Parents in the Chart: A Paradigm in Development
My interest in the discipline of traditional astrology hinges on whether or not it is useful in today’s world. We are in a world where one can have not only two moms, but three. The topic of where to place “the father” and “the mother” has been coming up in class a lot this semester and I’m forming a paradigm-in-development.
The classic astrological doctrine has often been interpreted to place the father in the 10th house and the mother in the 4th. The 10th house represents what we present to the world—our career and public reputation. The 4th house symbolizes our roots, home life, and private world.
Philosophically, this assignment makes some sense in the context of older societies, where the father's role was often public and the mother's was domestic. However, the logic of separating the parents this way doesn’t always hold up. Doesn’t each participating parent contribute to our roots and home? Shouldn't they be represented by the 4th house, the very foundation of our being?
I’m currently feeling that the house topics themselves are the core. For example, “out in the world” for the 10th and “roots and home” for the 4th ring louder than “parent.” Parents are associated with all the houses, as each chart distributes their influence differently. For example, the 2nd/8th axis is influenced by how the head(s) of your household manages finances, and by extension the native of the chart is influenced. Likewise, the 10th/4th axis is how the family generally goes out into the world and holds the household down.
This leads to a different question: who in your family held things down for the home and who went out into the world? In some families, this distinction is very obvious, but in our multiple-income age, the roles get shared. We can apply the core meanings of the houses to the family dynamic as it actually exists, making our readings more inclusive and accurate.
What's great is, we are given a few hints on how to sift this from the get-go: the year and location of their birth. You can glean much from the era and quadrant of their origins and maybe a few well-formed follow-up questions. Then, we just apply it to the core meanings of the houses.
By going back to these core house meanings, we can use traditional astrology to honor the unique and complex family structures of today, ensuring that this ancient art remains relevant and insightful for everyone.
As always, feel free to reach out for a reading as I apply these interpretations in my practice: https://myselfismycards.as.me/EthanNicollAstrologer
