The Fourth House in Astrology

The fourth house, as with each of the other houses, is affected by the planetary placements within the house and the sign ruling this house.  It deals with our roots, where we come from, and our early conditioning from our parents.  Both of the parents are connected to this house, but in particular the Mother.  The tenth house is usually affiliated with our Father.

The fourth house has influence over the most personal parts of our life.  It reflects how we feel about ourselves due to conditioning from early childhood which often comes from our relationship with our parents.  Their response to our presence and the nurturing we received as children come into play in this house.  Our ability to respond to our environment in a nurturing, caring manner has a lot to do with how we were treated as children.

The fourth house, ruled naturally by the Moon, is the foundation of our emotion support system.  It either hinders our self-expression thereby making us introverted or assists us making us extroverted.  In many cases, the stronger the emphasis is on this house (defined by planetary influence) the more you become introverted, unless the planet is one which reflects characteristics which are outgoing and enthusiastic such as Venus and Jupiter and are well aspected.

The fourth house deals with real estate and property as well as the home.  In some cases, it has to do with income property and income investments in real estate.  It also deals with our heritage and family history--basically our roots and where we come from.  From our early upbringing and within the home climate, we either gain a sense of belonging where we can feel safe in our environment, or we build walls to protect our inner security.  Our home experience in the early year has a lot to do with how we react to our environment.  This is all conditioning from the aspects and planetary links found in the fourth house. 

If for example you were to have Jupiter in the fourth house, your early conditioning may have been very liberal and philosophical and learning was a primary focus.  This does not necessarily suggest childhood education through grade school as that type of education is more from the third house.  This education relates to education on a broader level, where psychological reasoning may have been in the forefront and justice and honesty may have been the hallmarks of early education.  The outdoors may have played a great part in growing up and the need for expansion on many levels may still be apparent even as an adult.

If for example Saturn was in this house and was poorly aspected, there may have been childhood conditioning that was severely strict where the child was not allowed room to breathe without some type of confrontation and lectures.  There would have been restrictions and limitations within the framework of the home and these conditions could still hamper emotional expression well into adulthood.

For a personal understanding and to ascertain the significance of this house for you, you need to review the planets in the fourth house and the aspect made to these planets as well as the ruling planet of the fourth house cusp in your Natal Chart.  For example, if you have Leo on the fourth house cusp, you will have to look at aspects to the Sun, Leo’s ruling planet and aspects to it from other planets to gain more insight into early conditioning, the home environment and how it emotionally affected and may still affect you.

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