The third house in astrology and meditation

The third house and meditation practice

When we think of spirituality in astrology by default we tend to think of the 9^th house. The 9^th house is the place where the Sun rejoices. It has since the beginning of horoscope astrology been associated with deity. This can be understood as a reflection of the dominant cultures during this epoch based on a solar deity. In Greek astrology, we find that the 3^rd house is considered Lunar and as such was associated with the Goddess. The Moon rejoiced in the 3^rd house.

What is interesting about this is to think of the 9^th house as the public experience of religion or spirituality. Think of churches, shrines, meditation halls, spiritual groups, and belief systems that a community practices together. All of these are out in the public which is of course represented by the top half of the chart.

This would be opposed to the 3^rd house then, the place of the night, the Moon, and the inner workings of what a belief system is. Inner workings are by nature meditation. You can do a group meditation, group prayer, sing group hymns, face a certain direction on a prayer rug as part of a group, and pray. But meditation is internal, it is your mind, working with your mind and your body in a transformative way.

Meditation is the internalization of the spiritual force into an experience that is completely our own. For this reason, I have concluded that the third house represents meditation. If the third house represents meditation, then how one meditates or how one would benefit from meditation must have some signature of experience in the third house.

As with every concept that we look for answers to in an astrology chart, is the third house the only way of understanding meditation in a birth chart? Of course, it is not, one can find meditation in the part of spirit, the chart based on the part of spirit, Saturn, the Significator of the Daimon, and reasonable arguments can be made for the 12^th and 9^th having a say in the matter. Let us though focus on the third house and see what you can find for yourself by looking into meditation as described by the third.

On a side note, it is popular now for a religious fervor to have developed around astrology in some circles. Astrology is not a religion, it is a language of the divine. Astrology will not free one’s mind and soul from suffering, although it can be used to help create conducive experiences for that endeavor. Now on to the way I look at the third house when contemplating how a person would benefit from various meditative practices.

The Modalities

When approaching the study of any topic in astrology, approach by building from the basic blocks up. We have modalities and elements as the first block. The third house will be ruled by an element and in a modality.

Here we find our first tidbits. Do you approach meditation with eager enthusiasm but quickly lose interest? Cardinal sign. Are you a stable and continuous practitioner of meditation? Fixed sign. Or, do you engage in both, but find yourself distracted often… you guessed it, mutable sign.

The Elements

The earth element will be better suited to tangible forms of meditation. These can be simple exercises, such as sitting, walking, and breathing. Earth signs will do well to have symbols that are tangible in their experience. The earth element will experience the stability of the meditative experience. The downside of this can be sleepiness that comes from a dull mind.

The water element will be prone to meditation that relies on faith or visualization. Meditation that involves generating compassion can be very strong for those with this aspect. There is a capacity for bliss that comes with this element ruling the third house. The result is that meditation is sense oriented as it also is with Fire signs. Another common route for a water sign would be boundless meditation. This could be Tai Chi or it could be forms of Great Perfection. There will be a leaning into apophatic traditions.

The Fire element then is suited more towards energy work or dance. Movement is highlighted and one can also engage in breath work. All of these move the energy in ways that create meditation. Kundalini yoga may be of particular interest. The Fire element will find it easy to cultivate bliss as well as visionary experiences. This placement will also give tremendous zeal to the spiritual practice of those with this chart placement.

Finally, we have the Air element which predisposes us towards contemplation. Of course, air also includes breathing. The air element can focus on clarity as an experience, as well as emptiness with ease. Contemplation as a method of meditation is very useful for air signs. Air signs and Fire signs will find themselves able to experience visual manifestations of their practice easier than Earth and Water as a result of these elements are less dense in terms of their expression.

The Signs

After the elements, we come to the signs as indications of the style, experience, and methods of meditation that the native will find not only engaging but very useful to their own personal disposition. We always need to remember that no house in the chart is empty, rather a house is a field of potential, and that field of potential is expressed by the archetype of the Zodiac as well as the planet that rules that archetype and of course the sign it is and its conditions.

Further information is then found by any planet in the third.

Putting it together with Osho’s Chart

As an example of all of this put together let us look at a chart of a famous meditator. Here we have a fellow affectionately known as Osho. He was a prolific philosopher and teacher of meditation who got into a bit of trouble with the law and may in the end have been poisoned by the US government for developing a bit of a cult around him.

We see that he has Leo in the third house with Jupiter. A masculine and energetic approach to his meditation. He taught a style of meditation that involved ecstatic dance or blissful fire. This would cause one to exhaust one’s mind and then he would transmit kundalini shakti to his students. His term for this style of meditation was “Dynamic Meditation.” You do not have to study astrology for long to understand fire signs are described as “Dynamic” quite often. The whole effect was very mesmerizing and with such power amplified by Jupiter’s capacity to increase the energy of wherever it abides he became a cult leader(Leo).

If you want to insist that the third house is siblings, well he was the oldest of eleven siblings… so there you go with Jupiter. Hey man, astrology is flexible. Of interesting note, I did not write this article with Osho in mind, so am quite pleased that he came up as a suitable example. His whole personality is very well described by his astrology chart, I look forward to writing an entire blog post about it. If you would like to learn more about what went on around him, Wild Wild Country, on Netflix is an excellent and fair insight into his years as a cult leader.

Further investigation

It would certainly do well to further investigate the matter of how the 3rd house describes ones style of meditation. Osho was the first example I pulled up, and found it quite pleasing. I have used this technique on a number of client charts and also found it holds up very well. However, I ask those of you who are studied, or are just learning, to play around with this method. When approaching the topic of meditation in the chart it is imperative to understand not everyone is inclined to meditation, but for those who are, I believe there is a deep treasure of insight to be found here. If you would like for me to read for you click the link and book a reading. Also, a further detailed explanation of the technique with a break down for how each sign can experience meditation and what types of meditation can be found on my Patreon.