ESOTERIC CONNECTIONS/12 HOUSES OF THE ZODIAC

 

The Horoscope Spread

The Horoscope Spread is another popular tarot spread for very in-depth readings. You can find various versions of this spread in numerous tarot books. Some refer to it as an astrological spread and lay cards for each of the twelve houses of the zodiac. In other examples it is a spread used to lay out a reading meant to encompass a 12-month span of time.

The traditional Horoscope Spread utilizes the cards to reveal influence, patterns, and possibilities in each of the twelve houses of the zodiac. Each of these houses is ruled by a planet, as well as an astrological sun sign, and each of these houses covers a different category or area of life.

First House:

Self
Sun sign:  Aries
Planet:  Mars

Personality, temperament, appearance, characteristics, behavior, early life, likes/dislikes, outward persona, mannerisms

The first house is the most powerful and the most revealing, for it is “you”. In a tarot reading, this house will lay you open before the reader. It will tell her how you handle yourself with people and the day to day circumstances of life.  Are you fair, temperamental, good-natured, and friendly, crotchety, suspicious, affectionate, or abusive? All and much more will be revealed. It will expose those things you dislike in life and the world, as well as people, animals, places, activities, or objects you love and cherish.

The first house will detail certain physical characteristics, as well as mental quirks and any other idiosyncrasies about your nature or habits. If there is anything about yourself that you don’t wish to have exposed, The Horoscope Spread involving the twelve houses is not a reading you would want to have done.  Anything we hide or hide behind will be stripped away with the turn of a card.

Second House:

Money & Possessions
Sun sign:  Taurus
Planet:  Venus

Attitudes about possessions and money, emotional/financial security, personal resources/assets, earning potential, how you relate to and handle money

The second house is a very material, some would say superficial house. The tarot cards laid here will reveal your income level, any new pathways for future financial endeavors, and something much more revealing -- your attitude towards money and materialism. Are you forever following the dollar; are you generous or stingy; is money and material success more important to you than spirituality, relationships, or other more noble accomplishments?

This house will go so far as to reveal what types of possessions are most important to you, what kinds of items and atmosphere would be found in your home, even what you might be driven to collect.

This house may also tell you where you will be most successful financially from a business/employment perspective.

Third House:

Communication
Sun sign:  Gemini
Planet:  Mercury

Family members, family issues, adaptation in social/work settings, intellect and intellectual pursuits, mentality, self-expression, day-to-day travel, memory

I think of this house as the house of “Air”, because in the occult world this element also deals with communication. The tarot reader will discover here how well you express yourself. Are you verbal, eloquent and open about your emotions and issues you feel strongly about, or are your thoughts and opinions strangled by your own inability or unwillingness to communicate with others?

The kind of relationships you have with family members will see the light of day in this house. Are you and your siblings, grandparents, cousins close and loving, or are you embroiled in family feuds and divided loyalties?

Do you express yourself better though writing? How does your mind sort out and process information? This house will tell us.

The third house also deals with movement, movement often connected to our day to day life. This house reveals short trips, commutes, rendezvous, and how we get from one place to another—sometimes both literally and figuratively.

Fourth House:

Beginnings & Home Life
Sun sign:  Cancer
Planet:  Moon

Relationship with your parents, home, family, child-parent dynamics, domestic affairs, family roots, early childhood influences, current domestic affairs, real estate, end of life circumstances

The cards laid for the fourth house will reveal what kind of environment you were raised in and what type of relationship you had with your parents. Were they loving, encouraging, and supportive; or were they controlling, cruel and manipulative; or were they absent? The dynamics of this parental relationship has so much to do with how/why you are the way you are today.

In this house your ancestry and its influence on your life -- either conscious influence or subconscious influence, as from past collective energy -- will be revealed to you, sometimes with some surprises.

Your present home-life will be revealed here: its atmosphere, the people who inhabit it, as well as the tone of your relationship with them. All of this comes together to create your private space and the harmony or disruption that you feel which influences your daily decisions and choices.

Here, in the fourth house, you will also look to the future as far as home life and circumstances go. And this future look at your life will include how prepared you are to face the golden years of life, including what property and holdings you might possess.

The fourth house reveals that which is very private and primary to all of us -- our own space -- what we call home.

 

Fifth House:

Pleasure, Creativity, & Sex
Sun sign:  Leo
Planet:  Sun

creativity, romance, children, self-expression, hobbies, fun, how we find joy and enjoyment in life,  love affairs, artistic pursuits, how we express ourselves creatively and romantically.

Your feelings about children, creativity, pleasures, attitudes about love and sex, entertainment, amusement, enjoyment of the material This house, the fifth house, will reveal what gives you pleasure, from the simple things in life, to the more extreme and fundamental -- your sexuality for instance. The tarot cards laid here, and the information gleaned from them may well make you squirm. Here is where your most hidden sexual practices and any deviations will be exposed. You will find a glaring spotlight focused on your sexual nature in this house.

The means with which you choose to express yourself creatively will also come to light here; whether you are musically or artistically inclined if your expression comes through writing or some other creative outlet.

Here, too, your real feelings toward children will be revealed -- How do you feel about parenthood, the responsibilities of child rearing, the physical aspect of having children inhabit and share your living space?

What and who you love, what brings you pleasure and passion, all of these things will be revealed in the fifth house.

 

Sixth House:

Health & Work
Sun sign:  Virgo
Planet:  Mercury

Health, hygiene, diet, work, daily routines/organization, attitudes towards laborers/social classes/fellow employees/employers, your constitution, the effects of stress

The most important aspect to watch carefully in the sixth house is information revealed about your health -- Where are your weaknesses in the physical aspect; what illnesses are you most prone to; are you strong, healthy, physically fit, or are you prone to periodic bouts of this and that; can you stave off infections successfully?

This house also reveals the type of relationship you maintain with fellow employees, or with someone working for you -- Are you fair, above board, open to suggestions, friendly and honest; or do you look down on those you consider to be in an inferior position to yourself; do you take advantage of this role and them; or do you view these people as equals with a job to do?

This house, the sixth house, will also expose how you handle the daily stress of life and what effects it has upon you. Watch carefully the information you receive in this house; it could save your life.

Seventh House:

Partnership & Marriage
Sun sign:  Libra
Planet:  Venus

Emotional relationships, partnerships, attitudes in partnerships, personal needs in love, friendship, work, relationships, independence, dependence, self-reliance, marriage, divorce, spouse, legal unions, enemies

The seventh house is concerned with what kind of a person you choose for a spouse -- Are you selecting someone stable, suited to your personality and lifestyle; or do you follow a destructive pattern of choosing for a spouse someone whose compatibility will not work for you? Will these patterns be continually repeated through marriage, divorce, remarriage? All of these issues will be exposed here in glaring, and sometimes brutal, honesty.

Other types of partnerships will also be highlighted in this house: business partnerships, the positive or negative aspect of contracts, unions, business ventures connected to other people and their decisions, as well as your willingness and ability to come to mutual agreements.

An interesting aspect of the seventh house in tarot readings is its upfront and brazen nature of exposing information, new insights, warnings, and weaknesses of your enemies and your adversaries. You have always known who these people are. This house will tell you how to successfully deal with them.

Eighth House:

Death & Regeneration
Sun sign:  Scorpio
Planet:  Pluto & Mars

Change, new beginnings, rebirth, deep seated sexual urges/practices, inheritance, psychism, death, after-life, taxes, debt, surgery, occult studies

The eighth house lies in the shadows. A tarot reading involving this house would encompass, among other ‘dark’ issues, the cycle of birth, death, and the afterlife. From an occult perspective these three stages would be birth, death, and rebirth/reincarnation. An uncomfortable and discomfiting aspect of the eighth house is its ability, through the tarot, to give insights into your death. I’m not sure that I would feel comfortable in passing this information on to my clients, nor would I suggest doing so, but I wanted readers to be aware of this in case they were utilizing this spread for a personal reading.

The upside to this subject is that the eighth house will also generously unveil past life information, which often aides us in our present incarnation. Along with this newly revealed knowledge can come a universal plethora of information culminating from collective ancestral awareness. This can not only include our personal ancestors, but ‘spiritual’ ancestors as well. These revelations often lead to amazing and unexpected spiritual transformations.

Oddly enough, it is here among the shadows that information about your spouse’s financial matters, including taxes and debt, will be exposed. One has to wonder at the connection to this house.

Ninth House:

Mental Exploration & Journeys
Sun sign:  Sagittarius
Planet:  Jupiter

Philosophy, education, spiritual matters, long journeys/travel, literature, law, language, publishing, dreams, higher education, in-laws

In the ninth house we come full circle from the third house. Here we expand where mental activities are pursued, especially writing, as literature, thought, and the expression of ideas are highlighted in this house. Study, acquiring deeper knowledge and the pursuit of mental objectives are also highlighted. The ninth house will reveal plans to continue education, goals to further knowledge, possible pitfalls in doing either, and rewards that await the successful venture.

The ninth house also deals with travel, but not in the mundane limited way in which the third house handles this topic. Travel detailed within the cards in the ninth house is wide, expansive, and undaunted. It often deals with foreign travel, wider vistas, and broader adventures. Not only can this travel pertain to our physical world, but the world within our minds as well, which often leads to life changing revelations, earth-shattering spiritual adventures, and that blessed event… enlightenment.

 

Tenth House:

Career & Achievements
Sun sign:  Capricorn
Planet:  Saturn

Social status, authority, responsibility, progress, hopes, career/career changes, public life, public reputation, community, profession, image, material success

The tenth house may be viewed as the mirror of your public persona, and this can be a mirror of your own success or failure as well. Do people hold you in high regard, or are you viewed suspiciously; is your public reputation impeccable and respectful, or are their dark shadows, questions, and doubt shrouding your character? Are you viewed as someone who holds a high position of status in the community; or has your actions and choices darkened your status and ruined opportunities?

This house often gives you clues to possible professions, considering your interests and talents. It show-cases your ambitions, and with each turn of the card, let’s you know how realistic these goals are and how close you may be to attaining them.

This house will reveal to you, sometimes in a rather ruthless manner, whether the world is your oyster.

I hope you will like what you see here.

Eleventh House:

Friends, Wishes, & Ambitions
Sun sign—Aquarius
Planet—Uranus

Society, friendship, ecology, social issues, charitable work, public affairs, network of friends, intellectual pleasures, long-term goals, clubs, societies/associations

The eleventh house concentrates in many ways more on the here and now than its opposite, the fifth house. The tarot cards in this house will give more instant gratification with the knowledge of success and pleasures to be derived in the present.

One must be cautious, however, for instant gratification is not always to our well-being and future success. There may be consequences. To this idea, the eleventh house also settles down and lays out before you the steppingstones needed to build on future dreams and ambitions. It smacks of a contradictory nature in this manner, but often this is how real life comes at us.

The eleventh house will coldly point out to you which friends are beneficial to your well-being and goals, and which friends are detrimental to your plans.

Also, any links (past, present, future) to societies, organizations, covens, or groups may be highlighted. Be careful to measure each of the cards in this house before committing yourself.

 

Twelfth House:

Secrets, Sorrows, & Self-Destructive Tendencies
Sun sign—Pisces
Planet—Neptune

Psychological issues, hospitals/institutions, seclusion, escapism, sacrifice, karma, limitations, addictions, disappointments, accidents, secret enemies, escapism, psychic powers

And here we come to the last house, the twelfth house. The tarot cards laid at this house will outline negative behavior, your own negative behavior—all the addictions, phobias, insecurities, and weaknesses that spell destruction and failure. The tarot reader will find your weakest points here, leaving you exposed and vulnerable. Be ready to face those truths about yourself that you may try to avoid or deny. Karma catches up to you here, at the twelfth house, and with it comes the checks and balances that meet out justice.

The most important aspect of this house and one that you should pay special attention to is the ability of the twelfth house to reveal to you your secret enemies. They are much different from the known enemies of the seventh house. Secret enemies are insidious. They work behind your back, undermining your foundations, rattling basic truths within your life, and tainting everything they touch. This house will expose them, leaving them naked and ripe for retribution and justice.

Oddly enough this house is also connected to institutions—all kinds of institutions—prisons, sanatoriums, hospitals; and the one thing all of these have in common is…the loss of personal freedom.

Stay alert and be wary in the twelfth house.

LEARNING TAROT
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