The Fourth House: Roots that reach the ground.
My parent’s home has a Schinus molle, a pink peppercorn tree, that has been in their garden longer than we’ve lived here. Recently, its roots have grown so heavy, that it has begun pushing against the floor of the backyard deck, cracking the cement, making itself known. I have very fond memories of my childhood playing in that same backyard, climbing the peppercorn tree, and my mom even put a swing on its strongest branch for a while, which I adored. I’ve been back at my family home for about five months, after living abroad for six years. When I lived alone in Vancouver, I’d get this feeling of wanting to go home, even though I was already at home in my own apartment. It’s not until I came back to Peru that I finally felt like I was home, internally, and spiritually. Not just literally.
The South Node recently passed through my fourth house last year, in Scorpio. I was dreading this transit until it finally came, and it was as unearthing, and uncomfortable as I thought it’d be. This transit through my fourth house reminded me of my parent’s Schinus molle, its roots breaking through concrete, spreading out and making space for itself after years of constriction. Once a tree’s roots have broken through whatever it was constraining it, whether it be cement or dirt, you can no longer go back and return the root into ground, in the same way our family dynamics and their roots reach out to touch us, no matter how far we run. This is why the fourth house is so hard to talk about. The fourth house holds all of our secrets, our best hiding spots, family dynamics, our past, our ancestors, and even our graves. Like the roots of a tree, the fourth house reaches the very bottom of who we are, and where we came from, and will occasionally spring up from the ground to remind us of just that.
The fourth house is an angular house, geographically the lowest of the houses in the natal chart, and often contains the IC, or the Imum Coeli, which translates to “the bottom of the sky.” Firmicus describes the fourth house as including “family property, substance, possessions, household goods, anything that pertains to hidden and recovered wealth.” I’ve talked to a lot of people with fourth house placements, and the experience leaned more towards those who have a difficult time talking about their families, although those who have been blessed with wonderful families also exist. Our early childhood experiences shape the entirety of the rest of our lives. This can be seen through the opposition of the fourth house, to the tenth house; the highest point in the sky, pointing towards our highest aspirations.
A lot of resentment lies in the fourth house, dormant, ready to spring out of the Earth, like roots who grew impatient. At the same time, it’s interesting to think that a tree’s roots are strong enough to push past whatever it was holding it back, to make itself known. A tree’s roots can outgrow wherever it was planted, with immense strength and capability. People with fourth house placements have the same capabilities as trees who outgrew the ground in which they’ve been planted in. Trees will grow their roots horizontally when downwards growth is restricted, as a way to seek damp ground in times of drought, which reminds me of the saying “home is where the heart is.” Fourth house people will make their own home, seek their own water if the water they’ve been given is not enough, which takes immense strength; like the roots of a tree bursting through hard cement. If they don’t nurture me, I will. I will find a way, even if it means growing in the opposite direction of where I’ve been planted.
A tree’s roots are undeniably the most important part of the tree, as they provide the necessary stability for the trunk, the leaves, and the branches. People with fourth house placements have an emphasis on stabilizing their roots, the condition of their home, whether that be physically, as in their home is clean, or emotionally, concerning peaceful family relations. It dictates everything else going on in their lives. The fourth house sextiles the sixth house, representing the inherent connection between the condition of our homes, to the condition of our obligations and routines. The fourth house squares the first and seventh houses; our homes, where we grew up in, and with who, influence the condition of how we grow into our own bodies and identities, and it even has the power to change or dictate our relationships with others. Who do you invite into your home? Who gets to see what your bedroom looks like? The fourth trines the eighth house, setting the pace for whatever family baggage we inherit, whether it be a house or an emotional condition. It also trines the twelfth house, representing how our homes can at times be the loneliest place to be, but it can also be a place where we can find solace in our isolation. The fourth house is the beating heart of the rest of the chart, where we hide, and we rest, and we recover. The stability of the rest of the chart lies here, at the bottom of the sky.
Like roots from my parent’s Schinus molle bursting through our concrete floor, the fourth house will beg for your attention, seeking nurture. If you have Saturn in this house, was home always constricting? Saturn’s elemental condition is cold, and dry. Was there affection lacking? On the opposite hand, did Saturn provide a safe container for you to grow up in? Protective walls to keep the rest of the world outside? Has it influenced the way you live your life now, and is it hard to gain independence without the foundation you call your family? If you have Mars in this house, was home always a battle field? Did Mars cause so much disruption, that home never felt like a safe place? Is your home, and your past the drive you needed to succeed? To get out? Does Mars in your fourth house feel exhausting? Like there’s a poltergeist haunting the rooms of your home? If you have Venus in this house, do you shine the most when you’re in the safety and the confines of your own space? Have people told you you’re a great host? Did you learn these hosting skills from a family member, does it remind you of them? Does your charm ignite when you’re around people you feel at home with? If you have the Moon in this house, is your home your greatest comfort zone? Do you feel physically safe at home? Is your home the foundation of your emotional, and physical health? If you have Mercury in this house, was there always movement going on at home? Did you move somewhere far? Did you move houses all the time? How did that movement influence your sense of stability?
There is a process in gardening called pruning, where you remove the dead leaves, and branches of a tree, so the tree itself has enough energy and vitality to continue nurturing their health. This way, the tree doesn’t spend more of their energy trying to revive or upkeep a part of themselves that has already died, or is, dying. The fourth house inevitably goes through this pruning process, cutting down dead weight as a way to preserve the condition of the home, as well as preserving the condition of the self. There is a sense of sacrifice here, which we all experience once we leave the homes we’ve been brought up in, and venture out into the world alone. We sacrifice our past for our future. But this doesn’t mean that we leave our past behind entirely. Our past follows us into every home we make for ourselves, regardless if they’re welcome or not. Here, in the fourth house, we must establish a relationship with our past, as a way to make peace with what we’ve experienced. And once we achieve this peace, both outwardly and innerly, we can finally come home.