he likes to collect. At the same time he has a great inclination to imitate old customs as much as possible and to maintain them. A person with this position likes to dream in harmonious surroundings. Finally years are spent with imaginary friends. The passing to the beyond will be in a trance.
When afflicted narcotics will be taken and there is a possibility of poisoning.
Pluto
Pluto in the fourth house gives great will power, stamina, and possible ruthlessness. One parent may have been tyrannical. The person has the ability to ferret out the secrets of others if he chooses. Sometimes the manifestations are very literal.
