The Fourth House in Astrology: Family Shadows
Last night, I had a dream where I was sitting with my mom and my grandmother. My mom was touching my arms in a way that made me uncomfortable. When I asked her to stop, my grandmother was looking on, and something inside me realized that she left when she did because she knew I would be okay. My grandmother knew that I would be safe.
In honor of October being the time for Samhain, Dia de Los Muertos, and so many celebrations surrounding ancestry and those who’ve passed away, I thought it was time to look at the fourth house. Throughout autumn, we get the opportunity to reflect on what already came, before we can move onto the next chapter. I’ve wanted to do an article on the fourth house for awhile, but as someone who often struggled with this area, it just didn’t feel right. For a society that’s so concerned with outcomes, image, and how you’ll be remembered, rarely do we think about where we came from, and how that shaped who we are today. When Carl Jung spoke about the unconscious influencing most of our actions, a lot of the theory was related to experiences in childhood. In a natal chart, this is known as the fourth house, where sits the IC (the nadir), or Imum Coeli, which is Latin for “bottom of the sky”.
The IC is one of four angles in a chart, opposite the MC (Midheaven). Whereas the MC represents all things public, as well as who…
