The Moon is transiting my 12th house right now as I finish up this blog series of Luna through the houses during her monthly jaunt through the zodiac. Compassion, unconditional love, innocence, openness, the hermit, the mystic, the spiritual healer–we rarely hear those archetypes spoken of regarding the 12th. Ominous–that’s instead what you hear about the 12th. The house of Halloween, trick or treat and ‘things that go bump in the night’–the places in our life where things that are freaky, scary, sorrowful, sad, happen. Where we are in isolation, on the edge of the abyss! Confusion, distortion, escapism–those are a few more word associations for this part of life that is ruled by Neptune/Pisces. Jails, prisons, institutions–that too comes through the astrological grapevine about the 12th. The motion of the energy of Neptune and Pisces is inward and on the highest level represents the totality of consciousness, universal mind and the collective unconscious. People who are comfortable here are often though of as crazy and end up being institutionalized in some way, thus the connection with jails, prisons and institutions. The feelings of being alone and cut off; some folks are actually comfortable in that state and relish it, thrive in it. It’s the area of “mind”. Personally, I think we could look at the 12th house in someone’s birth chart and get a feel for what type of “mind” or inner-consciousness the person has—if there is such a thing as a “mind type”. I say that in a very general way since of course there can be more than one sign in a house, intercepted signs, and planets with their aspects. But right now we are talking about the Moon as she transits through the 12th, so better stick to that topic and not wander off as Luna in 12 tends to do. 🙂
Pisces/Neptune’s association with the Universal Mind can lend the 12th the flavor of faith an inspiration–perhaps god-consciousness if you will. The archetype of Neptune/Pisces also correlates with the 3rd eye/pineal gland. There’s hypersensitivity here as Luna moves through the 12th–and since that Neptune/Pisces has no boundaries (the archetype of totality), the Moon here could have a person feeling like a psychic-sponge.
If a person has a highly pronounced Neptune/Pisces signature in the chart or is born with a number of planets in the 12th house and does not understand the energy or perceive the self as a spiritual being then mental illness or psychic distortions can occur.
Pisces/Neptune and 12th house energy relates to addictions–using substances rather than spiritual means in an attempt to reach a transcendent and peaceful state. Nervous breakdowns due to oversensitivity to everything expressing as feelings of being deeply lost, confused and disillusioned. Yet, the sensitivities of the 12th house can engender deep compassion, love, openness, innocence and result in the mystic, the healer, the teacher. One will find it necessary to be hermit like with the sensitivities carried when the 12th is stimulated.
I have 3 planets in my 12th house and currently Jupiter is transiting here along with the Moon. Usually a Moon in the 12th increases all my senses but add Jupiter to the mix which further intensifies and expands everything within it’s reach… adding the sign of Cancer on this cusp and we have some strange tasting emotional tea! Yet the ability to feel unconditional love for self and others is very acute right now.
As I type these words the Moon/Jupiter conjunction is sitting right on my natal Pluto/Saturn conjunction in my 12th house. I do have the feeling of wanting to escape and moments of feeling borderline crazy surge between other moments of seeing how it all is here on Earth for all of us and tears form in my eyes and start to roll down my cheek. The feeling of being a stranger in a strange land are usually part of my psyche but are more acute than usual, more pronounced.
When the Moon transits the 12th, the emotional desire is to recognize that spiritual growth is the main purpose of life and other factors that do not fit into or match that desire tend to fall by the wayside.
The Moon transiting the 12th house causes a person to feel strong psychic undercurrents and the energy of others. Luna, the Queen of Mystery, here in the last house picks up on all subtle energy influences.
There will be a desire within the emotional body to find some way to commune with the deep psyche’, with God if-you-will, and to go deep into the soul. There will be an inner call to withdraw, to escape in some way from the world of others and mundane existence. It will be easy to become psychically overwhelmed.
When the Moon transits the 12th house it is a good time for a retreat, a rest, to be quiet and to figure out what is going on. Examining motivations and emotions and trying to bring into conscious some of what has previously been unconscious.
The 12th house is the house of uncertainty and faith at the time of a lunar transit here faith is a priority because natural uncertainty takes a big emotional hit from the Moon; therefore there is a natural vulnerability to worries, fears, doubts and unavoidable obstacles. Deeply felt anxieties can be triggered by the Moon transiting the 12th but it is also the time when we are most sensitive to the messages from the unconscious or from universal mind (spirit guides, angels, etc.).
The 12th house archetype includes a naked vulnerability but this nakedness and innocence can be a huge source of power–the ego cannot exist well here. The conscious and unconscious mind being as one is where, if it’s going to happen, it’s going to be in the 12th house. Letting to and trusting the divine–having faith–not attempting to control a single thing! That’s the only way to negotiate the 12th house. (And I speak, again, from experience having 3 powerful natal planets aspect-ing my lunar nodes.) Trust me when I speak from firsthand experience about the 12th house.
One benefit of the 12th house is that we can see humor in the chaos if we can just “go with it” without the ego expressing anything. My sister said to me a little while ago as we spoke by phone about some difficulty I am personally experiencing these words: “…it’s all in the mind.” Hearing that from her when I actually teach this stuff–at first i wanted to cry and then after a few moments burst out laughing at the ludicrous reality and non-reality of that little comment. So there’s a little 12th house joke for ya’.
It is also thought that the life-force seems to be a bit diminished in the 12th house; so we may find a weakened immune system when this house is active. It is thought that the body’s natural defenses to bacteria is lowered.
Along with the 4th and the 8th houses, the 12th forms what is called the OCCULT TRIANGLE and favors mysticism and as mentioned psychic sensitivities are acute here: i.e. the claire sisters (clairvoyance, clairaudience, and clairsentience). Moon moving through the 12th house is a good time to meditate and to divine information i.e. to do “readings” and spirit message work.
Sorrow and unhappiness through confinement is an archetype well-known in this house so feelings of entrapment and/or mental bondage can happen if this house is not being negotiated well; those feelings come from ego and the flip side of that coin is spirit. This, too, is the house of ‘hidden enemies’ it is said and this comes from the abuse of drugs or fantasy and then one feels that suicide is the way to escape the difficult feelings that can arise here.
We also hear of the 12th house as being the house of karma–mostly that which is created from the conflict between ‘my will’ versus ‘Divine Will’; thus we also hear that the 12th house is the house of ‘surrender’ or letting go’.
Moon in the 12th adds to the intense fluctuation of emotion and a person feeling the effects of the Moon moving through their 12th house can feel lost, vulnerable and unsupported. This may, of course, be real or it may be imaginary and it relates usually to family since the Moon rules Cancer and the 4th house of the ‘home’ and ‘family’. So what is the answer to these feelings? Well, the opposite of Moon is Saturn which relates to boundaries and there must be a willingness to let go of people, even family.
Personally, I find that to balance out my 12th house which contains Cancer with Leo is to turn to the polarity–6th house and Capricorn with Aquarius. Often times, for me, that means writing–such as writing this blog post today!
Jupiter will remain in my 12th intensifying and expanding all my 12th house natal energy, so as for me Luna’s exit tomorrow morning will not be the end of it for me, but perhaps the emotional aspect will decline a bit. Jupiter hangs out in my 12th house until next summer — what with its retrograde business and all that jazz. They said Jupiter is the planet of luck, good fortune and I’m ready for some (more) of that! 🙂 Meanwhile, counting blessings, feeling grateful in all ways that I can and yep–work and boundaries! Writing always helps and one of my natal 12th house planets is transiting my 3rd right now–writing therapy but always with humanitarian flare is how it goes for me.
( By the way sister, if you are reading this, when Jupiter entered my 12th house is when we became roommates. )
And I offer this to others with a loaded 12th house (like myself) where Jupiter may also be transiting with the Moon today. Or for anyone who may find this post on the search engines in an effort to understand the Moon, the 12th house and Lunar Transits, especially when the Moon moves through the 12th house!
May something here help you with self-understanding. Amen!
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