2ND HOUSE
Caroline Myss identifies the energetic ground of the 2nd house. (1) Though Myss is not an astrologer, she has a keen grasp of archetypal energies. To diagnose the condition of your 2nd house, she suggests looking at an area of life where you feel continually DISEMPOWERED. (Geo Floyd death - SAin 2; Floyd Riots - PL in 2h of US chart).
Though this conflict may surface in areas associated with other houses--your relationships (7th) or your career (10th)-your disempowered approach, she suggests, will likely source from the negative attitudes in your 2nd house. In other words, the key to your power in the world-or the lack of it-lies here.
The 2nd is a “succedent” house. This means it succeeds or follows an important house on the angle. The angular houses (1,4,7 and 10) are, as John Frawley writes, the “structural key to the chart, like the main beams in a roof.” (2) Planets in angular houses are stronger, have more power to act. They define the pillars of your life: your personality, your home and family, your relationships, your career. A planet transiting through an angular house will often bring more dramatic changes than the same planet transiting another house. Angular transits can initiate a theme that survives long after the transit has passed.
This doesn't mean succedent houses are less important. Rather, their significance is bound up with the house that came before. Succedent houses play a necessarily supportive role. They're meant to stabilize whatever the angular house has launched. The succedent 5th, for example, rules children, romance and creativity--but together they have a job to do. As activities, they further encourage the self-essence nurtured by home and family in the angular 4th. Likewise, the deepening intimacies, financial and sexual, of the succedent 8th test and/or strengthen the partnerships forged in the 7th. Similarly, social networks in the 11th can affirm or undermine the professional status developed in the angular 10th.
The role of the 2nd house, therefore, is to support whatever entity was birthed in the 1st. A vigorous 2nd house not only ensures your survival, it can make you a force to contend with. If you were a nation, for example, your 2nd house would describe your national assets, your banking system, the health of your exports and crops. If you were a country declaring war, in the war chart's 2nd house you'd find your allies, your ammo and your guns. Similarly, if you were a plaintiff in a lawsuit, the lawsuit chart's 2nd house would show the people testifying on your behalf. A strong 2nd house can make the difference between winning and losing.
The 1st house shows your emergence into life and the 2nd shows what keeps you here. It holds everything you can call “mine.” Through the 2nd you extend into the world and ground your being. As a baby, this begins with acknowledging your very own fingers and toes, the food you possess with your mouth, the teddy bear that no one can sleep with but you. As you grow, you must continue the process of grounding, which keeps deepening your 1st house process of self-discovery. You keep learning about who you are through the things you want to own, the resources you have to use, the value you place on yourself.
The 2nd rules both what money can buy (possessions and material resources) and what it can't buy (talents, self-esteem, and values). If you're unhappy in your career, the work you're doing may not utilize your natural talents--described by the collection of sign and planets in and ruling your 2nd house. Moon in or ruling the 2nd, for example, suggests strong intuitive resources, emotional sensitivity, a desire to nurture.
Though this conflict may surface in areas associated with other houses--your relationships (7th) or your career (10th)-your disempowered approach, she suggests, will likely source from the negative attitudes in your 2nd house. In other words, the key to your power in the world-or the lack of it-lies here.
The 2nd is a “succedent” house. This means it succeeds or follows an important house on the angle. The angular houses (1,4,7 and 10) are, as John Frawley writes, the “structural key to the chart, like the main beams in a roof.” (2) Planets in angular houses are stronger, have more power to act. They define the pillars of your life: your personality, your home and family, your relationships, your career. A planet transiting through an angular house will often bring more dramatic changes than the same planet transiting another house. Angular transits can initiate a theme that survives long after the transit has passed.
This doesn't mean succedent houses are less important. Rather, their significance is bound up with the house that came before. Succedent houses play a necessarily supportive role. They're meant to stabilize whatever the angular house has launched. The succedent 5th, for example, rules children, romance and creativity--but together they have a job to do. As activities, they further encourage the self-essence nurtured by home and family in the angular 4th. Likewise, the deepening intimacies, financial and sexual, of the succedent 8th test and/or strengthen the partnerships forged in the 7th. Similarly, social networks in the 11th can affirm or undermine the professional status developed in the angular 10th.
The role of the 2nd house, therefore, is to support whatever entity was birthed in the 1st. A vigorous 2nd house not only ensures your survival, it can make you a force to contend with. If you were a nation, for example, your 2nd house would describe your national assets, your banking system, the health of your exports and crops. If you were a country declaring war, in the war chart's 2nd house you'd find your allies, your ammo and your guns. Similarly, if you were a plaintiff in a lawsuit, the lawsuit chart's 2nd house would show the people testifying on your behalf. A strong 2nd house can make the difference between winning and losing.
The 1st house shows your emergence into life and the 2nd shows what keeps you here. It holds everything you can call “mine.” Through the 2nd you extend into the world and ground your being. As a baby, this begins with acknowledging your very own fingers and toes, the food you possess with your mouth, the teddy bear that no one can sleep with but you. As you grow, you must continue the process of grounding, which keeps deepening your 1st house process of self-discovery. You keep learning about who you are through the things you want to own, the resources you have to use, the value you place on yourself.
The 2nd rules both what money can buy (possessions and material resources) and what it can't buy (talents, self-esteem, and values). If you're unhappy in your career, the work you're doing may not utilize your natural talents--described by the collection of sign and planets in and ruling your 2nd house. Moon in or ruling the 2nd, for example, suggests strong intuitive resources, emotional sensitivity, a desire to nurture.