Vedic Astrology: Twelfth House – Universal Freedom

Our subconscious and hidden nature. It is the house of loss, liberation, isolation and decrease. Wastage of energy is observed here. Foreign journeys. Isolated through sorrow or peace.

Seed Principle: Where we must let go of things and learn to be alone. Following the house of ambition and increase is the house of loss. Everything is temporary in life, it will change and we will lose everything eventually. It is through the twelfth house that we lose things and must remain with the only thing that can never be taken away. The twelfth house exists before the first houses, the physical body and its movement and therefore also refers to states of being not contingent on our form or choice. The dream state, in utero state, between lives, in prison, meditation are all states of existence where our physical activity is curtailed or negated.

The body part associated with the twelfth house is the feet and ankles. It is the feet upon which we stand, that touches the Earth, the source of our body and life on earth. As such our entire life on Earth is the result of our past lives and karmic choices. Our entire existence is dependent upon these hidden, mysterious forces and the need to let go of it all.

Twelfth House People: A person in a dream or a fantasy person, a ghost, a baby in utero, a prisoner, someone incapacitated (like in a hospital).

Activities: Sleeping, dreaming, meditating, escaping from “reality“, taking drugs, watching TV, traveling to a foreign country

Environment: Foreign countries, hospitals, Ashrams, opium dens / crack houses, the bardo (between lives), on vacation

Objects: Drugs, sacred statues, crack pipe, meditation cushion, Airplane ticket

Planetary Indicators: Saturn as the indicator of solitude, stillness and letting go of things and Ketu, the part of us that is not of this world are related to the 12th house. Rahu is also connected to the 12th house as he has to do with foreign things.

Guna / Lesson: Personal Happiness
General Explanation:
The 12th house is one of the most mysterious to talk about or think about, because we are so rarely presents to its truth. Meaning, the dream state is not exactly an active were intentional state of mind or awareness. The in between life state is another example, as is the in utero state. The twelfth house exists before our physical identity, autonomy and presence.

It is a place of rejuvenation, associated with cocooning and a rebirth/metamorphosis process. All of this sounds interesting, but the way we usually experience the twelfth house in real terms, in the life we’re living, is through loss. If not lost directly, then letting go of things either willingly or due to inattention, apathy, neglect, etc. For instance, if the Sun, the indicator of general vitality and health, we may have a hard time holding onto those things if he goes to the twelfth house.

It is the last house of “liberation“, showing where it eventually we will be liberated of everything – we will lose everything. “Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die”, is sort of the motto of the twelfth house. Liberation sounds great, but as soon as we start losing things it feels painful.

Evolutionary Principle: “From the highly stimulated, lustful and ruthless quest to succeed to the typical give-and-take ambition / disappointment cycle of growth, to a path of dignified service through the realization that individual achievements are ultimately fruitless is the evolutionary process of the eleventh house”

The effects of planets in the twelfth house:
The Sun in the twelfth house shows a lot of hidden power, and desire to eliminate the deepest recesses of self. This is a good placement for people to spend time in ashram’s or other spiritual communities in foreign countries. But this “self negation” may also be an expression of a weak self-image, lack of self-confidence and confusion about the necessary self identity needed for self knowledge in the world.

The Moon in the twelfth house shows in mind and heart deeply immersed in the metaphysical, and one looking for escape from the many emotional burdens of the world. It may be difficult to have or maintain close family connections as emotional entanglements may feel quite draining. There’s a deep need to develop emotional self-sufficiency rather than dependence. Excessive daydreaming, fantasizing can be seen. Yet, there will be a rich and creative dream life.

Mars in the twelfth house shows difficulty and confusion around courage, discipline and personal strength. When the field overmatched in life situations that demands competition or self-defense. A deeper will, more introspective approach to self empowerment will be needed to, one related to meditation and self inquiry. There may be disturbed sleeping patterns, where heroic battles are fought in the dream state that were avoided in the waking state.

Mercury in the twelfth house shows confusion with details and speech. This leads to frustration and miscommunications. However, internal activities related to Mercury, such as writing in general introspection, could be quite developed. An individual may waste a lot of time with and energy on stimulating, yet unproductive interests. Unhealthy escapism, especially through entertainment, can be shown.

Jupiter in the twelfth house shows a sense of meaning will be derived from metaphysics and abstractions. And inner expansion toward illuminating past lives, deep and dark secrets will be important. There may be an emphasis placed on foreign teachings, teachers and philosophies. One may be an excellent teacher of these metaphysical subjects as well, illuminating these important sciences and connections for others.

Venus in the twelfth house shows a lot of hidden desires and potential for escapism into sensual pleasures, including sex. This could be highly creative process for the native with Venus in the twelfth house, but could also be a slippery slope to wasting time and frittering away the higher promise of Venus in the twelfth house. This can be a highly devotional placement, one where the beauty of love takes on a sublime nature. Beautiful dreams and daydreaming is also a part of this placement.

Saturn in the twelfth house makes one focused and determined to explore the deeper mysteries in life. Yet, there may be a lot of insecurity due to material loss. Saturn likes structure, and the twelfth house dilutes it. Learning to flow gracefully with loss and live in uncertainty without fear is a big part of this placement.

Rahu in the twelfth house can be prone to high levels of escapism, perhaps alcohol and drugs will be involved. This placement shows there will be introspection revolving around letting go of materiality, past lives, etc. This will make for a very metaphysical “mind”, but these concepts need to be experiential, not just intellectual – and Rahu tends to make a lot of mistakes, gaining experience slowly. The easiest way to experience the twelfth house realm is through some chemical that lowers our conscious mind.

Ketu in the twelfth house is one of the most spiritual placements in astrology. Taken with the indicator of the twelfth house, the part of us truly not of this world, just like the twelfth house. With this placement, there will be a natural introspection and awareness of something much deeper hidden behind the curtain/the veil of illusion. This awareness will compel a deep introspection, rather than undermine the external, material life we are living – which is what happens when other planets are in the twelfth house.

Overview of Houses 9-12
Houses nine through 12 provide a structure for the evolution of our higher sensibilities, and eventually power desire to transcend the earth, physical plane entirely.  The ninth House connects us with higher truths and teachings, giving us hope and inspiration. This leads to the potential that our highest value in life will be those teachings and will shape our impact on the world, in the tenth house. Based on that capacity to impact and that reputation, we have ambitions, desires and goals in the eleventh house. Ultimately we come to a point of futility with the world and our external goals, realizing the need to let go of it all at some point, the twelfth house of loss and liberation.

A self evolving/self-correcting process leads forward from the ninth House, but also backwards from houses 12 through nine. The ninth House begins with the teachings of our family, in particular those of our father and his influence. Based on his teachings we have a certain amount of power to act and sense of confidence and responsibility in our young life. This leads us to have certain ambitions, but eventually those things create disappointments in the twelfth house. These disappointments compel us to align ourselves with other communities and ambitions (the eleventh house). These different communities were operate on certain values and principles and have a certain amount of impact in the tenth house. Then we evaluate the merit of those teachings in the ninth house and compare them to our philosophical paradigm of life.

This evolutionary process of houses nine through 12 continues throughout our life, as we unfold deeper and deeper levels of universal connection. Based on this level of universal connection, we interact with others through houses five through eight.