The 4th house is associated with home, family and living situation. It is located at the bottom of the chart, the lowest point in the sky, the root of the Tree of Life and represents the fundamental core of every individuals life. It is where life begins, from where life branches out.
This house is the most hidden part of our chart and in many ways represents our most intimate self or how we behave in our home environment. Planets in the 4th house have reached the lowest point in the sky and are beginning to rise up thereby commencing a new cycle. The fresh seeds of all future potential are planted here.
SUN
The Sun in the fourth house creates a person whose sense of self is tightly linked to their family and home environment. They see their value in relation to the value they can bring to their immediate and extended family, to the family name and to the ancestral heritage.
These people derive a sense of pride and achievement from having their home situation just they way they want it. If they are not that successful professionally or if they don't drive the latest car or have the most expensive watch, they wouldn't care as long as their home and family are exemplary.
People with Sun in the this house derive self-confidence from seeing their family well-taken care of and well provided for. If the family is filled with happiness, joy and everyone is emotionally content, if the cup of their heart is full, then they feel successful in life. "Who I am is reflected in the happiness of my family". The home environment is seen as the true mirror of the worth of the individual.
MOON
When the Moon is placed in the fourth house our home and family are out sanctuary, the bedrock of our motional stability. Any drastic changes or unpleasant events feel like someone has pulled the rug from underneath us and threatens to collapse everything we have built in all areas of our lives. With these people there is also a deep need for solitude and alone time to recharge. There is a heightened desire to feel cared for, nurtured and loved and that goes both ways. Make one true friend with Moon in the fourth house and you will be taken care of for life. Remember to give back though.
This placement gives talent for emotional expression through the performing arts. Any pain and personal problems are kept private, away from the eyes of the public. This can sometimes cause emotional trauma to be pent up and left unresolved. There is a profound need to belong somewhere and with someone.
Individuals with this placement have deep attachment to their parents, especially the mother. When the time comes for them to separate from her and create their own family, this is done carefully, always keeping her emotions in mind.
MERCURY
Mercury is a very social planet which, when placed in the fourth house, makes an individual with a very dynamic home and family life. This can manifest as changing homes frequently, or inviting people to your house often, or having a lot of gadgets in the house, opening your home to friends and even acquaintances. The homes of people with this placement tend to be a venue for social gatherings.
Family life runs more on verbal communication and less on emotional exchange. Problems are solved through words, not intuition. Unconscious and negative feelings are brought up to the surface of the mind through conversations and then resolved.
Mercury in the 4th house can make the individual a bit more detached and less warm and emotional in family matters but it also brings the big gift of conflict resolutions. Psychoanalysis helps people resolve their traumas by bring what's in the subconscious into the conscious. Verbalizing the problems is the key and with Mercury here, many traumas can be avoided.
VENUS
Venus in the 4th house brings cooperation and grace into home and family environment. Relationships are balanced and communication is beautiful. Too much emotions or too much reasoning are not tolerated, a balance is maintained. Harmonizing everyone's needs and interactions is the ultimate goal.
Venus’s love beauty and luxury turns into stylish homes with home décor which you can tell a lot of thought and care has gone into. Venus rules over Libra, the socialite of the zodiac. So with Venus in the 4th house there is love for hosting gatherings at home. Venus has a knack for bringing the right people together and playing the diplomat or the facilitator. Venus loves creating situations and environments where she can display what she sees as her best qualities - politeness, social grace and protocol and considerate attitude. So people with this placement often end up playing peacemakers in their families.
There is a tendency to overlook the negative and focus on the beautiful, both in the home environment as well as in family relationships. Friction between family members can be swept under the carpet for the sake of preserving the peace.
MARS
Mars in the 4th house brings out the "big, protective brother" energy of the person. There is a strong desire to defend our loved ones and our property at all costs.
The down side of this placement is that outbursts and scandals can't be ruled out because Mars is fire and aggression. People with this placement are not afraid to go to war with their families if their values diverge. If there is a serious disagreement, Mars is not shy to start an open confrontation.
The fourth house is a deep, emotional place where Mars does not feel good. It wants action, it wants a fight, it wants a reward. If these needs can be channeled as protection of the family from outside forces, that can be a great placement. If they can't be - some volatile situations can ensue.
The house of someone with this placement will for sure have some sort of fitness corner either within the house or in the garden. Mars loves exercising so playing sports with family members can be a great way to channel this energy positively.
JUPITER
Jupiter in the fourth house makes one’s home an open cosmopolitan space. A lot of children or pets or relatives coming frequently, friends from overseas staying over, large house, large garden, busy social life in the house. Their home is a place where you will be able to meet people from all walks of life, from all sorts of nationalities, and people coming for business advice as well as just for a cup of coffee.
Jupiter is the planet of abundance so everything - from the number of bedrooms in the house to the number of children and pets - will be in large quantities. Jupiter is also associated with the world at large, so large libraries with books from foreign lands, magazines on all sorts of topics, guests bringing foods from exotic places are all very likely with this placement.
It is possible that this placement will lead the individual to start a home abroad. Family relations are open and honest but less warm and cosy. Children are allowed to have their space and their own experiences . Jupiter is a cosmopolitan influence after all.
SATURN
Saturn in the 4th house behaves like the strict father responsible for keeping the order in the family. People with this placement are methodical and organized when it comes to all matters related to the house - paying the bills, doing repairs, maintaining the property, researching, buying the right insurances etc.
Traditions are respected and focus is placed on the role of each member of the family in maintaining the domestic atmosphere. The person with this placement, regardless of gender, is the authority figure that everyone listens to.
If Saturn in the fourth house plays out positively, the result is someone who takes family and property very seriously, and is a consistent and responsible provider and protector. If this placement plays out negatively, it can create a home environment that feels too restrictive, where family relations are a web of responsibilities rather than warmth allowed to roam freely.
Saturn brings a sense of scarcity wherever it goes, and its response to scarcity is discipline. Nothing gets out of hand, ever. Depending on personality and circumstances, this can be a blessing and a curse like most things in life.
URANUS
Uranus in the fourth house brings chaos to home and family life. Frequent changes of residence, residing in unusual buildings or living in unusual arrangements are commonplace. There is something very progressive about how these folks do traditional family roles and living situation.
A lot of travel, open relationships, allowing the kids to get a job or earn money on the side from a very young age, non-traditional schooling are all possible with this placement. There may be a feeling of emotional detachment, or a feeling of being the outcast in the family. Parents may be too busy with their own matters, the person may be a single child with no siblings. For some reason there is a gap between the individual and the family.
In terms of destiny, this configuration suggests many upheavals and drastic changes in the home. Changing living circumstances, moving residencies, living with various people in various formats - either way the traditional quiet, cozy home is out of reach for these people, for good or for bad.
This placement can also mean that one of the parents has a job that requires changing cities or even countries often so the childhood of this person is marked by feeling a bit different from everyone else all the time, and being perceived as not exactly one of us. It is not a negative thing per se but it could be perceived as a lack of sense of belonging.
NEPTUNE
Neptune in the 4th house indicates a rich inner life, deep feelings, tendency to daydream and build imaginary worlds in which to retreat from reality. These are multi- multi- layered personalities with highly artistic tendencies who need to be felt, not heard, to be understood.
This person’s ideal home is a place where people understand one another through intuition, not words. Gaslighting and confusion are common as an expression of the individual’s need to retreat in the safe heaven that they have created for themselves in their head.
If reality is too harsh to the point where it can’t be ignored, people with Neptune in the 4th house can fall into addictions or engage in other forms of escapist behavior such as binge- sleeping, eating, watching etc.
Their homes are messy because maintaining the house requires order and practical approach both of which are alien to Neptune. Neptune is also associated with suffering and sacrifice so these are themes which the individual might have seen a lot of in his or her childhood. As parents these people are willing to sacrifice themselves for their loved ones and compassion is strongly expressed in the home environment.
PLUTO
When the planet of intensity, Pluto, falls into the fourth house, home life is marked by intense feelings and power struggles that lead to deep emotional transformations. The fourth house is our most private part of the sky and the reservoir of our emotional strength. Pluto here is a powerful placement - the person will have powerful regenerative abilities.
This placement suggests that the early home environment is experienced as controlling and humiliating. Home is not a sanctuary, it is a hotbed for tensions and traumas, most likely power struggles of some sort. The parents may be seen as emotionally manipulative or as trying to strong-arm the person into doing things they do not want to do.
Pluto is also the planet of rebirth. And placed in our most private house it allows the individual to change their fate, to build an empire and evolve way beyond the environment they were born into. In the bottom of the chart, Pluto gives the courage and strength to stand on your own two feet and take life into their own hands. If this power is used well, the person has the potential to outgrow their parents and their circumstances, and to release any childhood traumas caused by the family thus becoming masters of their own life.
The fourth hose is a very sensitive place and Pluto is a very powerful planet. Out of what could be experienced as a hostile home environment, a vision of an entirely new world is created.