12th House In Astrology : Subconscious & Self Deception

12th House In Astrology

The twelfth house is the house of the subconscious, the higher self. This area of your chart depicts where you go for refuge and mental sustenance. The twelfth house reveals your inner weaknesses and doubts, but also your inner strengths, as well as any restorative resources within yourself. The twelfth house also represents intuition, mystery, dreams, and secrets.

Although hospitalization and confinement reside here, so do your views of spirituality and your aptitude for the arts. Many artists, musicians, and writers often have planets in this area of the horoscope. Pisces, the sign of spirituality, and Neptune, the planet of the collective unconscious, rule this house.

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The Planets in the 12th House

Sun in 12th House:

The sun in the twelfth house is crying out for some privacy and space alone. This individual is psychologically complex, and really needs to understand his or herself. There could be a lack of confidence, and certainly a liking for one’s own company, but this placing can also produce fantastically inspirational creativity and sensitivity.

Good Aspects

• Children may be gifted in some way.
• Hidden talents possible.
• Strong interest in the arts.
• Intuition good. May have positive experiences of the psychic realms, could have abilities in this field.
• Highly imaginative and impressionable. have visionary experiences.
• Sacrifices willingly for others. Charitable.
• Goes to great lengths to help others with little or no regard for self.
• Attracted to the arts and to Nature.
• Likes peace and solitude.
• Caring and compassionate.
• Very sensitive with a heart of gold.

Bad Aspects

• Runs away too easily yet is trapped by what appears at first to be a safe haven.
• Moderation in all things is essential
• Escapist
• Prone to worry and let imagination get out of control.
• Periods of confinement likely due to vague or difficult to diagnose health problems.
• Delicate constitution.
• You have talent and ability but you don’t take advantage of these things, perhaps through lack of confidence or through distractions created by others.
• You give too much, too easily.
• Treacherous people cause problems.
• Kindly nature taken advantage of.
• Emotional problems.
• Easily upset, hides away to protect vulnerability.
• Easily swayed.
• Confidence easily dented, at the mercy of conditions.
• Over idealistic.
• Tends to live in imagination rather than the real world.

Moon in 12th House:

No matter how extrovert and outgoing this subject may be, it is important for them to acknowledge their strong urge to withdraw and spend some time alone. This withdrawal is instinctive, and both psychologically and spiritually restorative. This retreat is will be undertaken in the manner of the Sun or Ascendant sign – one person might go on actual spiritual retreat, for instance, whilst another will find all the peace and quiet he needs listening to rock music in his bedroom. There is a natural kindness in this placing, and a strong emotional response. The subject is often moved to make sacrifices for others – the Moon sign will show whether this is through hard work, emotional support or material help. A tendency to deceive is also present, and the subject may frequently succumb to negative escapism and secrecy.

Good Aspects

• Deep and responsive emotions.
• Secretive.
• Sensitive and impressionable.
• Responds positively to the arts and to Nature.
• Likes the peaceful life away from hustle and bustle of everyday affairs.
• May seek solitude, either in home, Nature, or through altered mind states afforded by contemplation and meditation.
• Strong need for secrecy. Interested in the secrets of life itself.
• Tends not to approach things head on, preferring instead to follow a more subtle, indirect route.
• Relationships kept secret and out of the public eye. A private person
• Boundless imagination suited to the arts or any creative pursuit.
• Positive contact with the hidden and mystical side of life.
• May have psychic experiences.
• Hidden talents and abilities, may be gifted in some way.

Bad Aspects

• Troublesome emotions which are not easy to understand.
• Highly sensitive so may suffer from strange fears and odd feelings.
• Worries.
• Questionable relationships, some of them clandestine.
• Great care needed to keep everything above board.
• Over idealistic, sees life through rose tinted glasses.
• Can be taken advantage of.
• Escapist.
• Needs to take care if involved with the mystical, religious or occult.
• Deception all too easy.
• Avoids problems hoping they will go away.
• Boundless imagination.
• Psychic

Mercury in 12th House:

Here there may be conflicts between Mercury’s logical approach and the intuition and nebulousness of the 12th house, especially if Mercury is in a water sign. Another conflict can arise when the need for social interaction is indicated by the Mercury sign, but in channelling it’s energies through the 12th house, it calls for peace and solitude. A love of literature and poetry is often present, plus considerable critical acumen. Work in radio and the technical side of broadcasting would be particularly suitable for these subjects. Often, this individual holds strong religious beliefs.

Good Aspects

• Artistic mind. Imaginative and highly receptive to impressions.
• Intuitive, possibly psychic.
• Hidden depths and hidden talents.
• Very sensitive, may need to find peace and solitude.
• Strong connections to the arts.
• Feels deeply.

Bad Aspects

• Mind is oversensitive and highly impressionable.
• Easily swayed and gullible, so open to being taken advantage of.
• Prone to worry.
• Repercussions unless all dealings are kept above board.

Venus in 12th House:

With this placing, there can often be great secrecy about love and relationships, and often, due to shyness or inhibition, this person is unable to express their true feelings. This can lead to adulation from a distance and unrequited love. If this happens, a tendency to fantasise is adopted, and while this can be healthy in moderation, it does get out of hand for some of these people. Under stress comfort is sought from eating or drinking too much. Religious expression is often heightened, and is sometimes even an excuse for a repression of sexual and emotional relationships. An aesthetic or creative hobby that the subject can carry out on his or her own will be highly beneficial in helping relaxation. The influence of Venus is strengthened considerably if it is in conjunction with the Ascendant.

Good Aspects

• Sensitive with deep feelings.
• Difficult to function in the everyday world. Needs peace and seclusion.
• Liking for Nature and the arts.
• Romantic and idealistic. Great love and affection. Secretive about love life.
• Great compassion and sympathy.
• Prepared to help in unselfish ways, may sacrifice own interests.
• Interests in the hidden and mystical side of life.
• Finds the psychic realms real rather than imaginary, may have positive abilities. Strange experiences and visions possible.
• Attracted to the arts, may have abilities. Hidden talents.
• Highly imaginative, possibly visionary.

Bad Aspects

• Difficulties with relationships.
• May be wrapped up in loveless marriage or tied to someone through compassion.
• Too sensitive to the needs of others.
• Used by people.
• Clandestine associations should be avoided.
• Not assertive enough.
• May be used by others for financial gain.
• Seen as a soft touch.

Mars in 12th House:

This individual is rather secretive, and it is difficult for him to talk to sympathetic friends or even counsellors. There is a colourful fantasy life, and this person’s emotional levels are heightened. An identification with human suffering is one of the best qualities of this placing, although a tendency to take on other people’s problems can leave the subject so exhausted that he has not time for his own. This is an excellent position for someone involved in the caring professions, adding sympathy and empathy to the otherwise somewhat brash Martian qualities.

Good Aspects

• Works for the benefit of others in hidden ways.
• Has the ability to turn things to advantage despite the odds.
• Fate seems to step in when needed.
• Good strategist, can keep plans secret until the time is right.

Bad Aspects

• Times of conflict and emotional pain.
• Nervous exhaustion and pain which is hard to find a cause for.
• Fears and inadequacies may dictate actions.
• Secret enemies who will stop at nothing to inflict harm. Treacherous people who present one face yet do the opposite.
• Care needed to keep all dealings above board and honest, otherwise they will backfire.

Jupiter in 12th House:

Because Jupiter ruled Pisces until the discovery of Neptune, the planet is powerfully placed in this house, especially if it makes a conjunction with the Ascendant. Here is a true sense of vocation – possibly religious, but not necessarily so, more geared towards fully developing the potential in whatever the person’s chosen field is. There can also be reclusive tendencies, and certainly this is someone who prefers their own company. Often the subject wears a psychological ‘mask’ in public and is known truly by few people. Although this placing confers many talents, these are often not exploited as the reclusive and shy 12th house qualities tend to outweigh Jupiter’s optimism and extroversion. Esoteric subjects are important to this person.

Good Aspects

• Compassionate and sympathetic, ready to help without counting the personal cost.
• Generous.
• Has deep seated belief of being helped and guided through life.
• Benefits and good fortune come out of the blue just when needed, as if fated in some way.
• Highly imaginative and sensitive.
• Attracted to arts or psychism.
• Hidden talents possible.
• Works well in seclusion.
• May draw inspiration from Nature.

Bad Aspects

• Misplaced compassion.
• Taken advantage of.
• Soft touch and too easily swayed.
• May rush into help were none is needed.
• Too idealistic, lacks focus and determination.
• Daydreams.
• Escapism may lead to lost opportunities.

Saturn in 12th House:

At its most potent, this influences makes the subject rather reclusive and isolated by their own choice. Sometimes this person only feels safe within his or her own little world. People with this placing need to learn to enjoy quiet pastimes – music, reading, crafts – in order to give their excess nervous energy a positive outlet. Home will be seen as a restorative place and a place of warmth and safety. Contemplative disciplines such as yoga or meditation can be of enormous benefit in helping this person to overcome shyness and lack of confidence, but too much introspection is not to be encouraged.

Good Aspects

• Can achieve much working in seclusion.
• Makes secret plans.
• Imagination and ability to see the wider picture may produce impressive results.
• Slow path to success.
• Secret, long term planning.

Bad Aspects

• General lack of good spirits.
• Low energy levels. Hard to get motivated.
• May carry a dark secret.
• Suffers from vague emotional problems and deep rooted fears.
• Childhood may suffer from restrictive regime. Given standards to live up to which are not easy.
• Lacks confidence, sees only obstacles rather than challenges.
• Gives up too easily.
• Restriction or confinement may raise uncomfortable feelings or fears, producing an irrational reaction to restriction, which may be avoided.
• May also try to avoid responsibility.
• Health may suffer from hard to diagnose complaints which are not easy to overcome and tend to drag on.
• Periods of confinement are likely.

Uranus in 12th House:

This is a surprisingly interesting placing for Uranus. It’s humanitarian instincts work well from this house, and the 12th house’s instinctive urge to be of help blends seamlessly well with the Uranian cool, detached influence to give a person who is a great help in a crisis, and a tireless charity worker – but who is also able to avoid becoming emotionally entangled in other people’s problems. Sometimes, however, this person puts ‘mankind’ ahead of his or her own personal relationships, either deliberately or unconsciously, and this can cause problems within the family.

Good Aspects

• Humanitarian with compassionate nature, although may prefer to stay in background. Tends to help secretly.
• Natural feel for the arts and the mystical.
• High intuition.
• Sudden dramatic changes may occur life which prove to be turning points and may lead to discoveries.

Bad Aspects

• Tense emotions which are not easy to control.
• Doesn’t listen to self or inner promptings and so makes mistakes.
• Not easy to form happy, lasting relationships.
• May feel the need to break away and seek solitude.

Neptune in 12th House:

Neptune is at home with this placing, since this is the house of Pisces. Often Neptune works well here, firing up the imagination and providing a perception and intuitiveness that borders on the psychic. However, this person is very private by nature, and if Neptune is badly afflicted, may even become reclusive. Very creative, this placement does not, however, help self-confidence levels, and this subject may well be hiding their light under a bushel. Self-deception and/or escapism into drink or drugs are possibilities if there are many negative aspects to Neptune.

Good Aspects

• Likes periods of solitude.
• Likes nature and the arts.
• Keeps part of life separate from everyday life.
• Secretive.
• Highly intuitive and imaginative.
• Psychic or visionary experiences possible.
• Natural feel for the arts.

Bad Aspects

• Very sensitive.
• Subject to strange fears and worries get into the mind and are not easy to shake off.
• Repressed feelings or unresolved conflicts in the subconscious may, given the wrong circumstances, cause nervous conditions or health problems which are hard to diagnose.
• Daydreams.
• Lacks concentration.
• Overdoes need for seclusion. Hides away from pressure or even reality.
• May feel uncomfortable in confined spaces.
• Gullible.
• Great care needed with religion or mystical matters due to deception.
• Wide open to suggestion and being used.
• May encounter treacherous people whose motives are well hidden but whose intentions are wholly selfish.

Pluto in 12th House:

Here Pluto has a powerful effect on the unconscious, with considerable tendencies to be secretive and even reclusive. This person may find it difficult to talk about problems, and an air of mystery will surround them (which they will rather enjoy!). Investigatory powers are much heightened here, but self-analysis can become so severe that it destroys the confidence.

Good Aspects

• May feel as if a Guardian Angel constantly working behind the scenes directing you towards what is best for you.
• In times of trouble matters could so easily turn to your advantage.
• The urge to dig deeply for truth grows stronger with age and could lead to some fascinating discoveries about the hidden side of life.

Bad Aspects

• Major turning points are possible.
• May have hidden powers or talents yet to be revealed.
• May suffer from deep emotional problems and fears probably caused by traumatic conditions during early childhood.

Next: Back to Houses of Astrology

what are your thoughts on this house?

Astro Bella

The twelfth house, ruled by Neptune, is the traditional home of Pisces. This is the last water house, last cadent house, and, well, the last house! The keywords I use for the this one are “spiritual,” “hidden” and “boundaries/boundlessness.” It is hard to talk about because it encompasses concepts beyond verbal expression. Whereas the 11th house dealt with our relationship to the whole of human society, the twelfth house deals with our connection to the one unified “beingness” of which each of us is an integral, undivided part.

The sign located on the cusp of the twelfth house, the planet ruling that sign, and any planets in the twelfth house, relate to how we experience the unknown and integrate it into our lives. They relate to our spirituality and how we go about fulfilling and expressing our dreams and spiritual ideals. They also reflect things that are hidden from us, as well as our illusions and delusions.

The twelfth house implicates both the boundless nature of the holistic universe and the boundaries we create to protect ourselves from the unknown. It is the last house before we cross over the boundary of the ascendant to begin a new cycle of life. This concept of boundaries implicit in the twelfth house is also reflected in its rulership of prisons and other large institutions.

I have Libra on the cusp of the 12th, ruled by Venus in Virgo in the eleventh. Mercury in Libra resides in my 12th, as does Neptune in Scorpio. Mercury in the twelfth indicates I have a hard time seeing my own mental processes clearly. My own mind can be a mystery to me! One way that manifested while I was in school was difficulty “showing my work” on math problems. I was quite good at math as far as getting the right answers. And I did have a good understanding of the subject. But I had trouble tracking my own thought process in order to write it out for the teacher. On the plus side, Mercury in the twelfth makes it a bit easier for me to bring information from the collective unconscious up into my conscious mind. For example, I’m finding that I can often tell someone where they can find items they’ve misplaced, even though I don’t have any personal knowledge to go on. The more spontaneous my response, the more likely it is to be accurate. If I “try” to think where they might have put the item, I get in my own way.

How about you? What mysteries does your 12th reveal?

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