12th House – Digging Deep into the Soul
The house systems of astrology can be evaluated as the backbone of a natal chart. Understanding the meanings under meanings of each house is extremely important while making a reading. Every single point in a chart is full of karmic information, symbols and numerology and all of these should be examined strictly to understand the deeper meaning under. It is vital to dig deep in astrology.
The 4th, 8th and 12th houses are known to have deeper meanings in natal readings but the 12th house can be defined as the most mysterious house of all. The reason i call it mysterious is because it shelters the deepest reasons of our daily behaviors which we may struggle to understand. Without an experienced soul or with a falling moon, 12th house can not be even examined or understood.
Why 12th house is so difficult to understand? To evaluate this we need to list some symbolism under it.
Twelveth house is the house of Neptune (and Jupiter).
Twelve is a holistic, spiritual and mitologic number.
Twelve represent the “hanged man” in tarot.
Twelveth house is the house of Pisces.
Only one of above topics take pages and pages of books to write but let’s try to dissolve all above in a pot and try to understand twelve house better as this would what Neptune would do 😊
Pisces as we well know, carries the “fish” symbolism. Princeton Theological Review book “The Origin of the Fish Symbol, 1910-1912” notes that “Of all the symbols by which the early Christians attempted to embody, and at the same time perhaps to conceal, the concepts of their faith, the Fish is the most obscure in point of origin.”
In Christianity fish symbol is directly linked to the Christ so is extremely important and sacred. The Fish has been the symbolism of the pure one because of this ‘direct link to the God’ in Christianity. (Jesus was born with Virgo rising, Jupiter, Moon and Saturn in Pisces.) The main purpose of the soul is to clear all the karma and to reach Pisces (The Fish, The Twelveth house, The God) and it takes a long, tiring journey starting from Aries. (Indians call this circle ‘Samsara’.) The symbolism of Pisces is two fishes looking in both directions whispers me that the soul is looking at both the mystical higher dimensions (the soul) and the 3rd dimension where we are at; the earth (the body). We can also read this symbolism as looking both at past karmas and this life. It takes meditation, honest talk to self, and even depression sometimes to try to understand what is beyond what we can sense with our (only) five senses. It also shows the bipolarity of our souls and even duality as it looks into both sides. Symbolisms under symbolisms of symbolisms…
The sign of the 12th house cusp is very important. For example if the 12th house cusp is Cancer than we need to look where the Moon is in our natal chart and examine if it is a good quality Moon or if it is troubling your natal chart. Not only the house cusp but also the planets placed in this house and their position with other planets are vital and give us enormous amount of information about the person and this person’s past lives. It is the house of obscure, madness, chronic diseases, imprisonment, slavery, hospitals, libraries, childhood traumas (how our father and mother treated us thus how we treat ourselves), dreams, secret enemies, denials, jails, disabilities, spiritual interests, meditation, all types off addictions, mental illnesses, psychic abilities, gases and drugs, alcoholism, clairvoyant, astral body, unconscious mind, witchcraft, curses, anesthesia, etc.
Let’s examine slightly bit of what the hanged man means in tarot and take look at the numerology behind twelve. According to Paul Foster Case, the primary meaning of the hanged man is reversal. Not surprisingly the symbolism of Pisces has reverse fishes. It also shows a suspended mind which is more open to divine consciousness. Neptune (and also the hanged man) is related with water and i can not think of a better symbolism than this for a subconscious mind. Most people swim in their dreams when they try to find deeper meanings in life. It is also related with sacrifice. What are we willing to sacrifice from ourselves in this incarnation to move on with our karma? Enforced sacrifice, punishment, loss, suffering and suspension are the keywords of the hanged man.Besides all, the hanged man is about waiting… Waiting for the coming change.
Additionally i would like to quote from Hajo Banzhaf here to explain above paragraph more clearly to show my own admiration to his work and to give more detailed information.
“…The Hanged Man is characteristically hung by the foot with his head hanging downward in all the classical tarot portrayals. This was the punishment for traitors in the Middle Ages. And this actually is a matter of betrayal in a certain sense: betrayal of one’s own affairs, the betrayal of ourselves. The Hanged Man represents the dead end street on which we are stuck, the trap that we walk into when we are on the wrong path. Translated into the terms of the hero’s journey, this means that the hero has apparently overshot the goal of the day’s journey. He has refused to set out on the journey through the night and will therefore be forced by fate to turn around…
…From the symbolism of this card, we can read where the actual problem lies. The Hanged Man forms a cross with his legs, while the position of the arms corresponds to a triangle. Like the square, the cross stands for the number 4. Together with these two figures, the four has signified the earthly realm since time immemorial. On the other hand, the triangle, as well as the number 3, symbolizes the divine. This means the position of The Hanged Man is a symbol of the upside-down world in which he hangs; a world in which the divine is below and the earthly realm is above…
… The Hanged Man and its reverse, The World. The 12 becomes 21, standstill turns into motion, and the upside down world becomes the real world…
The Hanged Man signifies hopelessness in the face of Death-the following card and the necessity of a confrontation with this unavoidable fate. As long as we turn our eyes away from it and try to suppress every thought of it as much as possible, we remain in the state of The Hanged Man, and will sooner or later become one of the (still) living dead…”
Such a great explanation, thanks to all our masters who have carried us all the most precious knowledge! What is most inspiring to me in astrology is the realization it brings. The more you realize and understand the shadows of your soul, the more you can apply this acknowledgement to your current life and karma! Neptune is mostly related to deceiving self and to others. So what we should be mainly aware of the 12th house is to watch the reality that lies behind the blurry window glasses.
Sources: Paul Foster Case – Highlights of Tarot; Godfrey Dowson – The Hermetic Tarot; Hajo Banzhaf – Tarot and The Journey of the Hero;
Laden – 21.02.20