The Planetary Joys
Hello friend! I just wanted to share some insights I was having about the Third House and why the ancient astrologers called it the House of the Goddess. I was having this conversation with my friend Vivi (@vivi_henriette) the other day on one of our IG Lives and it really got me thinking about why the Hellenistic astrologers said that the Third House was the House of the Goddess, and that the Moon rejoiced there – whereas the Ninth House was the House of God and the Sun rejoiced there.
When a planet “rejoices” in a House, it just means it gets a lot stronger. The Third/ Ninth house axis has so much in common because both Houses represent travel, spirituality, and divination in different ways. To the Ancients, the Ninth House was the more abstract, theological expression of God. It’s a more intellectual place, since it also rules universities and libraries. The Third House represents connecting to the Divine through a more familiar channel, so that’s why the Third rules close acquaintances like your siblings and neighbors. So if we take the religion of Catholicism as an example to understand the difference between the two Houses, the Holy Trinity – which is an abstract and theological concept – would be represented by the Ninth House, whereas praying to Mother Mary – who’s this familiar maternal archetype you can just relate to very easily – she would be the Third House of Goddess.
The Third and Ninth House Represent Travel
The Third and Ninth both represent travel, because the Ninth House is international journeys to foreign places, and the Third House represents short trips around your local surroundings. If you think about the Sun and the Moon’s respective orbits, the Sun takes a whole year to go around the Zodiac, which is long compared to the Moon which only takes 28 days. So short journeys are associated with the Moon and the Third House, while long journeys are the Sun and the Ninth House.
Which House Rules Divination?
Both the Third and Ninth were connected to divination but in different ways. The Ninth house represents astrology which is quite an intellectual practice, because it involves geometry and technical prowess to calculate a chart. In contrast, the Third House represents subconscious divination such as dream prognostication which is another reason why the Moon rejoices here because she’s a nighttime Planet who rules sleep which is where dream interpretation takes place.
Another way that the Third House of the Goddess relates to the Moon is through the Moon’s role as an intermediary among all the planets. She’s the closest planet to us and therefore she connects us to all the Celestial spheres because she moves around the Zodiac the fastest. She therefore forms every aspect to every planet throughout the course of a month. Many religions use spiritual Intermediaries to commune with Divine, such as Saints, Angels and Bodhisattvas, because the Divine is too ineffable and too abstract for us to make a direct connection. But if you find a Saint or an Angel that feels familiar to you, then that Intermediary can be a conduit to connecting to something of a much greater order of magnitude. The Moon and the Third House both rule what is familiar to us, and that’s why they represent the more relatable Intermediaries who link us to God.
