12th House: The experience of Isolation and Endings.
Pisces, the natural ruler of the 12th house.
Keywords: Aloneness, asylums, behind the scenes, chronic health issues, confine- ment, hidden things, hidden enemies, hospitals, jails, large institutions, privacy, retreats and sanctuaries, self-sacrificing, secrets, self-undoing, subconscious, the unconscious, the universe, the unknown, unsolved mysteries.
- Self-undoing, negative core beliefs.
- The unconscious, the hidden, the unknown.
- Confinement, prisons, large institutions; retreats and sanctuaries.
- Hidden enemies.
- Selfless, sacrificial service.
Generally, the twelfth house rules life endings, the manner in which we bring major cycles to a conclusion in preparation for a totally new beginning. It also rules life's rejects and casualties of life (such as criminals and the seriously ill), and places that look after them such as hospitals, hospices and prisons. It can represent people that we are unaware of because they act covertly or secretly, who affect our lives for good or ill. On a broader level, it encompasses the collective unconscious of humanity and life's unknowable mysteries.
On a personal level, this final house can represent the “too-hard” basket of life. All those unresolved emotions and uncompleted tasks we choose not to deal with at the time because they are too difficult and that we shove into the background to deal with later. It represents our very private and secret life that we want to keep hidden and away from the public gaze. The sign on the cusp, the ruler of the house and any planets in the 12th, these colour these attitudes and experiences.
More positively, it represents periods when we choose to enter into a more introspective phase of life and leave the main-stream on a self-initiated search for understanding. Even if we are forced to do so though illness, loss of employment or incarceration, this will provide an opportunity to self-analyse and identify any habits, patterns of thought, or activities that are self-sabotaging and that need to be changed or healed.
Positively, the 12th represents a place of quiet spiritual retreat for reflection and meditation, for healing and integration. Such periods help us gain clarity about what we need to do to complete major cycles successfully so that we can enter into the flow of life again without taking forwards any obstructive baggage.