Exploring your roots
The 4th house is one of the least understood realms in all of astrology. It represents our ancestry and roots- where we came from. The 4th house also describes what our childhood was like. Any planets that dwell here describe the symbolic archetype of the dominant parent and our relationship with them. Ask yourself- which parent had the most influence over your childhood experience? Exploring this dynamic can shed light on some of the lessons we are meant to learn in this lifetime.
In the context of shadow work, we can use the information presented to us in the 4th house to glean insights into our childhood conditioning, limiting beliefs and other messages that we absorbed from our family of origin. We can use this as a springboard for piecing together the disconnect between who we are and who they wanted us to be.
The 4th is traditionally associated with Cancer and its planetary ruler, the moon. As one of the three water houses, the others being the 8th and 12th respectively, the energy of the 4th is subtle, unconscious, reflective, and introverted. It describes our innate sensitivity to the environment around us, our basic emotional template and the unconscious reactions that bubble forth from the mysterious depths of the psyche. The 4th house points the way we come home to ourselves. It’s our inner world and the connection to our soul- that peaceful place of quiet knowing.
Dream home, soul family & the authentic self
The 4th house is also a window into our ideal home environment. For example, the presence of Neptune at the midnight point of the chart would indicate the desire for a home with Neptunian qualities. Someone with this placement would benefit from living near the water and their house needs to feel like a sacred space. They crave a place they can retreat to, where they have room to meditate, heal, create art and commune with the Universe. Maybe they use feng shui to elevate the vibration of their home. Look to the planets and sign located here to see what rejuvenates you and brings you back to center.
Not only does the IC paint a picture of your blood relatives, it also indicates the characteristics of your soul family. After all, not everyone feels like they belong to the family they were born into. The 4th house can also reflect no-exits, long-term commitment relationships- in essence, our soul mates. It describes the place or land we live on and who we live on it with. We resonate profoundly with those who are a match for our 4th house energy. These people enter our lives for a reason or purpose… to bring us back home to our authentic self.
For example, I have Uranus in the 4th, so my ‘tribe’ is made up of individualistic, quirky, counter-culture, intelligent folks like myself. Growing up, I felt like the weird outsider that didn’t quite fit in. In high school, my friends mostly consisted of a troupe of colorful theatre misfits, and even then I felt like the odd one out. In a past life I believe I was persecuted for being different, perhaps for being a witch or wise woman. It’s quite likely that someone else in my lineage had a similar experience.
You belong to yourself alone
The 4th house speaks to the generational cycles and patterns that have been carried down through your ancestral line. Today, I am learning to give myself unhindered permission to do and be whatever I damn well please. My authenticity is not worth the cost of ‘belonging’ to the mainstream culture’s idea of how I should act or who I should be. I belong to myself alone. As astrologer Caroline Casey says, “Whenever something [like astrology] becomes trivialized by modern culture, I immediately become suspicious.”
If the 10th house is our public self, the side of us that is always on display, the 4th house is the quiet, inward-looking self that few have access to. Whichever planets you find here are especially powerful because they are located on one of the 4 major angles. They are also expressed in an introspective way. Their gifts and hidden strengths are most potent within the shroud of privacy, seclusion and liminal moonlight. For example, wherever we find Mars in a chart is the place where we go to battle. In the 4th house, our inner warrior wages war against inner demons. From an energetic standpoint, the 4th house represents the root chakra, the fulfillment of our basic needs and what makes us feel grounded, embodied and secure.
What sign and planets are located in your 4th house? How has this colored your childhood and family experiences?
Sources:
Shepherd, Jessica. Follow the Moonlit Path: Come Home to Yourself in the Astrological Fourth House. 2020.
