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The 12th House*
Did you know that the horoscope has a place which symbolizes prison? It is the 12th house; the house of
self undoing. It is a real place we all go, inner prison or actual confinement experiences are typical of
earthly experience.
Why is it always deprivation and struggle that builds character? We often seem placed in painful
situations by fate, but it is our own choices which usually bring the difficulties. Prison is an arena where
we meet Self. It calls forth an image of being stripped of everything, which may be the only way to
actually observe reality.
You can’t beat the prison cycle for building character. As an accused person, you may suffer at the
hands of others. You are hungry, and your humanity is lost, you would do anything your captors tell you
to do just to stay alive.
From the soul’s point of view, this house provides us with a basis for learning about what is real and
important in life. The experience of prison, military service, and hospitalization are all situations or
circumstance where pain, suffering and loss of humanity can take place. There is an appropriate
definition for these difficulties in life: karma. I came into contact with my own twelfth house when my
father was in the process of dying. In his late seventies at the time, a back operation had left him
paralyzed. Because of his needs, I was given the chance to help him. I felt satisfied, present and ready
for my 12th house experience. My father, who was suffering from paralysis, was in his own 12th house
experience.
It was a special time. Spending the afternoons with my father in his sickroom, I had a chance to help him
with simple things, such fluffing a pillow, or turning him. He was certainly meeting Self in a new reality
paradigm, having never been disabled before. How he hated the need to let others help him! His prison
was dependency, a condition he had dreaded and avoided all his life.
Oddly enough, the 12th house energies also describe the soul’s plan for growth leading to inspiration.
Each of us has a unique “salvation” recipe. When we get what is going on, we can take the karmic and
perceived chains off. This breaking point is unique to each person in a situation. It is your ticket out of
the darkness and into the light. What does it take for you to live in the now? Does it take suffering, being
cut off from the rest of humanity? If so, then the twelfth house has a program for your learning pleasure.
Any time your 12th house activates, you will be brought to justice within yourself. You could react to your
trouble by growing. This is a necessary condition for re birth, and a mandatory preparation for the
transition to daytime. The 12th house is a metaphor for the “darkness before the dawn.” We sense the
need to stand up to great forces and tremendous stresses which we keep locked away from our own
conscious reason.
Sometimes the only way to understand this place is by analogy. The twelfth house seems to be like the
bathroom. What you do there needs privacy. If you have lots of planets there in your natal chart, you will
need more privacy than the average person. You may need so much privacy that you hide your own
motivations from your self. My father certainly found out what he needed. His suffering had created the
conditions for a breakthrough.
This sector tells the story of where you have been, even though you do not consciously know the
information, because it is stored in your subconscious mind. This house seems to mysteriously and
spontaneously provide the place to store your memories, the ones you can’t face. My father found that
with paralysis, he finally had time to reflect on his past.
The 12th house is also a portal, a dimensional doorway. It opens up to the rest of reality, some of which
is non-physical. It describes the life to death to life transition perfectly. One day, I noticed my father
seemed to be extra tired. He was sleeping when I entered the sickroom. As I watched, a tornado shaped
light seemed to spin like a cyclone up and out of the top of his head, from his crown chakra. It formed
into a column of light about 18 inches tall. Holding this form, it then issued back into his body via the
crown chakra. As soon as that happened, he opened his eyes! In his eyes, I saw into the underworld, the
place of sacrifice. There also I saw that he was at peace. He died shortly after this incident.
After seeing him that way, I begin to believe I too could know other realities, which beckoned with
exploration.
The twelfth house symbolizes dawn, the transition from dark to day. It begins the time of day when
sacrifice is called for. In modern times, we sacrifice our sleep time to take care of our families and
responsibilities. The early dawn is a powerful time of transition and therefore magic is possible at that
time. I have always used the dawn to decide how the day will go. At dawn, Dark and Light forces are
battling, or perhaps cooperating, in a dualistic dance. Their interaction eventually results in a new
condition: daytime, when we do everything under the Sun.
The same way, our personal soul growth is sometimes accelerated by the difficulties we encounter in life.
By facing troubles with bravery, humor and optimism, you do the actual work your soul needs. By facing
your unconscious demons, you can liberate and cleanse the portal to other reality experiences. We
access tremendous wisdom through the 12th house. When we decide not to fear the darkness, amazing
richness opens up in life.
The next time you get a reading, ask about your 12th house. I will be able to focus on some important
information for you. You can read books on astrology and look up the houses just like you can study the
signs. Its easy and fun, especially when you can get readings to help speed up your understanding of
your subconscious and karmic issues.
* This article is dedicated to the memory of my father, Titus Satterfield, 1917-1991.
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The houses refer to place or setting for life on Earth. In this series, I will share some real insider stuff about each
house. The science and the geography of the houses is less important than the poetry of them. I hope to fill your
need for a lightening fast comprehension of your own inner thoughts of the past, when you had questions about the
reality you live in. Perhaps you will be inspired to observe the stage we all play on, that fiction we call the houses of
the horoscope.
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